Unbeknownst to Me, I am Secretly Dating the Emperor - Chapter 49

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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 49
“Is something the matter? Your High— Your Highness. You shouldn’t stand like that.”
By divine grace, Kayle managed to catch himself mid-word, switching from the forbidden title just in time.
Though he’d bitten his tongue hard enough drawing blood while covering the near-slip, hidden behind Edwin’s broad frame.
It was a small price to pay for salvaging the plan before it crumbled entirely.
The tears that pooled from biting his tongue so firmly, Kayle wiped away where no one could see.
In that moment, Lina and Edwin—who’d been exchanging nervous glances, convinced Kayle had just made a mistake and realizing they were being deceived—suddenly sprang back to life at his words, as if breaking free from a petrification curse.
“I was blocking the way.”
“I didn’t realize there was someone outside before I opened the door.”
Lina and Edwin, speaking awkwardly in turn, simultaneously moved toward the doorway to clear the path.
Then, flustered that things weren’t going as intended, they both froze again.
“We’re overlapping.”
“Yeah.”
After nearly ten seconds of standing motionless, only shifting position slightly, it was Lina who finally moved first.
“What if I go right and you go left, Lohas?”
“Understood.”
Yet their condition remained thoroughly broken.
It should be remembered that the two were still facing each other.
Kayle, forced to watch this spectacle from behind Edwin, pressed his forehead with his palm.
‘Separately, they’re perfectly functional people…’
“Why don’t you both come inside for now?”
He ushered the malfunctioning pair indoors before they could fumble any further.
‘There are still quite a few pedestrians on the street at this hour.’
A leaky bucket looked better leaking inside than outside.
Kayle led the way, and Edwin and Lina entered the Cafe in turn.
Lina had recovered her composure reasonably well, but Edwin moved like a defective golem, which was the problem.
‘His goal seems to be making it obvious to anyone watching that he’s hiding something.’
Kayle masked his sigh with a smile.
The moment he became conscious of needing to hide his identity, even his breathing became noticeably deliberate.
It occurred to him that Lina’s appearance at this particular moment might be punishment for fleeing the Evening Gathering at the Temple today—his condition was that dire.
‘Then again, has Edwin ever actually hidden anything from anyone in his life?’
The worst mistake Edwin had ever committed, one that would get him in trouble if discovered, was accidentally breaking a teacup set his mother treasured in childhood.
Even then, the child had confessed immediately, never once thinking to hide it—so of course this situation felt unfamiliar to him.
Kayle pondered how to neutralize this massive variable threatening the operation’s success.
While Edwin kept malfunctioning and Kayle kept worrying, Lina watched for signals.
Then she edged closer to Edwin and asked in a low voice.
Edwin was simply more comfortable than Kayle, after all.
“Is this the work you mentioned needing to do earlier?”
If the important task that warranted leaving the Evening Gathering wasn’t finished, she’d been prepared to give them privacy.
It was Kayle who answered Lina’s question.
“My business with you has just concluded, hasn’t it, Lohas?”
It was a chance to send this malfunctioning variable away.
“That is…”
Edwin, lost in thought about how the real Everett Lohas would speak to Kayle, missed his cue to respond—and Kayle gave him a subtle push.
“And you need to return to the Imperial Palace now.”
With zero expectations for Edwin’s acting ability, Kayle supplied an excuse as well.
‘Please. Go. Please.’
Fortunately, Kayle’s prayer worked.
Edwin offered awkwardly choppy formal farewells to both of them before leaving the Cafe.
Now only Lina and Kayle remained in the Cafe.
‘Oh, wait—’
It only now occurred to him that he was alone with his friend’s girlfriend in an empty Cafe late at night.
* * *
‘Everett must be very busy.’
After Everett left in such a rush it could only be described as frantic, Kayle guided me to a window seat.
One with a clear view outside.
Noting that at this late hour, tea would suit better than coffee, Kayle brought jasmine tea and gestured toward the entrance.
