The Stand-In Empress’S Wedding Night [EN]: Chapter 114

114. Even If I Lose My Memory

2022.02.05.

But Commander Marcrom stopped me.

“Your Majesty, Empress, there’s really no need to go that far… You both have plenty of stamina.”

“Be quiet.”

“Shut up.”

Linelle and I scolded Commander Marcrom simultaneously. Focus! It’s the last arrow, so I have to shoot carefully. The deer tilted its head and looked at me. The deer’s eyes were so big and pretty that I almost weakened for a moment.

“Hey, can’t you just give me the antlers? I don’t want to kill you, you know?”

The deer couldn’t understand, but I slowly approached it, speaking soothingly.

“Zelda, I like deer steak, you know?”

Linelle whispered softly from behind me. At that moment, the deer flinched and started to back away and run. I instinctively grabbed the arrow and chased after the deer.

“Your Majesty? Where are you going!”

I heard Raphael’s desperate voice, but ignored it and kept running. Ah, I’m out of breath… If I had just one more arrow, I would have shot it already.

“Hey, just give me the antlers and go!”

It was hard to run in a dress.

“Oh, whatever.”

I couldn’t follow the deer anymore and shot the last arrow towards the thicket it had entered. Thwack-! I heard a dull sound.

“Did I hit it?”

I quickly pushed through the thicket. But there were only a few drops of blood on the ground, and the deer was nowhere to be seen.

***

“How far did you run to end up looking like this?”

Linelle asked, picking a leaf off my head.

“I was going to nourish you…”

He burst out laughing at my disappointed expression.

“I won’t starve to death thanks to my wife.”

“I could have caught it; it’s such a waste.”

“Let’s go to the office and have a cup of tea with dignity.”

Linelle took the bow I was holding, tossed it to Commander Marcrom, took a handkerchief from his uniform pocket, and wiped my hands.

***

Main Palace Office. I ran through the forest for the first time in a while, and my mouth was parched. I drank a glass of cool lemonade with Linelle, and my thirst was quickly quenched. After returning to the office, he continued to look lost in thought. Come to think of it, he seemed to have been quieter since the cypress forest.

“Is there a reason why we’re suddenly having a banquet with dignitaries today?”

I carefully watched him for a moment before asking cautiously. He was still lost in thought, then his eyebrows shot up at my voice and he said, ‘Ah.’

“We usually have a banquet right before leaving for the hunting competition. The timing varies slightly depending on the circumstances of the country of departure.”

“I see.”

“And there are three days left until the hunting competition. Now that I think about it, it seems like having the banquet today would be the most relaxing way to enjoy it.”

“I suppose so.”

I nodded and continued to look at him. Linelle definitely seemed to be worried about something.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

He asked, finishing his lemonade.

“I was wondering if you had any concerns.”

“The life of an emperor is full of concerns, isn’t it?”

“I guess.”

“Don’t talk like it’s someone else’s problem. It applies to the empress too.”

Linelle leaned his face towards me and chuckled. I smiled slightly, and he reached out an arm, wrapped it around my shoulder, and pulled me into his arms.

“How is the empress’s life? Is it difficult?”

At the sudden question, I looked up at his face.

“Why are you asking that all of a sudden? Do I look like I’m having a hard time?”

“Not really, but no one has ever asked me this question before.”

“Is the emperor’s life very difficult?”

He shook his head.

“I’ve lived in the palace since I was born, so there’s nothing particularly difficult for me. I’m just curious about you.”

“I’m grateful to be by Your Majesty’s side… not because of the position of empress.”

I was really sincere.

“So you’re saying it doesn’t matter if you’re not the empress, as long as you’re by my side?”

“Well, it can’t be completely irrelevant, because it’s the position that allows me to be closest to Your Majesty.”

“Looking at the precedents, that’s not always the case, is it? There were more emperors who were closer to their concubines than to their empresses.”

“That sounds like… a reminder not to let my guard down and keep striving?”

I erased my smile and narrowed my eyes. Linelle pressed his lips firmly against my pouting lips as if to punish them.

