Unbeknownst to Me, I am Secretly Dating the Emperor - Chapter 58

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

Episode 58
“There are quite a few interesting recipes.”
The problem was that there were several recipes that actually seemed like they’d taste interesting too.
I hoped Kyle’s cafe, which was barely staying afloat, wouldn’t fail again.
“Wouldn’t it be fun to have customers taste the recipes you’ve developed and turn the ones with good reactions into official menu items?”
‘Otherwise known as the “Help us out, everyone” strategy.’
This method had one more advantage.
If you pit each menu item against the others well enough, you can easily build loyal customers.
‘Like how mint chocolate became synonymous with love-it-or-hate-it preferences, and mint chocolate devotees emerged.’
It’s a cafe done as a hobby anyway, so if you run a big event, it’ll also serve as cafe promotion.
Kyle seemed to think my idea was fun.
“Did I say I like you, Lina?”
It was an abrupt confession, but delivered in such a plain tone—as casual as saying he liked apples—that I laughed it off.
“You did, just now.”
Kyle fussed when he saw me brush it aside so lightly, insisting I take his sincerity to heart.
“Would you mind stopping by the cafe sometime soon?”
He revealed his true purpose soon enough.
“Of course, I will.”
I agreed, thinking it wasn’t a difficult thing to do, and Kyle’s face brightened noticeably.
Kyle suddenly jumped up as if remembering something urgent.
I stood up as well.
“Lucy will explain what you need to do going forward. I’ll stop by again this afternoon.”
Kyle said this as he bid me farewell and stepped out the door.
“You don’t have to come back.”
After confirming Kyle was far enough away, Lucy joked.
Still somewhat shy around the other staff members, I laughed awkwardly, and the rest of them laughed aloud.
“You don’t have to force a laugh.”
Lucy playfully nudged me with her elbow.
“I’ll do that next time.”
I answered with a smile, my tension somewhat eased by now.
“Now that you say that, it makes me a little sad? Can we take it back? Just laugh for me.”
Lucy made an exaggerated sad face.
“If I find you amusing, I’ll laugh, won’t I?”
Late thirties or early forties, perhaps.
Sophia, who appeared to be the oldest in the office, stepped in to back me up, stopping Lucy and joining the conversation.
Then she offered me a warm smile and extended her hand.
“Kyle introduced me briefly earlier, but let me reintroduce myself. I’m Sophia Trish. Would it be alright if you called me Sophia?”
“You can call me Lina. I inherited the name from my grandmother, so I’ve been called by the nickname since childhood.”
“I like it. Lina.”
Sophia’s eyes widened as she grasped my hand and shook it.
“Kyle kept calling you so formally that I thought you were a young lady from some noble household.”
As I shook hands with Sophia, someone blurted something out from the corner of my vision.
‘A woman’s voice… is that Bess?’
My gaze shifted toward Bess.
Her tone was sharp, but her small frame and youthful appearance didn’t carry any malice.
The moment our eyes met, she seemed flustered.
If she had been picking a fight, I wouldn’t have let it slide so easily.
‘Put it on hold for now.’
I simply broke into a bright smile.
The way my younger siblings had always told me to smile instead of getting angry.
Whether the intent behind my smile got through or not, Bess flinched and looked away.
Seeing me smile so wide without it being funny at all, Nathan and Derek, who stood beside Bess, rushed to smooth things over.
“Bess taught herself the Imperial Language and etiquette.”
“She mostly speaks with her mind working hard at it, but sometimes when she relaxes, she gets like that.”
“Her tone is rough, but what she really means is more like ‘Kyle kept using formal speech, so I thought you were someone difficult, but you’re much more easygoing than I expected.'”
Bess opened her eyes wide and nodded as if Nathan’s interpretation was correct.
“That’s what I said.”
Even though it was only half a sentence this time, it lent credibility to the self-taught Imperial Language theory.
Her large eyes, which contributed to her youthful appearance, also naturally drew sympathy.
‘Getting mistaken for a young lady from some noble house gets tiresome.’
It was true that Kyle was more courteous to me than to Lucy or others.
