This Emperor Is Running a Marriage Scam - Chapter 229

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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 229

The person who had sent those extraordinary gifts was Stanley. He’d even traveled in secret to keep his identity hidden when he found me.
Kimarise, who happened to be with me at the time, guided him to Raven’s Residence, and after Raven showed us to the reception room, she seated me in the place of honor before taking a seat across from Stanley.
The moment Stanley sat down, he bowed deeply from the waist.
“Please, I beg you—help us, Hailey.”
“I’m sorry?”
“Nelloa was a witch! That witch is trying to destroy Kelite!”
Stanley said he’d known there were documents related to Abilities in the deep underground of the Kelite Royal Palace.
“But haven’t I mentioned this before? We don’t know what kind of Ability it is either. We never even imagined Nelloa could use such an Ability.”
…….
As I listened to Stanley’s pleas, I found myself remembering the days I’d spent traveling with Bloden.
While riding on Crockel, we’d exchanged stories that each of us might not have known.
I’d told Bloden many things about the world before my possession—everything except the fact that this world existed inside a book. And in return, Bloden had told me about his Avatar, Gates, the Abyss Realm, and related matters.
Which meant that by now, I knew just about everything worth knowing.
‘I know that you have Kimarise’s Avatar attached to you, and I know exactly what contents you wrote in that letter to the fleeing Nelloa.’
After listening quietly, I asked him a question.
“But why are you telling me this instead of His Majesty? And why bring all these gifts?”
“Isn’t Hailey the power behind the throne of the Empire?”
Stanley, saying something he’d never said aloud before, wrung his hands nervously.
“I simply hope that you’ll graciously embrace Kelite and communicate with His Majesty in a way that won’t provoke his anger…….”
In other words, he figured that if he bribed me—someone who seemed relatively less frightening in comparison—I’d smooth over his lies and manipulate Bloden on his behalf.
‘Hmm. Except I’m not the power behind the throne, and you’ve got the wrong target entirely.’
Beyond that, Kimarise had certainly reported Stanley’s visit, which meant Bloden was watching this entire situation through Kimarise’s eyes right now.
So I smiled brightly and spoke to Kimarise.
“Kimarise.”
“Yes, Hailey.”
“I think we should let the Crown Prince know how much we already understand.”
“Of course. What method would you prefer? Just say the word.”
I summoned the Avatar of Kimarise that had been attached to Stanley. Then, opening a page of the Kelite Language Book so that only the Avatar could see it, I had Kimarise read its contents aloud exactly as they appeared.
The color drained from Stanley’s face.
He’d realized that everything the Avatar saw and heard was transmitted directly to Kimarise, and that even though he couldn’t read his previous letters, Kimarise could now read Kelite script as well.
Watching Stanley stammer and fumble, I lifted one corner of my mouth into a smile.
“So, shall we start with the contents of that final letter you sent to Nelloa?”
“Ah!”
Stanley, shocked enough that his breath caught, actually climbed down from the sofa and fell to his knees.
“P-please, forgive me! I’ll tell you everything I know!”
Only then did Stanley begin to speak in earnest.
“The truth is, Kelite’s Ability can only be acquired by unsealing a specific Seal-Document. Any member of the Royal Family can obtain it, but only one person can use it.”
Without my even asking, he began rattling off information about the Kelite Royal Family’s Ability.
Whoever unsealed the document gained the Ability, and when they died, the Ability reverted to the form of a Seal-Document to be passed down in the same manner.
“But none of us ever possessed that Ability. We were taught that it was far too terrible a power to ever use, and that our only duty was to guard it and ensure it never fell into the hands of evil.”
And yet Nelloa had taken it with her.
In that moment, I realized there was a way to confirm whether Nelloa was alive or dead, and I asked immediately.
“Has the Seal-Document returned?”
Stanley hesitated before answering, then shook his head.
My mood grew complicated.
‘From the moment the Derivative Gate opened until Bloden closed it—that shouldn’t have been enough time for her to survive in there. So how is she still alive?’
“And after this Gate incident, we searched Nelloa’s room. She didn’t seem like the sister I knew.”
Stanley reached into his pocket and withdrew a small Diary with a broken lock.
“It was hidden behind the bookshelf. I broke the lock immediately and checked the contents…….”
The moment he unfolded the Diary on the center of the table, Raven’s eyes narrowed.
“That’s not Kelite’s ancient script. In fact, I’ve never seen anything like it. What nation’s writing system is this?”
“I don’t know. But this is the first time I’ve seen Nelloa write in such characters. I suspect that a Demon Beast hiding from the Northern Gate devoured our Nelloa and took her place.”
Essentially, Kelite was claiming innocence.
I brushed off Stanley’s pleas to execute Nelloa and picked up the Diary.
While the two of them were troubled, I could read it easily. The characters written in the Diary were Hangul.
Apparently, Nelloa had possessed the body of a princess of Kelite—an extra character in a novel called “This Princess Commits Financial Fraud.”
“Financial fraud? Not marriage fraud? The title is slightly different from what I read.”
Upon closer examination, I discovered that while the central heroine differed from the one in “This Princess Commits Marriage Fraud,” the story unfolded in the same world around the same male protagonist.
As I turned the pages steadily, reading through them, Kimarise, who stood behind me, asked a question.
“Hailey, is it possible you can read that script?”
“Yes, I can read it. She must have been absolutely certain no one else would be able to. She wrote the contents without any hesitation at all.”

