The Stand-In Empress’S Wedding Night [EN]: Chapter 252

252. Johnny?

2023.06.03.

“I went to see the kids.”

“Kids?”

“Yeees…….”

Moiya, sniffling, grabbed the sleeve of Linelle’s gown next to her and blew her nose loudly.

*What does she even think the Emperor is?*

Looking at her, Linelle seemed to be nothing more than ‘the master’s mating partner’ to Moiya.

He was dumbfounded but only scolded Moiya’s rude behavior with his eyes.

Fortunately, Moni likes him a lot, unlike Moiya.

“Ew, dirty, Moni~”.

Moni grabbed the part of his gown sleeve where Moiya had blown her nose, tore it off, and threw it on the floor.

“Very… thank you, Moni.”

Linelle smiled, looking down at the torn, tattered sleeve of his finest silk gown.

Moni snuggled into him even more, lifting her butt up and farting.

Wondering what kind of unconventional behavior this was, I stared blankly.

“She’s flirting with her favorite male, Moni~”.

Moni, who had been burying her head in his side, pulled her head out and glanced at me.

“Is that how you do it in the Wyvern world?”

I kept laughing as I tried to reply seriously.

When Linelle’s eyes met mine, he jokingly said, exaggerating even more,

“Hahaha, no wonder I was nervous.”

In response to Linelle’s words, Moni lifted her butt again and made a popping sound, and he patted Moni’s butt as if to encourage her.

“You’re playing around, Moiya~”.

Moiya hugged my arm and stretched one of her short legs towards Linelle as if kicking.

The more Moni showed affection for him, the more Moiya seemed to treat him insignificantly on purpose.

I put Moiya’s short leg back in place and asked,

“What do you mean you went to see the kids?”

I was wondering if they had gone to see the birds in the forest.

“We went to the Valley of Death, Moni~. It was almost like dying, just like its name.”

“What?! How do you know about the Valley of Death?”

I was so surprised that I raised my voice.

Moiya and Moni, thinking I was about to scold them, pulled their necks in like turtles and looked at me at the same time.

“Answer me.”

Linelle tapped Moni’s small head with his fingertip.

Then Moni blinked and opened her mouth again.

“Moiya said let’s go first, Master.”

Moiya glared at Moni, who had tattled on her, then looked up at me and made a pitiful expression, trying to explain.

“I just went to give some words of wisdom to our descendants…….”

“How do you know the Wyverns are in the Valley of Death?”

“Oong? I just knew, Moiya~”.

Moiya slowly turned her ruby-like eyes at my question and came to that conclusion.

“You just felt it?”

“Yes. I’m a great Wyvern, so I can know, Moiya~”.

“I’m glad you came back safely.”

Linelle said with a sigh.

“What do you mean?”

“I heard that Wyverns are very wary of those who are not their own kind.”

“Aha.”

“Do you think they showed proper manners when they went to the Valley of Death?”

Linelle sent me a look that said, ‘You know what they’re like?’ and gestured to them one by one.

“Yeah, I guess not. I can tell by looking at Moiya’s black eye.”

I pinched Moiya’s cheek, who was holding my arm tightly, and replied.

“Hmph, manners are for the young ones! Why should I?”

Moiya shouted at Linelle as if she was arguing.

“From the adults’ point of view, you’re just baby Wyverns.”

He was right.

Even though they had been in the egg for 300 years, there was no way for other Wyverns to know that.

“Won’t the Wyverns try to find Moiya and Moni?”

“No, they don’t come to where humans are easily. It’ll be fine as long as they don’t go back and provoke them again.”

At his words, the two of them had innocent expressions as if they didn’t know what they had done wrong.

“We just went to be cute, but everyone was so rude, Moni~”.

Moni said as if she was wronged.

“That’s right. There were so many cold bodies in the cave, Moiya~!”

Moiya subtly attacked Linelle, pretending to be talking to herself, and he pretended to be hurt.

I chuckled and replied for him.

“You guys probably weren’t polite either.”

“Hehe, that’s true. And there wasn’t a Wyvern as handsome as our Emperor, was there?”

Moni said, stroking Linelle’s face with quick acknowledgment.

“Moni, let me tell you something. There’s no male like me anywhere, not just in the Wyvern group.”

Linelle said as if affirming.

Moiya and Moni opened their mouths at the same time, surprised.

