This Emperor Is Running a Marriage Scam - Chapter 228

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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 228

The extra edition carried deeply troubling news.
Bloden, confirming it through the newspaper Kimarise had brought, felt a wave of consternation. That was when Raven spoke.
“The two of them must have been in league, Your Majesty. It appears internal conflict has erupted between them.”
Bloden nodded gravely.
“It’s not good news.”
“No, Your Majesty. Quite the worst.”
Dantarion, who had been listening to their exchange while reading the newspaper beside them, asked in confusion.
“What do you mean not good? Our enemies fighting each other—isn’t that good news?”
Raven let out a bitter laugh at Dantarion, who bore an unmistakable resemblance to him.
“It would be good news if the Regent were dead. But she isn’t.”
“Even if she’s not dead, she’s injured. She won’t be moving for a while. Doesn’t that put us at an advantage?”
……
Raven had nearly begun to rebuke Dantarion’s lack of foresight, but swallowed the words. There was a chance Hailey harbored the same question, so he couldn’t afford to be careless with his tongue.
But Hailey opened her mouth with an expression suggesting she couldn’t fathom why Dantarion didn’t see it himself.
“The injury isn’t the problem. The problem is that she’s become a ‘victim’ because of it.”
“…A victim?”
When Dantarion tilted his head, Hailey explained methodically.
“This is speculation, but I believe His Majesty intended to return to the Imperial Palace the moment the Gate was closed and investigate everyone connected to Nelloa. The Regent was surely meant to be among those targets.”
As she spoke, Hailey carefully introduced the notion that Anna had been implicated in everything that had transpired thus far.
“But until now, without evidence, she’s slipped through the net of investigation.”
“So now you’re saying the Gate incident finally gives him grounds to investigate her? Then isn’t that good?”
When Dantarion pressed again, Hailey shook her head.
“Why would the High Priest die and the Regent be injured now, of all times?”
……
“You can’t extract anything from a dead man. The witness who would have connected the Regent to Nelloa has vanished along with him.”
Dantarion’s eyes widened slightly as understanding dawned.
“And the Regent…”
Hailey exhaled a small, rueful sigh.
“She’s already destroyed enough evidence, and now she’s become a victim of the High Priest’s attack. The Empire’s citizens can only sympathize with her.”
Hailey drove the point home.
“If this continues, the moment His Majesty investigates the Regent, it will appear as though he’s trampling someone who sacrificed for the Empire and was wounded in the process. The political cost makes it untenable, regardless of the necessity.”
Hailey’s words aligned precisely with what Bloden and Raven had already suspected.
Hailey’s words aligned precisely with what Bloden and Raven had already suspected. Raven nodded and added his own observation.
“Exactly, Hailey. Moreover, she was originally supposed to formally relinquish the Regency at His Majesty’s imminent Coming-of-age Declaration, but now she has every reason to claim injury as a pretext for absence.”
Hailey furrowed her brow as she answered.
“That’s right. She’ll use recuperation as an excuse to withdraw into some ambiguous position, and the moment a Gate crisis erupts again, she’ll step forward to resume the Regency.”
At this point, even Bloden could not help but marvel.
“How do you read so far ahead like that?”
“Hailey, you really are every inch a princess. You’ve never even studied politics before, have you?”
Dantarion nodded, now understanding at last, while Raven also added a comment with a click of his tongue.
“After Your Majesty’s marital deception, I assumed Hailey’s choice was only natural. But hearing such keen insight, I find myself bitterly regretting that we cannot see you elevated as Empress.”
Hailey’s expression grew suddenly complicated at the praise, and Bloden’s heart lurched. While Hailey had both affection for him and was cooperating with him, it seemed she still had not forgiven that one particular matter.
“Enough, Raven.”
Bloden hastily rebuked him.
“That matter is already finished. Hailey is a genius, true, but everything is her choice to make.”
Bloden hurried over to Hailey and clutched her legs in a tight embrace.

