Unbeknownst to Me, I am Secretly Dating the Emperor - Chapter 68

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

Episode 68
I’d taken a quick walk with Everett during the lunch break and had barely sat back down when Bes came in right behind me.
She was positively vibrating with excitement.
“Everyone, listen up!”
Bes clapped her hands together sharply, drawing every eye in the room to herself.
The staff, who had been sprawled about in post-lunch lethargy, suddenly perked up with curiosity.
Only once Bes had confirmed that everyone in the office was looking at her did she open her mouth.
“I was looking up at the sky when suddenly I saw a bird!”
‘A bird in the sky—what’s the big revelation about that? It wasn’t like it came from underground or anything. Where’s the problem?’
The context completely escaped me.
I was starting to think Bes was simply an avid bird enthusiast.
While I stood there bewildered, Sophia spoke in her calm voice.
“Bes, take a deep breath in and out. Then just give us the conclusion.”
“Yes.”
Following Sophia’s instructions, Bes took several deep breaths and became markedly more composed.
‘She’s practically a trainer.’
After a brief silence as Bes seemed to organize her thoughts, she opened her mouth again.
This time, her words had a clear beginning, middle, and end.
‘So what happened was—’
She’d seen a bird and remembered the Messenger Bird she’d sent to Camelot Castle; while she was at it, she’d decided to check if there was any response, and it turned out a message had just arrived.
‘According to the message, there’s a hidden space at the location where the bird landed, and they’ve confirmed the presence of Iron Ore inside.’
It was exactly the kind of news Bes would jump for joy over.
My speculation had been correct.
I felt the muscles of my cheeks pulling upward and let myself smile faintly.
The other staff members, as if they’d been holding back their reactions until the result was confirmed, began singing my praises.
As a problem that had been giving us headaches for quite some time was finally resolved, everyone looked genuinely delighted.
“Derek, could you turn off the lights? Just looking at Lina is blinding enough.”
“Just close your eyes. I shut mine a long time ago.”
‘Once these people get started, there’s no end to their fawning.’
Listening to them, I sounded like some remarkable person.
‘A savior who pulled the Blue Hawk out of the swamp of overtime.’
I’m quite satisfied. Do go on.
It was something I’d stumbled into thanks to my Reincarnation Buff, but my mood wasn’t sour about it.
Just as some people are born with exceptionally pure Holy Power and others with mathematical genius, my possession of memories from my past life was my own ability.
Kyle, who’d come to hear the news, arrived looking considerably more tired than usual and promptly showered me with praise.
“I’ve always had good eyes. Scouting you was the best decision I’ve ever made.”
‘Praise and recognition—such a thrill.’
Under the flood of compliments, my cheeks had begun to ache.
‘Was I really burnt out all that time?’
Starving for praise and acknowledgment.
The answer came quickly enough.
Both.
It made sense, really.
‘When I was in the Ministry of Finance, I’d just process whatever was assigned to me.’
Even when I put in effort and accomplished something, it was routine for people like Donovan to steal credit for my achievements.
But that was the past now.
‘You were dirty. Let’s never meet again.’
The Blue Hawk operated on strict merit-based principles.
I dove into various projects like a fish returned to water.
It didn’t matter even if the work wasn’t something where I could apply knowledge from my past life, like the Duke Camelot matter.
I hadn’t been a top student at the Academy for nothing, even without that knowledge.
‘Though I’d forgotten that for a while.’
Colleagues with good reactions made helping them genuinely satisfying.
Seeing how I worked, Kyle remarked that I had good adaptability and broad vision, and he asked me to continue playing the problem-solver role as I had been.
My scope of work expanded far beyond just handling assigned matters, and frankly, I preferred it that way.
As a result, despite having no clearly designated portfolio, I’d somehow become someone who had her desk piled high with work.
‘Back then, if work had stacked up like this, I would’ve sighed first thing.’
Now, instead, I felt motivated to clear through it all quickly.
‘People really are influenced by their environment.’
