The Stand-In Empress’S Wedding Night [EN]: Chapter 213

213. I Wasn’t Kind Enough

2023.01.18.

“What… what is going on?”

Moiya and Moni were side by side, clutching the bedposts and peeking at him and me.

No, they were just staring openly.

“Weren’t you two supposed to be at Rosie’s?”

The moment I made eye contact with them, I accidentally dropped the wine glass I was holding.

Linelle stopped kissing me at the sound of the wine glass shattering.

“I’m sorry, the wine glass slipped from my hand…”

“Are you hurt?”

He asked, examining my hands and feet.

In the meantime, Moiya and Moni ran back out the window.

“No, I’m fine.”

Fragments of the broken wine glass were scattered all over the floor.

I quickly bent down to remove a large piece of glass that had fallen near his feet.

“Just leave it. You’ll get hurt. I’ll call a servant.”

“Yes, but just the ones near your feet… Ouch.”

I touched a piece of glass with my bare hand and pricked my finger.

Blood flowed quite a bit from my finger, as it was pierced deeper than I thought.

“See! I told you to leave it alone.”

Linelle lifted both of my legs and sat me on his lap.

In the blink of an eye, my body was in his arms.

He wrapped his arms tightly around my waist and glared at me.

“This is upsetting. What is this about?”

“I’m sorry. I was worried Your Majesty would get hurt.”

“You getting hurt is the same as me getting hurt. Give it here.”

“Give what… what?”

“Your injured finger.”

Linelle snatched my bleeding finger.

“Ugh, what are you doing?!”

I frowned, pushing against his shoulder.

“What else? Stopping the bleeding.”

He brought my index finger to his mouth without hesitation.

The finger in his mouth felt like it was receiving a cold compress.

“…Ah!”

Suddenly, Linelle touched his forehead with his hand.

“What’s wrong? Are you not feeling well?”

At his short exclamation, I wondered for a moment if there was poison mixed in my blood.

“Just… just a moment!”

His eyes shook violently.

“Zelda, I don’t think I was… kind enough.”

“Huh? What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

“It just… came to mind.”

Linelle said, staring at me with a dazed look.

“What did?”

“Our first night.”

“?”

***

At the same time.

Prince Tesler visited the Empress’s Palace to meet Roxana.

Upon the prince’s visit, Hettor went to the bedroom where Roxana was temporarily staying to inform her of this fact.

“He’s waiting in the drawing-room now. What should we do?”

“I should meet him.”

Roxana put down the tea she was drinking and put on a veiled hat.

As Roxana entered the drawing-room, Prince Tesler, who had been sitting on the sofa, jumped to his feet.

“Greetings to Her Majesty the Empress!”

The prince bowed his head as soon as he saw Roxana.

“I heard there was an unfortunate incident at today’s concubine ceremony?”

“Ah. Yes. I didn’t stay until the end, but because three concubines were missing, it was more like a wedding than a concubine ceremony.”

At Prince Tesler’s words, a slight crack appeared on Roxana’s haughty face.

“I see.”

“Right before the entrance, one spilled wine on her wedding dress, another slipped on the floor and severely injured her ankle, and as she fell, she grabbed the concubine next to her, causing that concubine to hit her head on a statue and even faint.”

Prince Tesler deliberately informed Roxana in detail about the accident that occurred before the concubine ceremony.

She had already received a report and knew about it.

But hearing it through Prince Tesler’s mouth made her feel even more annoyed.

‘Useless things. How on earth did they behave like that!’

Roxana gritted her teeth, thinking about the concubine ceremony where only two people had entered.

This was all because of those Chateau Niel siblings.

“Your Majesty, where is my sister now?”

Prince Tesler asked cautiously, lowering his eyes.

“Do you think Princess Resilia’s crime is light?”

“Isn’t it not a crime worthy of being interrogated like this? Besides, it was an incident where she ruined Zelda’s wedding dress…”

“Do you think I brought the princess here because of that matter?!”

Roxana glared at Prince Tesler and asked.

“If… if it’s not that, then please tell me why you took the princess away.”

“Why are you pretending you don’t know when you do?”

“What do you mean…”

Prince Tesler raised his head at Roxana’s words.

The two people’s gazes collided in the air.

“Princess Resilia recklessly entered my bedroom yesterday while I was away and was loitering in front of the dressing table.”

“…Yes?”

“My precious things… have disappeared.”

Quick-witted Prince Tesler immediately understood Roxana’s words.

What a disaster.

“Your, Your Majesty! To tell you the truth, I knew that Your Majesty possessed a wyvern egg and a Hwansin sword.”

“Indeed, it’s easy to have a conversation with Prince Tesler.”

“Surely… you don’t think Resilia touched those things?”

“No, no.”

Roxana shook her head and laughed as if she was dumbfounded.

“The princess probably didn’t take them out herself. She was probably just checking to see if the items were really there.”

“That’s a misunderstanding! How dare we do such a terrible thing!”

“They are tremendous items, so you would have been greedy enough, I understand.”

Roxana’s expression was gradually becoming fierce.

“But, Your Highness, people from island nations lack patience. So by tomorrow night! Bring them back before my eyes.”

“Wh, what are you talking about?”

“The wyvern egg and the Hwansin sword.”

“Ha! It wasn’t us! It must be someone else in the Imperial Palace!”

“Do you think so, Your Highness?”

“Of course, it’s just my hunch, but since we’re not the culprits, I can’t help but think so.”

Roxana stared intently at Prince Tesler’s face.

