Beguiling the Enemy’s Patriarch - Chapter 96

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

Chapter 96
The maidservants who had attended to me during my stay at Bellirook Palace came out to see me off in a procession.
“Your Highness….”
Marienne, whom I hadn’t seen in ages, had tears welling in her eyes. I approached her with a smile and embraced her warmly.
“You were ill, weren’t you? Are you alright now?”
“That’s not something I should be asking you, Your Highness….”
Marienne spoke through trembling lips.
“That day, I wasn’t supposed to send Leria in my place….”
Leria. My body stiffened at that name. The poor young maidservant who had been murdered by Soleia. I had learned belatedly that she had been assigned to the Imperial Palace that day as Marienne’s substitute.
“…It wasn’t your fault, Mari.”
I patted Marienne gently as I sighed. Leria’s body had been consumed by the purifying flames on that day when Auredhian cleansed the entire Imperial Palace. They said her form, tainted by dark magic, had burned without a trace.
“She must have gone to a better place.”
I had to believe that. It was better to be purified cleanly than to be dragged underground by Soleia’s hand and remain her puppet. She must have gone to a better place. Surely.
My mouth tasted bitter. I consciously blocked out thoughts of Leria. The sensation of her hands around my throat, pouring mana into me, would steal the warmth from my body at the mere thought of it. She had been controlled by Soleia, but regardless, that face was Leria’s face. It would likely remain a nightmare for the rest of my life.
“We’ll be able to see each other again. Well, though it will take several years.”
“Your Highness….”
I patted Marienne one last time before stepping away from her embrace.
At the end of the long procession seeing me off was Diego Schmart.
“Take care of yourself on the journey back….”
Diego’s words trailed off. Worry rippled across his kind golden eyes. His lips opened and closed repeatedly as if he wanted to say something, then sealed shut again. I understood what he was hesitating to say. I glanced around at the onlookers before winking at Diego.
“Shh.”
“…Your Highness.”
“Shh. What you saw that day. You understand, don’t you?”
That day, Diego Schmart had been the only one to truly see me in my disembodied state, separated from my physical form. I had not told Auredhian about that. Thinking back on it now, it was likely because Diego possessed one of the highest levels of sanctity in this world that he had been able to see me that day. It was a blessing that Auredhian hadn’t found out. How many times had I sighed with relief at that fact.
“…I will trust that you are well.”
“Of course.”
Diego looked down at me with deeply troubled eyes. To eliminate even the slimmest possibility, I leaned in close to him and whispered in a low voice.
“If you breathe a single word about what you saw that day….”
“If I breathe a word…?”
“I’ll pray to Raulus every night. For divine punishment to befall the Barishard Temple.”
Diego had no idea how terrifying those words were. As expected, he merely smiled faintly without looking frightened at all. This kind priest would never dream of it. That right now, I was cradling the very god he so devoutly served in my arms. The wolf cub nestled peacefully against me let out a soft snort of laughter.
[I won’t bring divine punishment. I won’t.]
“Aha, Lari. If you keep squirming, I’ll abandon you!”
I deliberately stroked the wolf’s silver fur with affection. Raulus seemed to have been so shocked that he’d lost the ability to speak.
[You…. You little…. What did you just call me, no. This irreverence, what is this….]
I left Raulus to his shock.
“Anyway, Diego Schmart, thank you for indulging my whims all this time. I’m grateful.”
“Not at all, Your Highness. I should be the one thanking you.”
“You’re thanking me, Diego Schmart?”
“Yes.”
Diego spoke warmly.
“Someday you’ll return and free me from His Majesty’s grasp.”
“Heh.”
For someone making a joke, his face remained remarkably warm and kind. When would I see this handsome priest again? I felt a pang of reluctance and opened my arms.
“Come on, Diego deserves a hug too… huh?”
Just as I had with the court physician and Marienne, I was about to give Diego a farewell embrace when I was suddenly yanked backward.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
I didn’t need to guess who it was. I turned to glare at the man who had wrapped his arm around my waist and dragged me back to him.
“Why are you being difficult again?”
“Difficult? This is justified intervention.”
Auredhian Belgot said flatly, gripping my shoulders and spinning me around. My vision whirled. Once again, his gleaming silver hair, reddish eyes, and handsome face filled my entire sight.
“Yerenika, you can’t go around embracing just anyone so carelessly—”
“Oh, really.”
Auredhian looked ready to launch into the same lecture he’d been hammering into my ears for the past few days. I deliberately furrowed my brow and waved my hand dismissively.
