This Emperor Is Running a Marriage Scam - Chapter 230

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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 230

“Yes, that’s me. Nelloa Kelite.”
Nelloa’s reply was one thing, but the moment Anna spotted something crawling out from the hole, a chill raced down her spine.
“My escorts are rather dreadful, I admit. But if you look at me that way too, I’ll be hurt.”
Nelloa gestured toward two monsters standing upright behind her, giggling softly.
“Compared to these escorts, I’m beautiful, aren’t I?”
The armored monsters were roughly Nelloa’s height. Their bodies stood upright like humans, but below their torsos writhed countless legs packed densely together, too many to count.
The moment the two monsters emerged from the hole, their long antennae began probing at every corner of the bedroom.
“They can’t converse, but they follow simple commands well—things like ‘bite’ or ‘kill.'”
The instant those words left Nelloa’s lips, the monsters’ demeanor turned savage, and they wheeled toward Anna.
“Eeek! Wait, what do you want?”
“Enough. You’re frightening the Regent.”
At Anna’s cry of alarm, Nelloa raised a hand to calm the monsters, then continued speaking.
“I’ve come to share something the Regent may not know, and to present a proposal that could bring considerable benefit.”
“Considerable benefit… a proposal?”
Anna repeated the words cautiously, keeping a wary eye on the monsters, as Nelloa began to smirk.
“Yes, as it turns out, the one who opened the Northern Main Gate was our First King.”
.
.
.
After Nelloa departed, Anna told no one of the Gate’s existence. She merely concealed it beneath thin iron plating and a very thick carpet.
For days afterward, Anna kept watch over the carefully hidden Gate, turning over in her mind the story Nelloa had shared.
Nelloa, fleeing Bloden’s pursuit, had created the Gate and escaped through it—only to encounter monsters. Yet for some reason, they did not attack her.
Far from attacking, a winged monster had approached and borne her aloft for three full days, only to deposit her at the Gate’s deepest point.
There, Nelloa discovered a monster vast as a mountain, its lower half fused immovably to the ground, and a Gate said to connect to the Abyss Realm.
The dragon-like monster possessed thirteen heads. It had no name, but one of them could communicate through what seemed to be telepathy.
Nelloa gave the monster a name—Eternal—and in turn, Eternal revealed to her the secrets of the Abyss Realm and ages past, as well as the reason the monsters had not attacked her.

‘The First King of Kelite opened the Gate and granted freedom to the beings trapped eternally in the Abyss Realm, allowing them to emerge into the world.’

There were two ways for transcendent beings from the Abyss Realm to enter the world.
One was to forge a contract with the Emperor of Ilpein and become a Commander; the other was to pass through a door linking the Abyss Realm to the Gate and become a monster.

‘The monsters merely wished to live together in this world, but the House of Ilpein and this world manipulated them—made them believe that granting them freedom was a mistake. That’s why their special abilities were sealed away, generation after generation. How are we to be compensated for such immense suffering?’

Anna didn’t know what the word “manipulated” meant. She nearly laughed aloud at Nelloa’s claim that the monsters, creatures who tried to kill anyone they laid eyes on, had merely wanted to coexist peacefully in this world.
Yet Anna composed herself and showed no reaction, listening instead to all that Nelloa said. What mattered to her was whether Nelloa’s proposal would profit her.
And when Nelloa’s proposal finally came, it seized Anna’s interest entirely.

‘After we’ve disposed of Bloden and Hailey, I’ll place you on the throne as Emperor of the Ilpein Empire, and lay the entire world at my feet. If you’ll stand with me in this, then on the Emperor’s birthday, you’ll execute what I ask of you. Or rather…’

Nelloa had looked at Anna with cold, hollow eyes.

‘If you refuse, I’ll find someone else. There are plenty who’d desire the throne.’

