The Stand-In Empress’S Wedding Night [EN]: Chapter 96

96. Desperation

2021.12.04.

Archduke Martins hurried down a secluded alley, his footsteps echoing in the narrow space. He stopped before a discreet two-story building tucked away at the alley’s end. Pulling down the hood of his robe, he glanced up at the clinic sign: ‘A Dignified Night.’

“It’s been a while since that day.”

He remembered bringing Zelda here on the eve of the royal wedding, immediately after arriving at the Rafion Empire’s Imperial Palace. He vividly recalled the anticipation in her eyes as she prepared to have the burn scar on her right cheek temporarily erased. Back then, he never imagined he would betray Prince Tesler and find himself in a similar predicament. The Archduke surveyed the alley once more before entering ‘A Dignified Night’ clinic.

“Welcome, are you here for an aphrodisiac?”

A woman who appeared to be Mage Vic’s assistant sized Archduke Martins up and down as he stepped inside.

‘What is this? Does my face scream, “I need an aphrodisiac?”’

“I’m here to see Mage Vic,” Archduke Martins retorted, his voice rough.

“Do you have an appointment?”

“No.”

“The consultation is taking longer than usual. You’ll have to wait; is that alright?”

Archduke Martins nodded.

“Then please have a seat on the sofa.”

“Alright.”

Archduke Martins settled onto the sofa in the waiting room. Ten minutes, twenty minutes, thirty minutes ticked by, but the consultation room door remained closed. Growing impatient, Archduke Martins rose from the sofa. He was about to offer the female assistant some money to inquire about the delay when she emerged from the preparation room, muttering to herself.

“That’s strange? He’s never taken this long before.”

She knocked on the consultation room door, but there was no response. Tilting her head, she cautiously opened the door.

“Huh? Where did he go?”

“What’s wrong?” Archduke Martins asked, approaching her and peering into the room.

“Ah, I’m sorry, sir. It seems the master is out for a moment. He’s not here.”

The female assistant scanned the consultation room again before turning to Archduke Martins. “Shall we wait a bit longer? There are a few more clients scheduled for today, so he couldn’t have gone far.”

Feeling uneasy, Archduke Martins reluctantly returned to the sofa. Then, with a sudden thought, he knocked on the door of the preparation room where the female assistant had disappeared.

“Do you happen to have sleeping pills here?”

“Oh, do you have insomnia?”

“It seems to have gotten worse lately, so I’m thinking of taking some.”

“You can purchase our clinic’s sleeping pills without a prescription from the master. Would you like some now?”

“Yes, please.”

“How much would you like?”

“About two weeks’ worth for now.”

The female assistant nodded and retrieved a small bottle of sleeping pills from a cabinet, placing it on the table.

“I’m sorry. It seems today is just not your lucky day. We’re out of sleeping pills in tablet form. We only have powdered sleeping pills; would you like that instead?”

“Well, I have no choice. I’ll take it.”

“It’s a powder, but it’s more potent than the tablets, so be sure to take only about half a teaspoon at a time.”

“Alright, how much is it?”

Archduke Martins paid for the powdered sleeping pills and returned to the sofa. Another hour passed. The other clients, unable to endure the long wait, rescheduled their appointments and left. Only Archduke Martins remained, seemingly rooted to the spot.

“Um… sir. It’s almost closing time. I’m sorry, but you’ll have to come back tomorrow. Since he hasn’t returned, the master must have had some urgent business.”

“Hmm, I suppose I have no choice.”

“Shall I make a reservation for you to see him tomorrow?”

“Please do.”

After making the reservation, Archduke Martins pulled up his robe hood and headed for the clinic door, then turned back to the female assistant.

“Ah, one moment. Has this happened often?”

“No, that’s why it’s a bit strange. He’s never gone out without saying anything, even if he had something to do.”

At the female assistant’s words, one of Archduke Martins’ eyebrows rose. He left the clinic with an uneasy feeling.

***

Some time after Archduke Martins returned to the detached palace, Prince Tesler summoned him. He immediately went to the prince’s room.

“You summoned me, Your Highness.”

