The Stand-In Empress’S Wedding Night [EN]: Chapter 168

168. The Shy Devil

August 13, 2022

“Your Majesty!”

“Wait!”

Raphael and Prince Norton chased after Linell.

Bursting into the kitchen, they saw the door to the wine cellar.

Linell tried desperately to open the door, but it wouldn’t budge.

“Why, why won’t it open!”

He threw himself against the door.

The others who arrived joined in, lending their strength, but it was no use.

“Your Majesty, please step aside for a moment. Let me take a look.”

Bellos stepped forward, and Linell stepped back to give him space.

“There’s a barrier in place.”

Bellos closed his eyes and placed his palms against the door, then opened them soon after.

“What? Who put up a barrier? Is there a mage here?”

“No. It’s not at the level a mage could create. This is……”

Bellos hesitated, unsure whether to speak.

The energy he felt was so bizarre that he could hardly believe it himself.

“Speak!”

Linell turned Bellos around roughly and pressed him for an answer.

“I feel a strong, evil energy.”

“Evil energy? Are you talking about black magic?”

Bellos shook his head.

“It’s different from the energy that black mages use.”

“Then what the hell is it!”

Linell grabbed Bellos by the collar and shouted.

Zelda is trapped inside!

He couldn’t think straight.

“It’s the energy of a devil……”

Everyone who had followed into the kitchen, including Linell, stared at Bellos in bewilderment.

“A devil? A devil in a monastery!”

Linell stared blankly at the door for a moment, then asked again.

“Your Majesty, if the Mage Tower Lord [Head of the Mage Tower] is right, then the rumors that this place is cursed seem to be true.”

Prince Norton glanced at Prince Tessler, who was standing at the very back with a cane.

“That makes sense. Didn’t the head of the monastery also confess that he created the trap on the orders of a devil!”

Archduke Martins added, his voice excited.

“Don’t talk nonsense!”

Prince Tessler cut Archduke Martins off.

He didn’t believe in devils. Even if they existed, Prince Tessler had to deny it.

He was already in a position where he had to be mindful of other countries… If the idea that devils existed here, in the border region of the Shatonil Kingdom, and in a monastery at that, were to take hold, the kingdom’s reputation might plummet.

Linell looked back at the flustered prince.

“Th-that’s just what the head of the monastery babbled in his madness, Your Majesty.”

Prince Tessler said defensively, aware of the attention focused on him.

“However, if the Mage Tower Lord strongly feels the evil energy, isn’t it highly likely that what the head of the monastery said wasn’t crazy but true?”

Archduke Martins countered the prince’s opinion.

Linell turned his gaze back to Bellos and asked.

“Are you sure it’s the energy of a devil?”

“Yes, no matter how skilled a black mage is, they can’t create such a nasty barrier.”

Bellos replied, his expression grave.

For the Mage Tower Lord to look so troubled was an ominous sign.

“Is there no way at all? The Empress is inside! Inside! My wife is there… I beg you.”

Linell gripped one of Bellos’s shoulders tightly.

The strength of his grip was so intense that Bellos felt like his shoulder bone would break, but he didn’t show it.

“Hmm, I’ll try.”

Bellos was also worried about Zelda.

But the situation was not simple. To release the energy of a devil, there was a ‘condition’.

In the world of devils, there was no such thing as a free lunch.

They always made a deal.

They were a race that never gave anything for free.

If it wasn’t a direct deal, and a mage tried to release the energy of a devil on their own, a condition was attached that shortened their lifespan.

The stronger the barrier, the more lifespan was reduced.

Bellos put his forehead against the door and took a deep breath.

In a place where the energy of a devil was present, there was a scent that only the Mage Tower Lord could detect.

‘It’s not that strong.’

It was a blessing in disguise.

For some reason, the scent of the barrier created by the devil was not very strong.

It was an evil energy, but it seemed to have lost some of its power.

If so, it was worth a try.

He had lived for 250 years since the Avatar [A divine being or deity incarnated in human form] left, so he didn’t care much about how much his lifespan would be reduced.

Besides, it was for his partner, so he had no regrets.

“I’ll start.”

Bellos gently waved his arms and began to gather the magic within him.

