The Stand-In Empress’S Wedding Night [EN]: Chapter 337

337. Side Story 9: Melanie’s Jealousy (2)

February 16, 2024

“There are male servants, so why is Ash attending to the Great King’s bath…?”

“It’s a royal custom. The Great King abolished it after the Queen stayed on Tanya Island.”

Ash’s tone felt like she was rebuking Melanie.

Melanie was speechless, her eyes darting around, mouth agape.

‘Her surprised expression is something to see. What can I do? It’s our custom.’

Ash, enjoying Melanie’s expression, put on a knowing face and lowered her gaze.

After a moment, Melanie asked, her voice hushed.

“Is that a privilege only for male royals?”

Slightly taken aback by the unexpected question, Ash kindly explained.

“…No. When the Great King’s mother was alive, male servants also attended to the late Queen’s bath.”

“Ah, so it was a royal custom regardless of gender, right? But is there a specific reason why such a custom arose?”

“As the Queen has stayed on Tanya Island for a while, you may know that the climate there is very hot, causing a lot of sweating and energy consumption.”

“Yes, I know that.”

“So, royals and wealthy nobles often soak in hot springs and sometimes receive bath service from servants of the opposite gender to replenish their energy.”

“I see. But… does it really give you energy? Is there any medical basis for that?”

Melanie looked genuinely curious.

However, Ash thought she was just trying to find fault.

“It’s a custom that everyone on Tanya Island trusts.”

“I guess the Great King doesn’t trust the custom.”

“Pardon?”

“Seeing as he changed such an important custom because of me. Or did I give him so much energy every night that he didn’t need it anymore? Too much *yin* energy isn’t good either, right?” (*Yin* is a concept in Eastern philosophy referring to passive, receptive energy, often associated with the feminine.)

Melanie asked with a bright smile.

“!”

Ash was dumbfounded by Melanie’s unexpected interpretation.

“Well, I suppose you could think of it that way…”

It’s only upsetting to be provoked if the other person understands, but Melanie kept smiling.

‘She’s a formidable opponent.’

Unless she’s an idiot, it was definitely an unpleasant thing to say, but she just brushed it off like that?

“Honestly, I’m so jealous.”

Melanie suddenly changed her expression from smiling and revealed her true feelings.

Good.

That’s more like it. You’d have to be brainless not to be upset.

Ash managed her expression, mindful of the corner of her mouth twitching upwards.

“You resent the Great King.”

Ash felt secretly pleased at Melanie’s resentful voice.

“Don’t misunderstand, Queen. It’s just an old custom of Tanya Island.”

“No~ You said you got rid of it when I started living in the Tanya Island royal family. Because of that, I’ve never received bath service from a male servant.”

That was Melanie’s jealousy.

“Damn it, what a waste…”

Ash was startled by Melanie’s quiet mutterings.

It felt like she had swung a long-prepared punch into thin air.

It was like standing with all her strength in her legs, and someone suddenly tapped her knees from behind, causing her to fall forward helplessly.

“What do they do when they give you a bath? Do they scrub your back too?”

“Yes, of course.”

“The Great King’s back must have been so broad that it wasn’t easy to scrub. Oh my, it must have been hard.”

Melanie patted Ash’s shoulder as if to encourage her, with a look of comfort.

“It was an honor for me. It wasn’t difficult.”

Lies flowed smoothly from Ash’s mouth.

Hector had never entrusted his back to Ash.

“Really? Then please do my back too. Just soap it up. Compared to the Great King’s back, I’m nothing.”

Melanie walked lightly towards the bathroom.

“Yes, Queen…”

Ash seemed to have stopped herself from saying something, but she was secretly curious about Melanie’s figure and followed her.

It was probably an unimpressive, skinny body, but she wanted to see it with her own eyes.

“Lalala, lalala, lalala- lala-lala~.”

Melanie hummed, seemingly in a good mood. As she flapped her arms in her gown, she looked like a graceful crane.

‘No, not a crane. That’s just a Galaco [a type of bird].’

