The Stand-In Empress’S Wedding Night [EN]: Chapter 325

325. Why Are You Looking at Me Like That?

February 4, 2024

“Princess, Elsa has sent another carrier pigeon!”

A priest assisting Resilia rushed into the inn room, shouting.

“It seems you can meet Prince Ramses.”

“Did she find a way?”

“Elsa says Prince Ramses is coming to see the Imperial City with Princess Lily.”

“Is that true?!”

Resilia moved around the inn room.

She couldn’t hide her excitement at the thought of seeing Ramses.

The old floorboards creaked every time she moved.

“This is an opportunity……!”

She felt hope again for the first time in years.

Perhaps that’s why she started to feel hungry.

She hadn’t eaten properly for the past few days while waiting for news of Ramses, so she was very hungry.

Resilia felt so good that she wandered around the room as if dancing for a while.

After a while, two horns slowly rose outside the slightly opened window.

It was Moiyah and Moni, who had followed the suspicious carrier pigeon and ended up seeing Resilia.

Moiyah and Moni were eavesdropping on Resilia’s words from outside the window.

“Oong? We should let Ramses know, Moiyah~?”

“Yeah. This is an opportunity to eat a lot of sausage, Moni~?”

***

Martins returned to the detached palace where the dignitaries of the Shat-Onil Kingdom were staying after meeting with the young ladies in the drawing room.

He was barely able to get up from his seat after hearing Bellos say that such meetings would be arranged for a week.

‘I’ll have to stay in the Rafion Imperial Palace for a week.’

But it didn’t seem necessary to wait a whole week.

He already liked one of the young ladies.

She was Catherine’s cousin.

No wonder everyone looked familiar.

Among the young ladies were Melanie’s younger sister and Rosie’s cousin.

In particular, Catherine’s cousin looked quite similar to Catherine, but her personality was the opposite.

In other words, she had a good personality.

‘Will she come tomorrow too?’

He was willing to go and find her if she didn’t come.

‘She said her hobby is swordsmanship, right?’

That fact was very attractive to him.

As Martins, who had no talent for swordsmanship, it was a hobby he couldn’t help but admire.

Martins stopped walking when he noticed someone standing in front of his guest room.

“You have news to tell me so soon.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. I have something to tell you.”

It was Elsa, one of the attendants assisting Melody, who was waiting for him.

She was the one who sent the carrier pigeon to Resilia.

Elsa was not a follower of Resilia, but a person planted by Grand Duke Martins.

He couldn’t eliminate the followers all at once. So, Martins changed his mind and planted his own people within those forces, keeping an eye on the two siblings.

It was also Martins who had Elsa tell Resilia that Prince Ramses had arrived at the Rafion Imperial Palace.

“Let’s go inside and talk.”

Martins entered the room with the attendant.

“Resilia is trying to meet Prince Ramses.”

Elsa handed Martins the letter brought by the carrier pigeon.

Martins snorted after reading the letter.

“She’s a person who doesn’t know what self-restraint is. To still harbor vain desires even after all these years…… tsk tsk tsk.”

The letter contained a request for Resilia to create an opportunity to meet Prince Ramses while staying in the Imperial City.

“Your Majesty, Prince Ramses will be visiting a famous bookstore in the Imperial City with Princess Lily tomorrow. So, I sent that news to the carrier pigeon a little while ago.”

Elsa said, lowering her voice as much as possible.

“But Elsa, how did you know that Prince Ramses and Princess Lily are going to the Imperial City tomorrow?”

“Actually, Princess Melody…… said she wanted to visit the residence where Lady Pesillini used to live. So, on the way back from the West Palace a little while ago…….”

Elsa carefully brought up the topic.

“Oh…… wait a minute.”

Martins stopped Elsa’s words, raising one hand.

His chest felt tight.

It was only recently that Melody learned about the existence of her biological mother, Pesillini.

Martins was planning to tell her about her birth around the time Melody made her debut.

But the mouths of the royal court were lighter and more cruel than he thought.

They gossiped behind her back, and eventually, young Melody also learned that Martins was not her biological father.

But Melody was not curious about the existence of her biological father.

Martins, who was always by her side, was her real father.

However, she couldn’t be indifferent to the absence of her mother.

After much deliberation, Martins had no choice but to tell Melody about her biological mother.

Melody wore a sad expression about Pesillini’s death, but she hugged him tightly, saying that she was happy because she still had a father.

She even patted his back with her small hands as if comforting Martins.

After that day, Melody never asked about her biological mother.

‘So I thought she was okay, but that wasn’t the case.’

Martins felt sorry.

It was clear that she didn’t show it to him, but she always missed her biological mother in her heart.

“Your Majesty, are you alright?”

“I’m fine, continue.”

Martins said, erasing his complicated expression.

“Yes. So, after looking around Lady Pesillini’s residence and taking a walk in the West Palace, she met Princess Mao of the Aclato Kingdom. Princess Mao seemed to be coming from talking with Prince Ramses.”

