The Stand-In Empress’S Wedding Night [EN]: Chapter 14

The Emperor’s Fiancée?

“Lady Melanie, what a discourtesy to Her Majesty the Empress!”

Lady Catherine rebuked Lady Melanie, aware of my presence.

“Oh, it’s not a secret, is it? Those who need to know already do, and Her Majesty will find out soon anyway, so I just mentioned it in advance, didn’t I?”

Lady Melanie retorted to Lady Catherine with a prim expression.

“I’m hearing this for the first time!”

Just then, a clueless young lady widened her eyes and chimed in.

“Me too! Lady Catherine, is it really true that you were engaged to His Majesty since childhood?”

Curiosity rippled through the room at the interesting revelation. Contrary to Lady Melanie’s claim that those who needed to know already did, the fact that the two were once engaged seemed to be known only to a select few among the nobles. Encouraged by the other young ladies, Lady Melanie reluctantly spoke again.

“Lady Catherine, how old were you when you became engaged to His Majesty? I heard it from my father, but my memory isn’t so good, so I forgot, you see?”

“It’s just the past. What good is an old story now?”

Lady Catherine glanced at me before replying to Lady Melanie.

“Even if being engaged was in the past, things change if the heart is still in the present, don’t you think?”

Lady Melanie scoffed and pointed out rather sharply.

“Oh my goodness, heavens! So, Lady Catherine could have originally been the Empress…! Oh, I’m sorry. Your Majesty.”

Lady Pessilini of the Astor Marquisate, sitting next to Lady Melanie, belatedly covered her mouth and put on a clumsy act. I didn’t react to Lady Pessilini’s slip of the tongue and just took a sip of tea.

“I was so surprised that nonsense popped out. Please forgive me, Your Majesty.”

Lady Pessilini bowed to me again in a hateful voice that I didn’t want to forgive at all. I gestured to her that it was okay, though I almost flipped her off with my middle finger. Now, all eyes were focused on Lady Catherine, who originally had the highest probability of becoming the Empress of the Lapion Empire. Knowing that she was receiving everyone’s attention, she deliberately looked away and nibbled on a cookie. A small cookie that could be eaten in one bite… She only took a bite the size of bird feed. Goodness! Lady Catherine had already placed the remaining cookie on her teacup saucer, her expression carefully blank. Then, she pretended that this chaotic atmosphere had nothing to do with her. What was she thinking as she watched the wedding of the Emperor, to whom she had been engaged since childhood? The chilling look in Lady Catherine’s eyes the moment I entered the drawing room now made sense. Well, I’m just a proxy empress, so I’ll step down from this position anyway, but once Lady Catherine becomes a concubine, what will become of Princess Resilia, who will become the future remarried empress?

‘Zelda, please be honest. There’s something else you’re more curious about, isn’t there?’

My inner persona asked, sneering.

‘You’re more curious about whether that damn handsome Emperor will keep visiting the Empress’s Palace, even if his former fiancée becomes a concubine, right?’

Shut up. I shouted at my persona inwardly. After the fact that Emperor Linell and Lady Catherine had been engaged was revealed, the noble ladies began to comfort me, the Empress. Their comfort continued tirelessly, like a repetitive song. Actually, I was confused whether it was a comforting song or a taunting one.

“Your Majesty, it must be upsetting, but you have no choice but to follow His Majesty’s will.”

“Yes, traditionally, the Lapion Imperial Family has always had many concubines.”

“That’s right! The current Emperor is also the son of the third concubine, isn’t he?”

What? Linell is the son of a concubine?

“Your Majesty, didn’t you know this fact?”

Lady Melanie, seeing my flustered expression, asked as if wondering how I could have gone through with a state marriage without even knowing that. Yes, I didn’t know. So what? Do you think that’s the only thing I didn’t know?

“There’s no way she wouldn’t know.”

But without my knowing, a lie came out in an elegant voice.

“Really, Your Majesty?”

Lady Catherine asked, glaring with her golden eyes.

“Of course.”