Ash glared at Melanie’s back and evaluated her that way.

A monstrous woman who took her Great King while she was off guard.

“Ah, Ash attended to the Great King’s bath, so you must know about the scar there, right?”

“What scar… are you talking about?”

Ash tensed up for a moment.

All she did was help prepare for the bath and step behind the curtain.

She had witnessed precious scenes a couple of times.

When Hector’s right-hand man, Vice-Captain Palto, came to the bathroom with urgent business, he would jump out of the tub and walk out barefoot.

But even then, she only stole a glimpse of the Great King’s back and didn’t dare to look openly.

So, Ash had no idea what the scar on the Great King’s back that Melanie was talking about in a cheerful voice was.

“There’s a deep knife mark under his lower back. You know?”

Melanie, who was also excited, turned to Ash and asked.

Melanie kindly told her the location of Hector’s scar and asked as if to confirm.

‘Seriously, how stupid.’

Ash sneered inwardly and quickly opened her mouth.

“Yes, I know.”

“You saw it too? It’s a scar right above his butt.”

Melanie entered the bathroom and raised one eyebrow as she asked.

“I couldn’t help but see it while attending to the bath…”

Ash slurred her words, saying that she had no choice but to see it.

At the same time, she felt quite satisfied inside.

It seemed like the stupid Queen was finally upset.

“Wasn’t it gruesome? I was so surprised when I first saw it. It looked like it was cut very deeply.”

Melanie frowned as she continued to speak. It was unclear whether she was frowning because the scar was gruesome or because Ash had seen his entire back.

Ash guessed it was probably the latter.

“Okay, then just do my back.”

Melanie said as she took off her gown and put her foot into the tub.

“Of course, Queen.”

Ash skillfully washed her hands and glanced at Melanie’s back as she entered the tub.

She had a slender body, but it was more curvy than she thought.

But compared to the women of Tanya Island, she was definitely frail.

As the daughter of a noble family from the continent and a former concubine, her skin was as white and smooth as a pearl.

You couldn’t find a woman with such white skin on Tanya Island.

Ash remembered what the servant who was in charge of Melanie’s bath service when she stayed in the royal family of Tanya Island had excitedly told the other servants.

He was surprised that her skin was so white and soft like a baby.

He also said that she didn’t have a voluptuous figure, but her body was unexpectedly well-proportioned, so he couldn’t take his eyes off her, and now that she saw it, that was true.

Whether it was because she naturally didn’t gain weight, Melanie’s body couldn’t be seen as the body of a woman who had given birth to three children.

Ash approached the tub and picked up the soap, her pupils dilating.

Because red marks were spread all over Melanie’s body.

Except for her neck, all over her body, front and back, up and down.

“Queen, you have a lot of red marks… Are you perhaps not feeling well?”

After calming her surprised heart, Ash was suspicious that Melanie might have a terrible disease.

“Ah, this? Ash, this is a secret. Just you know.”

Melanie sighed and whispered softly.

“Of course, Queen!”

Ash nodded and answered faithfully.

Hoping that it was a terminal illness.

Then, she sat on the edge of the tub and gently poured water on Melanie’s shoulders.

“Haa… the Great King made these earlier.”

“T-The Great King did?”

“Yeah. Last time, he even made these marks on my neck, so we fought a lot, you know? I have my dignity, so why would he leave these marks in places where others can see them, as if he’s marking his territory? He’s not an animal.”

“…”

“Well, the Great King is a bit wild. Ohohoong~.”

Melanie, who had been grumbling, suddenly burst into laughter.

“…”

“Anyway, after that, I begged and pleaded, so now he avoids my neck. But it seems like he can’t give up on other places.”

Melanie continued to rub salt in the wound, not knowing that Ash’s expression was souring behind her. Her laughter filled the bathroom.

“But look. I really don’t know why he leaves them on the top of my feet?”

Melanie suddenly raised one foot above the tub and said as if complaining.

Ash’s stomach was boiling.

She wanted to get out of the bathroom quickly.

“Queen, the soaping is finished.”

