Unbeknownst to Me, I am Secretly Dating the Emperor - Chapter 196

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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 196
* * *
Edwin sent the Saint’s Attendant along with a physician, then rode toward the meadow where Lina was.
Never in his life had he driven a horse with such desperate urgency.
Yet no matter how hard he pushed the animal forward, it felt as though the meadow remained forever out of reach.
When Edwin finally arrived and saw the hemispherical Magical Barrier, despair crashed over him.
The moment he realized Lina was trapped inside that unmistakable monster’s barrier, his mind went white.
“Lina…….”
Edwin breathed her name like a prayer.
This was no time to stand paralyzed.
Edwin drew up his Aura to shatter the barrier.
As he gathered power to a reckless degree, even the Sword Master’s formidable body reached its limit—a coppery taste bloomed in his mouth.
Knights approached on horseback, the earth trembling beneath their hooves, but Edwin did not look back; he was about to unleash the Aura.
“Your Highness!”
Kyle came alongside him and grabbed at him desperately.
But Edwin had already raised his sword, poised to strike.
“Stop, you madman!”
Kyle shouted an oath and began chanting a spell.
A mass of ice materialized in the air.
Kyle hurled the huge chunk—as wide as a man’s head—straight at the back of Edwin’s skull with all his strength.
The sickening crack of impact sounded; Edwin’s body lurched forward.
The Aura he had been about to hurl at the barrier twisted wildly off course.
One edge of the forest was cleanly obliterated, and Kyle exhaled with relief.
“If you’d fired that Aura at the barrier, it would explode!”
Kyle’s voice rose as he rebuked Edwin.
Edwin, dazed from a blow harder than stone, could only register the words “barrier,” “Aura,” and “explode.”
Fortunately, Kyle recovered his wits before Edwin did.
“In any case, that was nearly a catastrophe.”
Kyle, suddenly aware of what he’d done, watched Edwin’s expression carefully.
“Lina carries the Blue Dragon’s Blessing—surely she will be safe.”
That was Kyle’s anchor point.
Edwin too seemed to remember the greatest Defensive Artifact on the Continent that Lina possessed, and managed to grasp at reason again.
Kyle confirmed that Edwin seemed lucid enough, then proceeded with his urgent report.
“The Blue Hawk pursued the High Priest who fled, and they caught his trail at the Temple. However, the High Priest and the Black Mages appear to have attempted a monster summoning before meeting their end.”
Kyle’s gaze turned toward the barrier.
“This seems to be the High Priest’s doing. If it’s a domain construct, the summoned creature appears to be a Golem.”
“The Saint’s Attendant said the same.”
Edwin, struggling to think through the haze of pain, answered with difficulty.
“If it’s a Golem, summon the Magic Tower Master. Tell him I’ll pay whatever price he names. If he refuses, bring him by force.”
The moment Edwin finished speaking, anxiety gnawed at his lower lip.
* * *
The shield vanished just as we finished distributing the items.
I spoke to Lucy as casually as if I had deactivated it deliberately.
“Ready? If you can, please aim for the core at the center of the Golem.”
“Yes, Lina.”
Lucy’s lips curved upward, and she laughed with clear confidence.
The Golem was still turning its head toward the forest—the opposite direction from us.
As Lucy and I mounted our respective horses, the others simultaneously began moving to their designated positions.
“I’ll begin first.”
Lucy, testing the bowstring lightly, urged her horse toward the Golem.
Lucy’s horse hesitated at first, then overcame its fear and galloped toward the creature.
As we drew close enough for the Golem to notice us, Lucy managed to keep her balance on the moving horse using only the strength of her legs, rising slightly in her seat.
Then, with textbook form, she fired arrows in rapid succession.
Four or five arrows struck the Golem’s core in quick succession.
“Uuuuuhhhhh!”
The Golem shrieked and pivoted toward Lucy.
Lucy urged her horse to sprint away in the opposite direction.
Now it was my turn.
The clever Nelda seemed to have understood immediately what I was about to do, watching Lucy’s performance.
The moment I pulled the reins, Nelda bolted toward the Golem.
She moved at a speed that suggested she’d been holding back for my sake until now.
As I struggled to stay mounted, we were suddenly at close range with the creature.
Gripping the reins tightly, I raised my trembling arms and fired.
My aim was terrible, but the accuracy bonus carried the shot—the arrow found the core.
Unlike Lucy with her rapid-fire technique, after two shots the Golem turned to strike me.
