The Stand-In Empress’S Wedding Night [EN]: Chapter 171

171. Turning Into a Villain?

2022.08.24.

He stared at Roxana’s face and laughed at the absurd request.

The laughter slowly morphed into murderous intent as he spoke.

“Did I hear correctly?”

“Judging by your expression, you did.”

“Then the Princess is mistaken.”

“I won’t deny it.”

“Using illusion magic and saying whatever you want. How dare you.”

He wanted to eliminate Roxana immediately, but she wasn’t even physically present.

“Is the Master of the Magic Tower involved in this as well?”

Roxana didn’t deny it, slightly raising the corner of her lips before letting it fall.

Linelle didn’t press further. That smile was answer enough.

“Why would he do that…….”

Roxana refrained from telling the questioning Linelle that Bellos considered Zelda to be his destined partner.

That revelation would only provoke Linelle.

If Linelle discovered that Bellos planned to make Zelda his partner, the Emperor might self-destruct.

Even if this conversation were to vanish from Linelle’s memory later, it was wiser to avoid saying anything that could influence his decisions.

“The Princess seems to think highly of me, but I’m not that remarkable.”

Was she suggesting she wanted to become the Empress of the Rafion Empire?

Linelle recalled the information he had gleaned when he closed his eyes, and spoke coldly.

“Just being by Your Majesty’s side is a great honor.”

“There will come a day when you realize that power is useless once you possess it. How are you going to deal with that emptiness?”

Linelle wasn’t attempting to persuade her, but stating a truth.

Roxana calmly shared her own perspective.

A lengthy explanation wasn’t necessary.

He would have learned about her when he closed his eyes [a magical ability to see into someone’s past or thoughts].

Of course, only the information Roxana herself had revealed.

“At first, I thought it would be enough to live a life where I wasn’t constantly abused by my father. But I realized that it would be difficult to escape my father’s control even through marriage.”

So, she claimed she needed power that even her father couldn’t touch.

“Originally, my father’s plan was to use the guests as hostages and arrange a marriage between me, the Princess of the Aclato Principality, and the Prince of the Shatoanil Kingdom as a bargaining chip.”

“Then why did the direction change to me? As you know, I already have a wife.”

Linelle glanced at Zelda lying in bed and questioned Roxana.

“My father doesn’t know yet. I planned all this after I accidentally glimpsed her life.”

Roxana said, gazing at Zelda sleeping in bed.

Linelle tilted his head and narrowed his eyes, prompting her to add an explanation.

“We lived equally painful lives, but why can’t I smile like that? Why am I not loved? Comparison breeds anger, and anger makes me bold.”

“Princess, your boldness has gone too far.”

“It’s because I went too far that I was able to come this far, Your Majesty.”

Roxana dismissed Linelle’s advice immediately.

“There’s a saying that you shouldn’t covet what’s not yours, right? That’s a foolish saying. Nothing is mine from the beginning. We live by taking and being taken from.”

Roxana’s voice regained its strength.

“Do you think I’ll give you my heart just because I lose my memories of the Empress?”

“Well, I don’t know, and neither do you. Don’t be so sure that you won’t give me your heart. Can’t you see that from this whole situation?”

Roxana approached Linelle and said in a calm tone.

“You never know what might happen.”

“I may not know, but my soul will. My heart will too.”

His voice was filled with confidence.

“Yes, I can’t help that, but I’ll be satisfied just having the people I want by my side in the place I want.”

Linelle scoffed at Roxana’s words.

“Do you know how lonely that makes a person?”

Linelle looked down at the floor and smiled emptily, then said with a cold look.

“More and more people will kneel before you and bow their heads. You’ll feel like you’re walking on clouds all day, surrounded by those trying to please you. But the problem is the night. When night comes, you’ll be completely alone.”

Linelle advised Roxana, drawing upon his experience as an Emperor.

“The sweeter the day, the more bitter and harsh the agony of the night.”

“I will endure it.”

Roxana answered confidently.

But as she looked into Linelle’s blue eyes, which showed no emotion, she suddenly had an ominous feeling.

Even if he lost his memories of Empress Zelda, as he said, he might not give her his heart……

No, I can do well.

Roxana resolved.

“How much time do we have?”

“……Pardon?”

“I mean, how much time do I have to spend with the Empress.”

He had finally made up his mind.

Seeing Linelle, who wasn’t showing much emotional turmoil, Roxana was even more uneasy.

Even so, she couldn’t stop the smile spreading across her face.

“Until when can you maintain the Empress’s memories?”

