The Stand-In Empress’S Wedding Night [EN]: Chapter 59

59. Drawing Desire

I had dinner with Rinell in the Empress Palace. As the meal was ending, he offered to teach me how to shoot a bow and suggested we ride together to the training grounds. I deliberately acted excited and exaggerated, even feigning shooting arrows with ‘pew, pew’ sounds and acting cute. I don’t know if he saw it as cute, but his reaction wasn’t bad. Rinell held his stomach and laughed, begging me to shoot an arrow at him, so I granted his wish, exclaiming ‘pew!’ with a solemn expression and shooting an arrow with my hand. Then, he started arguing about the direction of my arrow. He claimed I was aiming at his vital parts.

“Your aim is very disrespectful.”

He stood with his legs apart, hands on his hips, and laughed while scolding me. How can he laugh while scolding like that? I stared at him, fascinated, and then realized something. I always aim for the vital spot when shooting an arrow, thinking, ‘This is the last arrow.’ That habit came out even when I was pretending to shoot.

“Was the aim intentional?”

He kept questioning me, so I played innocent and said,

“I’m sorry, I thought arrows should be shot at the most important part.”

I changed into riding clothes and went to the Empress Palace’s backyard, where the horses we would ride were already prepared. I wanted to pull on the reins and run into the forest right away, but I obediently got on the horse and slowly headed to the training grounds with him.

***

After talking with Princess Resilia, Prince Tesler returned to his assigned room. As soon as he arrived in the bedroom, he looked for wine. He leaned back loosely on the sofa and drank the wine straight from the bottle.

“I can’t believe an unexpected obstacle popped up.”

He had a constant headache because of Prince Norton’s issue. He couldn’t rashly touch Prince Norton anymore. If he messed with him, it could escalate into a continental issue, not just a problem for the Shattonil Kingdom.

“Let’s leave it to Resil for now.”

At first, he ignored her words, but after listening, he concluded that it was better to use Norton than to eliminate him.

‘I’ll coax Norton and make him mine again.’

No man can resist his sister’s seduction, even a man who has betrayed him once. Prince Tesler believed so. But if Norton asks him about what happened that day… Yes, he could just say that he never received a report about him and the child falling off the cliff. And blame it on the Royal Knights. He could pick the most useless vice-captain of the Royal Knights, hold him responsible for the accident, and execute him. What more could that bastard say?

“What can he do if I deny it? If that bastard wants to get back with Resil, he’ll have to overlook it, even if he’s suspicious.”

Using and discarding someone is Resilia’s specialty, so she wouldn’t ruin things because of affection or her child.

“Wait, Martins… did he really not know about this?”

Prince Tesler’s head tilted with disbelief when there was a cautious knock on the bedroom door. He picked up the wine glass and said,

“Come in.”

“Your Highness, have you been well?”

Grand Duke Martins entered the room with a welcoming face. Crash-! The wine glass flew past the Grand Duke’s right cheek. The wine glass shattered against the wall next to him. The glass shards flew and made a small scratch on the Grand Duke’s cheek.

“…Was there something unpleasant here?”

“You bastard. You knew, didn’t you?”

Prince Tesler shouted, his eyes wide.

“Know what?”

“That mercenary is alive. And he’s a prince of the Patsha Empire! You knew, didn’t you?”

“Even if I did, you almost shattered this sculpted face.”

The Grand Duke calmly said to Prince Tesler, staring at the shattered glass on the floor. He wiped the blood from his cheek and approached Prince Tesler. The Prince was flustered by his reaction and shouted again,

“Did you know, you bastard!”

“I didn’t know, you bastard.”

Grand Duke Martins retorted in a chillingly calm tone. Prince Tesler jumped up from the sofa.

“…What?!”

The two were cousins. They had been close like brothers since childhood, so they often spoke informally when they were alone. But this was not that kind of atmosphere. Martins Lohan, who was quick-witted, couldn’t have missed that, so why was he suddenly talking back? Prince Tesler looked at him with a stunned expression and said,

“Don’t… speak informally right now. Grand Duke.”

