The Stand-In Empress’S Wedding Night [EN]: Chapter 266

266. Let Go of My Wife

July 22, 2023

‘What… is this?!’

I couldn’t believe what was happening to my body, even as I watched it unfold.

Dozens of red lights, erupting from my heart, were absorbing the wyverns’ flames as if they were fuel.

The wyverns were even more surprised than I was.

I could see their dozens of red eyes darting back and forth.

The red light wasn’t just blocking the wyverns’ fire; it was weakening its intensity.

The flames that had been spewing out as if to devour everything gradually weakened and then stopped altogether.

Once the flames were blocked by the red light, sharp as swords, the wyverns must have realized that there was no use in trying to breathe fire.

As the wyverns’ flames disappeared, the red lights returned to their place within my heart.

“Ah….”

My heart was beating so hard it was a wonder it didn’t burst.

I placed my hand over my heart, taking deep breaths.

“Lady Zelda! Are you alright?”

The Master of the Magic Tower raised his hands, trying to stabilize the heat in my body, examining my energy.

“My heart hurts a little….”

My throat felt as hot as a furnace as I spoke.

“It’s probably because it’s the first time the power of the Hwanshin Sword has been activated since the engraving.”

“Will it be this difficult every time I borrow the power of the Hwanshin Sword?”

If so, I might have to reconsider the engraving with the Hwanshin Sword.

“No, it’s just because it’s the first time.”

The Master of the Magic Tower said confidently, immediately using his magic to cool my body, but the effect was minimal.

If Rinell were here, it would be a simple fix….

The heat that would have disappeared in an instant with his embrace, lips, and touch was not easily subsiding.

‘Baby, just bear with me a little longer.’

I placed my hands on my stomach and said inwardly.

Even if I were to go, I had to settle things with the wyverns first.

“See? Now you guys are in big trouble! You’re all going to get your butts spanked by our Mistress, moiya~?”

“Ang! Who’s going to be first~?”

Moiya and Moni became emboldened, stirring up trouble among the adults.

The wyverns shrunk back, watching me carefully.

As I took another step closer, they all glanced at me with frightened eyes.

Somewhere, a small voice said, ‘I’m sorry!’

The apologetic words, timidly starting, began to increase.

“Mistress! Forgive their rudeness!”

The leader prostrated himself on the ground, raising his voice.

I glanced down at the leader who had lowered himself to me, then looked back up at the wyverns.

They were all quick to catch on, prostrating themselves on the ground one by one, submitting to me.

“So, you’re accepting me as your Mistress now?”

“Yes, Mistress!!”

Everyone answered in unison, but a large wyvern stood there awkwardly, unable to prostrate himself, with a troubled expression.

“What about you? Why aren’t you kneeling?”

I asked, showing the charisma of a Wyvern Lord.

“M-me…?”

The large wyvern, who had started using honorifics with me, seemed to have already accepted his fate.

“Even the old man is kneeling, so why are you standing there stiffly when you’re young? This won’t do. Moiya, Moni. You’ll have to help.”

As soon as my command was given, the two flew like lightning towards the large wyvern.

“Make him kneel.”

“Yes, Mistress!”

“Exciting! I haven’t broken any bones yet, Moni~.”

“Moni, I didn’t say to break his legs.”

“Then how do I make him kneel?”

“Like this, moiya~?”

Moiya kicked the large wyvern in the back of his knee.

“Ugh!”

The large wyvern’s one knee buckled forward.

Even though he was small, Moiya’s inherent strength was immense.

The large wyvern glared at Moiya with a humiliated expression, but he didn’t stand up again.

“Please forgive him this once, as he didn’t recognize our Mistress and acted recklessly.”

The leader turned around, taking the large wyvern’s side.

“Old man, that guy tried to harm not only me but also you. Will you forgive someone like that? If you do, I’ll let it slide this once too.”

I gave the leader a choice.

The large wyvern looked at the leader with an anxious face.

The leader bowed to me and said,

“Everything happened because I didn’t do my job as leader properly. So, if our Mistress would show mercy, I will make sure this never happens again!”

The large wyvern seemed to be repenting at the leader’s heartfelt plea.

“Alright. But I won’t tolerate anyone acting arbitrarily, regardless of their position. I’ll let it go this once.”

I said to the leader, then turned my gaze to the large wyvern.

“If the leader hadn’t forgiven you, you would have been cut down by the Hwanshin Sword. So, be grateful to the leader.”

In fact, the Hwanshin Sword might not have been able to handle that guy, but who cares.

The important thing was to intimidate him.