She didn’t believe the prince’s words, but if, by any chance, the person who took the wyvern egg and the Hwansin sword wasn’t the Chateau Niel siblings, but someone else… for example, if it was really Zelda, it would be a big problem.

However, as a result of having the servants search Zelda’s room in the main palace, not only was there no Hwansin sword, but not even a regular sword came out.

“Alright. Then prove your innocence.”

“Wh, what do you mean?”

“If it’s true that someone in the Imperial Palace took it, find out who it is and bring it back to me. Then I’ll believe you.”

“How can I find it without any information?!”

Even with Prince Tesler’s bewildered expression, Roxana didn’t care.

“Oh dear, Your Highness. Princess Resilia’s safety is at stake.”

Roxana got up from the sofa.

“I must be going now. I saw Princess Resilia faint earlier; she must be awake by now, right?”

It was a nuance filled with clear threats.

Prince Tesler jumped up from the sofa.

“Your Majesty!”

“Save your resentment until after I get at least one of my items back.”

Roxana finished speaking in a cold voice and turned around to leave the drawing-room.

Prince Tesler, who had been momentarily stunned, regained his senses and hurriedly left the Empress’s Palace.

He had to meet Grand Duke Martins immediately and discuss this hopeless situation.

Prince Tesler headed straight to the detached palace where the Grand Duke was staying.

***

Linelle vaguely recalled the memories of his first night with Zelda at their state wedding.

‘Why don’t you lift your face a little?’

‘Did you commit a sin?’

‘I know you don’t like me.’

‘Even if we don’t like each other, we’re already married.’

‘I don’t know what God was thinking when he tied you and me together…’

The memories mainly revolved around scenes where he had been curt with her.

It would have been nice if even his tone had been kind.

He also didn’t like his own voice, which seemed full of resentment.

He even thought that it might be better for Zelda that she had lost her memories of him.

The last scene that came to mind was even more absurd.

‘Anyway, I intend to fulfill my duty as a husband. Tonight will be the day to start my first duty.’

After throwing those words at her as if he was notifying her, he ripped open the strings of the gown he was wearing.

Zelda in his memory had eyes like a rabbit as she looked at his naked body and fell backward onto the bed.

“She must have been so surprised…”

Linelle muttered to himself, looking at her with pity.

She clearly looked frightened.

Unfortunately, the memories of the first night ended with that scene.

“Damn it.”

Linelle squeezed his eyes shut and narrowed his brows.

“Was our first night that terrible?”

Zelda asked, looking at his distressed face with curious eyes.

He opened his mouth with an apologetic look.

“I don’t think I had any manners. No, I didn’t.”

“…Who?”

“Me.”

“Why? What scene came to mind? Huh?”

Zelda shook his arm with both hands, looking like she was dying of curiosity.

“I… suddenly took off my gown. So you were very surprised…”

He couldn’t bring himself to say, ‘You were so surprised that you fell over.’

Linelle said that he couldn’t understand why he had been so inconsiderate, then grabbed his hair and bowed his head.

Zelda grabbed his hair and made him lift his head again.

He looked at her with surprised eyes as she grabbed his hair, but she didn’t seem to know what she had just done at all.

Zelda, even so, isn’t grabbing the emperor’s hair a bit much?

Just as Linelle was about to say something, she took the lead with a shy expression.

“Wasn’t it because you were too handsome that I was surprised?”

Zelda’s sincere voice sounded… well, sincere.

“…What?”

“Maybe you were surprised because Your Majesty’s body is too perfect.”

At Zelda’s words, he summoned the expression she had made a little while ago and replayed it.

“Well… she didn’t seem to like it very much?”

“There’s a high probability that it was pretense.”

She concluded that on her own and burst into laughter.

“…If that’s the case, it’s a relief, but why suddenly… did the memory of the first night come back?”

It was the first time it had happened.

“Maybe your memories are trying to come back?”

“But it was only for a very short time. And it was fragmentary.”

“Still, it’s a good thing.”

Zelda envied him, saying that she wished she could remember even a little bit about him.

Linelle got up from the bed without a word and called the servants to clean up the broken wine glass.

In the meantime, he thought about why the erased memory had suddenly come back.

However, Linelle never noticed that the memory had returned when Zelda’s blood touched his body, and that the memory had stopped again when he wiped away her blood.

The most important ingredient in the magic potion that makes you lose your memory is the other person’s blood.

Occasionally, when that person’s blood touches you, the lost memories come back fragmentarily, but this is a very rare phenomenon that only appears between people who deeply love each other.

The two people, who didn’t know this fact at all, were happy and regretful at the same time about Linelle’s suddenly returned memory.

“The beginning is important; the memories will gradually come back. Don’t be too heartbroken.”

At Zelda’s cheerful consolation, he smiled again.

“Actually, it’s not just the memory, but I feel like I was rude to you on our first night, and that bothers me.”

“I don’t remember it anyway, so what? And even if you were a little rude, my heart would have been completely healed by seeing Your Majesty’s muscles under the gown.”

“…Surely, that wouldn’t have been the case.”

“No, I’m sure!”

Zelda raised her chin and concluded.

Her face turned slightly red because her voice came out louder than she thought.

“Maybe God is giving us a second chance.”

He stared into her eyes and began to unbutton his shirt.

“Yes?”

Zelda asked, fixing her gaze on his firm chest muscles that were gradually increasing in area.

“To make up for that first night today.”

“How are you going to make up for it?”

“If you’re curious… don’t close your eyes today.”

That was something she wasn’t confident in.

Her eyes were already drooping just at the sound of his sweet voice.