The Stand-In Empress’S Wedding Night [EN]: Chapter 293

293. Roxana’s End

October 25, 2023

“Why aren’t you in your room? What are you doing here?”

After leaving the food storage, Hethor excused himself from Linell and Bellos and escorted Melanie back to her room.

“It’s more comfortable here near the deck. If something happens, I can run up right away.”

Melanie, seemingly unwilling to let Hethor go, held his pinky finger and shook it.

“Do as you please. Now, go inside. I need to go up to the deck too.”

“Okay.”

The moment Melanie nodded obediently, her maid, Hedon, came running breathlessly from down the hallway.

“Oh, my lady! Where have you been? I’ve been looking everywhere for you!”

“I was in a dangerous but safe place.”

“Pardon?”

“I’ll tell you later. Hedon, turn around for a moment.”

Melanie gave Hedon a meaningful look and turned her around.

“…I’ll just go in first, my lady.”

Hedon, realizing what Melanie was trying to do, opened the door and went inside.

“What’s wrong?”

Hethor asked, gesturing towards the room.

He meant to ask why she sent Hedon in first.

“Because of this.”

Melanie grabbed Hethor’s face with both hands and leaned in to kiss him.

As their lips parted, a small space opened up where they could meet each other’s eyes.

Hethor stared into Melanie’s eyes and said,

“There has to be this much reason to hold back a man going to fight.”

“Oof!”

“Stay safe inside.”

Hethor gave Melanie a deep kiss and quickly ran up the stairs to the deck, taking two or three steps at a time.

Melanie smiled brightly, watching Hethor’s retreating figure.

Inside the room, Hedon was banging on the door.

“Okay, I’m coming in! Hedon, do you know how cool a man looks when he goes to fight? I couldn’t miss that sight.”

Melanie also pounded on the door with her fist, muttering to herself.

Knock, knock, knock-!

“Ugh, I’m coming in. I said I’m coming in. Why are you banging on the door like that?”

Inside Hethor’s room, Hedon banged on the door again, even harder.

It sounded like she was throwing her whole body against it, not just her hands.

“Hedon, if you’re jealous, you lose, you know?”

Melanie teased as she opened the door and stepped inside.

“Hedon?”

As she opened the door, Hedon was lying on the floor a short distance away, bleeding.

“He, Hedon! What’s wrong? Who did this? Who did this to you!”

“Do you like kissing another woman’s man?”

“?”

As Melanie closed the door, Roxana, who had been hiding behind it, locked it.

“Your maid is dying because of you, banging on the door to tell you to run away, and you don’t even know it.”

Roxana, holding a dagger, approached Melanie, who was hugging Hedon and weeping.

Roxana was in a state of extreme anxiety.

‘Hethor is alive.’

Hiding in Hethor’s room, Roxana realized he was alive when she heard Melanie’s voice outside the door.

She staggered and grabbed the doorframe.

She had to unlock the door again.

If the door didn’t open, Hethor would think something was wrong and come inside.

Then, Melanie’s maid, Hedon, entered the room first.

Roxana hid behind the door, gagged Hedon, and stabbed her with a dagger.

Even as she was dying, Hedon desperately tried to alert Melanie to the danger by hitting the door with her hands and feet.

Panicked, Roxana had no choice but to struggle with Hedon.

If she had stayed still, she would have suffered less.

Roxana whispered to Hedon, who was taking her last breath, that it was her fault for missing the chance to end her life cleanly.

Even in her dying moments, Hedon looked at the door and reached out her hand, hoarsely calling, ‘Melanie, my lady…’

‘Was Nancy like this too?’

Logan, hiding the dagger and entering her room, must have killed Nancy, who was wearing the Empress’s dress and crown.

‘Did Nancy worry about me like that as she died?’

She definitely would have.

Nancy’s face overlapped with Hedon’s dying face.

“I’m sorry.”

Roxana unconsciously spoke to Hedon.

But it couldn’t be helped.

She hypnotized herself, repeating that sacrificing oneself for one’s master was like a maid’s destiny.

She hardened her weakening heart again.

However, the fact that Hethor was alive disrupted her plans.

Her mind was a mess.

‘What happened?’

Roxana recalled her last conversation with Emperor Adrian.

