Unbeknownst to Me, I am Secretly Dating the Emperor - Chapter 61

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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 61
Without preamble, she said something that sounded almost confrontational, then matched my gaze with a smile—I was only half a head taller than her—as if offering me a roasted spring potato.
As if offering me a roasted spring potato.
‘How am I supposed to respond to that?’
As I floundered, Nadan offered a translation.
In the Imperial Language.
Even though I was a native speaker of it.
“She says she’s heard that the Inner Palace staff cafeteria tastes better than the Outer Palace one, and she’s curious if that’s actually true.”
“Ah.”
It was a Transcendent Translation.
Bes nodded as if Nadan’s words were correct.
“Well, I haven’t been to the Inner Palace staff cafeteria yet, so if I eat there today, won’t we be able to tell which one is better?”
After I answered in time with Nadan’s translation, Bes grinned broadly and spoke.
“The Inner Palace will definitely taste better!”
It was such a clean and resolute compliment that if there had been someone close to me at the Outer Palace cafeteria, I would’ve wanted them to defend it in return.
“Um.”
Having been satisfied with the Outer Palace cafeteria myself, I found myself at a loss for words again.
‘I suppose that’s what you get when you’re reading a story written by people who take their food seriously—they really do feed you well.’
I’d thought I’d adapted to Bes during our brief tea time, but I was mistaken.
Nadan sighed and translated again.
“I think what she means is that she hopes you’ll like the Inner Palace cafeteria too, so you won’t regret transferring your division here.”
“Oh, that’s right.”
‘Ah, this one’s a bit much,’ he seemed to think, and Nadan finished the Transcendent Translation with visible strain.
Bes gave a subtle thumbs-up, apparently pleased with Nadan’s translation.
Sophia, who had been watching Bes from a short distance away, stepped forward and placed a hand gently on Bes’s left shoulder.
Her smile was as gentle as an aunt doting on her niece, yet simultaneously stern.
Bes shrank back, preparing to be scolded.
“Bes, didn’t we agree to think before speaking?”
“Yes.”
Sophia’s admonition seemed to inject tension into Bes’s mind, because her speech suddenly became noticeably more formal.
Thanks to that, I was able to keep up her conversation without needing Nadan’s translation as we made our way to the staff cafeteria.
“…The sky today is quite clear, isn’t it.”
“It really is. And the sun isn’t too strong.”
‘It feels like I’m playing conversation partner for a foreign language learner.’
Her speech was odd, but Bes made no effort to hide that she liked me, which made the whole thing rather amusing.
When we arrived at the cafeteria and began taking our food, a crowd suddenly pressed in, and the distance between Bes and me widened slightly.
Seizing the opportunity, Sophia leaned in and spoke in a low voice.
“It might sound like a typical line, but she’s not a bad person. She just lacks a bit of social finesse. Ordinarily she doesn’t slip up this often, but it seems you’ve caught her fancy. I’ll keep cautioning her, so would you mind letting some things slide?”
It seemed Sophia had been bothered by Bes’s carefree manner all along.
“I wasn’t offended. I’ve actually found it rather entertaining.”
At my answer, which held a considerable degree of sincerity, Sophia’s expression visibly relaxed.
Sophia gave my forearm a light squeeze and released it.
“Thank you. Since we’ve all known Bes since she was young, we tend to be a bit too lenient with her.”
Lucy, who had been quietly listening to Sophia’s and my conversation, added a comment.
“To be honest, it’s not a bit—we’re generally quite lenient. We practically raised her together.”
‘So she’s not just young-looking—she actually was young.’
To my eyes, Bes appeared to be around the same age as the twins back home.
In the Inner Palace, where geniuses rolled about like pebbles on a street, having a somewhat younger prodigy wouldn’t have been unusual.
‘Besides, there’s no age requirement for becoming an Imperial Palace administrator.’
As I was wondering exactly how old Bes had been when she entered the palace, Derek objected to Lucy’s remark.
“When we first met her, she was ten years old—isn’t ‘raised her’ overstating it a bit?”
Derek’s objection wasn’t aimed at the “too lenient” part either.
‘So she’s the quirky but beloved youngest of the group, is she?’
The face of Anika, whose personality was as unique as Bes’s, flashed through my mind and vanished.
As if realizing we were talking about her, Bes turned around and called out to us.
