This Emperor Is Running a Marriage Scam - Chapter 115

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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 115

Now that I thought about it, Bloden had a setting where he would weaken if he used his power.
Naturally, an absurd hypothesis came to mind.
‘Could it be… that Bloden is actually Baron? Did he change his eye color with magic or something?’
But I quickly shook my head.
Even a cursory thought made it clear that was impossible.
Fine, let’s say he could weaken—I’d grant that much. But it would take time for him to grow from seven years old to his current apparent age. Besides, Baron had gone to eat tteokbokki just moments ago.
‘There’s no way he could grow that quickly.’
Then I recalled the moment when Nelloa and Bloden had encountered each other.

‘I know how to break the curse.’

Bloden’s response to Nelloa, who had been attempting marriage fraud, was resolute.

‘I already know.’

After that, Bloden had closed the Gate.
‘Then he should have weakened at that moment.’
I looked at Bloden again. He remained as robust as when I first saw him.
If that was the case, there could be only one conclusion.
‘He’s already broken the curse, so using his power no longer makes him weaken.’
“Excuse me, Your Majesty.”
At that moment, the Administrative Official approached and whispered something to Bloden.
The moment the Administrative Official finished speaking, Bloden’s brow furrowed.
“Deny the audience. Tell them that if they attempt any unnecessary approach henceforth, I will have them cut down.”
The Administrative Official was startled by such an extreme refusal.
“Pardon? Your Majesty. To that extent?”
Bloden’s eyes narrowed further as he regarded the Administrative Official.
“A Princess from a war-criminal nation dares approach without knowing her place, and you expect me to tolerate it?”
“No, Your Majesty. I will relay your message.”
The Administrative Official bowed respectfully and withdrew. At the end of the direction he was heading, Nelloa stood waiting.
‘From the circumstances, it seems Nelloa was the one who requested the audience… but Nelloa is a Princess from a war-criminal nation?’
While I was bewildered internally, a Knight came galloping on horseback from that direction. He halted his horse at the Hotel entrance, then rushed to Bloden and knelt on one knee.
“Your Majesty, I have completed the notification regarding the possibility of earthquakes due to today’s Gate closure and the subsequent response measures. Only this location remains.”
“Well done. Leave the Administrative Official and two Knights here to command and manage the site. The rest are to follow me.”
“Yes!”
The Knight withdrew.
Soon, information about the Gate closure spread among the people. From what I heard, they were closing both the Gate near the Wheat Field in Snoril and the one that had appeared at the Port.
With two Gates remaining, there would be two earthquakes today.
When Bloden rose from his seat, I quickly followed suit.
“I must take my leave now. It’s been a pleasure spending even this brief time with the children.”
“The honor was mine.”
I bowed respectfully to Bloden.
“I am deeply grateful for your care in ensuring the safety of our people, Your Majesty.”
Bloden, whose upturned lips left only a smile that set hearts aflutter, mounted his horse and led the Knights away. His receding figure cut such an impressive silhouette that I and everyone else found ourselves unable to tear our eyes away.
.
.
.
Soon, people began tidying up. It was only natural, given that earthquakes would have scattered everything across the tables.
And as they worked, praise for Bloden flowed endlessly from their lips.
“I’d only heard rumors, but His Majesty is truly remarkable!”
“To personally eliminate the Monsters and even close the Gates for us…”
“With such attentive care for his people, the Empire will flourish tremendously once the Regency ends.”
“I look forward to that day.”
Listening to them, my spirits lifted. Though the original story had diverged, it seemed to have turned out favorably for Bloden after all.
The tables were quickly restored to order. The children each clutched their gifted bags and settled back into their seats.
“Nuna.”
The Girl beside me spoke up.
“Hmm?”
Glancing around cautiously, the child lowered her voice so only those at the table could hear.
“From what I can tell, His Majesty seems to like you.”
“What?”
I was genuinely startled.
Before I could even respond, the seven-year-old Boy sitting beside her threw his hands up excitedly.
“That’s right! If Nuna marries His Majesty, she could become a Princess!”
The nine-year-old Girl next to him immediately scolded him.
“Hey, are you stupid? Telling Nuna to marry His Majesty and become a Princess? You need to say things that actually make sense.”
At her words, I felt relieved. It seemed her correction would settle the matter.
But then the Girl added to her explanation.
“If you marry His Majesty, you become the Empress, not a Princess.”
The Boy’s face lit up with understanding, and he tapped his palm with his fist once.
“Oh! So Nuna would become the Empress?”
“Exactly!”
Upon hearing this, the children’s eyes suddenly gleamed as they stared at me.
“Oh my goodness, you children.”
Cold sweat broke out on my skin.
“That’s not how it works. The Emperor typically marries someone graceful and intelligent—either a Princess or a beautiful noblewoman of the highest rank.”
“But Nuna, you’re graceful and intelligent like a Princess too.”
“That’s right. You’re very pretty too, Nuna.”
“Ha ha, I appreciate the compliment. But that’s not it at all. So you absolutely cannot say things like that anywhere else. Shh.”
I pressed a finger to my lips.
“If someone overhears talk like that, it could cause serious problems. Do you understand?”
The children looked confused, but when I emphasized it firmly, they too pressed their fingers to their lips and nodded.
“Good. Now I have somewhere to go for a bit, but before I leave, I’ll teach you what to do when the ground shakes.”

