The Stand-In Empress’S Wedding Night [EN]: Chapter 107

107. I Become a Dog

January 12, 2022

“Haha, is everyone nervous? Relax, relax. How do we start this thing?”

Linelle said triumphantly, gulping down his wine. Norton and Commander Marcrom kept gesturing for me to start first, so I had no choice but to break the ice.

“Who said you could drop the honorifics?”

I chided him with a casual tone, and he laughed, finding it very amusing. I hoped that mood would last until the end of the informal time…

“Ah, so it’s a game where we all drop the honorifics.”

“No, you… you have to use honorifics.”

Commander Marcrom mustered his courage and spoke informally to him. The two had been together since childhood, and I heard that when Linelle was the Crown Prince, they used to speak comfortably in private. Perhaps that’s why Commander Marcrom’s informal speech started quite naturally.

“What? No, why just me?”

Linelle, not grasping the situation, continued to speak informally.

“Why? Because you’re the oldest. And the highest in rank.”

Prince Norton also casually dropped the honorifics while retorting to him. I could see Linelle’s brow furrowing, so I quickly explained the rules of the informal time.

“This game is originally disadvantageous for older people. In informal time, the oldest person becomes the youngest.”

“Wait a minute… so I’m the only one who has to use honorifics? What kind of game is this?”

He looked as wronged as someone who had been scammed. But it was too late.

“Tsk, are you going to keep speaking informally? How impudent.”

When I spoke sternly, Linelle looked at me for a moment with an expression that was hard to tell whether he should laugh or get angry, and then he burst into laughter. He seemed to have decided to enjoy the informal time. He immediately adapted to the game and started using honorifics.

“I’m sorry. It’s just that I’ve never done anything like this before.”

“That’s something to be proud of.”

Commander Marcrom suddenly sneered at Linelle, who was apologizing. I bit my tongue and held back my laughter. Linelle narrowed his eyes and laughed at Commander Marcrom. His lips didn’t move at all; only laughter flowed from his mouth. Linelle didn’t seem to mind when I spoke informally to him, but when Commander Marcrom or Prince Norton dropped the honorifics, his mood seemed to change quite a bit.

“Do you usually have a lot of complaints about me… I guess?”

He asked Commander Marcrom with difficulty, using honorifics.

“Your personality is just awful. You should know that yourself, right?”

Commander Marcrom eagerly retorted.

“Really…? I only remember being good to you.”

Linelle smiled insincerely.

“Ah, so you leave marks all over my body when you’re good to me? My body is quite adorned with the scars you’ve given me from our sword training.”

“Oh, you’ve been holding that in, have you?”

“I’ve been holding it in my body, not my heart. Look at this, look.”

Commander Marcrom rolled up his left sleeve and showed the scars to me and Prince Norton.

“Last summer, I said let’s use wooden swords, but you insisted on using real swords, and you ended up slashing my arm like this.”

“I’m sorry…”

Linelle apologized with a glare.

“Don’t curse with your eyes; it’s all over your face.”

Commander Marcrom pointed to his eyes with his finger and sharply pointed out.

“If you’re so upset, you should improve your skills.”

He lowered his eyes and spoke with force in his voice.

“Do you think I don’t know how to draw with the tip of a sword? If we took off our ranks and fought, I would have drawn a map of the Lapion Empire on your abs!”

Commander Marcrom’s voice grew louder as he became more intoxicated. He was about to grab the Emperor by the collar. Wait, this is it. Maybe I’ll have a chance to talk to Prince Norton alone?

“Then let’s take off our ranks and fight.”

I quickly started encouraging the two to have a sword fight.

“Yes, that would be good…”

Linelle greatly welcomed my suggestion, but Commander Marcrom was lukewarm.

“I don’t really feel like it. Unless we maintain the informal time until the end of the sword fight.”

“Let’s do that.”

“Are you sure the informal time will continue even during the sword fight?”

Commander Marcrom repeatedly confirmed, as if he doubted his words.

“You look like the oldest one, but you’re so suspicious…”

Linelle muttered to himself, holding the cup to his mouth as he finished the remaining wine.

“Is the youngest cursing at Marcrom, hyung [older brother/male friend]?”

Prince Norton pretended to be surprised and spoke loudly. The Prince kept sipping wine by himself and then threw out words that turned people inside out.

