The Stand-In Empress’S Wedding Night [EN]: Chapter 200

The Emperor’s Choice

“Don’t get ahead of yourself.”

He said calmly.

*Does that mean I’m not going to be executed, judging by the way he’s talking?*

“I’m saying that because there’s a whole group of people outside trying to end my life prematurely!”

“Hmm, I really have to go now.”

Nellie patted my shoulder as if to soothe my agitation and urged me once more.

“Remember what I told you, okay?”

…What did you say again?

My head was a mess.

I couldn’t quite remember what he had said.

Still, I nodded roughly and took him in with my eyes.

Only then did he leave the waiting room with a relieved expression.

“……”

I was alone again.

After Nellie left, I tried to recall ‘what he had said.’

But the word ‘execution’ was stuck in my head, and other thoughts became hazy.

Still, I felt relieved.

At least I saw his face one last time….

Oh, for goodness’ sake.

It hadn’t even been a minute since he left, and I was already thinking about death.

If I had known this would happen, I would have eliminated Roxana in the underground chamber and snatched the Avatar Sword to make a run for it….

Regret washed over me.

No, what about Sharon then?

“Please come out now.”

A few minutes later, the priest opened the door and entered. It was the same priest who had guided me to this waiting room earlier.

It felt like someone was constantly pounding on my heart like a drum.

*Thump, thump*—the sound of my heart echoed throughout my body.

But I calmly left the waiting room and asked the priest.

“Are there many people gathered?”

“Pardon?”

“I mean in the assembly hall.”

“Ah, yes. The matter is quite important, after all.”

The priest glanced at me with cold eyes and replied.

“Let’s go in now.”

The priest opened the door to the assembly hall himself.

I consciously straightened my back and walked.

Eyes that were not so composed in a solemn atmosphere were seated on both sides.

The emperor’s chair at the highest point was empty.

Just one step below sat the high priest, and long tables stretched out on both sides.

Those tables were occupied by key officials.

And my place was right in the center.

In the center, there was something like a small wooden fence, just enough for one or two people to enter.

It was clearly a place for a sinner to stand.

As I approached, the knight standing behind the wooden fence gestured for me to enter.

The atmosphere was very similar to a courtroom.

I looked back and forth, scanning the faces of the officials.

The officials were already killing me with their eyes.

As I looked around again, I discovered a group sitting in a row in seats prepared separately near the emperor’s seat.

It looked similar to the witness stand in a courtroom.

The expression of the Master of the Magic Tower was calm, the commander of Marcrom was glaring with all his might, and Empress Elan, who met my eyes, gestured for me to straighten my shoulders, puffing out her own shoulders.

All three of them were giving me strength with their eyes.

Looking at the group, I straightened my slumped posture again.

Grand Duke Martins was also sitting next to the group.

I guessed he had stayed behind in the Rafion Empire in place of Prince Tesler.

Since Grand Duke Martins was the one who came with me to the Rafion Empire as the Minister of Foreign Affairs when I came as the ‘proxy empress,’ it seemed he had been called here as well.

Grand Duke Martins looked at me with an excessively pitiful gaze.

Soon after, the door to the assembly hall burst open.

At the same time as the door opened, everyone’s gaze except mine was focused on one place.

The officials all rose from their seats.

My ex-husband, the emperor, had appeared.

I could hear the heavy footsteps of the emperor behind me.

And along with that, the clattering sound of heels.

‘He even brought Roxana with him.’

I unknowingly pouted my lips.

Listening to the approaching footsteps of the emperor, I busily rolled my eyes to find Nellie.

‘Why can’t I see him?’

I had been looking for him since earlier, but he was not in the assembly hall.

I began to feel anxious.

Instead of Nellie, I found Prince Norton in the middle of the left side.

Just like Rosie said, he really didn’t return to the Partsha Empire and remained here.

Emperor Adrian is like that because of Empress Elan, but why is Prince Norton still in the Rafion Empire… Ah, Rams was there.

Well, moving to the Southern Continent with young Rams was difficult for the child in many ways.

I exchanged greetings with Prince Norton with my eyes.

The prince’s eyes looking at me were also full of worry like Grand Duke Martins.

In the meantime, the emperor went up to his seat and sat down.

Roxana took her place next to the high priest, one step below.

Moya said that the relationship between me and the emperor was quite good….

What kind of person is he?

I raised my downcast gaze and looked at the emperor.

‘…Nellie?!’

I blinked my eyes several times.

I hadn’t seen it wrong.

‘Why is Nellie sitting in the emperor’s seat?’

