Unbeknownst to Me, I am Secretly Dating the Emperor - Chapter 158

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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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Episode 158
Kyle frowned as if troubled, blocking Ibeta’s path and calling for the guards.
While the guards he’d deliberately stationed at a distance came running, Ibeta stopped him.
“Just a moment. I’d like to hear what this person has to say.”
“We haven’t even confirmed whether she’s truly a maidservant from the Imperial Palace. It could be dangerous, Saint.”
“But I can’t turn away from someone seeking help in their faith.”
“However……”
The atmosphere among the nobles grew tense at the bickering of two people known to be relatively friendly with each other.
This too was part of the carefully orchestrated performance.
‘A smokescreen to focus everyone’s attention on this play.’
Absorbed in his role, Kyle surveyed the suddenly quiet surroundings, sighed, and took a step back.
“In exchange, please don’t approach too closely.”
“All right.”
Ibeta nodded.
The moment the two reached an agreement, the crowd became completely absorbed, breathing softly and deliberately.
‘It’s going perfectly as planned.’
Kyle, naturally gifted at deception, was performing exactly as expected.
But Ibeta’s performance was unexpected.
When he’d first conceived of this plan, Ibeta’s acting ability had seemed the greatest obstacle.
The role required high-level performance—demanding situational judgment and quick reflexes.
‘She’d received acting lessons.’
It was considerable progress made in a short time.
Ibeta asked the maidservant in a gentle voice.
“I’d like to hear more details about what you said just now.”
The maidservant poured out her heartrending story in an emotional voice.
“I’m from Aigis Village in the Eastern Region. My parents died in the war, and I came to the Capital with my young sibling.”
Her voice was rich with emotion, and her delivery was excellent.
The maidservant was actually a retired actor from a Theater Troupe who had been teaching Ibeta how to act.
Of course, the story itself was true.
“I had the fortunate chance to become a maidservant in a noble household, but I couldn’t care for my young sibling, so I left them at the Orphanage.”
The maidservant paused here as if tears suddenly welled up.
“But when I went to the Orphanage on my day off to see my sibling, the child was gone. The Temple said the child had fallen in with bad influences and left on their own, but that can’t be right. I searched for my sibling everywhere, and the people rescued from the Illegal Slave Trade vessel that was just captured told me my sibling had already been sold away……” She broke into sobs.
Only after the maidservant had delivered all her lines did she begin to weep openly.
Sobbing so bitterly and resentfully, tenderhearted noblewomen pulled out their handkerchiefs and dabbed their eyes.
Even knowing this was a performance, I felt tears prickling my eyes—such masterful acting it was.
Thanks to the maidservant’s performance, Ibeta appeared completely absorbed, her eyes glistening as she reached out a hand to comfort the maidservant, who had sunk to the floor.
“I’ll help you find your sibling. Please, stop crying.”
The maidservant looked up at Ibeta with tear-filled eyes, their gazes meeting.
Just as a touching climax was unfolding, someone from behind the crowd objected.
“It’s a sad story, certainly, but what does it have to do with the Temple?”
Everyone’s attention turned toward the source of the voice.
“Marquis Harcani?”
The noblewoman who had been the first to produce a handkerchief called out his name with clear displeasure.
The Harcani Marquis House was a western noble family that had produced a Saint roughly seven hundred years ago and maintained close ties with the Temple.
Marquis Harcani made an expression of awkwardness at the fierce gazes of the noblewomen.
But his intervention was perfectly timed.
‘Actually, this is a participatory theatrical piece.’
The Saint and the Emperor were on friendly terms.
The Emperor’s conflict with the Temple was well-known.
The setup of the maidservant presenting ‘indirect evidence that the Temple was involved in Illegal Slave Trade’—evidence the Blue Hawk had painstakingly gathered—and Ibeta accepting it at face value would easily invite skepticism.
So we had prepared a strategy: when someone stepped forward to defend the Temple, we would refute them and build our logical case from there.
