The Stand-In Empress’S Wedding Night [EN]: Chapter 130

130. Anything You Want?

2022.04.02.

The Magic Tower Master greeted Rinell a beat late.

Was he flustered that the busy Emperor himself had visited the VIP room?

“Your leg wound from the arrow was quite severe… I was worried, so I came with the Empress.”

Contrary to his words, Rinell’s voice didn’t sound worried at all.

“Thank you for your concern.”

The Magic Tower Master replied with an equally ungrateful expression.

“You are a valued guest, and since you’ve agreed to accompany us on the Continental Hunting Competition, I’m even more concerned.”

I gently raised the corners of my lips, putting on a much better act than Rinell.

“I will recover quickly so as not to cause you any concern.”

The Magic Tower Master answered me very docilely.

As if his wounds would heal on their own if he just decided to recover quickly.

‘Hmm? He already looks fine?’

I looked down at the Magic Tower Master’s leg and tilted my head.

I thought he was limping a bit when I first saw him in the audience chamber, but now he’s walking perfectly fine.

It was strange that his wound could have healed completely in half a day.

Rinell and I sat side by side on the sofa.

It would seem odd to suddenly ask about the ‘Kelbarn’ herb…

It would be best to naturally transition to the topic of herbs while having another conversation.

But, what should I say?

My 고민 [Korean: worry, concern] began the moment my eyes met the Magic Tower Master sitting in front of me.

That will be the same face next year, and even in 10 or 50 years.

It was the same thought I had when I first saw the Magic Tower Master’s face, but it’s a mysterious appearance every time I see it.

Perhaps my gaze was a bit too blatant, as the Magic Tower Master touched his jawline and asked me.

“Is there something on my face?”

“Yes, youth and freshness.”

The Magic Tower Master’s eyes widened as if he didn’t expect that answer, and then he wore a shy expression.

I don’t know why someone who has lived so long keeps smiling like a spring maiden, but it seemed better than him frowning at my words.

Rinell glanced at me out of the corner of his eye.

Ah, was that too informal of an expression as the Empress?

“It’s not that great when you get to know it, Your Majesty.”

The Magic Tower Master replied with a bitter smile.

That remark just now. It’s very dangerous, isn’t it?

If the noble ladies who risk their lives to grind the skin of monsters to make wrinkle-removing cream and pay a fortune to apply it heard that, they would curse the Magic Tower Master to his face.

“In what way is it not good?”

“I think I know why the Magic Tower Master says that?”

Rinell interjected, throwing out a meaningful remark.

“Yes?”

The Magic Tower Master asked him back as if asking what he meant.

“How many funerals of the women you loved have you attended in your long life?”

Ah, if you live a long time, you will have the pain of sending your loved ones away first.

“…It’s difficult to say, Your Majesty.”

The Magic Tower Master glanced at me for no reason and replied to him, instead of answering the question.

I was secretly curious about the Magic Tower Master’s answer, so I was a little disappointed.

As the Magic Tower Master avoided answering, my curiosity was further piqued.

“Perhaps, is it difficult to say because you can’t count the number?”

“I… don’t look back on the past.”

The Magic Tower Master laughed ‘haha’ and glossed over it.

“I heard you’ve looked the same for 250 years. How old were you exactly when this happened? Some say 20, others say 21.”

“To be honest, I don’t remember exactly. Whether it was 20 or 21, the important thing is that I continue to look like this.”

“That’s true. How did time stop?”

It must have been after the Avatar inside me left the Magic Tower Master’s body.

But I asked as if I didn’t know anything.

As the Magic Tower Master swept his hair back with his hand, honey-colored hair flowed back down below his eyebrows like golden waves.

“Doesn’t Your Majesty know very well?”

“!”

I was startled without realizing it, but I played dumb and asked.

“…What do I know?”

“I’m talking about how the Avatar inside me left me and wandered for a long time before settling into the body of a 7-year-old girl.”

“!”

The Magic Tower Master already knew everything.

***

Rosie, who came out of the main palace, headed back to the West Palace with a basket.

