Unbeknownst to Me, I am Secretly Dating the Emperor - Chapter 48

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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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Chapter 48
Kyle’s reasoning went like this.
Lina had achieved the remarkable feat of top admission, top graduation, and top passing on the recruitment exam at the Academy, yet she continued to work as a low-ranking administrator at the Treasury.
‘She’s the type who’s never cultivated connections with superiors and has no intention of doing so. No grand ambitions, really.’
Even when given a blank check, she’d balk at figures too large, instead writing down the cost of a modest two-story house, a living allowance comfortable enough to work moderately and still enjoy leisure, and emergency reserves in case something went wrong—that sort of person.
Yet the way she drew a line with House Renckels showed she had backbone and a certain decisiveness.
Thinking it over, Kyle realized that Lina’s ignorance of Edwin’s station actually created the best possible situation for him.
Kyle added another thought to ease Edwin’s mind.
“I’m not saying to keep it secret forever. I mean to wait until Miss Diaz has grown to care for you so deeply that it no longer matters whether His Majesty is Emperor.”
Yet Edwin still hesitated.
“Then you could tell her the truth and just accept her rejection if she finds it too burdensome.”
Kyle had no wish to interfere against Edwin’s own will, so he dangled the carrot.
‘If she rejects me, I’ll just have a drink with her, that’s all.’
The moment Kyle tried to step back, a spark flashed through Edwin’s eyes.
‘He hates the idea of being rejected.’
Kyle pressed his advantage like driving a wedge deeper.
“Someone of Miss Diaz’s caliber would make an excellent bride for anyone. Even if you weren’t Emperor, she’d find another lover soon enough. She’s of marriageable age, after all.”
Crack.
The corner of the table Edwin gripped shattered under the force of his rising fury.
Edwin glared at Kyle as though he were Lina’s “other lover.”
The imagined face of whatever suitor might appear after Lina rejected him seemed to overlay Kyle’s features in Edwin’s vision.
Kyle smiled through the palpable threat and continued.
“Your Majesty can simply make a political marriage with some suitable noblewoman, and bless Miss Diaz as she bears rabbit-like children with her husband in that cozy two-story home, living happily and blissfully ever after!”
Crack-crack.
At the mention of “rabbit-like children,” another corner of the table came away.
Wood splinters fell from Edwin’s grip onto the floor with a sound like rain.
Those unsettling golden eyes fixed themselves on Kyle.
Edwin was no longer angry at the imaginary rival—he was angry at Kyle.
Kyle had perhaps pushed the provocation too far.
Everything he was saying was ultimately for Edwin’s sake, but Kyle—trained only to the level of physique that noble men took up as a matter of refinement—was beginning to feel the strain.
‘Time for the carrot again?’
Satisfied that his provocation had struck home, Kyle whispered like a hypnotist.
“Understanding may lag behind forgiveness. Look at my father—he’s been through hardship, but he was never divorced.”
It was a carrot all the more persuasive for being rooted in truth.
Kyle’s warm brown hair and fresh green eyes, as well as his kindly bearing, all came from his father Terrence—who belonged to a cadet branch of House Robertus, once the closest confidants of the previous Emperor.
Terrence’s situation could be said to have been politically antagonistic to Viola Seymour, daughter of the cadet house that served the Former Crown Prince, Edwin’s father.
Yet Terrence, smitten with Viola at first sight, had severed ties with his already estranged family and hidden his connection to House Robertus, successfully marrying her.
At that time, the structure was such that the Crown Prince was definitively set to inherit the throne, and House Robertus backed the Second Prince to counter him—so relations were merely strained, nothing more.
It was nothing grave enough to weigh heavily on Terrence’s conscience.
However, not long after the couple married, the Crown Prince’s health began to deteriorate rapidly.
At first it seemed like a mild cold, but matters grew dire as he began coughing blood periodically and suffering convulsions.
Since the Crown Prince had always been robust, everyone suspected poison or a curse.
