The Stand-In Empress’S Wedding Night [EN]: Chapter 150

150. A Midnight Scream

“Orange Hair is asking for the Blue Diamond! Sob, I worked so hard in the game to get it……”

At Moiya’s words, Linelle and Prince Norton looked at me with expressions that seemed to say, ‘Who is Orange Hair?’

“You have to share. You borrowed Rosie’s body.”

Hearing me speak to Moiya, the two realized who ‘Orange Hair’ was and chuckled, but Moiya immediately retorted.

“I borrowed Rosie’s body to get it, so I was going to lend Rosie the Blue Diamond when she needed it!”

What kind of logic is that?

But when you listen, it was strangely persuasive.

Linelle and I laughed simultaneously at Moiya’s words, who only thought as she pleased.

However, there was someone who couldn’t join in this laughter.

“The one who ran during the handkerchief game was you, Moiya……?”

Prince Norton stared intently at the white butterfly sitting on Linelle’s shoulder, as if he hadn’t expected it at all, and asked.

“Yup! I’m super fast, right? Rosie’s ankles are just tree trunks, so she can’t run that fast, Moiya~.”

Moiya cheerfully revealed the thickness of Rosie’s ankles, which she didn’t necessarily need to disclose.

“Anyway, Rosie said she would look three times prettier if she wore the Blue Diamond necklace and earrings. Hmph, her delusion is completely diamond-level.”

Linelle and I exchanged glances, holding back our laughter, while Prince Norton, who had been looking surprised the whole time, made a diagnosis like a court physician, making a ‘tsk’ sound.

“Three times…… I don’t think it’s a delusion? And looking at her shoulders and figure, her ankles don’t seem that thick either…….”

Prince Norton’s affection for Rosie was clearly felt in his opinion, which had lost all objectivity.

“So, Norton, you’re going to do it too, right?”

“……Do what?”

“Geez, you’re human, but you can’t understand human words for crap. Mating!”

Moiya shouted, sounding frustrated.

“!”

The human Prince Norton reacted to the animalistic, no, wyvern-like expression, and his face turned red.

“Say you’ll do it quickly! Say you’ll mate even without the Blue Diamond, quickly!”

Moiya urged.

Prince Norton looked at me and Linelle with a troubled expression, wondering what on earth was going on, seeking help.

I was just as bewildered, so I could only blink.

“Tell us quickly. We need to go down to the dining hall and have dinner quickly!”

Linelle mimicked Moiya’s tone and said to Prince Norton.

“Moiya, tell Rosie that she is beautiful even without wearing the Blue Diamond.”

Prince Norton cleared his throat and spoke to Moiya as if he was entrusting her, but Moiya immediately refuted the prince’s words.

“You’re lying!”

Just as Moiya came to that conclusion, Rosie’s door opened in the distance.

Rosie smiled brightly as soon as she saw us and walked towards us.

Then, she frowned as she saw the white butterfly sitting on Linelle’s shoulder.

She had a worried expression, wondering if Moiya had caused another accident.

‘Yeah, the accident has already happened, Rosie.’

“Everyone’s gathered here.”

Rosie glanced at Prince Norton and said shyly.

“We were just about to go down to the dining hall. Let’s go together.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Moiya’s bombshell was dropped on Rosie, who was smiling peacefully.

“Norton doesn’t want to mate with you. You got dumped, Moiya~.”

“!”

Prince Norton was startled by the words he hadn’t even said and looked at Moiya with an expression that seemed to say, ‘What is all this?’

“But he says your body is amazing. He says you’re pretty even without the Blue Diamond. Norton must have bad eyes like you.”

An awkward silence fell.

“I’m going to go play in the forest. I made a lot of butterfly friends.”

Moiya, sensing the murderous intent from Rosie, hurriedly flew out through the open window in the hallway.

She stretched her arm out to try and snatch Moiya, who was fleeing, and kill her, but ultimately failed.

“Let’s go down first.”

