The Stand-In Empress’S Wedding Night [EN]: Chapter 108

108. My Husband Got Cuter

2022.01.15.

I hurried out of the tub before the water got too hot. After about 30 minutes of drinking wine across the table from him in the bedroom, we started playing Tepang, a card game infamous for bankrupting even the most established noble families overnight. I wasn’t getting drunk at all, so I suggested it to spice things up. He boasted about being quite good at Tepang, but I proposed a completely different version: a luck-based game where you match the patterns on face-down Tepang cards with the cards in your hand.

“The penalty is a flick on the forehead, okay?”

“I’ve never done anything like this before in my life.”

“We can’t exactly bet our fingers.”

I shuffled the cards with a grin.

“You didn’t mark the cards beforehand, did you?”

“What do you take me for? This is purely a game of chance. Trust your intuition and the feeling in your fingertips.”

We each drew 10 cards, then placed the Tepang cards face down in the center and started. Twenty minutes later… I thought it was my lucky day since I wasn’t getting drunk, but I was wrong. Every card I drew was a dud. He had already flicked my forehead three times in a row, and now it was time for the fourth.

“Zelda, let’s change the penalty.”

“Why?”

“This feels like *my* penalty. Why does my finger hurt more from flicking your forehead?”

“?”

He wiggled his middle finger, expressing his dissatisfaction.

“Your fingers must be weak.”

“Or maybe your forehead is too strong?”

When you can’t argue back, a quick change of subject is the answer.

“Tying rubber bands in the loser’s hair! How about that?”

Linell agreed to my proposed game this time as well. Fortunately, the goddess of luck was on my side from this round on. It wasn’t because I was good; it was because he drew every card I had. I couldn’t have done worse even if I tried to lose on purpose. Thus, it was proven that His Majesty the Emperor had terrible luck, and I adorably tied a total of five rubber bands in his hair: three on his bangs and two on the back. Ah… so cute. My heart ached. Even though I deliberately made his hair look ridiculous, instead of looking strange, it only added to his handsomeness and cuteness. As the game continued, my hair also suffered. I had lost two games so far, and he had tied my hair into extremely crooked pigtails. He had more rubber bands in his hair, but I looked more ridiculous.

“Zelda, are you a pro? You’re surprisingly good at games. And your alcohol tolerance is higher than I thought.”

“The cards are just sticking to my hand today. I’m actually a lightweight. But I guess I’m not getting drunk because I keep winning?”

I shuffled the cards again, doing a little shoulder dance.

“So you turn into a fox instead of a dog when you drink?” (referring to her cunning and slyness when winning)

He looked at the card he had just drawn with a somewhat wronged expression and despaired.

“What’s wrong? Did you draw another bad one?”

“No, why do I keep drawing cards with patterns I don’t have?”

Linell sighed, put the card face down, and picked up the wine bottle.

“We’re out of wine. Wait here. I’ll tell them to bring another bottle. You know what happens if I catch you peeking at the cards, Empress?”

“Of course. Games should be fair and square.”

I put down my cards and reassured him. He nodded and walked towards the bedroom door, then suddenly turned back to look at me. Crap, I almost got caught! It was the moment I was about to reach for his cards. Why did he have to turn around then?

“Don’t be suspicious.”

I raised my voice unnecessarily, feeling like I’d been caught.

“Keep your hands behind you.”

“I’ll put them on top of my head.”

When I put both hands on my head, he burst out laughing, opened the bedroom door, and went to find Stian. As soon as the bedroom door closed with a click, a sudden realization dawned on me.

“Ah, the hair!”

He must have forgotten what his hair looked like. That’s why he confidently opened the bedroom door and went out like that. What should I do? There must be many servants outside! I jumped up from the chair and quickly ran out of the bedroom. I hurriedly opened the door and saw Linell giving Stian and Sharon orders to bring wine and snacks in a stern voice. He didn’t seem to have noticed the shocked expressions on the faces of the two people in front of him and the other servants yet.

“Your Majesty! Your Majesty…?”

When I urgently called out to him, Linell turned to look at me. He, along with Stian and Sharon, flinched simultaneously.

“Empress, go back inside. Now.”

He said, fiddling with the hair on the side of his head with both hands. ‘Why is he acting like this all of a sudden?’ The moment I thought that, I remembered my hair. Ah, this is so embarrassing…

What will the servants think? They’ll gossip that we’re both crazy, right?

“Too much alcohol is bad for your health, so you should stop for today.”

Stian seemed to think we were drunk.

“Y-yes, you both seem very tired today…”

Sharon continued with a voice full of laughter. I grabbed his sleeve and quickly went back into the bedroom.

“We should stop drinking. Everyone thinks we’re drunk.”

“They probably think we’re out of our minds.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know what to say when you ask why with so many rubber bands in your hair.”

I grabbed the rubber bands tied on both sides of his head and said.

“Is it funny?”

He pinched my cheek and hugged me tightly. Linell’s face was so cute it made my heart ache, but his body was in such a magnificent state. His upper and lower body were playing separately like water and oil (meaning his cute face didn’t match his muscular body).

“Cute.”

He said to me.

“Linell is cuter.”

“Me?”

“Do you want to look in the mirror?”

I grabbed his hand and tried to walk towards the mirror, but he didn’t budge.

“It’s better not to look. I don’t have the confidence to face this.”

He was reluctant, but when I desperately pulled his hand, he eventually gave in and was dragged to the mirror.

“…How many servants were outside just now?”

He asked me, facing the mirror.

“Not a few, why?”

“I’m going to get rid of them all.”

Linell looked around the bedroom, wondering where he had put his sword, then muttered, ‘No, I shouldn’t do that,’ and looked back at the mirror.

“Ah, look at me.”

