This Emperor Is Running a Marriage Scam - Chapter 208

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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 208

While I was inwardly panicking, Nelloa gritted her teeth and her lips moved silently.
“Ha, the lamp at one’s feet casts the darkest shadow…… Well, Robena had an ability too, so why didn’t I think of that?”
Robena? Who was that?
Nelloa first checked whether anyone around us was watching, then leaned close and asked.
“So, what’s the price you have to pay for using your ability?”
‘What?’
Caught off-guard by the unexpected question, I fumbled for an answer—but then I remembered from “The Princess Commits Marriage Fraud” that Bloden bore a curse that made him age rapidly whenever he used his ability.
‘So that’s not a curse but the price for using the ability, which means Nelloa has something like that too?’
I studied Nelloa’s face carefully.
I couldn’t tell what she was thinking as she stared at me with those cold, sharp eyes.
But it didn’t take long to notice what price Nelloa paid. The difference was immediately apparent compared to before.
Her skin was smooth, as if she took care of it, but her face wasn’t in her twenties. At best, she looked like she was in her early thirties.
“Ah, so your curse is aging quickly?”
Nelloa’s eyes widened with shock and her body trembled. Immediately after, as if she’d stopped caring about hiding her true nature, her expression turned vicious and she raised her hand sharply.
‘Oh, is she trying to slap me?’
I stepped back sharply.
As if I would take that.
Nelloa’s violent swing sliced through empty air. But her swing had been so forceful that she lost her balance and collided with an attendant passing nearby.
Crash! Clang!
The tray the attendant was carrying fell with a deafening sound. The glasses it held shattered into pieces, and champagne splashed all over Nelloa.
‘Wow, what an embarrassment.’
As all eyes turned to us at once, I quickly pulled out my handkerchief and began wiping the champagne that had soaked Nelloa’s hair and clothes, speaking in a startled tone.
“My goodness, Your Holiness, are you hurt? Oh dear, I heard you have anemia…… whatever shall we do.”
My guess must have hit a nerve, because Nelloa’s entire face turned scarlet and she opened her mouth to protest.
“You!”
Before Nelloa could raise her voice further, I whispered quickly.
“Or would you rather I openly tell everyone that your ability has the price of rapid aging, and that you tried to slap me because I figured it out, and that’s how you ended up like this?”
“…….”
“When you think about it, you’ve never actually beaten me once. So I don’t understand why you keep coming to provoke me and losing every time.”
I gently patted Nelloa’s shoulder in a friendly manner as she clamped her lips shut, and whispered a warning.
“I know you have an ability, I get it. But frankly, I’m tired of seeing you, so let’s stop getting tangled up with each other. If you’re going to play the saint, then do it properly. Do more charity work while you’re pretending to be good. If you’re going to be empress, be a virtuous ruler.”
“You, you…….”
“So what if it’s hypocrisy. If a person in power pretends to be good, there will definitely be people who benefit from it.”
Just then, Kyle, who’d been among the crowd, hurried over.
The boy looked between Nelloa, whose appearance had been ruined by the champagne, and me with concern. Then he asked me with a worried expression.
“Sister, it looks like champagne splashed on your shoes and they got dirty…… are you all right?”
“Hmm?”
Kyle pulled out a handkerchief and lowered his body to wipe the champagne off my shoes.
“Oh, stand up for a moment. Let me see your feet better.”
“Ah, um…….”
I stood up awkwardly, and Kyle crouched down to examine my shoes again, then let out a relieved breath.
“Fortunately, it doesn’t seem to have gotten too wet.”
Count Enox and his wife, along with Lora, approached us as well.
“Kyle, it’s good to be kind to ladies, but a baron doesn’t sit like that.”
Lora, who had been teaching the boy while covering her mouth with her fan, spoke in a low voice and couldn’t hide her bewilderment as she continued.
“Besides, the Holy One is in a much worse state right now.”
Only then did Kyle notice Nelloa, and he stood up sheepishly while scratching the back of his neck.
“You’re right, now that I think of it.”
Kyle spoke to the attendant, who stood up with a dazed expression brushing off his clothes.
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
The attendant had been knocked down when Nelloa bumped into him, but he was in better condition than she was. It was because all the champagne had poured onto Nelloa instead.
The attendant quickly straightened himself and bowed his head.
