The Stand-In Empress’S Wedding Night [EN]: Chapter 145

145. The Human Ice Is Busy

Roxana’s heart began to race.

Did he notice her lie?

Tension stiffened her body, and she could barely turn her head to look at Hector.

“Here. Press this on it and go.”

Hector tore a piece of his robe and handed it to Roxana, gesturing towards Nancy’s injured arm, which was bleeding.

“Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty.”

Nancy, sensing Roxana’s momentary daze at the unexpected kindness, bowed her head in gratitude.

Roxana, regaining her composure, accepted the robe from Hector and quietly replied,

“Thank you…”

“Go quickly.”

Hector gestured dismissively towards the back door at the bottom of the stairs.

Roxana and Nancy bowed lightly to him, stepped on the huge shadow of Hector cast down the stairs, descended, and slipped out through the back door.

A carriage prepared in advance by Nancy was waiting at the back door.

“Haa, Miss. I thought my heart was going to stop.”

Nancy opened the carriage door, got in, and buried her face in her knees, exhaling the breath she had been holding.

“I’m sorry, Nancy. I had no choice earlier. You’re bleeding a lot. Let’s stop the bleeding with this first.”

Roxana used the robe she received from Hector to wrap Nancy’s arm wound.

“I’m fine. But Miss, how did you think of that in that moment? Our Miss is truly brilliant.”

“I was also half-convinced. Fortunately, that Hector was fooled.”

“I was also surprised. He didn’t even listen to his soldier properly and immediately struck him down with an axe.”

Nancy shuddered, recalling the moment Hector mercilessly struck the soldier’s neck with an axe.

“My father said… that’s how men are. When they fall for a woman, they close their ears and eyes.”

Hector wasn’t completely smitten with her yet, but after seeing his actions earlier, it seemed like there was a possibility.

“That’s right! I think I’ve heard that too. Well, with our Miss’s beauty, which man wouldn’t be like that?”

“It’s not that much… How much time is left?”

Roxana brushed off Nancy’s compliment and asked for the time. Nancy took out a pocket watch from her pocket.

“There’s time to stop by the dress shop and change clothes. It’s tight, but possible.”

“Then let’s go straight to the witch’s house. We need to treat your wound too.”

Roxana said, looking at Hector’s robe wrapped around Nancy’s arm.

“Yes, Miss.”

***

After about two hours of travel, they arrived at the summer villa located at the edge of the Elange Forest.

Everyone was exhausted due to the unusually hot weather.

However, as the villa’s gates opened, the guests, who had been listless and slumped, straightened up again.

In particular, the faces of the women from the Northern Continent and the concubines were shriveling up like dried radishes, but fortunately, they regained their vitality.

I turned the horse’s head towards the window of the carriage where Rosie and Bonus were riding and entered the castle gate together.

“Your Majesty, Empress, the hunting competition won’t be like this the whole time, will it?”

Rosie leaned her head out of the carriage window and asked me.

“Well, if it continues to be this hot, it will be difficult to hunt actively.”

If that happened, the Continental Hunting Competition would lose its purpose and likely become a simple march towards the Southern Continent.

Even the march wouldn’t be easy because of the heat.

This kind of sweltering heat, where even the ground seems to boil, is the worst for me.

According to the Avatar [referring to a spiritual guide or mentor], I haven’t properly manifested the power of fire yet, so I can’t control the rising heat inside my body. On top of that, the heat from outside makes it even harder.

It was fortunate that I took a cold shower in the cave earlier, or else I might have arrived at the villa slumped over the horse.

“If the heat in the Northern Continent is this bad, the Southern Continent must be even hotter now, right?”

Bonus, who was sitting in front of Rosie, said, wiping the sweat flowing down her neck with the back of her hand. Sharon, who was next to Bonus, worried about me.

“I’m worried about Your Majesty’s condition because of the weather.”

“You can travel by carriage on days that are too hot.”

I smiled brighter at the three people who were looking up at me with worried eyes.

The heat will subside a bit at night, right?

But even now, as the sun was setting, the air was still hot.

The servants who arrived first hurriedly opened the doors of the villa’s main building wide to both sides.

The procession of guests slowly stopped in front of the villa building.

Everyone hurried out of their horses and carriages and entered the lobby of the summer villa.

The interior of the villa was very clean, as if it had been prepared in advance before the Continental Hunting Competition, but the air inside was stuffy because all the windows had been closed.

Under the direction of the head butler, Stian, the servants quickly opened all the windows in the villa to ventilate it.

“The servants will guide the guests to their rooms. Dinner time will also be announced by the servants. Until then, please rest in your rooms or enjoy your free time.”

At Linelle’s words, the servants moved in an orderly manner, approached each guest, took their luggage, and began the guidance.

Some guests left their luggage with the servants and headed to the lounge where wine and drinks were prepared.

Linelle and I went up to the second floor first.

I wanted to quickly soak my body in cold water to cool down.

The structure of the two-story summer villa was simple.

The rooms were lined up on only one side of the wall, and there were a total of six stairs in between. Directly in front of the door, a large rectangular window faced the door.

The room where Linelle and I stayed was located in the very center.

As soon as I entered the room, I went straight to the bed and sprawled out.

I was so exhausted that I would have fallen asleep if he hadn’t been there.

Unlike me, whose body felt like a dried radish, Linelle’s face was more vibrant than usual.

“Why don’t you take a shower before lying down?”

He sat on the bed, stroked the back of my head, and said.

“I should.”

“There’s some time until dinner, so take a shower first and get some sleep.”

“If I sleep now, I won’t be able to sleep at night.”

