The Stand-In Empress’S Wedding Night [EN]: Chapter 173

173. All Desires Grow

2022.08.31.

Moiya carefully picked out all the poison berries from the salad and held them in her palm.

“It’s no fun for a wyvern to eat all this delicious stuff alone.”

Besides the poison berries she had already eaten, there were seven left.

“Master, I’ll go share these real quick.”

Moiya clutched the poison berries and flew out the window towards Rosie’s room.

Rosie’s room was near the Emperor and Empress’s chambers.

Even if someone glanced out the window, the darkness would conceal Moiya as long as she stayed close to the monastery wall. It was still raining, too.

Rosie had thoughtfully left the window open for Moiya.

As Moiya entered, Rosie and Ao turned to her, surprised.

“Where have you been, looking like that?!” Rosie exclaimed, startled.

Judging by her expression, she was ready to unleash a torrent of curses, so Moiya quickly interjected.

“To Master! I stuck to the wall, so no one saw me, really!”

Moiya reassured Rosie, who was reaching for a pillow.

“Ao, eat this. Rosie, come try some.”

Moiya approached Ao and opened her fist.

“Miyaong? (What’s this?)”

“Eat it. It’s super delicious. I only ate one and brought the rest for you.”

Saying she only ate one was a lie, but she truly brought them for Ao.

“Miyaong? (Where did you get it?)”

Ao sniffed the poison berries, his nose twitching.

“It was in the salad that Her Majesty the Empress was going to eat. That means it’s precious.”

Rosie, overhearing Moiya’s whisper to Ao, approached with a suspicious look.

“What? You stole food that Her Majesty the Empress was going to eat?”

“I didn’t touch the meat! There were lots of fruits in the salad, so I just picked a few of these, Moiya~?” Moiya said defensively.

“Seriously… what kind of fruit did you steal?”

“Refreshing poison berries.”

“…Mi, Miyaong? (…Wh, What berries?)”

Ao rolled a poison berry around with his paw, then spat it out and collapsed.

“Ao, you didn’t swallow it, did you? You spat it out, right?” Rosie asked, checking Ao’s mouth. Ao nodded.

“It’s good to eat some poison. I feel pleasantly tipsy.”

Wyverns are resistant to poison.

Moiya had never lived in a group, but she knew it instinctively.

“You might be okay, but Ao is different!”

“Really? Cats are so weak? Then I’ll have to eat them all.”

Moiya nonchalantly dumped all seven poison berries into her mouth at once.

“The poison is popping in my mouth! So refreshing, so refreshing. I’m getting drunk, I’m getting drunk!”

Moiya, feeling the effects of the poison, started to do a little shoulder dance.

“Phew, that’s a relief. She didn’t eat them.”

According to Moiya, Zelda had fallen asleep again, so she hadn’t touched the food at all yet.

Relieved that Zelda hadn’t eaten the poison berries, Rosie suddenly jumped up.

“Who is it? Who put poison berries in the salad that Her Majesty the Empress was going to eat?!”

Sharon or Bonis wouldn’t have done that.

There must have been some mistake in the kitchen. Perhaps a kitchen servant didn’t recognize the poison berries and stored them with the other fruits during transport.

But somehow, she had a queasy feeling.

“I need to find out.”

She vowed to get to the bottom of it if someone had done this on purpose.

Rosie clenched her fists and left the room.

“Miyaaong? (Where are you going?)”

“Don’t you know? Is she going to steal the salad that Her Majesty the Empress is going to eat too? Wow, the poison is spreading through my body, so I’m feeling tipsy, Moiya~.”

Moiya’s cheeks flushed as if she had been drinking. She staggered and lay down on the bed, slurring her words to Ao as if she were drunk.

“Hey, another plate of poison berries here!”

***

“Sharon, Young Lady Bonis. You’re here.”

Rosie saw the two women leaving the kitchen and approached them quickly.

Bonis asked with a worried expression, “What’s wrong? Did something happen to Her Majesty the Empress?”

“No, it’s not that. Sharon, I need to ask you something.”

“Yes, Mama.”

“When you were preparing the meal for Her Majesty the Empress earlier, who else was in the kitchen?”

“Me, and…” Sharon glanced at Bonis.

“Just the two of us. Why do you ask?” Bonis asked Rosie directly.

