Beguiling the Enemy’s Patriarch - Chapter 77

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 77
“Brother, what are you talking about? Get your face away from me, Sergei.”
I let out a scoff and pushed Sergei’s face away with my teacup. If the Lebovni family caught even a whiff of my activities in Belgot, they might actually start calling upon the gods themselves. The memories of those reckless days when I had boldly proposed to the Emperor flashed before my eyes like a lantern show of the past.
Oh… absolutely not.
I grabbed Sergei firmly and gave him a stern warning.
“Stop saying weird things. Anyway, you’ve never laid a hand on me. And thanks to that, I’ve been eating well, dressing well, and living well all this time.”
“Hmm.”
“Go back and don’t say anything strange to Father and Mother. Understood?”
“Hmmmm.”
Something felt uneasy about this… I eyed Sergei with deep suspicion, then raised my hand and gave his head a firm tap.
“If you open your mouth even once, I’m serious.”
“Wow, you’re violent.”
Sergei chuckled softly. Yet his face was clearly filled with relief, so I couldn’t help but let out a small laugh myself.
* * *
Still, it bothered him. Auredhian Belgot stopped carelessly flipping through the documents regarding the Glucaman Three Nations renegotiation that he had been reviewing. His frown had been etched on his face for quite some time.
Faint voices continued to drift up from beyond the open window of his office. His ears, strangely enough, caught only the bright and cheerful tones. The sound of laughter without shadow, the sound of indifferent responses, the sound of cheerful chatter.
“….”
He had been troubled for days now by the thought that he would have to send her back soon. Auredhian glanced down through the window once more, then let out a deep sigh. What caught his eye was the Prince of Lebanon pressing his face toward Yerenika.
Over the past days—no, actually quite frequently—memories of her revealing her unguarded self so carelessly kept surfacing. The way she kept calling Diego Schmart’s name. How she casually mentioned sleeping in his room without her robe. How all the names that spilled from her lips were men’s names. There was more than one or two things that irritated him.
Auredhian let out a short, hollow laugh. Just how far did she intend to push him?
“Once we return, let’s eat plenty of things that are good for the body. What is this, my arm?”
“You speak truly, Princess. It does seem as though you’ve become thinner than when you were in Lebovni…”
“Really? Have I lost some weight?”
“Look at this. Your cheeks were definitely plump like this before…!”
“Stop it!”
The sparse conversation drifting up from below the window robbed him of all concentration. Yet he couldn’t bring himself to close the window entirely. If he did, he felt he wouldn’t be able to resist going down to check on her directly.
“…Sigh.”
Finally, Auredhian irritably slammed the documents down.
He shouldn’t be greedy—he should send her back, send her back. All those resolutions proved utterly useless. The very fact that he had made a point of visiting the Temple on his own two feet was proof enough. Moreover, just this morning, he had ultimately succumbed to that jealousy and pressed his lips against hers.
The faint scent of soap and the short breath she drew in surprise. Her body flinching slightly. The moment his lips touched hers, it was so sweet it was strange that she didn’t melt away.
He had no desire to act arbitrarily, nor any intention to push further, so he exercised restraint and pulled away briefly. Yet Yerenika fearlessly brought her lips to his again. As satisfaction welled up from the affection clearly conveyed, an undercurrent of unease lingered.
Her unguarded and careless nature was endearing, but only when directed solely at him. He had no intention whatsoever of tolerating her acting so charmingly in front of other men. No intention at all…
Once Yerenika returned to Lebovni, how could he prevent that Prince of Lebanon from knowing what to do and pestering her? His thoughts spiraled back to the beginning.
Send her back, he must send her back… but what if he actually did?
Auredhian had fallen into that worry. At least as far as that Prince of Lebanon was concerned, he truly disliked him. The way he casually embraced Yerenika, the way he tried to hold her hand, the way he conversed with excessive familiarity. Calling himself a childhood friend. Calling himself family. Setting all that aside, wasn’t he still a man? Likely the man who would be closest to Yerenika once she returned to Lebovni.
It was a thought that would astound not only Yerenika but even Sergei if they heard it. Of course, even if they had, it wouldn’t have quelled the spreading anxiety.
“Once I go back to Lebovni, I’ll recover quickly. Don’t worry, everyone.”
“Indeed, it seems you suffered greatly in Belgot…”
“I’m telling you, that’s not it!”
Yerenika’s bright laughter sounded far too loud. He had been the one to say she should return first, yet why did her words sting so much? He truly had to send her back.
“….”
Did I really have to send her back?
“….”
Really? Truly? Was there no other way?
“….”