Thinking about it again, she remembered that Adrian had given her an ambiguous answer when she asked if he had killed Hethor.

‘I was deceived!’

Emperor Adrian had not killed Hethor.

‘What is he planning by keeping him alive?’

She was furious with Emperor Adrian for breaking his promise.

Regaining her composure, Roxana considered whether Hethor being alive would be advantageous or disadvantageous to her.

If she could silence Emperor Adrian, the fact that she had tried to kill Hethor could be buried.

No matter what Emperor Adrian had told him, if she just denied it, cried, and begged, wouldn’t she be able to save her life?

‘I’m pregnant with his baby, after all.’

Moreover, Hethor’s army had seized the ship.

There was no choice.

She had to rely on Hethor to survive.

No matter how ruthless Hethor was, he wouldn’t kill a woman pregnant with his child.

As she finished her thoughts, Melanie entered the room.

Roxana felt jealous of her for kissing Hethor.

It was an emotion unbecoming of someone who had even asked him to kill her.

“Do you like kissing another woman’s man!”

Roxana shouted again, venomously.

She didn’t know why those words came out twice.

“You, you did this to Hedon?!”

Melanie ignored Roxana and screamed.

She couldn’t bring herself to say ‘killed’.

Hedon’s pulse had already stopped, but she didn’t want to admit it.

Melanie hugged Hedon, who still felt warm, and burst into tears.

“How dare you treat the Empress like this… Roxana!”

Roxana watched Melanie wail for a moment, then, seeing Nancy’s face overlapping with Hedon’s dead face, she quickly spoke, urging her on.

“Empress, my foot. You look so good in a maid’s uniform!”

“!”

Only after hearing Melanie’s sarcasm did Roxana realize that she was wearing Nancy’s clothes.

“You’ve lost your nerve, Melanie.”

“Ha, do you think I’ve only lost my nerve? I’ve lost my mind too! Do you even know what you’ve done?!”

Melanie glared fiercely, her lips trembling.

“Daring to defy the Empress over the death of a mere maid.”

Roxana asked, pointing the dagger at Melanie’s neck.

“A mere maid?”

Melanie closed Hedon’s eyes, which were still open, and stood up.

“Hedon wasn’t just a maid. She was my best friend, our protector, and sometimes… as warm as a mother!”

That Hedon was growing cold.

Melanie, her voice choked, couldn’t continue.

It was a sense of loss she had never experienced before.

“She was like a sister to me! Do you understand?”

“Oh, Melanie. Your maid was like a sister, but she wasn’t your sister.”

Roxana retorted coldly.

Melanie looked at Roxana with disgust and asked.

“How can you be so brazen after killing someone…? If you were aiming for me, you didn’t have to kill Hedon!”

“Let’s stop talking about what’s already happened. Since you were so close, I’ll send you together. So Hedon won’t be lonely.”

Roxana tightened her grip on the dagger.

Melanie quickly scanned Hethor’s room for a weapon, but unfortunately, there was nothing to match the dagger Roxana was holding.

Roxana began to swing the dagger wildly at Melanie.

Melanie, dodging the sharp blade, lost her balance and fell on her backside.

As she fell, her hand touched something next to the table.

It was the wooden sword Hethor used to spar with her during sword training.

Melanie grabbed the wooden sword and stood up, stabbing Roxana’s arm.

It didn’t cut her skin because it was a wooden sword, but Roxana frowned, wincing at the force of the blow.

Encouraged by Roxana’s pained groan, Melanie launched a preemptive strike this time.

‘Keep practicing. Eventually, your body will move on its own. That’s why you keep repeating the same movements.’

Hethor was right.

Her body was much faster than her thoughts.

Melanie was amazed by her body moving reflexively.

Taking advantage of Roxana’s stumble, Melanie struck her leg with the wooden sword again.

“You crazy…!”

Roxana bent down and blocked with her hands, but the end of the wooden sword pierced the back of her hand.

The back of her hand throbbed.

“If I can’t avenge Hedon, I’m not Melanie, I’m a melon! Got it? You’re going to die by my hand today.”

Roxana was startled by Melanie’s roaring momentum.

The declaration of war from the crazy concubine didn’t seem like nonsense.

