Unbeknownst to Me, I am Secretly Dating the Emperor - Chapter 139

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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 139
Kyle wondered if Edwin had any dignity left to lose, but he subtly positioned his own body to shield Edwin and Lina from view.
It was less for Edwin’s sake than for Anika’s innocence.
Kyle hurried to collect the overturned glass and then extended his hand to Anika.
“Shall we head over there? Miss Anika?”
Anika seemed charmed by the formal escort offer and smiled coyly as she placed her hand in his.
“You can call me Anika. Are you acquainted with my sister?”
“Yes, we work together as colleagues.”
At the mention of knowing Lina, he sensed her wariness ease slightly.
Kyle watched Anika’s expression carefully as he spoke with caution.
“Would it be alright if we checked to make sure you have no injuries?”
Before bringing her back to the villa, Kyle thought it best to first win over Anika.
The person responsible for the incident was too preoccupied with his furious lover to manage anything, so Kyle had to step in.
‘This is the first time meeting Lina’s family and I’ve already ruined it, but… I need to salvage what I can.’
Anika blushed slightly, embarrassed that Kyle had witnessed her fall.
Then she sighed in resignation and nodded.
“Yes. But I’m not really hurt.”
“Even so.”
Kyle smiled gently.
“I’ll do that then.”
Anika, who had been acting like a kitten in hand, obediently complied with Kyle’s suggestion for the first time.
After seating Anika on a nearby bench away from the beach, Kyle called over Helen.
“Helen, would you take a look?”
At twelve years old, it was the age when one admired impressive older sisters.
Anika didn’t resist the approachable Helen who approached her with a smile.
When Kyle produced a water container filled with clean water and ointment from his Subspace Pouch, Helen skillfully began treating the scrapes.
Anika had fallen into the sand while still wet with seawater, leaving her knees covered in sand, but fortunately there were no visible wounds.
Once Kyle confirmed that Anika’s attention was fixed on Helen, he gestured to summon another knight.
From a short distance away, he issued a rapid, low-voiced command.
“Demos, tell them the target’s been found—lift the blockade. We need fast and sturdy wings.”
There was still more to handle.
In fact, this was the more serious matter, though the chaos had caused him to momentarily overlook it.
Demos, understanding the urgency, saluted silently and departed at once.
Meanwhile, Anika’s gaze remained fixed on Helen.
Kyle approached Anika and Helen casually, as though nothing had happened.
Anika was quietly watching Helen apply a bandage to a slightly scraped area when she suddenly asked:
“So my sister’s boyfriend is His Majesty the Emperor?”
Kyle and Helen visibly tensed at the unexpected question.
Anika, whose perceptiveness was unusually sharp for her age thanks to her twin older brothers, shook her head firmly.
“That’s a yes.”
To fall for such a simple provocation from a child.
Kyle and Helen, both holding responsible positions, silently chided themselves in unison.
Anika comforted the two of them with a maturity that belied her years.
“I was just checking.”
Which meant she’d already known Edwin’s “Seduce the Emperor and run” scheme from the start.
Kyle sighed, growing more troubled.
Anika sighed along with him, then spoke in a slightly louder voice, as if to herself:
“Mother always says you shouldn’t get involved with men who are too possessive…”
Anika glanced toward the beach where Edwin and Lina stood, then shrugged her shoulders back at Helen.
“Older sister has no eye for men.”
The wariness that had briefly faded from Anika’s eyes suddenly flared back up.
She’d been playing along all along for exactly this reason.
Kyle, who had brought her over to negotiate, had instead suffered a finishing blow.
‘We’re done for.’
Kyle felt his spirits plummet.
As he wondered what he could say to salvage even a fraction of the lost ground, Lina called to Anika.
“Anika!”
“I’m over here, sister!”
Anika sprang up and waved her hand toward Lina.
Her eyes softened again in an instant.
Kyle lost the chance to win Anika over.
Lina, who had spotted Anika, approached.
Edwin trailing behind her.
* * *
“The moment I thought you’d vanished, I couldn’t think of anything else.”
Edwin offered the explanation carefully.
His face, which had seemed luminous even amid exhaustion, now looked rough.
