Unbeknownst to Me, I am Secretly Dating the Emperor - Chapter 162

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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 162
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After Duke Camelot fell from power and entered seclusion, Camelot Castle—which had languished in the grip of gloom—received visitors for the first time in ages.
“A servant of the divine greets His Grace, Duke Camelot.”
Past midnight, the Cardinal who had been traveling through the Empire arrived in secret.
Duke Camelot, who had been living a dissolute life, drinking strong spirits to soothe his wounded pride, groomed himself for the first time in days and came to receive the guest.
“A welcome visitor has come to call.”
Though Duke Camelot had no prior acquaintance with the Cardinal, he maintained his courtesy, knowing who stood behind the man.
“I am grateful for your hospitality toward a weary old man who has come to impose upon you while fulfilling his rounds of prayer.”
The Cardinal bowed to Duke Camelot with equal humility.
Yet the Cardinal’s true thoughts ran counter to his outward manner.
‘Even if the Temple finds itself in a defensive position, must we truly grasp the hand of such a man?’
The Western Nobility Faction and the Temple had maintained far more cordial relations when Marquess Robertus held real power than they did now.
After Duke Camelot attached himself to the Emperor, expelled Marquess Robertus, and seized hegemony in the West, the relationship had grown more distant than before.
Still, so long as they shared a common enemy, they had become allies willing to prioritize each other as comrades in arms.
Yet the Duke whose hand the Cardinal needed to grasp bore all the marks of his recent depravity: his eyes were dull, his cheeks sunken.
Even after bathing and changing into fresh clothes, the reek of spirits clung to him.
Far from being useful, he threatened to become a burden.
The Cardinal had to restrain himself from frowning.
‘His Majesty must have his reasons.’
From the Capital through the Eastern and Northern Regions, then westward again.
The Cardinal had endured the long journey to meet Duke Camelot while eluding the Emperor’s suspicions.
He would need to bring something back for his troubles.
The Cardinal steeled his resolve and smiled warmly at Duke Camelot.
“As a devotee of Minos, it is an honor to show hospitality to those who serve the goddess.”
At the benevolent smile, Duke Camelot’s eyes gleamed with certain expectation.
Even driven into his own fief by a mere boy-Emperor, his political instincts—nearly animal in their sharpness—remained alive.
‘I thought the fool maintained his grip on life through luck alone, but it seems luck wasn’t all.’
He had quickly grasped that the Cardinal’s visit harbored hidden purpose and could not hide the working of his mind.
To show one’s hand in a game of wits was itself a losing move.
And the Cardinal, who despised dealing with fools more than anything, preferred an avaricious man.
‘Now we can speak plainly.’
Yet the time had not come.
The Cardinal, affecting genuine exhaustion from travel, excused himself courteously to the guest chamber assigned for brief rest.
“I shall pay my respects again when dawn breaks.”
He felt Duke Camelot’s gaze burning the back of his head but paid it no mind.
Duke Camelot would spend a sleepless night, but sometimes the longer route brought faster results.
The two met again in the early hours before dawn.
The Cardinal sought out the Underground Chapel of Camelot Castle to perform his customary dawn prayers.
As though waiting, Duke Camelot soon followed.
The Cardinal drew out his holy prayers for a considerable time before finally addressing Duke Camelot.
“Your Grace shows such devotion that the divine must surely be pleased.”
Duke Camelot’s face flushed red and then pale with frustration at the Cardinal’s refusal to broach his true purpose.
Yet Duke Camelot, chastened by recent events, swallowed his anger.
Then, in a voice grown measured, he questioned the Cardinal.
“I lack the talent for lengthy discourse like the sermons of priests. Why have you come here in particular?”
It was a bluntness unbecoming a nobleman.
The Cardinal had played at ease to hook the quick-tempered Duke, but time was not his friend either.
The Cardinal finished the ritual of his prayers and relayed the High Priest’s words to Duke Camelot.
“The High Priest spoke thus…….”
In the quiet chapel, the sound of Duke Camelot drawing breath was audible.
Yet the Cardinal, as though deaf to it, continued.
