Unbeknownst to Me, I am Secretly Dating the Emperor - Chapter 92

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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 92
‘I should’ve gone somewhere crowded instead.’
She’d made a terrible miscalculation.
Just as Lucy had once wandered through sparse, empty places to avoid Edwin, it seemed Edwin and Lina were now doing the same—slipping away from prying eyes into secluded corners.
‘Of all the timing! Why come here looking for dark, out-of-the-way spots? There are plenty of gloomy places in the Imperial Palace itself!’
Whether Lucy screamed inwardly or not, Edwin and Lina kept drawing closer.
‘Damn it.’
Lucy tensed like a soldier before battle.
She carefully rolled her eyes to scout an escape route, but without being able to pass through trees, there wasn’t a viable option.
‘To get out of here, I’d have to pass right by him.’
Could she slip past safely?
‘Doesn’t look like it.’
Lucy glanced down at the hem of her Chiffon One-piece Dress before reaching her verdict.
In Edwin’s mind, Lucy probably looked like someone with an oil-slicked face from not washing properly—no makeup, clad in Armor.
‘He’s not particularly observant, I’ll admit.’
But they weren’t at a distance like before, and if he passed right beside her, he might recognize her anyway.
Six years wasn’t a short span of time.
Edwin was getting steadily closer.
Distracted by his conversation with Lina, Edwin only belatedly noticed Lucy and her companion’s presence.
Lucy spun around in alarm.
Edwin chuckled at something Lina was chattering about, but his eyes caught only a glimpse in Lucy’s direction.
He didn’t seem to recognize her.
He appeared to have merely noticed that there was another person in this quiet spot he’d sought out for intimate time with Lina alone.
Edwin, needing to turn away naturally before Lina spotted them, seemed displeased by the stranger’s presence.
The back of Lucy’s head burned.
The Lace Hat could block out the sun well enough, but not Edwin’s gaze, apparently.
Edwin moved a step closer, watching for an opening in Lina’s constant chatter to cut in.
He seemed to think it was still too far for someone with ordinary eyesight like Lina to see them.
‘Don’t come any closer.’
But if he came closer, the chances of Edwin recognizing Lucy would spike dramatically.
For someone desperate to erase the knowledge that the emperor was dating Lina, it would be the worst possible ending.
‘Is this the only way left?’
Well, it was probably time anyway.
Today’s Lake Shore date had been about setting the mood, after all.
‘Though not quite like this.’
“Honey!”
Lucy called out to her companion in an exaggerated, high-pitched tone.
“What is it? Lucy?”
Her companion tilted their head with an innocent smile.
“I love you.”
‘This is genuine. My dear kitten.’
Lucy apologized silently even as she grabbed her companion’s shoulders and pushed them toward the large tree.
Before long, with her companion’s back against the trunk, Lucy pressed both hands firmly against their shoulders.
An impressive wall-press—or rather, tree-press.
It was an abrupt escalation, but Lucy’s dear kitten seemed flustered rather than unwilling.
“I love you too, Lucy.”
They simply gazed at her with eyes full of longing.
The sound of Edwin and Lina’s approaching footsteps stopped.
Edwin, realizing they shouldn’t come any closer, seemed to be forcing himself to turn back.
Edwin spoke softly to Lina.
Even with Lucy’s keen hearing, she couldn’t make out the details, but it was probably something close to what she hoped.
‘Yes, yes—something about wanting to see the Lake Shore again, just turn around and leave, please.’
“Lucy.”
While Lucy’s attention wavered toward Edwin for a moment, her neglected dear kitten closed their eyes and pouted their lips pleadingly.
“Mm.”
It was as if Lucy had brought her companion to this shadowed corner expressly for this moment—she kissed them for the first time.
The sound of Lina and Edwin’s footsteps faded as they turned to leave.
They were walking much faster than when they’d arrived.
Lucy’s dear kitten was still facing toward Edwin and Lina with eyes shut tight, seemingly unaware of the others’ presence.