Ash quickly finished soaping and put down the brush.

“Thank you, you worked hard.”

Melanie looked up at Ash with a carefree face and smiled.

After bowing and turning around, Melanie’s voice pierced Ash’s back.

“Oh, right! Ash, I’m sorry. I was confused.”

“What… do you mean, Queen?”

Ash turned to Melanie, who was suddenly apologizing.

“The knife mark on my lower back. That wasn’t the Great King, it was Roxana.”

“…Pardon?”

“You must have heard the story. Roxana swung a knife to kill me, but she was stabbed by someone else and died.”

“!”

Melanie didn’t bother to mention Logan, who stabbed Roxana, and roughly lumped together the fight between herself and Roxana on the ship heading to the Patsha Empire.

In fact, Galaco took Roxana’s breath, not Logan, but Melanie’s memory was significantly impaired after childbirth. As a result, there were occasional distortions in her memory.

“I must have confused it with the injury Roxana had? But Ash also misunderstood like me? Well, the Great King has so many scars on his body, so it’s understandable. You can go now.”

After finishing speaking, Melanie started humming again and washed off the soap.

‘What is that woman?’

Ash was confused. She dragged her trembling legs and quickly left the bathroom.

She couldn’t tell whether Melanie had lied to test her on purpose or whether she was really confused because she was stupid.

Ash hurried down to the kitchen.

She had failed to damage Melanie’s peaceful mood, but she decided to make Hector’s favorite dish and naturally show her face again at dinner.

***

Moya and Moni flew to the Aclato Kingdom to deliver Zelda’s letter to Melanie.

They threw the letter to Melanie, who had just finished her bath, and, as always, went straight down to the kitchen.

“Who’s that one that looks like a half-cooked sausage, Moni?”

“I know, right? It’s a face I’ve never seen before? What’s she doing causing a fuss in the kitchen?”

The two watched Ash giving instructions in the kitchen, and finally flew to her and started interfering.

“Is she friends with the Queen? We’re Melanie’s friends too, Moni~?”

“Jeez, you scared me!”

Ash flinched and was startled by the appearance of the baby wyverns.

“Where did she come from, making it hard for the ones who are already here?”

In Moya’s eyes, it looked like Ash was harassing the servants working in the kitchen.

In fact, unlike the servants from Tanya Island, the servants from the Aclato Duchy secretly welcomed Moya’s words.

“I heard you live in the Lapion Empire? What brings you here…”

As Ash muttered in surprise, one of the servants bumped hands with Moya in a familiar gesture and said to her.

“Moya and Moni often come to the royal family. They’re also regulars in the kitchen.”

Ash had also seen the two baby wyverns.

Seven years ago, when the dignitaries from the Lapion Empire who visited the Patsha Empire briefly stopped by Tanya Island.

At that time, the servants were all impressed by the sight of them complaining that there were no sausages on this island in the kitchen of Tanya Island, and then grilling freshly caught fish themselves by breathing fire.

This time, another servant shook hands with Moni and added to Ash’s explanation.

“There’s also a dedicated servant who gives them sausages. Today’s that servant’s day off, so I’ll have to give them some.”

“No. I’ll give it to them, so go do your work.”

Ash said firmly to the servant, then looked at Moya and Moni again and asked.

“I saw you at the royal family of Tanya Island seven years ago. You don’t remember me?”

“Nope. We don’t remember, Moni~?”

“That’s disappointing. I remember you.”

“Ooh? Understand. We don’t remember ugly kids, Moya~?”

“Huh? What?”

Ash was dumbfounded.

She wasn’t an outstanding beauty, but she had still heard that she was quite pretty on Tanya Island, and she felt bad hearing those words from non-humans.

“We might have if you had given us sausages. Your face is so insignificant that I don’t remember it.”

This time, Moya delivered a harsh review in an adorable voice.

Ash, who had been having a headache since meeting Melanie, thumped her forehead with her fist.

“Huh? Do you have a problem with your head like Melanie~?”

Moni asked Ash with a very worried look.