***

Roxana finished discussing the wedding dress with the designer and sent her back.

Nancy was worried that the designer, who had seen the scars on Roxana’s back, might spread rumors.

“She won’t blab, will she, Miss?”

“If I were just a noble lady, she would be thrilled to spread it around, but the other party is a duchess. She knows very well that her life will be ruined if she carelessly opens her mouth, so she won’t. Merchants are always quick to calculate.”

Roxana changed her dress and replied casually.

Knock knock-.

At the sound of the knock, Roxana gave a knowing look and glanced at the door.

She seemed to know who it was.

“You’re on time. Let her in.”

“Yes, Miss.”

Nancy opened the door, and the witch Kaline stepped into the room, holding a bundle in her arms.

“Thank you for coming.”

“It’s no trouble. I came comfortably in the carriage you sent.”

The witch chuckled eerily and looked around the splendid duchess’s room.

“You brought the crystal ball, right?”

Roxana asked, staring at the bundle the witch was holding.

“Would I forget? What are you curious about today that you asked this old woman to come to the mansion?”

The witch took out the crystal ball and placed it on the table.

“I want to see inside the Imperial Palace of the Lapion Empire. Is that possible?”

Roxana said, looking down at the crystal ball.

“The Lapion Imperial Palace?”

“First, I want you to look inside the main palace. Please show me the place where the palace people are most interested in right now.”

“Hehehe, you’re about to become the mistress of the imperial family there, so of course I have to show you.”

The witch nodded, grinning slyly.

“Yes, if I sit on the Empress’s throne, Misha might become a maid in the Empress’s Palace, right?”

“Our Misha as a maid in the Empress’s Palace? Oh my, I’m so grateful.”

The witch’s eyes lit up when Roxana mentioned her granddaughter, Misha.

“Then, as you say, I will focus my energy on the place where people are currently most interested in inside the Imperial Palace of the Lapion Empire.”

Only five minutes after the witch spoke, a hazy fog appeared inside the crystal ball, swirling around, and gradually the fog cleared, revealing a scene.

Roxana leaned closer to the crystal ball and widened her eyes.

“Who is that person surrounded by so many people?”

The place the witch showed seemed to be a room in the main palace.

In front of the bed, there were not only maids but also nobles who seemed to be ministers and several priests.

It seemed like someone was lying in bed, but she couldn’t tell who it was because the court physician was standing at the head of the bed, blocking her view.

But soon, as the court physician stepped aside and the high priest approached the bed, Roxana could see who was lying in bed.

“It’s a child?”

Nancy, who was looking at the crystal ball with her, spoke first.

“A child in the Lapion Imperial Family? Ah, I heard that Emperor Linell has a younger brother……”

The witch muttered.

Before the witch could finish, Roxana immediately recognized the child.

It was when she visited Bellos’s room again before returning to the witch’s house from the villa last night.

To Roxana, who conveyed the message not to give up, Bellos wrote down information related to Emperor Linell and the people around him and handed it to her.

Roxana quickly opened her desk drawer and took out the paper she had put deep inside.

“That’s right. It’s Grand Duke Joseph. He said that three years ago, he was cursed to be trapped in ice by a mage who was a disciple of the Mage Tower Lord in the Valley of Death. The Mage Tower Lord said that he would take the Grand Duke somewhere in the Imperial Palace and take care of him……”

“Then he must have come out of the cursed ice. But how did he come out? He seems to be in bad condition, trembling. That’s too bad. He’s still young.”

Nancy looked at Grand Duke Joseph in the crystal ball and felt sorry for him.

Why did the cursed ice that had trapped Grand Duke Joseph for three years suddenly break?

Roxana wondered.

“In my opinion, the Grand Duke seems to be trembling because the cursed ice has been dominating his body for three years, so it has that effect.”

“Yes, the Emperor and Empress probably didn’t know until just before leaving for the hunting competition. The cursed ice must have broken after that.”

If Emperor Linell had known that Grand Duke Joseph had broken out of the cursed ice, he would have given up the continental hunting competition.

Fortunately, it seemed that the news that Grand Duke Joseph had come out of the cursed ice had not yet been conveyed to him.