* * *

I knew the original work well enough to understand just how vicious and cunning Anna truly was. But since I couldn’t very well admit I knew about the novel, I’d simply explained the circumstances as though piecing them together logically.
It was enough that Dantarion had understood. But then Raven, moved to extraordinary praise while invoking the Empress, left me embarrassed.
‘How could he praise me to such a degree?’
I’m not nearly so remarkable. I was only able to guess Anna’s intentions because I’d read the original work, nothing more.
But there was no way I could say as much.
I was wondering if I’d made a mistake stepping in, when Bloden, who’d sternly rebuked Raven, suddenly clung to my leg.
“Nuna, you agree with me, right?”
I knew perfectly well that Bloden was nineteen years old.
Yet the childish aegyo he deployed in that three-year-old form was far too adorable to refuse.
‘What a sweetheart. So cute. My precious little one.’
As Bloden broke into giggles as if he were a real baby, Raven’s face flushed crimson.
“Your Majesty, have some dignity…… I’m mortified just watching. Miss Hailey, don’t be fooled by appearances. You know full well there’s a full-grown man inside that small frame.”
I gasped.
Only then did I realize I’d unknowingly hoisted Bloden into my arms and was bouncing him up and down.
The moment I set Bloden down, Dantarion, who’d been watching us with a look of longing, transformed into a three-year-old version of himself and stretched both arms toward me.
“Nuna. I want to be carried too.”
‘It’s cute, but… this one’s a bit much.’
As I hesitated, Bloden’s eyes went sharp as an axe blade, and he glared at Dantarion.
“I’m pretty sure I told you to stay in Raven’s form.”
“Oh dear, my apologies. My lord.”
Dantarion quickly shifted back into Raven’s appearance, but Bloden folded his arms and scowled.
“Too late. Go bang your head.”

* * *

After eating the food I’d prepared at the tent and returning to his original form, Bloden asked me something before heading to the Imperial Palace.
“Nuna, you’ll come to my coming-of-age ceremony and celebrate with me, right?”
So much had happened in the time that had passed, and Bloden’s coming-of-age ceremony and declaration weren’t far off at all.
‘It’s his birthday—the day he becomes an adult. If he didn’t invite me, I’d feel slighted.’
With that thought, I answered his invitation warmly.
“It’s an honor to celebrate close to Your Majesty. I should think ahead about what gift would be appropriate.”
“Anything from you would be wonderful, but honestly, Nuna, what I really want is to dance the waltz with you!”
“The waltz?”
“At the banquet, of course!”
“I’d prefer not to draw the nobles’ attention like that.”
“Then why not make the whole banquet a masquerade ball? That way no one knows who’s who. Wouldn’t that work?”
“A masquerade ball, well…”
“Yes? You promise?”
Delighted as a bird, Bloden asked for confirmation several times before finally taking his leave.
And I returned to Snoril with Raven and Kimarise.
The front of our house, which I’d returned to after so long, was still bustling with tourists, but the atmosphere of the domain had somehow changed.
“Miss, where on earth have you been all this time?”
I was wondering what had shifted when Ben, having heard of my return, came running straight over.
“I was just itching to tell you this news.”
What Ben brought me was word of Robinson’s peerage being stripped.
“Well, apparently the Lord tried to commit document fraud against the Royal Court. I don’t know exactly what he forged, but… tsk tsk.”
Ben clicked his tongue in disbelief, then laughed with genuine satisfaction.
“Not long ago he had his assets seized and fled to another domain like a coward. I never liked that one anyway—always poking around and causing trouble. Now that he won’t be able to pester you anymore, it’s all for the best.”
Nelloa’s disappearance had left me with a lingering unease, but at least Robinson had received proper punishment.
“Thank you for letting me know.”
I smiled and exchanged a few more pleasantries before Ben left, then immediately looked toward Raven.
‘When on earth did you manage all this?’
Though I hadn’t even asked the question aloud, Raven cleared his throat.
“Ahem, we handled it through the Imperial Court’s legal office. Personally, I wouldn’t object to killing the man outright, but I applied only those provisions of Imperial Law that were applicable and had him punished accordingly.”
Raven finished his explanation by noting that with the lordship now vacant, the Imperial Court would directly administer Snoril for the time being, then clasped his hands together and smiled brightly.
“Thank you sincerely for your assistance in closing the Gate. I believe Miss Hailey should rest and recover from the fatigue you’ve accumulated until His Majesty’s coming-of-age ceremony invitation arrives.”
As Raven said, I could spend my days quietly until the ceremony invitation arrived.
That’s certainly what I thought.
Until towering piles of gifts appeared in front of our house the very next day, drawing the tourists’ attention.

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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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