Unbeknownst to Me, I am Secretly Dating the Emperor - Chapter 189

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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 189
Ed adjusted the bowstring, loosening it slightly.
Then he drew it back using only a single finger and handed it to me.
“Want to give it a try?”
His uncharacteristic gentleness carried an undertone of worry—’What if she can’t even draw this?’—and my pride bristled.
My strength was inferior to a five-year-old’s.
‘I should have exercised more.’
But regrets of this kind always came too late.
‘I’ll start now.’
I steadied myself.
Drawing a deep breath, I pulled the bowstring with grim determination—and this time it came back easily.
“I did it, Ed!”
Holding the drawn string taut, I spoke to him with pride, and Ed laughed, applauding.
“Impressive.”
His tone was so measured it needed a period after each syllable, and I twisted my mouth in displeasure, lowering the bow.
‘To Ed, this is nothing, is it?’
I wanted to believe my strength at least matched the average for girls my age.
Ed later realized his praise had been terribly awkward, but I was already sulking.
“I’ll learn from someone else.”
Thinking it over, Ed was far too capable a teacher for someone as inexperienced as me.
It was like assigning an Imperial scholar of languages to teach a child their first letters.
What I needed was a teacher who could handle a fragile beginner with delicate care.
I was already planning to ask the knights I knew when Ed grew anxious and began coaxing me.
“I wasn’t trying to mock you.”
I understood that his clumsy praise was the result of his taciturn nature trying hard to encourage me.
“Is that so?”
But without immunity to failure, people became rather childish.
I pouted and shot back at him, and Ed, reading my mood, pulled me into an embrace.
“I’m just bad at praising others.”
‘The truth is probably that his standards are so high he’s never had occasion to praise anyone.’
I leaned into him and pouted deliberately.
“Don’t always try to smooth things over with affection.”
‘Though I suppose I’m the real problem for falling for it so easily.’
I shook my head exaggeratedly—though only inwardly reflecting—and Ed’s left eyebrow rose sharply.
As if he didn’t understand what I was getting at.
But soon, as though thinking ‘what’s good is good,’ he simply laughed.
Instead, he asked me in a soft voice,
“You’ll keep practicing with me, right?”
Whatever he’d done in the western territories, Ed had a brightness about him today.
Bewitched by my lover’s beauty, I nodded without hesitation.
Ed’s smile deepened.
After that, our archery practice went smoothly.
From that day forward, Ed lowered his expectations so drastically that he praised me for merely exhaling.
Thanks to that, my confidence grew, and my skill—while gradual—improved steadily.
A week had passed since Ed and I began practicing together.
Today was a day when Ed had an unavoidable schedule.
I practiced archery alone in Ed’s training ground, which had somehow become our shared space.
That week, I’d devoted every spare moment to archery.
At first I couldn’t even draw the string properly; now, out of ten shots, six hit the target.
“I suppose it’s time to start practicing horseback riding too.”
Horseback riding, which I’d neglected because it came easier than archery, was beginning to worry me.
Compared to other noble ladies who’d learned it consistently from childhood as a form of refinement, I was far behind.
I practiced archery until my fingers swelled, then made my way to the Riding Ground.
‘There isn’t enough time.’
Learning in ten days what others spent years mastering was impossible.
But I had to try as much as I could.
‘It’s something I resolved to do when I decided to marry Ed.’
By nature, I wasn’t the type to half-do what needed doing and sleep soundly.
I mounted the gentle mare the Imperial Palace’s Stable Keeper had recommended and slowly rode around the Riding Ground.
The brown horse with only a white diamond marking on her forehead was, true to the Stable Keeper’s word, docile and intelligent.
After becoming a little acquainted with the horse, I started walking exercises, and when I paused for rest, Helen—who’d become my dedicated escort—subtly appeared.
Unfamiliar with being escorted, the knights protecting me usually tried to hide their presence as much as possible.