I was so calm while lying, but it was Lady Catherine who was flustered instead. Ah, I’m tired. Meeting each of the noble ladies’ eyes and offering them smiles was more exhausting than I thought. The only place in this wide drawing room where I could hide my tired expression was when I brought the small teacup to my lips. I looked at each of the noble ladies’ faces. All fifteen ladies had pretty appearances, but they were no match for Princess Resilia. If Princess Resilia, not me, were sitting in this Empress’s seat right now, those confident looks of the ladies would have paled in comparison to the princess’s beauty. The teatime, which had no meaning or value to me, slowly passed with the laughter of the pretentious ladies. When I glanced at Sharon, she seemed to have read my mood and approached me.

“Your Majesty, it’s time for you to go to your office.”

Sharon’s words sounded like salvation.

“Really? Has the time already come?”

In fact, the meeting with Linell was after lunch. Sharon, who had been watching my mood, had cleverly moved up the time to go to the main palace a bit. I put on a regretful expression and addressed the ladies.

“I’ll have to end today’s teatime here. Ah, and I don’t know which of you ladies will become a concubine, but I hope you will all serve His Majesty with all your heart in the future.”

Pretending to be kind like this must also be a virtue of the Empress. If I were really Linell’s wife, it would have been a terrible feeling. Even as a proxy empress, I feel this awful.

“Are you going to see His Majesty?”

Lady Catherine, who had been splitting the small cookie into six pieces, wiped her mouth and asked me.

“It seems you’re going to discuss the issue of taking in concubines.”

I answered Lady Catherine’s question plainly, without showing any signs of displeasure, and stood up from the sofa.

“You ladies may remain here and chat a little more. Everyone can enjoy the conversation more comfortably if I leave first, right?”

As I stood up from the sofa, the ladies all stood up and greeted me. I wanted to run to the drawing room door, but I didn’t rush and put dignity into each step.

“Your Majesty?”

It was when I was about to step out of the drawing room door. A slow voice, as if calling a subordinate, was heard. The owner of that voice was Lady Catherine. I tried not to frown and looked back again.

“What is it?”

Four ladies simultaneously stepped forward and paid their respects to me again.

“It’s us.”

“Pardon?”

“We are the concubines who will serve His Majesty. Your Majesty.”

…What? The concubines have already been decided? I was dumbfounded. Behind the dumbfoundedness, I felt insulted, but I suppressed my emotions and looked at their faces one by one. As expected, they were the concubine candidates I had been expecting in my mind throughout the teatime.

***

“Haa…!”

Only after leaving the Empress’s Palace and entering the garden path leading to the main palace did my stiff body relax.

“Your Majesty.”

Sharon approached me closely with a worried expression.

“I feel worse than I thought. I pretended to be okay, but did it work? Sharon, what did it look like to you?”

I asked Sharon, hitting my chest with my fist.

“Your Majesty is always dignified. If you didn’t do things like this….”

Sharon unfolded my hands, which were clenched into fists.

“I’m glad if I looked dignified.”

“Yes, if it were me, I would have trembled and turned red in the face and left that place a long time ago.”

Her words were meant to comfort me, and I felt a little better at Sharon’s words.

“It doesn’t seem like it’s time to go to His Majesty’s office yet, so let’s take a walk in the garden a little more before going.”

“Then, what about lunch….”

“I don’t feel like it. I’d like to eat something simple in the afternoon.”

“Yes, then I will guide you to a path where you can take a quiet walk.”

“Okay.”

With Sharon’s guidance, I strolled along a quieter path. I replaced lunch with taking in the fresh air and fragrant flower scent. My mood, which had been down, also improved a lot. As I walked along the walking path leading from the Empress’s Palace to the main palace, changing directions in several ways, the time to go to his office was approaching.

“Your Majesty, it seems you should turn towards the main palace now.”

“Yeah, I have to go. I have to go and hear what he has to say.”

I was curious about his excuses. *** I’m just a proxy empress. I steeled my heart as I entered the main palace lobby. I repeated those words as I went up the central staircase. The issue of concubines was a bit early in terms of timing, but anyway, there was no king in the Shattonil Kingdom who didn’t have concubines. I know very well that the emperor’s power does not originate from one person. For a stronger imperial power, the emperor must maintain close relationships with several powerful noble families. The easiest way to gain that power without using force is to welcome the ladies of each family as concubines. The number of concubines brought in from prestigious noble families also symbolized the power of the imperial authority. However, my inner persona seemed to have a different idea.

