The Stand-In Empress’S Wedding Night [EN]: Chapter 268

“Zelda, what… do you remember?”

Linelle was a little nervous.

Their first meeting hadn’t been pleasant, much like Zelda’s expression right now.

Judging by her question about meeting before the wedding, she seemed to recall that day at ‘Confident Night Clinic,’ run by the wizard Big.

Why, of all the days filled with love, did it have to be that one?

As Linelle was about to speak, Zelda recalled the memory that had flashed through her mind a moment ago.

It was inside the wizard Big’s clinic.

She remembered going to get a magic potion before the national wedding, but because her memories of Linelle had been erased, the day she met him had also disappeared.

But the memory, which had been cut off, returned with a headache.

‘Does he think he’s the Emperor or something? Why is he talking down to someone he’s just met? And wearing a robe like a common thief.’

In the memory, she was glaring at a man in the clinic, quietly fuming.

The man was rude, speaking to her condescendingly as if he knew her.

So Zelda responded in kind, arguing with him until she received the magic potion and got up to leave.

As she was about to exit the clinic, the man, who had kept his robe’s hood pulled low, raised his head.

She caught a glimpse of his face.

The man was indeed the Emperor, who technically *could* talk down to her.

And the following scene was their wedding night.

‘Looks like you remember now?’

Linelle crossed his arms and leaned against the headboard, watching her intently.

It seemed she was being questioned about their meeting at the clinic before the national wedding.

As a surrogate empress, she didn’t dare meet his gaze, staring fixedly at his chest muscles, completely frozen.

Zelda’s memory ended with Linelle slowly lowering his head towards her.

“Our first meeting was very… bad. Is that why you were so mean to me on our wedding night?”

Thinking back, she remembered Linelle apologizing for being rude on their wedding night, the day his memories returned.

“Listen carefully, Zelda. Forget about the day we met at the clinic and our wedding night. It’s okay. Because the memories *after* that are what’s important.”

Linelle said firmly, taking Zelda’s hands.

“Isn’t your headache severe?”

Vellos interjected, asking with concern.

“I’m okay now. But why did I suddenly remember His Majesty?”

Zelda asked, touching her forehead as if she was still a little dizzy.

Vellos looked back and forth between them.

Neither of them knew they had both taken the same ‘magic potion that makes you lose your memory’.

He wasn’t planning on hiding it forever, but he was keeping quiet because it wasn’t the right time to reveal the truth.

Vellos guessed that their old memories would return if their blood touched, seeing as Linelle’s memories had returned earlier.

As expected, Zelda’s memory seemed to have been triggered by the blood on his hand.

However, since the amount of blood that came into contact was minimal, the memory of Linelle seemed to have flashed briefly and then disappeared.

“Could it be that memories return if each other’s blood touches? It seems like it was the same for me… It seems like the same phenomenon for Zelda too.”

Linelle asked Vellos.

“Well…”

Vellos pretended not to know and picked up the treatment box.

“If that’s the case, should we draw more blood to bring back memories?”

“Are you suggesting we intentionally create a wound?”

Zelda asked, startled.

“What’s the big deal about bleeding a little more? It’s more important for your memories to come back.”

“What are you doing?!”

Zelda hurriedly grabbed Linelle’s hand as he tried to press his other hand against the wound on his hand.

“Your Majesty, you’ll hurt yourself.”

Vellos quickly put gauze on his hand and pressed down firmly.

“Hey, Master of the Magic Tower! What are you doing?”

“What are *you* doing, Your Majesty? Just stay still.”

Linelle shook off Vellos’s hand, but this time Zelda snatched his hand and used gauze to stop the bleeding.

“Let’s talk about our first meeting and wedding night after treating the wound. It’s not something to discuss in front of a friend.”

At Zelda’s words, he nodded like a gentle lamb.

She sighed and took out ointment from the treatment box, applying it to his torn left hand and bandaging it.

Vellos watched the scene with envious eyes, and Linelle glanced at Vellos with a smug expression.

“Vellos, please sit on the chair, friend.”

She got up from the bed with the treatment box.

“Yes?”

“Vellos is bleeding from his face too. I have to treat it.”

“Zelda…”

Vellos’s eyes welled up with tears; he was deeply touched.

Linelle was quite annoyed by the sight of Vellos wriggling his swollen face and sticking it out to her.

“The Master of the Magic Tower can take care of himself, why bother…”

He muttered, exuding a fierce aura.

“Your Majesty.”

Zelda glared at Linelle, and he turned away and shut his mouth.

“It must have hurt a lot. It’s a relief that your facial bones weren’t broken. But it seems like His Majesty controlled his strength.”

Zelda squeezed out ointment and applied it thickly all over Vellos’s face, feeling sorry.

“I put up a protective magic right before His Majesty’s fist flew. Otherwise, my face would have been like that door.”

Vellos gestured to the broken door with his chin.

