Unbeknownst to Me, I am Secretly Dating the Emperor - Chapter 103

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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 103
The knight beside Ibeta caught her as she collapsed.
After checking her condition briefly, he signaled to Kyle.
It seemed to mean that no physical abnormalities had been detected.
I, pressed against the carriage window watching the situation outside, finally let out a breath of relief.
Everett, squeezed between the carriage wall and my arm by my weight, blinked in surprise.
I had no energy to mind either his expression or the hot breath on my neck.
‘I think she used too much Holy Power all at once.’
It had been the same during her Awakening.
No matter how favored a Saint Ibeta was by Minos, channeling this magnitude of Holy Power in one burst had left her body unable to endure it.
Only after confirming that Ibeta was simply exhausted was she lifted by the knight and transferred to the carriage.
Fortunately, the crowd, thrilled by the Miracle Ibeta had wrought, accepted even that as a natural part of the miraculous process.
Kyle closed the cover of the parade carriage on the pretext that the crowd had grown too excited, concealing Ibeta’s loss of consciousness.
But the schedule could not continue.
The party passed through the city streets and returned to the Imperial Palace.
Ibeta was moved to the Separate Palace and awoke just before the palace physician arrived.
“Are you all right?”
When I asked with concern, Ibeta smiled nervously.
Like someone who had done something wrong and was trying to laugh it off.
At the news that Ibeta had awakened, Kyle came to check on her and launched into a lecture.
“Young mages with potential often make the same mistake the second time—they overextend themselves without understanding their limits.”
This was Kyle, who would lecture even the Emperor.
He showed no restraint even with Ibeta, a Saint.
“No matter how vast the Holy Power you possess, the human body has its limits. Have I not taught you to learn these things step by step?”
Ibeta sat listening to Kyle’s lecture with a dejected expression.
After a long, endless lecture, Kyle departed, claiming he still had cleanup work to attend to.
“If you have so much work, you could have just left without lecturing. I suppose the Holy Power I gave you was wasted—you’ve only regained the energy to complain.”
I waited until Kyle was safely out of earshot before whispering this to Ibeta.
Ibeta, who had been cowed, finally laughed.
“You’re right—I was reckless because I wanted to show you something.”
Yet she still seemed dispirited.
I lifted her spirits with a tone slightly brighter than usual.
“You were trying to do well. Kyle was probably just worried, that’s all. You’re distant relatives, but still relatives nonetheless.”
Kyle’s father was a cadet branch of the Robertus Family, so the two were indeed related by blood.
When it was confirmed that Ibeta was a bastard of the Robertus Family, she and Kyle were close enough—or distant enough—that they could both activate Magic Artifacts together.
“Oh, is that so?”
Having never thought of it that way, she widened her eyes and forgot her gloom.
“So I do have at least one decent relative.”
Ibeta cheerfully denounced the Robertus Family.
After sharing childhood stories with Bes, Ibeta had grown to dislike the Robertus Family even more.
Confirming that Ibeta’s mood had improved somewhat through whatever means, I left the Separate Palace.
“She’s resting. Bes should be here soon.”
I needed to help with the cleanup work.
Fortunately, there was material enough even without visiting the poorhouse.
In fact, the results turned out even better than planned.
Ibeta’s first public engagement concluded with greater effect than anticipated.
However, the scheduled visit to the poorhouse was indefinitely postponed, and instead, a lesson in wielding Holy Power was added—this time not alone, but with the palace mages.
Kyle, bringing papers even, worked with the court mages to frighten Ibeta into believing that using power beyond her limits and fainting would shorten her lifespan.
Ibeta was forbidden from using Holy Power outside of class hours until she learned to wield it properly.
In its place, they began a schedule of meetings with nobles who wished to see Ibeta.
To ensure Ibeta’s movements weren’t interpreted purely as political, the meetings initially focused on young ladies and noblewomen.
* * *
The Imperial Palace had been chaotic of late.
