Unbeknownst to Me, I am Secretly Dating the Emperor - Chapter 62

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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 62
The Blessing of the Blue Dragon was a bracelet artifact made from a rare mineral found only near the lair of Halerna, the blue dragon known as the Last Dragon.
And it was inscribed with ancient magic that was now believed to have fallen into disuse.
There were even theories that Halerna herself had devised the Shield Magic carved into it—impressive enough to warrant calling it a national treasure of the Empire.
Lina had no idea, of course.
“With short-range teleportation capabilities too… that’s not bad at all.”
He’d placed something extraordinary on his intended lover’s wrist—something that could withstand a meteor strike falling right in front of her—and seemed satisfied with “not bad.”
‘Perhaps only a dragon as her guard would satisfy him.’
Kyle muttered inwardly, incredulous.
Once Edwin heard the news he’d been waiting for, he lost interest in Kyle.
Just as it had been all morning, Edwin’s gaze drifted away from Kyle and back toward the window.
More precisely, toward the window through which the Inspectorate Building was faintly visible.
There was a window overlooking the garden that had been designed for the Emperor’s mental and physical comfort during his overwork—yet he deliberately chose this view instead.
Edwin gazed at the bleak Inspectorate Building that marred the office’s aesthetic, his expression wistful.
‘The Fifth Division Office wouldn’t be in that direction, though.’
Kyle traced the direction of Edwin’s stare and grumbled to himself once more.
Instead, he prodded his superior, who seemed to be developing lovesickness after only two weeks without seeing Lina.
“The Temple said they would dispatch healing priests to the relief centers.”
Get to work, he meant.
“Refuse it. Instead, secure sufficient potions through the Magic Tower and use the healers and apothecaries from each region.”
At the mention of work, Edwin’s scattered mind climbed back to about the third floor of the Inspectorate Building.
Kyle pressed on, seizing the opportunity.
“The Crown Princess of Bellot has requested to meet the Consort Candidates one by one.”
“Grant her wish.”
Edwin’s attention returned to Kyle.
His golden eyes were sharp and clear—asking when he’d checked out again.
“Seems like a scheme to scout which ones can be swayed—can’t have enemies inside the household, after all.”
Edwin’s lips twisted slightly.
“Double agents aren’t bad either.”
All five proposed Consort Candidates were, in any case, the Emperor’s men.
Kyle planned to convey the Emperor’s intentions to the four remaining candidates—excluding Everett Rohas, who was absent greeting Bellot’s envoy—in due course.
Several urgent matters passed swiftly like this.
But whenever a gap appeared, Edwin’s golden eyes kept drifting toward the window again.
Toward that familiar view of the Inspectorate Building peeking through.
Once Kyle, having finished the more pressing business, found the leisure to notice his gaze wandering so persistently that it grated on him, he finally couldn’t help but make a suggestion.
“The next two hours look like they’ll be free. Why not go meet her and come back?”
He was thinking it would be more efficient to leave for two hours and return to focus on work afterward.
Edwin considered Kyle’s suggestion briefly, then shook his head with a sullen expression.
“I’m busy.”
At Edwin’s reply, Kyle’s face grew exasperated again.
Of course the Emperor was busy.
But for someone too busy to spare even two hours to see his intended, Edwin seemed remarkably half-hearted about it.
Kyle prayed to the Goddess for patience and tried once more.
“Today is actually more relaxed than usual. You’d only need to return before tea with Ambassador Schmitz.”
Edwin seized on Kyle’s kind words—kind enough to make one believe he was a priest rather than a mage—with sharp precision.
“What’s the point if I have time? It’s Lina who’s busy.”
“Ah.”
A consequence of omitting the subject in their exchange.
“Lina shouldn’t be particularly busy right now.”
She’d been occupied finishing Ministry of Finance work until now, but Kyle hadn’t assigned her anything else.
“And she could remain appropriately occupied going forward, if need be.”
Lina, currently part of the Inspectorate, reported directly to Kyle.
Edwin, as Emperor, was superior to every official in the Imperial Palace.
In other words, Lina’s work-life balance rested in their hands.
Edwin and Kyle’s gazes met in the empty air between them.
Edwin’s golden eyes brimmed with a burning trust that Kyle, in his twenty-five years of life, had never witnessed before.