Even if a messenger started right away, it would take at least two days to catch up to where they were.

“If I had that card in my hand……”

She might be able to make a deal with Emperor Linell.

Roxana smiled with satisfaction.

“I need to call the crow.”

She had to tell Bellos this good news right away.

Bellos had arranged it so that Roxana could also call the crow he used, so that she could send news directly to him without going through Logan.

Roxana opened the window and whistled to signal the crow, then quickly wrote down the news about Grand Duke Joseph on paper.

***

“Is it really a devil?”

Moya approached the devil’s image hanging on the wall and asked curiously.

Zelda was worried that the devil might attack Moya, but there didn’t seem to be any signs of that.

At Moya’s question, the devil answered in a self-deprecating voice, as if he himself was doubtful.

“I think so? Ah, no, I am a devil!”

“Aren’t you just a magical beast that can speak human language, not a devil?”

Zelda asked the Avatar as she listened to the devil’s words, and the Avatar carefully replied.

‘Don’t say that. He might hurt his pride.’

“That’s right, I’m an evil devil! A magical beast? That’s insulting. The devil is angry!”

The devil seemed to be able to hear what the Avatar was saying, just like Moya.

“If you’re not a magical beast, why are you screaming and yelling? The sound echoes enough as it is.”

Moya scolded the devil without fear.

“Oh, sorry… No, I’m not sorry! This is my house. Why are humans coming into my house and causing trouble?”

The devil apologized to Moya in a sulky tone, but then his true nature returned, and he raised his voice and got angry.

‘My house, my foot. You’re the one barging in and acting tough.’

This time, the Avatar teased him, and the devil got angry again.

“Don’t you know how scary a devil’s subject is? Don’t make me angry, Avatar without substance.”

Okay, guys.

The more you treat the devil carelessly, the more I, a human, will suffer.

“Can you all be careful with your words?”

Unable to watch any longer, Zelda earnestly asked Moya and the Avatar.

“Hey, devil. Do you have a name? I’m Zelda. The Empress of the Lapion Empire.”

Let’s try to resolve this with conversation first.

Even if I can’t shake hands with the devil, I introduced myself.

“…I don’t have a name, but I have a nickname.”

“Ooh? Are you asking me to ask? What’s your nickname, Mr. Devil?”

Moya asked the devil, pretending to be curious and rubbing her chin.

“Angel.”

“What?”

Zelda doubted her ears.

“Wow, you’re more delusional than our orange head [Referring to Linell] ?”

Moya grabbed her stomach and giggled.

‘No wonder your energy wasn’t that strong. You’re a fallen devil, aren’t you?’

The Avatar snorted and asked the devil knowingly.

“Huh, how did you know?”

The devil’s image projected on the wall became clearer.

‘It’s obvious if you’re hiding here alone and tricking humans. Did you get kicked out of the devil world and crawl into the monastery?’

“Uh-huh, I was originally going to sweep away the villages in this border region, but I was too weak-hearted and ended up coming to this monastery with the wicked head of the monastery.”

The devil replied in a subdued voice.

He was neither good nor very evil, so he seemed to have been kicked out of the devil’s world.

How should I persuade the ambiguous devil to get out of here?

“But Moya, don’t you feel like it’s getting harder to breathe?”

Zelda looked around the wine cellar and asked Moya.

From some point on, I felt like I was running out of oxygen.

As soon as I realized that, the stuffiness became even worse.

“Moya is fine even if she’s short of oxygen?”

Moya smiled brightly and opened her mouth ‘Haah!’ and even pretended to hold her breath on purpose.

“You’re right, Empress. Oxygen is disappearing more and more. So, you’re going to die soon.”

“Is there a reason to get rid of oxygen?”

“I’m sorry. Devils have a quota to do bad things every month. I had no choice but to fill it……”

“What the hell! Hey, open that door quickly. Or don’t get rid of the oxygen!”

“I’m, I’m sorry, I can’t do that.”

The devil suddenly changed to a very frightened voice and whispered to me.

“And there are people outside here to save you right now? Can I kill them well? I’m a little scared.”

“……What?”

Zelda turned her head to the wine cellar door.

“Zelda!!”

Then Linell’s voice was heard from outside the door.