The Stand-In Empress’S Wedding Night [EN]: Chapter 232

232. Jealousy Turns into a Duel?

2023.03.25.

A laugh escaped my lips as I playfully teased him.

Jealousy based on trust is like a fun game.

Whether I laughed or not, whether my lips were closed or open, he didn’t stop kissing me.

After giving him time to cherish me to his heart’s content,

“Let’s go to the training grounds tomorrow.”

I said, stroking the back of his neck with my hand.

“…Why the training grounds all of a sudden?”

His straight shoulders flinched, as if he was nervous.

“Let’s go watch Joseph training in swordsmanship with Commander Markrom.”

“I thought… jealousy had turned into a duel and come back to bite me.”

When I glared at him, he seemed to enjoy my expression, as if he had been waiting for it.

“Speaking of which, shall we have a swordsmanship match at the training grounds for old time’s sake?”

“Hey, that’s not fair.”

“So you’re confident in your victory?”

Was he underestimating my skills because I was pregnant?

“I just said that because I thought I’d lose.”

“!”

“What’s the point of defeating someone who wields the Hwaseon Sword [likely a legendary or significant sword]? You should just suck up to me.”

His act of pretending to be dejected was quite convincing.

As the topic of swordsmanship came up, I suddenly remembered something Joseph had told me.

“Oh, by the way, when did your swordsmanship skills start improving? I heard you were terrible when you were young.”

“…Markrom’s memory is distorted. I was good from the start.”

A vein near his temple stood out sharply.

“Commander Markrom said there were many witnesses besides him, though?”

I asked, teasing him even more.

“Their memories must have been distorted as a group. They were jealous because the Crown Prince was good at swordsmanship too.”

His sulky expression was quite cute.

And he didn’t realize how bad he was at lying.

“I heard you threw your sword and made a scene when you lost to Commander Markrom? Insisting that he used unfair tactics.”

“That was a legitimate protest.”

“Since when has making a scene by stabbing your opponent’s eyes during a sparring match become a legitimate protest?”

He flinched at my words.

“Markrom told Joseph even that? Leaking even that kind of stuff… isn’t that almost treason?”

I patted him to calm him down and asked what I had been curious about all along.

“By the way, why did you go to the Pesillini Palace? If you don’t tell me the truth, I’ll make a legitimate protest too.”

I asked, pretending to poke his eyes with two fingers.

He burst out laughing, then changed his expression and said in a serious voice.

“Pesillini is pregnant too.”

“…What?!”

“Calm down, baby. It’s not your sibling.”

Linelle put his face to my belly and whispered, then looked back at my face and began to explain in detail.

***

The next morning, I went to the main palace with Linelle, took Joseph, and headed to the training grounds.

Before entering the cypress forest path, Joseph whined and threw a tantrum, saying he wanted to hold hands and walk to the training grounds together.

Linelle checked my condition first.

“Are you okay?”

“Of course. I’m fine.”

I got off the horse lightly and took Joseph’s hand, who had already dismounted.

I thought Linelle would take his younger brother’s hand, but he came next to me and took my hand.

“What… are you doing?”

“I’m holding hands like Joseph said.”

“You should be holding the Grand Duke’s hand, not mine.”

I quietly scolded him in his ear.

“You don’t hold the hand of a competitor carelessly.”

“Competitor? What are brothers competing for?”

At my question, he looked at me and raised his chin.

Surely not over me?

“Yes, Lady Zelda.”

When I pointed at myself, Linelle nodded and said.

“I don’t want His Majesty’s hand either. It will only make each other’s body temperature colder.”

Then I heard Joseph’s sulky voice next to me.

“Hmph, that’s good to hear.”

He chuckled and poked Joseph’s cheek with his finger.

He acted like he was competing with Joseph, but it was actually a considerate gesture for his brother.

As Joseph said, their body temperatures would only drop if they held hands.

I held both men’s hands and shared my body temperature equally.

The two of them were happy because their bodies were warmed, and I was happy because I could release unnecessary heat.

As the three of us walked hand in hand through the cypress forest,

“What’s your ideal type?”

Young Joseph asked me boldly.

Then Linelle stretched his head forward, looked at Joseph, and said with a displeased expression.

“The ideal type is exactly like this.”

He looked proud, saying that he was my ideal type.

“Really?”

Joseph looked at his brother with distrust and asked me.

“Well… appearance-wise, yes.”