“Should I leave the door open?”
Even at this late hour, the Commercial District still had the occasional pedestrian passing by.
The topic I needed to discuss with Kayle wasn’t classified as highly confidential, but it wasn’t something suitable for strangers’ ears either.
‘The existence of the Blue Hawk is something only those who know, know.’
I was about to say it was fine, but then it occurred to me that even though the sun had set, the season was warm enough that Kayle might be uncomfortable.
“Aren’t you quite warm?”
My eyes caught on the buttons of his shirt, buttoned neatly all the way to the collar.
The Cafe appeared to have a Magic Stone installed for temperature control, but the combination of summer and floor-to-ceiling glass interior design was deadly enough to overcome even a cold-emitting Magic Stone.
‘I could just speak a bit more quietly.’
Or Kayle could cast Silence Magic for me.
When I said it didn’t matter, Kayle laughed aloud.
“I’m not hot.”
After gazing briefly through the glass at something outside, Kayle sat across from me.
“Though I think it’ll probably be fine anyway.”
His tone had turned playful, unlike the discomfort he’d shown moments before.
“But what brings you here at this hour, Diaz?”
As he moved to the main topic, his expression turned serious.
His sudden shift in demeanor made me straighten up, tensing as sharply as I had during the final interview for the Imperial Palace administrative exam.
‘It’s actually quite similar, now that I think about it.’
I chose my words carefully and opened my mouth hesitantly.
“It’s a bit overdue, but I wanted to give you an answer regarding the proposal you made to me before.”
The terms were too good to refuse, so I’d put off deciding out of regret—which now, ironically, worked in my favor.
‘Reconsidering a previous rejection looks better than this.’
I’d worried that by dragging things out so long, he might have already found someone else, but Kayle’s reaction was encouraging.
“I hope that after waiting this long, I get the answer I was hoping for.”
His expression was like someone about to receive an unexpected gift—the moment I said I’d join the Blue Hawk, he looked ready to seal the agreement immediately.
‘Thank goodness there’s still time.’
“If the answer you were hoping for is that I’ll join the Blue Hawk, then yes.”
I smiled back at Kayle.
Though I couldn’t relax completely, since this opening didn’t guarantee everything.
I had clear reasons for committing to the Blue Hawk, and there was something I needed to confirm.
“But I’d like to make my final decision after hearing about the blank spaces in the Contract I saw last time.”
If my work location was a foreign country, or if the work itself was something that wouldn’t give me access to sensitive information, there was no point in joining the Blue Hawk.
‘It would actually be more beneficial to maintain my current position.’
I did my best to look resolute.
He always wore that gentle smile, but Kayle was no pushover.
“Until you sign the Confidentiality Oath, you’re still an outsider, Diaz.”
The refusal came immediately.
When he was trying to recruit you, he was all charm; now he was cold as ice.
‘I never expected Kayle would easily go back on something he called confidential, but this is rigid.’
I was mulling over how to persuade him when Kayle himself opened a door.
“But precisely because I want to scout you, Diaz, I’ll exercise a bit of flexibility.”
Kayle grinned, eyes crinkling.
As if his firm refusal moments ago had just been him testing the waters.
“I can’t tell you anything that would leak out and cause problems, but if rough details are enough for you…”
There was a condition attached.
“That’s enough for me.”
I nodded quickly before Kayle could change his mind.
“Do you remember what I said before—that the work you’d do in the Blue Hawk probably wouldn’t be very different from what you do now?”
After all, there were limits to what an accounting major in an administrative role could do.
‘The important word is “probably.”‘
Having experienced firsthand how creatively work assignments could be combined in a past life, I didn’t lower my guard.
Those vague job descriptions had been one of the main culprits behind my death from overwork.
‘Don’t just repeat what you said last time.’
You said you’d explain more specifically.
“I remember. And now it’s your turn to tell me what comes next.”
I pressed him with intensity in my gaze, and Kayle obediently continued.

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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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