* * *

After briefly instructing the children on earthquake safety procedures, I left and began running toward the house.
As I ran, I called out to Bloden loudly, wondering if he might be nearby.
“Bloden!”
Truth be told, after learning about the earthquake, I had considered simply waiting for Bloden to return from the hotel farewell gathering.
Since it was a smaller tremor than the Gate that had appeared at the Orphanage, this one would be less severe than that time. Bloden was intelligent enough to quickly assess the situation even during an earthquake.
‘But that’s one thing, and I can’t help but worry.’
Come to think of it, Bloden and I had always been apart whenever earthquakes struck.
I wished we could be together this time.
‘That kid said he’d go eat tteokbokki—why is he taking so long? I made it very mild since the younger children would be eating it too.’
The streets leading home were quiet. It seemed everyone was staying indoors, preparing for the earthquake in their own ways.
Still, whenever I encountered people who might know Bloden, I asked them.
“Have you seen Bloden by any chance?”
“Hmm? I’m not sure.”
“Excuse me, have you seen Bloden?”
“I couldn’t say.”
“Bloden!”
No matter how many people I asked or how many times I called his name, no one had seen Bloden.
At this point, I was beginning to think he really had made it home.
“Good grief, even if he hates showing he’s being picky, this is too much.”
That was when it happened.
“Hailey. What are you doing here?”
Standing before me was Kimarise.
“Oh, Kimarise. I can’t find Bloden.”
“Bloden? Isn’t he in front of the hotel?”
“Well, you see, he said he’d go eat tteokbokki…”
I gave Kimarise a brief explanation of what had happened.
“Ah, in that case, I don’t think you need to worry too much. Bloden will handle himself fine even during an earthquake. You taught him that before, didn’t you?”
The moment Kimarise finished speaking, the ground began to shake, and in an instant, as I lost my balance and staggered, Kimarise caught me.
The earthquake was quite strong. But as expected, it was smaller in scale than when I had closed the Gate at the Orphanage.
The tremor soon subsided.
“Hailey, are you alright?”
“Thank you. I’m going home now.”
“Home? Wouldn’t it be better to go to the farewell gathering?”
“It’s just a little further. Bloden will be at home.”
I ran toward home.
I would have liked to hire a carriage to get there faster, but I couldn’t see any available ones.
“Huff, hah.”
I stopped, breathless.
“Nuna!”
I heard Bloden’s voice. He was running toward me from ahead.
“It seems Bloden was indeed at home, just as Hailey predicted.”
Soon Bloden was in my arms.
“Bloden! You were home?”
“Yes!”
Bloden answered brightly and explained, gazing toward the Forest near the Wheat Field where the Gate had been.
“After I finished eating the rice cakes, I was cleaning up when a Knight came. He told me that His Majesty would be closing all the Gates today.”
So Bloden had moved everything in the house to the ground to prevent items from falling and breaking, secured the chickens and chicks in their coop so they wouldn’t escape, and then came out.
After finishing his explanation, Bloden grinned proudly.
“I didn’t break a single dish. I did well, didn’t I?”
Bloden looked completely unbothered. My resolve crumbled at that expression.
“But why are you here? What about the farewell gathering?”
“Well, I was worried you might be scared, so I came to check on you.”
At my words that I had come looking for him, Bloden took my hand and we began walking toward the farewell gathering.
“I was a bit scared, but knowing it would end soon made it bearable.”
“Right. So if there’s another earthquake, don’t go anywhere—stay with me. Understand?”
“Okay.”
“If another earthquake comes, I’ll hold you tight. You won’t be scared.”
Bloden nodded quickly.
“Yes!”
Then, the ground began to shake again.

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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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