Unbeknownst to Me, I am Secretly Dating the Emperor - Chapter 113

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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 113
“What sort of person is he?”
When Ibeta asked about the new priest out of concern, I paused briefly before offering an explanation.
“His impression was terribly hazy, you know? Like a portrait sketched in pencil that someone had smudged slightly with an eraser.”
I remembered most of the High Priest’s close associates from the original work, but such a vague description made it difficult to identify who this was.
Yet Ibeta laughed, satisfied, as though she couldn’t possibly describe it any better.
“I see.”
I simply smiled along with her.
‘Well, Ibeta was always like that in the original work too.’
The novel had flowed mostly from Ibeta’s first-person perspective, and her descriptions—especially of appearances—were always rather abstract.
When mentioning her own looks, she’d list objective facts like pink hair and blue eyes, which made for a perfectly adequate description.
As for Kyle, she’d described him as a supporting character in a romance novel pining for a hopeless love.
‘When describing the Emperor, though…’
She’d say something like encountering a handsome predator in the night.
I’d never seen the Emperor directly, but Kyle, whom I had seen, genuinely looked like a mediocre secondary male lead from a romance novel, so Ibeta’s description was accurate enough.
The only problem was that you only realized “Ah, that’s who she meant” after actually seeing the person yourself.
I’d decisively given up on asking Ibeta for physical descriptions.
“Did he show any disrespect toward you, or seem suspicious in any way?”
What mattered was how dangerous this priest might be to Ibeta.
“Not so far.”
Ibeta answered without hesitation.
Still, I couldn’t entirely let my guard down.
We’d only just met him once.
“Would it be all right if I attended the next lesson with you?”
I’d heard that while they’d accepted the priest’s instruction, the condition was that a guard knight and handmaidens would be present during the lessons.
I planned to keep watch over Ibeta’s lesson disguised as a handmaiden.
“Of course! Absolutely.”
Since I rarely asked for anything, Ibeta agreed enthusiastically.
“Thank you.”
As it happened, today was that lesson day.
The moment Ibeta gave her permission, I changed into the clothes of a lower-ranking handmaiden.
I went to the Reception Room where the lesson was to be held and took my place against the wall, just as the priest entered.
‘I barely made it in time.’
The priest had pale gray hair and eyes even lighter than that.
Not merely gray, but gray like traces left behind after lightly erasing a pencil sketch—indistinct features that were far from sharp.
Ibeta’s description had been accurate.
While I was trying to recall which of the High Priest’s associates had gray hair, the priest bowed respectfully to Ibeta.
“I am Udaph, humble servant of the god Minos, and I am honored to meet you, Holy Maiden.”
Udaph—the name was one I recognized.
‘I should have asked his name sooner.’
My instincts had been right; this was what I’d feared.
The High Priest would never let such an opportunity slip away.
This man was the High Priest’s closest confidant and adopted son.
Which meant he appeared in Ibeta’s first and second playthroughs—futures that would no longer come to pass.
He had no direct connection to the High Priest at this present moment, but he was skilled in wielding Divine Power.
As someone who would become the High Priest’s closest aide in the future, he showed all the makings of an excellent villain.
He was exactly the sort of person the High Priest would send as a teacher.
‘But that guy is genuinely awful.’
He was one of the few villains who appeared across both Ibeta’s first and second playthroughs.
What’s more, in the second playthrough, he tormented Ibeta far worse than in the first.
‘Because he harbored a deep inferiority complex toward Ibeta once she became the Holy Maiden.’
Udaph had awakened to Divine Power from birth.
Though the frail body of an infant could only bear meager Divine Power, his birth had promised a brilliant future.
Udaph’s parents entrusted him to the Temple.
He was raised with great favor, regarded as a future candidate for High Priest.
Yet even after reaching adulthood, Udaph’s Divine Power had scarcely grown beyond what he’d possessed as a newborn.
The Temple kept him because he wielded his meager Divine Power with remarkable efficiency and was exceptionally skilled at internal politics.