Between their parted lips, one made a ‘Ugh!’ sound of disgust, and the other made a ‘Wow!’ sound of admiration.

“Ang! Our cold body is a great human, Moni~!”

“Yes, you’re a great Wyvern too. How dare you touch my face like this.”

Linelle burst into laughter, saying that I and Moni were the only creatures who had ever touched his face without permission.

“Anyway, I’m glad you came back safely. As His Majesty said, they’ll just think of you as unfamiliar baby Wyverns. So don’t go to the Valley of Death again. It’s dangerous.”

“But we have to fix their manners, right? They’re so ignorant they don’t even know what sausage is…….”

Moiya clenched her fists and trembled.

I released Moiya’s fists and calmed her down.

“Yeah, why bother scolding those who don’t even know what sausage is? You great ones just have to be patient.”

“Yes. Your master is right. I think my heart will hurt if you get hurt again.”

Linelle said gently, stroking Moni’s wings.

“Even though His Majesty’s body is cold, warm words come out of his mouth, Moni~”.

Moni’s eyes welled up with tears, touched by Linelle’s words.

“Oh, right, didn’t you go out without telling Rosie? Rosie must be worried.”

“We told her and we avoided her on purpose, Moiya~”.

“Avoided her?”

“Norton came.”

“Ah…….”

I glanced at Linelle.

“Ha, the Imperial Palace is doing very well~. A prince from another country is sneaking into the concubine’s residence at night.”

He grumbled on purpose.

“It was Your Majesty who brought the two of them together.”

I chuckled, and he shrugged his shoulders and laughed along, saying, ‘Oh, that’s right.’

“Anyway, you’ve worked hard getting beaten up. Now go back to Rosie’s residence.”

Linelle patted Moni and Moiya on the back and tried to send them out of the bedroom.

Then Moiya glared at him and retorted sharply.

“We can’t go!”

“Why.”

“Rosie and Norton are mating, so we can’t go, Moiya~”.

“!”

“!”

Linelle and I were speechless and startled.

Then Moni adds with a boast,

“We’re so thoughtful, Moni~”.

“Is Rosie actively practicing that book like us?”

He asked me.

“Yes, Rosie is smart.”

I sincerely hoped that she would make definite progress.

“Your Majesty, that’s why. I’m going to stay here tonight.”

Moiya lay down between him and me, and Moni quickly took a spot next to her and lay down.

“Hear, you great Wyverns.”

“…….”

“…….”

Moiya and Moni deliberately closed their mouths and resisted.

Then he asked again.

“Are you asleep?”

His expression darkened, and he lowered his voice solemnly, and the two of them lowered their voices as well.

“Yes, we’re listening.”

“Ang, speak.”

“Mating is not just for Rosie and Prince Norton. If you have any sense, leave.”

“…….”

“…….”

Despite my mating partner’s threat, the two of them are silent again.

“Go to Sharon and ask for sausage.”

“Oong? We can eat sausage tomorrow morning, Moiya~”.

“Sharon needs to sleep at night too, Moni~”.

Several minutes later.

“Are you asleep?”

This time I asked.

There’s no reply again.

“……I guess I have to give up.”

I turned off the bedside lamp and lay down.

How long had it been? I could hear Moiya and Moni’s soft breathing.

“Zelda…… should I go to you?”

Linelle whispered.

This time I chose silence.

“Are you asleep?”

“…….”

“You should answer when the Emperor speaks, madam?”

“Just sleep today. We already shared love once, didn’t we?”

I didn’t have any regrets, but I had no choice but to appease him.

A moment of silence.

“Guys, are you asleep……?”

This man. Did he become Emperor because he doesn’t know how to give up?

He tried to talk to Moiya and Moni, who had just fallen asleep, again.

“Moiya, aren’t you upset? Why don’t you go to the Valley of Death one more time.”

“Oong? That’s right. I’m going to get revenge! I’m going to make that guy’s eyes black and blue too, Moiya~”.

Moiya, who had been sleeping peacefully with her hands on her stomach, burst out in a drunken voice.

Apparently, she was very upset about the cold treatment she received in the Valley of Death.

But at that moment.

With a thud, Linelle’s scream echoed through the darkness.

“Ugh-!”

Surprised, I turned on the lamp and saw Linelle covering one of his eyes with his hand, frowning.

