This Emperor Is Running a Marriage Scam - Chapter 210

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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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Episode 210

I studied Bloden’s expression.
He swallowed hard, his deep gaze fixed on me. Seeming a bit flustered, he slipped a finger between his cravat and his neck, tugging it slightly.
With a face like his, my heart couldn’t help but race.
‘What if His Majesty tries to kiss me?’
I glanced sideways at the locked door and thought back to the bento box I’d prepared for Bloden.
When Raven had suggested that since Bloden seemed interested in the food I made, why not offer it to Kyle as well, I’d been happier than I could express.
‘Even I have to admit I poured my whole heart into it.’
That bento box might have looked like a confession.
I’d made it under the pretense of it being for Kyle, but it looked so meticulously crafted that it was honestly impossible to claim he’d misunderstood.
By this point, even I was starting to doubt whether I’d really made it for Kyle at all.
‘Should I just pretend I don’t know anything?’
Then, lifting my eyes suddenly, my gaze met Bloden’s—he’d already lowered his head to study my face. Startled, he straightened up and spoke with flushed cheeks, like someone caught red-handed.
“I, I only locked it because it would be awkward if someone came in and saw us.”
Oh right—there were rumors circulating about Bloden and Nelloa’s national marriage!
Suddenly alert, I nodded quickly several times.
“Yes, I understand!”
……
I hurried deeper into the glass greenhouse, looking around at the plants.
“The plants are so lovely.”
Just then I noticed yellow birds perched among the trees.
When the birds saw us, they began chirping as if to entertain. Their song was so beautiful, and it seemed perfect for clearing the awkward air, so I pointed them out cheerfully.
“They sing wonderfully. What are those birds called?”
“Canaries. I thought they’d sound nice when you take a walk together.”
Bloden, who’d been standing still, strode over on his long legs to stand beside me and brushed back his bangs.
As I looked up at his embarrassed face—so much taller than mine—Baron suddenly came to mind.
They resembled each other oddly. If not for their eye color, it would’ve been perfectly plausible that he was this tall.
‘Could it be that Baron is Bloden and Bloden is Baron?’
Now that I thought about it, I didn’t recall seeing them at the same time.
But that was absurd. The extra edition announcing that Bloden had arrested Duke Utra for collaborating with the Kingdom of Ottis in flagrante delicto had been published on a Monday, and Baron had been home with me that weekend.
‘Besides, the timelines don’t add up anyway. Their alibis contradict each other.’
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
At Bloden’s question, I realized I’d been staring too intently and lowered my gaze.
“Oh, no. I was just thinking of my brother.”
“……Your brother? Out of nowhere?”
“Yes. The more I think about it, Baron looks like Your Majesty…….”
In that instant, Bloden’s pupils dilated sharply and his complexion went pale.
I, who had been about to comment on how closely Bloden and Baron resembled each other, bit my lip in alarm at his reaction.
‘I don’t actually know the real reason the Eldite Family was extinguished.’
Such a grave matter—clan extinction—meant I’d never even thought to ask Baron about it until now.
But now that I considered how similar they were, I wondered if Baron harbored a secret about his birth, and if that secret had led to the family’s destruction.
‘Could it be a secret connected to the Imperial Court? No, that doesn’t quite add up either.’
If that were the reason for the extinction, Baron couldn’t possibly have survived.
‘In any case, this is something I absolutely cannot mention, even lightly.’
Bloden swallowed hard and asked carefully.
“Why did you stop mid-sentence? Now I’m curious.”
“Ah, B-Baron was reading the newspaper and said he had something to ask Your Majesty about. But I wasn’t sure if I should ask.”
Bloden, straightening his cravat with a tense air, offered a small smile.
“……It’s fine. Ask about anything.”
Sighing inwardly, I decided to take this opportunity to ask Bloden something I’d been curious about.
“Princess Nelloa’s ability has been making quite a stir in the world.”
“……The Princess?”
“Yes.”
“You’re curious about the Princess’s ability?”
When I nodded, Bloden exhaled a long breath of relief.
“Phew, you’ve added ten years to my life. I thought you were going to say something else…….”
“I’m sorry? Ten years to your life?”
Hearing this, it struck me as odd, so I asked cautiously.
“Your Majesty, is there something you’re hiding from me?”
Bloden, who had been silent for a moment, forced a smile.
“There is. But I can’t tell you right now.”
……
“When the time is right, I’ll tell you. But first—what do you want to know about the princess of Kelite?”
I wanted to ask what Bloden was hiding, but I had to be careful given that he was the Emperor.
Since he said he’d tell me eventually, I had no choice but to raise my own question first.
“So, is it possible that Princess Nelloa’s ability didn’t awaken at the Grand Temple, but is instead an innate ability passed down through the Royal Family of Kelite?”
.
.
.
I couldn’t ask about my own innate ability just because I was the Princess of Meridian—no matter how much I thought about it. After weighing my options, I disguised the question as Baron’s curiosity instead.
Bloden, whose eyes had gone wide, eventually chuckled and laughed.
“Ah, so my brother is curious.”
“Yes, listening to Baron’s story made me curious as well.”
“Come to think of it, I’ve had the same thought. Each kingdom has innate abilities—I wonder if they’re simply not known to the public.”
“At first I thought innate ability information might be classified, but looking closer, that doesn’t seem to be the case.”
I continued carefully, watching Bloden’s expression.
“If Princess Nelloa has the Gate Discovery Ability not because she’s a saint, but because she’s of the Kelite Royal Family, and if that greatly benefits Your Majesty, then wouldn’t it be beneficial to the Empire to gather information about the innate abilities of other royal families?”
Bloden had the power; if he set his mind to it, he could surely find out.
It would be difficult to learn about the innate ability of the Meridian Royal Family, which had already fallen, but if all royal families possessed innate abilities, then eventually I might discover whether I had one and what it was.