“T-thank you, Mistress! Thank you, Leader!”

The large wyvern bowed his head several times and shouted.

Then Moiya interrupted, shouting, ‘Wait!’

“Instead of being spared by our Mistress, you also have to take an eye hit!”

“W-what? Are you taking revenge now?”

“Oong? Do I look that petty? I’m not the kind of wyvern who holds a grudge just because I got hit in the eye once, am I?”

Moiya flew in front of the large wyvern’s face, putting his hands on his hips and scolding him.

“This Moiya was forgiven because I look so cute, but you were rude even to that old man who clearly looks old, and you were trying to become the leader, weren’t you?”

Moiya questioned him in a solemn tone, like a judge.

“It’s obvious that he’s doing that out of revenge… Moiya is.”

The Master of the Magic Tower whispered in my ear.

I fully agreed with that, but I didn’t bother to stop Moiya.

As Moiya said, not recognizing me, Moiya, and Moni could be forgiven. But the large wyvern was the one who tried to eliminate the leader of the group and start a rebellion.

I had forgiven him at the leader’s request, but I was uneasy about letting it go without any action, so I was grateful that Moiya had stepped in.

“Y-yes, then you hit me once too. Would that be okay?”

The large wyvern finally surrendered, holding up his wide face to Moiya.

“Since Moiya is still a baby, my fists are as cute as my face. So, one hit doesn’t count. I’ll hit you as much as your fist size, fairly.”

It sounded illogical, but it made sense.

Moiya clenched his small fist tightly and shouted cheerfully.

“Here I go~!”

“Ang! Prepare your fists~ Aim for the eye socket and fire!”

In response to Moni’s shout, Moiya started counting and punching around the large wyvern’s eye.

“One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten…!”

Moiya’s small fist accurately drew a circle, striking around the large wyvern’s eye at a rapid pace.

Moiya, if this isn’t revenge, what is it?

“Hng… Moiya or Mosquito, hey! That hurts too much!”

“Hey, Big Guy. Don’t talk down to me. Do you think I’m your friend? Call me Moiya-nim [term of respect]. And Moni too!”

“…A-alright, alright! Stop hitting me!”

The large wyvern finally raised his voice to Moiya.

That’s enough.

“Moiya, stop. That’s enough.”

If I didn’t stop him here, Moiya looked like he was going to hit the other eye too.

“Yes, Mistress!”

Fortunately, Moiya seemed quite satisfied with his revenge and stepped back obediently.

“So… Mistress. Is there anything you wish from us?”

The leader stood up and asked me in a serious voice.

“Anything I wish?”

“We only follow our Mistress’s orders. So, please tell us anything. Do you also want to start a war and place this world under your feet?”

The wyverns already knew about the greed of humans who wanted to use them.

“I want peace. Unless someone threatens me, my family, and my friends, I have no intention of using the wyverns to wage war.”

The wyverns reacted with surprise to my words.

“Is that true?”

The leader asked back with a touched face.

“Of course. But if I ever find myself in unexpected danger, can you help me? I’ll be passing through this canyon soon. Nothing will happen, but just in case….”

“Don’t worry. We will fly to you whenever our Mistress calls!”

“That’s right! Just call us!”

The wyverns all flapped their wings and sang in unison.

My long hair, which I had barely managed to tidy up, scattered again like waves, becoming disheveled.

“Thank you, everyone.”

I raised my voice towards the wyverns.

“It’s true that I am the Wyvern Lord, but I am not just someone who gives orders! I believe it is also my role to protect you and lead you on the right path!”

“Mistress… you’re so cool, moni~.”

“I’m getting teary, moiya~?”

As the two sniffled and fanned the flames, sniffling sounds were heard here and there in the cave.

“Our Mistress… hooray!!”

“Hooray!!”

As Moiya and Moni shouted, all the wyverns raised their hands and chanted in unison.

“I have to go back now. If I’m not here, the leader will lead you as before. So, I hope you listen to the leader well.”

I left them with words of caution, especially staring straight at the large wyvern with a warning look.

“Don’t worry, Mistress! Hahaha.”

The large wyvern nodded his head greatly, then quickly went behind the leader, massaging his shoulders and joking around.

“I’ve been in the egg for too long, so my joints aren’t good, moiya~.”

Then Moiya also slyly pushed his shoulder towards the large wyvern.

I chuckled and looked at the Master of the Magic Tower and said,

“Let’s go back now.”

The vortex that had been swirling in my heart disappeared, and my heartbeat calmed down and stabilized. But the surrounding vision began to blur.

