The Stand-In Empress’S Wedding Night [EN]: Chapter 124

124. Master of Dance

2022.03.12.

“Moya, I clearly said no earlier, didn’t I?”

I quickly spoke up.

“You heard that, right?”

Linelle rested his chin on the table, looking at Moya as if teasing him.

“Tell him to let me stay. Tell him, quick.”

Moya made a request that sounded more like a demand.

“Why are you bothering me when your master said no?”

“Ugh, you heartless human. Not only is your body cold, but your heart is too!”

Moya turned away and approached me again.

“He says it’s only up to you, Master.”

“……?”

Moya interpreted Linelle’s words in a way that suited him. When I looked at Linelle, he nodded.

“Alright, just for today. You have to leave tomorrow morning.”

“Yay, I almost got excited and breathed fire again!”

Moya, who got to spend the night in the main palace bedroom, was overjoyed and shook his shoulders wildly, dancing on the table. Where have I seen that dance before…? That’s right! It’s the dance Rosie did while watching Prince Norton at the banquet party.

“Does Rosie teach you dances too?”

I couldn’t resist my curiosity and asked Moya.

“I taught Rosie, actually. Would you like to learn today, Master?”

“……No, I’m alright. Sharon seems interested in learning.”

I pointed to Sharon, who was chuckling beside me. Sharon was startled and tried to wave her hands, but Moya beat her to it.

“I don’t teach for free.”

Moya held out his palm to Sharon.

“Wh-what?”

“Bring me sausage. Then I’ll teach you.”

So, the price for that bizarre dance Rosie performed at the banquet was sausage.

“Looks like you’re hungry.”

Linelle said with a smile, and Moya turned to him, replying in a sad voice.

“Uh-huh, I’ve only had five meals today.”

“Bring it to him.”

Linelle gestured to Sharon with his eyes.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Sharon got up from her chair and walked towards the bedroom door, but Moya shouted.

“Raw, not cooked!”

“Ah, do you prefer it uncooked?”

Linelle asked, and Moya grinned, shaking his head.

“I’ll cook it myself. I’m the best sausage cooker in the world, Moya~”.

“Sharon, bring plenty. Let’s all taste the wyvern-cooked sausage.”

“Your Majesty, are you serious?”

I asked with a hollow laugh.

“Totally.”

“Hmph, who said I’d cook it for you?”

Moya said sulkily, glancing back at Linelle. Then Linelle knocked on the table and said to Moya in a demanding tone.

“Hey, I’m letting you sleep here for the night, so you should at least do this much. Right? Strictly speaking, all the sausage you’ve eaten so far is mine.”

At his serious tone, Moya quickly admitted it and even asked about his preference.

“That’s true. Medium? Well-done? How would you like it cooked?”

“I like it well-done.”

Raphael raised his hand, casually joining in.

“Ugh, there’s another one of those here.”

Moya glared at Raphael with a bothered expression and shook his head. A moment later, Sharon entered the bedroom with a tray. The plate she placed on the table was full of various types of sausages. Kwaa, kwaaaak-! Moya picked up a sausage with a face full of happiness and breathed fire. Although still a hatchling, a wyvern is still a wyvern, so the flames were quite strong. Everyone stared in amazement as the sausage cooked in the fire coming from Moya’s mouth.

“It might cook more evenly if you make some slits in the sausage.”

At Sharon’s suggestion, Linelle casually raised the dagger he was holding and pulled the tray towards him.

“Your Majesty! I’ll do it.”

Sharon quickly reached out her hand towards the plate.

“No. I’ll do it myself.”

Linelle began to carefully make slits in the sausage. Moya handed me the first sausage he cooked and said to Linelle.

“Your Majesty, you’re not only good at beheading people, but you’re also good at slicing sausages?”

“……Thank you for the compliment.”

“I’ll pat your head when we get closer. Don’t expect that already.”

Linelle was momentarily taken aback, but quickly raised the corners of his mouth and replied.

“Alright, don’t you expect to sleep on the bed already either.”

At his words, Moya covered his mouth and shuddered.

“You really are a cold-blooded Moya…….”

***

“Did you meet her? What did she say? Is she really pregnant?”

As soon as Prince Tesler returned to his detached palace lodging, Princess Resilia, who had been waiting in his room, bombarded him with questions.

“Resil, don’t mention that again.”

“Ha, so it’s true? What are you going to do now? If it’s revealed that Pesillini is pregnant during the hunting competition……!”

