This Emperor Is Running a Marriage Scam - Chapter 191

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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 191

The next morning, I pulled a cart laden with tools and headed with the others far down the mountain base from the Frediki Mansion to assess the situation.
‘I was worried the beasts might take too long to respond, but it turned out to be needless concern.’
The ground was thick with wolf and bear prints, and bones from pigs, sheep, and cattle lay scattered about in disarray.
They were the remnants of various foods I had hastily gathered and scattered the day before.
Raven examined the site, picked up a wolf’s hair matted with blood at one end, inspected it, and spoke to me.
“It looks like they fought over the bait.”
“Seems we didn’t provide enough livestock.”
That was when Baron asked me a question.
“Sister, where should I drive this one in?”
Kyle held stakes and rope, while Baron carried a sign board.

[No Entry]
Beast Feeding Station

I gauged the distance and pointed toward a spot a little farther away.
“That way where the path narrows should work fine.”
Kyle rushed off and lightly drove a stake into the ground.
“Here?”
His voice was loud, but his spirit was hollow. I thought I understood why, but I smiled brightly as if I didn’t notice.
“Yes, this is perfect.”
I placed a rod from where Kyle had driven the stake and drew a line, then spoke to Raven.
“If we drive No Entry stakes along this line at two-meter intervals, I think that should do it.”
Raven deftly gathered a hammer and several more stakes, then strode forward purposefully.
“Understood. So this becomes the construction zone.”
“That’s right. Thank you, Raven.”
Raven drove the stakes into the ground with practiced skill. Then Kyle and Roze’s family connected rope between the stakes and hung the sign board in the middle to mark off the area.
When the work was finished and we gathered, Roze’s father looked at me as though I were some peculiar creature and clicked his tongue.
“Well, the more I think about it, the more unusual it seems. A Beast Feeding Station, of all things……”
“While the beasts are occupied with this, Roze and I will slip into the forest. Simple, isn’t it?”
“It’s a fairly fresh approach, I’ll grant you that.”
Roze’s father tried to dissuade me.
“When we can barely keep up with catching mountain beasts as it is, you’re spending your own coin to feed them? And increasing the portions each time, no less.”
“For now, we’ll do it this way every day. Full bellies mean they won’t raid settlements. So I’d really appreciate it if you could track when meat starts becoming surplus—I need to gauge how much they actually require.”
“I can manage the tracking well enough, but it’s an unconventional method. Most of what we’d feed them would be offal or by-products, and there still wouldn’t be enough to keep those creatures well-fed every single day.”
Roze’s father muttered in a low voice at the other end.
“Lucky wolves. People don’t even have the coin to buy themselves meat.”
His words were almost a lament, so I quickly glanced at Kyle’s expression before answering.
“Well, soon I’ll bring meat from Snoril or Aer that people can eat too. Then we’ll gather with the villagers and share a meal together.”
“What? You mean to share a meal with the villagers?”
Roze’s father’s eyes widened in surprise.
“That would cost an enormous sum.”
“Well, how much could it really come to?”
Raven smiled pleasantly.
“As I drove the stakes, I came to understand your intention. You plan to continue feeding the wolves to dull their wariness, and then slip a sleep potion into the feed when we enter the mountain, yes?”
Baron’s expression brightened.
“Sister, you’re a genius. We can’t kill the wolves, so you’re going to knock them out temporarily?”
Meanwhile, Kyle looked up at me with a calm expression.
“When will you mix in the sleep potion, then?”
“Actually, I’m not going to use a sleep potion at all.”
Everyone’s faces turned bewildered, so I laughed somewhat embarrassed.
“To be honest, I did consider that approach. But it would only solve our own problem.”
I picked up tongs and a sack and began clearing away bone fragments scattered about as I continued.
“If the wolf pack’s leader is clever enough, they’ll notice the smell of the meat is different. And once we’re done with our business, the mountain beasts will go right back to attacking the village livestock.”
“There’s not much we can do about that, is there?”
Raven picked up bone fragments with the tongs next to me, posing the question. I nodded in response.
“Even so, if we can solve the village’s problem while we’re at it, that would be good. It’ll take some time, but……I’ll share the full plan with you soon.”

