The Stand-In Empress’S Wedding Night [EN]: Chapter 34

“Why would I be surprised?”

What on earth are you imagining about me? I tilted my head, questioning his assumption.

“If I were to put into words everything I want to do with you, Zelda, you might just run out of here immediately.”

I felt a little flustered and touched my neck.

“I’ve thought about all the things I want to do with you, but I haven’t actually done any of them properly yet. But today, I plan to do one.”

“Is that… so?”

“Was that a question or permission? If you hadn’t raised your voice at the end, I would have kissed you already.”

“……”

“You have a strange talent for making the Emperor watch your every move… Oops?”

I smiled and pressed my lips to his as he spoke, an instinctive reaction. I could imagine his blue eyes widening in surprise. His lips, which had been teasing me just a moment ago, were frozen in shock. I didn’t care and acted on my feelings. Kissing is so easy because you don’t have to be polite. I didn’t have to watch his every move, there was no one else watching, and I could move according to my feelings, so kissing was a peaceful thing. My heart was beating fast, but that was a separate issue. My lips were lost in the middle of the sea, as if swept away by rough waves.

“Oh, Zelda!”

I was the one who pushed him onto the bed first.

Linelle looked very surprised when I took the initiative. Nevertheless, he followed my lead obediently, as if he had no bones. I calmly unbuttoned his shirt, then, growing impatient, pulled it over his head and tossed it aside. Unlike my hesitant voice, which he usually found endearing, my hands were surprisingly quick. I was definitely someone who acted faster than I spoke. As I leaned over him again, his dazzling appearance filled my vision. His chest muscles, as solid as castle walls, rose and fell rapidly, blurring my vision. What had I just done? Only when I looked down at his bare upper body did I belatedly regain my senses. But the problem was that I couldn’t stop here. No, it would be more accurate to say that I didn’t want to stop. Our lips had been separated for a few seconds while I was taking off his shirt. He was anxious about that short time, as if he had missed the ship he had to board. Our faces drew closer again.

“I’m going crazy, really.”

Linelle’s low voice barely escaped between our lips. And his next words could not escape his mouth. Linelle’s breathing sounded like a beautiful song. He took his lips off mine and grabbed my hand.

“Feel it.”

He suddenly placed my hand on his heart and stared straight into my eyes. As the sound of his heart beating was conveyed to my palm, my whole body seemed to vibrate. On top of that, the vibration became even more intense as the sound of my own heartbeat was added. I even thought that if our hearts, which were pounding, popped out, they would never be easily caught.

“Linelle, I feel like my heart is about to jump out of my mouth.”

“That won’t do.”

He reacted seriously to my silly confession. This ridiculous conversation soon turned into action.

“Let’s put your heart back in its place.”

Linelle pulled me closer and started kissing me again. It was like dancing, as if enjoying a festival.

“I don’t think you know how terrible the crime of crushing the Emperor like this is…”

No sooner had his words fallen than our positions changed in an instant.

“I’ll let you know.”

Linelle whispered, looking down at me. At those words, all the nerve cells in my body began to anticipate. His power to captivate me was frighteningly persistent and strong. I wanted to ask if it was okay to kiss so aggressively, but even though the movements were rough, the sensation was incredibly gentle. Although our positions had changed, the desire emanating from our eyes remained the same.

“I wonder how terrible that crime is?”

I asked, trying to sound bold.

“Are you provoking me?”

“Would you call it seduction?”

“Wearing such a fancy dress?”

Linelle grabbed the hem of my dress and fluttered it with mock dissatisfaction. He looked sulky but also a little funny.

“I wore the lightest dress I have.”

“Sounds like it was planned?”

“If so, will you fall for it?”

“What? When have I *not* fallen for it, to say such a thing.”

Linelle said, looking genuinely dumbfounded. *Since when?* I think I was addicted to this man. His jokes, delivered in a deep and serious voice, had become a great pleasure to me.

“You really fell for it?”

“You didn’t know?”

When I burst out laughing, he deliberately spoke to me solemnly in a more serious tone.

“My heart has already fallen for you, but why is there no progress at all with my body? What do you think about this situation?”

“That’s sad.”

“Before it gets sadder, let’s get rid of this dress.”

He tried to pull down the sleeves of the dress that were hanging off my shoulders.

“Damn it, can’t they make dresses a little looser? Why is it so stuck to my skin?”

I couldn’t help but laugh at his serious expression.

“This dress is like a new type of torture device.”

He examined my dress here and there, then, rip-! I heard the sound of the thin apricot-colored dress made of synthetic fabric tearing. *I can’t live like this.*

“!”

“Ah, sorry.”

He finally tore my dress. Fortunately, the torn part was the sleeve on my right shoulder. I should be grateful that the middle part of the dress wasn’t torn. If I just put on a robe, no one would know that one sleeve of the dress was half torn.

“I was so surprised. I thought I had torn off the Empress’s arm.”

Linelle rubbed his chest with his hand and let out a sigh of relief. I shook the tattered fabric on my right shoulder and said.

“Tear it off completely.”

