The Stand-In Empress’S Wedding Night [EN]: Chapter 170

170. Abandon Her

August 20, 2022

“The Princess Consort wants to meet Emperor Linell in person?”

Vellos could hardly believe his ears.

“Yes. I’ll offer to completely cure Empress Zelda on the condition that he releases her.”

“Do you think he’ll willingly agree to your terms?”

“It depends on how much he cherishes and loves her.”

As Roxana, who harbored feelings for Linell, even uttering these words wounded her pride, but it was the truth.

“This is also an opportunity for the Master of the Magic Tower.”

“An opportunity…”

Vellos wasn’t convinced.

“Once I hand over the healing potion, how do you plan to negotiate with Emperor Linell?”

“I heard that Empress Zelda tried to protect him and blocked a will-o’-the-wisp [a phosphorescent light seen hovering over marshy ground] with her hand, resulting in her infection by the aura of evil. He must be suffering from guilt, right? I plan to exploit that.”

“Do you think that will be enough to sway Emperor Linell?”

“I have something in mind. The Master of the Magic Tower just needs to follow my plan.”

Roxana continued, her expression bright.

“First, just restore Empress Zelda’s consciousness. Seeing her suffer while conscious will be more pitiful than seeing her suffer while unconscious, don’t you think?”

“And then?”

“I’ll meet Emperor Linell and talk to him directly.”

“Do you think he’ll let you live? He’ll try to kill you on the spot, won’t he?”

“I won’t meet him in person. Show him my image. That way, it’ll be easier for me to talk. Isn’t that called illusion magic?”

Roxana seemed to have planned everything meticulously.

“That’s not difficult. Well, let’s say it goes as you wish. Even if he doesn’t harbor ill feelings towards you, do you think he’ll want to remarry you?”

“That’s why I need a few things. Things that the Master of the Magic Tower needs to do.”

“What is it?”

“First, I’ll have Emperor Linell drink a potion with a secret-keeping spell on it beforehand, so he can’t reveal our deal to anyone else.”

At Roxana’s words, Vellos opened his mouth and chuckled intermittently.

“It’s not a difficult potion to make, is it? I came here thinking Logan could make a potion of that level.”

“No, it’s not difficult, but I’m not inclined to do it.”

“Not every ending has a beautiful process, Master of the Magic Tower.”

Roxana said calmly, as if advising him.

“Don’t be so sure that the Emperor will love you just because you get the ending you want.”

It was sincere advice.

“Well? We’ll see about that. I may not be as good as Empress Zelda, but my body temperature is higher than others, isn’t it? It’s even higher after taking the red elixir.”

So, wouldn’t Linell, who suffers from hypothermia, want to keep her close?

That was what Roxana was counting on.

After hearing all her plans, Vellos had a headache.

Even if Emperor Linell took the secret-keeping potion, he wouldn’t willingly follow Roxana’s wishes.

Roxana, sensing Vellos’s thoughts, added one more thing.

“If his own brother’s life is at stake, he’ll have no choice but to let go of the Empress.”

Ah, yes, Duke Joseph.

Then the story could change.

“Besides, what if I give him a cure that completely eliminates the aura of evil? His two loved one’s lives will be in his hands.”

“You’re cruel.”

Vellos saw a strong obsession in Roxana’s eyes.

“Thanks to that cruelty, the Master of the Magic Tower will get a partner.”

Vellos couldn’t refute her words.

“Even if Emperor Linell accepts you as Empress, how will you endure his resentment?”

Vellos asked seriously.

Roxana certainly wouldn’t have overlooked that point.

Vellos was curious about how the Princess Consort planned to prepare for this.

Roxana smiled as if she knew he would ask that question, then turned serious and replied.

“That’s why…”

“Tell me.”

He asked, as if resigned.

Vellos’s desires were clear, so he was in the same boat as Roxana.

There was no turning back now.

“I need a potion to erase memories.”

“…You’re going to induce amnesia in Emperor Linell?”

Vellos said in an excited voice.

Logan, who was listing the herbs to be included in the healing potion that Vellos had ordered, was also startled by Roxana’s bold plan.

What a truly terrifying woman.

Vellos thought, staring intently at Roxana’s face, which didn’t show a single flicker of emotion.

“Don’t look at me like that. I’m not going to erase all of Emperor Linell’s memories.”

“Then, you’re just going to erase his memories of Empress Zelda?”

“That’s right. If I had my way, I’d just let her suffer from the aura of evil and die, but that would be against the deal I made with you, Master of the Magic Tower, so I can’t do that, can I?”

Roxana spoke as if Zelda’s life was in her hands.

“Hmm, how will Emperor Linell react…”

“You’ve been watching the two of them up close, and you still don’t know how much he cherishes the Empress.”

That couldn’t be.

Vellos snorted at Roxana’s words.

He had clearly witnessed how Emperor Linell lost his mind when he heard that she was trapped in the wine cellar.

He was a little surprised to see him suffering so much.

At the same time, he felt bitter.