“Princess Mao will also be accompanying them tomorrow?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Princess Mao, who likes books, also wanted to go with them, but she was very upset that she couldn’t.”

“Hmph, so our Melody comforted Princess Mao.”

Because comforting others is her specialty.

Martins asked with a gentle smile.

“Yes, that’s right.”

Elsa smiled and replied, then continued.

“If Prince Ramses goes out to the Imperial City tomorrow, Lady Resilia will move, right?”

“That’s right. I should let them know to pay attention to the surrounding environment so that no gnats gather.”

Anyway, he was going to take a break for a while for the evening banquet and then return to the main palace.

‘I should discuss this issue with the two of them at the right time after the banquet.’

Martins was planning to tell Emperor Norton and Empress Rosie about Resilia’s news.

And he also had to tell Emperor Linell to strengthen the escort for Ramses and Lily’s Imperial City outing tomorrow.

***

After the evening banquet, the adults remained in the banquet hall for a glass of wine.

The children flocked to Matthias’ room. It was a time to play as much as they wanted until the attendants came to find them.

Lily and Prince Ramses were the last to head to Matthias’ room.

“Ramses!”

A voice was heard as they walked down the hallway.

Ramses turned his head towards the direction of Moiyah’s voice.

Moiyah and Moni were waving their hands from outside the hallway window.

“We finally found out about your mother, Moni~?”

“Really?”

When Ramses asked back, this time Moiyah patted her shoulder with her hand and spoke again.

“We had to work so hard to find out where your mother was hiding, Moiyah~?”

“That’s right. We couldn’t sleep at night and wandered around to find out.”

Moni also added.

In fact, Ramses had been asking Moiyah and Moni to find out about Resilia’s whereabouts for several months.

Although she was his biological mother whom he didn’t even know, he was very curious about how she was doing.

Of course, this was a separate feeling from his love for Rosie, who had raised him like her own child since he was young.

As Ramses grew up, his hair color changed to light pink.

When he was a baby, it was blonde like his father, Emperor Norton, but as he grew up, it turned into his biological mother’s hair.

Like Melody, Ramses had first heard about his biological mother from the palace people in the Imperial Palace since he was young.

Why she was abandoned by his father, what sins she had committed, and even the story that his biological mother accidentally dropped him into the valley when he was a baby.

Before entering the academy, Ramses went to Emperor Norton and asked him directly about his biological mother.

Emperor Norton told him everything Ramses was curious about frankly.

He felt like his mind was organized after hearing his father’s words.

Half of the stories about Resilia that Ramses had heard from the palace people were exaggerated or beautified.

He also heard at that time that his biological mother moved between the monasteries of the Shat-Onil Kingdom and the Rafion Empire once a year.

Ramses wanted to see his biological mother from afar if he had the chance while visiting the Rafion Empire for Princess Lily’s birthday party this time.

It was obvious that his father would not allow it if he told him, and he thought that his mother, Rosie, might feel sad, so he had no choice but to find out secretly.

Of course, he didn’t have high expectations.

He didn’t even think about meeting her in person.

But.

“Resilia is in the Imperial City right now. It’s very close from here, Moni~?”

“We worked so~ hard to find out. This is something we should receive a box of sausages for.”

Moiyah said, putting on airs.

They had accidentally found out by chasing the carrier pigeons that had been going back and forth to the Imperial Palace yesterday and today, but they lied because they were blinded by the sausage.

Whatever the process, they deserved to receive the sausage because they found their biological mother!

Moiyah and Moni had agreed on that.

“Where in the Imperial City…… is she?”

Ramses’ voice trembled a little.

Moiyah and Moni pursed their lips and turned their ruby-colored eyes away, pretending not to know.

“Where is it~? I can’t remember all of a sudden?”

“Am I hungry~? Aha, am I hungry for sausage?”

“I’ll give you two boxes of sausage.”

At Ramses’ offer, Moiyah immediately spat out the words.

“She’s staying at an inn near the plaza, Moiyah~?”

“Shall we take you there tomorrow?”

Moni shouted after her.

“Tomorrow won’t work. There will be many eyes watching. And I don’t want to let my parents know.”

“Then it’s difficult, Moni~?”

“Is there no other way?”

Ramses’ expression became serious.

Lily stared at Ramses’ gloomy face.

Lily, who usually hated complicated thoughts, couldn’t follow the conversation between Ramses and the two wyverns [small, dragon-like creatures].

Besides, Lily was even more confused because she knew that Ramses’ biological mother was Empress Rosie.

‘Do I have two mothers-in-law? What should I do?’

What to do? Be nice to both of them!

That was Lily’s conclusion.

“Prince, I’ll help you!”

“……Princess?”

“There’s a place where you can sneak out.”

Lily whispered secretly to Ramses, then looked at Moiyah and Moni.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

Ominously.