As his Divine Power failed to increase, he’d learned to humble himself, clinging to the Temple’s influential figures like a tongue within the mouth.
Then, when the priest who’d supported him died of old age, those who had resented Udaph used their influence to have him assigned to the High Priest’s group of junior priests—to be used and discarded.
Yet even within that group, he displayed his characteristic shrewdness, earning the High Priest’s trust and eventually taking charge of managing the brainwashed junior priests.
Ibeta herself was among those junior priests under his supervision.
But Udaph’s supporting priest dying was an event still to come.
‘Now that I think about it, there were already other junior priests who were brainwashed before Ibeta was captured.’
Though the original work had been derailed, this appeared to have occurred before that deviation point.
‘It seems he’s already begun gathering junior priests.’
They were evidence of and victims to the High Priest’s most heinous crime.
Of course they had to be found and helped.
But it was no simple task.
Breaking the brainwashing the High Priest had placed on them came down to one of two options.
Either the caster dies, or the person under the spell dies.
To free the priests already captured, the High Priest would have to be killed.
In other words, the original work’s final boss would have to be defeated, which was beyond my ability to accomplish right now.
‘But someday I’ll be able to manage it.’
Even without a regressed Ibeta, the Emperor despised the Temple.
This time too, he would move to strike down the High Priest.
‘And he’ll succeed.’
In the original work, the path had simply been easier and more convenient thanks to Ibeta’s knowledge of the future, but objectively speaking, the Emperor possessed more than sufficient power to accomplish it.
‘And this time, I know the original work’s information as well.’
I’d devised a plan to carefully slip future information to the Emperor in Ibeta’s stead.
The sooner the High Priest fell, the sooner those priests could be freed.
Even as these thoughts occupied my mind, I kept a sharp watch to ensure Udaph wasn’t making any improper advances toward Ibeta.
True to his reputation for political cunning, Udaph fulfilled his role as a devout priest admirably.
If one didn’t know from the original work that he was a villain, his performance was convincing enough to inspire genuine confidence.
Throughout the lesson, he taught Ibeta with sincere dedication.
Both his content and demeanor were textbook perfect—enough to lower one’s guard.
“Then I shall see you at the next lesson.”
It seemed he was still at the stage of disarming Ibeta’s wariness.
Once the allotted time had elapsed, Udaph bowed to Ibeta.
“Yes, then please take care on your way.”
Ibeta hesitated before returning his farewell.
‘I should warn her.’
To be on her guard.
But Ibeta’s next lesson was about to begin, so I resolved to speak with her later.
* * *
After returning to my assigned room, restless with unease, I stepped onto the terrace that connected to the Garden.
There, in the small garden linked to this room, I spotted Everett standing.
Not long ago, the young messenger who’d been running errands between Everett and me had appeared.
He’d asked if there was anything I needed to convey.
It was clearly sent at Everett’s behest, so I’d written an exceedingly long letter and sent it back through the boy.
‘At the time, I wrote that I’d be staying at the Separate Palace for a while and asked him to send his reply there.’
Yet here he was in person!
Everett looked slightly startled when I suddenly opened the door.
‘I was startled too, though.’
But my joy at seeing him was greater than my surprise.
I waved both hands at Everett in greeting.
“Ed!”
“Hey, Lina.”
Everett, who looked a bit gaunt, lifted his head toward me and smiled.
The composition was terribly familiar.
It was an extremely common scene from classic romance novels.
I called out playfully toward the garden.
“Did you come to sing me a serenade?”
“Huh?”
Though he surely heard and understood what a serenade was, Everett asked me to repeat myself anyway.
‘Guess he can’t carry a tune.’
Though if I pestered him enough, he’d probably oblige.
A mischievous impulse flickered across my mind, but I suppressed it maturely.
“Heh, just joking.”
Everett visibly relaxed.
But there was one more familiar scene possible with a woman on the terrace and a man below—one I hadn’t yet explored.
I’d turned down the serenade, but I had a feeling he’d like what came next.
“Would you like to come inside?”
Inviting one’s lover in through the terrace—the classic romantic gesture.

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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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