I quickly looked at the knights around him.

They’re not dragging him down, so that means he’s the emperor…?!

What on earth is going on?

My head was throbbing as if it would break.

It was a real headache.

I almost screamed.

But fortunately, I was so dumbfounded and embarrassed that no voice came out.

Only a weak wind sound leaked from my throat, but inside, I was already screaming.

‘You… what are you? What are you?!’

I asked him with my eyes.

He just looked at me with a complicated expression.

My legs faltered, and I grabbed the wooden bar in front of me with both hands to hold on.

I lowered my gaze to Roxana, who was glaring at me with fierce eyes from under him.

Roxana frowned slightly and sneered as she met my eyes.

It was as if she was saying, ‘You are a dead woman now.’

There was no one in the assembly hall who had a hopeful look for me.

***

At the same time, the concubines who could not attend the meeting in the Great Temple gathered at Catherine’s palace.

“What, weren’t only the concubines supposed to gather?”

Melanie, who was entering the reception room, grumbled as she saw the prospective concubines from the Aclato Duchy who were already there.

“If I had known this, I wouldn’t have come. Catherine, what’s going on?”

Rosie, who came with Melanie, frowned as well, as she was already worried to death about Her Majesty the Empress, and this made her even more uneasy….

“First, come and sit down. These people will soon become His Majesty’s concubines, and it’s not good to be so hostile to each other.”

Catherine said gently, blowing on the hot black tea and drinking it.

Rosie and Melanie looked at Catherine with dumbfounded expressions, then glared at the three concubine candidates and sat opposite them.

“It’s been a while, Lady Pesilini?”

Rosie sat next to Catherine and greeted Pesilini first.

Pesilini nodded and said quietly, ‘It has.’

“Oh my, Lady Pesilini! You seem to have gained a lot of weight since I last saw you. You should pay attention to that.”

Melanie stretched her head to the side and reached out, lightly grabbing Pesilini’s arm, which was definitely plumper than before.

Pesilini blushed and covered her stomach with both hands.

“Oh my, your belly seems to be sticking out a bit too?”

“Tsk, Melanie.”

Catherine called Melanie’s name as if to tell her to be polite in front of the prospective concubines.

“I heard that a meeting is being held in the Great Temple right now?”

Yulina, one of the prospective concubines, cautiously asked the concubines first, as they were all looking at each other.

Then El, the older of the twin sisters next to her, added as if she had been waiting for it.

“I heard they gathered to depose Her Majesty the Empress?”

“Who said that? Depose?”

Melanie asked, glaring.

“That’s right. Don’t say things carelessly. Nothing has been decided yet!”

Rosie also clenched her teeth and snapped at the prospective concubines.

“That’s right. Isn’t it because they are finally trying to make a decision that His Majesty and the officials have all gathered? I heard that she was secretly trying to embezzle royal funds when she was the empress?”

This time, Celine, the younger of the twin sisters, asked sarcastically,

“That’s nonsense. She would never do that.”

Rosie said firmly, clenching both fists under the table.

“Yes, Rosie is right about that.”

Catherine surprisingly took Rosie’s side.

She also didn’t think Zelda was the type to embezzle money.

She didn’t like Empress Zelda, but that didn’t mean she was an empress blinded by greed.

The prospective concubines closed their mouths at Catherine’s words.

‘Please be safe….’

Rosie took a sip of black tea with a heavy heart, but the anxiety did not disappear.

“I hope this doesn’t delay the remarriage ceremony again?”

Yulina brought up the topic with a sulky expression.

“Ha, is the remarriage ceremony the problem now?”

Rosie asked in an absurd tone, and the prospective concubines answered all at once.

“That’s right, so we can have our ceremony quickly too!”

“Seriously, do you think being a concubine is easy? Being a concubine is such a cold and lonely position.”

Melanie clicked her tongue and muttered.

***

“Your Majesty! The Shatoaniel Kingdom and Empress Zelda have deceived our Rafion Empire. This is not a matter to be taken lightly!”

“From the beginning, it shouldn’t have ended with just reducing tariffs.”

“Your Majesty, please hold them accountable properly even now!”

“We must show the Shatoaniel royal family what happens if they deceive our Rafion Empire!”

The officials looked back and forth between me and the emperor and spoke in a rush.

At the end of their words, they all pleaded for the ‘proxy empress’ to be executed.

*Damn it.*

It seemed like all of them had a personal grudge against me.

While the officials were raising their voices, Roxana’s hardened expression was gradually loosening.

