The Stand-In Empress’S Wedding Night [EN]: Chapter 64

64. A Suffocating Night

“Were you… awake?”

I asked tentatively, listening to Rynell’s heartbeat.

“Not yet.”

It was a strange answer. I wanted to ask what he meant, but I lacked the courage. He pulled me closer and inhaled deeply, as if detecting something suspicious on me.

“Now that I’m warm again… I want to be.”

His sleepy voice landed erotically on my temple.

“Are you talking in your sleep?”

I barely managed to pull my face away from his chest and looked up at him.

“How about we fall asleep while kissing? Whoever falls asleep last does the cleanup.”

“*Khuh-heup*, what’s that supposed to mean?”

Listening to Rynell, I couldn’t help but imagine it.

“Why? You can at least close the mouth of the person who falls asleep first.”

“Are you serious?”

“*Heut*, would I joke about that?”

“Then?”

“It’s a wish.”

“Shall I grant it?”

I asked seriously, suppressing a laugh.

“Zelda… you are better than God.”

Rynell smiled slightly with his eyes closed.

“From now on, I should worship you instead of God.”

“Just trust me.”

I said with a confident expression. As soon as I said it, my conscience pricked me. Trust me…? Who is deceiving him right now? I ruthlessly mocked myself inwardly.

“If I trust you… is heaven waiting?”

He asked in a meaningful voice.

“Why wait? We can go right now.”

I pulled away from his embrace, raised my upper body halfway, and looked down at him. He took a deep breath, slightly opened his eyes, and then opened his mouth.

“Just a moment. I haven’t been awake for long, so my mind and body are waking up at different speeds right now. So wait a moment.”

As he said this, he began to lift the blanket.

“We’re only going to kiss.”

I said firmly, grabbing his hand as he tried to pull away the blanket.

“…Were you an evil spirit?”

Rynell asked with a shocked look.

“Isn’t the temptation of an evil spirit always sweeter?”

“Then, how about we do everything else and not kiss…?”

‘That wouldn’t work, would it?’ he added, frowning in distress.

“Say something that makes sense.”

“Why do I only have to say things that make sense? You seem to forget often, but I’m the Emperor.”

“Yes, I’m often surprised by that fact myself.”

As I grumbled, he laughed loudly. Rynell enjoyed it when I challenged his authority like this. Otherwise, he wouldn’t show such an innocent smile at my somewhat presumptuous answer. He raised one hand and placed it on his heart, and the other on my heart.

“What are you doing?”

I asked, covering his large hand on my heart with my own hand.

“Comparing.”

“Chest sizes?”

“That was already compared a long time ago.”

“……”

“Now I’m comparing whose heart is beating faster.”

As I asked with a smile, he replied in a solemn tone.

“I knew it. Zelda, you’ll have to try harder in the future.”

“Pardon?”

“My heart is beating much faster. What does this mean? It’s proof that you don’t love me as much as I love you yet.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at him, who was stating something that didn’t make much sense as if it were a fact.

“That’s a bit much for evidence…”

“Isn’t it accurate?”

“?”

“Let’s try harder. But when are you going to take me to heaven?”

He asked with expectant eyes, supporting his head with one hand. I stared at Rynell’s smiling face and thought. He had already given me heaven. With that look, that smile, that voice. My name burst out like sweet juice between his parting lips.

“Zelda……”

“Come into heaven……”

I swallowed his sweet voice in one breath, covering his lips.

Rynell’s surprised breath tickled my chest. My actions were reawakening his instincts. The growing desire shook our sensitive senses. Just by listening to this man’s breathing, I could now tell when his patience would run out. Rynell had already spent too much energy tonight. I stopped the kiss, holding his increasingly unrestrained hands. I realized that I was on top of him only after I came to my senses and opened my eyes.

“Haa… wait, let’s stop now.”

“What? *Hoo*, you really must be a god.”

“Why?”

“God gives both joy and pain.”

I suppressed a laugh and said to him in a demure tone.

