Unbeknownst to Me, I am Secretly Dating the Emperor - Chapter 97

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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 97
The Blue Hawk operatives had no intention of ignoring Kyle’s warning to keep quiet.
An angry Kyle was nearly as frightening as the Emperor himself.
They had simply always treasured Lina as a valued colleague.
Though they had only decided to express that sincere affection openly starting today.
Just then, Lina returned from the Separate Palace.
Just before the office door opened, the Blue Hawk operatives promised each other with a glance to play fair.
But the silent pact did not hold for long.
“Welcome back, or rather—welcome?”
Derek, still not recovered from his earlier shock and now stumbling over his words, received a slap on the back from Lucy and withdrew.
Lucy quickly took his place.
“It was hot outside, wasn’t it?”
Lucy handed Lina an Apple Juice with ice cubes floating in it, beaming warmly.
Nathan, who had been preparing Ice Water, admitted defeat and drank it down in one gulp.
In the silence, the crunching sound of Nathan chewing ice echoed through the room.
Lucy turned to look at Nathan with a smile when Lina wasn’t watching.
Lina, her expression uncomfortable, sipped the Apple Juice Lucy had handed her and asked.
“Were you perhaps talking about me behind my back?”
Her tone was playful.
Rather than genuinely suspecting gossip, she seemed puzzled by the Blue Hawk operatives’ sudden change in demeanor.
“What? How could we ever—”
Derek malfunctioned again.
This time Nathan urgently covered Derek’s mouth.
Derek thanked Nathan for his quick reflexes and voluntarily retreated to a corner.
It seemed wiser to stay silent than risk another slip.
“It’s just that we felt bad being the only ones relaxing in this cool office.”
Sophia smoothly redirected the conversation, subtly blocking the cornered Derek with her body.
“By the way, how is Bes doing?”
“Oh yes! She mentioned she’d drop by with the Saint soon.”
The power of experience was indeed remarkable.
It instantly prevented Lina’s suspicion from spreading further.
And Sophia’s contributions did not end there.
“Oh, how fortunate! Lucy is a believer of the Minos Religion, you see.”
Sophia deftly drew Lucy, the quickest-witted among the remaining three, into the conversation.
“I’ve been wanting to visit the Saint. How wonderful that she’s coming. Perhaps I might ask for a blessing.”
Lucy picked up the thread naturally.
While Lina and Lucy spoke, Sophia silently kept Derek and Nathan in line.
It was mostly scolding Derek not to open his mouth.
After narrowly escaping danger once, the Blue Hawk operatives learned the proper bounds of kindness to show a well-liked colleague.
But their real crisis came afterward.
Lina seemed puzzled by her colleagues’ sudden increased attentiveness.
Not discomforted or awkward.
Rather, they were acting as though they had no inkling whatsoever that Lina and the Emperor were in a relationship.
Still, the letters carried by the errand boy continued to arrive addressed to the “Anonymous Knight.”
And Derek’s sightings of Edwin walking Lina home every day—always with his face concealed beneath a black hood—continued to pile up.
They were members of the Emperor’s Direct Intelligence Unit, after all, and had sharp instincts.
After some time had passed, they all arrived at the same conclusion within days.
‘Except for the parties involved, naturally?’
No matter how they looked at it, Lina seemed unaware that she was dating the “Emperor.”
Eventually, on a day when Lina left the office to teach Ibeta the Ancient Language, another secret meeting of the Blue Hawk operatives convened.
“Something feels off, doesn’t it?”
Lucy opened the discussion.
Derek and Nathan nodded quietly in agreement.
“We all felt the same way, then.”
When Sophia said as much, the expressions of all four grew darker.
Though they had spoken of currying favor with the future Empress, their genuine affection for Lina existed independently of her lover.
“Your Majesty, I never expected this of you.”
Lucy, closest to Lina, spoke with a look of genuine disappointment.
Sophia, who would normally have restrained Lucy, remained silent.
Because she herself wore that same look of disappointment.
