The Stand-In Empress’S Wedding Night [EN]: Chapter 68

68. I Can’t Live Getting Cheated

“It was a mistake!”

I shook off his hand and retied the strings of my bathrobe.

“Then you should commit to it. Mistakes are meant to be made, and if you clean them up right away, what does that make me, who suffered right in front of you?”

Linelle sighed, looking utterly disappointed.

“If you make someone like this and then say it was a mistake… shouldn’t I be angry? Though there’s already a place that’s angry.”

He cleared his throat, looked down, mumbled ‘take responsibility,’ and then looked back at my face.

“We’ll be late for the luncheon.”

“Then let’s just change it to a banquet at the Empress’s Palace.”

Linelle made that decision, and I hesitated for a moment. Then he put his hand on the back of my head and applied pressure. My head nodded in his hand.

“That’s right. You think the same as I do. Approved, stamp.”

“?”

He untied the strings of my bathrobe again and said firmly,

“Zelda, how do you always make mistakes that I can’t help but like?”

I closed my eyes and smiled in resignation. In truth, I desperately needed his love that yearned for me. Being close to Linelle felt like escaping from all my worries.

“Huh? Daring to ignore the Emperor’s words? You have no idea what a huge crime you’re committing right now? You won’t be able to escape the punishment.”

As he said, a terrible punishment was soon inflicted. So sweet it was deadly, so overwhelming it brought tears to my eyes… Without realizing it, I lost my sense of reality and gently bit his lip.

“Ah!”

“I’m sorry.”

When I apologized with a burst of laughter, he looked down at me calmly and said,

“Not only did you ignore the Emperor’s words, but you dared to bite his lip?”

He gave me a resentful look and pounced on me fiercely, saying,

“I can’t live getting cheated.”

***

Linelle sat leaning against the headboard of the bed, watching Zelda walk towards the bedroom door. Even after the door closed, her afterimage lingered, and he smiled. He muttered to himself.

“Excellent choice.”

Today, he had eliminated all the breaks during the meeting and pushed it through somewhat forcefully, which allowed him to have this cozy time with Zelda before the luncheon. He hadn’t initially planned to do that. He had clearly shared a passionate night with her last night and woke up in this bedroom this morning. After having a simple breakfast together and receiving a deep kiss from her, he had returned to the Imperial Palace in a good mood. However, as soon as the meeting started, his instincts spoke to him. Was there really a need to prolong the meeting with the same old repetitive discussions? Why not quickly approve the things that were worth listening to from the officials and immediately cut off the issues that were absolutely unacceptable? Today, his instincts were much more rational than his reason. That way, he could really shorten the morning meeting by about two hours. Linelle secretly smiled with satisfaction, raising the documents over his face in front of dozens of officials. Normally, he would deliberately delay approving things that he could approve right away by taking breaks during the meeting. He also wouldn’t immediately reject proposals from the officials that he would never accept. His method was to take some time in between, pretend to deliberate, and then eventually reject them. But today, both the approval and rejection of agenda items proceeded swiftly. The officials were bewildered throughout the meeting, being led by Linelle’s decisions, and then finished the meeting. The Emperor’s usually relaxed and dignified demeanor also showed a different pattern than usual. He finished the morning meeting like someone with urgent business and headed to the Empress’s Palace. On the way to the Empress’s Palace, he took some time to reflect.

‘Is it really a good thing to go see her by adjusting even my work hours like this?’

After all, they would be spending time together at night anyway. He found his unreasonable behavior amusing, and he was surprised by his own will that didn’t turn back even while thinking that way. But those thoughts disappeared the moment he saw Zelda. His instincts were right. As soon as he saw her, he realized that he definitely needed this time to hold her in his arms, babble nonsense, and laugh together before night came. It wasn’t a long time, but her warmth would linger on his body all day long. Feeling satisfied, Linelle looked around the bedroom where she spent most of her day while waiting for Zelda. Come to think of it, he had never properly looked at this space because he was always focused on other things whenever he came here. While wandering around the bedroom, he fixed his gaze on one spot. He walked towards the open terrace door and stopped in front of the decorative table next to the terrace door. He stroked his chin, staring blankly at the roses in the vase.

“I’m sure I instructed them to send red roses…?”

He picked up a white rose and smelled it. The fragrance was the same as the red roses he had smelled. Two days ago, Linelle was looking at the red roses in full bloom in front of the Imperial Palace from the window of his office and thought of Zelda.

‘She resembles the passionate Empress.’

His secretary, Raphael, cautiously raised an objection to his opinion.

‘Didn’t you say that Her Majesty the Empress resembled a sunflower at one point?’

‘Sunflower during the day, red rose at night.’

Linelle said after a moment of thought. Linelle didn’t bother to add that she smiled brightly at him like a sunflower during the day and showed hot passion while blushing like a rose at night. After standing by the office window for a few minutes and admiring the rose garden, he ordered the chamberlain to arrange a bouquet of roses, put them in a vase, and send them to the Empress’s Palace. An hour after his order, he even received a report that the Empress’s face had turned as red as a rose after receiving the flowers from the chamberlain. So he remembered clearly that the roses were red.

Linelle looked around the bedroom again. It was possible that they might be in another vase. But the vases in the bedroom were all in front of him.

