This Emperor Is Running a Marriage Scam - Chapter 123

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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 123

“How do I put this? It’s truly unexpected, but I don’t think it’s something I need to keep secret from you.”
As I tilted my head in confusion, Baron asked with curious eyes.
“What was the content?”
“Well. First, ‘Hailey’ was apparently a name I always gave to my pets.”
“Huh? You always gave your pets the same name?”
“Apparently so. It’s like how some households always name their pets Bongsoon, and others always name theirs Mary.”
“Why would Nuna use a pet’s name?”
“I don’t remember, so I’m not sure, but I suspect it was to hide my original name and identity…”
“Your original identity was one that needed to be hidden?”
“I was a Princess.”
“What? A Princess?”
Baron, startled, pressed me for answers.
“She said Nuna was that woman’s liege. If that’s the case, then Nuna is from the Kingdom of Meridon too, and the only Princess of the Kingdom of Meridon is Princess Adelaine Meridian, right? Are you saying Nuna is that Princess?”
I was the one who was startled by that question.
“Oh, you know the name too?”
“How could I not know the name?”
Baron folded one or two fingers and spoke to me.
“Then Nuna is twenty-two years old.”
“Huh? You know my age too?”
“I know the names of most nobles within the Empire, so how could I not know the personal information of foreign royalty?”
“…”
Just how far did the Baron’s Family take their heir’s early education?
“Princess Adelaine Meridian is said to be four years older than the current Emperor… but to think Nuna was Princess Adelaine.”
Baron, pressing his forehead as if in dismay, quickly rolled his eyes and looked up at me, asking urgently.
“Then do you have to go rebuild the kingdom? Can’t you stay here anymore?”
His panic was more endearing than I expected, and I let out a laugh. But tears quickly welled up in Baron’s eyes.
‘Huh? Is he thinking he might be alone again?’
I was even more startled and quickly spoke.
“What are you talking about? Even if I knew that, nothing changes now.”
“…Nothing changes?”
“Right, we’ll stay together.”
“Together…?”
Baron murmured my words and let out a relieved breath.
“That’s a relief.”
Soon a bright smile bloomed on his face, and my heart eased as well.
“Forget my original name. Even though the origin of the name is a bit odd… I’m still Hailey.”
I resumed my steps and summarized to Baron the story I had heard from Margie Loweldern.
An inexplicable gate opened in the Kingdom of Meridon. While soldiers mobilized to contain it, the army of Kelite—who had long been eyeing the kingdom—invaded, seizing the opportunity to plunder an undefended land.
“The Kingdom of Meridon fell beneath Kelite’s hooves, and now that place has become a world of monsters because of the gate they couldn’t close in time.”
“I see….”
“So there’s nothing I need to do about it. Honestly, I don’t even have the ability to do anything.”
Unable to overcome the crushing despair of such circumstances, Adelaine Meridian left alone, and in that cottage, she appeared to be dying away.
‘I’ve essentially possessed that body.’
Yet I also felt a strange relief.
“Even if I was a princess, the past is now irreversible. So there’s nothing to worry about, is there…?”
Just as Maji said, I was in a situation where I only needed to live in the present.
After finishing my explanation while slowly stroking the back of my neck, I suddenly felt bitter.
Baron, who had been watching my expression, asked carefully.
“Nuna, are you suffering because you can’t rebuild the kingdom? Do you want to revive it?”
“No.”
I quickly waved my hand and bit my lip in silence.
It was rather the truth about Adelaine Meridian that I had come to realize while listening to Maji’s story—it had surfaced again in my mind.
At first, I couldn’t understand Adelaine Meridian. She hated that scar so much, even though it was a mark born from being saved.
But whether it was because I had possessed her body, or because some special magic had been cast on me—
while listening to Maji’s story, I came to empathize with Adelaine Meridian’s position and heart.
.
.
.
After escaping the kingdom, Adelaine Meridian and Maji drifted into the Aer Baron’s Estate.
Adelaine Meridian began by selling the jewels attached to her dress. Maji had also hastily gathered quite a bit of precious metals before fleeing.
With the money they made that way, Adelaine Meridian first secured a small dwelling where she and Maji could stay.
For a while, they lived together. Then one day, Adelaine Meridian gave money to Maji.