“There’s no husband in the world who can be rational when his wife appears unconscious in another man’s arms…”

Linelle argued confidently that his actions were self-defense.

“But how can you just throw a punch right away?”

Vellos complained to her, making a tearful face, saying that Linelle had made him like this just by hearing that he had been to the Valley of Death.

‘You said that well, you bastard,’ Linelle thought.

Linelle took the opportunity to change the subject to the Valley of Death.

“Why did you suddenly go there? Are you out of your mind? Didn’t you think I’d be worried? What about the baby in your belly!”

*I* knew he would react like this.

Zelda first grabbed his excited hand to calm him down and calmly began to speak.

“Prince Norton came to my residence this morning.”

Zelda told him in detail about the contents of the letter that Emperor Kalvin of the Partsha Empire had sent to Prince Norton through a messenger pigeon.

“If the person who sent the letter to Emperor Kalvin is Emperor Adrian, he will also know that I am the Wyvern Lord [a powerful being capable of controlling wyverns]. It’s only a matter of time before this fact becomes known.”

“But Zelda, even so, it was a dangerous decision…”

“I needed to prepare. I don’t know when or where they will attack us.”

“So you went to the Valley of Death with only one magician without any preparation? To confirm whether you are really the Wyvern Lord or not?”

“It wasn’t just me, Wyverns Moia and Moni were with me too.”

Vellos said timidly, as if he had been reduced to a humble existence in an instant.

“That’s right. We came back safely like this, thanks to my friend, the Master of the Magic Tower.”

Zelda said to him, looking at Vellos with a grateful heart and smiling.

“Even so…”

“Your Majesty. I have a bit of a fever. I think I need to go back to my residence and bring it down… Let’s go quickly.”

Zelda lowered his hand, which was pointing at Vellos, and whispered quietly.

“Hmm, really? Then we should hurry.”

Linelle’s face lit up.

He was worried about her condition, but on the other hand, his heart was pounding.

He hurriedly led her out of the room, then spoke sternly to Vellos.

“Master of the Magic Tower, let’s talk again later.”

“Your Majesty. Please apologize before you leave.”

He hesitated as he was about to leave the door at Vellos’s polite request.

When Linelle turned around again, Vellos stroked his swollen face, making a more painful expression than the actual pain he felt.

The area he was hit throbbed more because he was frowning too much, but he really wanted to receive the Emperor’s apology.

“If I am guilty, it is of having a wife who is too beautiful. I apologize for that part.”

“…Yes? What do you mean?”

Annoyance was evident in Vellos’s questioning voice.

He wondered what kind of nonsense this was now.

He had demanded an apology for the sudden assault, but the Emperor’s boast of Zelda’s beauty was infuriating.

“Master of the Magic Tower, have you ever considered my plight?”

“Why should I consider your plight?”

“You know Zelda isn’t just any ordinary woman, don’t you? Put yourself in my shoes.”

Vellos, who secretly wished to trade places with Linelle, shook his head but found himself listening intently.

“Now, imagine having a beautiful wife who is even pregnant. Then, suddenly, she disappears with a scoundrel who has always had feelings for her. Just that alone would make you lose your mind, wouldn’t it?”

“…….”

The Master of the Magic Tower strained his neck, trying not to nod.

“But then, that scoundrel appears carrying your wife. And she’s unconscious! And to top it off? The husband witnesses this in the scoundrel’s bedroom! Wouldn’t that make you snap?”

He would, he would snap. He’d snap so hard his eyes would spin 360 degrees.

Without realizing it, Vellos clenched his fist, empathizing with Linelle’s words.

‘If I put myself in his shoes, I can understand… No, that’s not it!’

Feeling like he’d been manipulated, Vellos unclenched his fist and stared at him with a bewildered expression.

“Your Majesty, what on earth are you talking about?”

“How disappointing. I thought you, of all people, would understand my troubled heart.”

Linelle, now seemingly angry, quickly left the room.

***

Vellos poked his face through the center of the wide-open doorway, watching the two of them walking affectionately hand-in-hand down the hallway.

“It’s always the guilty one who gets angry…”

In truth, what was even more ridiculous was that he hadn’t been able to refute the Emperor’s words.

He almost nodded in agreement with Linelle, which he found absurd.

A crow outside the window flew into the room.

“Kami [God], if you’re envious, you lose… But the Emperor’s words resonated with me too much. That’s what hurts the most.”

The crow flew to Vellos, who was muttering to himself, and looked at him pitifully.

“Still, Zelda-nim [honorific title] caressed my face. That’s enough.”

Wasn’t that… because she felt sorry for hitting you and applied ointment?

The crow, thinking its master hadn’t been hit enough, spread its wings and patted him.

***

After Zelda and Vellos returned, Moia and Moni, who remained in the Valley of Death, were enjoying their time, being treated like adults by the wyverns.

They forged camaraderie by giving names to each of the nameless wyverns.

“Your name is Chunky.”

Moiya patted the shoulder of a large wyvern, blurting out the first thing that came to mind.