Rosie, who had been silent all along, looked down at the basket as she approached her residence and whispered softly.

“I wonder if the Magic Tower Master will remember Mother?”

“Probably? She was one of his last disciples, and the only woman in the Magic Tower.”

Moya pushed the basket up slightly with her head and replied.

“My mother said that she wasn’t popular with her fellow wizards, so she came over to the continent.”

Rosie smiled brightly and said.

“Yeah! I can tell just by looking at your face.”

“…Hey, my mother was a beauty, okay? Where did you get that lie?”

Rosie glared at Moya with wide eyes.

“She wasn’t that beautiful? Where did you get that lie?”

Moya, who could see the outside world even from inside the egg, recalled Rosie’s mother’s face as she rummaged through her memories.

Rosie couldn’t refute Moya’s confident words and looked up at the sky for a moment, whispering sadly.

“I’m sorry, Mother…”

“Oong? Maybe my memory is wrong? Ah, so your face is ruined because of your father?”

Moya asked profoundly in a voice of deep realization.

“My father was handsome when he was young! No, he was handsome…”

He had claimed that all his life, so I guess he was.

Rosie, who had raised her voice, suddenly changed her words slightly as her father’s face flashed through her mind.

“Then you… what happened to your face?”

Moya questioned with a greatly surprised look.

“Miyaong. (Don’t discourage Rosie.)”

Aoshi slapped Moya’s back from inside the basket.

“Hmph, what are you talking about? I even received a confession.”

Rosie lifted her chin and boasted, and Moya and Aoshi covered each other’s mouths and giggled inside the basket.

She walked silently for a while before opening her mouth again.

“You know, guys. I want to meet the Magic Tower Master soon and hear about my mother, but I’m actually worried…”

“About what?”

Moya raised the basket lid again with her head and asked.

“If the Magic Tower Master finds out that you hatched from the egg, will he stay still? Originally, you also belong to him. I hope he’s a good person…”

“He’s not normal, but he’s not that bad.”

From Moya’s perspective, who had lived for 300 years since she was in the egg, the Magic Tower Master, who had been living as a 21-year-old for 250 years, was still much younger than her.

“That’s right. Is the Magic Tower Master’s appearance really in his early 20s? Even though he’s lived that long?”

“I think he looked beautiful sometimes.”

“Wow, I’m getting more curious.”

“But a cold body is a little better than a face.”

Moya felt somehow resentful that she had just praised Rinell.

Still, what’s ugly is ugly, and the truth is the truth.

“So, his appearance is almost on par with His Majesty?”

“You could say that.”

Moya thought about the faces of the two men and nodded.

“No matter what, he’s not one of those four orange-haired guys, Moya~.”

Aoshi, who had been listening quietly in the basket, poked Moya’s side with her paw and cried.

“Miyaaong. (You’re too honest.)”

“I think Prince Noden is more handsome than His Majesty…”

Rosie subtly inserted Prince Noden between the two handsome men.

“You, stop reading books now. Your eyesight has gotten much worse.”

Moya gave a stern warning.

Then Rosie was about to say something in anger,

“Rosie-sama! Where have you been?”

Melanie raised her hand high from afar and approached Rosie.

She seemed to be heading to Rosie’s palace with her maid, Hedon.

Rosie thought it was a stroke of luck that she met Melanie in the garden.

If the paths had diverged even a little, the situation would have been very difficult.

Rams is being taken care of by Misha in the bedroom, but Melanie might have rushed into the bedroom, saying she would wait for her inside.

“Oong? It’s my friend.”

Moya was happy to hear Melanie’s voice.

“Absolutely don’t come out. No, doppelganger as Aoshi, hurry.”

Rosie quickly said as Moya pushed her head into the basket.

There was a commotion inside the basket for a few seconds before it became quiet again.

“Don’t tell me you went on a picnic alone? Without a maid?”

Melanie asked, looking down at the basket Rosie was holding.

***

I didn’t expect the Magic Tower Master to mention the Avatar so openly.

Can he sense the existence of the Avatar from me?