“As long as I don’t lose my memory, that will never happen. No, even if I lose my memory, Zelda, I will fall in love with you again.”

Linelle said with a confident voice. I wanted to listen to his last words like a lullaby all night long.

“Can that really happen?”

“It will.”

An answer without a moment’s hesitation. I couldn’t hide my happy expression. My cheeks were rising uncontrollably.

“How can you be so sure?”

Still, I tried to sound nonchalant.

“I heard that when flattering a woman, you have to speak with conviction.”

“…Who told you that? Your competent secretary?”

The emotion was halved in an instant, but I still felt good.

“Wow, my wife is competent too. Come here. I need to hold you a little before we go change into your dress.”

“I have to get ready soon because of the tea time.”

When I entered the office with him, Chief Steward Stian came to tell me that Empress Katria had proposed a tea time for the women attending the hunting competition before the banquet.

“Don’t agree.”

“There’s no reason to refuse.”

“Then just 10 minutes, no, 5 minutes.”

Linelle called me, tapping his knees with both hands. His sensual eyes and voice seduced me in turn. When I just sat still, he picked me up and sat me directly on his lap.

“Did your competent secretary tell you this too?”

I asked, wrapping my arms around his neck as if I couldn’t win.

“This is my instinct, my desire, my right. Relax and sit comfortably.”

Linelle, who said that to me, actually looked uncomfortable.

“Your Majesty, are you okay? You look more uncomfortable than I do.”

“Actually… it’s getting more and more uncomfortable since a while ago. But isn’t it okay if I’m uncomfortable?”

Linelle said in a rapidly strained voice, rubbing his lips against my neck. The whole area of my shoulders tingled because of his breath.

“I sweated a little in the training ground earlier…”

“Yeah, it’s a little salty.”

My face flushed at his words, and when I tried to pull away,

“Just stay still. It’s okay.”

“Did you have a light lunch?”

I asked in a resigned tone, relaxing my body again at his increasingly impatient breathing.

“I guess so. Did the cook change? Hehehe.”

“It tickles.”

His laughter indiscriminately awakened my sensitive skin.

“Can’t we just cancel the tea time before the banquet? Or we can do it after the banquet.”

Linelle asked, moving his Adam’s apple several times like a thirsty person.

***

At the same time, in the main palace reception room. Before the banquet began, the women dignitaries from various countries and the concubines of the Lapheon Empire gathered in the reception room. Princess Resilia arrived and sat down last, except for Zelda.

“Has Her Majesty the Empress not arrived yet?”

The princess asked, looking displeased at the empty seat of the empress.

“She said she might be a little late, so she asked us to start chatting first.”

Princess Jasper of the Patsha Empire said to Princess Resilia, who was sitting across from her.

“Is that so? It seems Her Majesty the Empress has more important things to do than welcoming dignitaries from various countries.”

Princess Resilia said with a kind smile, but there was definitely a barb in her words.

“I’m sure she has something important to do.”

Princess Jasper said quietly with a slightly embarrassed face at Princess Resilia’s sharp reaction. Rosie, who was sitting diagonally across from the princess, stared at her intently. Rosie had been watching Princess Resilia with unkind eyes since she entered the reception room.

‘She abandoned her child and is smiling so brightly and pretending to be pretty here? And look at her speaking disrespectfully about Her Majesty the Empress.’

Lams’s lovely face, whom she had put to sleep in her arms before coming to the main palace, overlapped with Princess Resilia’s shameless face, and she suddenly became angry.

“I’m close to Her Majesty the Empress since we were young, so I know her well, and she used to be like this a lot. You know, there’s always someone who shows up late to every event, right? Like they’re the most important person…”

“You’re going too far. Our Empress is not like that.”

Rosie said to Princess Resilia in a firm voice. Princess Resilia glanced at Rosie for a moment and then just turned her gaze away.

“Please correct your statement.”

Rosie said again. Her voice trembled a little, but she looked quite determined. The eyes of the other concubines sitting close to her all turned to Rosie.