He closed his eyes tightly, looking very distressed. I patted his back and said,

“You’re not the only one who’s embarrassed.”

So don’t be too ashamed, I said, offering words of comfort.

“I have five embarrassments, but you only have two.”

He grabbed my pigtails, which he had tied so bizarrely, and argued. Who lost the game?

“…Now, take off the rubber bands and calm down.”

I took off one of the rubber bands tied on top of his head. Oh dear, did I tie it too tight?

“What should I do? My hair won’t go down even after I take off the rubber band.”

The spot where the rubber band was tied stood up like grass.

“Your hair must be angry too.”

He raised his hand and fiddled with his hair, then gave up and burst out laughing.

“Should we sleep like this?”

“Why?”

“Because I want to laugh as soon as I open my eyes in the morning.”

“The servants will be surprised again if they come in, won’t they?”

“They’ll just think we drank too much last night.”

“And they’ll laugh among themselves again.”

I replied, getting on the bed. Linell hugged me from behind, lay down, and pressed his body against mine.

“Do you still want to do that in this ridiculous state?”

“See, isn’t this true love?”

“What should I do? I think I’ll just laugh when I see Linell’s face.”

Even as I said that, I kept laughing.

“Yeah, so I’ll cherish you from behind today.”

“…Pardon?”

“Zelda, it’s not just my appearance that’s funny.”

Linell shook my hair and said.

“Hehehe, sorry, I didn’t know my place. Hehehe.”

The moment I turned my body to face him, I burst out laughing again at his hair.

“You should know that you’re just as funny, older sister?”

He whispered in my ear and tickled me. Wait, this isn’t yaja time (a Korean term for role-reversal play), and he’s older than me, so why does he keep calling me older sister?

“Is it because I didn’t play these kinds of pranks when I was young? It’s quite fun.”

“What was Linell’s childhood like?”

“Proper. Just like now.”

It was a statement that didn’t match his current hairstyle at all, but I nodded, thinking of his usual appearance.

“What about Zelda? Were you strong even when you were young? Your forehead is almost like marble.”

“I think so. When the young ladies of my age were playing with dolls, I was playing with throwing stones or rocks.”

“…Where did you throw stones or rocks? What were you trying to hit?”

“In my young mind, I thought I could hit the sun or the moon if I threw stones. I was so innocent.”

“Not an idiot?”

“It was childlike innocence.”

Linell tilted his head back and laughed, then said with a serious expression.

“If we have a daughter who looks like you, I’ll put her under 24-hour surveillance.”

I looked up at the ceiling, then turned my head to look at him.

“I wouldn’t worry if it was a son who looked like me.”

He turned his body to lie down towards me and added. Children… children who look like him and me. A smile appeared on my face without me realizing it.

“Do you like children?”

“No. But I think I’d be happy if I had a child who looked like you.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I think life would be very different if you and I had a child. In a good way, of course. What do you think?”

“I think so too…”

Resilia’s words that there were contraceptives in the magic potion bottles flashed through my mind. The last remaining potion bottle must also have contraceptives mixed in. From now on, when ordering from the magician Big, I have to ask them to remove the contraceptives. I wonder if Grand Duke Martins has met the magician Big yet? Maybe he’s already received the magic potions. If there are contraceptives in the newly received potion, I’ll have to order again, and if there are no contraceptives, I shouldn’t drink the potion I have now.

“So, since we both want children, we’ll get pregnant if we try a little harder… right?”

He caressed my right cheek and said gently. I nodded and hugged Linell, listening to his heartbeat.

*** The next day. I headed to Rosie’s residence again today. Rams’ chubby and lovely face from yesterday lingered in my mind, and I also wanted to see the cat today.

“Y-Your Majesty the Empress!”

A servant I had never seen before bowed deeply to me in Rosie’s bedroom waiting room. It seemed like she was flustered because the Empress had visited a concubine’s residence for two days in a row.

“Please wait a moment, Rosie is currently in the bathroom. She ordered no one to enter, but I will quickly go and tell her that Your Majesty the Empress has arrived.”

Ah, maybe she told no one to enter because she was trying to bathe Rams? Come to think of it, Rosie’s close aide, Misha, was also nowhere to be seen. She was probably washing Rams with her. It would be troublesome if another servant found out about Rams’ existence if they went in.

“No, don’t bother. I can just go in.”

At my words, Sharon directly opened Rosie’s bedroom door. I entered the bedroom with Sharon and Bonus and went straight to the bathroom. Sharon knocked on the bathroom door and said quietly.

“Rosie, Her Majesty the Empress has arrived.”

Then, Misha opened the door from inside the bathroom.

“Welcome, Your Majesty the Empress.”

Behind Misha, Rosie was seen holding Rams, and her face was covered in sweat.

“You’re bathing Rams.”

“Yes, Your Majesty the Empress. He doesn’t cry and is very quiet, so it’s easy to wash him.”

“Okay, that’s good. Take your time and come out.”

“Yes! Please wait a moment. I’ll be out soon.”

I strolled around her bedroom while waiting for Rosie.

“I don’t see the cat again today?”

Sharon asked me.

“I know. Is it under the bed again?”

I went to the front of the bed and tilted my head down.

“Meow? Are you here again today?”

“Mee-ow.”

As if responding to my words, a cat’s meow was heard from under the bed. When I tried to put my hand under the bed, a small, cute white kitten slid out as if it had been pushed by someone. The kitten trembled.

“Why are you trembling so much? You used to be affectionate when we first met. Are you scared of me?”

Surprisingly, as if understanding my words, the kitten shook its head. Then, it rubbed its two front paws together and looked up at me with tearful eyes. The emerald eyes mixed with blue looked pitiful. …Wait.

“Your eye color has changed?”