I Had No Idea I Was Secretly Dating the Emperor
Everett stood by the door, and Kylus gave him a slight push forward as he answered.
“Don’t they look alike?”
The sudden remark made Edwin’s eyes fill with confusion as he looked from Kylus to Everett and back again.
For a brief moment, Edwin’s and Everett’s gazes met.
Only then did Everett realize what Kylus had said just moments ago.
And who exactly he was saying looked alike.
The Emperor was a strikingly handsome man with hair as dark as the night sky and golden eyes that shone like the midday sun.
Everett had black hair and yellow eyes—features common in the distant eastern continent across the sea, but quite rare on the continent where the Regencia Empire lay.
Aside from being about a finger’s width apart in height, their builds were nearly identical.
And even their facial features, from certain angles, were quite similar.
It was the kind of resemblance where, if a genius painter poured their heart and soul into beautifying Everett’s portrait, the result would look exactly like Edwin’s face.
Edwin, too, easily spotted the similarities between himself and the face of a mere rural village guard from the eastern countryside.
Edwin’s brows drew together tightly.
From his perspective, it must have felt like looking at a portrait ruined by a talentless artist.
Kylus easily read the reluctant acknowledgment in Edwin’s furrowed brow.
Though he looked slightly displeased, what mattered to Kylus was that it wasn’t just in his own eyes that the two resembled each other.
“Right? They look alike, don’t they?”
At Kylus’s excited insistence, Edwin’s frown deepened even further.
His golden eyes, laced with clear displeasure, swept over Everett’s face.
He clearly didn’t want to admit it.
I never said I looked like him.
While he could understand how Edwin felt, Everett still felt a little wronged.
Whether Edwin and Everett each felt aggrieved for their own reasons at Kylus’s words didn’t matter—Kylus himself was in a splendid mood.
He had just come up with an excellent idea to solve a problem that had been giving him a headache lately.
“During the time of the old kingdoms,”
Kylus reached straight for the solution he had thought of.
To the other two, who had no idea how he had arrived at this conclusion, it seemed rather abrupt. But the madness gleaming in those green eyes had a certain power that made them feel they shouldn’t interrupt.
Edwin and Everett listened in silence, albeit with somewhat reluctant expressions.
“I heard that in the East, there used to be something called Shadow Knights.”
It was such a famous tale in this region that even the illiterate Everett knew it.
After all, it was a staple in old folktales.
But since it seemed to be an unfamiliar story in the capital, Edwin looked as if he were hearing it for the first time, so Kylus gave a brief explanation.
“At one point, it became fashionable for high lords and other people of noble status to select individuals who resembled them and appoint them as escort knights. Those escort knights were called Shadow Knights.”
As Kylus pronounced the words “individuals who resembled them,” his gaze swept over Everett once.
The moment their eyes met again was incredibly brief, but Everett felt a chill run down his spine.
Something felt ominous.
And his intuition was spot on.
“To confuse assassins, or to use them as decoys when the real person couldn’t appear due to unavoidable circumstances.”
At those added words, Everett finally understood why Kylus had dragged him all the way here.
The guard captain had already hinted at why the Emperor and his subordinates had come to this remote, worthless territory.
Everett inwardly cursed himself for forgetting his place and showing off over a trivial boast.
I should’ve just kept my eyes down like the captain said.
But it was already too late for regrets.
“So? You’re saying we should use him as a Shadow Knight?”
Having caught on to Kylus’s intention at roughly the same time as Everett, one of Edwin’s eyebrows slowly rose.
Edwin looked thoroughly displeased with Kylus’s idea.
Everett, who knew all too well that the fate of a Shadow Knight was rarely a good one, cheered for Edwin with all his heart.
Even under Edwin’s icy glare, Kylus remained completely unfazed and continued his persuasion.
“Haven’t the Kingdom Alliance’s attacks been growing more frequent lately? If we can draw the enemy’s attention, it will make it much easier for Your Majesty to move about.”
Now that a brilliant solution had appeared for a problem that had seemed hopeless, he couldn’t give up so easily.