“Only Bonis and Sharon were there? Did anyone come in, even for a moment?”

“Ah, Princess Resilia and Mama Pesillini came in briefly.”

“Why were they there?”

“Princess Resilia asked for water, and Mama Pesillini said she wanted fruit and kept looking at the fruit salad, so I gave her an orange.”

“Is that so?” Rosie rubbed her chin thoughtfully.

“Why?” Bonis lowered her voice, grabbed Rosie’s arm, and pulled her back into the kitchen.

“Well, Moiya stole some of the fruit salad that Her Majesty the Empress was going to eat. She brought the fruit to the room to give to Ao…”

Rosie paused, then frowned and whispered, “It was a poison berry.”

“Poison, poison? There was a poisoned berry? That can’t be! Ah, I did put strawberries in the salad, but… what do poison berries look like?” Sharon asked, her face paling.

“It’s much smaller than a strawberry, and much redder.”

“When I put the fruit in, there was nothing like that. The strawberries looked like normal strawberries to anyone.”

Sharon’s words convinced Rosie.

“Someone must have put it in on purpose.”

“Princess Resilia or Mama Pesillini. It’s one of them. Or a collaboration between the two.”

Bonis crossed her arms and bit her lip.

“It’s presumptuous of me to say this, but I don’t think they worked together. Aren’t they on bad terms because of the wine storage incident? Princess Resilia ran away alone, so I don’t think Mama Pesillini would have worked with her.”

“Yeah, I think so too. It must be a solo crime.”

Rosie gritted her teeth. “Mama Pesillini was promoted by Her Majesty the Empress after the wine storage incident. It must be the princess, I’m sure.”

Rosie seemed to have made up her mind and headed straight for Princess Resilia’s room.

Sharon and Bonis followed behind her.

On their way, they encountered Melanie and Catherine, and then Consort Jasper, in the hallway.

“Where are you all going, with horns on your heads like angry bulls?” Melanie asked Rosie.

“To pink head’s room,” Rosie answered, suppressing her anger as she walked.

“I don’t know what it is, but I’m going too!” Melanie immediately understood who Rosie meant by “pink head,” rolled up her sleeves, and hurried after her.

Catherine and Consort Jasper followed at a distance. It felt like a fight was brewing.

Knock knock knock-.

Rosie pounded on Princess Resilia’s door with her fist.

Before anyone could react inside, Rosie lifted the hem of her dress, revealing her sturdy ankles, and raised one foot as if she were about to break down the door.

Just as Rosie was about to kick, Princess Resilia opened the door with a very unpleasant expression.

“What is this rudeness? Uh-oh!”

Rosie pushed past Princess Resilia and entered the room.

“What are you doing, barging in without any manners!” The princess looked slightly frightened, then consciously raised her head and argued with Rosie.

“I’m not going to waste words with you, Princess, so I’ll ask you directly. The poison berries, is this your doing?”

“Wh, what…?”

“You put poison berries in the fruit salad for Her Majesty the Empress, didn’t you!” Rosie accused her confidently.

“Oh my, crazy. Crazy,” Melanie, who finally understood why Rosie was so angry, chimed in from the side.

Princess Resilia was momentarily flustered, but soon answered calmly, “What is this rampage, coming here out of nowhere? Poison berries? How could a princess like me have such fruits? Seriously, you have to say something that makes sense!”

“Before arriving at the second villa, me, Mama Melanie, ah, you’re here, Consort Jasper. Don’t you remember going to a place with poison berries while looking for fruits to pick and eat with the princess?”

“You said it yourself. Was I the only one there? If you’re going to argue like that, aren’t these three people also suspects? Why am I the only one being suspected?”

“Hmph, people’s reputations exist for a reason, right?” Melanie sneered.

“Melanie, you have a reputation for talking nonsense, so stop talking. Don’t ruin even the image you have left.”

“What did you say? Do you think it’s okay to say anything if it’s true?” Melanie was about to charge forward, but Princess Resilia ignored her and snapped at Rosie again.

“So, did the Empress even eat those poison berries?”

The way she asked seemed to imply that she secretly hoped she had.

“She almost ate them!”

“Why are you all making such a fuss when she didn’t even eat the poison berries? Why are you driving an innocent person into a corner!” Princess Resilia shouted confidently.

