The Stand-In Empress’S Wedding Night [EN]: Chapter 257

257. Touch Me Comfortably

Waking up in his arms always brings a refreshing feeling.

Perhaps because I was being petulant [bad-tempered] last night, he didn’t let me out of his arms all night.

Just when I thought his arms around me were loosening, he would embrace me tightly again.

I could hear his comfortable breathing behind me.

I turned around to face him.

Whose husband is so handsome…….

Isn’t it too unfair that my heart still flutters even when he’s sleeping with his eyes closed like this?

I trace the line of his thick, well-defined eyebrows with my index finger.

He slightly furrowed his brow, but didn’t wake up.

Passing over the bridge of his nose, I gently parted his full lips, which had whispered sweet nothings to me all night, with my finger.

Even that looked 멋있어 [meosiss-eo, Korean for ‘cool’ or ‘handsome’], and as I was admiring him silently, he woke up.

“Is this my breakfast?”

He bit down on my finger that was tormenting his lips.

“Ouch.”

It didn’t hurt, but I pretended to be in pain, frowning because I was embarrassed about touching him secretly.

He chuckled, released my finger, and slowly opened and closed his eyes.

“I’m sorry for waking you.”

“You don’t have to be sorry.”

“Were you awake the whole time?”

“Yeah.”

“But why did you pretend to be asleep?”

“So you could touch me comfortably.”

“How generous of you.”

“My wife started her war with hormones yesterday, you see.”

“Stop teasing me.”

When I glared at him and pouted, he burst into laughter with an expression that showed he found me endlessly adorable.

“Wouldn’t it be better to kiss you instead of teasing you?”

He raised his upper body, looked down at me, and asked.

“Much better…….”

***

After lunch, Grand Duke Martins’ steps stopped in front of the tower.

Commander Marcrom was just coming out of the tower.

Grand Duke Martins approached Commander Marcrom and greeted him.

“Are you coming from seeing Prince Tesler?”

“Yes, Your Grace. The tower is under my jurisdiction while Prince Tesler is imprisoned here. Have you come for a visit, Your Grace?”

“I have something to tell him.”

“You’ve come to deliver the news that you will be attending the Emperor’s coronation ceremony of Prince Kalbain on behalf of the Kingdom of Shattonil, haven’t you?”

“Hahaha. You’re quick-witted.”

Grand Duke Martins chuckled, tapping the Commander’s arm.

“In other words, you’ve come to stir things up?”

Grand Duke Martins didn’t bother to deny Commander Marcrom’s question.

“Then, please come in.”

Commander Marcrom bowed and began walking straight towards his quarters.

Grand Duke Martins watched Commander Marcrom’s retreating figure with curiosity.

Whenever he saw the Commander, he always forgot that he had lost his sight.

Commander Marcrom always looked in the right direction and moved without hesitation towards his destination.

He had never seen him flustered.

Grand Duke Martins, who was about to enter the tower, turned around and called out to Commander Marcrom.

“Hey, Marcrom!”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

“I’m having a drink with Prince Norton tonight. Would you like to join us?”

“If you invite me, I will.”

“Then come to Prince Norton’s room around 9 o’clock.”

“Yes, I’ll see you then.”

“Alright.”

Grand Duke Martins left Commander Marcrom behind and hurried into the underground prison of the tower where Prince Tesler and Princess Resilia were being held.

He passed the cell where Princess Resilia was imprisoned and stood in front of Prince Tesler’s cell.

Grand Duke Martins showed the guard standing watch in front of the iron gate the visitation pass he had received directly from Emperor Linell.

“Please enter.”

The guard, after confirming the visitation pass, quickly opened the prison door.

At the sound of the iron gate opening, Prince Tesler, who had been lying on his side facing the wall, got up from the bed.

“Martins!”

Prince Tesler greeted Grand Duke Martins with an expression that asked why he was so late.

“Were you sleeping?”

“Sleeping, my ass. How could I possibly sleep right now?”

Prince Tesler retorted irritably.

“By the way, what on earth is my father thinking? Is he senile?”

The Prince began to pour out questions to Grand Duke Martins, bursting with frustration.

“Leaving aside those moronic ministers, what is my father thinking, abandoning me here like this! Is he finally on his way out? How else could he throw his own son into a foreign prison, huh?”

Grand Duke Martins listened silently to Prince Tesler’s complaints before uttering a cold word.

“It is a decision made for the sake of the kingdom.”

“What kind of bullshit is that? Taking care of this Tesler is taking care of the kingdom!”

Prince Tesler grabbed Grand Duke Martins by the collar and raised his voice.

“When I get out of here, I’m going to get rid of the bastards who insisted on throwing me into Lapion Prison and the bastards who agreed first.”

“With what means? You have already been stripped of your title as Prince.”

Grand Duke Martins said, removing Prince Tesler’s hands from his collar.

“What, what?”

“Eat the food they give you here and behave yourself.”

“……Martins, what’s wrong with you?”

“Ah, and I don’t think I’ll be able to visit for a while.”

“Wait.”

Prince Tesler, who had been furious at the subtly dismissive tone, grabbed Grand Duke Martins’ arm and asked.

“You, where are you going?”

“The coronation ceremony of Prince Kalbain will be held soon. I will be attending as a congratulatory envoy. Representing the Kingdom of Shattonil.”

“Where are you going?!”

Wasn’t the Partsha Empire of the Southern Continent the place that not only Prince Tesler but also Princess Resilia longed for so much?

“You, why are you…… representing the Kingdom of Shattonil?”

“Since Your Highness has been stripped of his qualifications as a Prince, I will be taking over external activities for the time being.”