“I won’t. I told you I won’t. No matter how many times I say it, you still don’t believe me. Why?”
“Because your track record has been far too colorful.”
And he seemed determined not to back down on this matter. His jealousy was as stubbornly persistent as the iron wall he’d once erected—strange in its own peculiar way.
I could only nod helplessly once again.
“I’ll be careful. I won’t throw myself at anyone, won’t sleep with them, won’t embrace them…”
“And don’t let anyone into your private quarters.”
“…and won’t let anyone into my room.”
I obediently repeated his words, but Auredhian’s expression remained unsatisfied. I caught a glimpse of the Lebovni Delegation checking their carriage. Yes, this was my chance.
Smack.
I rose slightly onto my toes and gave him a light kiss. Even in that brief moment, a pleasant warmth flowed through me. Of course, I’d overlooked the fact that while I was focused on the Lebovni delegation, all the Belgot people lined up behind me were watching. But what did it matter? It was our last moment together—I couldn’t leave without a kiss. That would be too unfair.
Auredhian let out a sound like a groan.
“If you do that, I won’t want to let you go.”
“Now that I think about it, I thought it would be good to leave some longing behind.”
I widened my eyes and gave him my most beautiful smile.
“It’s unfair if only I’m left longing. So His Majesty should carry a spoonful of it too.”
I’m dying of reluctance. I don’t want to go. Oh, I really don’t want to go. I wished time would freeze right here. I wished yesterday’s dawn—when I’d thought about how much I didn’t want to leave—would come again.
With longing dripping from my expression, I looked at him and spoke again.
“I’ll write mountains of letters.”
“Do that.”
“And if you don’t reply, I’ll sulk.”
“You will. There’s no question about it.”
“And, this.”
I held out what I’d been clutching in my hand all morning. An earring shaped like a silver cross with a violet gemstone set in the center sparkled in the morning sunlight.
“A spoonful of longing.”
Auredhian Belgot took the earring—no bigger than a single knuckle—with a puzzled expression. What I’d given him was the matching pair to the earring I’d used to summon Raulus. A piece that would remain attached to my body until I died. And more than that, it bore the unmistakable colors of Auredhian Belgot himself.
So this was a talisman and a token. A talisman to pray for my safety during our separation. A token of the promise that someday we would be whole again as a pair.
“You mustn’t lose it. Look at it every day and feel regret. Wonder why you didn’t give in sooner.”
“…Your words are so different from last night.”
“Well, what you say at dawn and what you say in the morning are naturally different things.”
Auredhian Belgot finally let out a helpless laugh, unable to resist.
“Fine. Then I’ll make sure you have more than enough.”
His warm fingertips brushed gently against the hair at my nape before lightly tapping my cheek—just as he had done when I’d first arrived in Belgot. It was a brief, understated touch.
“Don’t burden yourself with complicated thoughts. Eat well, sleep well….”
“I understand. I’ll recover and come back healthy and strong. Your Majesty, please don’t overexert yourself either.”
“…Yes.”
With that answer, he finally released me, exhaling softly.
“Yerenika!”
Sergei Lebanon called out to me from the distance, waving once the delegation’s procession was fully assembled. It was truly time to leave. My feet, which had been reluctant to part, finally obeyed. I turned and took a few steps forward.
“….”
I couldn’t hold back any longer. Whether the Lebovni delegation watched from afar or the people of Belgot stood behind me—it didn’t matter. I set Raulus down on the ground.
[What? Crumb? Why are you putting me down?]
I ignored Raulus’s whimper. Without rushing or hesitating, I simply turned back and took exactly three quick steps before—
“…!”
I threw myself into the arms of the man who had become my lifeline since falling into this world, the man I had finally succeeded in defying a tragic fate for. Just as I had done countless times before.
Immediately, a shimmering sanctity flooded through my body. Gentle, tender yet firm hands embraced me with even greater strength. I breathed in that clear, pristine scent I had come to cherish most, and I swore to myself that I would never forget this sensation until we met again. I etched every detail into my senses, one by one, indelibly.
Yes. I did accomplish something after all. In this land that was hostile to me. Something had certainly changed, and now I would move forward toward a future that was uncertain and anxious, and therefore frightening, yet held infinite possibility. Both I and Auredhian Belgot. This world too.
Thump-thump.
The heartbeat of a living person mingled indistinguishably with another’s. That alone filled me with such overwhelming emotion that on that day of parting, I never shed a single tear.

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