“So not personality-wise?”

He was slightly taken aback.

“I like men who smile a lot, like the Grand Duke.”

“Ahaha, I do smile prettily, don’t I? Hahaha.”

Joseph’s bright smile was really pretty.

“You’re already popular even without smiling… if you smiled well here, how would I handle it.”

He muttered to himself with a dissatisfied voice.

Was he perhaps jealous of his younger brother?

“I want to marry Mama later!”

“!”

Joseph puffed out his small chest and declared his ambitious aspirations.

“That rascal finally…”

Linelle glanced sideways and muttered quietly.

Ah, the Grand Duke must have declared that he would marry me.

So that’s why the subtle tension between the two brothers started.

Because the two men were pulling my hands from both sides, my body swayed back and forth like dancing all the way to the training grounds.

When we arrived at the training grounds and entered, Commander Markrom was already there waiting.

Moreover…

“Elan? What brings you here?”

I approached Empress Elan, who was talking to Commander Markrom.

“You look even better than I heard from the Commander. I’m glad.”

Empress Elan was also happy to see me.

“I wanted to gather together anyway… But, what are you doing here? Were you two about to spar?”

I looked back and forth between Empress Elan and Commander Markrom and smiled.

But Commander Markrom’s expression looked quite serious.

As I got closer to Empress Elan, Joseph suddenly hid behind me and stopped walking.

“I, I’ll stay here.”

“Why?”

When I turned around and asked, Joseph hesitated with a frightened face.

He looked like he had something to say, but he couldn’t bring himself to say it.

Ah, maybe he’s unfamiliar with Empress Elan.

I quickly introduced her to Joseph.

“Ah, the person next to Commander Markrom is someone I know well. She’s Empress Elan of the Tevelo Empire.”

“I know…”

“Have you met Empress Elan before?”

When I asked Joseph, Empress Elan answered instead.

“I saw you while taking a walk by the lake with His Majesty Adrian a while ago.”

“…The silverfish, no, the Emperor of the Tevelo Empire has awakened?!”

“Yes, I was surprised too. I was going to visit your residence to deliver the news sometime today.”

Empress Elan said to me, watching Linelle, who was silently listening to the story.

My expression crumpled without me realizing it at the news that Emperor Adrian had regained consciousness.

But what was strange was that Joseph’s expression was also not good.

“Elan, did something bad happen between Emperor Adrian and our Grand Duke Joseph by the lake?”

I patted Joseph’s back, who was hugging my waist tightly with both arms, and asked her.

She hesitated, then nodded and slowly opened her mouth.

“The person who trapped Grand Duke Joseph in cursed ice… seems to be Emperor Adrian.”

“…What are you talking about?!”

So Emperor Adrian was the one who cast the hypothermia curse on Linelle and stole Commander Markrom’s eyesight?

No, I was told that he was a magician from the Southern Continent who knew the Wyvern language [a rare and powerful language of dragons]?

Emperor Adrian also knows the Wyvern language, but…

“I don’t know exactly. I just heard the conversation between the two of you from the side. Ask him directly.”

Empress Elan gestured to Joseph and spoke cautiously to me.

“Joseph, tell me. Quickly!”

Linelle’s angry voice echoed through the training grounds.

He wasn’t angry at Joseph, but it could have sounded somewhat oppressive to the young Grand Duke.

I lowered myself to Joseph’s eye level.

As expected, Joseph had a terrified expression.

“Is what Empress Elan just said true?”

“Y-You won’t believe me…”

“No. I’ll believe the Grand Duke no matter what anyone says. I actually don’t get along with Emperor Adrian either. So you can tell me honestly.”

I spoke calmly and smiled to reassure Joseph.

The fact that I was the one who caused Emperor Adrian to lose consciousness a while ago was something I would tell Joseph when he became an adult, I vowed inwardly.

Joseph looked at Empress Elan warily for a moment, then whispered in my ear in a timid voice.

“Emperor Adrian is ‘Pilike,’ that magician. The magician who cursed His Majesty and me and stole Commander Markrom’s eyesight.”

“…But how is that magician Emperor Adrian?”

“When I was trapped in cursed ice… he came to the secret chamber. It was before leaving for the Continental Hunting Competition, and he clearly told me then! That he was Pilike!”

I looked up and looked back and forth between Linelle, Markrom, and Empress Elan.