“Yes, your complexion is not good. We need to meet His Majesty quickly and lower your temperature….”

The Master of the Magic Tower’s voice was also faintly heard.

“…Lady Zelda!!”

I couldn’t answer the Master of the Magic Tower and collapsed.

***

“Mistress, don’t die!”

“Ang, parting right after meeting the wyverns is too sad, moni~!”

Moiya and Moni cried and lamented.

Bellos held the fallen Zelda and examined her condition.

“Don’t worry. She just fainted because her body temperature suddenly rose due to using the energy of the Hwanshin Sword. Let’s go back quickly.”

He calmed Moiya and Moni and picked up Zelda.

“Oong? Really? Then Master of the Magic Tower, take our Mistress and go first.”

“Yeah. We’ll stay here a little longer and then go.”

The two baby wyverns stopped crying abruptly when they heard she was okay.

“What are you two going to do?”

“We need to talk to our brothers and sisters, moiya~.”

Moiya put his hands behind his back and looked around at the wyverns.

“No sleepovers. Lady Zelda will worry.”

“Yeah, we have to sleep at home, moni~.”

Moni waved his hand, telling him not to worry.

“Then I’ll leave the cleanup to you.”

Bellos hurriedly began to chant the spell of teleportation in his mind.

In the blink of an eye, Bellos and the Wyvern Lord Zelda disappeared, and the wyverns were startled.

“Can we trust the one who took our Mistress away?”

The wyverns, who had been breathing fire to burn Zelda to a crisp just a moment ago, asked with worried eyes.

“Yeah, he’s a human who has a crush on our Mistress, but he’s not the type to harm her.”

Moiya replied with a reassuring expression.

Moni, who was next to him, rubbed his chin and muttered.

“But… somehow, I feel like our Emperor is going to harm the Master of the Magic Tower?”

***

Someone you want to get rid of is the same?

“Are you… talking about Zelda?”

Roxana mentioned her name without hesitation.

Then Emperor Adrian’s eyes flashed with murderous intent.

“As I expected, our conversation is going quite well.”

Emperor Adrian leaned slightly forward towards Roxana with a satisfied expression.

“Empress, I will also ask you directly.”

“Yes, please do.”

“Is the Empress aware that there is a Wyvern Lord within the Rafion Imperial Family?”

“…Pardon?”

Does the Wyvern Lord actually exist?

Roxana’s head became complicated.

If the Wyvern Lord actually exists… and is here in the Rafion Imperial Family….

“Is it… Zelda?”

The Master of the Magic Tower also said that the Hwanshin [a powerful artifact or entity] that left his body was coexisting in Zelda’s body, and he was trying to make her his partner.

‘But if Zelda is really the Wyvern Lord, as Emperor Adrian says….’

This is a big problem.

‘The Rafion officials will change their attitude and revere her as the Empress again!’

Roxana’s hands trembled.

“If this fact becomes known, the countries of the Southern Continent will be wary, but the Rafion Empire will, on the contrary, revere Zelda Mama like a saintess [female saint], right? Isn’t that so?”

“S-so?”

“What will happen to the Empress’s position then?”

Emperor Adrian asked with a pitiful expression.

Roxana imagined her own situation for a brief moment.

Even in her imagination, her skin stung as if she had been whipped all over her body.

She felt very anxious, as if her situation was already becoming miserable.

“How about it, Empress? Would you like to become friends with me and help each other?”

Emperor Adrian offered Roxana a handshake.

“What does helping mean?”

“Since our goals are the same, wouldn’t it be easier if we joined forces?”

“Goal?”

“Zelda. To eliminate the Wyvern Lord.”

“Alright. Let’s be friends.”

Roxana shook Emperor Adrian’s outstretched hand and whispered.

“Do you have a plan?”

“Yes, the sea route to the Partsha Empire will be a great opportunity for us.”

Emperor Adrian kissed the back of Roxana’s hand and said.

***

The time to go to the conference hall was approaching.

Rinell thought he should get up from his chair now.

He spent 30 minutes with the thought of waiting just 5 more minutes.

Knock, knock, Raphael knocked from outside the door.

Unable to delay any longer, he struggled to lift his butt from the chair.

But at that moment,

A phenomenon occurred in front of the bed as if space-time was bending, and Bellos appeared.

“Master of the Magic Tower?”

Bellos was holding something precious in his arms.

He lowered his gaze from Bellos’s face.

“…Zelda?!”

She was limp in Bellos’s arms without consciousness.

What kind of picture is this?

“Put down my wife right now!!”

Rinell’s reason snapped.