Unbeknownst to Me, I am Secretly Dating the Emperor - Chapter 80

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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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Episode 80
‘It wasn’t even a child’s portion.’
Being buried and eaten!
“Thank you.”
Embarrassed, I pulled out my handkerchief and hurriedly wiped my mouth.
That was when I belatedly noticed Everett reaching out, then stopping.
‘Oh, not this?’
I’d been oblivious.
Everett, his hand half-extended before pulling back, looked flustered.
Hmm.
I bit into the sandwich again.
Sloppily enough that a bit of sauce on the corner of my mouth wouldn’t seem out of place.
‘That should do it.’
I could feel something on my mouth.
“Here.”
I handed the handkerchief to Everett.
Then I leaned my face toward his.
“I think I have something on my face.”
“You do.”
Everett carefully wiped my mouth clean and laughed.
Having eaten while teasing each other, the sandwich disappeared quickly.
I sipped the fruit juice and made a suggestion to Everett.
“Should we rest here a bit longer?”
My stomach was comfortably full, the weather was pleasant, and Everett was beside me.
In the middle of the business trip, we leisurely ate fruit juice and cookies, then decided to take a gentle walk around the area to help with digestion.
Walking down a gentle slope behind the trees, we came upon a field of wildflowers.
With different bloom times, today was the intersection where various flowers had all opened at once—a riot of colors.
The blossoms weren’t large nor their colors brilliant, yet they were beautiful enough.
It felt like receiving an unexpected gift.
“Wow, how pretty!”
As I bent down to get a better look, the ribbon in my hair—loosened during our ride—slipped free and flew away.
“Oh no.”
I straightened quickly and watched the ribbon drift away.
The breeze wasn’t even strong, yet it had already carried it too far to reach even with a full stretch of my arm.
“Damn.”
Fortunately, Everett caught it with ease.
“Should I tie it back for you?”
Everett approached with the ribbon in hand and asked.
“Will you do it for me?”
“Sure.”
When I asked in a dubious tone, Everett nodded readily.
“Don’t pull too tight.”
I turned around, not expecting much from Everett’s skill with hair.
Though his touch was clumsy at first, his fingers proved surprisingly deft.
I ran my fingers through my tied hair to check.
‘What? Why are you so good at doing women’s hair.’
What girl’s hair have you been practicing on?
I bit my lip and turned to confront Everett.
“Looks like you’ve tied up women’s hair before.”
I knew I was being childishly jealous and tried to soften it with a light tone, but that didn’t hide it at all.
At my pointed remark, Everett flinched.
Then he spoke carefully, gauging my expression.
“I used to tie my sister’s hair sometimes.”
Hearing that past-tense answer, our first meeting unfolded before my eyes.
‘Or was it the second time, technically?’
That day at Grizel Park when I’d run into Everett as he hurried to buy a hairpin.
‘Ah. So that’s where he was going—to see his sister.’
Now I remembered seeing a toy box for a girl in Everett’s hands.
I blamed myself for the thoughtless comment, and Everett seemed to grow a bit melancholy at the memory of his sister.
It was an expression I’d never seen before.
Rather than ask for details, I plucked the most beautifully bloomed wildflower I could see and held it.
Then I tucked it behind Everett’s ear.
‘Oh, that’s not bad.’
It was meant as a joke to make him smile, yet even this looked handsome on him.
‘Which side does the flower face?’
As I was silently fawning over him, Everett asked, bewildered.
“What is this?”
“A flower. I just tucked it behind your ear.”
He likely wasn’t asking because he didn’t know what a flower was, but I answered brazenly.
“I know it’s a flower.”
Everett forgot his melancholy and laughed helplessly.
Then he broke off a flower from the surrounding plants and handed it to me.
In retaliation, he tucked flowers behind both my ears and then slipped the one from his own ear out to hold in his hand.
‘Tsk.’
That was the prettiest flower I’d chosen.
I was about to make him a proper flower crown in revenge but held back.
That was how we slowly strolled through the wildflower field.
After lingering through that precarious time, we mounted our horses again to depart for Diegis.
The well-rested horses were spirited.
The people too had recovered their strength.
This time we pushed the pace a bit faster than this morning.
Thanks to that, we took less than three hours and could see the boundary of Diegis’s fief.
“Finally.”
My rear and thighs were beginning to ache again.
I was genuinely delighted to see Diegis’s boundary.
Everett looked at me with concern.