“That won’t happen.”

Prince Tesler said firmly.

“Everyone in the drawing-room today saw Pesillini retching and whispered about whether it was morning sickness. Men may not know, but women have a good sense of these things, you know? And her belly will get bigger and bigger.”

“We need to take action before that happens.”

“What do you mean?”

“What are you asking when you already know? I was secretly worried about how to handle it later, but this is a good thing. It’s not strange for one or two people to die during the hunting period.”

Prince Tesler said, recalling the image of Pesillini stroking her belly.

“That’s what the lower people did. Have there ever been cases of royalty or nobles dying during the hunting competition?”

“Hasn’t there? Then there will be this time.”

Prince Tesler shrugged and said without any hesitation. Knock, knock-. A cautious knock sounded, and Sir Kent entered the room.

“The princess is here too.”

Sir Kent gave a light bow to the siblings and approached.

“So, did you find out where Rams is?”

Prince Tesler asked with an expectant voice. The princess was also curious about her son’s whereabouts.

“I am sorry, by the time the assassin guilds found the place, he had already disappeared.”

“Wh-what? Where to!”

“Fortunately, the head of the assassin guild found the nanny that Prince Norton had hired.”

“Tear the nanny limb from limb and find out where she smuggled Rams to.”

“Even without doing that, we learned from questioning the nanny that the prince had taken him away himself some time ago.”

“Norton suddenly?”

Princess Resilia frowned, rolling her big eyes.

“Yes, perhaps he sensed something and moved first?”

At Sir Kent’s words, Prince Tesler bit his lip and cursed.

“Damn it, how did he know our movements?”

Prince Tesler, who was muttering seriously, looked at his sister with displeasure.

“It seems like it’s because of you, Resil.”

“What? Why me?”

“Didn’t you blabber unnecessary things to Norton? That’s why he suspected something and smuggled the child away, isn’t it?”

“What are you talking about right now? I’m Rams’ mother. Can’t a mother say she wants to see her child? Can’t she ask where he’s been taken? What’s so suspicious about that that he’d smuggle the child away to another place, huh!”

Princess Resilia screamed, flying into a rage.

“You only gave birth to him, but you have no affection for him. Once abandoned, can’t you abandon him twice? If I were Norton, I would have moved the child to a safer place just in case.”

Prince Tesler raised his voice as much as his sister.

“So, you’re saying that Norton hid Rams somewhere else because of me?”

Princess Resilia lowered her voice than before, but her tone was still irritable.

“If not, why else would he suddenly do that? Anyway, he moved the child to another place after you came to the Lapion Empire.”

Prince Tesler never imagined that Grand Duke Martins would have told Prince Norton about the order he gave that day to get rid of Rams when they were drinking.

“Th-that’s true, but…….”

“Tsk, tsk, Norton doesn’t trust you.”

Prince Tesler came to that conclusion. Princess Resilia couldn’t refute and only blew air through her nose in resentment.

‘Norton…… you don’t trust me and smuggled Rams away……?!’

He wasn’t the Norton of the past. When they reunited in the Lapion Imperial Palace, he was initially prickly towards her, but in the end, he crumbled in front of her in bed?

‘What on earth is Norton thinking?’

Princess Resilia couldn’t understand.

“It seems like the position of Empress of the Lapion Empire is out of the question, so try to win over Norton. Emperor Linelle changed the destination of the hunting competition this time, which has given us a good opportunity. We have to seize that opportunity.”

A smile crept back onto Prince Tesler’s face.

“Why is changing the destination an opportunity for us?”

“After finishing the hunting competition in the Tebello Empire, everyone will move to the Partsha Empire to encourage the marriage of Prince Kalvain and his wife.”

“Is the marriage of just the prince and his wife an opportunity for us?”

“Yes, I’m planning to win over the ministers who oppose Prince Kalvain’s marriage.”

“Why would you? You should be helping Prince Kalvain’s faction instead!”

At Princess Resilia’s words, the prince laughed heartily and shook his head.

“I’m going to lay the groundwork in advance to turn them towards Prince Norton. On the surface, I’ll pretend to support him until the coronation ceremony, but later, I’ll have the opposition raise the opinion that Kalvain, who killed his brother, and the empress who can’t produce an heir should be deposed, using Rams as a pretext.”

Prince Tesler’s eyes gleamed greedily as he talked about his plan.

“Hahaha, when did you even think of that? Amazing, our brother.”