* * *

The next day, after sending Baron and Kyle to the Academy, I returned to Aer Domain with Raven to head toward Frediki Village. We were waiting for the cargo wagon loaded with meat byproducts for the beasts and the carriage we’d be riding in to be unloaded from the ship when Bloden’s voice cut through the air.
“Well, of all places to meet.”
“Oh.”
As I prepared to offer a formal greeting, I noticed his hair was blonde.
‘Ah, he’s traveling incognito.’
I approached him quietly and bowed with proper courtesy.
“I truly cannot thank you enough. I received such great kindness in Utra Territory, and I’ve been at a loss for how to express my gratitude. Yet here we are, meeting by chance at just the right moment.”
“It’s nothing. Our destinations just happened to align.”
The warmth in his gaze made my heart race faster. Unable to meet his eyes, I glanced about nervously.
“W-what brings you to this place?”
“I’m looking for something.”
“Looking for something?”
“That’s right. And what brings you here?”
“Ah, I’m heading to Frediki Village.”
“You are? I was just planning to go to Frediki Village myself.”
“Really?”
“After visiting Mistril and Utra, and rescuing the Duchess of Borderland—Frediki is next. It seems our purposes might be the same.”
Bloden rested one hand on his hip, pausing in thought before continuing.
“You’re going to protect Kyle, aren’t you?”
“How did you know?”
Bloden’s mouth curved into a smile.
“Count Enox told me everything. I felt for your situation.”
Just then, Raven’s voice came from behind.
“Hailey, shall we depart now?”
When I turned, the carriages had been fully unloaded.
“I also heard you received a ship as a gift. A fine vessel it is, too. It looks like you’re planning to ride in that carriage.”
“Yes, and about that ship—it wasn’t originally meant for me to receive it.”
Truthfully, Bloden should have been the one to receive it.
But Bloden cut me off with a look that asked what I meant.
“It seems to me you have every reason to accept it.”
“Pardon?”
“Because you saved the Duchess of Borderland.”
“If Your Majesty hadn’t been there, we would have all perished.”
“Facts must be stated correctly. Because you acted first, Duke Utra was forced to take a desperate gamble. That gave me precious time as well.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. Without that incident, I’d have just sat around trying to find some noble justification to refute his sophistry and maintain my dignity before Duke Utra.”
Bloden winked with a slight smirk and moved toward the carriage.
“And now that I’m here, it seems our paths are the same anyway. We might as well travel together.”
And so I found myself riding in a carriage with Bloden. Raven, surprised to encounter the Emperor in this unexpected place, volunteered as the coachman and took a seat on the driver’s bench. The Captain of the Regallia, who had been scheduled to drive the carriage, hurried out and took the reins of the cargo wagon instead.
Bloden, already seated across from me in the carriage, spoke first.
“Our purposes seem similar, but judging by how quickly you’re moving, you appear to be one step ahead. I’m curious about your plans. Would you share them with me?”
I explained everything from setting up the Beast Feeding Station at the mountain base to how we’d climb the mountain while the wolves were distracted by the meat. It was only after Bloden, who had been quietly nodding, raised his eyebrows that I sensed something was amiss.
“You’re turning the Beast Feeding Station into a tourism product?”
“Yes. If we install an observation platform where visitors can safely watch bears and wolves from above, it would become a rare attraction. Admission fees would cover the food costs, and we’d let the villagers sell lodging, meals, and souvenirs.”
Bloden listened to my explanation with a serious expression, then nodded in approval.
“The concept has merit. Quite innovative.”
I was pleased that Bloden seemed to acknowledge the idea readily. But then came an unexpected question.
“But where is your profit in this?”
“Profit? There isn’t any.”
“Then why go to such lengths?”
“What do you mean?”
“Surely you could just find the document and leave, couldn’t you?”
Bloden went on to say that if he and I went there today, we could resolve everything easily without killing the beasts.
Whenever his wolf encountered other beasts, they would all become frightened and go silent, he explained.
Bloden sighed through his nose and shook his head.
“Your desire to save the villagers as well is admirable, but frankly, it’s not something you need to worry about.”
In truth, I had entertained such thoughts myself.
But once I learned of the villagers’ situation, several questions had begun to form in my mind.
‘What if the document isn’t there—in the place we’re looking? Or what if we find it, but the contents don’t actually free the villagers from their constraints?’
If that happened, there was no way to know how long this village’s troubles—born of the Frediki Family’s actions—would persist.
If I’d never known in the first place, it might have been different. But now Kyle understood the situation all too clearly.
That was when the weight began to settle on me.
‘No matter how hard he tries to hide it, a shadow falls across Kyle’s face.’
I wouldn’t let an innocent child carry the guilt of his family’s sins.
So I’d decided to act more boldly.
Honestly, now that we had a ship with a magical stone, that level of investment posed no real problem.
‘I have to solve this. For Kyle’s sake.’
I looked out the window for a moment to gather my thoughts, then smiled warmly at Bloden.
“You’re quite right.”
Bloden’s expression softened at my ready agreement. But it stiffened again at what I said next.
“Looking after the welfare of the people is ultimately your work, isn’t it?”

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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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