The Stand-In Empress’S Wedding Night [EN]: Chapter 269

269. Only My Husband?

2023.08.02.

“What’s going on?”

Hector asked, seeing Nancy standing in front of his room after returning from the training grounds.

At first, he thought she was running an errand for Roxana. But Nancy gestured towards the door and said,

“Her Majesty the Empress is here.”

“What?”

She usually just summons him to the Empress’s palace as usual, so why would she come all the way to Melanie’s palace? Hector quickly opened the door and entered the room, wondering if something major had happened.

“You’re here?”

Roxana was sitting on Hector’s bed in a relaxed posture, as if it were her own room.

“…What brings you here?”

Looking at Roxana’s relaxed expression, it didn’t seem like she was here because of anything serious.

“I wanted to visit. And I also have something to talk about, so I’m doing both.”

Roxana swept her hand across the bed sheets, then smiled, her eyes crinkling as if to seduce him.

She always had that look in her eyes whenever she had a favor to ask.

“If you came to talk, come over here and talk.”

Hector didn’t go towards the bed and went straight to the tea table, pulling out a chair and sitting down.

Roxana stared at him for a moment.

In the past, he would have come to her, looking like he would do anything, his eyes craving affection, but something was a little off.

Before leaving the Aclato Duchy, after secretly feeding him the obedience potion, Hector had always been submissive, prostrating himself at her feet like a loyal dog.

But after moving to Melanie’s residence, Hector seemed to have changed subtly.

She was worried that the effect of the obedience potion had diminished or disappeared, but if that were the case, Hector’s personality wouldn’t have allowed him to continue following her orders, so that couldn’t be it.

Seeing his attitude towards Melanie at the hot springs yesterday made her feel a petty jealousy and unnecessary anxiety.

Roxana dismissed it like that.

Getting up from the bed, she went to the tea table where Hector was sitting and sat facing him.

“What about the Galacos that were released and recaptured during the Continental Hunting Competition? Where did you take them? Did you say you sent them back to Tanya Island?”

Roxana asked with a serious expression.

“Why the Galacos?”

Hector asked, raising one eyebrow.

He was curious about Roxana’s intentions in suddenly bringing up the Galacos [monstrous beasts].

“Emperor Adrian came to the Empress’s Palace earlier. He said there’s a Wyvern Lord in the Lapion Imperial Palace. Who do you think that could be?”

Roxana revealed what she had heard from Emperor Adrian.

“Really… Emperor Adrian said the former Empress is the Wyvern Lord? Could Emperor Adrian be mistaken?”

“No, it’s certain. If I didn’t know that the Master of the Magic Tower tried to take Zelda as his partner, I wouldn’t have believed it.”

“Emperor Adrian’s goal is to inform the countries of the Southern Continent of this fact and eliminate the former Empress?”

“That’s right, but he’s also considering the possibility that the Partsha Empire or the Delroy Empire might not cooperate. It’s good to have a backup plan in advance.”

Roxana recited the words that Emperor Adrian had said to her.

“That backup plan is… to release the Galacos to fight against the Wyverns?”

“Wouldn’t it be better to use the Galacos to eliminate Zelda before the Wyverns get involved? It would be even better if we could get rid of other annoying things at the same time.”

Hector, staring at the smile on Roxana’s lips, slowly opened his mouth.

“So, you’re here to ask me to hand over the Galacos?”

“That’s right.”

She said it was a request, but Roxana didn’t seem to be considering Hector’s refusal at all.

“Where did you take the Galacos?”

Roxana asked, resting her chin on the table.

“The Galacos that devoured Duke Heimich are being sent to the Aclato Duchy for management.”

Roxana’s expression immediately hardened when her father’s name came up.

Hector continued, watching Roxana’s crumpled face.

“The rest of the Galacos are being managed on Tanya Island.”

“…I see.”

“So, Emperor Adrian is planning to release the Galacos before passing through the Valley of Death?”

“I need to discuss the details again, but that seemed to be his idea.”

Hector’s head became complicated at Roxana’s answer.

‘The journey to the Partsha Empire will be more difficult than expected.’

If things went wrong, most of the people leaving for the Partsha Empire as a congratulatory delegation might become prey for the Galacos.

Melanie would be no exception.

“I will meet with Emperor Adrian separately.”

Hector said in a cautious voice.

First, it was necessary to accurately grasp Emperor Adrian’s plan.

“Of course, you should. The Galacos are monsters you manage.”

At that moment, Hector’s door burst open.

“Knock, knock! What are you doing?”

It was Melanie.

She opened the door wide, knocking with words.

Seeing Nancy in front of Hector’s room, she knew Roxana was there.

So Melanie opened the door without warning.

It was rude, but this was her palace, and Hector was her bodyguard now, so she didn’t hesitate.

But as soon as the door opened, Roxana, seeing Melanie, reached out and covered Hector’s hand on the table with her own.

“Greetings, Your Majesty the Empress. What brings you here without notice?”

Melanie’s gaze was fixed on the two people’s hands overlapping on the table.

“I have something to discuss with my bodyguard. Melanie, what’s wrong?”

Roxana asked, answering in a calm voice.

“Oh, I have something to do with Hector.”

As Melanie said, touching her lips with her hand, Hector’s brow furrowed with an ominous expression.

“Something to do?”

Roxana asked, looking back and forth between the two.

***

I returned to the residence in a carriage with Linell.

