Unbeknownst to Me, I am Secretly Dating the Emperor - Chapter 31

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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 31
It was Sunday.
The sky had clouded over a little, the kind of day that made warm tea seem all the more appealing.
Bracing myself for another wasted trip, I headed to the Tea Room, only to find it surprisingly empty.
“It’s quiet, isn’t it? Guess I was lucky.”
As I was shown to the Private Room—supposedly the one with the loveliest view—I murmured the words aloud, and after a brief pause, Everett answered.
“Yeah, we were lucky.”
The late smile that spread across his lips made him look like a mischievous boy.
He’d turned to answer me, which meant his back was to the window where the sun streamed in so brilliantly.
When he smiled like that, it was as if a halo had fallen across him.
Thump-thump.
My heart made its presence known with alarming force.
‘Not now, of all times? Heart. Please, just be quiet.’
I tensed, terrified that my heartbeat—which seemed to pound as loud as a drum—might travel through our touching hands and reach Everett.
I reflexively jerked my hand away from my chest, as if it were an injured spot, before my palm could settle against my left side where my heart was racing.
‘What is this, a pledge of allegiance? Stop it!’
Instead, I drew a deep breath while Everett wasn’t looking, trying to will my heartbeat back to normal.
‘Breathe in, breathe out.’
Concentrating so hard on my breathing that I didn’t even notice we’d passed not a single person on the way to the Private Room.
Or how utterly quiet it was, as if someone had rented out the entire place.
Still, by the time the waiter opened the door to the Private Room, I’d managed to compose my expression into something approaching calm.
“Miss Diaz.”
Everett gestured for me to enter first.
As if I’d been bewitched by the sun itself, I withdrew my hand from Everett’s escorting grasp as gracefully as I could manage.
I entered the Private Room like a knight attending a lady, with Everett following a step behind, and instead of the waiter, he himself pulled out my chair.
It was the perfect seat—the Courtyard, this Tea Room’s pride, spread out in full view.
“Thank you.”
I murmured my gratitude and sat, and Everett gave a light nod before taking the seat across from me.
Which meant his back was now to the window with the Courtyard view…
‘It’s been cloudy all this time—why does the sun have to break through now?’
The moment Everett settled into his chair, the clouds parted as if on cue, swept aside by the wind, and the sun that had been hidden all afternoon suddenly blazed through.
The clean, bright light of early summer broke across Everett’s glossy black hair in a brilliant shimmer.
And then that radiance—the moment the sunlight suddenly caught his back and he turned toward the window—traced the refined contours of his face.
A double strike.
Delivered with a gap between them, each one stronger than the last.
Thump-thump-thump.
My heart, which had barely settled, began to thunder with even more violence than before.
Heat rushed uncontrollably into my face.
I couldn’t hold out any longer—my hand flew to my left chest.
The violent pounding was so strong I could feel it plainly in my palm, as if my ribs might shatter and let it burst through.
“Ugh.”
I let out a small sound of distress and curled in on myself, which startled Everett, who rushed to my side.
“What’s wrong? Miss Diaz?”
He studied my face with concern.
I averted my eyes and turned my head away, covering my face with my hand.
‘It’s your face… it’s not good for my heart.’
I couldn’t bring myself to say the real reason aloud.
The afterimage of that radiant light still clung to my vision, and I couldn’t face him directly.
I buried my face deeper into my hand.
At least my palm was cooler than my burning cheeks.
Still cradling my face, I fumbled out an excuse in a panic.
“I—I just choked on something.”
It was a hastily invented lie, but Everett seemed reassured enough and nodded.
“Here, water.”
Everett ordered the waiter, who was standing by the table, to bring cold water right away.
Even as the waiter went downstairs to fetch it, Everett’s concerned gaze refused to leave me.
When time dragged on and I still couldn’t lift my face, he grew anxious, his eyes drifting repeatedly toward the door.
“Maybe I should just go downstairs and get the water myself?”