* * *

After Hailey returned to Snoril, Bloden summoned Black Libia and handed her a note.
“Deliver this to the King of Ottis.”
—Black Libia. King of Ottis. Acknowledged. By His Majesty’s command. Dispatched.
Libia, the note held in her beak, vanished in an instant, and Bloden, mounting Crockel, headed toward the Ottis Royal Palace while lost in thought.
The memory of spending time with Hailey in the Glass Greenhouse days ago refused to leave his mind.
Since it had been broad daylight, he couldn’t let anyone see him and Hailey walking together alone.
The deeper into the greenhouse they went, the taller plants obscured the view, so closing the entrance made the interior invisible from outside. But when they stood face to face, Hailey was so beautiful.
For a moment, he nearly lost himself and kissed her hand.
A kiss on the back of the hand was, in principle, a gesture of respect toward a lady—so it couldn’t be called improper in itself. The problem was that afterward, the urge to kiss Hailey had seized him.
He recalled the bento box Hailey had sent him through Raven before. They were clearly not things made lightly.
Though Hailey had said her status was the issue, the sight of the bento box, neatly filled with various dishes, had kindled hope in Bloden.
If she would go to such trouble, perhaps now she might allow him to be at her side.
‘Since Nuna is the Princess of Meridian, once that’s revealed, status won’t be an excuse anymore. The problem is that I’ve hidden the fact that I’m Baron.’
Bloden, who had been standing dazed, snapped back to awareness as his eyes met Hailey’s.
‘Damn it.’
Without realizing it, he’d been drawn in so close that he’d nearly kissed her without permission.
He hastily stepped back and explained why he hadn’t allowed anyone inside, but his heart thundered wildly.
Afterward, as Bloden walked with Hailey, his heart became thoroughly conflicted.
‘I need to reveal the truth to Nuna and ask for her understanding and forgiveness.’
When that would happen was clear to him.
The day before his twentieth birthday, when he would have complete authority over state affairs and no longer need to watch Anna’s face.
But he had no idea how to reveal it in a way that would earn Hailey’s forgiveness.
As he pondered this, Hailey brought up the matter of innate abilities.
The way she used Baron as a pretext was so adorable that laughter almost escaped him, but the question she raised was tremendously important and worth investigating.
However, he couldn’t simply summon friendly kings and ask about their innate abilities.
If he could learn by asking, they would have revealed everything long ago.
After thinking it over, Bloden told Hailey he would look into it as best he could.
Just then, Crockel’s voice reached him.
—My lord! White flags are waving! The Ottis forces have surrendered!
Raising his eyes, he saw white flags fluttering everywhere across the Ottis Royal Palace.
Originally, the King of Ottis was supposed to come directly to the Imperial Palace of Ilpein in a few days to offer his apologies.
But after speaking with Hailey, Bloden’s thinking had shifted somewhat.
So he had come now, and the note he sent demanded that all troops be withdrawn and the king present himself in person.
And the king, having received the message through Black Libia, had obeyed Bloden’s command.
The Main Gate stood wide open, and before it stood only the King of Ottis and his Queen, both visibly tense.
As Crockel, bearing Bloden, towered before them, the royal couple quickly lowered their heads.
“I am honored to meet Your Majesty, the savior of the great Ilpein Empire!”

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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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