Seeing Emperor Linell trying to break down the door with the devil’s barrier, even to the point of destroying his own body, and Empress Zelda blocking the will-o’-the-wisp rushing towards him with her hand, he could see how deep their feelings were.

In fact, Vellos had no intention of making Zelda his partner in such a cowardly way.

But the love between the two was more solid than he had thought.

He realized that no matter what magic he, the Master of the Magic Tower, used, he couldn’t break them apart.

That’s why he couldn’t help but be tempted by Roxana’s plan.

“Leaving him aside, will Empress Zelda stay still later when her body recovers?”

When Vellos asked, Roxana raised the corners of her lips without showing any signs of embarrassment.

“I have something in mind for that part as well.”

Roxana whispered secretly.

Vellos couldn’t readily ask what it was.

He didn’t have the courage to do so.

Although he was cooperating with the Princess Consort’s plan, his conscience, which rarely bothered him, pricked him from time to time.

He hadn’t exactly lived a bad life, but he wasn’t a righteous person either.

“Listen carefully. Master of the Magic Tower, go back and bring her consciousness back first. I’m not saying to cure her, just bring her consciousness back. Of course, tell him that she drank the healing potion.”

“Are you saying to tell him that there’s no improvement even after drinking the healing potion?”

“That’s right.”

“I’m the Master of the Magic Tower, I’ll look ridiculous.”

“Put aside your pride for a while for the greater good. Now, listen carefully.”

Roxana began to tell Vellos how he should act when he returned to the monastery.

***

Linell stayed by Zelda’s side, waiting for Vellos.

He kept checking the time from one minute after Vellos disappeared to the Magic Tower using teleportation.

“Zelda, don’t worry. The Master of the Magic Tower will make a healing potion and come back.”

Linell massaged her body, which was twitching as if having a seizure, without stopping.

Even while unconscious, her teeth were chattering up and down.

Vellos said that Zelda wasn’t trembling because she felt cold, but because her body was trembling under the control of fear and terrifying emotions.

At first, it was hard to believe, but seeing her body as hot as fire, it was clear that she wasn’t trembling from the cold.

“You disobeyed the Emperor’s orders and recklessly stepped up in a dangerous moment again. I’ll punish you severely when you wake up. The later you wake up, the more the punishment will increase.”

He threatened Zelda with a fake angry face.

Then his heart broke again.

“Why did you block the will-o’-the-wisp with your hand, why! You fool…”

But he knew better than anyone that Zelda’s foolish act had saved him.

That’s why he was even more angry.

Every time she had a seizure, it felt like his heart was being torn apart in all directions.

Her face, with her eyes closed, clearly showed an expression of terror that he had never seen before.

It was as if she was having a nightmare.

Zelda would be fighting alone in a nightmare that she couldn’t wake up from even if he tried to wake her.

Linell’s tears fell next to her trembling mouth.

He quickly wiped away his cold tears.

“Haa…”

Her trembling was conveyed directly to the back of his hand.

Linell sighed and buried his face in Zelda’s chest.

Her heart was beating too fast.

Was her heart reacting like this because she was feeling extreme fear?

He clenched his fist and struck his own heart, swallowing his bitterness.

“I should have just taken it. You know I’m a guy who shivers from the cold. Those who have shivered before are better at it…”

Linell said quietly, stroking her soft blonde hair.

His voice was already soaked with emotion.

It felt like Zelda would reach out and wipe away his tears at any moment.

But she was clenching her fists as if fighting someone in her dream.

“Wake up quickly. You did a good deed, so God will take away the aura of evil.”

Linell held her severely trembling hand tightly and brought it to his forehead, bowing his head and beginning to pray.

“God, please grant my wish. Otherwise, I will cut the budget for the temples in the Imperial Palace and throw all the priests into the underground prison…”

He had never properly prayed before.

His prayer was almost like a threat.

But his earnestness was more sincere and intense than anyone else’s.

***

Vellos returned from the Magic Tower.

He watched Linell from behind as he stood in front of the bed, holding her hand and praying with curses.

He wanted to tell Linell that wishes would never come true if he made them with such harsh words, but Vellos’s eyes were also moist with his earnest prayer, and he needed time to collect his emotions.

“Your Majesty.”

Vellos steeled himself and called him.

“The potion.”

Linell jumped up from the chair and turned his body towards the direction where Vellos’s voice was heard.

Vellos took out two potion bottles from his arms.

And he held up the potion bottle in his right hand first and said.

“This is the healing potion that the Empress will take.”

“What’s the other one?”

Linell gestured with his eyes at the other potion bottle in Vellos’s left hand and asked.

“This is… a potion for Your Majesty to drink.”

“Why me?”

“Your Majesty, you weren’t directly hit by the will-o’-the-wisp, but when the Empress blocked it with her hand, fragments of the flame splashed on your body.”

The lie came out well.

At Vellos’s words, Linell’s close aides, who had been standing silently in the bedroom, nodded, saying that it was possible.

Linell himself took it nonchalantly.

“My body has been cursed with hypothermia by a wizard for the past three years. Don’t worry about it.”

“I’m saying this because the remnants may affect Her Majesty the Empress.”