Worrying that my flush was getting worse rather than better, Everett offered to fetch it personally.
“It’s fine. Really, it is.”
Finally lifting my face, I protested frantically, and while he didn’t look entirely convinced, he relented.
“Your face is still red.”
Everett reached toward my forehead, then hesitated.
“This is…”
Startled, he withdrew the hand he’d been extending, tucking it behind his back.
As if that gesture could undo the moment.
Frozen for a second, Everett then seemed to realize how foolish he’d been and laughed awkwardly.
His laughter reached my ear like a breeze.
‘He’s too close.’
The Everett who’d been sitting across from me had noticed my Fainting Stance posture and hurried over, now standing right beside my chair.
His posture bent slightly as he checked my condition.
Close enough that if he stretched his hand just a little, he could touch me—so close that the fine hairs on my cheeks and neck stood on end at the disturbance in the air.
This was the closest we’d ever been.
I couldn’t even breathe deeply, afraid my breathing might sound strange to him.
“Just… a little further back.”
Unable to bear it anymore, I asked him to step away.
“Hm? You want me to go?”
My throat had gone tight, my voice cracking at the end.
“I… sorry.”
Everett offered an inexplicable apology and moved about a step away from my chair.
Though his gaze and upper body remained angled toward me.
That distance—neither too close nor too far, yet always poised to close—felt like the space between Everett and me.
I deliberately avoided his golden eyes, which seemed to want to say something more.
‘If I let this go any further, my heart will burst.’
Fortunately, the moment didn’t last long.
“Pardon me.”
A polite knock sounded right on cue.
The door opened and a waiter entered, holding a glass of water with lemon slices floating on top.
Everett, who’d been glancing at the door every few seconds before, gave the waiter a distinctly displeased look.
Then he stepped further away from me.
‘In other words…’
Like someone caught doing something that shouldn’t be seen, pausing at the sound of footsteps.
A high-class Tea Room in the Capital would naturally have a Magic Stone with Cooling Magic to keep the Private Room comfortable, yet somehow it felt unbearably warm.
But the waiter, smiling with professional courtesy, showed no sign of feeling this heat as he approached and handed me the water—perhaps this warmth was felt only by Everett and me.
“The sun started coming out, so I’ve asked them to adjust the Magic Tool’s temperature settings a bit.”
He’d apparently taken my delay to mean I was sensitive to heat.
Attentive service, indeed.
“Thank you.”
I accepted the glass, condensation beading on its surface, ice clinking inside.
The choking incident had been a lie, but my throat had genuinely been parched, and the water was blissful.
Once I’d drained the entire glass, leaving only ice and lemon slices, my mind finally began to feel a little clearer.
As I felt the heat in my body finally subside, I spoke to the waiter.
“I’d like to order, please.”
Even as I drained the glass, I could feel Everett’s gaze still fixed on me, but if I turned to look at him, I’d need another glass of cold water.
So I kept my eyes on the waiter alone, as if ordering tea was my absolute top priority.
Only then did Everett return to his seat across from me.
“Right away.”
Once the waiter confirmed Everett was seated, he placed a luxurious Menu, even edged with gold leaf, in front of each of us.
The waiter withdrew silently, and with no menu to block our view anymore, nothing stood between my gaze and Everett’s across the table.
I studied the slim menu as carefully as I’d once studied my Academy textbooks during my major courses.
Everett flipped through his briefly, casually confirming the options, and waited patiently for me to order.
I kept examining the menu until the waiter began to look faintly puzzled by my thorough inspection, and finally I ordered the tea at the very top.
“I’ll have the same.”
Everett continued as if he’d been waiting for exactly that.
The waiter collected the menus and withdrew.
The sound of the Private Room’s door closing felt as loud as thunder.
Time, which had felt so drawn out, must have actually passed in mere moments—the sunlight still shattered across Everett’s hair.
I couldn’t hold back any longer and called out.
My eyes squeezed shut.
“Excuse me. Sir Rohas!”

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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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