The Stand-In Empress’S Wedding Night [EN]: Chapter 335

335. Extra Story 7: Eyes That Come to Mind on the First Night (7)

February 14, 2024

Zelda, unlike a bride who just got married today, looked at him approaching with very unfamiliar eyes.

‘……What’s with this reaction?’

Linell felt like he had become a terrible person for a moment.

It was like forcing himself on someone who came to the library to read a book.

Moreover, her words were even more absurd.

“F-First night? Is a first night even possible?”

“!”

Zelda’s gaze at him moved up and down meticulously.

It was a trembling voice, but it was clearly a question containing some conviction.

‘……What is the meaning of those words? What could it be? Is she perhaps worried about my stamina right now? Why?’

He fell into deep doubt.

And what made him feel even worse was that look, as if observing someone with a defect.

Zelda’s left eye was full of suspicion, and her right eye was full of pity.

‘Quite annoying.’

If those two gazes were to turn into letters and appear, it would be written on paper, ‘You are impotent.’

Has the rumor that he doesn’t approach women spread to the Shattonil royal family?

Well, there’s no way the Shattonil royal family wouldn’t know the rumors that spread in the Lapaon imperial family.

However, if the rumor that he avoids women includes the reason ‘because he can’t perform as a man,’ that was very unfair.

But the pink eyes in front of him had exactly that kind of look.

Wasn’t the first night supposed to be a hot night, as Raphael said?

Hot my foot. It just keeps making me angry.

Linell’s worries deepened.

Something was very, very wrong.

Linell stared intently into Zelda’s eyes, which were still casting a questioning gaze.

Anyway, those pink eyes. I don’t like them now or then.

Is a first night even possible?

Just a moment ago, she made me out to be someone trying to do something terrible, and now she’s making me out to be impotent. Our empress.

If I directly showed her the fact that I am a man with burning stamina every night, even though my body is hypothermic, she would be so surprised that she would fall over.

Ah, she’s already fallen behind the bed.

“You won’t be able to see it just by staring so intently, you know?”

At Linell’s words, her face flushed, and she lowered her head.

That appearance was also unpleasant, so he grabbed her face with both hands.

Zelda was startled by his sudden action and pulled her face back.

‘Strange?’

Was it his hand that was the problem, or her cheek? He brought both hands to her cheeks at the same time, but only her right cheek was particularly hot.

He wanted to check one more time, but he couldn’t because of Zelda’s wary gaze.

Instead, his gaze kept lingering on her right cheek.

He kept talking to Zelda to erase the awkwardness.

However, the more they talked, the more he felt her reluctance, and his mood gradually sank.

His pride was hurt in many ways, so he deliberately declared to her.

“Anyway, I intend to fulfill my duties as a husband. Tonight will be the day to start the first duty.”

At the same time as his words, he pulled on the strings of his gown.

He wanted to take off everything down to the bottom and prove that he wasn’t impotent, but he decided not to rush.

“It’s time for the priests to enter.”

“Your Majesty, what do you mean the priests have arrived?”

Zelda asked him with surprised rabbit eyes.

“You didn’t know?”

“…….”

“I clearly remember that the traditions and major customs of the Lapaon imperial family were conveyed to the Shattonil kingdom in advance?”

They had to coordinate their words before the priests came in, but she had not learned any information about the first night of the Lapaon imperial family.

There was no time to explain, so he untied the strings of his gown first.

Then she gave him that frightened look again.

Stian informed him from outside the bedroom that the priests had arrived.

Linell had no choice but to order them to wait for a while, and then explained the situation to her.

“You don’t have to worry about the priests.”

He reassured her that the traditional method had changed a bit, saying that the priests used to come into the bedroom and directly observe the first nights of the previous emperors.

The priests would simply offer prayers, and when the emperor and empress shared a kiss, they would go outside and wait until the first night was over, and then re-enter the bedroom and sing a song of blessing, which had been simplified.

So the empress should know that she is lucky.

“Your Majesty! I have a question!”

He was about to call the priests again after calmly finishing the explanation, but she raised her hand and shouted urgently.

“Speak.”

“Do the priests also enter on the first night when you later take in a concubine or welcome a new empress?”

“!”

Linell frowned.

Why do women with pink eyes all try to push me away?

He unknowingly recalled the memory of that day long ago.

“Is that what the empress is curious about right now?”

“It was a slip of the tongue!”

Zelda shouted urgently, but it sounded like an excuse to his ears.

He glared at Zelda as if she were resentful and warned.

“Listen carefully. Even though they are gods who haven’t been helpful in my life, I still swore an oath in front of them today. So, there will be no such thing as me welcoming a new empress.”

Still, Linell’s mood didn’t improve, so he drove another wedge.

“There are only two times when I will remarry. When you die, or when you cheat on me. Only then.”

At his words, Zelda was startled as if she had been caught trying to run away while stepping back.

