The Stand-In Empress’S Wedding Night [EN]: Chapter 205

205. Let’s Go Together

2022.12.21.

“A passing traveler… Pfft.”

Melanie relished my words, laughing.

Laughter rippled through the other concubines, and Roxana’s eyes seemed to regain their spark.

Then, everyone pursed their lips and lowered their gaze slightly.

“The West Palace is already occupied, so I had to choose another location. It might be a bit… lively, but I think you’ll find it agreeable.”

Roxana said to me, a twitch playing at the corner of her mouth.

“I’ve managed to avoid becoming a traveler, so thank you for your consideration.”

*So, where exactly is my residence?*

I stared intently at her face, silently posing the question.

“As soon as the concubine ceremony concludes, my escort knight will lead you directly there.”

Roxana said with a sly smile, then signaled for the luncheon to begin.

*Just where has she prepared my residence that warrants such a self-satisfied expression?*

“Oh, right, the other prospective concubines have already had their wedding dresses fitted. I wonder if we can get yours prepared in time?”

Roxana said to me, feigning concern.

“When is the concubine ceremony?”

Melanie interjected, asking the question.

“In three days.”

*What?!*

“There’s not nearly enough time to make Zelda Mama’s [Zelda Mama is likely a term of endearment or respect] wedding dress!”

Rosie exclaimed, startled, and carefully protested to Roxana.

“If there’s truly no time, you’ll simply have to wear a ready-made wedding dress. It would be impolite to postpone the ceremony for one person, don’t you think?”

Roxana shrugged and looked at me expectantly.

“Of course, I don’t mind. After all, the dress itself is just a formality.”

At my words, the expressions of Roxana and the three prospective concubines crumpled like potatoes underfoot.

***

“Oong? Wrinkle is gone?”

Today, Moiya, who had transformed into an eagle instead of a pigeon, circled around the terrace of the Empress Palace bedroom.

The pink cushion where Nana always lay was empty.

“Where did she go? Is she in the room?”

Moiya peeked into the bedroom through the window.

After confirming that there was no one inside, she grabbed the terrace doorknob with her eagle’s feet, opened it, and entered the bedroom.

“Ugh, this is our master’s room… The scent in the room has become very bad, Moiya~?”

Moiya sniffed and circled the bedroom.

But Nana was nowhere to be seen.

“Is she in the bathroom?”

She’s a female bulldog who does her business anywhere, but she might have developed bowel habits in the meantime.

She turned towards the bathroom and flew, but she heard a suspicious sound from somewhere.

Moiya came down to the floor and listened carefully.

There was a rattling sound from the bottom drawer of the dressing table.

“Wrinkle, are you perhaps in here?”

Moiya opened the drawer with her eagle beak.

She saw a silk pouch deep inside the drawer.

“What is this, Moiya~?”

A round egg rolled out of the silk pouch.

“Oong?! Why does that brazen red head who settled here have a wyvern egg?”

Moiya tapped the wyvern egg with her eagle claws.

“To see a member of the same species here! Huh? And it’s about the same age as me?”

After looking at the wyvern egg from side to side, Moiya realized that it was an egg born 300 years ago, around the same time as herself.

“You’re so pitiful. If you’re stuck in this drawer, you won’t be able to hatch even after another 300 years.”

The wyvern egg, understanding Moiya’s words, collided and became excited inside the drawer.

“Do you want to go play with me? Seeing as the owner of this room stuck you in a corner, she probably won’t even notice if you disappear.”

This time, the wyvern egg bounced as if it was happy.

Moiya put the wyvern egg back into the silk pouch, grabbed the top of the pouch with her eagle feet, and flew up.

“If you fall on the way, consider it your fate.”

The entire silk pouch trembled at Moiya’s words.

***

I finished the luncheon, barely registering the taste of the food, and returned to the main palace.

Only three days left until the concubine ceremony.

I never expected Roxana to proceed with the concubine ceremony so quickly after becoming empress.

Could the reason be to force me out of the main palace?

Because if I become a concubine, I can no longer reside in the main palace?

No matter how I consider it, there seems to be no other explanation.

“Where did she decide on my residence….”

Judging from Roxana’s smug expression, she must have found a place that she was very pleased with.

I wasn’t expecting any grand palace, but one thing was certain: it would be the farthest possible location from the main palace, and therefore, from Linelle….

But it’s still somewhere inside the Imperial Palace.

As soon as I returned to the main palace, I informed Sharon of this news.

“That’s truly outrageous. How can she expect you to have a wedding dress made in three days?”