[Bloden is far too precious to waste on a swindler princess from a beggar kingdom.]

‘Well, the lamp beneath one’s own feet casts the deepest shadow…… Come to think of it, Robena had an ability too. How could I have missed that?’

Back then, I’d had no idea who Robena was, but from the diary, I learned she was the princess of Tillan. And she’d become a fugitive after perpetrating a massive financial fraud against Anna in order to save her impoverished homeland.
By this point, I grew curious.
“Raven, do you happen to know what Tillan’s ability is?”
“Yes. I had Tillan’s ability text found and sent to a linguist for translation. To give you the conclusion: it’s the creation of magical artifacts that anyone can use, provided certain conditions are met.”
“Magical artifacts?”
“For instance, if one were crafted to function only for farmers, it could restore entire farmlands destroyed by disaster.”
“Wow, that’s quite a remarkable ability.”
“However, the cost of using that ability was an astronomical sum of money.”
“Money……?”
“Yes.”
“Is Tillan perhaps a region prone to natural disasters?”
“Indeed. It’s constantly beset by massive typhoons and tidal waves. Yet the damage seemed lighter than it should have been…….”
Raven shrugged.
“Now I see—she must have been reversing the damage using her ability all along.”
‘Ah, so that’s why Robena committed financial fraud.’
It wasn’t the right way to do things, but it seemed she’d acted for the sake of her own country.
As I turned several more pages of the diary, I found a passage that made me gasp.

[I need to get rid of the princesses around my age. Once Robena and Adeline are gone, I’ll be the only candidate for Empress.]

‘What? She was a sociopath?’
So this was why she’d attacked Tillan and Meridian. From the start, she’d waged war to kill both me and Robena for her own gain.

[By now, surely my dear protagonist is in Snoril?]

‘God, Nelloa. Really…….’
The moment we meet again, I’ll tear out every last strand of her hair. With that resolve, I summarized the diary’s contents and told everyone.
They all dropped their jaws. Even Stanley seemed genuinely shocked to learn this much.
I placed Nelloa’s diary into my Pocket Dimension as I spoke.
“You did well to bring this, but I’m afraid I can’t grant your request.”
“……Yes?”
“His Majesty judges all matters fairly, regardless of any request I might make.”
I drew a firm line, watching Stanley’s eyes waver significantly.
“Take all the gifts. And this time, speak before His Majesty—from beginning to end, tell him nothing but the truth. Since he already knows everything, don’t bother trying to hide anything.”

* * *

Anna, who had been convalescing in the Regent’s Palace Bedroom, was startled.
There were no openings in the door, the windows, or the secret passage. Yet a small hole large enough for a person to slip through suddenly appeared in the floor, and an old woman with a hunched back abruptly emerged from it.
Her scraggly white hair was in complete disarray, and her face was covered in wrinkles, age spots, and warts. As the old woman rolled her bloodshot eyes and grinned wickedly, her sparse remaining teeth became visible.
“Who—who are you!”
Her skin crawling, Anna tried to call out loudly for the guards. Then the old woman pressed a finger to her lips in a gesture for silence and greeted her.
“How have you been? The Regent.”
Though her voice was hoarse, there was something familiar about it—and her manner of speech was unmistakably so.
Anna stared at the old woman intently before barely managing to ask.
“Could it be…… Princess Nelloa?”

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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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