Unbeknownst to Me, I am Secretly Dating the Emperor - Chapter 17

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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 17
There were at least ten of the strangers, give or take.
“Well, well.”
The largest of them held up one hand toward us with a casual, rattling gesture.
“How about donating to us instead of the temple?”
In his other hand was a Greatsword painted black.
“Hand over everything of value and we’ll let you keep your lives. Isn’t that more merciful than any god?”
As if on cue, the strangers one by one drew their weapons.
‘What is this? Common Back Alley thugs carrying longswords?’
Without a military commission or a proper Mercenary License, carrying a longsword was illegal.
My fingertips went cold at the troubling turn of events.
“Let’s not mar that pretty face of yours, now. Cooperate with us.”
Noticing I was frightened, the strangers exchanged glances and laughed brazenly.
It was then that Everett’s expression, which had been scanning the strangers with cool disinterest, turned glacial.
“The way you’re holding those blades—you’re Imperial Army, aren’t you?”
At Everett’s question, the strangers visibly flinched.
‘That’s as good as a confession.’
There had been talk that after the war ended, some discharged Imperial Army soldiers hadn’t returned home but had settled in the Capital, getting involved in various crimes.
‘They gambled away their victory bonuses or spent them and wanted more.’
These people seemed to be of that sort.
Rather than going home and living honestly, they wanted a piece of the underworld.
Realizing too late that they’d revealed their agitation, the strangers began to bluster again.
“So what if you figured it out?”
At their words, Everett’s mouth curved into a smile.
“You’ll pay the price for daring to commit robbery with weapons stolen from the Imperial Army.”
He stood before them with no weapon in hand while they numbered over ten, yet Everett seemed perfectly at ease.
“Did you hear that? This gentleman says you’ll pay the price.”
Though completely overwhelmed by Everett’s presence, the strangers clung to their numbers and tried to deny it.
Everett’s smile grew colder still.
“Miss Diaz, if you’re frightened, you can turn around and cover your ears.”
Everett placed a light hand on my shoulder, then walked slowly forward.
Some of the strangers flinched and started to back away, but after exchanging glances, they held their ground.
“Wait, Lord Lohas.”
I called out in a small voice, but Everett pretended not to hear.
‘Will he be all right?’
I carefully stepped back, biting my lower lip nervously.
‘The Emperor selects those around him strictly on merit alone.’
As the Emperor’s close aide, Everett should easily be able to handle a rabble of common thugs.
Yet I couldn’t bring myself to feel entirely at ease.
I prayed silently that Everett would come through unharmed.
“Haaah!”
As Everett drew closer, one of the strangers with nowhere left to retreat threw his blade forward and charged.
Everett seized the attacking stranger’s arm and broke it.
“Khack.”
As the arm bent at an unnatural angle, the sword slipped from the stranger’s grip and clattered to the ground.
Everett wedged his foot between the sword’s hilt and the ground, then kicked lightly upward.
The blade flew into the air, and Everett caught it cleanly in one motion, then swung it with a flourish.
He wore plain black garments without a trace of ornamentation.
When he raised the black-painted Greatsword, a dangerous aura seemed to pour from him—as though a cursed knight had risen from the depths of hell.
The stranger, overcome by the agony of his twisted arm, scrambled backward to escape Everett’s reach.
“Stupid bastard.”
With numbers exceeding ten, they no longer had the advantage—and now they’d been disarmed.
The strangers hurled curses at one another.
But they were given little time to blame each other.
With each swing of Everett’s blade, another body collapsed to the ground.
Even in the pale moonlight, blood pooled on the ground where the strangers fell, dark and clear.
“Ugh.”
I finally couldn’t hold back and let out a small whimper.
Somehow hearing my voice amid the chaos, Everett clicked his tongue in disapproval.
“Miss Diaz, I told you not to look.”
His gaze flicked toward me for a moment.
I met the gaze of eyes like molten gold, cold as the face of the moon.
I found myself stepping back further, and his attention returned to the strangers.
“I’d better finish this quickly.”
