The Stand-In Empress’S Wedding Night [EN]: Chapter 311

311. Repaying a Favor with a Harem?

“Oh my, you’re already ready?”

Melanie said with a satisfied smile.

Hector’s face was as red as if it had just been pulled from a blazing furnace.

“Should I… not go?”

“If you don’t go…”

“I could spend more quality time with you here, right?”

Melanie went to the bed, flopped down, and patted the spot next to her.

“Do whatever you want.”

As she said this generously, Hector went to the vanity and grabbed her lipstick.

“……Huh? What are you doing?”

Hector used the lipstick to draw on Melanie’s lips, both top and bottom, and said,

“Now I’ve applied it to both top and bottom. Go now.”

Hector picked up Melanie, who was lying on the bed, and set her down in front of the door.

“I’m going, I’m going. But where are you going to write your novel?”

“Since the weather is nice, I thought I’d take a walk and find a shady spot under a tree to settle down and write.”

“Write during the day, and then exert yourself tonight… for me. Focus and work hard! Okay?”

Melanie held onto the door with both hands, insisting she wouldn’t leave until she got an answer.

Wasn’t she always like this?

“……Okay. I have a lot to write today, one way or another.”

Hector chuckled and saw her off.

***

Today, I was supposed to have lunch with the concubines at the Imperial Palace and explore the shopping streets Jasper told me about.

Since the pre-inauguration party had already taken place, it was a good time to start exploring outside the Imperial Palace.

“Congratulations, Rosie! I heard about it from His Majesty. It’s much more convenient to have the wedding on the coronation day. It’s really great.”

I said to Rosie as soon as I opened the door of the waiting carriage.

Just as I was about to leave the room, Linelle returned from the State Council meeting and told me the good news.

I was so touched and excited that I grabbed Linelle’s hands and we spun around the room, hugged, and even kissed… The atmosphere suddenly became strange, so I got into the carriage 10 minutes later than the concubines.

Everyone seemed to have already heard the news before I arrived, and the atmosphere was friendly.

“Thank you. I heard His Majesty helped a lot.”

Rosie took my hand, which was next to her, and thanked me instead.

“Did he? He didn’t say anything about it, so I didn’t know.”

Why didn’t he tell me about this thoughtful thing he did?

He’s becoming even more lovable. I won’t let him off the hook tonight…….

Since arriving in the Partsha Empire, I hadn’t had much time to focus on love with him because of various situations.

But tonight seemed like it would be the most comfortable night in a while.

Love shouldn’t be missing on a day like this.

I firmly resolved in my mind.

“But, what will happen to Princess Resilia?”

Catherine asked Rosie.

“She will be returned to the Spire Prison.”

Will Bellos take her back with teleportation again?

“She was dragged out of the party like a dog yesterday, so she probably didn’t get a wink of sleep with that temper of hers, right?”

Melanie said with a gloating expression.

She seemed to have slept well, contrary to expectations.

Last night, I asked Moia and Moni, who had returned from Princess Resilia’s room with sausages, about the princess’s condition.

I could roughly guess what it would be like.

She would have messed up the room, pulled out her pink hair, and thrown a tantrum.

However, Moia and Moni’s answers were completely different from my expectations.

‘Oong… she’s sleeping face down, Moia~?’

‘Aang… she wasn’t covered with a blanket, so we covered her, Moni~?’

Anyway, they’re both so kind.

Even though they cause trouble, they have such kind hearts.

Anyway, I was about to tell them that Princess Resilia had a better night’s sleep than we expected, but I closed my mouth.

It’s a good day, so I don’t want to talk about the princess for long.

“I heard the restaurant we’re going to is the most famous in the Imperial Palace, and I’m already drooling. They say even the water tastes good there.”

When I swallowed the saliva that had gathered at the tip of my tongue, the concubines also swallowed, looking suddenly hungry.

“I’m also looking forward to the dessert shop Jasper told me about, mother-in-law.”

Melanie said with a smiling face.

Can’t you stop calling me that?

“Ah, why didn’t Pecilini come?”

“She seems to be feeling a bit heavy. She said she just wanted to rest in her room.”

“Well, it’s about time she started to find it annoying to move around.”

Catherine said, admiring the scenery outside the carriage window.

Soon, the carriage entered Distone Street, the most bustling street in the Partsha Empire’s Imperial Palace, and arrived at a restaurant located at the entrance of the street.

“The restaurant isn’t too far from the Imperial Palace.”

“If it’s good today, let’s come here often while we’re staying in the Partse Empire.”

Rosie’s words made me feel a little sad.

Once I see Rosie as the Empress, I won’t be able to see her for a while.

“Let’s do that.”

I smiled even brighter on purpose and took Rosie’s hand.

