The Stand-In Empress’S Wedding Night [EN]: Chapter 19

19. I Was a Little Too Hot, Wasn’t I?

“You’re so mischievous, really.”

I grumbled, wiping the water droplets from my face that Linelle had flicked at me.

“I thought you hadn’t washed your face yet.”

His playful yet sexy smile made my glare falter.

“Everyone greets me in perfect form. I was hoping there would be at least one person who would meet me in such a defenseless state, Zelda, and you did…”

“Am I the lucky one?”

“An honor, isn’t it?”

“Well… it feels like it, and it feels like it isn’t…”

“Ah, no. If you think it’s an honor, then I’d be even more honored.”

Unlike his initial audacity, he subtly backed down, which made him seem cute, and a smile crept onto my face.

“No, Your Majesty. I’m the one who’s more honored.”

“Glad you know it.”

“……Pfft, yes.”

“Just think of it comfortably. Though you already seem quite comfortable.”

Linelle glanced at the rose petals covering the bathwater.

“How long are you going to stand there like that? Like someone who’s lost something in the tub.”

I said, implying that he should turn his gaze away. He crossed his arms and looked down at me with a more serious expression.

“I did lose something: my curiosity.”

“You’re not thinking of finding that curiosity, are you?”

“That’s a very, very stimulating question, isn’t it?”

“Your Majesty’s gaze has been stimulating since a while ago.”

“I’ve heard that women from the Shatonil Kingdom are unreserved in their words and actions, and it’s true. The women of the Lapion Empire are all so coy that they’re no fun.”

“I’ll be sure to pass on those words to Your Majesty’s concubines later.”

“I permit it.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at his nonchalant acceptance of my sulking.

“Can I sit for a moment?”

He asked, pointing to the edge of the tub opposite where I was sitting.

“No!”

“I’m not even saying I’ll sit *in* the tub, but you’re being so strict.”

“There’s not really a place to sit. If you could step out for a moment, I’ll finish my bath…”

“No, I’ll just sit here for a bit.”

Linelle waved his hand and stubbornly sat on the edge of the tub, perching one hip on the rim.

“Oops, there must have been water there?”

“……Zelda, you didn’t wait for me to sit down before telling me that on purpose, did you?”

“I’m not such a petty woman.”

I said seriously. Actually, I knew all along. I had been watching to see if Linelle would really sit on the water-soaked edge of the tub, cheering him on in my mind, ‘Please, just sit down!’

“Well, seeing how calm you are even though four concubines have entered the palace just a few days after our marriage, it’s clear you’re far from petty.”

Linelle put his fingers in the tub and slowly moved his hand back and forth, creating gentle ripples in the water. The rose petals floating on the water began to move with his gesture. As the petals gathered in front, I quickly scattered them evenly again with my hand. He stared intently at my face and said in a serious voice,

“Beautiful.”

“……I’m embarrassed because I’m bare-faced.”

“Why be embarrassed? You’re just beautiful.”

His assessment of my bare face was quite generous.

“Stop looking at my face.”

I said firmly, and he frowned, looking regretful.

“Zelda, I didn’t even touch you, I just looked. Aren’t you being too harsh?”

“It’s the first time I’ve shown my bare face to a man… I’m embarrassed.”

“It’s also the first time I’ve seen a woman’s bare face. You may be embarrassed to show it, but I’m embarrassed to see it.”

What kind of logic is that?

“Th, then why are you looking?”

“Because I like being embarrassed.”

That’s a lie. He didn’t look embarrassed at all.

“It’s a feeling I’ve never had before. What reason would an emperor have to be embarrassed?”

“That’s… I suppose that’s true.”

“Ah, no, wait. Now that I think about it, there was one time.”

He piqued my curiosity.

“Really? When was that?”

What could have possibly embarrassed him, an emperor?

“It was during the war. I was about to cut off an enemy’s head, but I lost my footing and misaimed, cutting off his arm instead.”

Linelle lowered his head as if recalling the scene, covering his face with both hands.

“That mistake was truly embarrassing.”

“……That’s quite the analogy.”

“I know. It was a little too hot, wasn’t it?”

“?”

I was speechless at his unique interpretation.

“I didn’t know my hands were this big.”

He muttered quietly, lifting his head again.

“Pardon?”

“I picked too many petals.”

He said, removing some of the petals floating in the tub with his hand.

“Wh, what are you doing?”

As the petals disappeared in an instant, I instinctively crossed my arms over my body in a defensive posture. He paid no attention to my reaction and diligently threw the petals on the floor. If more petals disappear… it’s dangerous. I grabbed Linelle’s arm, which was clutching the petals.

“Stop taking them out, something terrible will happen!”

“Isn’t this more terrible?”

He gestured with his eyes to my hand gripping his arm.

“How dare you obstruct me.”

“Gasp.”

I quickly released his arm. But the thin shirt he was wearing was already wet and rolled up above his elbows.

“I, I’m sorry, Your Majesty!”

“Zelda, you’re the first.”

“The first what?”

“The first person to get me this soaked.”

“……”

My throat tightened at his clear, moist eyes.

“Hahaha! You didn’t take my words literally and were thinking something else, were you? Judging by that flustered expression?”

I gave up refuting Linelle’s claim.

“You seem very amused?”

“I am. By everything.”

