This Emperor Is Running a Marriage Scam - Chapter 122
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
Chapter 122
“By the way, you’ve been using the name Hailey, haven’t you?”
The woman in the robe dismissed the Maid.
“Young Master, would you mind stepping out for a moment? There’s something I need to discuss with her privately.”
“Nuna. Do you know this person?”
I shook my head slightly.
Being left alone with someone whose face I didn’t even recognize to have some mysterious conversation felt rather burdensome.
Sensing my hesitation, Baron immediately rejected the woman’s proposal.
“If you have something to say, just say it.”
At Baron’s firm stance, the woman carefully asked me.
“Would that be alright with you?”
“Yes. It’s fine.”
At my response, she set Toto down on the sofa and approached me. A subtle herbal fragrance emanated from the woman.
“I thought I would never see you again, but I’m delighted to meet you like this.”
The woman’s movements as she bowed respectfully were slow, yet deliberate and graceful.
“It seems the divine has guided me to you.”
Her words made little sense, but from her manner, it was clear she knew Hailey from before the possession.
‘Hmm, how should I respond naturally?’
“Nuna, come here.”
Before I could even answer, Baron furrowed his brow, took my hand, and pulled me back a step. Then he reproached the woman.
“I’ve been uncomfortable from the start. If you’re going to show respect, shouldn’t you remove that robe first?”
‘Ah.’
Despite his youth, Baron was truly a noble. His response to an awkward situation was different.
But the woman’s answer exceeded all expectations.
“You speak truly, Young Master, but my lord was so averse to me removing it.”
Baron became even more wary of the woman.
“Who is your lord?”
“That would be…”
The woman, whose lips had been trembling, pressed her hands together and gestured toward me as if presenting something precious.
I was truly astonished and blinked my eyes several times in disbelief.
‘…Me? I’m the lord?’
Baron’s eyes also widened as he looked up at me.
“Nuna, are you a noble? And one of such high standing that people serve you as their lord?”
I felt my head spinning from the woman’s bewildering behavior.
I quickly retraced my first memories from when I awakened in this body.
‘When I opened my eyes, I was alone in a crumbling Cottage? What noble lives like that?’
Then my eyes met Baron’s. He was looking up at me with a shocked expression.
“Huh? Um, a noble? That can’t be right.”
“Really?”
I scratched behind my ear. I wished I could tell her definitively that it wasn’t true, but the problem was that I had no idea who this body had been before the possession.
“Wouldn’t that be the case?”
“Ah.”
Only then did Baron nod, as if recalling what I had mentioned before.
“Nuna said she has no previous memories.”
“You have no previous memories? Is that truly the case?”
The woman stepped forward and retrieved something from her bosom, placing it in my hand.
“You don’t remember?”
What lay in my palm was a silver badge. Within a sun-like border was engraved a wing pattern curved like a crescent moon—a striking design.
‘Did they shape vines and leaves to resemble wings? But where have I seen this before?’
At that moment, Baron applied slight pressure to the hand he was holding.
“Nuna.”
I lifted my head and gasped in shock. She had removed her robe and revealed her face.
Yet her left eye and face were concealed by cloth, and the areas she hadn’t managed to cover bore terrible burn scars.
I couldn’t begin to fathom how scorching and agonizing it must have been for her.
“Oh, dear.”
My heart ached, and I bowed my head to apologize.
“I didn’t know you were in such difficult circumstances, yet I asked you to remove your robe. I’m truly sorry.”
“….”
The woman gazed at me intently before releasing a small sigh.
“Whenever you saw this face, you would convulse and faint from how much you despised it….”
What? I reacted that way to someone suffering?
“Did I really do that? I’m sorry.”
Oh, Hailey before the possession. Whatever were you thinking?
As I thought about how I’d question her if I could face her, the woman provided the answer.
“Every time you saw these scars, you said that night when only you and your lord barely escaped with your lives became vivid in your mind, torturing you with nightmares. You said you couldn’t sleep, eat, or drink because of it.”
‘…What?’
In an instant, a dream I had experienced long ago flashed through my mind.
-Your Highness! Please open your eyes! You’ll die like this!
-No matter how severe the shock, regain your senses! You’re all that’s left, Your Highness!
I gazed at the badge again. Now that I thought about it, I had seen this badge in my dream.
‘Could it be that wasn’t a dream at all? Then is this woman before me the one who carried me out of the burning Royal Palace when I couldn’t regain consciousness?’
In the dream, the Knight had pushed a burning cabinet with her bare hands to open the Secret Passage. If that Knight was the woman before me, then these burn scars were likely from that moment.
As the dream and reality connected, cold sweat ran down my spine, and my heart raced wildly.
Did I really possess the Princess of a fallen nation? But then, why was the Princess alone in such an Abandoned House?
Should I say my memories have returned? No, is it even accurate to call this a memory?
Wouldn’t it be better to pretend I don’t know? But this person seems to be my benefactor?
No, I might just be connecting dreams and reality on my own.
Well, let’s say that’s all true. But what if I pretend to know? And then when I learn my true identity, what happens next?
What, reviving a fallen nation? Am I supposed to do something like that? What about my Baron then?
Countless hypotheticals and questions cascaded through my mind.
“You have the expression of someone deep in thought. It doesn’t seem like you’re entirely unfamiliar with the situation.”
As if she had read my thoughts, she laughed with a hollow sound.
“Please, set your mind at ease. There’s nothing left for us anyway, and reconstruction is impossible. Our lord left precisely because she wanted to find a new life.”
I rolled my eyes and lowered myself to meet Baron’s gaze.
“Listen. Baron. I’m really sorry, but…”
Before I could finish, Baron coolly turned away.
“Got it. I’ll step outside.”
“I’m not hiding anything from you. The truth is, I don’t really know either.”
If what I was about to hear was truly connected to the dream, I might be facing something far more serious than I anticipated.
‘Baron is only seven years old. Even if I tell him, I should first confirm the exact situation and explain it in a way he can understand.’
Baron nodded calmly.
“That’s what I thought too. Call me if anything comes up.”
“Okay. Thank you.”
After Baron left, I steadied my breathing.
“I’m truly sorry, but I can’t remember who I am or where I’m from at all. However, I’ve had a strange dream before. In that dream, I saw this badge and a person with burn scars.”
I told the woman what I had seen in the dream.
“That wasn’t a dream. Every time you see my face, you’ve witnessed it through nightmares—the day we escaped.”
After hearing my account, the woman answered with a bitter smile.
“It’s a clear reality, and the final history of our Royal Palace.”
She took a step back, knelt on one knee, and bowed her head respectfully.
“My lord, you have no obligations to us anymore. No one will object if you change your name, so please find happiness in your new life. I only ask that you remember your original name.”
I couldn’t find words and simply clasped my hands together. As I did, she continued.
“Your name is Adelaine Meridian. And I am your Guard, Margie Loweldern.”
.
.
.
After a rather long conversation, I said farewell to Toto and the woman and stepped outside, where Baron, who had been talking with the Maid, approached as if he had been waiting.
“Nuna, are you okay?”
“Yeah, sorry for making you wait so long.”
“It’s fine.”
“Thank you. Let’s go home now.”
I nodded awkwardly and took Baron’s hand.
As we entered the Beach past the City, Baron asked in a low voice.
“I spoke with the Maid, and she said she was a citizen of the Kingdom of Meridon.”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
“Is whatever you two discussed also a secret from me?”
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————