When they needed to speak with me, it was mostly Helen, someone I actually knew, who approached.
When I acknowledged him, Helen smiled smoothly and drew near.
“May I perhaps help you with your riding practice?”
Since I’d hit the limits of practicing alone, it was a welcome offer.
“Of course.”
Helen mounted his own horse and watched my riding practice.
Helen was more considerate and a far more appropriate teacher for a beginner than Ed.
Which is why I felt more discouraged.
‘When Ed looks at me that way, I complain that anyone who isn’t a Sword Master would despair of living.’
When even Helen, who had a notably positive and kind temperament, looked at me with an uncertain gaze, my spirit collapsed.
I asked Helen with eyes that had lost all confidence.
“Objectively speaking, am I at least the level not to come in last in that wager?”
Somewhere along the way, my goal had become far more modest: ‘Just don’t finish last.’
Helen smiled kindly.
But he gave no specific answer.
It was a gentle refusal.
I exhaled a long sigh.
‘I wonder if I could suggest banning gambling wagers.’
I shook my head firmly to avoid temptation.
‘I seem to be becoming more dependent on Ed.’
Blaming my boyfriend, who was surely working hard at this very moment, for no good reason,
I was the Renceles Countess’s Daughter and the Emperor’s betrothed.
Yet I was also a newcomer just entering High Society.
Restructuring High Society to my liking was still beyond me.
‘I need to blend in appropriately.’
I reaffirmed my resolve while patting the horse’s neck.
Helen, noticing something unusual in my rapidly shifting expressions, looked around before whispering in a low voice.
“As for horseback riding, there is a way to avoid coming in last, though…….”
It was a remarkably enticing opening.
“What is it?”
I asked eagerly, and Helen winked as he spoke.
“In a riding race, the horse’s abilities matter just as much as the rider’s.”
It meant that if I, as the rider, was lacking, I could compensate by riding an exceptional horse.
“But wouldn’t the other ladies have prepared good horses too?”
There was a reason the rumor went around that before the Harvest Festival, more horses and arrows sold than grain.
“Then the Renceles Countess’s Daughter simply needs an even better horse. For instance, you could borrow one from His Majesty.”
Helen told me several legendary anecdotes about Ed’s finest horses.
“Particularly, there’s a horse called Nelda that His Majesty rides most often—she’s so intelligent and sturdy that there are tales she’s part Magical Beast.”
It wasn’t a bad strategy.
“But Ed needs to participate in the Hunting Contest too.”
Helen answered offhandedly.
“The other horses in His Majesty’s stable are all excellent mounts.”
Which meant I shouldn’t be worrying about Ed.
“I should ask Ed about it.”
I hoped he might lend me one of his other fine horses, not just Darius.
“I can invest more time in archery practice then.”
With a solution appearing for horseback riding, my expression brightened a little.
“As for archery…….”
Helen seemed about to say something but hesitated.
“As for archery—what’s next?”
Expecting him to offer another good method, I urged him on, and Helen whispered even more quietly than before.
“Most of the ladies are receiving help from artifacts or magical potions.”
‘Wait, this is a competition of items?’
My eyes widened at this unexpected information.
“Ed never mentioned anything like that…….”
“Well, since His Majesty isn’t participating in the wager, he might not know all the details.”
“But is that even allowed?”
Helen shrugged.
“Since everyone uses them, there’s no problem.”
‘In that case…….’
I wrapped my hand around the Bracelet Artifact, whose nature I’d learned not long ago, then let go.
‘They said there are more artifacts in the Imperial Palace Storage.’
* * *
When night fell, Ed came to my room in the Separate Palace after finishing his schedule.
The moment he entered, I asked eagerly.
“Ed, could you lend me just one horse?”
“A horse?”
Ed immediately understood why I wanted to borrow a horse.
“Of course.”
At his easy consent, I brought up the second request.
“Then, an artifact too?”

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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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