Unbeknownst to Me, I am Secretly Dating the Emperor - Chapter 29

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 29
* * *
Tap.
The quill pen slipped from Edwin’s grip as his strength gave way.
Yet Edwin barely registered the fact.
His mind was far too occupied with something else entirely.
Edwin covered his flushed face with one hand, mumbling.
“We touched.”
The words escaped between his teeth like a whisper.
The moment his voice echoed back to him, the sensation he’d nearly forgotten came rushing back.
The warmth of Diaz’s arm when she’d linked it through his……
At that thought, Edwin’s face burned crimson as if alight.
He forced himself to stop the memory, clinging to chivalry like a lifeline.
After several awkward coughs, Edwin glanced around the empty office and muttered to himself.
“Summer is summer. It’s hot.”
He blamed the heat on the weather.
Never mind that the battlefields of the Eastern Region where he’d spent so long were far hotter than the Capital!
Never mind that the Imperial Palace office was filled with state-of-the-art Magical Artifacts that maintained perfect comfort year-round!
Regardless, it was all the weather’s fault.
With cheeks flushed crimson, Edwin grabbed a stack of papers and fanned himself with them.
He gave no thought to their importance—crucial documents regarding reparations negotiations with Bellot.
Cooling the immediate heat was all that mattered.
For a time, only the rustling of paper filled the office.
Knock, knock.
Just as the documents began to crumple beyond recovery, the knock that broke through Edwin’s reverie sounded at the door.
“…… Come in.”
Edwin belatedly registered the knock and granted entry.
He still hadn’t stopped fanning himself with the papers.
“Your Majesty.”
The figure entering the office was Kyle, as Edwin had expected.
Unable to contain the swelling emotions churning inside him, Edwin’s eyes brightened at the arrival of someone he could confide in.
Kyle was perhaps his only confidant who didn’t demand he maintain appearances.
Kyle halted upon seeing Edwin, whose flush had not yet faded.
An expression of momentary misunderstanding flickered across Kyle’s face.
He instinctively took a step backward before forcing himself to stand firm.
The imperial strategist’s mind sprang to work with practiced urgency.
He opened with grave formality.
“It concerns the Crown Princess.”
Edwin’s softened expression hardened gradually at the mention of business.
“The Crown Princess? Why?”
Edwin hurled the papers down from his lap and reclined in his chair, his tone clipped and irritable.
His lazy gaze had turned glacial in an instant.
Most would have shivered at the chill of such a look, but Kyle welcomed it—in fact, he was relieved.
‘At least I won’t have to listen to eight hours of recounting a four-hour meeting with Diaz.’
Kyle exhaled silently in private gratitude.
Yet a smaller crisis remained.
“About the Crown Princess, sire……”
Kyle’s mind was working to frame the matter in the most presentable light.
‘It’s both significant and trivial, depending on how you look at it.’
In the end, Kyle abandoned pretense and resolved to report only facts.
“She’s reiterated her desire to pursue the National Marriage Alliance, as we discussed before.”
A National Marriage Alliance was the most symbolic demonstration of goodwill between allied nations.
But just as the Emperor was the Empire’s sole remaining Royal Blood, the Crown Princess was Bellot’s only heir.
Lacking suitable partners previously, the matter had simply withered away.
Reviving marriage negotiations meant the Crown Princess had fundamentally shifted her position toward the Empire.
It was a positive signal, though not strictly necessary.
Since the matter had been broached once before, its impact would be diminished.
Kyle cautiously gauged Edwin’s reaction.
In normal circumstances, Edwin would have delivered biting reproach by now.
But Edwin, still not fully tightened, withheld his criticism.
“A National Marriage Alliance.”
Now fully in operational mode, Edwin tapped the desk thoughtfully with his index finger.
“Who does the Kingdom have in mind?”
His question was posed with unusual candor, meant to discern the Crown Princess’s true intentions.
“Either the Third Prince, her full brother, or herself, it seems.”
Kyle straightened as he replied.
“The Crown Princess would be preferable from our side.”
“The Third Prince only maintains his position because the Crown Princess allows it.”
“Though we’ve decided not to annex Bellot, there’s no harm in having imperial bloodline flow into the royal house.”
