The Stand-In Empress’S Wedding Night [EN]: Chapter 76

76. Confession

September 25, 2021

The maids’ urgent voices echoed through the hallway.

“W-What did we just see?”

Starting with Sharon’s worry,

“Shouldn’t we follow them?”

And Solie’s excited voice,

“Can you handle this?”

Even Theresa, being unnecessarily serious. At first, everyone was surprised and murmured, but gradually their voices changed to excitement.

“What will happen if our Empress is caught? His Majesty won’t stay still, will he?”

“Oh my, what should we do? I don’t know!”

“It looks like fire is on the soles of their feet. They are so passionate.”

“Shouldn’t we run with pillows?”

Even Head Maid Stian started discussing the situation with them.

“Why pillows?”

“I don’t think they will come straight to the bedroom, no matter the outcome.”

“Really? Should we bring them? Then we should bring blankets too, right?”

Sharon’s voice, always thorough in her preparations, was the last to be heard. The maids poked each other and made a fuss. However, none of them could keep up with our speed. Thus, Linelle and I began our midnight chase. It would have been better if I had worn pants instead of a dress, but the light dress didn’t hinder my running much. If it had been a formal dress, I would have been caught already. Just as I was running out of breath, the end of the hallway came into view. But the end was just a corner leading to another path.

“Ugh, ugh…….”

Unable to control my running speed, I grabbed a pillar at the corner and turned into the hallway. Again, a long, long hallway stretched endlessly. From now on, I’ll show my barefoot spirit. I was wearing low-heeled shoes, but I took them off to increase my speed. The feeling of my soles sticking to the cold marble floor wasn’t bad. Masterpieces lined one wall, and long arched windows lined the other. As I ran down the hallway, I turned my head to look out the window. The crescent moon and stars were chasing me along with Linelle.

“Huff, huff, ha, ha…….”

How far had I run? The bedroom floor hallway was slowly coming to an end. At the end of the hallway, I saw the stairs mainly used by the servants. Without hesitation, I sat on the handrail and slid down to the lower floor. My plan was to enter any room and shake him off, then return to the bedroom floor. I walked past several rooms and stopped in front of a door that was a bit different from the others. I carefully pulled the door open and went inside.

“Another library?”

The main palace library was on the second floor, where Linelle’s office was located. This third-floor library was only half the size of the one on the second floor. Since it was smaller than the second-floor library, this was probably Linelle’s personal library. Although the size was different, this place, like the second-floor library, was filled with books all the way to the ceiling. I glanced around the library and took a breather, leaning against the bookshelf next to the fireplace. I was out of breath and sweating, but my body felt refreshed. I bent over, placed my hand on the bookshelf, and straightened up again. But suddenly, with a rustling sound behind me, the bookshelf slid sideways.

“W-What? What is this……?”

I was startled and quickly moved away from the bookshelf, turning my body towards the wall. As the bookshelf slid sideways along with the wall behind it, a dark space appeared. I was drawn into it by an inexplicable force and took a step inside. As I stepped inside, my foot sank down.

“Ah, it seems like there are stairs all the way down here?”

Why does Linelle’s personal library have a place like this? I carefully went down one more step, and a cold air blew on my face from somewhere. It was like being in a cave in the middle of winter.

“What’s at the bottom of the stairs that’s causing this cold wind?”

It might be a bit dangerous, but curiosity kept pulling my ankle down the stairs. But then, I heard the library door open. It must be Linelle. I quickly climbed back up the stairs and came out of the space. Then the bookshelf automatically slid shut again, returning to its original state. I quickly memorized which shelf I had touched a moment ago, and even the titles of the books on that shelf. I might never come back here, but I felt like I needed to know the location where the bookshelf had moved. And feeling like I shouldn’t stand in front of this bookshelf, I quickly moved to another bookshelf and hid.

“Bunny, it seems like you’re trapped in our cage!”

Linelle’s voice, predicting victory, was heard not far away. I lowered my body as much as possible and moved through the bookshelves like a maze, heading towards the library door.

“Gasp! When did he put that there…….”

When I arrived near the library door and straightened up, a mahogany desk was blocking the door. He must have thought that I wouldn’t be able to escape, so he picked up a desk in the library and put it in front of the door. He must have thought that since I was a weak wife, I wouldn’t be able to move the heavy desk and would be caught there? I ran to the door to remove the obstacle and escape quickly. Just as I grabbed the desk with both hands and tried to move it to the side,

“Got you.”

Linelle, who had approached silently, shouted as he hugged me tightly from behind. To be caught so helplessly. I wasn’t caught because I couldn’t lift the desk, but because I didn’t have time to move it.

“Bunny, what did I say I would do if I caught you?”

He asked, gently biting my neck.

“You said you’d give me a carrot.”

He burst out laughing at my resigned tone.

“Of course, I have to give it to you. Take me.”

He took my hand and placed it on his chin.

“Pardon?”

“Am I not like a carrot to you……?”

“Well, your face is turning red like a carrot.”

I turned to look at his face and replied.

“It’s because I’m excited.”

Before I knew it, my gaze was naturally about to fall downwards, but he lifted my chin with his hand and said.

“Because I ran.”

“……Did I say anything?”

I giggled and laughed, but stopped laughing at his urgent touch.

“I’ve never seen a carrot trying to get into my clothes before?”

I asked, pulling down the hem of the dress that was being pulled up by his hand.

“Then you’ll see it for the first time today.”

He sat me on the mahogany desk without a care and continued, expressing his admiration.

“But, you were fast.”

“If it had been in the forest instead of the imperial hallway, I would never have been caught.”

