The Stand-In Empress’S Wedding Night [EN]: Chapter 209

209. The Man Who Is All Mine

January 4, 2023

“That’s it!”

I took the wedding dress I was supposed to wear for the Consort Ceremony and slashed it in half from the chest to the navel with a pair of scissors.

“These scissors are really sharp, aren’t they?”

“Do you think this will work? What if the Princess doesn’t come?”

Sharon asked anxiously beside me.

“She will. If she doesn’t, she’s not Resilia.”

“But you’ve ruined the wedding dress like this, what are you going to do for the Consort Ceremony later?!”

“Don’t worry. I have a plan.”

I added a word of reassurance, but Sharon nodded, still looking uneasy at the halved wedding dress.

I hurriedly turned the dress form mannequin wearing the wedding dress to face away from the door.

Then, I instructed Moiya and Moni, who had transformed into butterflies.

“Stay in the hallway and let me know as soon as Resilia shows up.”

“Trust me, Master!”

“Trust me, Master!”

The two chanted in unison.

Before leaving the room, I didn’t forget to drop the scissors under the dress.

“Now that the trap is set, all we have to do is wait. Let’s go.”

I took Sharon to the next room.

Resilia appeared sooner than expected.

“Master, Master, Pink Hair just went into that room!”

Less than 30 minutes later, Moiya and Moni, who were guarding the hallway, flew to the window to deliver the news.

Sharon and I exchanged determined glances, left the room, and locked the door Resilia had entered from the outside.

I turned the key with great care to avoid making any noise.

Fortunately, Resilia inside didn’t seem to notice.

I counted to ten in my head and then cleared my throat.

“Who is it! Who dares to lock the door from the inside!”

I shouted loudly towards the left and right hallways.

Soon, palace staff began to gather.

“What’s going on?”

One of the staff members asked cautiously.

“Zelda and I went up to the bedroom floor for a moment to choose the jewelry to wear for the Consort Ceremony, and when we came back down, guess what! The door to this room where the wedding dress was placed was locked!”

Sharon, I felt it last time, but your acting is truly excellent.

I secretly wore a pleased expression as I watched Sharon complain to the palace staff with fervor.

“Oh my, who could have locked the door from the inside?”

“I know, who would dare do such a thing!”

The staff members each had something to say.

From afar, Chief of Staff Stian, who had been waiting in front of the audience chamber, made eye contact with me.

I thought he would come this way, but Stian went straight into the audience chamber.

A moment later, Linelle, Roxana, and Prince Tesler came out of the audience chamber.

The three approached me with bewildered faces.

“What’s going on?”

Linelle asked with a serious face.

Sharon quickly told him exactly what she had told the palace staff earlier.

He frowned and pulled hard on the doorknob.

The rattling sound echoed through the hallway.

“Open it now!”

Linelle knocked on the door with an angry voice.

Then the door opened timidly.

Princess Resilia stood there, her face pale.

“Princess Resilia was in there? Why did you lock the door?”

I widened my eyes and asked in a very flustered voice.

“I, I just wanted to look at the wedding dress… I, I didn’t lock the door!”

Princess Resilia stammered with a dazed expression.

I rushed past her to where the dress form mannequin with the wedding dress was.

“Oh my goodness! What on earth happened?!”

I covered my mouth with both hands and collapsed to the floor.

Then Sharon, sensing the situation, quickly supported me.

“Oh, dear… what should we do!”

She belatedly checked the state of the wedding dress and expressed her shock with a very flavorful performance.

Thanks to that, more palace staff gathered outside the door and peeked into the room.

Linelle slammed the door shut with a bang.

“Princess Resilia, how could you commit such a despicable act?”

Roxana asked Resilia in a sharp voice.

“…Huh? What are you talking about?”

Resilia looked as if she hadn’t expected such words to come from Roxana’s mouth.

I looked back and forth between the two unpleasant faces.

I bit the inside of my cheek to maintain a straight face.

“The Consort Ceremony is in a few hours. Even if we sew the cut parts, we won’t be able to avoid ridicule.”

I lowered my head, putting on a very upset expression, and Linelle added.

“Is this even possible! Princess, I think an explanation is needed.”

Prince Tesler opened his mouth on behalf of his sister, but closed it again at Linelle’s fierce gaze.

“I, I just came in to see Consort Zelda. There was no one in the room… The wedding dress was already torn like that!”

“Are you saying you don’t know anything about it?”

Linelle’s stern voice with a frown had the power to intimidate people.

“Yes, Your Majesty! I was so surprised too!”

Princess Resilia looked at him with a flirtatious voice, and Roxana’s brow narrowed.