Prince Tesler was already quite drunk. Archduke Martins approached the prince, who was sprawled on the sofa, and picked up a wine bottle that had fallen at his feet.

“Damn it, things have gone wrong! All thanks to our Shatonil Kingdom’s Empress!”

Prince Tesler spat out harsh curses and sat up.

“That cunning bitch…”

“Your Highness, this is the Rafion Imperial Palace. Please lower your voice,” Archduke Martins said, sitting opposite the prince.

“She gave up Bonis.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know how she sweet-talked Emperor Linell, but she made Bonis her lady-in-waiting!”

Prince Tesler, slurring from intoxication, explained what had happened at the main palace.

“So… that’s what happened.”

Archduke Martins felt a sense of satisfaction deep down.

“It seems Emperor Linell is more cunning than the Empress.”

“I saw it. The Emperor laid a trap while joking with a smiling face. And I innocently fell for it. Ha… I shouldn’t have given in so easily, damn it!”

“He is an Emperor with many cunning aspects.”

Archduke Martins outwardly pretended to side with Prince Tesler, but inwardly, he was reassessing Emperor Linell.

“What on earth did Zelda say to the Emperor about Bonis?”

“It would be fortunate if she only spoke about Lady Bonis.”

“Ha, she probably hasn’t blurted out the words ‘surrogate empress’ yet,” Prince Tesler said with certainty.

“Why are you so sure?”

“If the Emperor knew she had been deceiving him, he wouldn’t have been so agreeable, right? What is that mere woman to him?”

‘Tsk, tsk, tsk, to have such poor judgment of people.’ Archduke Martins clicked his tongue inwardly. Because he had a heart that had never truly loved anyone, because he was a calculating person, his level of thinking was only at this level.

“Frankly, using Lady Bonis as a bargaining chip was risky from the start.”

“What?”

“If you had touched her wrongly, you would have only heightened the Empress’s defiance.”

Prince Tesler bristled, but he somewhat agreed with the Archduke’s opinion.

“Zelda is increasingly getting on my nerves. Who does she think is allowing her to enjoy such luxury?”

“Isn’t it because she didn’t come here wanting the Empress’s position?” Archduke Martins carefully sided with Zelda.

“Since she didn’t want it, she should cooperate with me even more and prepare to step down from the Empress’s position! Right?”

“She was going to, but she must have unknowingly fallen in love. That’s why she wants to be by the Emperor’s side…” Archduke Martins muttered quietly to himself, as if in a soliloquy.

“What nonsense. What love could she possibly have? Zelda, you see, was a woman who was satisfied even if I just showed her a slight smile.”

At Prince Tesler’s delusion, Archduke Martins asked with a pathetic look, “…When are you talking about?”

“I took her in as a royal maid because I felt so sorry for her living under the Toroba family’s abuse, and now she’s betraying me like this?” Prince Tesler, as if he hadn’t heard Archduke Martins’ question, continued to rant, filled with anger.

“You made an unreasonable request in the first place, Your Highness.”

“Martins, perhaps… Zelda…” Prince Tesler looked at the Archduke with suspicious eyes. “Is she doing this on purpose?”

“Excuse me?”

“To get my attention, I mean.”

“How does your train of thought flow in that direction?”

“You don’t know Zelda, that’s why.”

“……”

Prince Tesler waved one hand and continued, “It would have been better to just directly touch her Achilles’ heel from the start.”

Prince Tesler stroked his right cheek and burst into laughter. It was the area where Zelda’s burn scar was.

“The Emperor is calling her beautiful now, but I wonder if he’ll still be able to do that after seeing our Empress’s true appearance.”

Archduke Martins understood the prince’s intention.

“Are you thinking of cutting off the supply of magic potion [a potion that hides Zelda’s scar]?”

“What do you mean, thinking?” Prince Tesler said with a strange smile. It was the expression he always wore when he had something up his sleeve.

“I’m a guy who acts faster than he thinks.”

“What… do you mean?”

“Things that bother me have to be miserably destroyed! That way, they won’t provoke me. Is Sir Ken outside? Sir Ken!”