His eyebrows shot up, and he muttered to himself, ‘Oh? Can I do that?’ His hands moved toward me like ghosts.

“Not the dress!”

“Huh?”

He stopped with his arms outstretched.

“Then?”

“Just tear off this dangling right shoulder part completely.”

“Ah, that’s what you meant? I thought……”

Linelle smiled awkwardly and tore off the fabric on the half-torn right shoulder. He looked at me blankly, holding the torn sleeve carefully with both hands. I sighed and started taking off my dress. I was so glad that Sharon had deliberately chosen a dress that was easy to put on and take off. Thanks to Sharon’s thoughtfulness, I was able to take off the dress easily by myself. His eyes grew wider and wider.

“Linelle, would you please turn your gaze away for a moment?”

Even if I took off my dress, I was still wearing a slip [a simple undergarment], but I felt a little self-conscious because he was staring at me so intently.

“Why? We’re already…… No, let’s just turn off the lights. Would that be okay?”

I thought that would be much less embarrassing, so I nodded. All the lights in the bedroom disappeared in an instant. At first, I couldn’t see anything, but after a few minutes, I could make out the outline of Linelle’s face. He kept his eyes on me even in the dark. I took off my dress and pulled the blanket over my body. I heard Linelle rustling. I thought I knew what he was doing now. It was dark, and I couldn’t see well, but I turned my gaze away for a moment. After a while, his large hand stroked my hair and turned my face towards him. Our eyes, accustomed to the darkness, met. As the night deepened, our cautious instincts were slowly revealing their true colors. Because of Linelle’s clear blue eyes, I could see his expression clearly. A thrill ran through my body as his large hand, which had been gently enveloping my face, traced my jawline. It felt like everything in this world was overlapping, even our souls. Knock knock-. At that crucial moment, I heard a knock on the bedroom door.

“What’s going on!”

Linelle shouted nervously at the bedroom door.

“I am sorry to report, but there is a message that the Second Concubine, Melanie, has fallen down the stairs!”

Linelle and I exchanged surprised glances at the urgent voice of Secretary Raphael. But he quickly erased his surprised expression and frowned.

“Why would she fall down the stairs when she was fine?”

He muttered sullenly.

“First, listen to Raphael for more details.”

I said, lifting his chest muscles, which had been occupying me, with both hands, as if lifting a pillar of a temple.

“Do we have to?”

“She fell down the stairs, you know.”

“Maybe it’s a hobby.”

“……”

“Or a special skill.”

“Whether it’s a hobby or a special skill, you should at least get a report on what happened.”

“Haa, we should have fallen first; we were one step late.”

“……What are you talking about?”

“What am I talking about? It’s the right thing to say.”

“Yes? Melanie’s situation is different. It must have been dangerous.”

“Falling off the bed is as dangerous as falling down the stairs; what’s different?”

The words he muttered to himself were strangely plausible, and I almost nodded.

“Hurry up and get dressed and listen to Raphael in detail.”

I quickly picked up my synthetic dress with one sleeve torn off from the marble floor and put it on. Unlike me, who quickly put on my clothes, Linelle lay back on the bed, put his arms behind his head, and didn’t move.

“Get up, hurry!”

I coaxed him like a disobedient child and forced him to sit up, putting his shirt on his arm. Even though I did this, he still refused to move. Looking at his expression, it seemed like he was deliberately acting difficult. I had no choice but to button up his shirt. Even though he had heard the news that his concubine, who had held the ceremony yesterday, had fallen down the stairs, he was so calm, as if he had heard the news of a Melanie from another country with the same name. Linelle burst out laughing as he watched my hands quickly buttoning up his shirt. Strangely, his attention was focused on something else.

“You button up from the top down. I button up from the bottom.”

Linelle said profoundly, like a magician who had discovered a great fact.

“But why do I feel nervous even though I’m buttoning it back up?”

“What are you talking about?”

“No, nothing.”

He smiled, stroking my right shoulder where the sleeve had disappeared.

“It’s all done now. Tell Raphael to come in quickly.”

I got out of bed first, turned on the lights, and walked to the mirror.

“Right now?”

“When are you going to call him?”

“Raphael will be surprised again.”

Linelle muttered something behind my back, but I didn’t hear it properly because I was looking in the mirror and fixing my messy hair.

“If the Empress tells me to, I have to. Raphael! Come in.”

At his shout, Raphael, who had been waiting outside the bedroom, quickly ran inside.

“Your Majesty!”

“What the hell happened?”

“Yes, that is, heeik……! Oh, my eyes!”

Raphael, who had been walking towards Linelle, suddenly stopped and covered his eyes with his hands. *Why is he doing that?* I looked back at Raphael while fixing my hair in the mirror.

“What’s wrong, Raphael? Like you’ve seen a monster?”

As I looked at Raphael and asked, Linelle naturally came into my view. He was buttoning up his pants. *Ah, I think I know why Raphael was so surprised.*

Linelle asked Raphael triumphantly.

“Raphael, did you see it?”

“……Yes, Your Majesty.”