“Many dignitaries from various countries will be arriving soon, so you must adjust your condition, Your Majesty.”

“Empress, if you’re going to persuade me with such words, get off me and say it. If you have a conscience.”

Rynell said majestically, grabbing one of my ankles with his hand.

“I’m sorry.”

I got off him and lay back down on the bed. However, because he didn’t let go of my ankle, my posture became very awkward.

“Ah, please let go of my ankle. I can’t sleep properly in this state.”

“It’s fair. I can’t sleep properly in this state either.”

“That’s childish!”

“Childish? *Eo-heo*, who am I in this country?”

“I’m sorry……”

One minute passed. He was still holding onto my ankle.

“Please just hold my hand instead. Not my ankle.”

I held out my hand to him.

“Here.”

“?”

Instead of letting go of my ankle, he awkwardly placed his other hand on my palm. Our bodies were gradually contorting into strange shapes.

“If I sleep like this, I might suddenly get sick tomorrow. Then you’ll have to sleep alone, right?”

“Are you daring to threaten me now?”

“I’m compromising.”

“Aha, good, compromise. You want to hold hands and sleep, is that it?”

I nodded strongly.

“Then we can hold hands and sleep fairly.”

“Okay.”

Phew, we’re finally getting somewhere. Rynell finally let go of my ankle and held my hand.

“Since I held your hand as you wanted, it would be a proper compromise if I also grabbed where I wanted, right?”

His gaze lingered on my chest for a moment before moving up.

“Fairness… that’s what you meant?”

I asked, glaring at him. He slowly reached out, raising the corner of his lips diagonally, and said.

“Where I want is… here.”

I closed my eyes and braced myself.

“*Heu-eut!*”

“Empress, sleep well.”

Unlike my expectations, Rynell grabbed my nose and closed his eyes. It was a more suffocating night than ever for me.

***

“Thank you for walking me home. It would be better to part here. There are guards at the entrance of the palace……”

Rosie bowed to Prince Norton as she approached her residence.

“Ah, right. It could cause unnecessary misunderstandings. Then I’ll turn back here.”

“Thank you so much, earlier……”

“Don’t mention it. I would have escorted you for your safety even if it wasn’t Empress Zelda’s request.”

Prince Norton cut her off, waving his hand modestly.

“Not that… I was going to say thank you for protecting Her Majesty earlier.”

“……Ah, I see.”

Prince Norton gave a slightly embarrassed expression and tapped the head of the kitten in Rosie’s arms with his finger, continuing his words.

“You must monitor the cat more thoroughly. It seemed quite rebellious earlier.”

The kitten, who had been dozing off, opened its eyes wide. It was trying to scratch Prince Norton, throwing futile punches with its small, white front paws. Rosie grabbed the front and back paws of the restless kitten like a roasted pig [referring to how a pig is prepared for roasting], stopping its struggles.

‘You, let’s talk when we get inside!’

Rosie shouted inwardly, glaring at the baby wyvern who had turned into a cat with her eyes.

“Then goodbye. If there’s a chance next time, I’ll see you with Her Majesty.”

As Prince Norton greeted again, Rosie bowed her head once more and turned around.

***

Returning to her bedroom, Rosie dismissed all the servants and locked the bedroom door. She placed the kitten in the corner farthest from the bedroom door.

“I knew you would cause trouble! You ran away without fear while I was taking a bath?”

Rosie, who was very angry, roared, breathing out hot air.

“You should have called Master sooner.”

The baby wyvern turned back into its original form and crossed its arms, arguing with Rosie. At the same time, the white cat shook its body and looked around Rosie’s room with a bewildered face.

“Hey, don’t be scared. This is the room of the kid I’m taking care of.”

The baby wyvern said to the white cat, who was trembling in the corner. Then the cat wagged its tail with a somewhat relieved expression and stared intently at Rosie.

“Oh ho? Who is taking care of whom? What, did that cat understand what you said just now?”

“Isn’t it strange if it doesn’t understand? You shouldn’t compare a lowly human to this great wyvern, orange head.”