The princess, impressed by Prince Tesler’s plan, clapped and laughed.

“So, you should try to appease Prince Norton. Don’t just keep asking where the child is, but show your affection for Rams.”

“No problem. If I cry sadly a few times in front of Norton, his suspicions will be cleared.”

“Yes, since Empress Jasper can’t have children anyway, it’s up to Norton to make up his mind.”

Prince Tesler put his hands on his sister’s shoulders and said in a confident tone.

“I need to meet Norton tomorrow and let him know how strong of a mother I am.”

“Yes, do your best. You can become an empress too.”

Prince Tesler encouraged his sister.

“But, where did he move Rams to?”

“Who cares? Now, all that matters is that Rams is safe.”

Prince Tesler spoke completely differently from when he ordered Rams to be eliminated a few days ago.

“Ah, that’s right. Are you just going to leave Zelda like that? She’s so annoying. A woman who was worse than my maid is now being so bossy to me…….”

Princess Resilia’s voice rose again.

“If she has a child, she’ll be even more arrogant, how can I stand that!”

“Hahaha, no matter how much the emperor loves Zelda day and night, it’s all in vain.”

Prince Tesler gestured to Sir Kent to bring wine and threw meaningful words at the princess.

“So, don’t get worked up over unnecessary things, and prepare to become the Empress of the Partsha Empire in the future.”

“What do you mean by that? What do you mean it’s all in vain? Are you talking about the contraceptive in the magic potion? That’s only temporary.”

“Resil, the truth is…….”

Prince Tesler whispered something to Princess Resilia, who was grumbling, and the princess grinned.

“Really?”

*** The next morning.

“Did you sleep well?”

I asked, kissing his forehead as he woke up.

“Yeah, although I woke up a few times because of the baby wyvern looking for its master.”

“You must be tired.”

“It’s okay. Did you sleep well, Master?”

Linelle asked, imitating Moya’s tone.

“I tossed and turned a bit.”

“Is it because of me, or because of Moya?”

Linelle sat up, putting his arm around my shoulder and leaning against the head of the bed, then chuckled as he looked at Moya, who was sprawled out on the edge of the bed.

“Huh? Why is he sleeping like that under our feet like a puppy?”

“Moya seems comfortable here.”

“Where wouldn’t a wyvern who thinks everyone in the world except its master is beneath it be comfortable?”

I agreed with his words and laughed.

“But, what are we going to do in the future?”

“About what?”

“I’m worried that Your Majesty will have trouble because of Moya, or rather, because of me. What if the Lapion Empire becomes the enemy of other countries…….”

“The probability is high.”

He continued the words I couldn’t bring myself to finish, looking silently at Moya.

“Don’t worry. There’s no one who can attack you, I won’t let that happen.”

He seemed to be trying to reassure me, seeing my anxious expression.

“But I’m a little scared.”

Not only the wyvern problem, but also the fire ability that I didn’t want was getting stronger.

“I’m always by your side.”

Linelle’s words suddenly reminded me of last night’s dream. I was walking into the fire. When Linelle grabbed my arm, his hand shattered like glass. It was as if we were beings who shouldn’t get close to each other. Even after waking up from the dream, that feeling was vivid. It’s just a nightmare, right? I hugged him and closed my eyes. I wanted to erase last night’s dream quickly. Listening to his heartbeat with my eyes closed seemed to calm my mind again, but the dream didn’t seem to be forgotten.

“Haaam! I couldn’t sleep well because of Rams, but I slept soundly for once, Moya~”.

Moya lifted his legs up and yawned, stretching them out to the side as if stretching.

“That’s unique. Humans stretch their arms, but wyverns spread their legs?”

“You’re right.”

We burst out laughing, looking at Moya. Knock, knock-.

“Your Majesty, I have something urgent to tell you!”

Raphael’s voice was heard outside the bedroom door. Linelle walked to the bedroom door and opened it himself.

“What is it, so early in the morning?”

“Yes, there is a distinguished guest who has requested an audience since morning. He has also requested that Her Majesty the Empress meet him.”

“Even the Empress?”

Linelle looked back at me and asked Raphael again.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“What’s going on? Who is the distinguished guest?”

“The distinguished guest staying at the detached palace is…… no, it’s not.”

“Then is it the High Priest?”

Linelle asked with a bothered expression, and Raphael shook his head.

“The Master of the Magic Tower of Aclato Island, Bellos Brodean, has visited.”

“……Who’s here?”