“I’ll manage it without anyone noticing.”
Momentarily mesmerized by the strange force radiating from Edwin’s eyes, Kyle found himself making the promise of his own volition.
But there was another problem: Lina wasn’t the only one who was busy.
“I wish I had two bodies.”
Edwin narrowed his brow in exasperation as each solution immediately revealed the next problem.
Kyle, watching his friend and superior look exhausted in a way he’d scarcely ever seen, finally made a decision.
“I’ll commute to the Imperial Palace for a while.”
Kyle declared it solemnly.
He meant he would be ground down in Edwin’s stead to secure dating time.
Edwin’s expression shifted like a palm flipping over at this unexpected scheme.
“Kyle, I won’t forget your sacrifice.”
Because Kyle was already being ground down—he was simply offering to be ground down more smoothly. And volunteering, no less.
“I’ll slip out for a bit.”
Kyle watched Edwin disappear without even looking back and felt a twinge of regret shortly after.
‘Isn’t he accepting this a bit too readily?’
But it was already done.
‘It’s all an investment in the future.’
Kyle consoled himself, though somehow his chest felt a little hollow.
* * *
Once I realized it, I was baffled I hadn’t noticed it sooner.
Common as the name Bes is!
Bes Robertus.
Kyle’s distant relative and half-sister to the Saint, the original work’s female protagonist.
‘So Bes was here at this point in time.’
In the original work, she’d been dispatched to the Provinces due to her duties and returned around the middle of the story.
‘It was meant to be the catalyst for the Saint’s family secrets being revealed—providing a crisis to the romance that had just begun, if I recall.’
House Robertus had been the former Emperor’s closest confidant, making them the Emperor’s enemy.
‘So it’s basically a Regression Fantasy version of Romeo and Juliet.’
A morning drama version seasoned with revenge and tears.
The Saint, already orphaned and looked down upon by some nobility who valued status, was already struggling.
Once it became known that she carried the blood of a traitor, it dealt a fatal blow to her reputation.
The very nobles who had disdained the Saint seized the opportunity to intensify their attacks.
‘In fact, revealing the Saint’s family history was actually a scheme the Temple orchestrated, precisely when her standing was rising daily.’
Outwardly acting as humble as a tongue in the mouth, they’d prepared this card in advance to control her completely at the crucial moment.
‘This was the original novel’s most exasperating plot twist.’
Spreading such rumors was relatively minor among the crimes committed by the High Priest, the original work’s villain.
The real issue was that most of the Emperor’s subordinates were members of noble houses that had served the former Crown Prince—the Emperor’s own father.
When it became known that the Saint was connected to House Robertus, severe internal division erupted.
To make matters worse, the fact that Kyle was protecting Bes became a point of contention, and some even tried to drive a wedge between Kyle and the Emperor.
‘In the end, the Emperor himself stepped in to resolve it.’
Not in a gentle way.
‘I think I might be able to intervene in this.’
By revealing the secret of her birth beforehand, before the Temple spreads malicious rumors, allowing her to prepare.
‘And I could use this to put the Saint in my debt.’
Since I could no longer live as a mere extra, having the protagonists’ goodwill could serve as a useful card to play.
‘It’s not as if I’m being purely calculating…’
To be honest, the reason was more about wanting to do it than any practical necessity.
‘My female lead, I’ll absolutely protect her.’
In my previous life, I was quite the veteran reader of romance fantasy.
And one of my favorite female leads was Ibeta, the protagonist of this very novel.
As is typical of female protagonists in Regression Romance Fantasy, Ibeta’s first life had been wretched.
‘The novel never revealed who Ibeta’s mother was.’
But readers speculated she was likely the child of one of the women touched by the dissolute Marquis Robertus.
‘An orphan abandoned at the Temple as a newborn—and particularly unfortunate given that the Temple’s administrator was a faithful subordinate of the villain. The comment thread had been dominated by jokes about Ibeta’s pink hair containing more salt than Himalayan pink salt.’
And after awakening her Divine Power, she was even brainwashed and exploited by the High Priest for lacking connections.
Despite having lived such a wretched life and returning from Regression, Ibeta remained a kind person.
I loved her for that very reason.

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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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