Unbeknownst to Me, I am Secretly Dating the Emperor - Chapter 51

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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 51
When he tugged my arm, Everett reflexively turned to look at me.
‘Finally, he’s focused.’
He’d found focus, but not vigor.
‘Ugh.’
I settled him in with a patience that didn’t suit me—this unusually timid version of Everett.
“Is there something you wanted to tell me?”
The implication was clear: if you have something to say, spit it out and stop wasting time.
I had no intention of moving from the middle of the road until he opened his mouth.
My resolve must have reached him, because Everett hesitated before finally spilling what was on his mind.
“Did Kyle have something important to discuss with you?”
Even as he finished speaking, he averted his eyes—it was clear this question embarrassed him greatly.
‘So he’s asking what I was talking about with a man at this hour, alone.’
I pivoted around him as though he were an axis, tilting my head to meet his gaze.
“You’ve been curious about that the whole way here?”
I asked in a teasing voice, and even in the dim moonlight, I could see his earlobes flush crimson.
Realizing heat was creeping into his face, Everett tried to free his hand from my grip to cover his cheeks.
“I’m not letting go.”
I tightened my hold on the hand I was already gripping, then caught his other free hand as well.
‘Probably weaker than a child’s grip, but that’s all right.’
I knew Everett would yield without resistance.
Ever since he’d left marks on my wrist at our second meeting, he’d been conscientious about controlling his strength.
True to form, with both hands caught in mine, Everett couldn’t dodge or escape—he simply stood there flustered.
‘For a man of thirty, he’s genuinely adorable.’
I looked up at Everett and grinned widely.
“You could have just asked me.”
‘Though the Confidentiality Oath keeps me from telling everything.’
But even a Magical Contract has loopholes; I could offer hints through nuance, as long as they didn’t touch the contract’s core.
For instance, that Kyle had approached me with a recruitment offer.
The kind that had nothing to do with the contract’s essence.
‘Everett knows about the Blue Hawk, so he’ll understand what that means.’
Everett flinched noticeably enough that I felt it through both his wrists.
“I didn’t realize I could ask about that.”
He looked a little sheepish.
‘Why wouldn’t you know?’
Was I the only one playing coy here?
My eyes narrowed, and his golden ones began darting nervously.
“Don’t we know each other well enough now to ask about these things?”
I complained with exaggerated drama.
‘We’ve been on enough dates that I’m allowed to feel a little jealous.’
If the roles were reversed, I certainly would be.
“Or never mind, then.”
When Everett remained silent, I released his wrists as though making a dramatic statement and turned away.
Everett fumbled, trying to make excuses.
“That’s not what I meant… Displaying jealousy is not a virtue, after all.”
‘Oh.’
I’d thought the age gap between us wasn’t quite generational, but I felt it just then.
“What, is that something that would appear in an etiquette textbook ancient enough to be in your parents’ nursery?”
Dismissing the notion, I stepped back from Everett.
Though Everett closed the distance I’d created, so it hardly mattered.
“Your parents were born before that text would have been considered ancient.”
Everett protested, sounding hurt.
I’d heard that even a few decades ago, nobles considered displaying emotions shameful.
They believed maintaining an even temper under all circumstances was what marked true nobility.
‘Though that’s become obsolete now that theater and romantic novels—common culture—have become fashionable even among the nobility.’
Still, conservative high nobles and certain regions tended to view emotional restraint as a mark of refinement.
‘Maybe it’s an Eastern Region thing.’
Commoners and lower nobility had quite liberal attitudes about romance, but Everett seemed notably conservative.
Not that there was anything wrong with it.
Now that I thought about it—
“Then you were waiting outside earlier too?”
Everett tried not to answer after being branded old-fashioned once, but his wavering eyes betrayed him faster than words could.
I laughed with a soft exhale.
‘I recall learning as a child that unmarried nobles of opposite genders being alone together without a chaperone was forbidden.’
Especially since it could be catastrophic for the woman’s reputation in society.
‘If a chaperone is unavoidable absent, one should keep the door open rather than create a private space, and maintain observers nearby.’
I wondered if that was why Everett had made the trip all the way to the Imperial Palace and back.
I remembered Kyle asking whether he should leave the door open.
‘Well, Kyle is an Earl, so that makes sense.’
Though his tastes were unusual enough that he ran a cafe, he was genuinely high nobility—the Emperor’s closest confidant.
Once he realized I wasn’t conscious of noble etiquette, he’d let it slide readily enough.
Yet there were moments when Everett seemed exactly like the heir to some ancient, prestigious high noble house trained under the strictest discipline.
Like when he was comfortable with escorting, or just now when he reacted so rigidly to matters of propriety.
‘That’s an unkind thought.’
Knowing from Coni that Everett came from Eastern serfs, I pushed the stray thought away.
‘A commoner receiving a knighthood must work that much harder to avoid being scrutinized.’
“Anyway.”
After clearing my throat briefly, I extended my hand to Everett again.
Everett accepted it as though he’d been waiting for that very moment.
Not wanting to let go, he even interlaced our fingers, and the sensation made my palm tingle.
I bore the ticklish feeling and grumbled for no particular reason.
“Next time, are you going to send my parents a letter asking permission to court me?”
“If you’re amenable, I’ll send it the moment the sun rises.”
It was meant as a joke—don’t be so serious—but Everett took it completely earnestly.
“I didn’t mean it literally!”
I reacted sharply.
My face was burning.
I was fanning myself frantically with my free hand, while Everett wore the expression of a puppy who’d had his treat stolen right before his nose.
“So it was a joke, then.”
‘Why do you look so disappointed.’
Heat flooded my face even more intensely, as though I might burst.
Fortunately, no such misfortune occurred.
We’d arrived near where I lived.
‘Second time now. Being relieved to see home more than Everett.’
I squeezed out my last bit of energy and rapid-fired an explanation at him.
“Anyway, I met with Kyle for work. Don’t misunderstand.”
And the moment I finished speaking, I fled into my house like a coward.
Thump, thump.
My heart felt as though it might burst. Whether from the sudden sprint or for some other reason, I couldn’t say.
* * *
Edwin stood motionless for a long while after Lina rushed into her house.
Her voice echoed in his ears, repeating over and over.
‘Don’t we know each other well enough now to ask about these things?’
…well enough?
…enough?
…things?
Like an echo.
Edwin felt his chest tighten. He placed a hand over his left breast.
And remained frozen as the echo repeated endlessly in his mind.
He was as still as a finely carved marble statue—not a single tremor.
Edwin’s soul returned only after light appeared in Lina’s room window.
He noticed the hint of movement as if she meant to open the window to air out the space.
‘Miss Diaz would be alarmed.’
Like a golem running on nearly empty mana, Edwin creaked as he turned away, forcing his reluctant feet forward.
It had always been hard to leave Lina’s house, but today it was harder than ever.
As his slow pace drew closer to the cafe where Kyle would be, it gradually quickened.
He remembered that he hadn’t learned from Lina what business she and Kyle had needed to conduct at this late hour.
‘I should have asked Kyle from the start.’
Before long, Edwin was crossing the street he normally walked slowly with Lina at nearly a run.
He arrived at the cafe and pushed the door open a bit roughly.
“You’re back?”
Kyle greeted him as though he’d been waiting.
Edwin ignored Kyle’s greeting and carelessly closed the door behind him with one hand, not really putting effort into it.
He planned to be petty from now on.
Edwin had restrained himself in front of Lina to avoid looking like a man of narrow heart, but now, trusting in her allowance, he asked Kyle directly without hesitation.

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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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