Grand Duke Martins replied politely, but his eyes and expression clearly showed a condescending attitude towards Prince Tesler.

“Huh? Are you saying you’re going to become a Prince in my place?”

Prince Tesler shouted, spitting in his excitement.

“No, that’s not it.”

Grand Duke Martins slowly shook his head and smiled.

“Then what is it, you bastard!”

Prince Tesler grabbed Grand Duke Martins’ arm again and screamed.

“I’m going to be King.”

Grand Duke Martins whispered quietly.

Then, he coldly brushed off Prince Tesler’s frozen hand and dusted off his clothes as if to remove dust.

“……What, what the hell are you talking about?!”

Prince Tesler’s scream echoed loudly in the underground prison.

***

The day of departure for the Partsha Empire was approaching.

Perhaps the person with the most to prepare and the busiest in the Lapion Imperial Palace was Rosie.

Knowing her, Rosie would be packing her books first, right?

Melanie must have had the same thought as me, as she came to find me and urged me to go to Rosie’s residence.

I was planning to visit Rosie’s residence today or tomorrow anyway, so I went with Melanie to Rosie’s residence.

As I expected, Rosie was tying up books with rope.

Melanie proudly introduced the pomegranates she had brought from her residence and handed forks to me and Rosie.

“Try this. It’s on a different level from the pomegranates you usually eat!”

What’s so special about pomegranate flavor? I thought, but I couldn’t resist Melanie’s urging, so I put a pomegranate seed in my mouth and was immediately impressed.

“It’s really delicious.”

“Right? This is a top-grade pomegranate from Tanya Island. Hector gave it to me as a gift.”

“Melanie, you didn’t steal it, did you?”

“Would that big guy let me steal it?”

I guess not.

Melanie replied to me with a smug expression, then scurried over to Rosie, who was tying up books with rope by herself.

“I really can’t understand it. Please just throw away all the books and go!”

Melanie said, sitting on top of the pile of books tied up like a mountain.

“Do you know how old the book that Melanie is sitting on is?”

Rosie frowned and asked.

“I don’t want to know.”

“It’s a book that was made 300 years ago!”

“That’s a relief. It’s not a new book.”

Melanie said indifferently, and

“Oh my gosh, how can you say such an ignorant thing……!”

Rosie couldn’t hide her shock.

It was time for mediation.

“Get up. It’s an important item to Rosie.”

I grabbed Melanie’s hand and forcibly pulled her up, and she got up grumbling.

“Anyway, Rosie has very unique tastes.”

“I think it’s better than Melanie’s taste?”

When Rosie also spoke sarcastically, Melanie blinked and asked.

“My taste…… what is it?”

“Hector himself.”

“Oh my, what’s wrong with Hector? He’s more handsome than His Majesty or Prince Norton?”

Hey, that’s not true!

I couldn’t help but get angry at Melanie’s firm assessment.

“Are you serious?”

I was going to stay still if possible, but if it was a matter of his honor, no, his appearance, I couldn’t remain silent.

Even if Prince Norton is like that, isn’t Linell’s face an appearance that can’t be a matter of taste?

“I’m serious? In my eyes, Hector is the most manly. I don’t know about His Majesty, but Prince Norton looks weak.”

“Melanie, it’s because you haven’t seen His Majesty’s muscles.”

There are tremendous muscles alive and breathing inside that neat uniform.

“Prince Norton’s body is so manly!”

“Um? Rosie, how do you know that? You said you’ve only kissed him?”

When I hit the nail on the head, Melanie quickly added a word.

“And even if I don’t know about His Majesty, Prince Norton’s face is so delicate that he doesn’t look like he has any muscles at all.”

“No, he’s very firm!”

Rosie shouted as if arguing, with fire in her eyes after successive attacks.

A moment of silence flowed.

Rosie’s face was slowly turning pomegranate-like.

“Where?”

“Where are you going?”

Melanie and I asked the same question at the same time.

***

At the same time, the Imperial Palace of the Partsha Empire.

Princess Consort Jasper waited for Prince Kalbain, who was holding a meeting alone in his office.

After dismissing all the servants and being alone in the office, she took out a small bottle from a pocket she had secretly made in her dress skirt.

The small bottle contained well-dried poisonous strawberry powder.

She watched the office door and quickly opened the small bottle cap, poured the poisonous strawberry powder into the teapot of black tea that the servant had brought, and stirred it well with a teaspoon.

Princess Consort Jasper also had to drink the black tea containing dried poisonous strawberry powder.

If she poured the black tea into her teacup in advance and offered cold black tea, Kalbain might become suspicious, so it was an unavoidable choice.

Even if she poured non-poisonous black tea into her teacup first, she would have to drink a second cup anyway if the conversation with him lasted longer.

In that way, her body was also gradually becoming addicted to poisonous strawberries like Prince Kalbain.

Although she was controlling the amount of black tea she drank, she could still feel her stamina gradually decreasing.

‘Anyway, it’s a body that was going to die after revenge. It’s okay.’

Princess Consort Jasper steeled her heart and stared at the black tea teapot.

“My love, did you wait long?”

At that moment, the office door opened and Prince Kalbain entered with a smile.

“No, I just arrived.”

Princess Consort Jasper forced the corners of her lips up, picked up the teapot, poured black tea into a teacup, and handed it to Prince Kalbain.

“You should have been drinking first?”

Prince Kalbain savored a sip of the black tea with the well-dissolved dried poisonous strawberry powder.

“It’s more delicious when we drink together.”

She replied, pouring the same black tea into her cup as well.