‘Did the gentle lamb suddenly bite a knife? Why is she acting like this, unlike her usual self?’

Catherine glanced at Rosie’s face and thought to herself.

“I think you misunderstood me. Why don’t you have some tea, Second Concubine?”

Princess Resilia subtly ignored Rosie, deliberately emphasizing ‘Second Concubine.’

“Oh my, you’re saying that because you don’t know, Princess. Even if you only count the books Rosie has read, it would be about the height of the Shattonil Royal Palace, right? There’s no way someone like that wouldn’t understand that much, right?”

Melanie slipped in. Princess Resilia looked at her and casually replied, “I see,” and closed her mouth. Concubine Melanie was a difficult type to deal with, so it was best not to mix words with her at all.

“Um, Princess…”

Melanie called Princess Resilia in a whisper.

“But the story you just told, was that about the Empress of the Lapheon Empire having attention-seeking behavior?”

Everyone stared at her with their mouths open at Melanie’s very blatant question. Princess Resilia pondered for a moment, looking at Melanie’s ambiguous expression. Is that idiot questioning me now? Or is she asking excitedly? Her intentions were not clear because of Melanie’s constant tone and blank expression.

“Well, she does have some of those aspects. But that wasn’t what I meant.”

Princess Resilia said vaguely and picked up her teacup.

“It sounded completely like that, though…?”

Melanie muttered to herself and then raised her voice to continue.

“Then, Princess, are you perhaps interested in carving fruit? Some nobles carve fruit directly as a hobby, right?”

“No, why are you asking that all of a sudden…?”

Princess Resilia frowned and asked Melanie back.

“I just thought you were good at carving fruit since you’re so good at twisting words.”

“Huh? What did you say?”

Princess Resilia put down her teacup and said irritably.

“Haaam.”

At that moment, Empress Katria yawned and stretched, interrupting.

“As expected, the battle of the women is boring. If you’re going to fight, fight with a weapon in each hand. Don’t waste your energy just talking trash. Isn’t that right, Empress Elan?”

Empress Katria asked Empress Elan of the Tebello Empire, which is in the same South Continent.

“I agree. The reception room of the Lapheon Imperial Palace is spacious, so it’s perfect for a fight.”

Empress Elan replied, touching the facial wound she had received at the banquet with her hand. The women of the North Continent were intimidated by the conversation between the two and shut their mouths tightly.

***

The women’s tea time should have already started. I smiled and joked with him.

“Shall we? Since I have to spend time with Your Majesty on the office sofa, shall I tell them to tell the banquet hall that I’ll go straight there?”

Linelle asked with a serious expression, taking it one step further.

“Wouldn’t they understand if I said it more explicitly because it feels more genuine?”

He laid me down on the sofa and trapped me between his knees so I couldn’t escape.

“How should I say it to make it feel more genuine?”

I whispered, looking up at his profile as it was dyed in the setting sun. He took my hand, put it to his face, and said with desire-filled eyes.

“Your Majesty can’t wait until night and can’t stand the pink eyes that are so lovely…”

Linelle couldn’t finish his words and showered me with kisses, then paused and asked.

“Let’s tell them to say that. Huh?”

His raging desire was becoming more and more persistent and hot.

“Zelda…”

The way he occasionally called my name was so sweet, like honey had been applied to it, that I couldn’t bear to leave him. His body was clearly telling me how much he wanted me right now. But if I lose my mind here, it will be difficult.

“It’s the first time that only women have gathered, so I can’t be absent as the empress… Wait a minute, umph.”

He kept blocking my mouth with his lips, preventing me from speaking. I escaped from the irresistible temptation and forcibly turned my head to the side.

“I know you’re going to go no matter how much I hold you back.”

Linelle said, wiping his glistening lips with the back of his hand.

“So I’m just stubbornly resisting and interfering.”

He confessed his misdeeds and laughed. I wanted to take his hand and run into the lounge inside the office.

“Zelda, you were thinking the same thing as me just now, weren’t you?”

Linelle glanced at the lounge and whispered in my ear.