‘It might be better to let the misunderstanding stand than to correct it.’
I willingly answered Bess’s curiosity.
“We first met outside the Imperial Palace. The form of address I was using back then probably just stuck.”
‘It’s just my guess, but I think this is probably right.’
The culture outside the Imperial Palace and within it—or more precisely, among the officials—was slightly different.
While it wasn’t a requirement for the Imperial Palace official recruitment exam, most Imperial Palace officials were Academy graduates.
Since talented people all flocked to the Academy, you might say it turned out that the recruits were Academy graduates by happenstance.
‘And at the Academy, there’s a rule that prevents students from flaunting their status in the name of educational equality.’
There was even a school regulation that required students to hide their family names during their time there.
Breaking it resulted in fairly severe demerits.
Though of course, you couldn’t prevent people from subtly hinting at their status through implications.
Moreover, since nobles cultivated relationships from childhood, they already knew each other’s identities, so it couldn’t be called entirely equal—
‘But still, the distinction of status was much more blurred than outside.’
With Academy graduates making up most of the Imperial Palace officials, it was common among them to call each other by given names rather than family names.
‘But Kyle and I first met as the Guild Master of the Information Guild and a customer, so it makes sense that he’d call me formally.’
After hearing my explanation, Bess looked satisfied, her face brightening as she started to speak to me, but Sophia stopped her.
“Bess, did you think before speaking?”
At Sophia’s words, Bess’s mouth closed again.
It did seem like she’d opened her mouth before thinking.
About three seconds later, Bess’s mouth opened again.
“I see. Then I’ll call you Lina too.”
She paused between words as if thinking things through, but at least this time it wasn’t disrespectful like before.
Her intent came through clearly too.
‘She’s like a unsociable cat.’
I adjusted my assessment of Bess, whom I’d kept in a holding pattern, slightly toward the positive.
“Of course. Bess.”
As I smiled warmly and called her name first, she broke into such a bright smile that it was a little cute.
Now that the awkward tension caused by Bess’s manner of speaking had been resolved, the office atmosphere became warm and friendly again.
Under Sophia’s lead, we had a brief tea time, and I introduced myself to the others as well.
So I became the kind of person who called everyone by their first name.
They were all kind to me. Even Bess.
“The people on business trips should be back around next week. They’ve gone pretty far.”
Bess’s mind seemed to kick into gear again, and she made an effort to speak in a reasonably polite tone and help me out.
“Is that so? Do you go on business trips often?”
I deliberately asked Bess a question that required a lengthy answer, teasing her subtly as I kept the conversation going.
After the short tea time, which doubled as a welcome for the new hire, it was time to start today’s work.
“Alright then, why don’t you go through these first.”
Lucy, returning to her spot, suddenly remembered and handed me a file folder, telling me to get up to speed on the projects currently underway.
“If anything comes up that you’re curious about, feel free to ask. Or you can take out the documents if you want.”
The desk, which had been neatly empty, was suddenly piled with work.
‘That’s a lot. It looks like even more since I saw it empty just now.’
Seeing me gauge the thickness of the documents with my eyes, Lucy subtly shifted her body toward the exit.
As if trying to blockade the door.
“You just need to read through them. You just need to get a rough sense of how things operate.”
‘If that’s all it is.’
It was almost a considerate gesture to keep me from sitting around doing nothing.
“Understood.”
I smiled at Lucy before taking my seat.
Even after I sat down, Lucy kept glancing back several times, still worried I might flee, before finally heading to her own desk.
‘Wow, this is like a herniated disc I didn’t have suddenly getting better.’
Though I was too busy experiencing Hayman Miller’s chair to even glance at Lucy.
All in all, it wasn’t a bad start.

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