Unbeknownst to Me, I am Secretly Dating the Emperor - Chapter 164

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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 164
After “Breaking Up,” nothing but crude insults came pouring down on Ed, aside from the occasional question of how this had happened.
Ed, who had probably never heard such rough language in his life, stared at Coni in shock with an icy gaze.
Unlike when I’d playfully asked him to look serious, this time he seemed genuinely furious.
Yet Coni wasn’t the least bit cowed, glowering even more intensely.
As the atmosphere grew tense, knights guarding the Separate Palace came rushing over.
But knowing that Coni was my friend, Ed said nothing, so they simply kept their distance, circling warily.
Coni flinched at the sight of the armed knights but didn’t stop glaring at Ed.
Under the weight of her continued hostility, Ed’s expression grew harder by the moment.
‘If this keeps up, isn’t Coni going back to the Imperial Palace Temporary Detention Facility?’
Anxiety mounting, I stepped between the two to mediate.
I looked between Coni and Ed before addressing her first.
‘I can placate Ed later.’
“Hey, Coni?”
I extended both hands awkwardly, as though approaching a cornered wild animal, and called to her. Coni glanced sideways at me before answering.
“What do you want?”
Her tone was sharp, but she didn’t seem entirely unwilling to talk.
I began carefully, choosing my words.
“The thing is, I haven’t explained things properly until now, but the situation was actually a bit more serious than you think. If you hear the whole story, you’ll understand. Want to listen?”
“No.”
The moment my lengthy preamble ended, Coni shut me down just as firmly.
Then, as if reproaching a foolish friend who’d been swindled, she looked at me with pitying eyes instead of Ed, striking her chest with her fist as she cried out.
“No matter what excuse you make! Why are you seeing a man who hid his true identity—someone you can’t trust!”
If she’d stepped even slightly closer, she would have smacked my back for being an idiot.
I was pushed back by the peculiar force of Coni’s outburst and instinctively retreated a step.
As I moved out of her field of vision, Coni’s glare shifted back to Ed.
“Right, sure. The deceived person’s at fault, but the deceiver’s the real problem!”
Her voice grew tighter, her teeth clenched, and it looked like another torrent of harsh words was about to pour out.
“No, stop!”
I urgently pressed my hand over Coni’s mouth.
If I asked Ed to forgive her, Coni might avoid being charged with Insult to the Imperial Family.
But we were inside the Imperial Palace, and Ed’s loyal knights were watching us closely.
In other words, it wasn’t something that would end with Ed’s forgiveness alone.
Coni made a muffled sound and struggled, but I held firm for my friend’s sake.
After her thrashing had worn itself out, I spoke directly into her ear, my words sharp as a blade.
“Ed is His Majesty the Emperor!”
I let out a sigh of relief at finally having told Coni the truth.
‘At least she won’t curse him out anymore, even if she doesn’t believe me.’
Then I realized too late that in covering her mouth, I’d also blocked her nose.
“Mmmph!”
Coni thrashed more violently before finally wrenching my hand away.
And then she shouted.
“Then I’m Emperor Lepisa!”
Da-da-da-daaaa…
Her voice was so clear that the final syllable echoed like a refrain.
Emperor Lepisa had been the most famous female emperor in the history of the Regencia Empire.
Roughly Ed’s great-great-great-grandmother, or thereabouts.
Since she’d long since passed away, Coni’s words made it clear she didn’t believe for a second that Ed was the emperor.
‘This girl’s usually so perceptive.’
The knights who had been subtly watching our standoff, and Ibeta, who had followed us at my request, all gave Coni a solemn look that said she was wrong.
Coni was generally good at reading the mood.
As if her sense had finally kicked in, she felt the strange atmosphere around us and, rolling her eyes, fell silent.
On top of Insult to the Imperial Family, it looked like she’d just added Impersonation of Imperial Family to her charges.
Looking anxiously at Ed, he laughed dryly and spoke as if to himself.
“Should I have Coronation Commemorative Coins minted now?”
Despite the lightness of his tone, there was an unmistakable weight to his words that left Coni’s eyes hazy with confusion.
“You’re really His Majesty?”
She was asking me, but her voice was loud enough for everyone present to hear.
Ed, seeing that Coni still harbored doubts, called over one of the nearby knights.