As soon as I got out of the carriage, he picked me up.

“Why are you doing this?”

“I have no choice if I want to get to the bedroom quickly. I’m in a hurry.”

“…It’s not that urgent. Put me down.”

I whispered to him, conscious of the guards standing in front of the residence.

They stood there maintaining a blank expression as if they couldn’t hear anything, but their eyes were shaking wildly at the Emperor’s words that stimulated their imagination.

“If you’re embarrassed, pretend to be asleep. Your eyes must be burning from staring all the time in the carriage.”

Linell whispered, kissing my eyelids.

His cold lips seemed to relieve the fatigue in my eyes.

I just closed my eyes, pretending to be unable to win, with my two legs, which had been struggling to get down, drooping.

As I passed through the stairs and corridors leading to the bedroom, I heard the servants greeting, ‘Greetings, Your Majesty the Emperor.’

I could vividly picture the surprised expressions of the servants who saw me in his arms.

Invariably, Sharon’s excuse followed from behind, ‘Don’t worry. She’s asleep.’

I opened my eyes as I entered the bedroom.

When I opened my eyes, his blue eyes looking down at me were the first thing I saw.

Just the way he looked at me made me feel refreshed.

“I didn’t see as many servants as I thought.”

So he smiled, pressing his lips to my forehead, saying there was no need to be embarrassed.

The heat on my forehead seemed to drop by more than 1 degree at once.

“Put me down now. I want to wash first.”

“I’ll put you down in the bathroom.”

“It’s okay. I’ll be out soon.”

“Let’s wash together. I’ll wash you quickly.”

“!”

He went straight to the bathroom.

Once in the bathroom, he carefully placed me in the tub and took off his uniform jacket.

The sight of him rolling up the sleeves of his shirt even looked solemn.

“It’s an honor to have His Majesty personally draw my bathwater.”

I sat quietly in the tub, admiring the bulging veins in his arms as he poured water into the tub, exuding his presence.

“Don’t worry, I’ll put one foot in before the water gets too hot.”

He said, pouring cold water into the tub in a combative manner.

“I have great faith in the words of the human ice [referring to Linell’s cold demeanor].”

I laughed and replied, and he chuckled.

As the water in the tub reached my waist, the temperature of the cold water slowly began to rise.

“Linell, now’s the time!”

I shouted in a playful voice, grabbing his thighs with both hands.

“Oh, okay!”

Then he quickly put one leg into the tub.

Thanks to that, the water temperature was maintained at a moderate level without rapidly becoming too hot.

Linell filled the tub with water and then sat down in front of me.

“Be careful not to get water on your hand.”

I said, glaring at his injured left hand.

“So what? I can just reapply the ointment.”

“Still. The wound will reopen.”

“If the wound reopens and I bleed more, your memories might come back a little more.”

He said in an aggrieved tone.

He seemed to be constantly bothered by the fact that my memories were cut off from our first meeting and first night.

“If my memories only come back when Linell’s blood touches me, I don’t need the old memories. I’ll have more opportunities to be loved in the future, right…?”

I said, gently grabbing his left arm.

“You don’t know how much I loved you with all my body.”

“What if I knew?”

“If you knew, you wouldn’t have been able to glare at me so fiercely in the Master of the Magic Tower’s room, wife.”

He stroked my cheek and crinkled his nose.

“Oh, right. But you were too much with Bellos. Were you planning to punch a hole in Bellos’s face like a door?”

“Yeah. Of course. And I was confident.”

He said firmly.

I looked at him with a surprised expression.

He added, as if to prove that what he had just said was not a joke.

“I wondered why his face didn’t break even though I hit him with my right hand. He had a protection spell on it…”

Linell grumbled, spinning his right hand, which had punched Bellos.

If Bellos hadn’t put a protection spell on his body, it’s terrifying to imagine what would have happened to that face that had maintained the appearance of a beautiful boy for over 270 years.

“I said I would go to the Valley of Death.”

“I should have stopped you. Or let me go with you.”

“I came back safely.”

“You almost had a big problem.”

“Anyway, I confirmed that I am the Wyvern Lord. I would have been very anxious if I hadn’t confirmed it before leaving for the Partsha Empire.”

“Zelda, I don’t care if you’re the Wyvern Lord or a Wyvern. What’s important to me is… your safety.”

He said, taking my hand and placing it on his heart.

His heart was beating fast.

“You probably can’t even imagine how surprised I was. But you wouldn’t know, would you?”

“I know. That’s why I went secretly, right?”

I said, laughing as if joking, to calm his heart, which was beating so hard that I was worried.

It was also true.

“…Zelda.”

He called my name as if scolding me.

I splashed water on him and added one more word.

“And Your Majesty can’t teleport. So I went with Bellos.”

“…Ha.”

He narrowed his eyes and looked at me with a dissatisfied gaze.

His slightly sulky expression felt unbelievably lovely, and I wanted to grab his face and shower him with kisses right away.

“I need to become a disciple of the Master of the Magic Tower, I guess.”

He also splashed water on my face, expressing his resentment.

“But only my husband can cool down the heat in my body, right?”

“I feel like my body is being thoroughly used?”

“So… do you hate it?”

I asked, tilting my head to the side in a ticklish voice.

Linell snorted, sighed deeply, and then jumped up from the tub and shouted.

“Look, does it look like I hate it!”

“!”