“Ah…”

Linell quickly drank the potion, saying that it could affect Zelda’s treatment.

Vellos felt a growing sense of guilt as he watched him drink the potion he had handed over without any suspicion.

What he had just drunk was a potion containing the secret-keeping function that Roxana had requested.

And from the moment he drank the medicine until tonight, all memories of Vellos would disappear.

It was an unavoidable choice to stay here and continue to watch Zelda’s condition.

In addition, Linell would not be able to say or write down the words he would share with Roxana for a certain period of time.

Vellos confirmed that Linell had finished drinking the potion and approached Zelda.

“Master of the Magic Tower, can this really remove the aura of evil if she drinks this?”

Linell asked earnestly.

“…Yes.”

It was actually a potion that only brought back consciousness.

Vellos forcibly ignored the guilt that was washing over him again and opened the cork of the potion.

“Please raise Her Majesty the Empress for a moment.”

“I will.”

Linell quickly hugged Zelda and raised her upper body.

“Will Your Majesty do it?”

The Master of the Magic Tower moved his gaze to him and asked.

When he silently reached out his hand, the Master of the Magic Tower handed him the potion.

Linell grabbed Zelda’s chin and brought the mouth of the potion bottle between her trembling lips.

Fortunately, she swallowed all the potion without spitting it out.

“Now her consciousness will return.”

At Vellos’s words, Linell laid Zelda back on the bed with an expectant look on his face.

“Ugh, ugh!”

But only Zelda’s painful groans grew louder, and her consciousness did not return even after several minutes had passed.

“Why isn’t she awake yet?”

He grabbed Vellos’s arm with a worried look and asked.

Vellos had been waiting for this moment.

It was still painful even though he had prepared himself.

Vellos pretended to examine Zelda’s energy with both hands and looked back at Linell.

“I’m sorry, Your Majesty.”

“What is it!”

At that moment, Vellos’s words felt like pushing him off a cliff.

“The aura of evil is much stronger than I thought.”

“…Surely, you didn’t say it was such a terrible demon?”

Linell’s pupils shook violently.

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t say you’re sorry! Do something!!”

He pushed Vellos’s chest mercilessly with both hands.

Vellos’s body staggered back.

“Your Majesty, please calm down.”

Raphael, who had been quietly watching the situation, tried to stop him, but it was useless.

“If you’re sorry, what happens! What are you going to do now just by saying you’re sorry?!”

Linell grabbed both of Vellos’s shoulders with the force to turn them into powder and applied force.

“There may be a way. Please listen, Your Majesty. Tell me quickly, Master of the Magic Tower!”

Raphael looked at Vellos and signaled with his expression that the Emperor was in an extremely sensitive state.

“Her consciousness will return.”

Linell’s expression, which had been distorted to the fullest, slowly relaxed.

“However, regaining consciousness and removing the aura of evil are different matters.”

“The aura of evil is still in the Empress’s body? You’re not just a wizard, you’re the Master of the Magic Tower! Why, why can’t you do that…!”

“I’m sorry. I thought the potion I gave to Her Majesty the Empress a little while ago would be enough, but it seems to be very different from the general aura of evil.”

“Then… once she regains consciousness, what should I do to treat her then?”

It wasn’t that he had given up, but Linell accepted reality and began to look for the next best thing.

“For now, we have no choice but to restore her consciousness and watch over her. And until Her Majesty the Empress wakes up, it would be best if only Your Majesty stayed in the room and everyone else left.”

At Vellos’s suggestion, Linell nodded his head as he said.

“You stay.”

When Linell spoke in a pleading tone, Vellos lowered his voice and replied.

“Your Majesty, close your eyes for a moment as soon as I leave.”

“What?”

“Then the things that I haven’t fully explained to you will come to your mind in order.”

“…What does that mean?”

He asked with an uncomprehending expression.

“It’s a method I chose because I thought it would be better than explaining it directly, so please forgive me.”

“The potion I drank a little while ago… does it have such a function?”

“Yes, that’s right. Then I’ll step back now. When you open your eyes again, you will meet someone.”

“Is it someone who helps with the Empress’s treatment?”

“Yes… that’s right.”

Vellos hesitated for a moment, but eventually nodded and left the room.

Linell stared at the door where the Master of the Magic Tower had left, then closed his eyes as he said.

‘If I close my eyes, I’ll understand the Master of the Magic Tower’s strange feeling and words.’

In the less than 5 minutes that he had his eyes closed, a tremendous story came and went through his head.

And when he opened his eyes again, someone was standing in front of him in a blurry figure, just like Vellos had said.

It was an illusion that appeared through magic.

“It wasn’t Nancy from the cooking department. You’re Princess Roxana…?”

The information that poured out when Linell closed his eyes remained vividly in his memory.

Soon, what was happening on the continent, what Zelda’s condition was, the well-being of Duke Joseph, Roxana’s existence, and what she wanted.

Even what would happen if he refused the conditions she set.

He could roughly grasp the situation.

However, it was so absurd that he couldn’t accept it.

Roxana bowed politely to Linell and said quietly.

“Abandon Her Majesty the Empress.”