Moiya punched Linelle in the eye in her sleep.

***

The next afternoon, Linelle gathered all the concubines, including Roxana, in the office.

Before heading to the office, he stopped by the Archmage’s room with me.

There were signs of bruising around his eye from being hit by Moiya the night before, so he had to get treatment from the Archmage in advance, just in case.

“Your Majesty, who hit you?”

“Ask your best friend.”

“Don’t tell me you two fought?”

The Archmage carefully asked as he applied potion to Linelle’s eye.

His tone was worried, but the Archmage’s face was full of smiles.

His smile looked so happy that I felt sorry for saying that we didn’t fight.

“Does your tone sound like you want that to happen? And even if we fought, would we have fought by hitting each other?”

“Then how did you get the eye……? If you hadn’t treated it, it would have been bruised blue by today?”

“Moiya punched His Majesty in the eye in her sleep…….”

I quietly told the truth to the Archmage.

Then the Archmage’s cheeks began to twitch slightly.

“Oh my, Moiya…….”

I felt like the words ‘How admirable.’ were somehow omitted at the end of the Archmage’s vague words.

“It would be better for Your Majesty to go to the office first. If you go in together, you’ll only get glares.”

“I will. I’ll have something to talk about with my best friend.”

He glared at the Archmage and kissed my lips as if stamping them before heading to the office first.

“Do you have anything to say to me?”

The Archmage looked at the door Linelle had left with displeasure, then relaxed his eyes again and asked me.

“Moiya and Moni went to the Valley of Death last night.”

“Goodness. Hmm, they probably felt it instinctively. They’re different from ordinary Wyverns.”

“I think so. But the problem is, they didn’t get a welcome.”

“……I can imagine.”

The Archmage shook his head.

“It seems like the Wyverns recognized Moiya and Moni as just baby Wyverns.”

“Yes, that’s probably what happened. Wyverns are a group with strong hierarchy fights, but the adults probably saw them as just young babies. Unless a special power appears, they wouldn’t think they were born 300 years ago.”

“I see. But fortunately, they both came back without getting hurt. Moiya got hit by a Wyvern there and keeps saying she’s going to get revenge.”

“She may say that, but she won’t be able to go again. She must have realized yesterday that she shouldn’t mess with adult Wyverns.”

“Yes, I told her not to go near the Valley of Death, but I’m always worried because Moiya is so fearless.”

“I’m a little jealous of Moiya.”

The Archmage muttered as he organized the potion bottles.

“Of what?”

“Of receiving Zelda Mama’s worries…….”

“Excuse me?”

“Ah, no. Please pretend you didn’t hear that.”

The Archmage’s face turned red in an instant.

It seemed like he had unconsciously blurted out something without realizing it.

“Then, Friend, why don’t you go to the Valley of Death once? Get hit in the eye too.”

*I can give you plenty of worries.*

I joked and left the Archmage’s room.

The Archmage smiled, touching one of his eyes.

His face was still red.

***

When I arrived at the office and went inside, the other concubines except Roxana had already arrived.

Not long after I sat down, Roxana entered the office.

‘Huh? She took off her veil hat?’

I carefully looked at Roxana’s right face, which had been covered by the veil.

Her skin was as smooth as before she was burned.

*If I don’t feel the fire energy from Roxana’s face like before…….*

Did she take a magic potion?

If my guess is correct, who made the magic potion?

It’s not the magician Big who runs the clinic.

Big doesn’t have ‘Yakante’ [a rare herb], the main herb used in magic potions.

Could it be the Archmage?

No way. He would have told me if that were the case.

Then who is it?

As I was deep in thought, Linelle entered the office with Raphael.

“Some of you may have already heard, but Prince Kalvain of the Partsha Empire’s coronation ceremony is scheduled to take place next week.”

“Then we need to decide who among the concubines will go to the Partsha Empire together, right?”

Roxana looked around at the concubines and said to him.

He nodded lightly and continued.

“That’s right. Not everyone in the Imperial Family needs to go. I’m thinking of including only a few of you in the congratulatory delegation.”

“Your Majesty, are there any special conditions for going together?”

Melanie asked, raising her hand with an excited face.

“Of course, there are.”

Linelle nodded and replied with a serious expression.

“What is it?”

I couldn’t help but ask him without realizing it.

All the concubines’ eyes were focused on his slowly opening lips.