Unbeknownst to Me, I am Secretly Dating the Emperor - Chapter 203

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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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Side Story 5
Even a friend of the same sort turned away, so I couldn’t press the matter further.
To be honest, more than half the tears I shed then were from sheer injustice.
‘At least I learned the importance of evidence from it.’
It was the only thing remotely positive I could say I’d gained from being entangled with Reyhar.
As it happened, the mentorship ended around that time, and my connection with Reyhar severed cleanly.
Looking back now, it was nothing but a fragile relationship, thin as sugar coating.
We’d managed only one or two dates, at most.
But the reason Reyhar remained the worst of my dark histories was because he was shameless above all.
Even after the mentorship ended, he spread vicious rumors about me in subtle ways, fearing I might tell others what happened that day and damage his reputation.
The people close to me weren’t the sort to fall for such scheming, so the effect wasn’t great, but it left a bitter taste.
He’d spread the rumors so cleverly that it took me a long time to trace the source of the endless stream of nasty gossip.
‘I’d bet my last gold coin that this brown-haired lady has a title coming to her as well.’
Reyhar probably thought that since I was about to marry, I’d let things slide to avoid making a scene.
After all, it was true that I’d dated him once or twice.
‘That’s where you’re wrong.’
I was a pacifist, but not so virtuous as to give up revenge.
I wasn’t a coward who feared that a few dates from when I was fourteen would become public knowledge in high society.
I was also a bit concerned about this brown-haired lady, who’d fallen for Reyhar’s scheming—scheming that had grown more subtle with age.
I simply lifted the corners of my mouth in a smile, just as I’d recently learned in Etiquette Lessons.
This distant smile was like a signal that came before blaming the other person for their rudeness.
Reyhar flinched and pretended to glance around casually.
Was he worried about the humiliation that was about to come his way?
‘Right—who told you to grab me when I was leaving and pretend to be friendly?’
Seeing my resolved expression, Reyhar attempted damage control with a troubled face.
“It’s true we were close during our Academy days, but this is actually the first time we’ve seen each other since graduation. Or rather, it is. My apologies for being presumptuous.”
The moment he tucked tail and preemptively apologized, my anger only deepened.
I could sense subtle pressure behind his words, directed at me.
“We didn’t seem all that close, even back at the Academy.”
I replied coldly, and silence settled over the large restaurant interior where so many people were dining.
Reyhar’s mouth worked for a moment before he settled on playing the role of victim.
“If that’s how Lina—or rather, how the lady of the Renkel house sees it, then I suppose that’s how it must be. Soon you’ll be the Empress, so a brief connection from the past is hardly…”
The way he let his words trail off, implying we’d shared something significant—it struck me how his natural cunning had only grown into something uglier with age.
But then again, I too had grown more shrewd as I aged.
I laughed to avoid falling into his word games.
Just as I was about to expose exactly how low a person he was, a familiar hand touched my shoulder softly.
“Lina.”
It was Ed.
‘Time’s already gotten away from us, hasn’t it.’
Coni insisted on separating work from personal life and had been spending her time at home rather than at the Separate Palace.
Ed also had an outside engagement today, so we’d planned to meet up afterward if our schedules aligned.
Since Coni still found Ed somewhat awkward, I’d sent her ahead separately, but it seemed Ed had been watching from outside and came in when things looked serious.
If there was anyone whose judgment I’d least wanted to have this dark history exposed to, it was Ed.
My mood sank lower than when I’d first spotted Reyhar, the man who’d tried to use me as a stepping stone for his social advancement.
‘No, Ed. Back when I was younger, my standards were… well, they were set a bit low.’
As my eyes went back and forth between Ed’s face and Reyhar’s, my anger only grew.
‘Slander answers slander.’
I turned to Ed and greeted him warmly.
“Ed, you came? Thank you for coming to pick me up.”
During the conflict with the Temple and the Western Region, I’d had several public dates and had grown accustomed to being affectionate in plain sight.
Yet unless there was a particular reason, I wasn’t one to show affection openly without cause.
Ed, sharp enough to sense that my behavior today was different from usual, answered with equal quickness.
“Escorting my fiancée is my honor.”
As Ed raised my hand to his lips, the ladies who’d been watching this way with serious expressions just moments before let out muffled squeals of excitement.
“And who is he?”
Ed pretended not to hear the ladies’ delighted gasps and asked me directly who Reyhar was.
His eyes, which had been nothing but sweet when directed at me, flashed for just a moment as they fell upon Reyhar—bright with the intensity of a predator about to strike its prey.
Reyhar, a typical bureaucrat, wilted under Ed’s momentum.
Just as I was deciding on the best way to humiliate him, Coni got there first.
“I remember him as a senior mentor from back when Lina was at the Academy. He looked down on her for not being nobility and treated her poorly, so they didn’t get along, right?”
Coni covered her mouth a beat too late, as if her muttering had been too loud.
Grateful for her reading my mind and stepping in at just the right moment, I silently thanked her.
“Oh, it wasn’t that bad. Once he found out my aunt was the Countess Renkel, he was very kind, actually.”
I deliberately raised my eyebrows in mock sympathy as I spoke.
With just this hint, the sharp-eyed nobility would piece together that Reyhar and I were far from the close friends he’d been subtly implying—in fact, quite the opposite.
Unless, of course, we’d actually despised each other.
As the eyes of the brown-haired lady and other nobles turned cold, Reyhar’s face drained of color.
“I see.”
The coldest gaze of all, of course, belonged to Ed.
He looked Reyhar up and down slowly, as if committing him to memory.
Reyhar trembled, seeming to sense the misfortune that would soon befall him.
But Ed quickly veiled his fierce expression and turned back to me with a pretty smile.
It was very much like Ed—this habit of playing gentle and docile in front of me.
Ed guided me gently toward the exit.
Coni gestured for me to go ahead, as if she had other business.
It seemed she was planning to stay behind and thoroughly ruin Reyhar’s reputation.
Coni was quite talented at fabrication and manipulation.
She disliked Reyhar just as much as I did.
I gave Coni a subtle thumbs-up and followed Ed out of the restaurant.
The winter air felt refreshing on my skin.
“I came out to relax, but I feel more tired now.”
I leaned my head against Ed’s shoulder and pouted.
“Shall I carry you?”
Ed smiled and indulged my complaint.
Though he meant he’d carry me all the way to the carriage, I simply hugged him once and then let go.
Unsatisfied with the brief embrace, Ed reached down and took my hand instead.
His large hand touched mine so carefully, as if it might break if he gripped too hard, that it tickled.
Still, I didn’t pull my hand away and simply let him hold it.
‘Like a cat kneading me.’
I wouldn’t say it out loud, but my thoughts were my own.
Sensing my mood had improved, I smiled faintly.
“But what was your history with that man anyway?”
Then I thoughtlessly answered a question I should have been careful about.
“Oh, someone I dated twice before things ended badly? He spread malicious gossip about me, rather shamefully…”
I answered carelessly and then suddenly realized what I’d said, turning back to look at Ed.
Ed’s smile froze with obvious strain.
As if pretending nothing was wrong.
But I could easily tell that his insides were seething.
He was a man absurdly jealous, and he never hid it well.
‘He’s going to hate both sentences, actually.’
And he had a temperament far less patient than mine.

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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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