“If Grand Duke Joseph is right… that means the magician Pilike is in Emperor Adrian’s body?”

Empress Elan asked, trembling her lips.

She was very confused, with a shocked expression.

Well, she’s Emperor Adrian’s empress, so the shock must be even greater.

“It’s impossible to live in someone else’s body unless you use black magic. I clearly cut off that guy’s right arm in the Valley of Death and threw it down the valley… But how is he perfectly fine…?”

Linelle recalled the memory of that day and distorted his face.

“Ah, if that magician Pilike borrowed Emperor Adrian’s body through black magic, wouldn’t it be impossible to use his right hand?”

I remembered hearing that even if you borrow someone else’s body through black magic, if there are parts of your original body that are defective, those parts will function weakly like your original body.

Linelle also nodded with a confused expression.

“Ah, His Majesty Adrian usually didn’t use his right hand well! When I think about it, he often dropped things while picking them up with his right hand.”

Empress Elan, who had been lost in thought, raised her voice and said.

“Your Majesty, Pilike was a magician hired by Emperor Adrian, wasn’t he? There seems to be some connection.”

Commander Markrom asked him, clenching his teeth.

“That’s right. I think it’s best to talk to the Master of the Magic Tower again. Pilike was also a disciple of the Master of the Magic Tower, and he knows a lot about black magic too….”

“That would be good.”

“First of all, everyone should treat him the same as before until Prince Tesler’s trial is over. He shouldn’t realize that we know this fact.”

At Linelle’s request, everyone nodded with determined eyes.

“He said he wouldn’t let me off if I told him…”

Joseph trembled with fear, bowing his head.

“Did Emperor Adrian threaten the Grand Duke?”

“Yes… Mama. He said he would trap me in the ice again if I told him this fact.”

What a despicable bastard.

Not only did he cast a curse, but he also stole someone else’s body and threatened a child?

Flames flared up at my fingertips.

I sent flames all at once to the several oil lamps lined up at regular intervals on the wall.

The flames from my fingertips fell exactly on the wicks of the lamps and fueled the fire.

At other times, I would have clenched my fist and swallowed the heat inside, but I released the heat as it was, just in case it would affect the child.

“Wow! Amazing!”

Joseph’s eyes widened as he saw this for the first time.

Joseph ran to the lamps as if he had never trembled. He stared intently at the flames, then turned to me and gave me a thumbs up.

“Emperor Adrian almost forced the Grand Duke to shut his mouth by the lake. I wanted to stop him, but I couldn’t interfere rashly.”

Empress Elan looked at Joseph, who was excited, and brought up the incident again.

“Actually, I’ve been worried about it ever since that day, but I heard that Commander Markrom was going to the training grounds to train the Grand Duke in swordsmanship, so I wanted to come and apologize.”

After finishing speaking, she bowed slightly to Joseph with an apologetic expression.

“Empress Elan, you won’t tell him, will you?”

Joseph asked her.

“Of course. I am the Empress’s person. So I won’t do anything that harms the Grand Duke.”

Empress Elan knelt on one knee in front of Joseph.

Only then did a relieved smile spread across Joseph’s face.

This silverfish dares to threaten someone?

I wanted to go find him right away and burn his whole body to a crisp.

But Pilike was in Emperor Adrian’s body, so I couldn’t do anything rashly.

How should I deal with him…

***

After visiting the training grounds with the two brothers who love me, I returned to my residence.

I felt like I was constantly getting sluggish while eating lunch these days, so I took Sharon and went for a walk in the West Palace, which had beautiful landscaping.

While walking slowly in the cool breeze, Sharon stopped me.

“It would be better to go back the other way.”

“Why?”

“There’s an Empress Palace carriage in front of Pesillini’s residence.”

“Seeing Roxana come, the rumor that His Majesty visited Pesillini’s residence yesterday must have spread to the Empress Palace.”

“That’s what I’m saying. Rumors spread so fast.”

The rumors were bound to spread quickly because they were intentionally spread by Linelle’s orders.

I recalled the story he had shared with Pesillini last night, and then my eyes met Roxana’s, who was coming out of the residence.

I had no choice but to greet Roxana and prayed inwardly that she wouldn’t come this way, but my wish was not granted.

Roxana started walking towards me.

Smiling as if we were such close friends.

Damn it.

‘Baby, I’m sorry. I always wanted to show you only good things….’

I stroked my belly and informed the baby that the bitterness of life was approaching.