The Stand-In Empress’S Wedding Night [EN]: Chapter 32

32. The Starving Emperor

It felt like I had barely left the Empress’s Palace, yet I was already standing in front of the main palace.

“Did we perhaps take a shortcut?”

“Excuse me? We came the same way you did this afternoon,” Sharon replied, glancing back at the path we had taken, answering my sudden question.

“Really? But why does it feel like we arrived so quickly….”

I muttered, looking up at the brightly lit windows of Linelle’s main palace bedroom. The imposing building overwhelmed me, making my already nervous heart even more anxious. The cause of my nervousness, of course, was the person waiting for me inside.

“Your Majesty, are you alright?” Sharon asked, her voice laced with worry.

“No, I’m not alright at all. But I have to go in. Let’s go.”

“Yes, please don’t be too nervous.”

“That’s right, please relax.”

“Don’t tremble, take a deep breath, Your Majesty.”

The three maids took turns encouraging me from behind.

“But why are you all getting nervous too?” I asked, smiling back at them as they fussed over me, even as my voice trembled. Suddenly, the expressions of the three maids froze simultaneously.

“Relax your faces. I’m fine now… I’m fi- Aah!”

I turned back while speaking, and Sharon exclaimed, “Your Majesty! In front of you!” with wide eyes. Wondering what had startled her, I turned my head forward again, only to run straight into something. It felt like hitting a pillar. I wouldn’t have been surprised if my nose had started bleeding. *Is* it really a pillar? I staggered, bouncing off the… pillar.

“Careful!”

What? There’s no way a pillar would shout ‘Careful!’ and grab my waist, would it? Just as I was about to fall backward, someone wrapped their arms around my waist. Could it be?

“…Your Majesty?!”

“What do you mean you’re alright? It didn’t seem like you were alright at all.”

What I had just bumped into was not a solid pillar but Linelle himself.

“Thank you for catching me, Your Majesty. But why… are you out here?”

“Me? I’m… taking a walk, yes, I was taking a walk and was on my way back in?”

Feeling like he was lying for some reason, I glanced at Raphael standing next to him. Raphael, meeting my eyes, quickly responded.

“Yes, he was on his way out for a walk.”

“?”

The two people’s stories didn’t match. Linelle was on his way back from a walk, and his secretary was saying he was on his way out for a walk.

“Well, anyway, walking is good. Your Majesty, you can let go of my waist now,” I whispered to him, conscious of the maids surrounding us, as he held me tightly. He glanced at the maids lined up behind me, made a ‘tsk’ sound, and finally took his hand off my waist.

“Let’s go up,” Linelle said, holding out his hand to me. I took his hand and we started climbing the stairs of the main palace together.

“With what resolve did the Empress come to my bedroom today… no, what brings you here?” he asked in a rather businesslike tone.

“I came to sleep.”

I returned the words Linelle had said when he suddenly entered my bedroom a few days ago. He looked slightly surprised at my answer, then asked again in a calm voice.

“Just sleep?”

“…And talk a little.”

“And then?”

“…Look around Your Majesty’s bedroom a bit.”

“And then?”

“I’ll sleep.”

***

As we reached the bedroom floor, his pace quickened. Inevitably, my pace quickened as well, matching his speed.

“Does ‘sleep’ include other meanings? Or is it simply the literal meaning of the word?” Linelle asked, keeping the maids and escort knights who were following us at a distance. He grabbed the doorknob of his bedroom himself as he asked.

“Well….”

As I hesitated, he opened the bedroom door before even hearing my answer and said, “Let’s go inside first and talk while lying down.”

“…Yes, yes?”

I was almost dragged by Linelle as I stepped into his bedroom. The bedroom of the Emperor of the Lapion Empire. A place where he had never allowed a woman, except for his mother, his nanny, and some maids. Even that was before he ascended the throne as Emperor, so I was surprisingly the first woman to enter the main palace bedroom. The atmosphere of the bedroom was less extravagant than the Empress’s Palace bedroom, but it had a sense of grandeur instead. I quickly scanned the interior of the bedroom while holding his hand and walking towards the bed. The sound of our shoes echoed throughout the spacious bedroom. Linelle didn’t stop in the middle and walked quickly, still holding my hand.