“I suppose I have no choice but to wear a ready-made wedding dress.”

“No! Those are for commoners, and the designs are far too simple.”

Sharon made a sad face, clearly upset.

But there was no other option at the moment.

“There’s nothing I can do. If the concubine ceremony is postponed because of me, she’ll find fault with that as well.”

And in truth, it didn’t matter much to me what kind of wedding dress I wore at the concubine ceremony.

I would be satisfied as long as there was a suitable ready-made wedding dress that fit me.

“Look for shops that cater to commoners. It doesn’t have to be fancy, just a cream-colored wedding dress.”

Only the empress can wear a pure white wedding dress.

Concubines were only permitted to wear cream-colored or slightly gray wedding dresses.

“Yes, I will search all the shops in the capital.”

“Hurry, because time is of the essence.”

“Yes, Your Majesty the Empress.”

“Sharon, please refrain from using the title Empress anymore. There are many ears listening.”

“……Yes, I will be careful when others are present. I’ll be back.”

“Okay, thank you for your hard work.”

Not long after Sharon left the room, a timid knock was heard from outside the door.

Knock knock knock-.

*Is it Linelle?*

Instead of saying come in, I opened the door myself.

“Hello….”

“Oh, my goodness!”

Linelle’s younger brother, Grand Duke Joseph, was standing outside the door with a shy expression.

I didn’t recognize him right away at first.

Joseph was definitely trapped in cursed ice, so what happened?

“Grand Duke Joseph… right?”

I bent down to meet Joseph’s eyes.

Joseph nodded and asked, blinking his blue eyes.

“If, if it’s not rude, may I come in for a moment?”

“Of course, please come in.”

I quickly stepped aside to the side of the door.

“Thank you.”

Joseph bowed and entered the room.

As I was about to close the door, a large hand suddenly squeezed through the door.

“Wait, can Jim come in too?”

It was Linelle.

“Isn’t Your Majesty supposed to be very busy right now?”

I asked, consciously looking around the hallway.

“Joseph was so insistent on meeting you that I had no choice but to be dragged along.”

“Your Majesty, I only found out today that the Empress had returned… Ugh!”

Linelle blocked Joseph’s mouth and messed up his neatly combed hair.

“Hahaha, Joseph. We can’t stay here long, so only say what’s necessary. Got it?”

Joseph nodded, and only then did he lower his hand that had been blocking his brother’s mouth.

“Your Majesty the Empress, I really wanted to see you.”

A fairly polite tone flowed from his small mouth.

“Me too. But I’m not the Empress anymore. I’m going to be the Second Concubine.”

And I might be holding a concubine ceremony without a wedding dress.

“I heard from Raphael and Stian. Perhaps the Empress was kicked out to save me… Ugh!”

“?”

Linelle blocked Joseph’s mouth again.

“Haha, Joseph is still not well, so please understand that he often says strange things.”

“Ah, yes… Anyway, I’m really glad you were able to come out of the cursed ice.”

“It’s all thanks to the Empress, isn’t it?”

Joseph suddenly shouted, desperately pulling his hand down.

“Thanks to me?”

When I asked with a smile,

“The cursed ice started to break after the Empress visited!”

“Really?!”

“Yes! Um… but, can you hug me just once?”

Joseph blinked his long eyelashes and said shyly.

I looked at Joseph’s pale face and grabbed his hand before hugging him.

Even though he came out of the cursed ice, his hands were so cold that it seemed like Joseph was suffering from hypothermia like Linelle.

I opened my arms and hugged Joseph with all my might.

“I’m so glad you’re safe, Grand Duke.”

Joseph nodded his head greatly in my arms and looked up at me in surprise.

“Wow… it feels like my body is melting, it’s warm!”

“Hmph, a competitor has increased.”

Linelle was leaning against the wall and slowly walked towards us.

“Joseph, go back to your room now.”

“Hing, can’t I stay a little longer?”

“No.”

He said firmly.

“Why?”

Joseph asked him as if he was arguing in a rebellious tone and hugged me,

“It’s my turn now.”

Linelle also hugged me in his arms and retorted.

***

Moiya, who returned to Rosie’s residence, threw the silk cloth she had brought from the Empress Palace onto the bed and returned to her original form.

“Wrinkle, were you here?!”

Nana, who Moiya had been searching for so long, was in Rosie’s bedroom.

‘These guys, really…!’

Nana was lying next to Aooshi, who was lying on the floor, and rolling her heavy body around.

“How did you get in here?”

“Woof woof! (Mind your own business!)”