‘Finally gone.’
From now on, she’d stick to crowded places.
Lucy filed away her newly learned tip as she resumed the kiss.
‘Finish what we started.’
* * *
Though Lucy had achieved her objective at the long-awaited Lake Shore date, she hadn’t fully recovered from the psychological shock, so she reported to work with hollow eyes.
“Are you hurt somewhere?”
Nathan, noticing her presence, asked with concern.
“No, I’m fine. Feeling great.”
Lucy, befitting a member of the Secret Intelligence Corps, changed her expression in an instant and pretended everything was well.
Her instinct for survival, honed many times over, was speaking loud and clear.
‘I saw something I shouldn’t have seen.’
To survive in the treacherous Imperial Palace, the first rule was watch your tongue, and the second was the same.
Lucy did her best to forget what she’d witnessed.
But the bashful Edwin, the radiant Edwin, the Edwin whose eyes dripped with honey as he clearly adored Lina—these images carried too much impact to simply erase from memory.
Whenever the memory of the Lake Shore date surfaced, Lucy trembled like a coward recalling a scene from a horror story.
‘Isn’t this an Occupational Injury?’
The hollowed-out Lucy gazed enviously at the other staff members.
‘Lucky them. Not knowing their boss is dating him.’
But fortunately or unfortunately, Lucy’s circle of confidants was about to expand.
Right after Lucy came Derek.
* * *
The capital of the Regencia Empire had remained in the same location since the kingdom era.
Consequently, the capital was cramped relative to the empire’s size, and land prices were astronomical.
Indal Street had a communal cemetery—Grizel Park—right down its center, so despite being close to the Imperial Palace, housing was surprisingly cheap.
This made it a haven for lower-ranking officials who had to commute to the Imperial Palace daily but couldn’t afford the expensive housing surrounding it.
Derek was one of them.
When Derek left work a little earlier than usual, he threw open his window to air out the stuffy apartment—and saw something he shouldn’t have.
Between the walls of his row house and the adjoining one.
In the shadows that persisted despite the long summer daylight—Lina and Edwin stood together.
Derek knew Lina lived somewhere in this area.
He’d run into her a few times before.
‘But why is His Majesty there?’
And they were holding hands!
Derek froze mid-motion, hand still on the window.
As if sensing his gaze, Edwin glanced around.
It was animal instinct.
Derek’s survival instinct kicked in—he crouched down and hid his body below the windowsill.
Fortunately, the distance was considerable, and Edwin didn’t think to look up that high.
Derek, peering out with just his eyes to confirm that Edwin’s gaze had returned to Lina, let out a breath of relief.
Strength drained from his legs.
Derek collapsed onto his haunches.
But relief would have been premature.
The window remained open, and Derek’s legs had given out—he was stuck sitting there.
Which meant he continued to watch Edwin and Lina.
Though that hadn’t been his intention at all.
Edwin bent down, whispering something near Lina’s ear.
Lina laughed as his breath tickled her ear.
The back-and-forth murmuring between them must have been a farewell.
Edwin, as if he hadn’t broken a sweat all summer, carefully lifted the hand he’d been holding all this time and brought it to his lips.
A few seconds passed.
Too long for what could be called a simple kiss on the back of her hand.
As Lina tried to withdraw her hand from what had become a prolonged goodbye, Edwin pulled away and wrapped his other arm around her waist, drawing her gently closer.
He seemed to hesitate, as if gauging her reaction.
Then.
Edwin and Lina’s lips met.
Only briefly.
Mindful of the neighbors around them, Lina—who’d been speaking in hushed tones the whole time—said something and hurried into her home.
From Derek’s distance away, it sounded merely like someone was speaking; but up close, it would have been perfectly audible.
Edwin remained standing steadily until Lina disappeared, then his composure crumbled.
Edwin leaned his back against the wall.
His face was flushed enough for Derek to see from where he sat.
‘What on earth did she say?’
He was curious, but he didn’t want to know.

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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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