“Where are you going in such a hurry?” I asked, pretending not to know where his footsteps were heading, even though I knew exactly where he was going. Seeing him walking straight to the bed without saying anything made me laugh.

“You’ll know when you get there.”

His voice was serious, and I finally burst out laughing. I knew perfectly well that he was heading to the big bed right in front of us, but he said I’d know when I got there. He stopped abruptly when he arrived in front of the bed, but his grip on my hand tightened even more.

“Linelle,” I said, calling his name. He stood facing me.

“I was going to throw you onto this bed first,” Linelle said, pointing to the bed as if confessing.

“And then have a conversation.”

“You can do that.”

“A physical conversation.”

“…Ah.”

“But, I can’t.”

His tone and expression were very cautious. In fact, there was nothing the Emperor needed to be cautious about within the Imperial Palace. There was even less reason to be mindful of others. But right now, he didn’t look like the Emperor of the most powerful country on the Northern Continent. He just looked like a husband who cherished his wife very much. Even more shocking words flowed from his mouth, who had honestly confessed his plan.

“I can’t do it because I’m afraid you’ll push me away, afraid you’ll reject me.”

Looking at Linelle’s pure eyes sparkling with blue light, I felt an urge to cling to him like glue.

“Really? Even though you want to… so badly?” I threw the words out like a light joke, worried about his expression that was becoming endlessly serious.

“Yeah. Madly.”

The words thrown out as a light joke returned with heavy earnestness. I had thrown the words out expecting a smile to spread across his lips, but somehow the corners of his mouth drooped even more.

“Shall we go up to the bed first?” He took off the robe I was wearing and threw it far away onto the sofa. Despite the considerable distance, the robe flew like a bird and landed perfectly on the back of the sofa.

“Right away?”

“Yeah.”

What kind of conversation should I have? I had only thought about meeting him, but I hadn’t thought about what to talk about with him. If I really had nothing to say, should I talk about meeting Catherine and Rosie in the greenhouse today?

“If you want, we can take some time. It would be painful to hold back, but I would gladly accept that pain.”

“?”

Wait a minute? I think our conversation is flowing in different directions?

“…I’m talking about conversation.”

“…What did I say? I was talking about conversation too.”

“Aha. Is that so?” I asked, looking at him with eyes that said, ‘I don’t think that’s what you meant.’ He pointed to the bed with his finger and quickly added, “Conversation is most comfortable and sincere when it’s done on the bed.”

“Didn’t you clearly say a little while ago that it would be painful to hold back? What did that mean?”

I was amused by Linelle’s attempts to fix things, so I continued to test his quick wit.

“Conversation is inherently painful. Even if you want to speak quickly, you have to match the other person’s pace and hold back. So it’s painful… that’s what I meant.”

“Conversation is?”

“Yes, damn conversation is.”

Unlike his calm expression, Linelle’s face was gradually turning red. I couldn’t tell if he was blushing out of embarrassment or because of the sense of defeat from being caught up in my wordplay. But my desire to kiss his lips, which were slightly pouting forward in dissatisfaction, was certain.

“Did you want to have it with me? Conversation.”

“Of course, I wanted to have it so much. Conversation.”

“Were you waiting too?”

“You think?”

“Conversation that you wait for is usually more successful.”

“Yeah, it’s successful. Let’s untie this first.” Linelle nodded and untied the string of the robe he was wearing. He threw his robe onto the sofa where he had thrown my robe, exactly the same way. The robe that flew from his hand surprisingly landed perfectly on top of my robe. Linelle looked at me and fiddled with the buttons of the shirt he was wearing. He seemed to be asking for my permission to take off his shirt.

“We’re going to have a conversation, aren’t we?”

