The Stand-In Empress’S Wedding Night [EN]: Chapter 330

330. Side Story 2: That Day Long Ago (2)

February 09, 2024

“I can’t tell you who it is.”

Linelle stated firmly.

He immediately realized his mistake.

That wasn’t something a servant should say.

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t want to.”

He couldn’t think of a more delicate way to put it.

Linelle glanced at Zelda’s slightly hurt expression and blurted out, “What about you? Who are you?”

What on earth was she doing, wielding a wooden sword at this hour, in this place, dressed like that?

And a girl, no less.

“None of your business.”

“……What?”

“Why should I tell you my name when you won’t tell me yours? I don’t want to tell you either.”

“!”

He got his own words thrown back at him.

Linelle, who didn’t really know what it felt like to be rejected, was quite taken aback.

But he figured it might be better if they didn’t know each other’s identities.

“Fine. I don’t necessarily need to know who you are. But don’t speak informally to me.”

*Don’t* speak informally?

Zelda rolled her eyes, giving him a look that said he was being ridiculous. “No proper noble lady speaks informally to a servant, you know?”

She retorted coldly, sounding incredulous.

“Are you even a noble?”

Linelle looked at Zelda with eyes that seemed to say, *aren’t you the servant here?*

“Can’t you tell just by looking at me?”

*What about me looks like a servant?*

Zelda tilted her chin up as if displeased and fired back.

As she said, judging by her attire and appearance alone, she definitely looked like a noble. But it was strange for a young lady, only about seven years old, to be loitering around the royal palace’s training grounds in the middle of the night.

However, that was an incomprehensible choice even if she *were* a servant.

‘Well, whatever.’

Linelle tried to shake off his doubts and spoke again. “But you… who did you learn swordsmanship from?”

That was what he was most curious about.

“Why do you want to know? And *servant*, could you please use honorifics?”

“…….”

Zelda continued, seeing Linelle’s tightly shut mouth. “You’re new here, aren’t you? I’ve never seen your face before.”

Just like Princess Resilia, Prince Tesler also had servants of similar age around him, in addition to noble children of the same age.

Although he denied being a servant for some reason, Zelda suspected that he might be one of the prince’s close aides.

“Are you perhaps serving the prince?”

“I’m not serving him.”

“You’re not his friend either.”

“……No, I’m not.”

“Then you *are* serving him. You idiot.”

“Huh.”

Linelle’s eyebrows lifted in surprise.

He had only ever *uttered* the word ‘idiot’ before, never having heard anyone call *him* that.

However, when he saw Zelda’s eyes crinkling gently and the pink eyes within sparkling, he unknowingly smiled along.

‘I *am* an idiot, aren’t I?’

Linelle admitted it to himself.

“Anyway, I don’t serve the prince.”

“Then? Does that mean you’re his friend?”

Zelda asked, slightly sarcastic.

“Well, you could say it’s similar.”

Linelle said, as if doing her a favor after contemplating. The moment Prince Tesler’s fake smile came to mind, he didn’t want to use the word ‘friend,’ even if it was a lie.

“You’re so naive, aren’t you?”

Zelda said teasingly.

“What?”

“Everyone says that. The princess says so too—that we’re friends. But I know that we can’t be friends with them. Especially not with your status.”

Zelda gave him a pitiful look.

Linelle raised one corner of his mouth and smirked, as if he understood what she meant by saying that.

“Judging by you saying that, you must not be on good terms with the princess? Is she mean?”

When Linelle tossed the words out like a joke, Zelda turned pale and pressed her finger to his lips.

“Don’t say things like that so carelessly! You might get your butt spanked.”

*I hope no one heard.*

Zelda quickly looked around the dark training grounds.

Fortunately, they were the only two there.

Linelle raised his hand and took Zelda’s finger off his lips.

“Don’t worry. There’s no one in this world who can spank my butt.”

“Yeah. Everyone thinks that until they get their ass beat.”

“……Never mind.”

Linelle shook his head and let out a hollow laugh.

“I have a feeling you’re a dangerous kid. If I hang out with you, I might get into big trouble for no reason.”