“Is that so? But Your Highness seems to be having a lot of fun in another country?”

“Well, this country’s Emperor is so funny.”

Linelle asked Prince Norton with his teeth clenched, and the Prince smiled and poured him a new glass of wine.

“Okay, this is the last glass! Don’t drag it out, you two, fight.”

I raised my glass high.

“My husband is suffering all kinds of humiliation, but you seem to be having a lot of fun?”

He patted me on the back and asked with a sad look.

“The youngest is the only one with a bitter face here.”

Commander Marcrom turned his neck from side to side and started to warm up.

“That’s right. Cheer up. You act like you’re so cool.”

Prince Norton and Commander Marcrom were a good match. Suddenly, I started to feel a little sorry for my husband.

“Isn’t that right?”

Prince Norton asked me, as if seeking my agreement.

“You guys talk too much. And you, you have to call me ‘nunim’ [older sister/female friend], understood?”

That’s right. The most advantageous person in this informal time was me, the youngest of the three.

“…I’m sorry, Nunim.”

“…Forgive me, Nunim.”

The two bowed their heads to me and used honorifics, and Linelle chuckled as he watched them, as if he was enjoying their discomfort.

“What are you laughing at?”

“…Huh? No, what?”

“Why aren’t you jumping up and going out to the training ground, huh?”

I threatened Linelle and snatched the glass from his hand.

“Yes, Nunim.”

Linelle quickly got up from his seat and opened the warehouse door.

“Shall we go, Marcrom hyung?”

Good. I’ll be able to watch the two of them spar and talk to Prince Norton.

***

Linelle said he would have a fair match and put on an eye patch and picked up a wooden sword from the weapon rack. He stumbled as he walked to the center of the training ground with the wooden sword, but once the sparring started, his breathing didn’t falter, and he was very focused, which was very impressive.

“Wow, it’s brutal.”

I stood on one side of the training ground with Prince Norton and watched the two of them. The sparring, which started as a joke, was more serious and rough than I thought. Thanks to the two of them fighting like it was a real battle, I was able to have a quiet conversation with Prince Norton.

“Please, say what you want to say.”

Prince Norton watched the two of them sword fighting and spoke to me first. During the informal time, he was recklessly rude to Linelle, but he has this kind of sense. I also didn’t take my eyes off Linelle and Commander Marcrom and quietly spoke to Prince Norton.

“I went to Rosie’s residence during the day.”

With this one word, Prince Norton realized what I was about to say and immediately confessed.

“She’s my child.”

“Is Princess Resilia also Rams’ mother?”

“Yes…”

Prince Norton hesitated for a long time before answering, as if he didn’t want to admit that Rams’ mother was Princess Resilia.

“As you may have heard, the child’s safety is threatened right now, so I shamelessly left Rams with Rosie for a while. So…”

“Is the person threatening him Prince Tesler?”

I interrupted the Prince and asked directly.

“That’s right.”

“He’s so crazy that you can’t deal with him properly. Are you going to let it go?”

“Of course not. I’ll make him pay the price soon.”

“You’re not going to let Rosie go either, are you?”

“Of course… huh?!”

Prince Norton, who had been staring straight ahead, looked at me with his eyebrows raised.

“Hmph, Rams will be well taken care of by Rosie, so don’t worry too much.”

“Thank you for understanding, Empress.”

“I don’t understand everything.”

“Then…”

“I don’t understand how Your Highness fell in love with Princess Resilia.”

“I have nothing to say about that.”

“I know, there’s no man who wouldn’t fall for the Princess if she set her mind to it. Anyway, I hope Rosie doesn’t get hurt. His Majesty is even considering sending Rosie to Your Highness if the two of you are happy.”

“!”

Prince Norton seemed quite surprised by Linelle’s decision. Or, is it a confused expression? ***

Knock, knock-. Rosie, who had fallen asleep on the bed while putting Rams to sleep, opened her eyes wide at the sound of knocking. She instinctively stared at the terrace door. After hearing the knocking sound again, she was sure that Prince Norton had come, and she carefully got out of bed so as not to wake Rams.

“Why are you coming at this hour, disturbing the sleep of the great Wyvern?”

Moya, who was sleeping soundly in the basket under the bed, grumbled in a sleepy voice.

“Shh, be quiet. He must have come because he missed Rams.”

