Unbeknownst to Me, I am Secretly Dating the Emperor - Chapter 123

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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 123
Not long afterward, the teashop owner climbed the stairs to the second floor and asked carefully.
“A distinguished guest from abroad has requested a quiet space. If it’s no trouble for the young ladies, would it be acceptable if I showed you to a table on the second floor?”
With near-perfect certainty, the “distinguished guest from abroad” was the Crown Princess of Bellot.
Ibeta had pinned up her hair and worn a hat for a discreet outing, so her hair was hidden.
As a result, the teashop owner seemed to regard us as noble young ladies out for leisure.
Though we’d already claimed the second floor, since the other party was royalty, the owner apparently felt there was room to seek our consent.
“Yes, we don’t mind at all.”
Ibeta met my eyes and then Bes’s in turn before readily granting permission, and the teashop owner hurried downstairs with repeated thanks.
Not long after the owner relayed the message, the Crown Princess ascended the stairs with her attendant’s support.
The Crown Princess looked so exhausted she might collapse on the stairs at any moment.
Yet from the moment she entered the second floor, she waved off her attendant’s assistance and maintained an air of grace as she approached our table.
The Crown Princess offered us her thanks.
“Thank you for understanding, though I’ve interrupted your time together.”
Had her complexion not been so pallid—and had we not witnessed her being supported up the stairs—her composed greeting might have suggested naturally fair skin.
The Crown Princess did not explicitly state her identity.
Yet she wore Bellot-style clothing.
Her implication was clear: given how long she’d been staying in the Empire, we ought to have deduced her station.
Having barely finished her greeting, the Crown Princess found standing any longer unbearable and turned to make her way toward a table some distance from ours.
As she took a few unsteady steps, the Crown Princess suddenly pressed her hand to her forehead and swayed.
“Your Highness!”
The attendant, who had been following anxiously just behind, quickly caught her.
“I’m all right.”
Leaning on her attendant, the Crown Princess straightened and spoke.
But she didn’t seem fine—she simply sat down at the nearest table.
The Crown Princess ordered from her attendant, who stood beside her fidgeting nervously, her voice weary.
“I’d like lemonade. If you don’t have it, bring me something cool and tangy.”
“I’ll fetch it at once.”
The attendant hurried down the stairs.
The Crown Princess settled deeply into her chair.
Ibeta, who had been observing her cautiously, spoke gently.
“Hello, Crown Princess.”
The Crown Princess, who apparently hadn’t expected us to acknowledge her, turned with a slightly startled look.
When her gaze met Ibeta’s, her eyes widened considerably.
Sky-blue eyes and the flash of pink hair visible between the hat’s brim.
Ibeta’s appearance had become fairly well-known through newspaper articles circulated throughout the Capital on the day the miracle occurred.
“Are you the Saint?”
The Crown Princess asked as though seeking confirmation of her suspicion.
Ibeta, who it seemed had intended to reveal herself from the moment she addressed the Crown Princess, readily admitted she was the Saint.
“If you’re not feeling well, would you allow me to heal you?”
It appeared Ibeta’s reason for speaking was to use her Healing Power.
Worry filled her blue eyes as she looked at the Crown Princess.
The Crown Princess, who had tried to appear composed at first, seemed to have reached her limit.
“Thank you for your kindness.”
After a brief hesitation, the Crown Princess accepted Ibeta’s offer.
The moment she answered, Ibeta rose from her seat and approached the Crown Princess.
“May I take your hand?”
Ibeta had never used her Healing Power on a patient with symptoms beyond exhaustion or chronic fatigue.
She needed to proceed carefully and methodically.
“Of course.”
The Crown Princess and Ibeta clasped hands.
Ibeta’s warm Holy Power flowed visibly into the Crown Princess.
The luminous flow moved far more slowly and carefully than when it had relieved the fatigue accumulated in Kyle and myself.
Yet the quantity of Holy Power being channeled was so considerable that the Crown Princess’s color noticeably improved in real time.
“Thank you.”
The Crown Princess herself, more than Bes and I watching, would have felt her own condition improve.
She offered Ibeta her thanks again, her voice much improved.
But no words of modesty came from Ibeta.
She merely stood rigid, as though shocked by something.
Confusion was evident in her posture.
“Saint?”
The Crown Princess called to her cautiously, her tone puzzled.
Only then did Ibeta’s head snap up, and she spoke.
“I didn’t mean to—I’ve never healed someone truly ill before, so I was concentrating and…”
Her voice was barely audible, and part of her sentence trailed off, yet the Crown Princess seemed to understand what she meant.
All I could see was Ibeta’s back, but she was almost certainly making a very dejected expression.
‘It seems Ibeta sensed something unusual about the Crown Princess’s condition while healing her.’
The health of someone of high station was treated as confidential in any nation.
Though unintentional on Ibeta’s part, learning through Holy Power that the Crown Princess had a health anomaly was quite a significant breach of courtesy.
The Crown Princess smiled faintly, as though she’d already anticipated this.
“It was done with good intentions. I bear you no ill will.”
As the Crown Princess gently reassured her, Ibeta seemed to relax somewhat.
Her voice brightened as she spoke again to the Crown Princess.
“The baby seems quite robust. There’s already such a vivid presence.”
At least it wasn’t a serious illness—that was fortunate.
‘Pregnant? The Crown Princess?’
I managed to keep my expression under control, but inwardly I was startled.
Though marriage alliance discussions had been circulating, the Crown Princess was still unmarried.
Her relief that Ibeta knew her condition was probably limited to that alone.
Even in the Empire, where love marriage had become common even among nobility, premarital pregnancy was taboo—so she surely expected Ibeta to keep it secret.
But Ibeta seemed entirely unaware that there had been any marriage alliance negotiations between the Crown Princess of Bellot and Empire nobility.
The attendants at the Separate Palace were chosen carefully by Kyle and naturally discreet, spreading no gossip, and neither Bes nor I took interest in such rumors.
‘The Crown Princess must be in her late twenties, if I recall.’
The age-appropriate Crown Princess, and especially one from conservative Bellot, was almost certainly understood by Ibeta as married—thus the congratulations.
‘Bellot has an earlier marriage age than the Empire, so Ibeta’s assumption isn’t unreasonable.’
The Crown Princess’s expression looked quite distressed.
After catching onto the tension and realizing she’d made another error, Ibeta turned to me with a troubled expression.
I stepped forward to manage the situation.
“The Saint’s knights are surely keeping watch nearby, so nothing will leak beyond these walls. We won’t speak of this either, so please forgive us.”
After hearing my words, Ibeta seemed to understand the situation.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t know it was a secret. I absolutely won’t tell anyone.”
Ibeta apologized in shock.
Given how much of a topic she’d become, the Crown Princess likely understood broadly how Ibeta had lived.
The Crown Princess struck me as practical and unpretentious.
When Ibeta continued to swear to keep the secret, she simply nodded, as though accepting what had already happened.
“Then I ask for your discretion.”
The Crown Princess looked in turn at Ibeta, myself, and Bes as she spoke.
It was a request for us to hold our silence through Ibeta.
Though she seemed to take us for the Saint’s attendants, she didn’t press the matter further.
“Yes! We won’t tell each other either. As an apology, may I bestow a blessing upon you and the baby?”
“It would be an honor.”
The Crown Princess accepted Ibeta’s tentative peace offering.
Once more, a warm light enveloped the Crown Princess.
As she received the blessing, the Crown Princess closed her eyes and prayed for her child.
It was a touching scene, but Bes, who should have added a word or two, was unusually quiet.
‘When she’s this quiet, it worries me.’

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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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