What followed was combat that could only be called utterly one-sided.
Only one of the strangers remained standing.
“D-don’t come any closer.”
As Everett approached, the last remaining stranger staggered backward, shouting.
“No.”
Everett replied like a petulant child.
“Hiyah!”
The stranger swung his sword wildly with trembling hands and attacked.
Everett casually raised his blade to meet the strike.
Steel rang against steel with considerable force.
It was a clash of strength against strength—and the outcome was already decided.
Unable to endure it, the stranger’s sword flew far from his grasp, and he sank to the ground cradling his wrist.
Everett began to whistle playfully and raised his blade.
That was when it happened.
One of the strangers who had been lying on the ground—or pretending to lie there—suddenly sprang up and came rushing toward me.
He’d seized the moment while Everett was occupied with the other.
‘No.’
I cried out internally and threw myself to the side the instant I saw him coming.
Toward Everett’s direction.
But the stranger’s speed far exceeded my own.
I didn’t make it more than a few steps before he seized me by the hair.
“Got you.”
The stranger gripping my hair laughed breathlessly, a sound like a predator.
He must have been slashed while fighting Everett—his hand smelled thickly of blood.
He fumbled inside his clothes and produced a Dagger, pressing it against my throat.
“Quiet now. Miss, we want to live too, you understand?”
The stranger growled his threat close to my ear.
* * *
Edwin knocked the back of the stranger’s head, sending him unconscious.
Then he approached the stranger who had taken Lina hostage.
His face had become monstrous—like a demon.
“Don’t come any closer!”
The terrified stranger pressed the Dagger tighter against Lina’s throat and cried out.
Lina’s face grew paler by the second.
‘I should have finished him. I was too soft.’
How long had it been since he’d left the barracks? And already he was holding back.
Edwin smiled coldly at himself and came to a halt.
“State your demands.”
Edwin spoke with irritation.
Of course, he had no intention of complying. He was simply looking for the moment when the hostage-taker would lower his guard so he could extract Lina.
‘The blade is small. Even if the carotid is severed, I can revive her.’
Edwin deliberately assumed an indifferent demeanor, thinking of the Holy Water he carried with him for emergencies.
The stranger, believing the two of them to be lovers, seemed taken aback by Edwin’s unexpected coldness.
If Edwin were to disregard Lina’s safety and resume his attack, it would truly be the end.
“Damn it, you think I can’t slit this woman’s throat?”
The stranger spat the words viciously, bringing the blade even closer against Lina’s neck.
A thin line of blood began to seep where the soft skin met the blade.
Lina, though her eyes were full of tears, miraculously managed not to cry out—holding steady.
Knowing better than to provoke a desperate hostage-taker.
“Then do it.”
Edwin smiled with easy confidence, raising one corner of his mouth.
The stranger, succumbing to this trivial provocation, began to shake uncontrollably.
Edwin’s eyes met Lina’s for the briefest moment—her violet eyes glistening with tears.
‘Just a little longer.’
Lina nodded imperceptibly, as though she understood his intention.
Color slowly returned to her pallid face, and in those violet eyes that had been full of terror, a steely resolve took root.
‘Brave girl.’
Edwin inwardly praised her.
Then it came.
Lina carefully raised her hand, watching the stranger’s reaction.
And she blinked at Edwin.
‘What are you doing?’
Edwin was momentarily confused, but he drew the stranger’s focus to keep Lina safe.
“What’s wrong? Losing your nerve?”
The stranger’s attention snapped entirely onto Edwin.
Lina seized the wound on the stranger’s arm and tore at it brutally.
“Ah!”
In that instant, the stranger’s grip went slack.
“Carolina, get down!”
The moment Edwin saw Lina lower herself, he swung his blade.
Lina’s violet eyes sparkled as they met his.
If put into words, it probably meant something like ‘Did that actually work?’
For the first time in his life, Edwin learned what it felt like to be dumbfounded.
But he was not so foolish as to waste an opportunity once it had presented itself.
This time, there was no half-hearted mercy in his blade.

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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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