Zelda took two steps back, distancing herself from Linelle.

“Everyone’s trying to befriend me; it’s ridiculous.”

“Why are they trying to befriend you, no, *servant*? Whyyyy~?”

Linelle frowned at Zelda’s tone, which was clearly sarcastic and mocking him by raising the end of her words.

It was the first time someone had ridiculed him like that, subtly drawing out their words to provoke him.

Linelle was surprised in many ways.

He was seriously considering whether to reveal his identity when Zelda widened her eyes and clapped her hands.

“Ah, I know!”

“What?”

“Why everyone’s trying to befriend you. I know the reason.”

Linelle snorted at Zelda’s confident words.

‘You don’t know. You don’t know anything. You can’t even imagine.’

Still, Linelle was curious about Zelda’s wrong answer.

“What’s the reason?”

*Let’s hear it.*

“Are you close to the cooking servants?”

“?”

“Or is your father a chef?”

“…….”

Linelle chuckled, thinking of his father, Emperor Kedwin.

‘If swaying the ministers is also cooking, then it’s not wrong.’

Zelda, who understood his laughter as a sign of affirmation, boasted that her eye for detail was above average.

Linelle simply let her be mistaken.

“It must be nice to be able to eat a lot of delicious food.”

A hint of envy flashed across Zelda’s face.

“Young lady, you’re a noble, right?”

Linelle asked with a puzzled expression.

“Yeah, I am.”

“You must eat a lot of delicious food too. Why are you envying something like that?”

“There are nobles, and then there are *nobles*.”

“Is it a lowly family?”

“No. The family isn’t lowly. It’s me who’s lowly…….”

Unlike before, Zelda dropped her gaze with a gloomy face.

“What do you mean?”

“There’s something. You don’t need to know, servant.”

*Acting all high and mighty when she’s younger than me.*

Linelle was bothered by Zelda’s words, but he decided not to pry any further.

Because it would be none of his business anyway.

“Anyway, meeting at the training grounds is a secret. Got it?”

Zelda asked, holding out her pinky finger.

“You better keep your promise, young lady.”

Linelle said nonchalantly, picking up the wooden sword that Zelda had dropped on the floor and starting to practice.

“Oh? Looks like you know how to fight a little?”

Zelda watched Linelle swinging the wooden sword in the center of the training grounds with her arms crossed.

His movements were unusual.

‘His skills are not ordinary.’

She had only been learning swordsmanship from Captain Canal for about a year, but she could tell at a glance that the boy in front of her was much better than Prince Tesler’s swordsmanship, which she had been secretly watching all along.

“Let’s spar.”

Zelda suddenly requested a duel.

She had never had anyone to cross swords with other than her teacher, Captain Canal, nor had she had the opportunity to do so.

So she couldn’t miss this opportunity.

“I want to be friends with you.”

Zelda said as if confessing, narrowing the distance she had created earlier.

Linelle seemed to be a perfect match for her swordsmanship sparring partner.

“Why all of a sudden?”

This time, Linelle asked, stepping back warily.

“You seem like the perfect opponent for my swordsmanship.”

“Huh?”

“So let’s be friends. Okay?”

“You have big dreams.”

Linelle muttered with a snort.

But he soon changed his mind.

Zelda’s swordsmanship skills, which he had seen by chance earlier, were better than Raphael’s.

Perhaps she was not far behind Macrome, who had the best swordsmanship skills among his peers.

It would be nice to befriend her just for the time I’m staying with the Shattonil royal family, or rather, just use her as a sparring partner.

In any case, her skills were far superior to Raphael’s, who was hopeless.

“Okay. But I won’t go easy on you just because you’re a girl, nor because you’re a noble lady.”

“Of course not. Everyone is equal before the sword.”

Zelda went to the weapon rack, took out a wooden sword, and faced Linelle again.

Zelda’s eyes were quite serious as she raised the wooden sword.

“Here I come!”

Linelle struck Zelda’s wooden sword as if to teach her a lesson.

“Huh.”

The result was unexpected.

