Unbeknownst to Me, I am Secretly Dating the Emperor - Chapter 172

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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 172
Ed blinked at me standing before the Imperial Palace office door, as if struggling to believe his eyes.
Behind him came the sound of someone sharply inhaling breath.
“Yes, it’s me.”
I pushed Ed into the office for the sake of my attendants’ peace of mind.
Then I followed him in, closed the door, and locked it firmly.
Through the closing gap, I heard the sound of relieved sighs drifting out.
But neither Ed nor I paid attention to it.
After all, when lovers reunite after a long time, they have eyes only for each other.
Just as our lips were about to meet.
Bang, bang.
The unspoken rule that I would never be disturbed once inside the office was shattered, and urgent sounds echoed through.
Wondering what was wrong, I opened the door to find the Knight guarding the entrance to the Imperial Palace gasping urgently for breath.
“Your Majesty, an urgent message has come for the Attendant at the Separate Palace.”
The Knight spoke one sentence while catching his breath, then inhaled sharply and continued.
“It seems that Advisor Diaz’s parents have come to visit.”
I was so startled I didn’t even register what the Knight had called me at first.
The romantic scandal about us that had swept through the Capital with such fanfare must have reached Ranheldin.
‘What’s with the timing?’
It felt like just as I’d solved one difficult problem, another obstacle had appeared.
When I looked at Ed, his face—which had remained calm even during talk of war—turned pale with tension.
Our gazes met in midair.
Clear signs of ‘we’re done for’ were written plainly in both our eyes.
At least I wasn’t alone in this, which was some comfort.
Ed and I hurried toward the Reception Room of the Separate Palace.
Surprisingly, the Reception Room held not only my parents.
“Count Renkels?”
I should have greeted my parents, who had come from far away, first, but seeing my mother and my aunt in the same place for the first time in so long, I naturally called out to her name first.
When my parents and Count Renkels heard my voice, they turned toward me.
The three of them rose with grave expressions and bowed respectfully to Ed.
Ed, looking uncomfortable, hurried to stop them.
“Please, there’s no need for such formality.”
But neither my parents nor Count Renkels appeared to be at ease.
Count Renkels had taken a step back from politics after inheriting the Renkels title, but she was still the head of a prestigious and venerable noble house.
She was bound to have had prior acquaintance with Ed, which made her look even more flustered.
The fact that they had only recently learned of our relationship seemed to add to the unease.
My parents seemed troubled by the location and Ed’s formal appearance.
The setting of the Imperial Palace Reception Room, and Ed dressed in formal attire unlike the dust-covered figure they’d seen before.
Ed being the Emperor kept pressing upon their awareness, and they appeared thoroughly on edge.
My father especially, the most timid of the three, looked nearly as unwell as Ed himself.
Watching my father like that, Ed grew increasingly restless as well.
I stepped forward cautiously.
“Shall we sit?”
But the table in the Reception Room had only four chairs attached to it.
I suggested we move to a different location, as if I’d always intended to.
Then my mother, who had been silent until now, spoke.
“Lina, can you speak with me for a moment?”
The unspoken end of her question—’without Ed present’—hung in the air.
Catching my mother’s intent, Ed flinched and grabbed my hand.
“Yes, Mother.”
I answered with a dutiful smile and squeezed Ed’s hand firmly once before letting go.
“Ed, I’ll come find you in a moment.”
But Ed clearly wasn’t pleased at being left behind.
I gently urged the hesitant Ed along.
“See you soon.”
Because my mother was angry right now. And when Mother got angry, she was a very frightening person.
But Ed remained stubbornly in place.
“I believe this is a conversation I should hear as well.”
He maintained his composure as best he could, but his intent to prioritize me was unmistakably clear.
‘It’s fine with me.’
Truth be told, I thought Ed’s presence would actually increase the chances of unexpected complications.
But if Ed wouldn’t leave, neither my aunt nor my parents had any real way to force him out.
Nor did I particularly want to physically remove Ed.
Mother silently granted permission for him to stay.
I led my father, who couldn’t hide his tension, toward a cozy table in the garden.