“Yes. Thank you.”
“Good. Now please attend to the Holy One quickly.”
“Yes, at once!”
The attendant, now fully aware, quickly began supporting Nelloa.
At the sight of this, the Countess Enox whispered to Kyle.
“No, Kyle. I think it would have been better for you to support the Saint directly on an occasion like this.”
“That’s impossible. The Saint is someone I can hardly dare approach. And I thought this would be a good moment to mention it.”
Kyle stood properly beside me.
“I’ve wanted to keep saying it, even as I gratefully accept everyone’s congratulations.”
He turned to the gathered guests with a bright smile, and I was about to think how spirited he seemed when my ears refused to believe the bombshell he’d just dropped.
“When I grow up, I’ve decided I want to marry a certain lady, and she’s here. So perhaps there’s no need for everyone to continue discussing marriage proposals between our houses.”
‘K-Kyle?’
Count Enox and his wife, Lora, Nelloa, and everyone around us—their eyes widened and their mouths fell open.
They all looked as though they were questioning what they’d just heard.
Lora, who had been rolling her eyes in the same bewilderment, carefully asked me a question.
“H-Hailey. Is what Kyle said true?”
I approached Lora with an awkward smile and whispered in her ear.
“You know how children sometimes say they want to marry their mother when they grow up. It’s something like that, but I had no idea he’d announce it here.”
“Ah.”
Lora nodded thoughtfully, and after a moment, she nodded again.
“I did say I wanted to marry my mother when I was little too.”
She explained the situation to Count Enox and his wife as well. Once they understood what had happened, they smiled with kind expressions.
“Ah, so that’s what it was.”
“Indeed, our Lora also said when she grew up that she’d marry this father of hers.”
Wait? But Lora said she’d wanted to marry her mother?
At my gaze, Lora laughed.
“I simply had two future spouses—both my mother and father. We were young back then.”
And Kyle, who had been watching our expressions, suddenly clenched both his fists with utmost seriousness.
“No, I’m serious. The lady isn’t my mother.”
“Is that so?”
“Really, Grandfather. Grandmother.”
Count Enox and Countess Enox looked between Kyle and the direction where Nelloa, Bloden, and I stood, then smiled at him.
“Very well, we understand your feelings. As long as Hailey is willing, we welcome it anytime.”
Kyle’s face brightened.
“Really?”
“Yes, only remember that it will be seven years from now, so Hailey must not marry anyone before then, and a noble’s marriage requires the Emperor’s approval to be processed administratively.”
“Ah.”
Kyle’s brow furrowed as though he’d suffered a setback, and he grasped my hand as he spoke.
“You’ll wait for me, won’t you?”
“…….”
“And please don’t just smile.”
“I don’t think now is the right time for that conversation. Let’s see how well you grow first.”
Kyle sighed, but he eventually nodded.
“All right, I understand. I’ll grow well.”
As the situation settled, people returned to their own conversations, and Nelloa took a few steps with the attendant’s support.
That was when it happened.
“Oh my, Saint. Are you all right?”
The one who appeared suddenly, concerned for Nelloa, was Robinson, Lord of Snoril.
‘What? Was he invited?’
Robinson glanced back at me, then supported Nelloa and headed toward Anna.
Anna, seated in the Regent’s chair, was watching this way. I couldn’t tell exactly what she’d seen, but her expression didn’t look particularly displeased.
Whether Nelloa had properly understood my words or not, at least the atmosphere suggested there was no need to worry about any backlash from Anna.
Not long after, Anna, Robinson, and Nelloa left the banquet hall, and Bloden also rose from the imperial seat. His expression was cool, as though something had displeased him.
‘Phew.’
I drew a silent breath and checked the time. It seemed I could tend to my seat for another thirty minutes or so and then leave.

* * *

“Princess, what was the matter with that young lady just now?”
At Anna’s question, Nelloa sighed and looked around.
Anna had led Nelloa and Robinson to a reception room near the banquet hall.
“Since there’s no one here, please speak freely.”
At Anna’s gaze, Robinson quickly bowed his head and answered.
“That young lady just now is called Hailey, one of the landowners of our domain.”
“Hailey?”
Anna paused for a moment, then nodded slowly.
“Even at first glance, her beauty was quite striking…… which is perhaps why His Majesty seemed to keep looking at her.”

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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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