“What about the scissors that fell at the Princess’s feet?”

Roxana looked down and pointed to the scissors that had fallen in front of the wedding dress.

“How, how would I know about that?”

Resilia looked bewildered at Roxana’s question.

“Were the scissors on the floor earlier?”

Roxana turned her gaze to Sharon and asked.

“No, Your Majesty! Before I left this place, the scissors were definitely in that sewing box.”

Sharon pointed to the large sewing box placed on the table as if she had been waiting for the question.

“How long has it been since you left this place?”

Sharon answered Linelle’s question without hesitation this time as well.

“It hasn’t been 10 minutes.”

“Then the person who came into this room took out the scissors and cut the dress… Princess, why did you lock the door?”

Roxana was driving Resilia into a corner as the culprit.

I don’t know exactly what the two talked about during tea time yesterday afternoon, but whatever it was, their alliance was already broken.

Since the wyvern egg and the Incarnation Sword disappeared last night, Roxana must have been suspecting Resilia and Prince Tesler all along.

And to find out about that, she would need a reason to take Princess Resilia to the Empress’s Palace, right?

Resilia seemed to have noticed something strange now, and her pupils began to dilate.

“Your Majesty… don’t tell me you think I’m the culprit?”

Princess Resilia looked at Roxana with a confused expression.

“There seems to be some misunderstanding. She may be an immature younger sister, but she’s not that thoughtless. That’s right, isn’t it, Zelda?”

Prince Tesler asked, sending me a look asking for help in his desperation.

You shameless bastard.

I didn’t want to make eye contact with Prince Tesler even for a moment, so I quickly turned my head.

“Isn’t the situation circumstantial, not suspicious!”

Roxana scolded the Shatonil royal siblings on my behalf.

Princess Resilia’s surprised eyes seemed to be asking Roxana, ‘Wasn’t our agreement different from yesterday?’

“It was already like that before I ruined the dress!”

Resilia shouted in a very aggrieved voice.

But soon she covered her mouth with a ‘Oops’ expression.

Prince Tesler closed his eyes tightly as he looked at his younger sister.

“Your Majesty, may I, the Empress, conduct the investigation into this matter myself?”

At Roxana’s request, Linelle glanced at me.

I blinked my eyes and sent him a signal to please do so.

“…Do so.”

Fortunately, Linelle read my expression and granted Roxana’s request.

As soon as his permission was granted, Roxana immediately opened the door and called in her escort knight.

“Take Princess Resilia to the Empress’s Palace right now!”

“…Y-Your Majesty, I’m innocent! Your words are different from yesterday…?”

“Princess! Shut that mouth! I’ll hear your excuses at the Empress’s Palace.”

At Roxana’s threat, Resilia trembled her lips and wore a frightened expression.

“Your Majesty! This is slander!”

Prince Tesler pleaded with him as he watched his sister being dragged away by Roxana’s escort knights.

“Isn’t that why you’re going to clear up the misunderstanding?”

Linelle cut off Prince Tesler’s words in an indifferent tone and turned his body towards me.

“The Consort Ceremony is only a few hours away, what should we do?”

“I’ll try to do something about it, Your Majesty.”

“Yes, it’s upsetting, but the ceremony is only for a short time… Hmm, I have to leave now to prepare.”

He comforted me with a pitiful look and took Prince Tesler away.

“I’ll see you in a little while.”

He turned back to me just before closing the door and said.

And the last word was in lip shape,

“Empress.”

…He said with a smile.

I looked at the closed door and chuckled, then looked at Sharon, who was more moved than I was by Linelle’s lip shape and was sobbing.

“We have somewhere to go.”

“Where to?”

***

I headed to the exhibition hall where the imperial family’s formal dresses were kept with Sharon.

“I’m going to wear that.”

Sharon was flustered but followed my instructions and took out the wedding dress I wore at the national wedding from the glass case.

“Will it be okay? There will definitely be a problem because of the color of the dress.”

“I know. I have a way for that too. Let’s roll up the wedding dress and go out. Hurry.”

“Where are you going this time?”

Sharon was uneasy even as she followed my orders this time.

I tucked the wedding dress, rolled up like a carpet, under my arm and left the exhibition hall.

***

The Magic Tower Master stared intently at the wedding dress he had been forced to take on with a bewildered expression.

“So… you’re saying you want me to make this wedding dress cream-colored?”

“Yes, can you do it? This is nothing, right?”

I asked with an expectant face.

The Magic Tower Master had a rather complicated expression.

“Princess Resilia ruined the wedding dress she was going to wear at the Consort Ceremony. That dress was barely obtained from the capital, and there is no dress to deal with immediately.”