The Attendants of the Separate Palace, quick to read the room, brought out dainty desserts and refreshing tea.
But the warm afternoon sunlight, subtle floral fragrance, and even the sweetness visible in the desserts couldn’t ease the heavy atmosphere.
Ed and I couldn’t open our mouths for fear of mistepping, and the other three didn’t seem inclined to speak either.
It was suffocating silence, plain and simple.
I made a deliberate effort to sound cheerful and open the conversation.
“But how did you end up coming with Count Renkels?”
The answer was obvious without my asking.
‘Once they learned I was staying in the Separate Palace, they must have asked my aunt for help to get into the Imperial Palace.’
But even such an obvious question was necessary to break the stifling tension.
Mother and Count Renkels exchanged looks.
Mother was the first to speak.
“Look at this.”
Mother pulled out Friday’s High Society, where our romantic scandal was splashed across the front page, and unfolded it.
I’d expected this, but my heart sank nonetheless. I forced out a nervous laugh.
But it didn’t seem to help much.
“I thought you said last time that you two weren’t in any serious relationship. Yet the situation is unfolding quite differently from what you said.”
That excuse had been a desperate attempt to deflect in the moment.
But bringing it up now would only earn me more scolding.
“Well, there are circumstances…”
I made a miserable face, privately cursing the journalist who’d leaked the scandal.
My doting father, despite his pallid complexion from being overwhelmed by the Imperial Palace’s weight, worried for me.
“What do you mean? There isn’t something troubling you, is there?”
My father, who had been so intimidated by the pressure of the Imperial Palace, suddenly had nothing but concern for me written across his face.
To gain even one ally, I looked at Father and poured out my grievance.
“It’s nothing like that. It’s just that there was this gossip journalist who kept following me…”
“Following?”
“A journalist?”
The first question came from Mother, the second from Count Renkels.
“What if that person caused you harm?”
“Should I send the Renkels Knights after them?”
Even Count Renkels, who had been quietly observing until now, burned with fierce intensity.
Then their gazes crossed.
“That sounds good. Sister, please arrange it for the time being.”
“What do you mean ‘arrange’? Lina is my niece.”
Though they had only recently reunited after our scandal, they seemed to have exchanged considerable conversation in that short span, for there was no awkwardness between them.
‘No, I’m glad you two are reconciling, really, but… why did it have to be over this?’
While I was torn with mixed emotions, Ed carefully interjected.
“This is my failing. But you need not worry any longer. The Imperial Palace is safe.”
Ed’s voice was quite confident.
I didn’t currently have a dedicated guard assigned directly to me.
But rather, Knights were deployed densely along my entire route.
‘Well, most of my daily life is just going back and forth between the Separate Palace and the Imperial Palace anyway.’
Moreover, my lover Ed was the strongest force on the Continent, surpassing even the Empire.
I’d recently learned that I was a National Treasure, and I had the Artifact Bracelet, rare and precious as it was, with its assured performance.
As Ed asserted, I was safe.
But Mother’s expression grew darker at Ed’s words.
“It doesn’t seem right for Lina to continue staying in the Imperial Palace.”
I was currently residing in the Separate Palace under the pretext of being Ibeta’s guest.
But now that the romantic scandal had broken, people would certainly attribute my presence in the Imperial Palace not to Ibeta, but to Ed.
Since this was a disadvantageous situation for me—a woman of low status—Ed fell silent for a moment, looking down in thought.
After mulling it over, Ed spoke carefully.
“We could move up the wedding.”
It seemed like he was offering what he thought was the best solution, but Father’s opposition was fierce.
“Lina is still too young.”
The average marriage age for commoners or near-commoners of lower nobility was around twenty-two.
I’d heard Mother had married Father at an even younger age.
Yet my doting father regarded a twenty-three-year-old Ed proposing to marry his twenty-two-year-old daughter with the wariness he’d show a thief.
“Is marriage something to be decided so lightly?”
Mother’s reaction wasn’t particularly favorable either.
Faced with my parents’ inflexible response, Ed’s face darkened.

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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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