Linelle’s wooden sword flew sideways, even though he hadn’t lessened the strength in his grip.

“Good heavens.”

Zelda was just as surprised.

Soon her taunts came rhythmically, sounding like a song.

“You’re weak? You’re a complete glass cannon [someone who can deal a lot of damage but can’t take much]? I guess the noble lady isn’t me, but the servant~?”

Zelda teased, tapping the end of her wooden sword on Linelle’s right hand, which had dropped his wooden sword.

Linelle, who was momentarily stunned, looked down at his wooden sword on the floor and then refocused as Zelda’s wooden sword poked the tip of his finger.

“That was a mistake. I was careless.”

“You know, our teacher used to say, there are two things that can be easily taken away even if you’re careless for a moment: one is the sword, and the other is the heart. Both are taken away in the blink of an eye.”

Zelda said with a profound expression, as if giving advice.

Linelle couldn’t understand why he had to listen to such strange nagging when he had only dropped his wooden sword for a moment by mistake.

“Try again. I’ll give you a chance.”

Zelda picked up Linelle’s wooden sword from the floor and handed it back to him.

Linelle was already feeling humiliated, and Zelda’s words only made him more annoyed.

“Who are you to give me chances or not…? Huh?!”

“I told you not to be careless?”

As soon as Linelle grabbed the wooden sword, Zelda’s attack began.

“How can you attack so suddenly without warning!”

“Fights are originally without warning. Have you only fought against polite enemies until now, servant?”

Linelle was speechless at Zelda’s words.

It was true.

The people he had sparred with so far would stop attacking and wait for him to catch his breath, and even give him hints on how to position himself to win during the sparring.

His face flushed because she had hit the nail on the head.

“Enemies are originally merciless. It seems like you’re only surrounded by gentlemen, servant.”

“Who is your opponent that you swing your sword so mercilessly at?”

“My teacher doesn’t go easy on me. But I like that I can dodge the sword by parrying it. I can’t dodge hands or kicks, though. If I dodge, I get hit more.”

Linelle put away his wooden sword at Zelda’s words.

“Why did you stop?”

Zelda asked Linelle, who had stopped sparring, as if protesting.

“Who is it?”

“Huh?”

“Who hits you with their hands or feet?”

“Ah…”

Only then did Zelda realize that she had added unnecessary words.

She lowered her wooden sword, captivated by Linelle’s blue eyes, which were looking at her with concern.

She felt like she had to say something, but she was worried about what to say since there was not just one person who hit her with their hands or feet.

Her stepbrothers and sister, and Princess Resilia. If pushing counted as violence, then some of the young ladies should be included as well.

But none of them were people she could reveal.

Talking about her stepbrothers and sister would be a disgrace to her family, and talking about Princess Resilia would only put her in trouble.

“Never mind.”

“Are you lying?”

Linelle asked, narrowing his eyes as if interrogating her.

“I don’t lie.”

Zelda said with an aggrieved face.

Linelle stared into Zelda’s pink eyes for a moment.

He wondered who was tormenting this little girl.

Without him even realizing it, he was trusting Zelda’s words.

“Ah. I thought I was going to practice quietly today.”

Zelda suddenly muttered, glancing at the entrance to the training hall.

“What?”

“We have to get out of here now!”

Zelda shouted in a whisper, then grabbed Linelle’s hand and started running towards the back door of the training hall.

“What is it? Why are you suddenly running?”

Linelle, who had been dragged out of the back door with Zelda, tried to go back into the training hall, but Zelda pushed him to the side of the door and pointed inside the training hall with her finger.

“Look over there.”

Two people, a man and a woman, were carefully entering from the entrance of the training hall.

It seemed that the Shattonil royal training hall was used as a place for the palace staff to secretly date at night.

‘I wonder if our imperial training hall is like that too?’

Linelle vowed that even if he grew up and had a woman he loved, he would never meet her in the training hall.

“Why are they doing that here?”

“Because this place is out of sight at this hour. It happens sometimes. Oh? Oh, oh~?”

This time, Zelda covered her mouth with her hand and looked surprised.

“What is it now.”

“That person.”