“Yeah. I thought so.”

Linelle’s deepened voice touched my forehead, and his cold breath cooled the sweat flowing on my forehead.

“I even ran today, so my heart feels like it’s going to explode.”

He cupped my face with both hands and placed it against his right chest. Thump, thump, thump- his heart was really beating fast and strong.

“I hope my heart always beats like this because of you.”

“You can torment me for the rest of your life then. Ah, and there’s a lesson for today. Listen carefully.”

“Tell me.”

I neatly tucked my hair behind my ear and listened to his words.

“Any plan you have to run away from me like today will fail. Forever…….”

My heart tingled at his warning. Several white flags had already been planted in my heart.

“Because I’ll catch you no matter what.”

As soon as Linelle’s words were finished, words that couldn’t be delayed even a little popped out of my mouth.

“I love you.”

My heart had already melted away, and my voice flowed out as if it were melting. I repeated the words ‘I love you’ to him several times before closing my mouth again. Every time the words ‘I love you’ came out of my mouth, he sparkled as if he were hearing them for the first time. After a moment of silence, Linelle opened his mouth with a serious expression.

“That wizard who cursed me, it turns out he didn’t even cast the curse properly.”

Why is he suddenly talking about the wizard who cursed him?

“What do you mean?”

“Seeing how my body gets so hot with just one word of love, that wizard must have had some decency…….”

With a moved expression, he tilted his face down and gently brushed my lips before suddenly devouring them.

Between the two lips that were barely allowed to breathe, his whisper saying, ‘I like you so much, what should I do?’ tickled my skin along with his rough breathing. I felt like this man was my everything now. No, not just now, but forever. I wanted to get rid of all the excuses I had come up with to not love him. Linelle’s large hands dug through my hair. My body, which had been sitting on the mahogany desk, was naturally falling backward due to his touch. Before making love with him, there was something I wanted to ask. I lowered my arms that had been wrapped around Linelle’s neck, gently pushed his chest away, and got off the mahogany desk. He took a few steps back and gave me a look that said I was being too much.

“I have a question.”

“What is it?”

He asked, wiping his glistening lips with the back of his hand.

“Anything but asking me to let you go.”

His expression was unusual, and he frowned as if mimicking my expression, but his voice was infinitely kind.

“If I had something I haven’t told Your Majesty, what if…… then…….”

I boldly spat out the words but couldn’t finish them. What did I want to ask? Can I be forgiven if I tell you honestly? How far can you understand me? I had already poured everything out with my eyes, but he wouldn’t know just by looking at my eyes. Linelle looked at me with a thoughtful expression, shrugged his shoulders once, and opened his mouth.

“Zelda, if there’s something you haven’t told me, I don’t know what it is…… but what I didn’t know until now isn’t that important.”

“Yes?”

“Timing isn’t important.”

“Then…….”

“What’s more important is how that story affects us, how it changes our relationship, that’s all that matters.”

“…….”

“But why are you suddenly curious about that? What are you worried about?”

His sincere gaze made my guilt even deeper. The weight of the lies I had been hiding was pressing down on me even more.

“There’s something I haven’t told Your Majesty.”

It was an impulsive courage. But each word was painful, as if someone was pulling my voice out from under my throat.

“Is it a secret? If it’s a secret, there’s something I haven’t told you yet either.”

“What is it?”

I opened my eyes wide at his unexpected words. I was more focused on his unexpected confession than on the story of my life being at stake.

“Later. I don’t think it’s time to tell you yet. If you have something you’re uncomfortable talking about now, you can do it later.”

“……Do you know what my story is about?”

“As long as it’s not a lie.”

“!”

Haa, should I just ask you to kill me here? Surrogate Empress. My very existence started with a lie…….

“For example, if you’ve been lying about loving me when you don’t, that’s not within the scope of forgiveness.”

“That’s absolutely not true!”

I raised both hands and waved them wildly, raising my voice. He showed a satisfied smile for a moment before becoming serious again and continuing.

“It’s also unforgivable to lie about not loving me when you do.”

“That will never happen either, I swear.”

“Then what’s the problem? Zelda, do you have an incurable disease?”

“I’m a bit of a hot woman.”

“Huh?”

“Ah, I mean…… I have a lot of body heat, but that’s not a disease…… I don’t think it is.”

Maybe it’s a curse. I habitually tried to raise my hand to the right burn scar, but I held it back.

“It can’t be a disease. You being a hot woman is a blessing to me.”

Linelle is like an oasis to me…….

“Ah, do I have debts that I don’t know about? If that’s the case, it’s really unnecessary worry.”

Linelle threw the words out like a joke. I shook my head.

“I don’t have debts. I have a lot of hairbrushes though.”

“Then, do you have a hidden man?”

As soon as Linelle asked me this question, I turned around for a moment, saying that I was getting angry just thinking about it, and then came back to my place.

“You’re not going to tell me that what you haven’t told me is about a man, are you? It shouldn’t be.”

“Linelle is the only man in my life. It was only after meeting Your Majesty that I finally understood why God created men.”

I mixed in a little exaggeration in this part because he was so excited and panting. His expression, which had been crumpled up, brightened up so quickly that it was embarrassing.

“If it’s not for that reason, you can tell me later. I will too…….”

He said with a smirk, but his expression at the end of the smile looked somewhat dark. I don’t know what Linelle hasn’t told me, but it can’t be as shocking as what I have to say. But if I don’t confess now, it seems like it will be difficult to muster the courage again. I took a breath in and out and finally spat out the secret I had kept in my heart.

“I’m not the Empress.”