Unbeknownst to Me, I am Secretly Dating the Emperor - Chapter 10

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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 10
Everett Rohas’s gaze left me almost immediately, as if his question didn’t require an answer.
With a slight tilt of his chin, Everett Rohas gestured for me to sit, settling himself on the sofa across from me.
“Sit.”
“Ah, yes!”
I, who had been standing there numbly, only took my seat after Everett Rohas repeated himself.
‘I spent all week thinking about what to say.’
The moment I faced him, my mind went completely blank.
While I gathered my thoughts, he said nothing either, leaving the room in silence.
‘First, I should ask about Coni’s condition.’
Then I could inquire about the progress of the matter.
But Everett Rohas opened his mouth before I did.
“I thought you knew who I was and were deliberately chasing after me.”
His tone was light again, as though no answer was required.
Yet the suspicion he deliberately displayed made it hard to let the matter pass without saying something.
“It seems to me that you appeared wherever I happened to be.”
When I pointedly corrected the order of events, Everett Rohas laughed, his eyes widening.
The man, who had been expressionless until now, looked like a blooming rose when he smiled.
As if deliberately trying to seduce me.
‘I don’t know what Everett Rohas intends, but from my perspective watching him—’
I worried whether my cheeks were flushing.
Just as I was forcing my gaze away from his lips, as if waiting for that very moment, his lips parted again.
“That said, I’ve dealt with this so often.”
It was a warped remark, unpleasant no matter how I interpreted it.
But coming from Everett, it sounded like a mere statement of fact.
“Ah, I see.”
I laughed awkwardly and deflected.
My throat grew dry, and if not for his presence, I would have fanned myself.
Despite my halfhearted response, Everett’s smile only deepened.
He leaned forward, speaking to me as though sharing a secret.
“Are you warm? Your cheeks are flushed.”
Everett’s gaze fixed on my eyes as if to examine the tremor of my pupils.
‘It’s because of you.’
He was a man far too aware of how handsome he was.
‘Come to your senses, Carolina. Don’t fall for pretty faces.’
I drew in a deep breath and exhaled.
The heat in my cheeks subsided noticeably.
Realizing I’d regained my composure, Edwin slowly withdrew.
The teasing demeanor he’d displayed moments ago vanished, replaced by a more serious tone.
“Shall we talk business now? Miss Diaz.”
* * *
“I thought you knew who I was and were deliberately chasing after me,” Edwin said lightly, observing Lina’s eyes.
Her violet eyes, seemingly inherited from her mother’s side, held only bewilderment.
The more he thought about it, the more her eyes narrowed slightly, as though exasperated.
Her lips barely moved, as if she were muttering curses to herself about being overly self-conscious.
“It seems to me that you appeared wherever I happened to be.”
She sounded ready to recount the details one by one if he claimed not to remember.
If his identity hadn’t been exposed, then was it something else?
Edwin couldn’t help but laugh at her response, watching her with flushed cheeks as if entranced.
Her violet eyes grew even hazier, though not unpleasantly so.
‘Is it because I lack carnal desire?’
Even when he deliberately drew close and met her gaze, her eyes contained only the pure admiration one might have for a work of art.
‘I’ve never encountered such a reaction before.’
As Lina gradually regained her composure, Edwin’s interest waned, and he straightened in his seat.
He’d confirmed what he needed to confirm. It was time to end this light diversion.
“Shall we talk business now? Miss Diaz.”
Being an emperor wasn’t merely a position of leisure, and it was time for him to return soon.
Momentarily flustered by the sudden shift to the main topic, Lina quickly hardened her expression and began focusing on the conversation.
“One moment, please.”
Edwin rang the bell connected to the café, summoning Kyle.
“The conversation looks like it will take a while.”
As Kyle entered the private room, Edwin placed a drink order.
“Whiskey for me, and fruit wine for Miss Diaz.”
“I’ve told you several times that this is a café, not a bar,” Kyle muttered in protest.
“Actually, I’m fine with nothing,” Lina said, declining the fruit wine, apparently a lightweight when it came to alcohol.
Edwin smiled with sympathy, as if watching someone walk straight into a trap of their own making.
“Then would Miss Carolina Diaz prefer coffee instead?”
Lina’s pupils quivered.