“There’s no way they’ll believe he’s me. Don’t waste your time.”
Edwin simply scoffed, but—
“We only need him to show his face from the rear. And while we’re at it, this would be a good opportunity for Your Majesty to refrain from charging to the front lines yourself.”
Kylus, who had long been unhappy about Edwin personally throwing himself into battle, quickly countered.
It was unavoidable in the early days when we were being pushed back, but even after the tide has turned, for the Emperor to keep standing at the vanguard…
Especially when there wasn’t a single royal left to succeed him.
Kylus’s long-suppressed offensive was fierce.
In truth, he should have returned to the imperial capital long ago.
It was rare enough for an emperor to lead a war in person, but for an emperor to leave the capital for years at a time was an even rarer occurrence in the empire’s nearly thousand-year history.
Whenever Edwin briefly left for the capital, the war situation would immediately deteriorate, so even Kylus found it difficult to strongly insist on his return.
But at least this time, he had to put some kind of safety measure in place.
No matter how many times you win a war, a single defeat could decide life or death.
It was a strategy that had become even more necessary now that the Kingdom Alliance’s tactics were gradually shifting to target Edwin directly.
Kylus’s persuasion, backed by both conviction and justification, continued relentlessly.
In this situation, there was nothing Everett could do.
He could only stand there blankly, silently listening as Kylus and Edwin argued over his fate.
Whether his silent cheering had any effect or not, in the end, the victor was Kylus.
It was obvious that Edwin had simply grown tired of the argument, but regardless, Kylus had successfully obtained his permission.
“Do as you wish.”
Having conquered an impregnable fortress, Kylus released Edwin with a face full of glee.
“The lord said he would prepare a banquet.”
The remark, implying he wouldn’t be disturbed until dinner, made Edwin wave his hand dismissively to shoo Kylus away.
“My ears are ringing. Get out already.”
“Then please rest well.”
Kylus gave Edwin a polite bow, then took Everett with him and headed to the room assigned to them.
Once they arrived, Kylus sent out the maids who had been tidying the room in preparation for their esteemed guests.
Then he asked,
“Tell me what you want.”
His voice was as gentle and benevolent as a saint from the temple.
Whether it was because he was in a good mood after successfully pushing through his opinion, or because he wanted to lower Everett’s guard, he was even smiling brightly.
But at that moment, to Everett’s eyes, Kylus looked like a cruel dark sorcerer who had sold human souls to summon a demon.
So at the time—
O God, why is this happening to me?
Everett frantically drew the sign of the cross in his mind.
But since Kylus was neither a dark sorcerer nor a demonic being, it had no effect whatsoever.
After waiting a moment for Everett to speak, Kylus urged him again.
“If there’s nothing in particular you want, I’ll think of an appropriate reward myself.”
It meant he would take good care of him.
Having lived his entire life as a commoner, Everett understood exactly what Kylus’s words implied.
There was no right to refuse, but out of conscience, he would at least offer suitable compensation.
In other words, it was the conscience of those in power. One that Everett did not want.
Though his life had been like a weed that gets trampled if stepped on, this felt incredibly unfair.
It was already unfair that someone was suddenly trying to upend his life, and now they were even deciding his compensation however they pleased.
Still, Everett held it all in.
Because he was an ordinary citizen who knew how to compromise with reality.
And so, Everett became Edwin’s Shadow Knight.
And now, years later, he thought that holding back that day had been the right choice.
If he were to name the best decision of his life on his deathbed, it would be the moment he met Kylus’s eyes that day.
After being half-forced into becoming a Shadow Knight, he had suffered tremendously—learning swordsmanship to imitate Edwin, horsemanship, and even acting.
His head wasn’t particularly sharp, and he had no great talent for the sword, which made it even harder.
Not to mention that Kylus’s standards were ridiculously high.
There had even been several times when his life was in danger while pretending to be Edwin.
But despite all the danger and hardship, Kylus had truly taken good care of him, just as he had promised.
So much so that Everett occasionally had nightmares where he swapped shifts with a colleague that day and nothing happened at all.