Linelle gently pushed my back towards the stairwell.

Even as we were making our escape, Prince Norton’s expression was still dazed.

I could only hope that Rosie would clean up the mess that Moiya had made.

***

The first night of the Continental Hunting Competition was flowing along amicably.

After the meal, various fruits were served for dessert.

The concubines mentioned the wild strawberries and mulberries they had picked in the forest, and they were delighted, saying they hoped to find more fruit to pick like that tomorrow.

Melanie whispered to Rosie in a very small voice that she hoped to see streams or lakes everywhere in the forest rather than fruit.

As everyone was chatting and the topic of the weather came up, everyone spoke in one voice.

They were worried about the summer weather, which was much hotter than in previous years, and it was around the time that the opinion came up to start hunting from the morning tomorrow.

“Ugh.”

A small retching sound was heard from somewhere.

Several nobles and concubines turned their gazes towards the direction where the retching sound was heard.

‘Is it Pessilini again?’

In particular, the eyes of the concubines and some nobles who had already witnessed Pessilini’s retching in the Lapion Imperial Palace were more focused on her.

“Are you alright?”

Rosie asked Pessilini, who was sitting in front of her.

“Yes, the smell of oranges is a bit nauseating…… I’m fine now.”

Are there people who find the scent of oranges nauseating?

Looking at the concubines, they all seemed to be thinking the same thing as me.

My gaze naturally turned to where Prince Tessler was sitting.

As I expected, Prince Tessler was glancing at Pessilini.

But the look in the prince’s eyes as he looked at her was…… what should I say…… more like he was looking at someone very annoying than worried.

I suspect that Pessilini is carrying Prince Tessler’s child, but I haven’t been able to get any evidence to be sure yet.

If Pessilini is really pregnant with Prince Tessler’s child, I felt like I should keep a close eye on her safety.

Several minutes later, Pessilini was eating grapes diligently with a happy smile, as if she had never retched.

Since Pessilini was eating the grapes so deliciously, I also took a grape from the ones in front of me and ate it.

‘Ugh, it’s so sour.’

I couldn’t help but frown.

The grapes were too sour, probably because they weren’t ripe yet.

I looked at Pessilini with curious eyes as she ate the sour grapes comfortably, as if she were eating chocolate.

***

Roxana returned from the witch’s house.

A servant who was guarding the front of the room approached Roxana and whispered.

“He has been waiting for two hours since he came.”

There was only one person who would come to her room.

Roxana let out a low sigh, composed her expression, and entered the room.

“You’re late.”

“I apologize for making you wait, Great King.”

“Did the servant’s wound take a long time to heal?”

“Yes…… Ah, it also took some time to choose a dress at the dress shop.”

Roxana fiddled with Zelda’s dress that she had secretly stolen and looked at Hector.

“It suits you well. It’s better than the dress you wore earlier.”

Hector, who had been looking at Roxana up and down with an indifferent gaze, spat out a word of praise in an even more indifferent voice.

“……Thank you.”

Roxana’s mood became strange.

‘He says it’s better than the dress I wore?’

Something about that didn’t sit well with her.

She didn’t know if it was because the dress belonged to Empress Zelda, but an inexplicable annoyance washed over her.

“Why are you standing there like that?”

“Yes?”

“Do I have to tell you one by one what you have to do when you see me?”

“Ah, I’m sorry. I’ll go take a bath.”

“Hurry.”

Hector picked up the parchment he was examining on the table and very naturally went to Roxana’s bed, leaning back against the headboard and sitting down.

‘What is he looking at? It looks like a map?’

Roxana stared at the parchment Hector was looking at and headed to the bathroom.

After finishing her bath and returning to the bedroom, Roxana suppressed her presence and approached the bed.

Hector was fast asleep with the parchment in his hands.

Roxana carefully approached the sleeping Hector and looked down at the parchment in his hand.

‘I knew it was a map.’

It was a map that zoomed in on the Lapion Empire, starting from the Valley of Death.