The restaurant was as splendid as the Imperial Palace’s dining hall, starting with the interior.

The concubines and I were already completely immersed in the restaurant’s atmosphere, to the point where we would have said even a stone on a plate tasted good.

The actual taste of the food was, of course, beyond words.

The steak melted in my mouth like soft salmon, and the various seafood and grilled shrimp with salt that came with it were so fresh that they seemed like they would come back to life if you just added water.

They say that when you eat delicious food, you think of the person you love, and I wanted to eat this food with Linelle.

“I should come here with Hector too.”

“Ethan would love this taste too.”

Melanie and Catherine were thinking the same thing as me.

“If His Majesty tasted this steak, he might take this chef to the Lapion Empire.”

When I said with a faint smile, Catherine also said she wished he would and cut the remaining steak into small pieces as if trying to savor it.

The concubines and I looked at Rosie, who hadn’t opened her mouth yet.

Feeling our gaze, Rosie looked at us and said politely,

“Come to the Empress’s Palace the day after the wedding. I’ll ask the Prince to invite this chef so you can enjoy a comfortable banquet at the Empress’s Palace.”

Rosie already looked like an Empress.

It wasn’t just because she said she would let us eat this food again.

It could be because Princess Resilia’s problem had been resolved and she felt at ease, but Rosie exuded the aura of a kind and caring Empress.

“I liked you from the beginning.”

Rosie’s face turned as red as a peach at my sudden confession.

“Rosie is the first person I’ve ever considered a friend. Our hobbies are different, and our appearances are even more different.”

There were bones in her praise, but Melanie didn’t care and spoke, her eyes welling up with tears.

“I… like you too. I only liked you among the concubines.”

Catherine, who was like a calculating fox, also chimed in.

Ah, come to think of it, Catherine. Wasn’t Rosie the only one you slapped twice in a row shortly after becoming a concubine?

-I wanted to point that out, but I didn’t want to ruin the warm atmosphere.

Surprisingly, the baby in my belly seemed to be telling me to put in some sweet desserts now.

“Can’t we go eat dessert right away?”

Thankfully, as soon as we came out of the restaurant, Melanie said desperately, as if she hadn’t eaten a piece of cake in years.

“Ah, I heard that the delicious ones are already sold out before 3 o’clock. We need to hurry if we want to taste all the popular desserts.”

Rosie also looked anxiously at the dessert shop.

“Shall we? Shopping after eating everything will be better for digestion.”

When I took the first step, the concubines’ eyes also turned sweet and followed me.

The dessert shop was located next to an alley across from the restaurant.

“How dare you! Do you know who we are to dare block our path and harass us!”

Just as we were about to reach the dessert shop, a young woman’s voice was heard from inside the alley.

We all stopped and peeked into the alley, only showing our faces at the corner.

Local thugs were surrounding three noble young ladies, threatening them with weapons.

Looking at the thugs’ hands, they were holding daggers in one hand and the jewels and money they had already taken from the young ladies in the other.

Yet they were still blocking the young ladies’ path.

That meant they still wanted something from them.

Dirty thugs.

I had a full stomach, so if I warmed up a bit before going in, the dessert would taste even better, right?

I slowly turned my shoulders and started to warm up.

“Oh? Those young ladies……!”

Melanie pointed her finger at the young ladies and raised her voice, ruining my plan to deal with them easily from behind.

“They’re the young ladies who were mentioned as concubine candidates, right?”

Rosie covered her mouth with her hand and whispered.

I widened my eyes and looked closely at the young ladies’ faces.

Oh.

“……It really is them.”

“How about we just go? Then the concubines will be taken care of automatically, right?”

Catherine calmly suggested that we pretend we didn’t see anything and run away.

“But we can’t do that. What if those guys do something bad to them?”

As expected, the one who will become the Empress has a different level of generosity.

“We have to help them!”

Rosie emphasized again, taking a step forward. But the distance didn’t narrow any further, whether it was a helping hand or a helping foot.

The three concubine candidates also found us. But they seemed to think they were no match for the thugs.

“Please call the knights, please……!”

Lady Esther shouted at us, trembling with both hands.

If they raised their voices a little, the escort knights stationed everywhere would come running, but these thugs were at a level that my left hand could handle with my eyes closed.

“Drop the weapons you’re holding and get lost. Otherwise, you’ll be the ones to disappear from this land.”

Even if I said it seriously, did they not believe me because I was smiling?

The thugs burst out laughing at my warning.

“Oh my, what day is it today? People wearing jewels are coming to us on their own.”

“That’s right. They’re all pretty good-looking too? Except for one.”

The most vile-looking thug among them wriggled his orange peel-like cheeks and scanned me and the concubines up and down with an unpleasant gaze.

“……I think it would be better to just kill them all.”