“This wyvern brat, really! You almost got Her Majesty into trouble because of you. Idiot!”

“I’m reflecting on that too……”

The baby wyvern couldn’t bring himself to reveal the fact that the servant was killed by Prince Tesler’s knight because of him. If he told Rosie the truth, a second murder might happen tonight. The baby wyvern lowered his head in repentance, then raised his head again, sparkling his red eyes.

“Right, from now on, call me by my name! Otherwise, I’ll scorch that orange hair black.”

“You’re kidding me. Where do you have a name?”

Rosie snorted.

“I got one! Master decided on the first thing she said when she saw me as my name, that’s it!”

“So what’s your name?”

Rosie was dumbfounded by the baby wyvern’s words, but she was also curious.

“Moiya.”

“……What?”

“My name is ‘Moiya’ from now on.”

“What did Her Majesty call you that made your name like that?”

Rosie sat down on the bedroom floor with a puzzled expression.

“As soon as she saw me, she said, ‘This is, Moi……ya?’ Really. Really? Cotton ball.”

The baby wyvern looked back and forth between Rosie and the white cat, saying proudly.

“You mean, Her Majesty said ‘What is this?’ and you made that your name……”

“That’s right! That’s how Master said it.”

“That’s probably just what she said because there was a sudden cat, right.”

“That’s what Master said when she first saw me when I was in the egg. But she said the same thing again as soon as our eyes met, so it has meaning, Moiya~?”

The baby wyvern, who had already become Moiya to the bone, flapped his wings excitedly.

“Ah, so that’s why you’ve been adding ‘Moiya’ to the end of your sentences lately?”

Rosie scoffed in disbelief.

“Yeah!”

“Hey, then why don’t you make the first word you said, ‘This is,’ your name?”

Rosie burst into laughter and sneered.

“That won’t work. I didn’t make eye contact with Master then. Anyway, Rosie, how did you know I turned into a cat?”

“I was reading a book without even knowing you left, and I happened to see it. Doppelgangers are one of the abilities of some great wyverns. But that applied to you too!”

Rosie put her hand on her forehead and looked back and forth between the baby wyvern and the kitten sitting side by side in front of her. Apart from their cute appearances, she couldn’t help but sigh.

“What are we going to do now? Her Majesty knows you’re that cat, what if she comes to my residence and looks for you!”

“What’s the problem? I can just turn into him for a while then.”

“Miyaaong!”

The kitten meowed sharply at Moiya.

“What is that cat saying? Does it hate it?”

Moiya shook his head at Rosie’s words.

“No. It says to shut up and give it some food.”

“Heo?”

Rosie patted her chest with her fist.

“Yeah, think of it as my house and live comfortably. Rosie is also kind if you get to know her… well, she’s going to be kind soon.”

Moiya patted the cat’s back, acting like the owner of the house to the kitten. Even though she was angry, she opened the bedroom door and went out, calling her servant for a snack that the cat could eat.

“See, it listens well.”

“Miyaong. (You trained him well.)”

Moiya glanced at Rosie’s back and nodded at the kitten’s words.

“Aww… C!”

Just before the bedroom door closed, Rosie’s annoyed voice was heard. Moiya poked the kitten and said.

“Hey, cotton ball. From now on, your name is ‘Aww C’.”

“Miiyaong! (I love it so much!)”

The cat, who suddenly got the name Aww C, started licking Moiya’s small wings.

***

I saw Rynell off early in the morning, leisurely took a shower, and came out of the bathroom. But the refreshing feeling changed to the feeling of being covered in filth in less than a second. It wasn’t a dream. Even if it was a dream, it was close to a nightmare. Prince Tesler was standing in front of me, in the middle of the bedroom. Why is that bastard here! I couldn’t hide my surprised expression.

“How… did you get in?”

“There are many ways. You should be more curious about why I came than how I came in.”

Prince Tesler twitched one cheek and spread his arms towards me.

“Your Majesty, please give me a welcome greeting again?”