The final words were spoken in a blunt tone and held the weight of a threat. Recalling this now, Anna bit her lip hard.
‘Insufferable creature.’
Having cursed Nelloa inwardly, Anna summoned Duke Roan.
“Do you remember that young woman called ‘Hailey’?”
“The one whose name appeared as a spouse on false documentation submitted by Count Snoril, despite her already being married?”
Duke Roan’s face twisted with displeasure at the mere thought of it.
“Had it not been for that woman’s deception, neither you nor I would have found ourselves signing fraudulent documents. The more I recall it, the more infuriating it becomes…”
At that time, Duke Roan had thrown his weight behind the swift stripping of Count Snoril’s title and the confiscation of his assets.
Until she heard Nelloa’s account, even Anna had believed it was merely a matter of Count Snoril’s false report.
“There’s been a report that His Majesty was already married. And it seems the Empress is that very young woman.”
Duke Roan’s eyes widened in shock.
“Is that even possible? The administrative office has reported nothing to this effect.”
“His Majesty completed the marriage registration procedures faster than Count Snoril and kept it tightly sealed. That young woman’s husband was His Majesty all along.”
“Who told you this? And before that—why did His Majesty suddenly decide to make a commoner his Empress……?”
“Nelloa Kelite came to me in secret and told me. Apparently that girl’s Special Ability can lift the curse from His Majesty.”
As Anna relayed what she had heard from Nelloa, Duke Roan’s expression darkened.
If the one who freed Bloden from the curse became Empress, there could be no better news for the Empire. The stronger Bloden became, the safer and more prosperous the realm would grow.
The problem was whether the existing power structure would remain intact.
The more the Monsters rampaged, the harder it became for Bloden to remain in the Imperial Palace, and thus the stronger Anna’s authority grew. House of Roan had easily seized real control of the Empire and accumulated vast wealth on that foundation.
But Hailey’s existence threatened to unravel everything.
‘That girl must be eliminated.’
Several capable assassins flickered through Duke Roan’s mind, but he could only sigh.
‘She’ll have guards, of course.’
Even if it wasn’t public knowledge, if the marriage had been registered administratively, she held the status of Empress.
If he made a wrong move and was caught, it would be regicide—and his entire house could be exterminated for treason.
“This is troublesome.”
“Indeed. But…….”
Anna shared with Duke Roan the details of Nelloa’s situation and her proposal.
The more he listened, the paler Duke Roan’s face became. But soon his eyes began darting back and forth with calculation.

* * *

Above the Imperial Palace Underground Prison was a kitchen that handled meals for the inmates.
Clark, dressed in the clothes of a serving assistant, tucked a notebook and pen into his breast first. Then he picked up a bucket containing what was called “swill”—thin, watery gruel—and a ladle.
Together with another serving attendant from his shift, he headed down to the underground prison.
When the two appeared, the prisoners rushed to hold out their filthy wooden bowls through the bars of their cells.
The serving attendant with Clark placed hard bread crusts into each bowl, and Clark poured in a ladle of swill.
When they reached the special containment section deep within the Underground Prison, Clark withdrew a gold coin from his breast and handed one each to the serving attendant, the Knight guarding the entrance, and the jailer.
The jailer took Clark’s bucket and began distributing the meal in his stead, while the Knight lowered his voice and asked Clark quietly.
“How much longer will you need for the investigation?”
Investigation. That was precisely Clark’s purpose in disguising himself as a serving assistant.
In the special containment section were Utra and Aer, along with their associates, all awaiting execution.
“The inquiry team should return in three days, or so I hear. We’ll need to start mixing in the sedative again.”
The inquiry team the Knight mentioned were those interrogating Utra and Aer. But Anna had administered excessive sedatives to both men, preventing any progress in the questioning.
When Meltears attacked Anna, the inquiry team was suddenly reassigned to investigate the emergency at the Temple instead.
Clark, abandoned by Nelloa and threatened with death by Duke Roan, seized the opportunity and used bribes to disguise himself as a serving assistant. He paid off the Knight guarding the prison to stop the sedative injections, then began interviewing Utra and Aer.
Utra and Aer, drowsy and dazed from the sedatives, only realized how much time had passed once the drug wore off.
In that moment, both men concluded they had been abandoned.

‘If I present this truth to His Majesty, I can bring down House of Roan and the Regent, and appeal for their leniency. That’s the only way I survive.’

Swayed by Clark’s persuasion, Utra and Aer confessed that Anna and Duke Roan were the true architects of all the crimes, signed the confession document, and even pressed their seals.
‘I’ll present all of this to the Emperor and claim the credit.’
Even if he received no reward, House of Roan’s destruction was certain. Then Clark’s own safety would be guaranteed automatically.
“I think one more day should do it. Thank you for your help.”
It was as Clark withdrew his notebook from his breast for the final interview.
“Help! Someone, please!”
A scream came from deeper within, followed by the sound of a bucket clattering to the floor.

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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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