“……that those who bear the radiance of the divine on their backs have lost humility and conduct themselves recklessly, and he inquires after the state of the Western Region’s security.”
In doing so, the Temple had indirectly revealed that they now regarded the Emperor and the Saintess as outright enemies.
Duke Camelot, whose mind had been working diligently to secure advantage, cleared his throat.
He understood well enough, as the Cardinal was demonstrating, that making one’s opponent anxious was favorable to negotiation—in the past he had maintained hegemony through such composure.
Yet despite that knowledge, he had lost his equilibrium; Duke Camelot too was pressed into a defensive position.
“Much like the Temple’s own, I imagine. We face the same enemy.”
The Western Nobility Faction and the Saintess had no direct relation.
But the Saintess, allied with the Emperor, was applying both direct and indirect pressure on the West through her actions.
Seeing Duke Camelot’s urgency, the Cardinal felt reassured that the matter would proceed smoothly.
“Precisely. We face the same enemy. And the enemy of one’s enemy is an ally.”
This was a proposal not for the loose, organic cooperation they had maintained until now, but to unite actively against the Emperor.
Duke Camelot began to hesitate theatrically, then abandoned the pretense and spoke.
“The West is formulating a plan to overthrow the Empire’s throne.”
Yet the West viewed the Emperor rather than the Saintess as their true adversary.
“The Temple believes the Saintess can accomplish nothing without the Emperor’s backing.”
The Cardinal said this with a smile.
“In my travels through the Empire, I have heard intriguing rumors. I hear the West has secured mercenaries to defend a mine.”
Duke Camelot was startled by the Temple’s surprisingly thorough intelligence network but quickly composed himself.
“But their numbers fall short of those who would come to assault the mine.”
The current Emperor had left the Capital immediately upon his ascension and remained only on the battlefield.
Though he could not command the political nobles within the Capital, his grip on military authority remained absolute.
For all the West’s wealth, private soldiers and mercenaries alone could not stand against the Emperor’s elite army.
The very plan to sell Iron Ore to a foreign power and borrow soldiers had been thwarted by the Emperor’s interference.
Duke Camelot laid bare every card he held.
The Cardinal at last delivered the High Priest’s true message.
“You need not concern yourselves with that matter.”
Hope kindled in Duke Camelot’s eyes at the Cardinal’s words.
“The Emperor will be consumed by Divine Punishment and unable to turn his attention elsewhere.”
“Divine Punishment, you say.”
Duke Camelot repeated the words with a thin laugh.
“The punishment will radiate outward from those closest to the Saintess who has forsaken her calling. And she will be unable to contain it. Naturally, the Emperor’s vision will cloud.”
The Cardinal continued without meeting Duke Camelot’s gaze.
“It seems the High Priest intends to create an opportune moment.”
Duke Camelot laughed with a bitter edge.
The Cardinal returned the laugh politely, then his expression hardened.
“I cannot linger long or it will draw attention.”
He had delivered all that needed to be said.
* * *
The loyal aides who had remained in the Imperial Palace throughout the eight years of Ed’s absence, steadfastly maintaining its center, began to find new vigor.
Once Ed’s “again” and his wordless eye-speak of “keep your mouth shut and handle it well” vanished, replaced by taciturn praise, the Aide’s office stirred gradually to life.
With the superior’s orders becoming clear, the aides’ work efficiency surged and the mountain of documents visibly dwindled.
In turn, I found myself with a measure of breathing room amid the rush.
I took advantage of the rare respite to visit Ibeta and Coni.
Coni, who had grown up in the Temple during her childhood, had been assisting Ibeta.
As I entered the Imperial Residence being used temporarily as an office for the Welfare Foundation, Coni waved her hand grandly to welcome me.
Whether she was simply eager to escape her work or genuinely delighted to see my face after weeks, only Coni could say.
I glanced about to confirm we were unobserved, then waved back to Coni.
But the childish greeting, too embarrassing to show others, ended quickly.
“Co—Coni!”
Blood streamed from Coni’s nose and mouth as her bright smile froze.

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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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