“Nelda!”
I called her name as I slung the bow across my back.
Nelda wheeled around and galloped away as if she’d been waiting for the signal.
Lucy and I repeated this pattern three times over.
After several bursts of intense exertion at short intervals, my breath came ragged and fast.
From the second round onward, I found myself simply drawing and shooting on reflex while Nelda handled all the maneuvering.
‘I was right to borrow Nelda from Edwin.’
That I managed to hold on through all those rotation cycles was entirely thanks to her.
As we cycled through, changing out, I looked up at the darkening sky beyond the barrier.
* * *
Thanks to relentless Teleportation Magic powered by Imperial Palace mages, the Magic Tower Master reached Jaskaria Mountain in mere hours.
For the distance between the Magic Tower and Jaskaria Mountain, it was nearly miraculous—yet during those hours, Edwin’s heart had already turned to ash.
The aging Magic Tower Master, his face drained white from the strain of consecutive Teleportation, bowed to Edwin.
“Dispel it. Now.”
Edwin didn’t even acknowledge the bow, pushing the Magic Tower Master forward.
Having heard the full story on the way, the Magic Tower Master wasted no time gathering his disciples to begin work on breaking the barrier.
“How long will it take?”
Kyle asked, his face tight with worry.
“It seems it will take half a day…….”
The Magic Tower Master answered with difficulty.
“Half a day?”
Edwin’s voice dropped to ice.
“It is necessary to take time to dispel it without harming those inside.”
Edwin, for whom Lina’s safety was everything, clenched his fist so hard his nails drew blood from his palm.
“As fast as you can, I’m asking.”
The Magic Tower Master standing before him was the Continent’s only 7-Circle Mage.
There was no alternative.
Edwin stepped back, consumed by a bitter helplessness at his own powerlessness.
Every moment spent talking was a moment lost; the faster the Magic Tower Master worked, the sooner Lina could be saved.
Edwin stood motionless before the barrier, like a statue.
As news spread, families of the Ladies trapped within began arriving one by one.
After confirming the barrier with their own eyes, one softhearted noblewoman began to weep.
“Oh. Catherine. My dear child.”
“Hush now, why do you cry? Madam, you can weep once Catherine comes out safely.”
Her husband tried to comfort her, but the noblewoman’s tears would not stop.
* * *
“It’s Catherine’s turn next.”
“I, huff, I think I need to see the Saint once this round is over.”
“Would you like me to go if you’re too exhausted?”
“No, phew, I’m fine, but the horse is tired.”
“Understood, Catherine. But you have to leave now!”
“I’ll be back soon!”
I was the cycle immediately before Catherine, still catching my breath as I sat in the dirt.
Right beside me lay Bes, who’d had the cycle before me.
“Man, I’m dying.”
As a little strength returned from the rest, Bes let out a ragged exclamation.
The other Ladies didn’t speak, but their nods showed they felt the same—exhaustion too deep for words.
Without the Thirst-Quenching Potions some of the Ladies had brought, we all would have collapsed long ago.
“It’s getting dark, isn’t it?”
I looked up at the sky obscured by the barrier, gauging the time.
“It seems so.”
If the sun was setting, that meant we’d been doing this for six hours straight.
My turn certainly came around every twenty cycles or so.
But the time spent waiting for rotation, injuries sustained while collecting spent arrows, substitutions for those too exhausted to continue—all of it was draining our stamina fast.
‘Especially the arrow gathering is a problem.’
On our side at least, since we were rotating the Elven Artifact Bow and Arrows, things were better.
But the other side used Common Arrows, and with a Golem made of stone, the arrows were breaking faster and faster.
The intervals between shots and recovery grew shorter.
‘What if all the arrows run out?’
Could anyone outside do anything to help before that happened?
My resolve wavered with each passing moment.
But when my turn came again, I deliberately straightened my face, brushed the dirt from my legs, and grabbed my bow.
Nelda showed no signs of fatigue yet, and my Archery skill was improving in real time.
“Neigh!”
Nelda made a sound, signaling the moment to fire.
The instant I heard her signal, I drew the bowstring by pure instinct.
The sound of the arrow splitting the air, heard countless times today, felt uniquely special this time.
My arrow struck the Golem’s core once more.
And…….
Crack. Shatter-shatter-crumble.
“Huh?”
“It broke.”
The core had shattered.
After thousands upon thousands of combined efforts from all of us.

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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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