“I had no idea that this trend of hiding one’s identity when making lower-status lovers still persisted among the nobility.”
Sophia spoke with a tone of bitter letdown.
“Shouldn’t we tell Lina about this?”
Derek ventured carefully.
“Tell her what?”
“That the person Lina is dating is hiding their identity?”
Derek answered the question, still oblivious to the sudden silence that had fallen over the office.
“That would be troublesome.”
“Eek.”
Derek belatedly registered Kyle’s presence.
But this time, the other three did not attempt to cover for him.
Not for Derek’s sake, but for Lina’s.
“Kyle, you knew too.”
Sophia, who had a connection through Kyle’s mother, stepped forward as their representative.
“I didn’t want to know, but I did.”
As Kyle answered with something like a sigh, Sophia’s eyes narrowed further.
“But knowing as you do, you should have tried to dissuade him.”
At Sophia’s words, Kyle’s sigh deepened.
“By the time I found out, it was already too late.”
As he spoke, Kyle withdrew a Staff from his Subspace Pouch.
“This time, you’ve discovered something you truly shouldn’t have.”
His voice carried an odd solemnity.
‘Is he about to cast Memory Distortion Magic?’
We’re on the same side.
The Blue Hawk operatives reacted with silent shock at this extreme turn of events.
Kyle, his expression gloomy, pronounced the incantation.
“Silence.”
Unexpectedly, it was merely a spell to prevent sound from leaking out of the room.
“Now then, shall we speak freely about deeper matters?”
Kyle smiled, his complexion somewhat pale.
“Why are you pulling out a Staff just to cast such a basic spell?”
Lucy, who had been momentarily intimidated, suddenly flared up.
“Inside the Imperial Palace, the Boundary Magic makes spellcasting difficult, you understand.”
Kyle muttered irritably as he returned the Staff to his pouch.
“Besides, you all spoke quietly enough that it should have stopped there.”
“We were very quiet, weren’t we?”
“I have sharp ears.”
Kyle answered brazenly.
No doubt there was some kind of alert Magic Artifact installed in the office that triggered on specific keywords or situations.
By his nature, Kyle was not one to trust people easily.
“I had intended to carry this secret alone, but circumstances being what they are, I have no choice.”
Kyle smiled cheerfully even as he expressed regret.
It was ominous.
They felt as though they were sinking into quicksand.
But before they could cover their ears, Kyle’s explanation came tumbling out.
“Lina believes His Majesty is named Everett Rohas.”
A direct opening statement.
After hearing the basic situation, the Blue Hawk operatives felt some relief that the Emperor was not deliberately deceiving Lina.
“Still, how long can she be kept in the dark…”
The worry had not entirely dissipated.
Kyle spoke as if he had been waiting for Sophia’s words.
“Exactly. From what I can see, it won’t last long. A month or two at most? So you’ll all need to help actively.”
It seemed this had been his plan from the moment he decided to explain the situation to them.
“Us?”
The Blue Hawk operatives tried to back out at the last moment, but it was too late.
“Now we’re all in the same boat, aren’t we?”
Nathan muttered that he had terrible seasickness and absolutely despised boats.
Kyle pretended not to hear Nathan’s complaint.
“I don’t ask for much. Simply continue as you are now, pretending not to know. Since Lina seems rather frightened of His Majesty, that’s quite a problem. Why don’t you all tell her about the Emperor’s virtues?”
Kyle threw the difficult task at them in a casual tone.
“We find His Majesty frightening too.”
Derek admitted his imperial phobia as plainly as if stating an obvious fact, and Kyle grinned at him.
“Derek, what if that fearsome Emperor lost his first love? Don’t you think understanding my feelings would help?”
For Kyle, deceiving Lina was not exactly comfortable.
But witnessing Edwin’s tumultuous first love at close quarters had taught him something.
That the Emperor’s peaceful future rested in Lina’s hands.
The Blue Hawk operatives had also seen the Emperor’s passionate romance firsthand.
‘What virtues does he have? Well, he’s handsome, for one…’
And so four more accomplices were gained.

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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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