The Second Prince was the most likely suspect, but there was no evidence beyond suspicion.
Despite employing every method available, no one could determine what afflicted the Crown Prince.
The Crown Prince was dying slowly, the Emperor was advanced in years, and his only son was far too young.
In the end, the succession changed.
To the Second Prince.
The Former Crown Prince, now Grand Duke, withdrew into seclusion after a private audience with the Second Prince.
It was a choice made for the sake of those he would leave behind, yet those who remained could only feel resentment.
They had watched their lord die while burning quietly with rage.
House Seymour and House Robertus transformed from political rivals into mortal enemies.
Terrence’s position became precarious.
He’d have been purged from his own family anyway—Terrence resolved to hide his old name forever.
But exactly seven years after marriage, he was exposed.
Much happened immediately after the revelation, yet the two remained a reasonably harmonious couple.
Despite their circumstances being far worse than those of Edwin and Lina.
“That’s true, I suppose.”
As a result, Edwin’s resolve hardened.
In fact, it didn’t matter if forgiveness came slower or proved harder than understanding.
He simply wanted to ensure that the future where he would tearfully bless Lina bearing rabbit-like children with another man in a cozy two-story home, living happily and blissfully ever after, would never become reality.
Edwin truly did not want to be rejected.
* * *
‘I’ve made a mess of this.’
I swung my legs while perched half-length on the bed.
Rather than warn him, I’d only made things awkward between myself and Everett.
I had been careless.
I’d overlooked the fact that even if an Emperor coldly cuts down a subordinate who caused a blunder, those on the other side can still offer fervent loyalty.
Emotions are sometimes one-directional, after all.
Confusion, sorrow, and fragments of some other emotion I couldn’t quite parse filled Everett’s eyes.
‘From now on, I won’t even breathe the word “Emperor” in front of Everett.’
I swore to myself again.
But regret is always too late, and those words were already spoken.
‘I wish I could do a Time Reversal like the heroine. Just for one day.’
It won’t happen.
According to the lore, the only Artifact capable of turning back time was meant for the heroine to use.
And it was single-use.
Across the entire timeline.
After a few more kicks under the blanket, I found the courage to face reality.
‘I need to make it up to him.’
It seemed if I lost Everett’s Affection Score through a poor choice, I should at least gain something else to compensate.
Perhaps a new position that would grant me access to the hub of information normally denied to low-ranking Imperial Palace administrators.
‘He said I should visit anytime if I was willing to work together.’
I tidied my disheveled hair and checked the time.
Kyle’s Cafe had long hours, fitting its role as a front for the Information Guild.
‘It’s cutting it close. I need to hurry.’
Resolved to settle the matter at once, I headed to the cafe to accept the recruitment offer.
I practically ran there and fortunately arrived before the closing time.
But I didn’t enter right away.
I couldn’t afford to stumble in breathless and gasping, “Please accept me.”
‘I really should have exercised more.’
I steadied my breathing, watching the warm light filtering through the glass.
‘I don’t see anyone inside. Kyle must be in the Guild building.’
My breathing stabilized, and my flushed cheeks cooled in the lukewarm night breeze of summer.
‘Good.’
I slowly raised my hand to the door handle.
And as I drew breath to open it—
The door opened from the other side first.
I was pulled forward half a step by the force of it, and the person I saw was someone I knew well.
‘Why is Everett coming out of here?’
Again?
It felt like déjà vu for some reason.
* * *
“Miss Diaz?”
Edwin, lost in thought, slowly registered the unexpected encounter.
Recognizing the face and calling it out belatedly, Lina answered reflexively.
“Oh, yes.”
Though Edwin didn’t notice, her tone was decidedly awkward.
It was Kyle who broke the standoff in the doorway.
Edwin had come to leave, but now stood stiffly before the door, so Kyle approached.
“Is there some difficulty? Your—”
Kyle spoke as he called to Edwin.

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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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