The Stand-In Empress’S Wedding Night [EN]: Chapter 21

Please Turn Your Head for a Moment

Linell suddenly moved and sat behind me. While his position changed in the tub, I couldn’t do anything. It happened so quickly, but also,

“I’m cold. I’ll be quiet. I really will…”

I couldn’t move because of his earnest request.

“Are you uncomfortable?”

“It’s warm. And it’s not boring since the human warming magic stone even talks.”

Linell placed his chin on the top of my head and said,

“Are you uncomfortable?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“You know why. You don’t need me to say it.”

He’s at least wearing clothes.

“Ah, right.”

“Then why did you bother asking?”

“Don’t know? Guess I’m crazy.”

I nodded in agreement, and he found it so funny that he laughed like a madman. As his laughter subsided, I quietly asked, remembering what he had said earlier,

“Do you go to the training grounds often?”

“I’m the Emperor famous for wielding a sword in war, you think I’d neglect the training grounds?”

“Did you kill many people in the war?”

I couldn’t imagine what he would be like on the battlefield. Right now, he was just an overly handsome husband who had slipped and fallen into the tub.

“I fight thinking that the fewer enemies I kill in war, the greater the sacrifice of my own people.”

He paused for a moment before answering seriously.

“I’m not a murderer. Look, I even agreed to a political marriage hoping that if the power of the Northern Continent grows, there will be less bloodshed in the war with the Southern Continent, right? Well, it was also to keep the ministers in check.”

Linell’s low voice and gentle laughter from behind me sounded nice.

“Do you regret it?”

“What? Falling into the tub? Or the political marriage?”

“So… you did fall into the tub on purpose?”

I glanced back at him, thinking of the precious soap that had been miserably crushed on the floor.

“My acting was pretty good, wasn’t it?”

He lowered his eyes and readily admitted. I was startled by his moist and shining face and changed the subject.

“My precious soap was sacrificed.”

He responded gently to my grumpy tone.

“I’ll buy you the same one.”

“……Pardon?”

“I have a lot of money.”

“Pfft.”

“Why are you laughing? You’re making me sound like I’m lying.”

“No, please do buy it for me.”

“Okay. First, about falling into the tub, I don’t regret it. It feels like all my fatigue is gone. Look, the water is still warm.”

Linell was still amazed, scooping up the steaming bathwater and letting it trickle down.

“But this is really strange……”

He muttered to himself with a doubtful voice before returning to the previous topic.

“And the political marriage. I’m glad the Empress is you. So I don’t regret it. I’ll… try to do well so you won’t regret it either.”

My heart fluttered at his shy confession.

“You don’t believe me?”

When I didn’t say anything, he tightened his arms around my neck.

“Ugh, are you going to strangle me to death right now if I say I don’t believe you?”

I grabbed his firm forearms and pretended to suffocate. He chuckled and loosened his grip.

“It’s nice to be able to talk comfortably since we’re both in the tub fairly.”

“I’m not comfortable, though?”

“Why?”

“It’s not a fair situation.”

“Ah, right. How rude of me.”

Linell said as if reflecting, and then I heard something moving behind me. When I glanced back at him, he was unbuttoning his shirt.

“What are you doing……?”

“Making it fair.”

Even though his chest muscles were clearly visible through the already soaked shirt, he deliberately took it off and tossed it to the floor.

“Zelda, move forward a bit.”

Ah, no way……? He grabbed my arms and gently pushed me forward in the tub. Then, he knelt on the bottom of the tub, raised his upper body slightly, and reached for the waistband of his pants. I quickly turned my head back to the front and shouted,

“Ah, you don’t have to take off your bottoms! You, you get cold easily!”

“Is that so? Well, you have a point.”

He sat back upright in the tub. Whew, I thought he was going to take everything off. A moment later, Linell whispered in my ear with a wicked voice,

“But Empress.”

“Yes……”

“I already took them off.”

“!”

I was so shocked by his words that I almost turned my whole body to look at him. His watery blue eyes looked so mysterious that this moment felt unreal.