Zelda pointed at the man with her finger.

“What about that person.”

“Isn’t that your father?”

“!”

‘My father, you say? He wouldn’t be having an affair in another country, leaving my mother behind, would he?’

But Linelle couldn’t be sure.

Moreover, he had witnessed his father enjoying secret meetings with noble ladies and young ladies other than his mother, the Empress, in the Lapion Imperial Palace several times, so he couldn’t ignore Zelda’s words.

Linelle mustered up the courage to peek into the training hall.

Fortunately, the man who had entered the training hall was not the Emperor. When he thought about it, this girl didn’t know his identity.

So she must have pointed out the wrong person and asked if he was his father.

“No, he’s not.”

“Oh, then your father isn’t the head chef of this palace. That person is the head chef of this palace.”

“……”

“Let’s go now.”

Zelda grabbed Linelle’s hand again.

Something on the palm of his hand was tickling him, but Linelle didn’t let go of her hand.

“You live with your father in the royal palace, right? Goodbye.”

Zelda said, letting go of his hand when they arrived at the fork in the road between the royal palace and the forest path.

“……Where are you going?”

Linelle asked, hiding his hand that he had held with Zelda behind his back for no reason.

“I have to go home.”

Zelda said with a bright smile.

“Where is your house that you’re going alone at this hour? Without a carriage.”

“If you run along that forest path for about 30 minutes, there’s a mansion where my teacher stays right before your heart is about to jump out of your mouth. From there, there’s another forest that leads out of the royal palace, and if you run for about 15 minutes, you’ll find where I live.”

Zelda seemed to be explaining diligently, but Linelle couldn’t understand at all.

Whatever the circumstances……

“Do you do that every day?”

No wonder she was so fast at running and had so much strength in her hands; there was a reason.

“No. Only on the days I learn swordsmanship from my teacher. Twice a week. Three times if there are many. Anyway, I can’t go out through the castle gates right now.”

“Your family must be in an uproar right now, or rather, the Young Lady’s family.”

He didn’t know for sure, but it was well past 10 p.m.

“Not at all. You don’t have to worry about that.”

Even if she didn’t go home tonight, there would be no one to care about her whereabouts.

Zelda at the Troba County was an existence that only needed to be present when the princess looked for her in the royal palace.

Thanks to that, on the days she came to the royal palace, she could sometimes stop by the training hall to practice swordsmanship alone, run through the forest path to train separately at the house of her teacher, Captain Canal, and then return home.

“Go carefully. It can be dangerous at night even inside the royal palace.”

Zelda patted Linelle’s shoulder and said goodbye.

‘Am I being treated like a child just because I dropped that wooden sword for a moment?’

Linelle frowned.

Besides, the sight of a girl running through the forest path alone to go home at this night made him feel uncomfortable.

“Hey.”

Linelle grabbed the hem of Zelda’s dress as she turned around.

“Hey? Even so, you’re a servant and I’m a noble.”

Zelda, who glared at him with a stern look, immediately burst into laughter and spoke again.

“I let it slide. Anyway, we’re sharing secrets with each other.”

“Wow.”

“What?”

“Come tomorrow too. To the training hall.”

At Linelle’s command, Zelda glared and muttered.

“The servant is ordering the noble lady around.”

“You’re not coming?”

Surely, you’re not going to disobey my order?

Linelle regretted wearing the servant’s clothes for the first time.

“Wait and see if you’re curious.”

Zelda retorted saucily.

“Come if I tell you to come. If we meet again tomorrow……”

“If we meet?”

“Then, I’ll tell you my name.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. And……where I live too.”

“I’m not really curious about where the servant lives?”

Zelda shrugged her shoulders and turned around again.

“Wait a minute. Does your family really not care where you are?”

Linelle asked in a voice that was unlike a child, quite solemn.

“I told you, they don’t. I just have to arrive at the royal palace on time when the princess calls for me. But why are you asking that?”

“Then you, or rather, the Young Lady, can go live in another country, right? If only the princess allows it.”

Zelda tilted her head severely at Linelle’s absurd words.

“……Another country, you say?”