Not this time.

Once was enough to be abandoned by pink eyes.

“But, we have to deceive the priests’ eyes a little.”

Whether they share the first night or not, the priests would have no way of knowing, but a kiss was unavoidable.

Linell asked for her cooperation.

“What kind of cooperation?”

“The empress just has to stay still. That’s all.”

“Is it really okay if I just stay still?”

“Why, do you want to lead? Then do it that way.”

As they exchanged words, she seemed to have relaxed to some extent, so he threw a joke.

Then she jumped up and raised her voice like a knight going to the battlefield.

“Ah, no. Your Majesty. I will follow your orders!”

“…….”

I must be very uncomfortable for her.

Linell, who didn’t know the real reason why Zelda was nervous, had no choice but to misunderstand her attitude.

Shortly after, the priests entered. As the prayer began, Linell naturally laid her down on the bed.

Zelda slightly parted her red lips as if to seduce him.

“Excellent. The acting.”

Linell whispered to her, hiding his nervousness.

The moment she was about to answer something, he placed his lips between her parted lips.

He had never shared any part of his body with anyone other than a handshake.

He was momentarily flustered by the unfamiliar sensation he felt for the first time, but thanks to his outstanding instincts, he continued the kiss very skillfully.

Some time after the kiss, the priests quickly left the bedroom.

He noticed this fact, but Zelda didn’t seem to know.

He should have stopped, but he didn’t.

He focused on the kiss and held the intertwined hands even tighter.

Then he admired Zelda’s face, who was closing her eyes tightly and faithfully accepting his lips.

The more their softness intertwined, the more his ice-cold body seemed to melt away.

Winter was passing and spring was coming.

“Haa…….”

He couldn’t come to his senses from the warmth he felt for the first time since receiving the hypothermia curse.

Zelda opened her eyes groggily, made eye contact with him, and was startled, then took her lips off. Then she raised her upper body and said.

“When did everyone leave?”

“They left a long time ago. They left while we were kissing passionately.”

“I’m sorry.”

For what?

Linell frowned at Zelda’s apology.

‘Besides, it was the first spring I’ve felt in three years…….’

Linell pushed her back onto the bed as if throwing her.

“Y-Your Majesty. The priests have already left?”

“I know. Stay still. There’s something I need to check.”

The two became closer again and overlapped into one.

A warmer spring than before had arrived.

He continued to wander inside her soft mouth and stayed in that season.

It was out of control.

The kiss became more passionate, and summer was beginning in his hypothermic body.

Then something completely unexpected happened.

His reason was screaming at him to stop, but his body betrayed him.

His soul had already been sucked into somewhere in her body.

When he came to his senses, the ‘first night’ that Raphael was so worried about was already over.

The two looked at each other, not hiding their rough breaths.

He really only intended to kiss.

He just wanted to confirm that the warmth he felt a little while ago was not an illusion.

But something about her drew him in.

That’s what Linell thought.

Even though they had become a formal couple, he didn’t intend to spend the first night like this. He planned to spend the first night when he developed feelings.

Besides, he told her to just kiss to avoid the priests’ eyes, so what is this doing?

“I didn’t mean to do this, not like this…….”

He apologized with sincerity.

“I’m, okay.”

Zelda’s voice, speaking shyly, also contained sincerity.

Since she said she was okay, it really seemed okay.

“What exactly is your identity?”

Linell looked into her eyes and vowed.

Whatever her identity, he would never let go of these eyes this time.

***

The next day.

Raphael greeted Linell as he entered the office, examining his complexion.

“Did you sleep well all night?”

He sounded like he hoped he didn’t.

“I kept it.”

He replied briefly.

“What? Could it be…… do you mean you kept your chastity?”

He had an expression that he was really sorry if that was the case.

“Raphael, what do you want?”

“What I want? I only want the prosperity of the imperial family!”

“There’s one more thing.”

“Heok! Your Majesty, the tradition of the imperial family, so…… did you have your first night last night? Is that what happened?”

Raphael’s gaze quickly scanned Linell’s body.

“Isn’t tradition there to be kept? I was just fulfilling the duty of the emperor. Don’t make such a fuss…….”

“Am I supposed to not make a fuss right now? Until yesterday, you were the first emperor who was trying to ignore that tradition?”

Raphael asked him in detail what kind of change of heart he had last night.

“As expected, the power of the pink eyes was great?”

He just shrugged at Raphael’s questioning.

“Oh, right, we also talked about meeting at the ‘Confident Night’ clinic the day before the national marriage.”

“Does Her Majesty the Empress also remember Your Majesty?”

“Wouldn’t it be strange if she didn’t remember this face?”

He answered, supporting his face with the back of his hand.

Raphael, who was fed up with the emperor’s boasting, wanted to object, but he nodded involuntarily at his face, which was full of life today.

“……Yes. Of course. But Your Majesty, you didn’t happen to talk about that girl from the memories, did you?”