“…So you’re going to wear this wedding dress that you wore at the national wedding again?”

“Yes. It’s a bit of a flashy style for a consort to wear, but if the Magic Tower Master changes the color, I think I can hold the Consort Ceremony without any problems. Can you do it?”

“It’s not a difficult task, but….”

The Magic Tower Master deliberately did not finish his words.

His eyes were also clearly reluctant.

I felt a little sorry looking at the Magic Tower Master’s sullen face.

Since the Magic Tower Master expressed his feelings to me, the relationship has become a bit awkward, so I didn’t feel comfortable asking for this favor.

But I had no choice but to ask because of the unavoidable situation.

“First of all, the Consort Ceremony must be held safely. I don’t want to give the ministers an excuse to pick on me. I don’t want to hear them say again to cut off my head….”

I deliberately put on a pitiful expression and grabbed my neck with both hands.

The Magic Tower Master was indifferent even to the ministers’ excuse.

The moment I started to feel a little uneasy.

“Take it.”

The Magic Tower Master handed the wedding dress back to me.

I didn’t think he would refuse…?!

This is embarrassing.

“There is not much time left. You should go and prepare quickly.”

“Yes?”

“Oh my! Your Majesty, the color of the dress… has changed! It’s cream-colored!”

Sharon clapped her hands and rejoiced.

Only then did I look down and check the wedding dress.

The pure white wedding dress had really turned cream-colored.

I thought it would require some kind of ritual or take some time, but I didn’t expect the color of the wedding dress to change so quickly.

“Magic Tower Master, thank you so much. I’m always indebted to you.”

“It’s not like I don’t owe Your Majesty anything.”

“…What debt do you owe me, Magic Tower Master?”

“I’ll tell you if I have the chance later. There’s no time. Hurry up.”

“Ah, okay. Let’s talk again later. Thanks to you, I’ll be able to hold the ceremony safely.”

I left the Magic Tower Master’s bitter expression behind and took a carriage to the place where the Consort Ceremony was being held.

***

Preparations for the Consort Ceremony were in full swing in the chapel attached to the building next to the Grand Temple.

We were led straight to the bride’s waiting room inside the chapel by a servant.

The moment I was about to enter the bride’s waiting room, the door next to it opened.

“Come see me for a moment.”

Linelle gestured to me and went back inside, leaving the door slightly open.

I told Sharon to go inside the bride’s waiting room first, and then followed him in.

“Do you have anything else to say?”

“I don’t have anything to say, but I have something to do.”

Linelle took my hand and pulled me into his arms.

I was a little embarrassed and lightly hit his back with my fists.

“Oh, come on, why are you doing this~.”

“…That hurts quite a bit.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I guess I couldn’t control my strength.”

“Anyway, did you sew the wedding dress well? I told the High Priest to end the ceremony quickly, so please bear with it for a moment. Ignore the gazes of the nobles.”

“I’m going to wear the wedding dress we wore at our wedding.”

I whispered and smiled.

“What? But the color is not suitable for the Consort Ceremony….”

“I asked the Magic Tower Master to change it to cream color.”

“Haha, how did you think of that? I don’t remember what dress you wore at our wedding, but I’ll be able to find out today.”

He stroked my hair and smiled along with me.

“Yes, it seems like it was a good thing that the wedding dress was ruined. But what will happen to Princess Resilia?”

“Roxana will take care of it. I’m not going to interfere.”

“Well, Roxana is good at catching people like mice. Let’s watch.”

Linelle burst out laughing at my words.

Then he let me go from his arms and held my hands together.

Looking at his face, it seemed like he had something to say.

“I, Linelle Gadion Edpa, swear to look only at you for the rest of my life, not just at the Consort Ceremony.”

“?”

“Does the bride also swear?”

He asked with an expectant voice.

“I think I’ll have to live to see it.”

“…Why?”

“Because my husband has so many wives, I need to watch.”

Of course, I knew very well that it was not his intention to welcome the consorts, but all for political reasons, but I deliberately acted out of spite.

“Even though my heart is only with you?”

Linelle wrapped his arms around my waist with an aggrieved expression.

Kiss-.

“Then is this mine forever too?”

I asked, kissing his lips as if stamping them.

“Yes.”

“This place must be mine too, right?”

As soon as I heard Linelle’s answer, I put my hand on his heart and continued to ask.

“Of course.”

“Then this place, needless to say, will only be for me, right?”

This time my hand went down.

“Ahem…! It only reacts to you anyway… Of course.”

The way he looked down at me was as if he was stripping away my reason.

Again, our lips were about to touch.

I gently bit his lower lip and asked.

“Can I check tonight?”

“Please… as much as you want.”