Surprisingly, in a good way.
The Emperor, whose personality should have been falling apart by now, was acting as though he had resolved to become a benevolent ruler.
Yet according to what Ibeta said, she still hadn’t even met the Emperor, so it wasn’t like the original narrative where he’d been reformed through the Saint.
And whenever the Emperor did something, the Blue Hawk operatives made a point of reporting it to me while praising him.
“Wow, His Majesty established a boarding school for war orphans.”
“For someone so compassionate, the rumors about him certainly don’t hold up.”
They spoke like actors reciting lines—stilted and unnatural.
In the end, I couldn’t hold back any longer and asked directly.
“Are we being monitored?”
It seemed almost certain they were using surveillance Magic Artifacts.
I was going through my recent words to see if any would incriminate me, when the Blue Hawk operatives made an incredulous expression.
‘So it’s not that.’
But the unnatural praise for the Emperor continued.
Until rumors filled the Imperial Palace that the Emperor had a secret lover.
* * *
“Where did the rumor originate?”
Edwin’s voice as he interrogated Kyle was ice-cold.
Edwin was truly angry for the first time in a long while.
Edwin, who had become quite docile since meeting Lina, seemed to have reverted to his former self.
Edwin himself knew that he’d only begun caring about others’ perceptions very recently.
After being spotted by a few of the Blue Hawk operatives.
But before that, he hadn’t been openly meeting her either.
An Emperor’s private life had to remain confidential by default.
From the outset, he hadn’t surrounded himself with loose-tongued people.
Since becoming Emperor, he’d been on the battlefield continuously, so he’d never properly controlled the palace; instead, he kept only those he could trust nearby.
If the rat who spread the rumor was among his inner circle, Edwin was resolved not to forgive the betrayal.
He was someone capable of being thoroughly cruel if necessary.
Kyle tightened the loosened nerve-string and answered carefully.
“It’s still merely speculation, but…….”
Kyle didn’t want to voice his suspicions either.
But when Edwin gestured for him to speak, he reported what he had uncovered so far.
“It seems the rumor spread when I requisitioned an Artifact from the Imperial Palace treasury.”
Though he called it speculation, the circumstantial evidence was quite compelling.
The Artifacts Kyle had removed were all in the form of feminine ornaments.
With his refined aesthetic sense, Kyle had meticulously selected only those that would suit Lina, designed so she could wear them daily.
This led people to believe that the Emperor had ordered Kyle to open the palace treasury to gift items to his lover.
A small rumor that had circulated among lower nobles grew into near-certainty as it spread into mainstream high society.
Thanks to this, it was easy to estimate the source of the rumor.
“For that reason, it seems only talk of His Majesty having a lover circulates, while the lover’s identity remains unknown.”
Kyle added what small comfort he could find.
Edwin’s expression relaxed, if only slightly.
“Find whoever it is and silence them.”
Yet his order remained cold.
Loose tongues in the Imperial Palace were a grave sin.
Especially for one who worked in the palace treasury.
“And the rumor itself…….”
Edwin felt his head throbbing.
The speed at which the rumor spread was excessive.
As if someone were orchestrating it from behind the scenes.
Edwin had no shortage of enemies, and there were several candidates.
But given how recent events had unfolded, the field could be narrowed.
A Saint under the Emperor’s protection had gone out and performed a Miracle, which was becoming a topic of interest—this was clearly an attempt to bury it under gossip instead.
The Emperor’s romantic affairs had always been the most captivating gossip.
‘It’s likely the Temple or the Western Region.’
Both were sides he was sick of dealing with.
It was fortunate that they hadn’t yet discovered Lina’s identity, but it was dangerous.
“Assign escort knights to Lina for now. Make sure they never let her out of their sight. Without her knowing.”
Edwin, prioritizing his lover’s safety, spoke with obvious reluctance.
“For the time being, I’ll have to refrain from meeting Lina.”

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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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