“Not yet.”

“Not yet……? Do you mean you will someday?!”

“She said it’s okay to do it in 20 years.”

“By that time, you should forget about that girl.”

“Well.”

Linell chuckled and began to look at the documents on the desk.

From then on, Raphael’s nagging, which started with ‘Aigo, Your Majesty,’ filled the office.

“You’re making it so obvious that you’ve never been in a relationship before.”

“The empress hasn’t been in a relationship either, why.”

“How do you know that? With that beauty, wouldn’t she have dated a young man at least once? I heard that the Shattonil kingdom is more free in dating than we are?”

“I asked her last night.”

“Of course, she said she has no dating experience. Who confesses everything from the first night? Look at this. From the fact that you already believe those words, you’re a novice.”

Raphael said, flicking his index finger.

“Having some dating experience is a world of difference from getting married without any experience? Yes. That’s right.”

“We can do it at the same time.”

Linell threw meaningful words.

“Do what at the same time? Your Majesty, what kind of strange words are those?”

Raphael asked back with an ominous feeling, but our dating idiot kept his words.

Linell, who finished his morning work, called Stian before lunch and heard about the empress’s schedule.

“The maid candidates went to the Empress Palace? I’m having lunch with the empress today.”

“Shall I send a message to come to the main palace?”

“Yes. Send the fastest servant. Hurry because it’s urgent.”

“I wonder why Your Majesty is in such a hurry?”

Raphael asked with a grin.

Linell suddenly remembered what happened last night. He suddenly felt like his desire would explode.

He needed a walk right away to purify his body and mind.

“I’m hungry. Get out of the way!”

Linell pushed Raphael’s shoulder away and left the office.

“Eek, you have too much energy for being hungry~? Where are you going! Are you already going to meet her?”

Raphael said teasingly and followed him.

***

A few days later in the evening.

He entered the empress’s bedroom and asked Zelda in a solemn voice.

“Will you date me? We got married without knowing anything about each other, so in the sense that we get to know each other like lovers…….”

A subtle silence flowed.

Zelda asked with a very serious face.

“Are you perhaps saying that because I’m not qualified as an empress? A young lady from a count’s family, not even a royal, dared to become the empress of the Lapaon Empire, so…….”

Are you teasing me?

Zelda asked the last words in a tearful voice a few seconds later.

To think that the words ‘let’s date’ would be heard so distorted.

“Empress.”

Linell, flustered, stopped her words first, then drank a glass of wine set on the table and opened his mouth again.

“My mother, the late empress, was originally a concubine. Before becoming a concubine, she was just the daughter of a poor baron family.”

His voice became softer as he spoke about his mother.

“I’ve seen from a young age that the family of the spouse doesn’t have a big impact on married life, so it doesn’t matter whether the empress’s status is royal or noble. So I hope you don’t have any unnecessary misunderstandings.”

“Then why…… did you have such a strange idea……?”

“Because I couldn’t date before marriage. I’m trying to do it a little late.”

He couldn’t bring himself to say that he was curious about what it felt like to date because that bastard Raphael teased him so much.

“Will you date me?”

He asked seriously again.

“……Your Majesty, we’re already a couple?”

Zelda didn’t know how to accept his absurd words.

“Can’t couples date?”

“Couples live together.”

“I think it would be better to live like lovers? So, you’re not dating?”

It was almost threatening.

“W-Why are you doing this with family…….”

Zelda said with a troubled expression.

“I’ll treat you well.”

But he didn’t know how to give up.

‘Pfft!’ she laughed.

“Your Majesty, lovers have to break up at night?”

That meant, do you still want to date?

“We can live like lovers during the day and live as a couple at night? We can be a couple only on the bed.”

“!”

“The order has changed a bit, but let’s become a couple like lovers.”

Linell stared intently into her eyes and cast a spell inside.

‘You pink eyes. Answer quickly like that.’

“Yes.”

Zelda answered in a daze and smiled softly.

“Empress, in 5 minutes, let’s become a couple from lovers.”

He gestured to the bed and started turning his shoulders and waist in turn.

She wanted to ask why he was loosening his body, but Zelda also naturally turned her joints following him.

Linell visited the Empress Palace every day after the first night.

Sometimes, he felt an anxiety that she would disappear somewhere.

So he often went to the Empress Palace without sending a message.

Was it the influence of the promise with that girl that went wrong in the Shattonil royal family in the late spring of 10 years old? He felt like Zelda wouldn’t be in the Empress Palace if he made an appointment and went.

In the meantime, every year in the late spring, when the cherry blossoms fell, that girl came to mind like a habit.

But now, according to Raphael’s advice, he decided to bury the memories of that time in his heart.

Linell thought that the pink eyes in his life were only one person, Zelda. When he thought that way, he really felt that way from some point on.

Without knowing that the girl he met 10 years ago was looking at him now.