Rosie put her foot under the bed and pushed the basket further in, then ran to the dressing table to check her face. Something doesn’t feel right? She rummaged through the dressing table and stuck a large ribbon pin on the top of her head and opened the terrace door.

“I’m sorry for the late hour.”

“Rams is sleeping well; come in.”

“Thank you. Then I’ll be intruding for a moment.”

Prince Norton entered Rosie’s bedroom and approached his son, who was sleeping soundly on the bed. Rosie carefully watched his face as he looked at Rams. His face was a mixture of a happy smile and a worried expression.

“He ate well, slept well, pooped well, and played well.”

Rosie lowered her voice as much as possible and whispered to Prince Norton, as if afraid of waking Rams.

“Really… thank you, and I talked to the Empress about Rams. She said she visited today.”

“Yes, the Empress was also very worried about Rams. But you’ve been drinking, haven’t you?”

Rosie sniffed and asked Prince Norton.

“I had a little. After leaving Rams with Rosie, I felt relieved, but my mood was a little down.”

“I understand… but don’t worry, okay? I’ll take good care of Rams.”

Rosie tried to frown and look fierce, but to Prince Norton, she just looked like a pure and kind woman. The Prince smiled without realizing it. Then Rosie tilted her head and asked, as if she was upset.

“Do you not trust me? Is that why you’re smiling?”

“No. It’s just that you’re cu…”

Prince Norton stopped talking there. He almost blurted out that she was cute without realizing it.

“Cu? Cute what?”

When Rosie asked back, Prince Norton touched his ear.

“My ear suddenly itched… that’s why I laughed.”

“Ah.”

She nodded without doubting his clumsy lie, and he laughed again because she looked so cute, but the Prince deliberately frowned more and avoided her gaze.

“I’ll be leaving now.”

“Are you leaving already?”

“Yes, thank you again. I’m sorry to ask, but please take good care of him until I leave for the hunting competition.”

“But, Prince. What should I do…?”

Rosie slowly approached Prince Norton and whispered. Prince Norton felt a little eerie at the sight and took a step back without realizing it.

“Yes?”

“You can come in as you please, but you can’t leave as you please.”

Rosie grabbed the hem of her dress with both hands, lifted one foot, and blocked the terrace door with a thud.

“Wh, what do you mean…”

Prince Norton looked down at her slender body and sturdy ankle, then raised his eyes.

“It’s ancient Partsha language.”

“Ah. You said you had a few questions to ask.”

“Not a few, but many. So, so many.”

Rosie’s thirst for knowledge was greater than expected. It seemed like a bright lamp was shining above her head. She quickly picked up an ancient book that was placed on one side of the marble floor. She couldn’t ask all of them at once, so she opened one of the pages she had folded because she was curious. The page Rosie opened had a picture of a red flower drawn on it.

“What does it say about this flower? It appears in the book several times.”

***

I was soaking in cold water, and as the water temperature rose due to the influence of the Avatar, steam began to form. I created some steam in the bathroom and called him. Linelle put his feet into the bathtub where I was sitting. He came in behind me and sat down, wrapping his arms around me.

“Isn’t the water too cold for you?”

The temperature wasn’t perfectly hot, so I was worried that he might be cold.

“I’m okay because I’m warm as long as I’m hugging Nunim.”

He replied to me using honorifics. Was the afterglow of the informal time at the training ground still lingering?

“It’s stuffy, so if you hug me too tight, I’ll punish you, okay? Ah!”

I was just playing along with his joke, but he splashed water on my face.

“Empress, be moderate. You must maintain your dignity.”

He scolded me in a solemn tone, then burst into laughter as if he was embarrassed.

“I think dignity disappeared the moment we sat in the bathtub together?”

“If you want to speak informally, go ahead. It’s just the two of us anyway.”

“Is it okay to do that when it’s not informal time?”

When I replied demurely, his sneer tickled my neck.

“Unless I have some alcohol…”

“Then shall we have another drink later?”

Linelle asked as he poured water on my back.

“Shall we? But I can’t drink much because I don’t have a high tolerance.”

“What happens when you get drunk?”

He asked as he kissed my shoulder this time. His voice, which echoed softly in the bathroom, was softer than soap bubbles.

“I become a dog.”

I also answered softly.

“That’s good. I like dogs.”

Linelle turned my head to the side and whispered, licking his lips.