Roxana’s face was one that would burst into laughter as soon as the death penalty was handed down to me.

Every time I saw her subtly raising the corners of her lips, my back, which had been whipped by her, throbbed.

Before coming here, I deliberately changed into a dress with a deeply exposed back and put on a robe.

It was possible because my dresses were still left in the dress room of the main palace bedroom.

It was a dress that covered up to the neck when viewed from the front, but the back was designed to be coolly exposed down to the lower back.

If Roxana lied about what happened in the underground chamber, I was thinking of taking off the robe and showing everyone my back for rebuttal.

I didn’t know how much impact the traces of the whip marks Roxana inflicted would have, but I had to do everything I could.

Nellie. No, the emperor was just listening to the officials’ claims.

It was as if he was saying, ‘If you have anything to say, say it all today.’

But as the person involved, my mouth was parched every time the officials said a word.

I was just amazed at how everyone was so united.

And I was also taken aback by the newly discovered facts.

What? I tried to embezzle royal funds?

I threatened Prince Tesler that I would expose that I was the ‘proxy empress’ and tried to extort money from him?

It’s absurd.

But these ridiculous lies had already become the truth for them.

No matter how much I said it wasn’t true here, it was obvious that they wouldn’t believe me.

In this oppressive atmosphere, it felt like I would admit to crimes I didn’t even commit.

Anyone with a mouth uttered the word ‘execution’ at least once.

‘They’re talking so easily because it’s not their life at stake.’

“If you add the crime of threatening the princess, this is a matter that doesn’t even need to be discussed further!”

A man who appeared to be a nobleman from the Aclato Duchy brought up what happened in the empress’s palace today.

I clenched the robe I was wearing tightly with my hands.

I threatened the princess?

Should I reveal my back at this point?

For a moment, I hesitated whether to take off the robe, but I decided to wait for a more appropriate time.

The nobleman from the Aclato Duchy explained in detail to the officials what had happened in the underground chamber of the empress’s palace.

The high priest, who had heard all the details, publicly asked Roxana as a representative.

“Did Empress Zelda really threaten the princess?”

“Yes, I was reprimanding a maid who didn’t admit her mistake, and she snatched the whip I had and threatened me.”

The emperor looked down at Roxana’s sobbing.

The assembly hall became even more chaotic.

The emperor raised one hand.

It seemed like he was deliberately trying to stop Roxana from speaking.

In any case, the noise that had been loud disappeared in an instant with his gesture.

Everyone held their breath and waited for what decision the emperor would make.

What is he thinking right now?

What choice will he make?

Will he make me spend about 5 years in prison?

Or will he show generosity and send me to a small villa owned by the imperial family in a small provincial city and have me live there for the rest of my life?

“This is my decision.”

He finally opened his mouth.

Everyone stared intently at the emperor’s face.

Suddenly, the words he had said in the waiting room flashed through my mind.

‘There is a way to live.’

‘No matter what happens, never object.’

‘Even if they sentence me to death?’

‘Whatever it is.’

He definitely told me that….

His unwavering voice echoed in the assembly hall.

“Empress Zelda is deposed!”

Applause erupted from here and there.

Ah… I expected it, but it felt strange.

It felt like my heart was tightening.

Could it be that his mind has changed?

He doesn’t remember the days when I was the empress, so he could misunderstand me enough.

His memories of me are only for a few days.

As I thought that his thoughts might have changed while listening to the officials’ opinions, my heart sank.

He slowly opened his mouth again.

It was the moment when my fate was finally decided.

“And the deposed empress….”

At the emperor’s prolonged silence, I closed my eyes.

Will it be the death penalty?

Will he… me….

In the end….

“Is demoted to a concubine.”

“?!”

What… am I supposed to do?

I raised my head that had fallen and stared at him with wide eyes.

At that moment.

“Your Majesty! This is absurd!!”

Roxana jumped up from her seat and protested, looking up at him.

Then the officials who were sitting also rose from their seats as if they had promised.

“Please reconsider, Your Majesty!”

“It would be more appropriate to send her into exile far away!”

“That’s right, it is unprecedented in the history of the Rafion Empire to reinstate an empress who has committed a crime and been deposed to the position of a concubine!”

The voices of the excited officials rushed towards him like they were about to pounce.

“There is no reversal of my decision!”

He raised his voice for the first time.

The eyes of the emperor who made the decision were so fierce that they would freeze the assembly hall.

He looked straight at me and commanded once more.

“Empress Zelda is deposed, and she is demoted to the Second Concubine.”