The maidservant shot back at Marquis Harcani.
“My sibling wasn’t the only child who disappeared from that Orphanage. All those children were sold into slavery—how can you say the Temple had no part in it?”
A commoner maidservant directly contradicting a noble like Marquis Harcani was not a pleasant sight in the eyes of the aristocracy.
But with the maidservant’s youthful face and harrowing performance creating an atmosphere of profound sorrow, no one dared to silence her.
“Your Holiness, please look at this. I’ve scraped together everything I own to commission this from the Information Guild. Please, believe me.”
Having delivered her rebuke to Marquis Harcani, the maidservant pulled evidence from her garment and handed it to Ibeta with trembling hands.
Ibeta examined the evidence carefully, one piece at a time.
Then, with a look of horror, she spoke.
“I must summon the High Priest to verify the truth of this matter. If what you say is true, those responsible will face the penalty for defiling the name of the Minos God.”
Thus, we brought the theatrical piece we had prepared to a flawless conclusion.
‘Now I should go see Ed.’
Ed was supposed to slip quietly out of the Grand Banquet Hall before the performance began, so the imperial seat was empty.
Where he’d likely be was obvious.
* * *
Lina entered the Rest Room with a radiant smile.
“Ed.”
Then she called his name in a voice an octave higher than usual and embraced him.
Lina, who had an unexpectedly cool streak, rarely displayed affection so openly.
At the sight of her making an effort to soothe his mood, the thorny irritation melting in Edwin’s chest dissolved away entirely.
Edwin was grateful that Lina’s face was buried in his chest, so he couldn’t see his expression.
Edwin quickly collected his foolish grin and feigned a coolness he didn’t feel, pouting.
“Flirt.”
At the unfair accusation, Lina’s eyes narrowed sharply.
But in this moment, his lover seemed to have decided to be generous, and her expression softened at once.
“I’m completely faithful, thank you very much.”
Though she didn’t let it go entirely.
Edwin chuckled and, to tease her about her reluctance, planted kiss after kiss on her pouting lips.
“I believe you.”
Laughing audibly at how the rain of kisses tickled, Edwin met Lina’s gaze as she pushed against him, still speaking.
If Lina hadn’t set a clear boundary earlier, that green-haired Yeongshik would have paid the price for his flirtation with a taken woman right there in front of everyone.
He was a deeply jealous man.
‘Though he’ll pay a price eventually, even if it comes later.’
Edwin’s lips twisted into a smile.
Noticing the twisted smile, Lina asked carefully.
“You’re not going to do anything to Tilmen Yeongshik, are you?”
Seeing his softhearted lover show signs of protest, Edwin let his eyes crease with amusement.
When no answer came, only laughter, Lina cupped his face in both hands.
Ed willingly offered his cheeks to her soft hands and met her gaze.
Her violet eyes held a stern look.
Lina spoke to him as if addressing a mischievous younger sibling, her tone gentle but firm.
“He has a fiancée. And we’ve only greeted each other—I haven’t done anything.”
“Is that so?”
That he would display such indulgence despite having a fiancée was all the more unforgivable.
Though he’d answered with studied nonchalance, Lina, who now knew Edwin all too well, let out a long breath.
“An emperor can’t wield his power based on personal feelings.”
At her worried reproach, Edwin smiled genuinely and gently this time.
“I understand. I have no intention of punishing Tilmen Yeongshik as a matter of personal grievance.”
Edwin spoke with emphasis.
Lina examined his face carefully with scrutinizing eyes, then finally released his cheeks.
“You promised.”
“Yes.”
Edwin nodded obediently with a docile expression.
Edwin truly had no intention of punishing Tilmen Deimas Yeongshik under the pretense of kissing Lina’s hand.
But Edwin had merely recalled that among the evidence of noble misconduct the Blue Hawk had collected over time, there was also evidence implicating the Deimas Marquis House.

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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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