Lily always had a glint in her eyes whenever she was about to cause a big accident, and this was roughly that situation.

“Looking at her smiling face, it seems like she has a plan?”

Moni also whispered to Moiyah, looking at Lily with uneasy eyes.

“How will the Princess help us?”

Ramses asked, grasping at straws.

Still, he strangely trusted her because of her unusual eyes.

“Hehe, I know a dog hole where I can get out!”

Lily said with a proud face.

Then, with a solemn voice, she showed her crazy execution power, saying, ‘I will serve you. Let’s go.’

Grasping Ramses’ hand, she avoided the central staircase and started running to the end of the hallway staircase used by the attendants.

Lily was usually quite meticulous even when she caused accidents, unlike Matthias.

Moiyah and Moni began to conflict as they watched the two children’s backs.

“Should we stop them, should we help them? I’m confused, Moni~?”

“Oong~? But it’s okay as long as we don’t get caught by the owner, Moiyah~?”

As always, the two held hands affectionately and flew out of the window again to cause an accident together.

But there was someone who was secretly eavesdropping on this scene.

“What’s a dog hole?”

Matthias came out to look for his sister and Prince Ramses and secretly hid behind the statue to eavesdrop on their conversation.

“Hmph, you went out without me? I’m going to tell everyone!”

Matthias ran to Zelda and Linell in the banquet hall.

***

The banquet hall after dinner was reminiscent of a ball.

When Linell started drinking wine, he had Stian call in the orchestra.

As everyone became pleasantly drunk, they began to dance with their partners.

As the music became more cheerful, everyone held hands and danced in a circle, changing partners.

Because King Hector kept stepping on their feet, everyone was busy advising him, ‘Be careful!’, ‘Stay calm!’, ‘Look down while dancing!’ whenever it was their turn to be partners with King Hector.

“Everyone, please take care of our Great King. I have to dance to my heart’s content today. Hohoho!”

Melanie clung to Linell and danced the waltz, and as soon as the song changed, she danced with Emperor Norton, and she also hooked arms with King Martins and spun around and around, and then she danced with Count Ethan in the traditional way because she was dizzy.

Melanie, you look really happy.

I smiled as I watched Melanie dance with fire on the soles of her feet.

She said that every time she danced with Hector in the Aclato Kingdom, she had been stepped on countless times and had lost her toenails three times.

So today, she declared that she would dance with other partners to her heart’s content.

Because of that, King Hector became the apple of our eyes, Rosie and Catherine, and was reduced to a state of being scolded.

Catherine stepped forward and showed the basics of social dance and taught him.

“Yes, move your right foot back and your left foot forward naturally…… No. That’s not it!”

Catherine’s patience, which had been showing kindness to the fullest, began to collapse.

That shrill voice, I haven’t heard it in a long time.

I knew she was holding back well.

“How many times do I have to tell you! You have to come out naturally? How can you stick your foot out as if you’re going to kick the other person’s shin!”

Catherine’s teachings, which started with kindness and elegance, were nowhere to be found, and her voice gradually rose.

King Hector, who was very intimidated, moved his feet while looking at Catherine’s eyes, but there was no sign of improvement at all.

“Hoo, you should just give up on dancing.”

Catherine raised both hands and finally surrendered.

“I think I can do it if I do it a little more…….”

King Hector said pleadingly, but he trailed off, as if he didn’t have any confidence even when he thought about it himself.

King Hector’s tall height seemed to shrink more and more in front of Catherine.

Rosie and I watched the two people while holding back our laughter, and then we made eye contact with King Hector.

“What should we do? He’s coming towards us.”

“It’s not me. He’s coming while looking at Empress Rosie.”

“Why are you doing this, Your Majesty the Empress. The direction is not towards me!”

Whatever direction Hector was walking in, I gently pushed Rosie’s back forward.

As long as it’s not me.

‘Shoo, shoo, go to Rosie.’

I prayed as if chanting a spell in my heart.

“Your Majesty Empress Zelda…….”

King Hector finally called me.

I can’t openly frown, this is really embarrassing.

At that time, the banquet hall door opened and Matthias ran towards me.

How lovely he is.

“Mother~!”

Our son is our savior.

“Oh, yes. Matthias~.”

I quickly turned my back on King Hector who was approaching and opened my arms to Matthias.

“What’s wrong?”

“I came to tell you.”

Matthias said in a voice full of mission, like a knight commander going to the battlefield.

“……What?”

“Your Majesty’s daughter has escaped the Imperial Palace through a dog hole.”

“Matthias, what are you talking about?”

“She ran away with Prince Ramses.”

Matthias grumbled with a resentful face.

What the hell is this? A dog hole…….

How did Lily know about that?

I calmed myself down for now and asked Matthias.

“Oh, where are they going?”

“I don’t know. But, do you know who Resilia is?”

“?!”