“You’re only looking at me properly now that I said I took everything off?”

I didn’t see anything, though? I looked up at the ceiling. The ceiling was painted with a scene of naked goddesses and gods bathing together, and baby angels pouring water into jars for the two gods. Is he really naked?

“Relax. I was just kidding.”

What? I didn’t believe Linell and glanced down at the bathroom floor. I guess he was. Fortunately, his reason seemed to be functioning, as there was nothing on the floor.

“I thought it wouldn’t be right for both of us to be naked. At least one person should be dressed.”

“What a very polite couple.”

“Heh, hehe, hahaha!”

His joyful laughter rose with the steam to the ceiling.

“Linell, if you’re not planning to eat me for breakfast tomorrow, I’ll get out of the tub first. I feel like I’m getting cooked from being in here too long.”

I showed him my wrinkled fingers and tried to escape.

“Alright. It would be a problem if you got cooked. I should get out too.”

“Then…… who should go out first?”

“Choose. Me, who is wearing clothes but has no clothes to change into? Or you, who has a robe but is naked right now?”

Let’s settle this with one round. I made a fist, meaning to decide with rock-paper-scissors. Everything is up to fate. Linell also made a fist. But that fist went straight into my fist.

“Well, that was a good bath.”

He said as our fists bumped. That’s not it? Excuse me, I meant to play rock-paper-scissors? I awkwardly held up my fist before slowly lowering my hand.

“I’ll turn my head for a moment so you can put on your robe first. It would be a problem if you caught a cold.”

It didn’t seem like something someone with hypothermia curse should say, but I was still touched by his consideration.

“Yes, then please turn your head for a moment. You wouldn’t… peek, would you?”

“I like stealing other people’s land, but I’ve never stolen anyone’s body. I don’t have a hobby of peeking.”

His firm words were trustworthy.

“Okay, then I’ll get out of the tub first.”

“Aren’t you out yet?”

Linell said playfully, turning his head to the other side. I checked his turned head until the moment I left the tub before walking to where the robe was hanging. After wiping my body with the long towel on the shelf, I put on the pink slip and robe hanging on the deer antlers. I tied the robe tightly and turned to him, opening my mouth.

“I’ll go get a towel for His Majesty to use…… Kyaa!”

Linell’s head was already facing me.

“Oh, how long have you been watching?”

I was dumbfounded by his brazen change of direction and once again carefully fastened my robe.

“Hmm, who knows?”

“Huh? You said you didn’t have a hobby of peeking!”

“I said that because I never had anything to peek at? So of course, I didn’t have a hobby of peeking. But I might have a hobby of it from now on.”

He rested his perfect face on his arms, which were folded over the tub, and said languidly.

“What did you say?”

“I think it suits me.”

“I’m disappointed.”

I said bluntly with a bewildered expression.

“But you know what. Honestly, it doesn’t make sense to say I was peeking.”

“Are you even trying to deny it now?”

“Ahem, I’m telling the truth.”

“?”

“I wasn’t peeking, I was just looking openly? Wouldn’t that not be a denial?”

“Haa……”

“And I’m not stingy like someone else.”

“What are you talking about now?”

Something ominous was rising. I felt like I needed to get out of the bathroom quickly.

“Look if you want to. I don’t say old-fashioned things like ‘turn around’.”

“I, I need to go get a towel to dry myself……”

“Don’t move. Stay right there.”

The moment I tried to take a step, my foot stopped in mid-air at his solemn command.

“You can use the one you just used. So you don’t need to go out.”

Ah, were we at the point of sharing a towel? Even if we’re a couple, isn’t he His Majesty the Emperor? I had never heard of couples in noble families, let alone the royal family, sharing towels even in the Shatoanil Kingdom. I thought it would only drain my energy to argue with him, so I picked up the towel I had just used from the shelf as he wished. Never let my eyes drop below his lips. I walked towards him, reminding myself several times. Anyway, he wasn’t very visible because of the thick steam. As I got closer, he gracefully rose from the tub. Linell’s overall appearance, blurred by the steam, was very beautiful, like a water fairy. He came out of the tub without any hesitation. It happened so quickly that I didn’t have time to avoid his gaze…… which is actually an excuse. I was also curious. I was curious if he could stand up confidently as he said, and if so, how he would act afterward. Yes, just a little.

