Unbeknownst to Me, I am Secretly Dating the Emperor - Chapter 114

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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 114
* * *
“Would you like to come inside?”
Edwin’s first thought at Lina’s invitation was: should I?
Edwin was a man with deeply conservative views on romance.
It wasn’t as though they were engaged—they weren’t even formally betrothed—and stepping into his lover’s bedroom would have seemed ungentlemanly by his standards.
“Yeah.”
But he was no gentleman.
He answered as though entranced, and Lina stepped slightly aside.
Edwin vaulted over the terrace railing in one fluid motion.
“I missed you.”
The moment his feet touched ground, Lina drew him into an embrace.
“Me too.”
Edwin wrapped his arms around her, then stilled.
She was wearing a negligee.
The fabric was thinner than her day clothes, the cut more relaxed.
They had embraced dozens of times before, but never had he felt the contours of her body quite so clearly.
Edwin deliberately summoned thoughts of the dullest, most proper matters he could muster, then carefully released her—but only enough that they were no longer touching.
He was reluctant to let his lover go entirely after so long apart.
Fortunately, Lina seemed unaware of what that distance meant.
She simply chattered happily, delighted to finally have his face close enough to see clearly.
“Are you done with the urgent matters now?”
Edwin’s conscience pricked at the sight of Lina’s face, filled only with genuine affection and concern.
He looked down at her for a moment in silence.
He knew there was a more orthodox way to handle the Temple and the Western Region than his current plan.
But he hadn’t the courage yet.
Edwin’s expression fell, and he made a silent vow.
‘Soon. Very soon, I promise.’
He imposed restraint upon himself, knowing how easily he might retreat.
Only then could he answer her.
“Not yet. But meeting here—that’s fine.”
Much was left unsaid, but it was the most honest thing he could manage in that moment.
Lina beamed and drew him close again.
The heat that rose instinctively within him left Edwin feeling a touch of self-reproach.
“So you can come every day?”
“I can.”
But her next question received the same affirmative answer.
* * *
“It worked out perfectly.”
I murmured the words into Everett’s chest.
The moment those three syllables left my lips, Everett went rigid.
His muscles tensed visibly, and I felt the sharp intake of breath.
The body pressed against mine shifted from warm to blazing hot.
‘But a kiss wasn’t all that had to happen.’
Not today, of course.
I hid my scheming thoughts and lingered a moment longer in his embrace.
Everett grew warmer by the second.
Then I suddenly remembered we’d been standing in a place where people might pass by.
As befitted a Holy Maiden’s residence, the Separate Palace was heavily guarded, with many servants about.
The guards patrolled regularly, and if we lingered much longer on the terrace, we risked running into guards or staff members working nearby.
“Let’s go inside.”
If this had been my own room, I might have hesitated slightly, but the Separate Palace’s guest chamber bore the careful touch of expert cleaners and organizers.
It was a place where I didn’t have to worry about what I’d left in disarray this morning, and except for the morning cleaning hours, hardly anyone ever entered.
‘I’d asked for the minimal attendance because I was never comfortable being waited on constantly.’
But it made for ideal conditions to draw my lover inside.
Yet at the suggestion to go in, Everett froze completely.
I was beginning to worry whether he was even breathing.
I grabbed hold of him before his imagination could run too wild.
“The door there connects to the Reception Room.”
The guest chamber Ibeta had provided was luxurious, adjoining both a reception room and a dressing chamber.
Everett’s face flushed deeply as he caught the implication of my words.
“Were you expecting something?”
“No.”
The answer came too quickly to be believable.
“Looks like you were.”
“I wasn’t.”
“Then how did you know what I was implying?”
“…….”
Everett fell silent, his expression clearly betraying that he understood perfectly well.
I teased him mercilessly as I walked into the Reception Room first.
Everett, his face still flushed, followed me inside.
When I turned to look at him, he flinched visibly.
“Sit down.”
Worried that my shy lover might bolt, I ended my teasing there.
We settled side by side on the long sofa.
It had been more than two weeks since Everett sent that letter saying we wouldn’t see each other for a while.
We’d had a very brief meeting since then, but it wasn’t nearly enough.
Simply sitting this close set my heart racing as though I’d drunk a glass of wine.
‘I think I like Ed more than I realized.’
I observed his slightly roughened features with that thought in mind.
‘So what if I do?’
“Ed.”
I called his name, waited until his eyes met mine, then placed both hands on his cheeks.
After all the time we’d spent apart, a kiss for each day seemed only fair accounting.
But this calculation existed only in my head.
Everett blinked, his eyes widening in surprise.
His long lashes—unusual in a man—fluttered softly, and suddenly he looked remarkably innocent.
A new facet of beauty I’d only ever thought of as chiseled perfection.
‘I want to keep finding new sides of you.’
Everett captivated my curiosity far more than ancient history, my longtime obsession.
I smiled and kissed him.
Smack.
Light, fleeting pecks that barely grazed his lips before pulling away—several in succession.
By the third kiss, Everett had wound his arm around my waist, fighting the urge to pull me closer by gripping the sofa’s armrest as though he might shatter it.
Fortunately, the armrest survived long enough for the kiss to end.
It hadn’t been long, but for Everett, it might have felt like an eternity.
He looked thoroughly exhausted.
The distant, faraway look in his eyes gradually returned.
The moment I released him, he quickly moved to the far end of the sofa.
“Lina.”
He said my name with a tone of frustration, his voice slightly hoarse.
“Yes?”
I answered deliberately brightly.
Everett exhaled a heavy sigh.
“……It’s nothing.”
It was clearly not nothing.
I scooted closer by the distance he’d just put between us.
Everett leapt to his feet and moved to a chair on the opposite side.
“Why are you running away?”
I asked with a pouting lip, and Everett answered in that hoarse voice of his.
“It’s not the Reception Room that’s the problem, Lina.”
He warned me in a low voice.
Now the tables had turned, and I was the one who flinched.
Seeing the confusion in my eyes, Everett smiled beautifully.
As though his beauty could mask his intentions.
It was an obvious ploy, but he was too handsome for me to resist it.
I fell completely for his trick and all my tension melted away.
“I have very ordinary tastes.”
“So do I.”
An understanding was reached.
I gave up chasing after Everett and simply stayed on the long sofa.
The slightly tense atmosphere eased back into something lighter.
Normal conversation finally began.
We had weeks of stories to share.
Everett’s tired expression gradually brightened as he listened to my account of things.
After talking about everyday matters for a while, I suddenly remembered something that had happened today.
‘I should tell as many people as possible.’
The Temple’s schemes were always murky and secretive, so having more eyes watching would help.
I’d also been hoping to pass word along since it wasn’t easy to see Kyle lately.
“Oh, that’s right. I heard the instructor for the Holy Maiden’s Divine Power lessons changed not long ago.”
I steered the conversation naturally toward the subject.
“So I heard.”
Everett’s expression clouded slightly.
He seemed to know the circumstances—how the Temple had essentially forced the change.
It was fortunate I didn’t need to explain the background.
“Since a Priest from the Temple came by, I watched the Holy Maiden’s Divine Power lesson today.”
Everett showed some interest and gestured for me to continue.
I carefully chose my words, thinking about how to make him suspect the Priest without seeming suspicious myself.
“From what I could see, that Priest…….”
But my words trailed off at an awkward moment.
Everett leaned toward me, urging me to continue.
With no convincing excuse immediately coming to mind, I laughed nervously to buy myself time.
Everett’s expression grew a shade darker than before.
Then he asked in a clipped tone.
“So this Priest—is he handsome?”

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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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