Rosie, who was the only one who got angry, clenched her teeth and said to me.

“Put the money and jewels you took from the young ladies on the ground. Do it now.”

I put my gaze in the air and made a stern warning.

“Why can’t you look at us when you’re speaking so confidently?”

This time, a scarecrow-like guy who looked like he had been pecked at by birds in a field picked a fight with my gaze.

“Because I have to look at only good things. I shouldn’t look at ugly and hideous things for a while.”

When I said, pointing to my stomach with one hand, Melanie also quickly stared at the air, following me.

Surprisingly, the thugs didn’t seem to know that the words were aimed at them.

That fact surprised me even more.

“But if ugly squids are swarming around like this, it ruins people’s eyes and moods, shouldn’t they have to pay a fine for this? Rather, they’re extorting money. Those whose faces stink.”

I said, pulling out the dagger I was wearing on my right ankle.

As I delivered the truth directly like a rapid-fire, the thugs, who had been swaggering, also took an offensive stance as I held a weapon in my hand.

“Mother-in-law, we need to hurry. At this rate, all the popular desserts will be sold out.”

Melanie whispered from behind me, holding a pocket watch in front of her eyes.

That shouldn’t happen.

“Sister is short on time right now. Come at me all at once.”

I entrusted the dagger to Rosie, who was next to me, and then floated flames on the tips of my fingers.

The thugs were flustered by the flames and hesitated, unable to rush at me easily.

“You said there’s a fountain in the plaza if you go out behind that alley, right?”

I asked the thugs, but the young ladies answered all at once.

“Yes, Zelda.”

“From now on, fire will fall on the insteps of you squids. Then you’ll have to run like crazy to the plaza fountain, right?”

“What nonsense are you talking about?”

The thugs looked down at their feet, snorted, and approached this way.

I gestured to the three young ladies to stick to the wall.

Then, I threw the flames that bloomed like flowers on the tips of my ten fingers onto the insteps of the thugs at the same time.

The flames fell at the point I wanted and fueled the fire.

“It’s real fire, it’s fire. It’s on fire!”

The thugs jumped around in place, trying to put out the fire by stepping on each other’s insteps, but it was not enough.

Of course.

Because I’m watching the flames and keeping them from going out.

“Ah, everyone run!”

The thugs, who were groaning in confusion, sprinted towards the plaza fountain, competing with each other.

“Zelda… thank you for saving us!”

The young ladies bowed deeply to me.

“I heard you can handle fire, but it’s mesmerizing to see it in person.”

“I guess you move the wyverns with that fire too? You’re so cool!”

They came so close that it was burdensome, with tears in their eyes.

Looking at the young ladies’ expressions, I would think I was Norton.

They were about to do the shoulder dance, which is the wyverns’ ‘courtship dance,’ for me.

“How can we thank you?”

“You don’t have to. This level of fire use is just ticklish.”

I shrugged my shoulders and shook my hand, laughing heartily.

I quickly took the concubines and turned away.

“We still have things to do, so goodbye.”

***

By a narrow margin, all the popular menu items at the dessert shop were sold out.

We had no choice but to drink a glass of juice each at the dessert shop and get back into the carriage.

The carriage entered the Imperial Palace and ran straight to the main palace.

Rosie suggested that we chat in her room and then have dinner together at the main palace.

“Rosie, tell the servants to tell His Majesty and the others to come to the main palace banquet hall in time for dinner.”

“Yes, that would be nice.”

While Rosie was answering with a smile, Melanie raised her voice and suddenly stopped the carriage.

As the carriage stopped, Melanie burst out of the door.

Why is she doing that?

We all followed her outside in confusion.

“What’s wrong, Melanie?”

“Those young ladies seem to be flirting with our Hector!”

Melanie pointed angrily at the large zelkova tree in the distance.

It wasn’t just Hector there.

“……His Majesty is there too?”

Linelle and Hector were sitting under the shade of the tree, and three young ladies were standing in front of the two men.

“Oh? Those young ladies are the concubine candidates from earlier, right?”

Melanie tilted her head, recognizing them.

“Zelda saved them, and then they came into the Imperial Palace and are wriggling their bodies in front of someone else’s man?”

Melanie strode towards the zelkova tree first.

Rosie and Catherine were also startled and pulled my arm, saying let’s go closer.

Linelle and Hector didn’t seem to know we were coming because the young ladies were blocking their view.

The young ladies were also standing with their backs to us, so they didn’t sense the gazes that were staring fiercely at the back of their heads and were gradually narrowing the distance.

We stopped a few steps away at Lady Esther’s words.

“Your Majesty, please accept the three of us as concubines of the Lapion Empire!”

“!”

Look at those things……?

I saved them, and they’re repaying the favor with a harem?!