Ah, truly. What was I even thinking? Auredhian Belgot tore his gaze from the window with a weary expression.
I had to go back. At least before I could grab Soleia Elad by the scruff of her neck and throw her into the Underground Dungeon. But truthfully, whether Soleia Elad existed or not hardly mattered—Yerenika was simply incompatible with Belgot by nature.
Auredhian Belgot pressed his brow. There were far too many obstacles standing between him and that carefree, spirited Princess. This land was one of them, and the title of Emperor weighing upon his shoulders was another. So it was only right that he shouldn’t keep indulging in such desires.
“I love Belgot. Truly, if you would just follow me with your body, I would want to settle here, put down roots, and live.”
He couldn’t help but find such words endearing. Even as he recognized it as greed, he kept turning back, reaching out. Touching her pale, soft cheeks and hair so delicate it seemed it would vanish the moment he made contact.
Now that he knew the sweetness of her breath, he would want to keep kissing her lips forever. And eventually, that desire would transform into wanting to keep her by his side.
If he could somehow resolve the problems with Soleia Elad and the Magic Tower, then couldn’t he have Yerenika by his side again? Couldn’t he summon her back to Belgot under some pretext or another?
It was a land incompatible with his nature, but if only someone as sacred as her remained at his side. If he brought her completely to Belgot, he wouldn’t dream of separating her from him anyway. If necessary, he could raise Glucaman’s fees tenfold, twentyfold. In truth, bringing a nation’s princess as an empress was worth such a price….
“….”
…But. Auredhian Belgot swallowed an empty sigh and disheveled his hair.
“I’m thinking of the strangest things now….”
Not that he would confine her within the Imperial Palace for life. Without him, she wouldn’t be able to wander anywhere with peace of mind, couldn’t meet anyone freely. Yet he had admitted that her carefree nature was what he loved most—wasn’t that a rather contradictory thought?
But the thoughts kept sprawling beyond his control. Auredhian Belgot barely managed to prune back the branching tendrils of his own mind. His thoughts finally returned to their proper orbit.
First, he would resolve the Glucaman accord looming before him. Next, he would seize Soleia Elad and deal with her. Then he would purge the Magic Tower entirely.
“Yes. That’s the order.”
Auredhian Belgot carelessly rifled through the documents on his office desk and pulled out a report that had arrived the previous evening. It detailed the total quantity of mana stones imported from Azekien and the ratio of mana stones refined by the Magic Tower to what was reported to the Imperial Palace.
The report contained equations calculated with perfect precision, accounting for exactly how much mana stone had been siphoned away all this time. Looking at those figures again made his head ache. Just imagining where and how extensively the mana stones embezzled from the Magic Tower—that den of Black Mages—had been distributed throughout the empire made his stomach churn.
Trusting Rosel too much since ascending the throne had been his undoing. Chernata Rosel, Soleia Elad’s master, was either a mage with roots in darkness himself, or at the very least a conspirator who had condoned his disciple’s misdeeds all this while. The end of the report noted that they were currently tracking which route the embezzled mana stones were being transported through and toward where.
Auredhian Belgot slowly turned over the other reports beneath. There was a detailed log of every move made by the Magic Tower, and a registry organizing all the personal information of Soleia Elad and her disciples.
“….”
First, he would safely send Yerenika back to Lebovni. Then he would implement a purification operation across the entire empire. He could almost hear Diego Schmart’s groans ringing in his ears. But whether he whined or not, Auredhian Belgot hardly cared.
How long would it take to clean everything up? To uproot the darkness of black magic by mobilizing every priest and Holy Knight throughout Belgot? Once he had purified everything, would his nation become even slightly safer for Yerenika?
It was unknowable.
“…Sigh.”
One thing was certain, however. He had no intention of letting her go completely. No matter what, he would satisfy his own desires. To those outside the line, he would show a generosity that was hollow at its core, a kindness that was mere facade. But to those who had crossed that line, he would offer affection that would astound even himself. And beyond that, a persistence that bordered on obsession.
After all, the high, sturdy walls of Auredhian Belgot were as difficult to escape as they were to breach. Knowing his own nature all too well, he couldn’t quite bring himself to fully surrender to the whispers of reality telling him he must release Yerenika. So all that emerged was a sigh. Auredhian Belgot roughly organized the documents and pushed them aside, muttering to himself.
“I wish you would understand….”
In the end, everything depended entirely on Yerenika. How much she thought of him, how willingly she would accept his selfish desires. That was what mattered most to him. And the day Auredhian Belgot finally gained certainty and hardened his resolve came far sooner than he expected.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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