His complexion, still pallid from the ordeal, was slowly recovering, and his lips bore marks where he’d bitten them on the way here.
As his sincere apologies continued, my resolve weakened slightly.
“I don’t know.”
But my irritation hadn’t fully dissolved, so my tone remained petulant.
“I love you.”
Knowing that I was no longer angry made Edwin smile with genuine warmth.
Then, as if gauging my reaction, he asked softly:
“May I hold you?”
His vulnerability was deliberately laid bare, intended to melt my heart.
“Fine, then.”
Edwin’s strategy proved devastatingly effective.
I pretended to be helpless against it and allowed the embrace.
Edwin, well aware that I’m weak to his face, smiled beautifully, eyes bright.
As he reached out his arms, something I’d forgotten suddenly came to mind.
“Anika!”
Anika, who had been watching us with fascination just moments before, had vanished.
As I scanned the surroundings frantically, Edwin awkwardly lowered his arms and gestured.
“Kyle took her that way.”
Looking in the direction Edwin pointed, I could see Anika waving her hands enthusiastically.
‘I’m sorry, Anika.’
I headed straight toward her.
Edwin followed dutifully behind me.
As we drew closer, I noticed the bandage affixed to Anika’s knee.
“Are you badly hurt?”
I asked with concern, remembering her fall moments before, and Anika laughed and shook her head.
“No, I’m fine. We just put it on as a precaution.”
Then she leaned against me with a smile.
I broke into a grin at my youngest sister’s affection and pulled her close, but Anika whispered in my ear:
“Sister, what does blockade mean?”
So she had an ulterior motive in showing me affection again.
Though she’d spoken quietly, everyone present could easily hear her.
Anika simply tilted her head like an innocent child.
As if the word were far too difficult for a first-year Academy student like herself.
It seemed as though she was asking about a word she didn’t know, but she wouldn’t have brought it up without reason.
Anika had a cunning side to her, after all.
‘What does she mean by that?’
I exchanged glances with Kyle and Helen, who had been with Anika.
Helen avoided my gaze, while Kyle looked at Anika with admiration before breaking into a bright smile.
Then he gestured toward Edwin, who stood behind me.
I turned around to see Edwin’s expression shift to one of visible alarm.
I patted the shoulder of this capable informant and stood up, facing Edwin.
“Indeed. What could blockade possibly mean?”
His bewildered expression made it clear he’d committed some transgression.
Continuing to press him with a demanding look, Edwin squeezed his eyes shut before opening them and speaking.
“I thought you were leaving for the Western Continent, so I sealed the borders.”
So the blockade was an actual border blockade.
“…Edwin, are you in your right mind?”
After hearing the full account, I truly wanted to faint.
It was an abuse of power on a scale far too vast for someone of my limited capacity to bear.
“It was just Rancken, wasn’t it?”
I asked as if praying, and Edwin averted his eyes slightly.
Which meant no.
“What on earth did you do?!”
As Edwin fell silent, my gaze turned toward Kyle.
* * *
In Kyle’s mind, the continent’s strongest power had just shifted to Lina.
“What on earth did you do?!”
The continent’s strongest, radiating fury in an instant, left him no choice but to answer.
Kyle laughed nervously and laid out the situation in full.
Anika’s ears were now openly perked up, but Kyle had given up on that front—given everything he’d endured, this was too valuable a moment to let slip.
“Due to the series of incidents, His Majesty believed you had rejected him and chosen to depart, so he sealed the borders of the entire Empire. He mobilized every messenger bird in the Imperial Palace and all available personnel from the Blue Hawk, even mages—by now it’s surely spread across the entire realm.”
At the absurd farce that had unfolded from a mere visit home, Lina staggered.
Confirming that Edwin had caught Lina securely, Kyle added:
“But since I’ve already sent word to lift the blockade, it should return to normal by dawn tomorrow.”
Lina exhaled as if that at least was a mercy.
Then she pushed away from Edwin, who had been supporting her, and stood on her own feet.
She didn’t spare Edwin a glance the whole while.
Edwin’s resentful gaze turned toward Kyle, but Kyle ignored it.
Kyle knew exactly where to draw the line.

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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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