This Emperor Is Running a Marriage Scam - Chapter 227

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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 227

It was Anna who had brought the Princess from Kelite to the Empire, viewing her as a candidate for Empress. This fact, at least, could never be undone.
But now it turned out that Nelloa possessed the ability to open Derivative Gates—and Bloden had witnessed it firsthand.
From the moment Anna received this report, she felt on the verge of losing her mind.
‘Nelloa, you madwoman… if you’re going to die, die alone!’
She herself had known nothing of Nelloa opening Derivative Gates.
She’d always kept the possibility of betrayal in mind, but had expected at most that Nelloa might embezzle funds or stand against her in matters of state—nothing more.
That she would be stabbed in the back over Gates, the very thing Bloden could wield with the greatest authority—this she had never foreseen.
Now Bloden had the perfect pretext to investigate Anna openly. He would return to the Imperial Palace the moment he’d secured the Gate, confront her about whether she and Nelloa were partners, and tear through her entire history and financial records.
Baron Ilnid’s illegal gambling dens, Baron Aer’s child trafficking operations, Duke Utra’s currency manipulation schemes.
As Anna recalled those names, she grew desperately anxious and gnawed at her fingernails.
‘No matter how much evidence I’ve destroyed, if he traces my personal funds, he’ll find something to use against me.’
Bloden would not miss this opportunity. There was no easier way for him to push her into the background and seize control of state affairs.
‘God, being relegated to the back chambers would be a mercy.’
In the worst case, she could be lumped in with a witch who created Derivative Gates, have her assets confiscated, and be executed.
‘I have to sever ties with Nelloa. I need to ensure my own survival first—then there might be another chance.’
Anna was massaging her temples, mind racing, when the door opened.
“Your Highness. The High Priest has requested an audience.”
The Advisor entered carrying a silver tray and bowed respectfully.
“And this is a letter sent by Duke Roan.”
Anna opened the Duke’s letter first.
It informed her that Meltears had come and gone, and seemed likely to head to the Imperial Palace. It requested that she ensure the Roan household not be entangled in whatever happened.
‘The High Priest will have to deal with his own problems. Tch.’
Anna clicked her tongue, and the Advisor spoke.
“However, the High Priest’s condition appears somewhat unstable. Though he has not lost the right to an audience, the Temple has been closed, and… would it not be wiser to refuse this meeting?”
“The Temple has been closed?”
Only then did Anna realize that because the Temple had elevated Nelloa to Saint, all the public’s attention and blame had turned in that direction.
‘Ah, the High Priest’s situation is far worse than I imagined.’
And with that realization came the sight of another tail that needed cutting.
This time it would hurt terribly, but there was no help for it.
‘That’s right—if you can’t weather the storm, the wise thing is to avoid it.’
Anna quickly made her decision and, smiling benignly, rebuked the Advisor.
“A High Priest of such rank would be too harsh to turn away for mere reasons like that. Besides, there are guards stationed outside the door at all times—what danger could there be? I’ll see him in thirty minutes.”
“Very good.”
After the Advisor left, Anna went to her bedroom, changed into trousers and a jacket, and retrieved a small dagger—a woman’s self-defense blade she had received as a souvenir years ago when she’d visited the Temple.
‘This will be enough.’
After checking the blade’s condition, Anna concealed the dagger and made her way to the Reception Room where Meltears was waiting.
Even as he greeted her with proper courtesy, Anna could see the trembling in his eyes and smiled inwardly.
“I’ve heard what’s happened. You bear a heavy burden as the head of your order.”
At her gentle words, tears welled up in Meltears’ eyes. Hope had kindled—hope that she might save him.
Anna deliberately sighed and shook her head, then moved to sit beside him and took his hand in a comforting gesture. She raised her voice intentionally as she spoke.
“Who could have imagined that the Princess was the axis of evil?”
“Exactly! And because of her, the Temple itself has become tainted with crime! That witch must have targeted the Temple from the start and coveted the title of Saint to serve the Monsters!”
Unable to contain his emotion, Meltears voiced his grievance. Anna nodded sympathetically and replied.
“I understand your feelings completely. But whether or not the Saint is in league with you—that His Majesty will soon reveal. Until then, you must be patient and restrained.”
“…What?”
Meltears stared at Anna as if he’d misheard, then spoke.
“Your Highness, I am not a criminal.”
“I’m afraid that’s not something I can determine hastily right now.”
“No, truly! You of all people know that better than anyone!”
The moment Meltears’ voice rose, Anna swiftly drew the hidden dagger and forcibly pressed the hilt into his right hand, crying out loudly.
“Compose yourself, High Priest!”
Before Meltears could even register what had been placed in his hand, Anna sheathed the blade with one hand and seized his wrist with the other, yanking it down hard against her thigh.
A sharp cry tore from Meltears’ throat.
The moment Anna screamed, the door burst open and the guards rushed in.
“What has happened? Your Highness!”
Anna kept her grip on Meltears’ wrist, making sure his hand did not release the dagger—making it appear as though he had just stabbed her.
Blood flowed freely from the dagger wound in Anna’s thigh. The guards, seeing both the blade and Meltears’ hand, gasped in horror and immediately drew their swords, shouting.
“An assassination attempt! There’s an assassination attempt!”
The attendant who had peered inside recoiled in horror and bolted away, while the guard knights advanced on Meltears with their blades drawn, closing the distance.
“Step away from the Regent at once!”
Anna, her teeth gritted against the pain, turned a sharp gaze on Meltears, who still couldn’t seem to grasp the situation and could only stare with wide eyes.
“How can your words and actions differ so? Could you truly betray me like this?”
At Anna’s words, the tremor that had been rippling through Meltears’s eyes suddenly stilled.
“Did that Princess order you? Now that everything’s exposed, eliminate the Regent first?”
Only then did he understand what was happening to him—that he was being cut out—and rage consumed what remained of his reason.
“There is no such law! Regent!”
A knight, judging from the murderous edge in that voice that there was no time to hesitate, rushed at Meltears like an arrow loosed from a bow.
“No, I didn’t! This is the Regent’s own scheme!”
Even as Meltears cried his innocence, his body moved on instinct, deflecting the knight’s strike once. In that reflex, the guard knights remembered: this was the man who, in his youth, had hunted monsters with Holy Power.
‘This is extremely dangerous!’
‘If we’re careless, we’ll die!’
The guard knights, now fully tense, threw themselves at Meltears with every intention of killing him.
By the time Anna had limped backward, blood from Meltears was dripping steadily from the knights’ blades.