His gaze, which had been lingering on my face, subtly moved downwards. I followed his gaze. When did the bathwater decrease this much? The water level, which had been up to my collarbone just a moment ago, had lowered and was now splashing precariously.

“Other ladies are busy deliberately exposing their dresses when they stand before me, but why are you so eager to cover yourself?”

He asked with a questioning expression.

“So you’ll be more eager.”

“……Huh?”

“Just kidding. It’s just that I’m a woman with inherent modesty.”

“That sounds more like a joke?”

“It’s not?”

“Well, anyway. When it’s just the two of us, adjust that modesty a bit. Otherwise, I might control you as I please.”

“……A kind offer, thank you.”

As I retorted with a slight glare, he said with even more enthusiasm, as if he had been waiting for it.

“Hearing you say that gives me even more courage.”

“Pardon?”

“Don’t you have any intention of showing me more of your heart?”

“When?”

Ah, what a stupid question! But even to my strange question, he showed no change in expression.

“Does the place matter when showing your heart? Well… whether it’s here or in the bedroom, I don’t mind?”

I didn’t know how to react to his words, which were neither serious nor joking. Just how was I supposed to show him my heart…? The water in the tub was getting hotter and hotter.

“Hmph, I knew my question was foolish from the start. You can’t take out your heart and show it. It’s just something you feel.”

He tucked my hair behind my ear as he spoke.

“If you knew, why did you bother asking?”

“Because I wanted to.”

Linelle replied shyly, unlike his usual self.

“It’s just that, for some reason, when I’m with you, I don’t want to do anything as I please. ”

My heart raced wildly, in stark contrast to Linelle’s polite tone.

“Except for one thing…”

With his added words, his gaze towards me felt very suggestive. Somehow, I felt like I knew what he was thinking about me right now.

“Don’t you ask what that one thing is?”

Linelle asked, assuming I would be curious about that ‘one thing.’ Of course, I was curious if my guess was correct, but somehow I felt like my prediction was right, and if it was, something overwhelming would happen. So, I had to end the conversation here. I shook my head, keeping my mouth tightly shut.

“Your expression says you’re curious? No, are you shaking your head because you already know?”

Perhaps… did this man rise to the throne through his intuition? As I stared at him with wide eyes, the corners of his mouth twitched playfully. I reluctantly asked about the one thing he wanted to do as he pleased.

“What is it?”

Unlike my hesitant voice,

“Sleeping with you. I want to do that as I please.”

His voice was precise and firm as he answered. A wave of intense tension made it difficult to blink.

“As expected, judging by your expression, you didn’t take my words literally this time either.”

Linelle burst into laughter and lightly tapped my nose with his finger.

“I wasn’t talking about intercourse.”

“Then…”

“I meant that I just like sleeping in the same bed with you.”

Ah, is that what you meant? You should have expressed it that way from the start. My heart rate returned to normal.

“That was a very misleading statement.”

“You can misunderstand as much as you want. Actually, I can’t say anything even if you misunderstand that way.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Does that really mean what I thought it meant? My heart began to race again.

“Yes, the not-so-naive empress, the very imagination that you’re thinking of with that little head of yours is the correct answer, you know?”

Linelle laughed, grabbing my head with both hands. He seemed to have seen right through my thoughts. Ah, I need to get out of the tub before the water boils like lava.

“Your Majesty, I’m a bit tired today, so I’d like to rest soon.”

“You look like it.”

He nodded, moving away from my face again.

“So, now, from here…”

I carefully opened my mouth.

“Get lost?”

“Yes! Ah, no, if you could go to the bedroom first…”

“Is something good waiting?”

“Yes! Ah, no, if you wait on the bed for a moment…”

“Will what I want be fulfilled?”

Should I just say yes? I hesitated for a moment.

“Hmph, why are you looking at me like a startled rabbit? I told you, I won’t bother you if you don’t want me to. You really look tired, so I’ll retreat for today.”

“……Really?”

I looked at Linelle, who was willingly retreating, with suspicious eyes.

“Yes, our empress must not be feeling well because of the concubine issue today, so I shouldn’t make things more uncomfortable.”

The corners of his eyes drooped innocently, making him look pitiful, like a wet puppy. Why did he lower his head like that, making me feel unnecessarily sorry?

“Your body will probably be all swollen because of me. I should get up now, right?”

Linelle seemed like he was really thinking of leaving the bathroom.

“Thanks to you, my clothes are all wet like this, so I’m feeling a bit chilly, but if I catch a cold, someone who feels guilty will take care of me, right?”

Surely he wouldn’t catch a cold from getting that wet…

“A cold?”

Instead of answering, he nodded with a pitiful look.

“If I catch a cold, you’ll have to come and stay in my palace until I’m all better.”

“Me?”

“Well, I could come and stay there too. By the way, the wind was quite strong when I came to the empress’s palace earlier, so this cursed, cold body of mine will meet a chilly friend.”

Is he making all that noise now to get me to hold him back?

“I didn’t even put on a robe, so it’ll be like having three or four ghosts stuck to my spine, all creepy and cold.”

“It wouldn’t be that bad…”

“Empress, who must have been very tired today, don’t worry about me and have a warm sleep alone. I’ll just take in the cold wind.”

He spoke as if he were about to kick down the bathroom door and leave, but when I stared at him,

“Why, what.”

His butt showed no sign of getting up from the edge of the tub.