Prince Tesler, ignoring the Archduke’s words, muttered to himself and suddenly called for his guard knight. The bedroom door opened, and another knight entered instead of Sir Ken.

“Why are you coming in? What is Sir Ken doing?”

“I regret to inform you, but Sir Ken has not returned since he went out this afternoon on Your Highness’s orders.”

At the mention of Sir Ken being out, Mage Vic, who had disappeared without a word during his consultation at the ‘A Dignified Night’ clinic, suddenly came to Archduke Martins’ mind.

‘It can’t be?’ Archduke Martins lightly shook his head as if to erase the ominous thought.

“Ah, right. I did give him instructions.”

Prince Tesler staggered, tapping his temple with his fist. “Then you’ll have to do it instead.”

“Give me your command, Your Highness.”

“Get rid of that child. Without leaving a trace… That’s right, disguising it as a fire would be neat.”

“Now… are you saying?”

“Yes, immediately! Ah, since he’s inside the Imperial Palace, release the assassin guilds I hired in advance some time ago. Then you should be able to find him by tomorrow morning.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

The knight immediately understood what Prince Tesler was saying and left the bedroom. Archduke Martins could easily guess who the child Prince Tesler was trying to eliminate.

“Surely… you’re not ordering the elimination of Prince Norton’s son right now?”

“That’s right, why?”

“Wow, Your Highness, there’s no reason to eliminate that child right now?!”

Prince Tesler, who had been standing unsteadily, grabbed Archduke Martins by the collar and leaned down.

“You’re right. In fact, there’s no reason to eliminate that child at this point. Unless things are proceeding according to plan.”

“Then why…!”

“In this messed-up situation, I have to have at least one thing that goes my way!”

That crazy bastard. Tesler, you’re finally crossing the line. Archduke Martins’ hands were sweating. He had to inform Prince Norton immediately.

“That’s the only way my anger will subside a little. Don’t you think so, Archduke?”

Prince Tesler’s previously unfocused pupils became eerily clear.

“Your Highness, I’ll take my leave now. You seem quite drunk; you should rest.”

Archduke Martins rose from the sofa, deliberately acting leisurely, trying not to show his urgency.

“Sit down.”

Prince Tesler pointed at the Archduke.

“I’m perfectly fine. Let’s have a glass of wine together? You have nothing to do anyway when you return to your room, right?”

“It’s late at night.”

“Who doesn’t know it’s late? Why, do you have someone to meet at this hour?”

Prince Tesler filled a wine glass to the brim and handed it to Archduke Martins.

“It’s not that, but…”

“If not, let’s drink.”

The sound of wine glasses clinking echoed heavily.

‘I’m really going crazy.’ I have to inform Prince Norton quickly! Today has been a series of troublesome events. If I could, I would just fall asleep and wake up in a few months.

‘My insomnia has gotten worse lately… Wait.’ At that moment, Archduke Martins remembered the bottle of powdered sleeping pills he bought from ‘A Dignified Night’ clinic in his uniform pocket.

***

After showering, I sat on the bed, facing Linell. At some point, before going to bed, Linell had developed a habit of kissing my forehead, the bridge of my nose, cheeks, and nape in order, as if it were a ritual. Most of the time, he reverently and carefully pressed his lips against my skin, but sometimes, on days when he had some dissatisfaction with me, his lips would be full of spite. Today was one of those days. The kiss started quite gently on my forehead. The problem was from then on. He lightly bit the bridge of my nose and then went down to my nape, tormenting me by gently gnawing at my neck. When I tried to pull away from him, exclaiming, ‘Ah!’, he began to gently caress my nape again, as if to appease me. I ran my fingers through Linell’s hair and stroked it affectionately. Then, with an expression that he could no longer bear, he raised his head and roughly forced his way between my lips.

The more our softness intertwined, the more intense the thirst became. Wanting to lie down on the bed quickly, I wrapped my arms around his neck, shifted my weight backward, and relaxed my body. But just before the back of my head touched the pillow, Linell broke the kiss and sat me upright on the bed again. He wiped his glistening lips with the back of his hand and asked me in a stiff tone.

“Zelda, about the surrogate empress, there’s something I’m curious about…”