Seeing that a route was drawn in red, it seemed to be the route of the Continental Hunting Competition.

Near the red route on the map, it was written ‘Elangi Forest.’ There were also places where house shapes were drawn here and there, which were probably villas where the nobles were staying.

Roxana marked the villa closest to the Lapion Imperial Palace in the Elangi Forest with her eyes.

‘The villa I went to today with spatial teleportation must be there.’

She chuckled, recalling her impulsive behavior.

It was a reckless act that would have made her father whip her all night if he knew.

It was also the first impulsive act she had committed in her life.

To move to another space naked and without fear.

Even thinking about it again, it was a dizzying moment.

‘But I wasn’t caught. Besides…….’

Roxana felt the feeling of Emperor Linelle thinking of her as his wife and hugging her from behind.

She tried not to forget the touch of his hand gently stroking her back.

But already that moment felt like a distant memory. She wrapped her arms around her body with a feeling of regret.

“Did you wash?”

“!”

Roxana was startled and flinched because Hector spoke with his eyes closed.

Startled for a moment, Linelle’s voice overlapped with Hector’s words.

‘Did you wash? Can I check?’

Emperor Linelle had also said the same words there.

But the two men were not only different in appearance, but also in the feeling that was felt in their words.

“Yes, Great King. Were you not asleep?”

“I woke up. Because of your scent.”

If it were any other time, it was a word that she would not have even bothered to ask back, laughing inwardly…….

“Do I have…… a scent?”

Roxana asked with a curious voice.

It was because Linelle’s words suddenly came to mind.

‘The scent has changed? The original scent is better.’

So she was curious. What kind of scent did she have?

The scent of the soap that Empress Zelda used was a lilac scent with a subtle rose scent mixed in.

“Scent? You have one. A haughty scent.”

Hector replied briefly to Roxana’s expression, who was listening seriously.

Roxana frowned.

“It’s not bad. It’s a good scent. The reason why I don’t kick you out of bed even if you’re clumsy is all because of the scent that comes from you.”

Hector grabbed Roxana’s arm and laid her on the bed.

‘I wish Emperor Linelle had the same thoughts as this barbarian.’

She closed her eyes as she saw Hector’s sturdy upper body approaching her.

Because if she closed her eyes, she wouldn’t be able to see anything anyway.

Like the past she had lived.

But Roxana vowed inwardly that the future would be different.

***

After dinner, the nobles were drinking wine in their seats and getting drunk.

Everyone started overdrinking, saying that the wine that had been stored in the villa for a long time was aging amazingly well.

As the night deepened, one by one staggered and returned to their rooms, and Linelle and I also entered the room and lay down on the bed.

“I can taste wine in my mouth.”

Linelle said with a low laugh after swirling around in my mouth once.

“Really? Then stop drinking now, because you’re already drunk.”

I said, pushing his chest away with both hands.

In fact, there was not even a speck of will to push him away.

There was no strength in the two hands pushing his chest at all.

“No, I’m getting more sober?”

He shook his head from side to side and insisted.

“It seems like everything wakes up in Linelle only at night…….”

“So what, are you tired? But you’ve been getting shorter with your words lately, Empress.”

“My nights are getting shorter because of someone, so I guess my words are getting shorter too.”

“Instead, I’ll make your mood long, long, and good…… Will you let me off the hook then? Huh?”

Linelle’s husky voice was buried in my collarbone and gradually went down.

I took a deep breath and felt him.

I already felt good from his touch and breath that embraced me, and laughter mixed with the breaths that leaked out from between my teeth.

But just as a happy scream was about to come out of my mouth,

“Kyaaak!!”

A scream filled with pain was heard from somewhere else.

Linelle raised his head and met my eyes.

After confirming that the scream did not come from my mouth, he spoke first.

“……What is it?”

“I don’t know? What is that sound?”

“Stay here. I’ll go out and see.”

Linelle hurriedly got up from the bed.