“You there—do you know who I am?”
The singled-out knight tensed visibly, his voice trembling as he answered loudly.
“Your Imperial Majesty, Emperor of the Regencia Empire!”
Ed tilted his chin toward Coni.
“You heard that?”
I answered in her place, standing in front of the bewildered Coni to shield her.
“She heard it, Your Majesty.”
I emphasized the word “Majesty,” speaking it with deliberate weight.
Only then did Coni grasp what she’d done. She went pale as a sheet and wrapped both hands around her own throat.
Seeing Coni so genuinely shocked she could only gape, Ed spoke in a considerably softened tone.
“Setting aside my own private grievances, I won’t overlook such conduct again. Bear that in mind, Constance.”
It was his way of saying he would let this slide.
“Ed says he’s not angry with you.”
I spoke loudly enough for the approaching knights to hear as well.
At the easing of tension, the knights withdrew to their original positions with expressions of relief.
Though they still kept an eye on us, their demeanor had shifted to something closer to secretly enjoying the spectacle.
Suddenly, Coni—who had been wound tight as a spring—let out a shuddering breath.
She must have been holding her breath the whole time from the shock.
Once I’d confirmed the situation had settled somewhat, I linked my arm through Coni’s.
“I sent word ahead to the Separate Palace before you arrived, so your room should be ready. I’ll show you where you’ll be staying for a while.”
It was my scheme to spirit Coni away from Ed’s sight, given that he wasn’t exactly in a good mood despite tolerating the situation for my sake.
But there was something I’d overlooked.
“The Imperial Palace Temporary Detention Facility isn’t in that direction.”
That my affectionate boyfriend only behaves well when I’m by his side.
When I said I’d go with Coni, Ed pouted out of sheer spite.
“You’re upset.”
“Yeah, I am.”
The thought spilled from my lips, and Ed agreed readily.
In the end, I let go of Coni’s arm and turned to Ibeta with a request.
“Ibeta, I’m really sorry, but could you show Coni to the room she’ll be staying in?”
“Yes, of course!”
Ibeta eagerly accepted my request, relieved to have a reason to escape the uncomfortable atmosphere.
After confirming that Ibeta and Coni had disappeared quickly, I took Ed’s hand and gave it a light swing.
Timing it with when Ed looked my way, I stretched my eyebrows upward and made a pitiful face.
It was that expression Ed had been using on me lately.
“You know Coni’s my closest friend, right? The truth is, I hardly have any other friends besides her.”
After confessing the narrowness of my social circle, I checked to make sure no one was looking our way, and then lightly kissed his cheek.
At that, Ed’s irritation melted into a soft laugh, and he pulled me into an embrace.
Just then, one of the knights glanced at us, but the moment our eyes met, he hastily looked away.
I felt my ears burning.
After noticing my ears had turned red, Ed gave my forehead a soft kiss and released me.
I led Ed toward my room in the Separate Palace.
Once Ed started coming and going, access to the terrace and surrounding areas of my room became restricted.
Only after we’d reached an area with few people did I finally recover my composure, and Ed asked me something.
“Nothing unusual happened outside the palace?”
Both my workplace and residence had become somewhere within the palace, so it had been quite a while since I’d gone outside the Imperial Palace and returned.
The conversation naturally drifted in that direction.
For someone who’d experienced all sorts of things outside the palace, this was a perfectly timed change of subject.
“There was! Not for me, but for Coni!”
In a flash, the earlier concern proved baseless—Ed’s interest visibly cooled.
Yet I continued regardless.
Because I’d just thought of something I needed to ask Ed.
“Could you call the palace physician? Coni suddenly started bleeding from her nose and mouth while just sitting there. She says there’s no pain, and Ibeta checked her too, but something still feels off about it.”
The finest physicians in the Empire, after all, looked after the wellbeing of the Imperial Family alone.
Yet Ed didn’t answer me right away.
His expression darkened in an instant, and instead of answering my question, he asked one himself.
“Sudden bleeding from the nose and mouth, the patient reports no pain, and even after examination nothing was found—is that correct?”
Ed’s tone was far more grave than I’d expected, and I answered tensely.
“Yes. Do you have any idea what might be causing it?”
Then Ed nodded slowly before answering.
“I know of a patient with similar symptoms.”
“Who?”
“My father.”

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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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