But nothing was visible.

“Haa……”

A long sigh escaped my lips. I couldn’t even tell if it was a sigh of relief or a sigh of disappointment.

“You look very disappointed that I’m not taking off my bottoms?”

He seemed to have taken my sigh that way.

“Not at all.”

“That reaction is cute, but I really have to take them off now.”

“A, are you going to take off your pants now?”

I turned my body slightly with a defensive tone.

“Of course, I have to dry them since they’re wet. I can’t lie down on the Empress’s bed like this, can I?”

Ah, that’s right. That makes sense.

“Towel.”

“Ah, here, dry yourself.”

I turned my head slightly to the side and handed him the towel.

“Can’t you dry me?”

Linell’s hand, which had taken the towel, grabbed my hand as well. I turned my gaze to his face. Even though I was looking into his eyes, I could tell. I could tell without looking. He had already taken off his bottoms. So, he had really become a naked emperor. Even though I was only looking at his face, my face was getting hotter and hotter. Sweat was beading on my forehead, mixed with the bathroom steam and tension. Linell’s hand wiped the sweat from my forehead.

“You really seem to have a lot of heat in your body. My body is freezing as soon as I get out of the bathwater.”

Oops, I had forgotten about his hypothermia curse for a moment because I was so flustered. His soaked body was rapidly losing temperature. Well, who told him to strip naked? No, why did he fall into the bathwater in the first place?

“I’m so cold……”

At his pitiful voice, I quickly unfolded the towel and wrapped it around his body, wiping off the water. I shook out his soaked black hair, pressed down on the water on his sculpted face, passed his broad shoulders, passed his firm chest muscles, passed, passed, passed, and my hand stopped at his waist.

My hand, holding the towel, couldn’t go down any further and looked at Linell’s eyes,

“Take it.”

I put the towel in his hand and stepped back.

“I understand. There’s too big of an obstacle to just brush past it.”

“!”

“I’ll dry myself from here. Zelda, why are your shoulders raised so high?”

Without realizing it, my body was stiff, with both shoulders touching my ears.

“It seems like the towel is a bit small to dry all the water, so I’ll go get another one.”

I hurriedly ran out of the bathroom and into the bedroom.

***

1 hour ago, Grand Duke Martins saw Emperor Linell on his way back to the annex with the guest room after an evening stroll. Even from a distance, the Emperor was heading somewhere at a fast pace. Where could he be going so late at night? The servants and guards following the Emperor seemed busy trying to keep up with his hurried pace. Grand Duke Martins followed him at a certain distance.

“I suspected as much……”

Emperor Linell was heading towards the Empress’s Palace. Grand Duke Martins stared at the Empress’s Palace in the distance for a while before turning his steps towards the annex where he was staying. As soon as the Grand Duke returned to the guest room and opened the door, he closed his eyes and inhaled. Grand Duke Martins, who was sensitive to smell, noticed that the air was different from when he had left the room an hour ago. It meant that someone had entered his room.

“You were here earlier than I thought.”

Grand Duke Martins snapped his fingers, and a black shadow appeared from the terrace window. The Grand Duke’s shadow knight, who had been hiding behind the curtain, knelt on one knee and paid his respects.

“Greetings, Grand Duke!”

“What news do you bring?”

“There is still no improvement. The doctor says that this week is critical.”

“Hmm, well, it’s surprising that he’s still breathing after falling off a cliff. Has Prince Tesler not noticed yet?”

“It seems so. The royal knights seem to think that the body was swept away along with the strong currents of the river below the cliff.”

“I see. Make sure to tell the doctor to guard him 24 hours a day, and give him more money.”

“Yes, Grand Duke.”

“How is the child?”