“Considering the proprietor’s skill, I’d say the fruit wine you simply pour from the bottle into a glass would be better.”
Edwin lowered his voice as he gave Lina this advice, though his volume was still quite audible to Kyle’s ears.
Lina drew in a sharp breath, and after brief deliberation, spoke with resignation.
“I’ll have the fruit wine.”
“An excellent choice.”
Edwin gestured to Kyle again.
That he was an emperor was a secret in this moment. But that didn’t change the fact that Edwin was Kyle’s sovereign.
Kyle, having abandoned all resistance, returned with the wine bottle and glass.
Edwin poured whiskey into his own glass, then filled Lina’s with a vibrant golden liquid.
He then reclined casually against the table, raising his glass lightly in one hand.
“Ah, yes!”
Lina also lifted her glass slightly.
When Edwin drained his whiskey in one shot, Lina brought her glass to her lips and followed suit.
Edwin watched appreciatively as the liquid passed her lips and down her throat.
‘She drank it.’
Since Kyle had provided a delicate glass befitting the fruit wine, the amount in Lina’s glass wasn’t large.
After just a couple of sips, half of it was gone.
Edwin began his introduction while carefully observing Lina’s condition.
“First, your friend Coni is doing well.”
He dangled this like bait—what Lina would be most curious about.
Lina’s gaze, which had been savoring the sweet aftertaste of the drink, shifted toward Edwin.
“I don’t know if Kyle explained, but I can’t release her just yet.”
Edwin deliberately avoided her violet eyes, which had grown luminous with just two sips of alcohol.
“Why not? The arrangement was that I give you evidence to arrest Duke Camelot in exchange for Coni’s release.”
Her previously clear speech slurred slightly with the alcohol, though her tone of protest remained just as sharp.
Edwin couldn’t help but smile at this bold little woman who dared to argue with him.
‘She really is naive, come to think of it.’
Did she truly believe that dealing with the Information Guild was like haggling with a market vendor?
Edwin deflected her resistance smoothly.
“You apparently asked Kyle to introduce you to someone influential enough to handle this fairly.”
“That’s…”
Being a poor liar, Lina merely pursed her lips.
“Of course, you likely thought that once Duke Camelot’s guilt was exposed, Constance’s innocence would naturally be revealed as well.”
Edwin voiced Lina’s unspoken thoughts for her.
“But your evidence alone cannot fully establish Duke Camelot’s guilt. I’ve already sent an Inspection Unit to Camelot Territory, so we’ll soon verify whether your evidence is genuine and substantive.”
Edwin refilled both his glass and Lina’s.
He tilted his chin, gesturing for her to drink more.
When he demonstrated by emptying his whiskey glass, Lina picked up hers and took another sip of the fruit wine.
Edwin smiled as he watched her glass empty completely.
“When that time comes, your friend will be released as well.”
His soft, coaxing voice made Lina nod somewhat reluctantly.
“You must keep your promise.”
What Lina had drunk was sweet enough to taste like juice, but it was actually quite potent spirits.
She didn’t seem to have a particularly low tolerance, yet she was still holding steady at this level—her willpower was considerable.
Edwin had come out of the Imperial Palace specifically to meet her today, so he needed to gather useful information. But before proceeding with his next question, he hesitated.
‘I wonder if it’s safe.’
The fruit wine he’d prepared for Lina still had about half remaining.
Edwin glanced at her slender wrist and scratched his jaw.
‘Her frame is roughly half that of an average man, so I’ll need to adjust the dosage.’
Edwin abandoned his plan to refill Lina’s glass and instead probed her carefully.
“A promise is a promise—for the guild’s credibility if nothing else. I simply need to verify where exactly your information came from, since I don’t know. For instance, whether you obtained it through a guild contract?”
Her violet eyes, fixed on Edwin, began to dart and waver the moment he finished speaking, then refocused on him.
Flustered, Lina hastily filled her empty glass with fruit wine.
Buying time.
She poured until it nearly overflowed, draining the bottle to its dregs.
Then, with the thirst of someone parched, she downed it all in one long gulp.
Edwin barely had time to protest, such was the speed and vigor of her motion.
“Miss Carolina Diaz?”
Edwin called her name carefully.
But no answer came.
Thud.
She had already lost consciousness.

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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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