“If these are the roses I sent, why is the color…”

Does the color of red roses change over time? He briefly entertained the absurd question before letting out a ridiculous laugh. He stared intently at the white rose and found a small bottle next to the vase.

“What is this?”

The small glass bottle was empty. He opened the cork stopper of the glass bottle and smelled it. It had no scent. Linelle looked back and forth between the white rose and the small glass bottle, and when he heard the sound of the bedroom door opening, he put the glass bottle he was holding into his pocket.

***

The Empress’s Palace banquet hall. In the end, the luncheon with the Shatouil siblings was changed from the Imperial Palace to the Empress’s Palace. I had hoped that the luncheon appointment would be canceled altogether, but it wasn’t.

“I heard that Her Majesty the Empress wasn’t feeling well, and I was worried. Are you alright?”

As soon as the meal started, Prince Tesler asked me. I was already wondering what excuse Linelle had made for changing the luncheon location, and it turned out that the excuse was my condition.

“Ah… I’m fine. I wasn’t feeling well this morning, but I’m a little better now.”

Indeed, it was true that I had felt chills all over my body ever since seeing Prince Tesler in my bedroom.

“Oh dear. Then you probably don’t have much of an appetite. But please eat little by little, slowly.”

Prince Tesler acted as if he was seeing me for the first time today. The sight of his slyly upturned lips was more than enough to awaken the violence dormant within me. Moreover, I was already feeling drained from various things since this morning and was hungry, so I was just about to cut a large piece of the deliciously cooked steak and put it in my mouth. But because that jerk started talking to me, I couldn’t show my voracious appetite. There were so many ways to torment people. I reluctantly pretended to have no appetite and cut the steak I was about to eat into smaller pieces before putting it in my mouth.

“Prince Tesler, you seem to be in a better mood than yesterday. Did something good happen?”

Linelle put a few slices of pre-cut steak on my plate and asked Prince Tesler. I was surprised and looked at him, but his gaze was directed at the prince. He didn’t say anything to me while handing me the steak, but his actions warmed my heart. Of course, the steak that had passed through his hands was cold.

“Of course, I can’t help but be in a good mood since I’m enjoying a meal with the two owners of the Lapion Empire.”

As Prince Tesler uttered insincere words, Princess Resilia also chimed in.

“The food is more delicious than I expected. The Empress’s Palace is… so splendid and beautiful. I’m curious about Her Majesty the Empress’s bedroom. Please show it to me!”

Princess Resilia said to me with sparkling eyes.

“I will.”

I had expected her to say that. She must be curious to see with her own eyes what would have originally been hers. What the inside of the Empress’s Palace is like, and what the bedroom where she stays with the Emperor is like….

“We can tour it after the meal to help with digestion.”

I couldn’t help but frown at the princess, who was almost making a declaration.

“Today….”

I was about to say a word of refusal, but realizing my position, I was about to change my words again when Linelle interrupted me.

“Today, it would be better to postpone it until tomorrow since the Empress isn’t feeling well, Princess Resilia.”

“Ah, I was inconsiderate….”

Princess Resilia replied with a slightly embarrassed expression before widening her eyes again and saying to me.

“Then can I tour the inside of the Empress’s Palace separately? I think it would be fine if one of Her Majesty the Empress’s attendants could guide me….”

“Resil. Her Majesty the Empress said she’s not feeling well. If you wander around the Empress’s Palace, she’ll be worried and won’t be able to rest properly.”

Prince Tesler said to his younger sister as if he was trying to appease her, watching Linelle’s reaction. How could he spout insincere words without even batting an eye? That was a talent in itself.

“It’s alright. As the princess said, it’s fine to tour the inside of the Empress’s Palace with the guidance of an attendant.”

Linelle nodded at my words, and Princess Resilia twitched one side of her mouth slightly. She must have thought that if she said that much, I would reluctantly say that I would personally guide her through the Empress’s Palace. If I hadn’t seen Prince Tesler in the bedroom this morning, I would have dealt with her. But today, I didn’t have the energy to deal with both siblings.

“Ah, Your Majesty. I have a question for Your Majesty. May I ask you one thing?”

Princess Resilia asked him, folding her eyes prettily.

“A question for me? Ask away.”

Linelle took a sip of wine and replied to the princess.

“Which part of Her Majesty the Empress’s appearance do you like the most?”

…What? What is her intention in asking him such a question?

“Out of the Empress’s appearance….”

While Princess Resilia waited for his answer with curious eyes, I also turned my gaze to him, who was seriously considering her question. And our eyes met. He rested one elbow on the table and stared intently at my face with his hand on his chin. Perhaps I made a strange expression for a moment, because he chuckled and said,

“Well, that’s a difficult question.”

“In my opinion….”

Resilia started to speak in a coy voice as if she had been waiting for it. Please don’t say it, your opinion. I sighed quietly, watching her speak with her lips pursed forward like a bird’s beak.

“I think Your Majesty probably likes Her Majesty the Empress’s fair and clear skin the most.”

“!”

Ah, that’s what you wanted to say? I snorted softly. Today, the siblings are going around threatening me with the burn scar on my face as a pair. I felt Linelle’s gaze on me again, intensely. I couldn’t bring myself to look at him and looked at Linelle, faintly reflected in the wine glass in front of me. He raised his hand and stroked my right cheek. It was the spot where the burn scar was….