Then, Grand Duke Martins immediately became polite again, as if nothing had happened.

“I apologize, Your Highness.”

‘Is this bastard playing with me?’

Prince Tesler felt like he was being mocked by him.

***

“This must be your first time at the training grounds.”

When we arrived at the training grounds and got off the horse, Rinell wrapped his arms around my waist and said.

‘First time, my foot. Our surrogate empress has been here three times already, Your Majesty.’

My inner spirit chuckled and retorted for me. I cleared my throat awkwardly and entered the training grounds. The interior was as bright as day because all the lamps were lit.

“Today, I’ll just teach you the basics. We don’t have much time.”

He said, picking up a bow from the weapon rack.

“No time? Didn’t you say you finished all your duties today?”

I asked him, staring at the target installed on the opposite wall.

“The night is short.”

He picked up a suitable bow and approached me again.

“Zelda, stand like me.”

He made me stand in a straight line with the target and handed me the bow.

“Am I holding it right? I’ve never held a bow properly before, so my hands are shaking.”

‘Oh, really? You’ve never held a bow properly before? Hahaha.’

My inner spirit sneered. I ignored the spirit’s mockery.

“It’s okay if you’re not good.”

He squeezed my hand once, as if to give me courage.

“Now, spread your legs shoulder-width apart. Never take your eyes off the target, and don’t lift your head too much.”

“Like this?”

I deliberately tilted my head awkwardly.

“No, you need to lower it a bit more. Should we try pulling the bowstring first?”

“Yes, good.”

I deliberately moved my fingers gracefully, as if playing a harp. He looked at my hand movements and sighed with worry.

“Oh dear, I don’t know if you can shoot properly with these small hands. I’ll help you from behind, so don’t be nervous.”

I deliberately stood crookedly and acted clumsy. Then, Rinell stood close behind me. He wrapped his arms around my body and corrected my posture, and slowly pulled the bowstring with me. I could hit the center of the target with my eyes closed, but it wasn’t bad to receive his teachings in person like this. It felt like I was back to being thirteen years old when I first held a bow.

“Zelda, I always see you wearing dresses, but seeing you in riding clothes like this makes me really… want to run with you.”

Rinell whispered in my ear as he pulled the bowstring with me from behind.

“I suddenly have a strong urge to run. What should I do…?”

“It’s too dark to ride a horse, isn’t it?”

“…Yes, it is. Ah, well. Okay, let’s pull the bow again?”

Rinell’s voice and breathing became damp, but he continued to explain the shooting posture seriously. Suddenly, I began to feel how much he loved me. I glanced back at him. As I expected, his eyes were filled with instinct.

“Why?”

“Nothing.”

I smiled slightly and took my position again, pulling the bowstring. Rinell also started to pull my waist towards him, as if drawing his desire, and began to interfere.

“Why are you doing this, really…?”

Rinell distracted me.

“What?”

He asked solemnly.

“Don’t worry about me and keep practicing.”

“How can I not worry about you?”

I know the instinct is growing.

“Zelda, this is all training.”

He said in a seemingly solemn tone.

“What do you mean?”

“Animals don’t just stand still and get hit by arrows. It’s the same for the person shooting the arrow. You have to be able to hit accurately while running around.”

“Are you saying this is a kind of training?”

“That’s right. Anything can be a hindrance in the forest. Even the wind.”

This man is good with words.

“Right now, the target is fixed, so I’m creating a situation by interfering with you.”

“Ah, so you were deliberately doing that from behind… I didn’t realize your deep intentions.”

Even when I retorted sarcastically, he didn’t care.

“Yes, you wouldn’t know my deep intentions. Hoo, it’s hot.”

“It’s hot when the wind is blowing in from outside like this?”

I pointed to the leaves rolling in with the wind through the open training ground entrance.

“Ahem, focus and stand straight again.”

He cleared his throat and corrected my posture again.