“We could use a carriage…”
“We’re almost there. Don’t say that.”
I firmly cut off Everett’s words.
“Then at least for the return trip…”
Everett persisted with his suggestion.
“I’m fine.”
I’d only acted a little tired, yet I was being treated like a bedridden patient.
Before Everett could bring up carriages again, I deliberately urged my horse forward with renewed vigor.
Behind me, I heard Everett’s hoofbeats following in rhythm with mine.
That was how we crossed the boundary between Ferem and Diegis.
‘By horseback.’
The sun was setting.
We hurriedly found lodging.
Since Diegis’s fief was smaller than Ferem’s, the accommodations here weren’t as nice as those in Ferem.
But when we entered what looked like the best building, it was adequate for one night’s stay.
“Your two best rooms.”
The moment Everett stepped through the door, he spoke as if he didn’t want to hear the question “Are you a married couple?”
Then he handed over a gold coin before anything more could be said.
“Keep the change and take good care of the horses.”
A woman who appeared to be the innkeeper’s daughter smiled briskly and replied.
“Yes, understood. I’ll give them the freshest hay.”
We had a simple dinner and headed upstairs to our rooms.
I was more exhausted than usual.
‘After doing nothing but mental work, my body’s had quite the workout.’
It wasn’t even nine o’clock, yet my eyes were already growing heavy.
“Good night. See you in the morning.”
I was so tired that I didn’t even notice Everett standing frozen at the doorknob like a statue.
For the sake of propriety, I barely managed to wash before collapsing into bed and falling into a deep sleep.
I’d slept so soundly that I couldn’t hear a single sound from the next room.
Though the walls seemed noticeably thinner than at the inn in Ferem, only quiet silence echoed through.
‘Are the inns in this region generally well-soundproofed?’
Is that a western characteristic?
* * *
The next morning.
Edwin, who’d begun writing on scrolls the moment he entered his room yesterday, returned from the Imperial Palace just before dawn.
The night before last, as Kyle had instructed, he’d dealt with the guards Kyle had sent over, and he’d worked through the night handling tasks.
He’d reviewed all the documents he’d gathered regarding the Temple’s corruption.
Thanks to staying alert and working to keep other thoughts at bay, his work had finished quickly last night.
Once the work was gone, dangerous thoughts like ‘I wonder if Lina is sleeping well right now’ kept creeping in.
Edwin’s hand kept reaching toward the scrolls as if to verify it directly.
Edwin clenched his fists tightly.
Then he jumped up and paced the office restlessly before heading to the training grounds for dawn exercises.
It had been a long time since he’d trained so intensely after the war ended.
Only when his body was exhausted and drenched in sweat did the sun begin to rise.
‘The sun’s rising.’
Edwin watched the sunrise as he prepared to return.
As the sun rose and darkness gradually lifted, the dangerous thoughts in Edwin’s heart seemed to lift as well.
Every night was long.
But Edwin still had seven more nights ahead of him.
* * *
After finishing a simple breakfast with Lina, the two decided to go see the Ancient Language as planned in coming to Diegis.
“But are we going just the two of us?”
Lina asked, puzzled by the small party.
Edwin was flustered but did his best to appear composed.
It was right that just the two of them go.
But he hadn’t expected Lina to notice.
The Blue Hawk members dispatched to Diegis were people Edwin and Everett both knew.
They could enforce silence, but there was always a chance.
There was no need to take that risk.
Edwin had already given other orders to the Blue Hawk members from the start.
He’d already scouted the location and memorized the details before departing, so there was no problem.
“It’s just that they’re busy, apparently.”
Edwin made an excuse.
“They’re busy, are they.”
Lina’s eyes turned sharp with displeasure.
She was angry because they’d come all this way seeking support, only to be told they were busy and not show up—she found it rude.
Lina’s piercing gaze was forceful enough to make even Edwin flinch for a moment.
To appease her, Edwin quickly added.
“They must have been genuinely swamped. They’ve been reassigned to a completely different region.”
It was Edwin himself who’d issued that order.
After hearing the explanation that it was unavoidable, Lina’s sharp expression softened again.
“Then it can’t be helped.”
Those people must be having such a hard time.
Lina, always lenient toward overworked people, had sympathy written across her eyes.
He’d thought her only soft-natured, but she had a surprisingly firm side too.
Sigh.
Edwin let out a quiet breath where Lina couldn’t see.

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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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