“Who said we weren’t? I always sleep with my top off.”

“That’s unexpected? You get cold easily, but you always sleep with your top off? I think it would be better to keep it on for now?” I asked with suspicious eyes. He hesitated and nodded.

“…Well, I can take it off later.”

“Yes, please do.” I smiled and climbed onto the wide bed that wouldn’t let you fall off even if you rolled around several times. As I settled on the bed, Linelle immediately climbed onto the bed as well. The moonlight that came in through the terrace door illuminated his face. He looked truly beautiful, but at the same time, he felt dangerous. He climbed onto the bed and slowly approached me on all fours like a beast. Every time he supported himself on the bed with his arms, the chest muscles visible between his shirt elegantly rippled. He looked like a beast in front of its prey. Watching him get closer and closer, my heart also started beating at an incredible speed like a four-legged beast. The tension soared to the high ceiling. It seemed to be the same for Linelle as well.

“You’re not planning to bite me, are you?” A foolish question popped out as I looked down at him, who was right in front of me. His expression, which had been serious all along, crumbled in an instant. He made a sound of air escaping with a dumbfounded expression, then suddenly made a growling sound and opened his mouth wide like a beast. Before I could dodge, he bit my thigh over the thin dress. Oh my god. ‘The Emperor of the Lapion Empire bared his teeth like a beast, growled, and bit the Empress’s thigh.’ This was a story that would decorate the front page of a gossip newspaper that noble ladies secretly read.

“What are you doing?!” I was so surprised that I screamed, twisting my legs to the side as if having a seizure. I almost reflexively kicked his handsome face. If I had… those neat teeth that he showed whenever he smiled brightly might have fallen out.

“Zelda, you were just about to kick me, weren’t you?” As expected, he was a man who wielded a sword, so his ability to grasp the other person’s movements was outstanding.

“How could I dare do that? How could I kick Your Majesty, who is so dignified and noble!”

“Right? I misunderstood?”

“Of course, I’m so weak that even if I kicked you, it would only be like tickling you with a feather?”

Weak constitution, a clear lie. My conscience was tickling me, but I couldn’t help it. He nodded and this time crawled back a little, then suddenly grabbed one of my feet and lifted it up to his chest. Was he planning to bite my foot after my thigh?

“What, what are you doing?” I asked. He answered my question with action. The lips of the Lapion Emperor touched my instep and fell away with a cheerful sound.

“!”

“You’re not kicking me this time?” Linelle said with a sweet smile, holding one of my feet. Anyone who saw it would think he had won a wyvern chick in the Valley of Death [a very difficult and dangerous task].

“Then how about here?” I didn’t want to know where Linelle’s lips were heading, but I could see too clearly what he was trying to do. I shouted inwardly, ‘No way, no way.’ Why was he trying to kiss the sole of my foot?

“Eek, it’s ticklish!” In an instant, I couldn’t bear the unbearable ticklish sensation, and I unknowingly put strength into my foot. Because of that, a suffocating scream burst from his mouth.

“Ugh!”

Huh, what should I do? I was going to pull my foot back, but in my panic, I unknowingly… stretched my foot out further. His mouth was blocked by my foot, and he fell backward with a short scream. It was similar to the appearance of a knight falling in battle after being hit by an arrow in the chest. Fortunately, it was a bed where there was no danger of getting hurt even if you fell backward. The problem was that I had dared to push the Emperor’s mouth with my foot as if hitting him. That too, with my foot. Damn it, this is a disaster. This isn’t why I came to his bedroom….

“Your Majestyyyyy!!” I hurriedly called out to him and quickly knelt down, becoming a four-legged beast like Linelle earlier, and crawled to his side, panting.

“If you’re hungry, you should have said so, why are you biting other people’s feet…!” In my panic, crazy words popped out of my mouth. Linelle’s blue eyes, which had been spaced out, rolled and looked up at me. I couldn’t tell if he was trying to laugh or cry. Ah, I’m really screwed.