“Hold the arrow and string with your index finger at the same time, and don’t take your eyes off the target, thinking that the arm holding the bow and the arm pulling the string are in the same position.”

Rinell was still sticking close to me from behind, interfering, but his voice was serious as he explained.

“Zelda, keep your eyes on the target until the end. Just like my body is focused on you.”

“…Excuse me? You’re focused on me?”

“Why are you asking if you know?”

“I’m asking because I don’t know.”

“You’re pretending not to know.”

“Why would I?”

“Really don’t know?”

“Yes.”

Rinell tilted his head.

“That’s strange, you should know?”

He muttered with a slightly hurt expression and then fell silent.

“Am I perhaps Your Majesty’s target? You don’t have arrows hidden somewhere on your body, do you?”

“Don’t talk about arrows. I’m talking about the heart, the heart.”

“…The heart?”

As I rolled my eyes and tried to turn to him,

“Yes, a frozen, hard heart! What are you looking at? Look ahead!”

Oh, my goodness. Rinell quickly put his hands together politely in front of him and ordered me. I suppressed a laugh and turned my gaze to the target.

“Now, pull the bowstring and actually shoot.”

His voice, which had softened again, reached my neck. One shoulder twitched because of it, but my eyes had already finished scanning where to shoot the arrow. Of course, I had to avoid the center of the target. Yes, it would be less suspicious to miss the target altogether. A small, long wooden board standing to the left of the target caught my eye. That would be a good spot. The point I chose was the 7 o’clock direction in the middle of the wooden board. I never took a long time after pulling the bowstring. Aiming is already done while pulling the bowstring. Thwack-! The arrow flew with a cheerful sound. As expected, the arrow hit the target I had set. I secretly smiled with satisfaction before turning to him.

“Oh dear, it’s because it’s your first time. No need to be discouraged.”

But Rinell, who had no way of knowing this, patted my back.

‘I intended to shoot there from the beginning?’

I retorted inwardly, but outwardly I looked up at him with a very dejected face.

“Ugh, I guess I don’t have a talent for archery.”

“No, you did well for your first time.”

“Really?”

“No.”

“……”

What is this, Your Majesty?

“Actually, your skills are terrible, but I was interfering from behind. It’s amazing that the arrow didn’t go towards my face.”

He shook my shoulders vigorously to encourage me.

“Will it get better with practice?”

“I think it would be wiser not to create situations where you have to shoot arrows?”

“…Ah.”

He had an excellent ability to hit people with words.

“There will be progress if you keep going… but give up any vain hope.”

He seemed to be comforting me, but in the end, he gave an honest assessment. In short, my skills were terrible. I deliberately pretended to be bad, but it still felt a little bad. I glared at his strange comfort.

“Are you saying my skills won’t improve?”

“Yeah. They won’t.”

He was even firm.

“But, what reason would you have to shoot an arrow on the hunting grounds?”

Rinell tucked my hair behind my ear and smiled softly. His gentle face was so beautiful that I wanted to leave his expression in a painting. That smile that only I can see, that he only makes for me. Suddenly, I wondered what I could do for him. Compared to what he can do for me, there was almost nothing I could do for him.

“What are you thinking about?”

He asked, taking the bow from my hand. I wanted to shoot a few more arrows, but I wasn’t very disappointed. Anyway, no matter how many times I shot, I would hit the strange target I had set, and I would have to act disappointed every time, which was more annoying.

“I was thinking that there’s almost nothing I can do for Your Majesty.”

I told him exactly what had crossed my mind a little while ago.

“Why did you suddenly think of such an obvious fact?”

He asked, stroking my back.

“…Just, it suddenly came to mind.”

“So, what’s the conclusion?”

“There isn’t one.”

His brow furrowed at my honest answer.

“That’s disappointing.”

He went to the weapon rack and put the bow back. Suddenly, his emotion changed from disappointment to anger, and he turned his head sharply towards me and asked, as if sulking.

“There should be? No, there is.”

“Yes?”

“The biggest thing you can give me.”

Rinell said with an expectant look. …What is it?