Nana pouted at Moiya, who was panting.

“Miyaong? (Moiya, where did you steal this from?)”

In the meantime, Aooshi jumped onto the bed and tapped the wyvern egg that Moiya had brought with her front paws and asked.

“It’s our kind. It was stuck in that owner’s room.”

“Mi, Miyaong! (Gasp, what if you get caught!)”

“You won’t get caught if Wrinkle doesn’t tell on me.”

“Woof woof? (Our owner cherishes that a lot?)”

“Hmph, so what?”

Moiya put the wyvern egg on her finger and turned it around, snorting.

“Wo- woof woof! (Wo- be careful not to break it!)”

“The great wyvern egg doesn’t break easily. Do you want to see?”

“Miyaong. (Aigoo, I don’t want to see it.)”

As soon as Moiya threw the wyvern egg into the air, Aooshi closed her eyes and lay flat on the floor.

Nana also quickly lowered her wrinkled flesh to under her eyes with her front paws.

Thump-! The wyvern egg fell to the marble floor with a sound.

Aooshi and Nana, who were covering their eyes, slyly opened their eyes and looked at the wyvern egg that had fallen on the marble floor.

“Miyaong? (Really? Is it okay?)”

“I told you. Guys, let’s play ball with this!”

Moiya kicked the wyvern egg with her foot and sent it to Aooshi.

Then, Aooshi passed the wyvern egg directly to Nana.

Nana was restless, whimpered, and delivered the wyvern egg that had rolled in front of her back to Moiya.

That’s how a natural triangular structure was created.

Thus, led by the wyvern, the dog and cat began to play ball with the wyvern egg, which had not yet hatched for over 300 years.

At that time, the bedroom door opened and Rosie came in.

“Wh, what on earth!”

Rosie frowned as soon as she saw the bulldog Nana.

The moment the bedroom door opened, Moiya quickly rolled the wyvern egg under the bed.

Rosie’s gaze was focused on Nana, so the wyvern egg, which she had secretly brought from the Empress Palace, was not discovered.

“Why is that dog here?”

Rosie glared at Nana and puffed out hot air.

“I’m scared someone will see! Hey, what are you, why are you in my residence? You’re just like your owner, so brazen? You look exactly the same!”

Moiya and Aooshi were used to Rosie’s continued swearing, but Nana was shocked.

“Moiya, you brought her in, didn’t you?”

Rosie kept glaring at Nana and asked Moiya.

“No! I just came in too. I was rolling around on the floor with Aooshi. I was really surprised too, Moiya~?”

Moiya put her hands behind her back and pushed Aooshi’s butt towards Rosie with her foot.

“Miyaaong! (I don’t know either, Nana came unilaterally!)”

“Woof, woof. (Your owner… is very, very scary.)”

Nana suddenly hid behind Moiya.

It wasn’t a body that could be hidden by hiding, but she felt like she was going to pee because of the scary Rosie.

“Moiya, it’s your doing, isn’t it! Do you even have any thoughts?”

Rosie was convinced that Moiya had brought the dog that Roxana was raising.

“I’m wronged. It’s really not me!”

“If it’s not you, how did that stupid-looking bulldog get here by herself?”

“Oong? I really just came in?”

Rosie snorted at Moiya’s words.

“You, do you want to hang out with that dog that’s raised by the human who brought down Her Majesty the Empress?”

At Rosie’s stinging words, Nana turned away sadly.

Nana raised her two feet and scratched the bedroom door, expressing her intention to leave.

“Rosie, that’s too much. Animals are innocent….”

“Shut up! Get a grip. Don’t just call Her Majesty the Empress, Master, Master, with words.”

Rosie said irritably and slammed the bedroom door open.

“Whether it’s Nana or Nunu, go back to the Empress Palace right now. And don’t even come near the West Palace from now on. Misha, Misha!”

Rosie called her servant and closed the door with Nana.

“Miyaaong. (Don’t be too upset. Rosie doesn’t believe you because you usually cause so many accidents.)”

Aooshi carefully comforted Moiya, but Moiya burst into anger.

“I can’t live with that ugly thing anymore! I won’t live!”

“Miyaong? (If you don’t live?)”

“I’m going to get out of here.”

Moiya went under the bed, picked up the wyvern egg, and came out.

“You come with me too.”

At Moiya’s words, the wyvern egg rolled into the silk pouch on its own.

“Miyaaong? (Where are you going? With the stolen wyvern egg!)”

“Hmph, I have to live with Master now, Moiya~!”