‘I have to get out of here to get rid of that crazy bitch.’

Melanie’s eyes were half-crazed.

Roxana opened the door and fled, backing away without turning her back.

Melanie snorted and chased after Roxana, wooden sword in hand.

Roxana was quite surprised by Melanie.

Even though she knew nothing about swordsmanship, she was confident that she could easily beat someone as weak as Melanie, but her body was surprisingly agile.

She hadn’t planned to go up to the deck, but Melanie was chasing her so fiercely that she panicked and stepped onto the stairs leading upwards.

***

Before bringing Emperor Adrian back here, I needed to assess the damage to the delegation, knights, and maids, even roughly.

First, I needed to identify and recover the bodies of those sacrificed to Galaco [a mythical sea monster].

Thanks to the help of the wyverns [dragon-like creatures], the damage was fortunately less than expected.

The deck where the shipboard party had been held was covered with Galaco’s corpses and ruined food, leaving no room to step.

As I looked around,

“I can’t forgive you! I’m going to kill you!”

A familiar voice rang out sharply.

“That sounds like Melanie’s voice?”

I said, turning to my companions.

At my words, everyone ran towards the sound.

The first to run was Hethor.

Melanie and Roxana were facing each other at the bow of the ship.

It was dark and hard to see clearly, but Roxana had a dagger, and Melanie seemed to be holding a wooden sword.

I had to separate them immediately.

It was clear that Melanie was in more danger.

Roxana threatened Melanie relentlessly with the dagger.

But surprisingly, Melanie dodged by turning her body to the side and struck Roxana’s side with the wooden sword.

“Ah! Not my stomach!”

Roxana quickly covered her stomach with both hands again.

There was no blood, but the bones on the back of her hand, stabbed twice by the wooden sword, throbbed.

“Who can have their stomach stabbed! Hedon’s stomach shouldn’t have been stabbed either! She shouldn’t have been stabbed by that sword!”

Melanie, remembering Hedon, who had been stabbed in the stomach several times and died, vented her anger and raised the wooden sword towards Roxana, who had fallen. Roxana cried out desperately.

“I, I’m pregnant!”

Roxana screamed, clutching her stomach.

“!”

Melanie froze.

Everyone on the deck froze as well.

All eyes turned to the Emperor, Linell.

But Linell, me, Prince Norton, Raphael, and Bellos’s eyes were on Hethor.

“What lies! His Majesty has never slept with the likes of you!”

Melanie, who had paused, spoke in disbelief and raised the wooden sword again. Roxana said something to Melanie in a small voice.

I could read her lips.

“It’s Hethor’s baby.”

Melanie’s head automatically turned to Hethor.

Her eyes pleaded for him to say it wasn’t true, but Hethor was silent.

At Hethor’s silence, Melanie collapsed to the ground.

Taking advantage of the gap, Roxana quickly reached out and stabbed Melanie’s stomach.

People who were approaching the two stopped simultaneously.

“Ha, haa…”

Melanie was in a state of panic.

Red blood was spreading on her pink dress.

Roxana didn’t stop there and drew the dagger again, aiming for Melanie’s neck.

“Melanie, get out of the way!”

I called out to Melanie and, conjuring a flame from my fingertip, quickly threw it at Roxana’s hand holding the dagger.

“Ah!”

Several flames merged into a small ball and stuck to Roxana’s wrist before falling off.

Roxana, burned, dropped the dagger, but even as her hand trembled in pain, she picked it up again.

Roxana’s determination at the end of the road was frightening.

“I guess you’ll have to die. Melanie.”

Roxana climbed on top of Melanie, who was panting.

I threw the flame again, quickly heating the handle of Roxana’s dagger.

“Aaaagh!”

Roxana, startled by the hot dagger handle, dropped the dagger and shook her hand wildly.

But instead of the dagger, she picked up a piece of broken plate that had fallen nearby.

The moment Linell and I took a step, someone appeared one step ahead of us.

A stranger who suddenly appeared from somewhere struck Roxana with his sword, and she collapsed to the side, clutching her stomach.

“Oh, no…! Ugh, my baby!!”

“A baby when you’ve never been pregnant.”

The man in the black robe, with the hood pulled down low, muttered mockingly.

“…Wh, what did you say?!”