* * *

Boom-boom-boom-boom—
The violent tremor was dizzying.
But to me, it was a welcome vibration. The quake that was happening now was the aftershock of the Gate being sealed.
Because Raven had set up a partition to obscure Bloden’s form, I couldn’t see how he was closing the Gate. All I could do was listen to the vibrations rumbling and watch the strange energy rising above the partition, inferring that the work was nearly complete.
Soon the world’s trembling stopped, and Raven removed the partition. On the ground, now smooth as though a Gate had never existed, stood a much younger Bloden.
You’ve worked very hard, Your Majesty.
That’s what I should have said.
The moment I saw Bloden’s tiny form, I found myself clamping both hands over my cheeks and letting out a silent scream.
‘Oh my goodness!’
No matter how I looked at it, Bloden appeared to be all of three years old—and was inconceivably adorable.
With little fern-like hands, Bloden had begun making baby sounds, and now his soft, glutinous cheeks puffed as he asked Raven a question.
“Naven, how old do I look?”
“Around three, I’d say.”
Even as Raven answered, his face was filled with a fond, fatherly smile. Even he could see that Bloden was impossibly cute.
But Bloden himself furrowed his brow in dismay.
“This is terrible. I should have absorbed more Holy Power. What was I thinking?”
“Is something wrong? With Hailey here, you’ll recover quickly.”
“Well, that’s true.”
Bloden nodded and looked up at me with eyes bright and glistening with curiosity.
“Hailey.”
The moment I heard him call my name in that lisping, childlike voice, I found myself caught in a dilemma.
‘Do I really need to feed him right now? Can’t I enjoy watching three-year-old Bloden for just a little longer?’
Then it happened.
“My lord! My lord!”
Kimarise, who had gone to the village to minimize civilian casualties from the quake, came sprinting back.
“Special edition!”
He thrust the newspaper he was holding out before him, shouting loudly.
“The Regent has been attacked by the High Priest!”

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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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