There was enough circumstantial evidence, but the problem was that there was no proof, as the princess pointed out.

“Ah? Is everyone angry because I left the wine storage first today? Don’t be ridiculous. If I hadn’t left like that, we would have all died there!”

Princess Resilia’s words weren’t entirely wrong, so everyone just glared and shut their mouths.

“Should we have been sacrificed for the sake of insignificant lives?” The princess glanced at Sharon and the other concubines as she asked.

*Does she think we only have ears to listen and no mouths to speak with?*

Rosie, usually known for her gentle nature, finally exploded.

“The most precious person was infected with the energy of evil because of your devilish actions!”

*She must have run away so fast that her long pink hair fluttered when she left the wine storage door, right?*

Rosie grabbed Princess Resilia’s pink hair.

“Aah! Is she really crazy!” Princess Resilia also reached out and grabbed Rosie’s hair, shaking it wildly.

The two women’s squabble continued for several minutes.

“Mama Rosie, calm down and let go. Try to relax your hand a little?” Melanie actively tried to stop her, tapping Rosie’s fist, which was tightly gripping Princess Resilia’s hair.

“Why!” Rosie couldn’t resist Melanie’s urging and reluctantly let go of Princess Resilia’s hair, asking with a voice that wasn’t relieved.

“Why else? I’m going to grab her! Let’s finish this today!” Melanie pushed Rosie away from Princess Resilia and immediately ran towards the princess.

Melanie grabbed Princess Resilia’s hair and wrapped it around her wrist once.

It happened so quickly that no one could stop her.

Catherine slyly went next to Princess Resilia and pretended to stop the two, only pushing Melanie’s body away.

“You’re ganging up on me with people who have no loyalty? Fine, then.” Melanie turned her neck from side to side and asked Rosie and Sharon to hold her arms tightly from behind.

The two women grabbed her arms tightly as Melanie requested, and Melanie kicked Princess Resilia, alternating her legs.

“Ha, dare you kick me? Do you think I can’t do it because I don’t know how?!” Princess Resilia, who lost her mind at the sight, shouted the same thing.

“Grab my arms, quickly!” Catherine and Consort Jasper, who were next to her, grabbed Princess Resilia’s arms in a daze, and the princess also stretched her foot out towards Melanie.

“Ugh, you look like this poison berry!” Melanie shouted, blowing on the hair she had pulled out of Princess Resilia’s hair and throwing it on the floor.

“What? You look like a steel skewer!”

“What? Do you want to get stabbed by a steel skewer?”

In the end, Melanie and Princess Resilia rolled on the floor, entangled with each other.

Rosie and Catherine also rolled on the floor, trying to stop the two, and engaged in a physical fight.

***

I must have fallen asleep again while waiting for the food.

When I opened my eyes, I smelled food.

When I saw the food, I couldn’t hide my excitement.

“The Archmage said that if you’re infected with the energy of evil, your appetite increases, and it seems like that’s true…” Linelle muttered, staring at me as I tore apart the lamb chops like someone who hadn’t eaten for days.

“Are you regretting it?” The words came out as if I were arguing, without me realizing it.

He didn’t show any unpleasant expression, but rather burst into laughter.

“I’m saying it because you’re eating so well.”

He said, wiping my mouth affectionately.

“Would you like some, Your Majesty?”

“Don’t say things you don’t mean, just eat.”

I felt like my heart had been read for a moment, so I tore at the lamb chops and laughed awkwardly.

Linelle smiled at me, saying that this side of me was very primal, and stared at me intently.

“What else does the Archmage say?”

“Huh?”

“What else changes when you’re infected with the energy of evil?”

“He said that the instincts you’ve been suppressing rationally come alive. All the desires that humans have will increase.”

As soon as I heard that, an irresistible desire began to stir within me.

Suddenly, his lips looked so luscious.

*Is it because I want to tear apart Linelle’s lips like lamb chops?*

No. This isn’t appetite, it’s…

“Does… does that mean sexual desire also increases?” I asked seriously, handing him the lamb chop bone that I had thoroughly eaten.

“…Why?” Linelle threw the lamb chop bone out the window and asked.

I swallowed, parted his lips with my index finger, and said longingly, “Because I want to eat you.”