‘Still, taking in concubines this early seems too much like a playboy!’

She grumbled, sulking ever since I met the ladies in the drawing room. ***

“I greet Her Majesty the Empress.”

As I arrived in front of the office, Secretary Raphael greeted me. Raphael, who had greeted me, looked around and then approached me and whispered.

“His Majesty has been waiting since earlier.”

“Is that so? Thank you.”

When I smiled briefly at Raphael, he nodded and opened the office door himself. I slightly lifted my dress and greeted without properly checking which direction Linell was in.

“I greet His Majesty the Emperor.”

I raised my head again as the office door closed carefully. At that moment, I met Linell’s eyes as he walked towards me from the front. He was smiling.

“Zelda, people who share a bed shouldn’t be so formal. It makes us look distant.”

He seemed quite happy to see me. I deliberately met his affectionate gaze with a more indifferent expression. But I forgot the fact that my fighting power is lost if I look at his handsome face for more than 10 seconds. Damn it. I was so annoyed that my expression, which I had been trying so hard to maintain, kept crumbling.

I stared at him with sleepy eyes, like someone reading a history book from a lost country. I must look quite indifferent, right?

“Beautiful. Zelda….”

However, Linell’s reaction was completely different from what I had expected. Those short two words that came out of his mouth left a great lingering feeling in me. Unlike his body temperature, which seemed to freeze people to death, his sweet baritone voice, which seemed to melt people to death, was too harmful to my heart. But I tried not to be swayed by his compliment.

“How original.”

For some reason, his smile deepened at my lukewarm reaction. My stiff expression crumbled too easily, like a biscuit, at his smile. He suddenly took a step back and looked at me with admiring eyes, as if he was moved, and asked.

“Is today a special day?”

Linell held out his hand to me. I was captivated by his perfect features and quickly placed my hand on his palm. He led me to the sofa with a sophisticated and gentle step.

“It just so happened that there were skilled servants, so I got some help.”

“Excellent. I thought it was someone else.”

Is that how different I look today?

“Don’t misunderstand. I don’t mean that your previous appearance wasn’t good.”

“……I wasn’t misunderstanding that at all until Your Majesty just said that?”

“Oh, was that so?”

“Yes, did you deliberately remind me?”

“Hahaha, how could that be?”

Linell denied my words, laughing louder than ever. But his head was nodding forward. Seriously.

“Your Majesty, you seem to be in a particularly good mood today?”

‘You wouldn’t be happy if you had not just one, but several concubines?’

My persona butted in again and provoked me. He took me to the sofa near the window and sat me down.

“Zelda, we agreed to call each other by our names when we’re alone, didn’t we?”

“Ah, that’s right. Linell.”

As soon as my name came out of my mouth, he sat down next to me with a satisfied expression.

“I’m in a good mood. Isn’t it a pleasure to see my wife’s beautiful appearance?”

He crossed his elegantly stretched long legs and turned his body towards me.

“That’s a relief.”

I answered, steadfastly looking only at the front.

“I would have been happier if you had added that you put effort into it because you wanted to look good to me.”

He said, slowly pulling my dress up.

“It would have been nice if Linell had told me in advance too.”

Unlike my intention to speak with a smile, the corners of my mouth kept twisting as if I was being sarcastic. I was going to bring up the concubine issue in a calm and cool manner, but it seems like it was wrong from the start.

“What do you mean by that? Judging by your expression, it seems like I’ve done something wrong?”

Linell asked, implying that there was no way he could have done that. There was no need to give him a long explanation, so I went straight to the point.

“It’s not wrong to take in concubines.”

With this one word, he would know what I was talking about.

“……What?”

He had a surprised expression, but he didn’t seem like someone who had heard something completely absurd.

“Zelda, where did you hear that?”

Linell asked, frowning. Even so, my dress was still being lifted by his hand.