That would affect my condition tomorrow.

If my condition is not good, my concentration will be reduced when hunting.

If my concentration is reduced, the probability of my arrow going astray was high.

For example, Prince Tesler of the Shattoniel Kingdom, or Princess Resilia, or some other useless beasts.

If I waste precious arrows like that, an unfortunate situation could occur where I can only watch when the beast I really want to catch appears.

“I’ll feel less guilty if you get some sleep and recover your strength.”

He slyly lay down next to me, slipped his arm around my neck, and turned my body towards him.

“You’re not suggesting we go night hunting, are you? Are you perhaps trying to hunt me? The hallway here is long, so it seems good for rabbit hunting, but the rabbit is already exhausted.”

“Yeah, I only want to exert my strength in bed.”

“…Don’t exert your strength from the first day.”

“It’s not like we can stay in the villa every night. I have to seize the opportunity when I have it. That way, I won’t go crazy later.”

His blue eyes already seemed crazy with lust.

“It seems like you’re looking at me like a crazy person right now?”

“Is it… obvious?”

I tried to deny it, saying that I couldn’t possibly be like that, but I readily admitted it because laughter came out first.

“If you knew how much patience that crazy person is exerting right now, go take a shower first.”

“Shall we do it together?”

He needed me, and I desperately needed human ice right now.

If I put him in the tub, I wouldn’t have to bother pouring cold water into the tub.

We’re helping each other in various ways.

Whether my reason had melted away due to the heat, Linelle looked like a huge piece of ice to me now.

“I refuse, Empress.”

Why? Oh, no, my ice!

“The luggage…”

Linelle was about to continue his cold refusal when a knock was heard.

Knock knock knock-.

The door opened at his voice telling them to come in.

“Let’s go, Your Majesty.”

It was Raphael.

“Surely, you’re not planning to take a shower with Raphael, are you?”

I whispered to him, and he whispered back to me in the same way.

“Is it obvious?”

He deliberately made his eyes look sticky, repeating the words I had said earlier.

I watched him get up from the bed and let out a hollow laugh, dumbfounded.

Raphael seemed very curious as we glanced at him and whispered to each other.

“I’ll be back. I have something to discuss with Raphael.”

My ice kissed my cheek and left with Raphael.

I lay back on the bed. Just as I was about to fall asleep, Sharon came in.

Sharon brought the dress I would wear after showering.

“I have prepared two styles of dresses.”

She said that both were homewear dresses that were easy to wear alone.

“Your Majesty, Empress, I have also brought the slip and gown you will wear to sleep in advance. Where should I put them?”

“Put them on the bed too.”

“Yes, I will fill the tub with cold water now.”

“Okay, please.”

I replied with my eyes closed.

After a while, I raised my heavy body from the bed at Sharon’s voice.

“The bath is ready. The towels are in the bathroom. Shall I put extra towels in the bathroom too?”

“Just put them on the bed. Sharon, make sure to rest before dinner too. I can take care of the rest.”

“Yes, Your Majesty, Empress. Then please call me immediately if you need anything.”

“I will.”

After Sharon left, I went into the bathroom and took off my uniform.

I hurriedly went into the cold tub and closed my eyes.

“Haa… I feel like I can live now.”

But the cold water was already getting warm.

***

Arriving at the house of the witch, Kaline, Roxana first had her treat Nancy’s arm wound.

“While I treat Miss Nancy, please drink this, Princess.”

The witch handed over the drug that Roxana had requested.

“I heard that one bottle of this can prevent pregnancy for a month. Is the effect certain?”

Roxana asked, turning the lid of the drug and smelling the contents.

The drug, which was said to have a strong contraceptive effect, had no smell at all.

“Let me tell you, Princess. I could easily create a knight order just by gathering all the unwanted bastards of noble families that I have prevented with that drug so far.”

The witch showed her yellow teeth and said confidently.

Roxana, who had been suspicious of its efficacy, gained faith when she saw the witch’s proud eyes.

“So don’t worry and drink it all up. This old woman made it with sincerity and killing intent, so don’t worry about the effect.”

At the witch’s urging, Roxana drank the drug in one gulp.

The taste of the drug, which had no smell, was much more bitter than expected.

“Are you okay, Miss?”

Nancy asked, supporting Roxana, who was slightly twisting her body.

“Water, some water…”

Roxana, who had been pursing her lips tightly, barely opened her mouth to speak, but the witch said firmly.

“Oh, no! If you drink water, the effect of the drug will be diluted, so please bear with it.”

Roxana nodded, pursed her lips tightly, and endured, swallowing her saliva until the bitter taste in her mouth disappeared.

After a few minutes, when the bitter taste disappeared, Roxana, who had calmed down again, looked around the witch’s house and stopped her gaze at one place.

She stared at the witch’s purple crystal ball, which looked obviously mystical.

“Kaline, is that the ball that shows you what you want to see?”

“Yes, that’s right. But you can only see the situation from 3 hours ago.”

“3 hours ago… What’s the viewing time?”

“It’s about 1 minute. Is there someone you want to see?”

The witch asked Roxana, stroking her crystal ball, and she nodded.

“Okay. Then please tell me who you want to see.”

The first person Roxana thought of was Prince Tesler of the Shattoniel Kingdom.

Then, she suddenly became curious about the whereabouts of Belos, who had gone to the continent with the Avatar Sword [a powerful, possibly sentient weapon].

And she also wanted to see the face of Empress Zelda, whom Belos had called his mate.

Prince Tesler, Belos, Empress Zelda.

Who should I see?

Roxana pondered for a moment and made a decision.

“The person I want to see is…”