Having spent all that time doing meaningless work, I’d never realized that I actually had workaholic tendencies.
After a period of relative calm, I gradually became busier again.
At the same time, I was seeing Everett seven times a week.
Though our time together did grow slightly shorter each day.
‘I want both—work and love, love and work.’
Fortunately, Everett was a man with a generous heart.
He understood my work well enough and supported me through it.
Thanks to that, I was spending my days satisfied on both fronts.
‘If every day could be like these days, that would be nice.’
* * *
Edwin had recently been alternating between floating on clouds and being mired in dejection.
All his joy came from Lina, and all his gloom came from Lina too.
Though the reasons for his gloom were somewhat more varied.
One factor that made him dejected was discovering that he loved Lina far more than she loved him. But it didn’t weigh on him as heavily as other concerns.
Edwin was a faithful sort of man who could be satisfied knowing that Lina’s heart was turning in his direction at all.
He believed that with time and effort, Lina would come to love him more and more.
Occasional regrets about never having confessed properly and anxieties about hiding his identity also sometimes weighed on him, but these too were not frequent.
Deep in thought while working, Edwin glanced toward the Inspection Bureau Building visible through his office window and heaved a sigh.
“It seems Miss Diaz loves her work more than she loves me.”
Edwin was most dejected when he felt as though his lover had been stolen away by her job.
Kyle, who was helping Edwin with his work, pretended not to hear the lament, which became a soliloquy.
“My rival is work itself.”
But Edwin continued his quiet complaint without concern.
It was something he couldn’t voice in front of Lina, where he had to put on airs of coolness and understanding.
Things had looked promising when he was grinding away at Kyle’s schedule to carve out time for dates.
He’d gone from seeing Lina once or twice a week to seeing her every single day.
That shy, thrilling, slightly awkward relationship had blossomed into something easier and softer.
There had even been real progress.
The memory of that day returned—the quiet path through the Inner Palace, lined with impressively tall sycamore trees—and heat rushed to Edwin’s face.
Even now, just thinking about it made him feel as though his heart might burst.
Whenever he had a spare moment, Edwin would recall that day and oscillate between regret and bliss.
But Edwin couldn’t be satisfied with merely that.
Like someone who’d drunk seawater, he found himself craving Lina more and more.
Edwin was a man capable of relentless effort in pursuit of what he wanted.
He’d offered her flowers to make her smile, groomed himself to catch her eye, and his skin had taken on such a luminous shine recently.
But his rival, for all its insubstantiality, proved surprisingly formidable.
Kyle had held true to his word and refrained from assigning work to Lina for a while.
The problem was Lina’s passion.
Whenever her colleagues found themselves in difficulty, Lina would intervene at just the right moment and carve out her own place.
‘Even the smallest light makes a jewel sparkle.’
Her workload gradually increased, and the time he’d managed to create dwindled away.
Yet when the vitality that had once abandoned Lina’s face—when she used to do nothing but wait for days off—returned, Edwin couldn’t bring himself to complain.
Unable to challenge his insubstantial rival, he could only lament his helplessness as he gently sent Lina off when she had to leave their date early to return to work.
Of course, outwardly he maintained the facade of a considerate lover.
‘Watching her be so passionate is certainly beautiful.’
The sight of Lina shining brilliantly as she wielded her abilities to their fullest made his heart race all the more.
‘But this won’t do.’
Having made up his mind, Edwin called for Kyle as he began considering various options.
“Kyle, could we adjust the schedule? If possible, Miss Diaz’s schedule as well.”
Kyle, who’d been working himself to a nosebleed on behalf of his superior lost in thoughts of his lover while gazing out at the Inspection Bureau Building, missed Edwin’s words and asked again.
“What was that about Lina, sir?”
He used her nickname just as he did in the office.
“What?”
At the suddenly shortened form of address, Edwin’s golden eyes flashed.
Like lightning splitting the night sky.

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