“What are you doing?”
“Talking behind your back.”
Derek’s seamless reply made Bes’s eyes sharpen.
“I’m telling Sophia on you!”
It had a familiar, childish quality to it.
‘I think I heard this exact thing on vacation at home.’
“Sophia started it, though?”
Derek was no match in childishness either.
“Really?”
Bes’s eyes, turned toward Sophia, grew bright and hopeful.
“I only said Bes was ingenuous.”
‘If you’re looking at it positively, it’s much the same nuance.’
Sophia’s gift-wrapping skills were comparable to those of a master wrapper who’d worked in a gift shop his entire life.
Fortunately, at Sophia’s words, Bes regained her liveliness.
“So Sophia didn’t say it. That means only Derek has terrible character.”
I lowered my voice and slowly followed along behind the bickering Bes and Derek.
‘But if Bes is the youngest of the Blue Hawk, is she the one?’
Bes Robertus.
Kyle’s distant relative and….
* * *
“Wait a moment, Oswell. Give that one here and bring up the Eastern Border garrison report first.”
Kyle stopped Oswell, who was heading toward the Emperor’s office with an armful of documents.
“Ah, yes.”
Oswell carefully stacked the documents he’d been holding onto the already-overflowing desk where no empty space was visible.
“The documents on the right seem to have all been reviewed. Should I clear those away?”
He then asked cautiously, watching Kyle’s attention, which remained fixed on his work without sparing him a glance.
Because Oswell had just added more documents, the desk was now at saturation.
He needed to prepare space in advance for the documents that would soon come flooding in again.
“Please do.”
When Oswell spoke, Kyle’s gaze flickered to him for just a moment before shifting back to the pile of documents.
Oswell quietly gathered the completed documents that had accumulated in the meantime and took them away, careful not to interrupt Kyle’s concentration.
‘They say that to become a High Mage, you need to be able to run three or four calculations simultaneously in your mind.’
The speed at which he processed documents seemed to employ the same parallel processing.
Oswell clicked his tongue in wonder.
Kyle, who used to enter the palace only when summoned by the Emperor, had taken up residence in this office where the Emperor’s secretaries worked—just this morning.
He’d mixed several Magical Potions to concoct something of an uncanny hue that felt awkward to ingest, then downed it before launching into work at a frenzied pace.
And while doing so, he managed to distribute tasks efficiently among the secretaries—it was like watching a skilled conductor lead an orchestra.
As a result, the Emperor’s workload, which had always been piled up to the chin, was decreasing bit by bit.
Though Kyle was losing vitality at the same rate.
For the Emperor’s secretaries, who’d been maintaining the status quo by repeating all-nighters and late nights to prevent further accumulation, it was a heartening development.
‘It’s no wonder he could boast that he’d create holidays for the Emperor.’
Oswell recalled fragments of conversation between the Emperor and Kyle that had drifted out through the open door.
* * *
As Kyle entered the office, Edwin’s gaze, which had been turning pages of documents, snapped to him immediately.
It was almost a reflex reaction.
‘He was just looking at the documents.’
Kyle regarded Edwin with an unflinching eye for a moment.
“Where is Miss Diaz?”
Even that brief reprieve seemed insufficient, and Edwin pressed Kyle for an answer.
Edwin was intensely interested in Lina’s first day of work.
Kyle sighed inwardly and opened his mouth willingly.
“By now, she’s probably sitting in the ergonomic chair His Majesty ordered while abusing his authority and wealth.”
Kyle, who had made one joke and had to completely renovate the Inspection Division office because of it.
And his demanding superior had pushed him to finish the work well before Lina’s first day—in a remarkably tight timeframe.
Kyle maintained a smile brimming with complicated emotion as he added, as if he’d forgotten something.
“In an office illuminated by a limited-edition Magical Lamp reputed to prevent vision deterioration.”
But Kyle’s subtle resistance had little effect.
Edwin merely nodded, his expression satisfied that everything had been handled as he wished.
Kyle sighed—who knew how many times now.
‘When someone in power falls in love, it’s always the subordinates who suffer.’
Kyle quickly abandoned the urge to mock himself and bear the pain alone, straightened his posture, and continued his report.
“I’ve also delivered the Artifact borrowed from the Imperial Palace records. She has a keen eye—she selected the Blue Dragon’s Blessing immediately.”

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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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