Linelle asked again with an emotionless face.

“Until you drink the potion and fall asleep.”

“So, when I wake up again, only my memories of the Empress will disappear?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“That’s…… easy.”

Linelle murmured, gazing at Zelda’s face.

No matter how deep love is, you can forget that person with a small potion bottle.

He could only laugh at the futility.

***

It’s a dream.

Or maybe it’s hell.

Anyway, it was chilling, and even the air felt heavy.

Why is it so dark?

“Empress, you’re foolish.”

It was the voice of that clumsy demon I met in the wine cellar.

I was absurdly glad to hear a voice I had heard once.

Because it’s better than being alone in this creepy place.

“What is this place? Is it hell?”

“I told you, I was kicked out of the demon world…… I can’t go back to my hometown.”

“Then where is it?”

“The stage before going to hell. It’s a relatively pleasant place. I can’t hear the screams of sinners.”

The fallen demon said that this is where people infected with will-o’-the-wisps [spirits or lights sometimes seen over wetlands] stay for a while when they are dying.

“Aren’t human screams like music to demons?”

“Not to me! I like laughter better.”

The cheerful laughter of the demon at the end of his words was somehow sad.

“You know, if you’re not good at doing bad things, you should just quit being a demon.”

“I can’t do that. After all, I was born as a seed of evil.”

“I don’t know how you’ll feel about me saying this, but you’re not cut out to be a great demon.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard that a lot. I’m only good enough to harass powerless humans.”

“Who gave you such good advice?”

I asked casually, looking around.

It was too dark to see well. But even if I turned on the lights, it wouldn’t make much of a difference because everything was black.

“A high-ranking demon.”

“The higher-ups have a good eye. Anyway, I have to go back.”

“Yeah, you’ll wake up soon. The magician made you drink a medicine to bring you back to consciousness.”

It seemed like he was talking about the Master of the Magic Tower.

“Really? Then what state am I in now? Would I just look like I’m sleeping to other people?”

“You’ll look like you’re having a nightmare.”

“Being with you is a nightmare.”

I looked around the gloomy space again and wrapped my arms around myself.

I wasn’t in good shape.

“Am I going to get sick and die?”

“Don’t say such terrible things!”

What? Why is he so serious when I’m talking about death? That’s not very demon-like.

The demon kindly added an explanation, as if trying to reassure me.

“The will-o’-the-wisps I control aren’t that poisonous. But it will be a little difficult to live a normal life from now on.”

“For example?”

“You’ll feel murderous impulses without realizing it, you’ll want to do bad things, you’ll blurt out what you’re thinking, and, um…… so in a word, you’re now…….”

“Are you saying I’m going to be a bad X?”

“Well, something like that.”

“Is wanting to kill you right now also an effect of that?”

“W-Well, isn’t that just because you’re angry at me?”

The demon replied timidly.

“You know, you don’t know this, but the Master of the Magic Tower is quite capable. He’ll make a cure to get rid of the demon’s energy.”

“I also have something to say to you, Empress…….”

The demon carefully brought up something he wanted to say to me.

“Say it.”

“Demons aren’t the only ones who are evil. Do you really think the Master of the Magic Tower is doing what’s best for you?”

“What do you mean by that? It sounds like the Master of the Magic Tower has other intentions?”

“……I don’t know even if I know. That’s a business secret as a demon.”

“Ah, is sowing discord also a virtue of demons?”

I snorted and asked.

“I-I’m not sowing discord?”

“If the Master of the Magic Tower had bad intentions towards me, he wouldn’t have broken the barrier you put up, even at the cost of his own life.”

“Sigh, humans are so naive when you look at them like this. There’s a saying that if you see one thing, you know ten things, right? Wrong. Even if you know ten things, humans don’t know the eleventh thing.”

The demon’s words sounded meaningful.

“Do you perhaps know my future? Is that why you’re saying such things?”

“Gasp. That was a sharp question. I almost answered. Ehehe.”

“Don’t laugh ominously on purpose. It doesn’t suit you at all.”

“Y-Yeah. That was a pretty hurtful but good point.”

“Do you perhaps also lose a lot of patience?”

Has the demonic nature already begun to manifest?

Something was starting to bubble inside me.

This wasn’t a body temperature issue, but a mood issue.

It was definitely a different feeling from when the heat exploded.

“Probably. You get all the bad things.”

“Ah, I’m suddenly so annoyed…….”

“The way I see it, the demon’s energy seems to be seeping in better because you originally had a temper.”