“The Avatar… wasn’t something I wanted.”

It seemed useless to deny the existence of the Avatar.

I admitted it, but my words were somewhat defensive.

Rinell, who was sitting next to me, gently grabbed my hand and placed it on his lap.

It seemed like a signal not to worry.

I had confessed about the Avatar the day he found out about Moya’s existence.

Feeling his warm touch, I thought it was a good thing I had told him in advance.

“I didn’t mean to blame Your Majesty.”

The Magic Tower Master said, staring at our hands overlapping on Rinell’s lap.

“I felt the existence of the Avatar from when I was 7 years old, as you said. There was an accident in the royal magician’s laboratory.”

I briefly explained to the Magic Tower Master how the Avatar came to be inside me.

“Aha.”

“Princess Resilia accidentally spilled the red reagent on the right side of my face. After that, I suffered from a fever for a while and then learned about the existence of the Avatar.”

I could feel the strength in Rinell’s hand holding mine.

But the Magic Tower Master’s expression as he listened to my story was not at all surprised.

He had a relaxed expression, as if he already knew from someone else.

“It’s amazing that you overcame the energy of the Avatar at that age. Usually, the probability of dying without overcoming that energy is high.”

“It seems you already know how the Avatar came to be inside me?”

When I asked openly, an unexpected word came out of the Magic Tower Master’s mouth.

“The red reagent that the court magician made was originally… something I was researching for.”

“Do you know Logan Epin…?”

“Of course. He was my disciple.”

“Logan is the Magic Tower Master’s disciple?!”

The Magic Tower Master nodded.

“Yes, the night Logan came to meet me to tell me about the accident, the royal knights followed him. Apparently, they thought Logan was running away.”

“Why would they think that? Logan had no reason to run away at that time.”

Besides, leaving behind his daughter, Bonis.

“Logan said that Princess Resilia made eye contact with him as he entered the laboratory at the moment of the accident.”

“I remember too, Logan came into the lab as soon as Princess Resilia spilled the red reagent on my face.”

It was a vivid moment for me, like it was yesterday.

The Magic Tower Master raised his eyebrows for a moment and continued.

“It seems that the royal family was watching Logan because Princess Resilia said that Logan had seen everything she had done. In the meantime, when Logan suddenly went out at night, they followed him, thinking that he might have noticed the surveillance and was running away. An order may have been given to eliminate him altogether.”

“Ah…”

As the Magic Tower Master said, there was a high possibility that the royal family sent knights to silence Logan.

“Fortunately, I met him that night before being discovered by the royal knights.”

“Where is Logan now…?”

“He is living with me in the Magic Tower.”

“Logan has a daughter named Bonis. Do you know? She is now living here with me as my maid.”

I said, barely calming my excitement.

“Logan also misses Bonis very much.”

I wanted to tell Bonis this fact right away.

The Magic Tower Master smiled as if he had read my thoughts.

“There’s no need to rush. People who are meant to meet will eventually meet when the time comes. Logan will meet Bonis when the time comes.”

“Bonis will be really happy.”

When I said with a smile, the Magic Tower Master nodded and smiled.

I wanted to avoid the Magic Tower Master’s intense gaze that was looking at me, but since the story of the Avatar came up, I brought up the story about the cure in one breath.

“Um… do you know about the herb ‘Kelbarn’? I heard it only grows on Aclato Island.”

“I’ve lived as a 20-year-old for 250 years, and I’ve spent almost all my time on the island, so I can’t help but know.”

The Magic Tower Master said in a tone that it would be strange if he didn’t know the herb.

Besides, he seemed to already know why I was asking about the ‘Kelbarn’ herb.

The Magic Tower Master’s gaze stayed on the scar on the right side of my face.

I clenched my dress and cheered inwardly.

“If I give you that information… what can I get?”

The Magic Tower Master asked me slyly with a subtle smile, like a merchant trading goods.

“It seems you want something.”

Rinell stared at the Magic Tower Master intently and said.

“I do.”

“Tell me comfortably. I’ll give you anything I can give for you.”