‘Here, it’s half of what’s left.’

That day, Adelaine Meridian showed Maji an unprecedented coldness.

‘If it weren’t for you with that hideous appearance, I could meet a charming nobleman and live as a rich woman again. Once I have some breathing room, I’ll quietly support your old age.’

Adelaine Meridian had coldly abandoned Maji, who clung to her, and departed.
The moment I heard Maji speak in a voice that suppressed despair, I somehow grasped the truth of Adelaine Meridian’s heart.
‘There was no hope at all. That’s why she couldn’t bear to face Maji anymore.’
Adelaine Meridian clearly believed herself to be weak and incompetent, incapable of accomplishing anything. She yearned so desperately that if life were given to her again, she would possess the ability to sustain herself and live with earnest effort.
But such a thing could never come to pass.
After deep contemplation, Adelaine Meridian must have given Maji all her possessions except for the passage fare and departed alone, arriving at our house in this manner.
.
.
.
“Sister.”
I lifted my eyes at Baron’s voice.
We had already arrived at the front of the house. The place where Adelaine Meridian had come alone to meet her end.
Suddenly my vision blurred.
“Huh? Sister, are you… crying?”
Only then did I realize that tears were streaming down my cheeks.
“It’s just… that…”
“Is it because you can’t save the kingdom? Should I help?”
“I told you, that’s not it. I don’t have the ability to do such things.”
And what could a child like you possibly help with? You just need to grow up healthy and strong.
“I have no ambitions. I like it here, and I don’t even dream of anything else.”
Unable to understand why I was still crying despite this, Baron tilted his head in confusion, grasped my hand, and led me inside. After seating me in a chair, he brought a handkerchief.
As I accepted the handkerchief from Baron, he immediately fetched a cup of water.
“Drink.”
“Thank you.”
After I took a sip of water and drew a deep breath, Baron, seated across from me, leaned forward and asked again.
“So tell me. Why are you crying?”
“It’s just… I regret the things I did to Lord Roelden before I regained my memories.”
“What kind of things?”
“Every time I saw that burn scar, I hated it.”
“Well, I suppose anyone would feel that way… Oh, you said you hated it so much you nearly fainted?”
Baron soon relaxed his expression as if it were nothing serious and nodded.
“The Royal Palace burned down, didn’t it? If a Guard received such a scar, it must have been from protecting you.”
Baron’s deduction was so accurate that I was startled.
“Baron, how did you know that?”
“Anyone who guards the royal family should possess that level of loyalty as a basic virtue.”
“…”
I rolled my eyes and asked in return.
“But he could die doing that—you think that’s natural?”
“Yes. Sacrificing one’s life for one’s lord is the greatest honor imaginable.”
Confident eyes and a matter-of-fact statement.
Watching Baron like that, my eyes welled up with tears, and I was struck by the reality that I was an incarnated being in this world.
‘Ah, this is when I can’t adapt to the world setting.’
At the same time, I found myself thinking about Baron’s future as Captain of the Knights.
‘Right now I’m a bit confused about whether it’s Baron or Kyle, but I can’t rule out the possibility that it’s Baron.’
In the original story, he died after committing treason, but now I’m pulling out death flags, so at least he won’t die that way. But it felt like another death flag was quietly raising its head.
‘Could it be that even if he doesn’t commit treason, he ends up on the path of dying while protecting his lord?’
Of course, since Bloden was strong, it was unlikely that Baron would die fighting Monsters under normal circumstances.
But when it comes to the causes of death for royalty and nobility, is war the only one?
Whether it’s assassination, poisoning, or taking a princess from some kingdom hostage and demanding a life exchange.
The world is overflowing with villains, schemes, and conspiracies. If my Baron were caught up in any of that, even by one in ten thousand chances, he could die.
Dying happily for his lord, sacrificing his life? Thinking of that as the greatest honor?
‘No, that absolutely won’t do! Who dares to touch my precious child!’
I drained the remaining water in my cup in one go.
I had no intention of going against the world setting, but I had to change Baron’s ideology no matter what.
“Phew!”
As I set the empty cup down on the table hard enough to make a sound, Baron, who had been watching my expression until then, flinched in surprise instead.
“N-Nuna. What’s wrong?”
“Baron. Let’s talk for a moment.”

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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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