Even as he spoke with evident reluctance, Edwin nodded in agreement.
“We’ll need to find a suitable nobleman—observant, skilled in diplomacy.”
Once Edwin had settled his thoughts, he issued his command to Kyle.
“I’ll compile a list and report it promptly, sire.”
Kyle bowed respectfully.
With business concluded, Edwin’s expression began to soften like spring sunlight melting into warmth.
It was the prelude to another round of Diaz-related musings.
“I’ll take my leave now, sire.”
Kyle was grateful for the pretext to escape the imperial office.
* * *
It was the day after I’d visited the third Exhibition Hall with Everett.
‘I’m exhausted.’
I suppressed a yawn as I stepped down from the Shared Carriage on my way to work.
This place had so much work that I barely managed one day off a week, and having gone out every single rest day had left me drained.
‘Still, I wasn’t tired at all when I was with him.’
I smiled shyly to myself, anticipating the fourth Exhibition Hall.
‘Next time, I have to ask Everett what he wants to do.’
I clenched my fists with quiet determination.
As I mulled over what we might do the week after next, in case Everett hadn’t made any special plans, I found myself standing before the office door.
“Good morning.”
I greeted them cheerfully, mustering false enthusiasm, but somehow received no response.
‘What’s going on?’
The staff were huddled in small clusters, deep in conversation, as if they hadn’t noticed my arrival.
‘The atmosphere feels strange.’
I felt a flicker of unease.
I quietly moved inside and joined the discussion.
“No way. A dragon’s tail is worthless compared to being the head of a wyvern. Why would the Crown Princess give up a guaranteed throne for the Empire?”
“I don’t know why, but that’s what I heard. The Emperor and the Crown Princess of Bellot are apparently getting married soon.”
“I heard the Emperor’s advisors are making arrangements for the National Marriage Alliance. Surely it’s true?”
From what I could gather, they were discussing the Emperor’s wedding.
‘Oh, I thought it was work-related.’
I felt my chest relax from the tension I’d been holding since Monday morning.
‘Please don’t gather with such serious expressions over something so trivial.’
Especially not gossip.
This barren place rarely had society’s chitchat filter through, but a National Marriage Alliance was so significant that rumors seemed to have flooded in.
I slowly withdrew and sat at my desk, thinking.
‘Well, it’s about time.’
I quietly counted out the Emperor’s age.
‘The Emperor is twenty-three, isn’t he?’
Among commoners, the average marriage age had grown later—both men and women around twenty-two or twenty-three—but the Royal Blood married far younger.
‘Usually they marry before reaching twenty, I’ve heard.’
At twenty-three, the Emperor had already fallen well behind by royal standards.
The war had simply lasted too long.
‘But even so, the heroine’s entrance point is coming up soon.’
They were scheduled to meet first at the Masquerade Ball during the New Year Festival next—only six months away now.
From their fateful first meeting, the two protagonists would marry within a year.
‘Regardless of who he marries, a National Marriage Alliance will happen soon anyway.’
It seemed there had been previous talk of marriage with the Crown Princess.
Was this part of the original work’s backstory?
‘Wait, hold on.’
As my stream of consciousness flowed naturally forward, I suddenly froze at a fragment of doubt.
‘Is this something that was originally supposed to happen?’
Since the story proceeded from the heroine’s first-person perspective, the hero’s past was barely mentioned.
‘I don’t remember this being detailed.’
I chewed my lip anxiously.
Any female supporting character involved in marriage negotiations would have at least been mentioned.
‘I’d bet my entire reading history as a romance fantasy fan that she’d show up, if only as filler.’
But this… I had no recollection of it whatsoever.
‘Could the destiny have changed?’
Suddenly, my spine prickled with dread.
If the Saint, my sunny heroine, didn’t appear, then the Emperor wouldn’t have a redemption arc.
‘If he marries the Crown Princess of Bellot, it would be a purely political marriage—meaning no character growth for the Emperor.’
Thump.
In that moment, dark clouds seemed to gather over my remaining years in the Imperial Palace.
‘If the Saint heroine doesn’t show up, I’m resigning on the spot.’
The “Tyrant Emperor” trope was only palatable from the sidelines.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————