“Shut up! Before I show you my temper.”

I flared up without realizing it because it was a pretty convincing opinion.

Oh, this is bad.

The words I’m thinking keep popping out.

Am I really turning into a villain?

“Haa, I’d rather die than live doing bad things.”

I said something I didn’t mean.

Then the fallen demon grabbed my words and asked in a cheerful tone.

“Then your husband will remarry another woman and live happily ever after? Are you okay with that?”

Suddenly, the fire energy and the evil energy surged at the same time.

***

“If you want to be with Her Majesty the Empress for a long time, try to stay awake as long as you can.”

Surprisingly, Roxana didn’t regret saying these words.

Linelle was suspicious that even that had some ulterior motive.

“Why are you telling me something you didn’t have to tell me?”

“I don’t know either.”

It was an unexpected answer.

But Roxana was serious.

Why did I say that?

I didn’t know.

“You don’t know?”

Linelle asked back.

“Yes, let’s just say it’s a feeling of pity for Empress Zelda. I thought for a moment that it might be a liking for Your Majesty, but I don’t think that’s it.”

It’s a strange answer now that I’ve said it. But there was no other way to explain it.

The two of them looked at Zelda, who was having a nightmare, at the same time.

A strange atmosphere lingered around the three of them for a while.

‘How long can a person stay awake without sleeping?’

Linelle thought, looking at Zelda.

‘How long can I last? 3 days, 4 days? No, I can last 5 days, right?’

The problem was that sleep is a natural physiological phenomenon and cannot be controlled by will alone.

“Your Majesty, would you like to make a deal with me?”

Whether he asked or not, he would naturally drink the potion that induces partial amnesia.

Roxana didn’t want to rush him, so she waited a few more minutes.

After a while, Linelle held out his hand.

Roxana opened the cork of the magic potion herself and handed it to him.

Linelle stared intently at Roxana’s face and drank it in one gulp.

It was a look of anger filled with the determination to never forget her face.

But that wouldn’t happen.

When Linelle fell asleep and woke up, he wouldn’t remember Roxana either.

Even knowing that fact, he tried.

He vowed to remember Roxana’s deal, the Master of the Magic Tower’s betrayal, and Zelda, who was dominating his whole body.

No, I changed my mind.

Even if I forget everything, I hope I don’t forget only Zelda.

He recalled the emotions he shared with Zelda one by one, as if engraving them.

‘I must not forget.’

I want to record it somewhere like a diary, but even that will not be allowed.

Since the potion he drank for the first time had a secret maintenance magic on it, he said that even if he wanted to reveal this fact, the words would not come out.

Linelle wasn’t afraid of dying.

But this wasn’t a matter of his life.

He had to abandon Zelda to save Zelda.

Besides, his younger brother Joseph’s life was also at stake.

The potion he drank broke in his hand.

There was a crackling sound, and blood flowed from Linelle’s hand.

Time was also flowing.

The little time left to spend with Zelda is flowing.

“I wish you’d get lost today. Because I want to spend time with my wife, even for a moment.”

He said to Roxana as he walked to the head of the bed where Zelda was lying, as if nothing had happened.

Roxana frowned at the blood flowing from his hand, then shrugged her shoulders.

“I’ll see you again tomorrow. I know you won’t believe it, but I’m sorry about Empress Zelda.”

Linelle narrowed his eyes and looked back at Roxana.

“What?”

“If she wasn’t your wife, we…… could have been good friends.”

Linelle didn’t believe it.

“Ha, is there any need to act in front of me? Anyway, I won’t even remember this situation.”

“I’m serious. If that weren’t the case, I wouldn’t have given you time to be together. Is this what you call kindness?”

“The devil has possessed you, not the Empress.”

Linelle said sharply, clenching his jaw.

But Roxana didn’t care much about those words.

That might really be the case.

“I’ll come back again. It looks like the Empress is about to wake up from her nightmare.”

Roxana gestured to Zelda, who had begun to toss and turn, and said goodbye to Linelle.

He quickly turned around and hugged Zelda.

“Zelda, what’s wrong! Open your eyes, huh?”

“Remarry?!”

Zelda grabbed Linelle by the collar and opened her eyes.

Could it be that she heard the story with the Princess?

“……Zelda, what’s wrong. Are you okay?”

Her face clearly didn’t look okay at all.

“I’m angry!”

Zelda shouted at him, clenching her teeth, which had been chattering until just now.

“Remarry? Try it, I’ll go and make a mess!”

Please do…….

Linelle whispered, hugging her.