The large wyvern frowned at the simplistic name.

“Why the face? When an adult gives you a name, you should accept it with gratitude.”

“That’s right. Instead of Chunky, we should have named him Grumpy, right Moni?”

Moni chimed in from beside Moia.

They could have both said they didn’t like it, but the large wyvern pondered greatly between the two options before finally deciding on his name.

“Um… I’ll go with Chunky.”

Chunky said resignedly.

After accepting Zelda as their master, the leader and Chunky, along with the other wyverns, began using honorifics with the two baby wyverns.

“Okay. Good choice. Negative names aren’t good, Moiya~?”

“But Master, you really don’t plan to use us for war, do you?”

At the leader’s question, the other wyverns also looked at Moia and Moni with curious faces.

“Nope! Our Master loves peace as much as her cold body, Moni~.”

“Cold body… what’s that?”

“It’s… Master’s mating partner.”

Moiya spoke of Linelle’s existence as if it were nothing.

“Moni, I’m getting hungry. Let’s go now.”

“Yep! Don’t cause any trouble until we come back. Got it?”

Moni said, holding Moiya’s hand and flying towards the cave entrance.

“Are they… talking to us?”

Chunky asked, looking around at the adults.

No matter how hard he looked, the only wyverns capable of causing trouble were the two great baby wyverns who had emerged from their eggs after 300 years.

“Yeah, don’t play with fire recklessly! But by the way, when will we get bigger?”

Moiya asked the leader, shaking her short hands and legs.

“Usually, they start growing three months after birth.”

“Oong? I’m three months old, but why am I still the same?”

“Hmm. That’s a bit strange. Are you not eating enough, perhaps?”

The leader scanned Moiya and Moni with a worried gaze.

However, judging by the bulging bellies of the two baby wyverns, it didn’t seem like their growth was stunted due to lack of food.

“I need to eat more sausage…”

Moiya said resolutely, and Moni nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, we should ask the Master of the Magic Tower to make a growth potion sauce for the sausages Sharon gives us, Moni~!”

“What’s so great about sausages that you’ve been talking about them since earlier?”

Chunky asked, smacking his lips.

“We’ll let you taste them next time we come. But what do you guys eat to survive?”

“We mainly go into the sea to hunt.”

At the tone that implied it was the most obvious thing in the world, Moiya and Moni’s eyes widened.

“You go into the sea? Doesn’t it take your breath away?”

“Why would it? We originally fly freely even in the sea… Huh! Did you not know?”

Chunky, who was speaking, was surprised, and Moiya and Moni, who were listening, were also surprised.

“Oh dear, you didn’t know. Then let’s experience it with us today. Now that we’re on the topic, let’s fly and hunt together now.”

At the leader’s suggestion, Moiya and Moni’s eyes sparkled with excitement.

Soon, they left the cave with the wyverns and flew through the Valley of Death.

“It’s so much fun flying as a group!”

“Yeah! We should bring Ao-ssi [term of endearment] next time, Moiya~?”

The adult wyverns, who were freely flying through the valley, suddenly went into and out of the sea all at once.

“Wow, let’s go in too!”

Moiya grabbed Moni’s hand and went straight into the sea.

The two began to swim naturally in the water like the other wyverns.

The adults watched the two baby wyverns and agreed that they were indeed great wyverns.

In fact, some adaptation time is needed when experiencing the sea for the first time, but Moiya and Moni adapted immediately.

“There are so many fish, Moni~!”

“Oong? Look at them. They’re just eating them raw, Moiya~?”

“Eugh, I don’t want to eat them raw.”

“Me neither! Fish should be grilled properly to be delicious.”

The sea was truly paradise.

The leader told them not to go too far and to play nearby, but Moiya and Moni, engrossed in their first sea flight, wandered around without realizing how much time had passed and eventually became separated from the group.

The two baby wyverns, swimming at a tremendous speed as if they were flying in the sky, finally felt stuffy after about an hour and came up to the surface.

“…Where is this?”

“It looks like an island, Moni~?”

The place where Moiya and Moni arrived was Aclato Island.

Kkieeeeng-!

At that moment, a strange cry was heard from beyond the fortress surrounding the island.

Moiya quickly recognized the identity of the cry.

“Oong? Isn’t that a Galaco’s cry?”

“What’s a Galaco?”

“It’s… a monster with the body of an eagle but the head of a snake. And it has two heads, Moiya~?”

“How do you know?”

“This Moiya almost had a showdown with one before? But Master stopped me, so I just grumbled a bit and gave up.”

Moiya recalled the Galaco that had attacked Zelda and her party in the Elange Forest on their way to the Tebello Empire during the Continental Hunting Competition.

“Let’s go! I want to see the snake heads too.”

Moni flapped her wet wings and flew towards the source of the Galaco’s cry, and Moiya followed behind her.

“Yeah! This time, we’ll really teach them a lesson, Moiya~?”