The Stand-In Empress’S Wedding Night [EN]: Chapter 341

341. That Sister’s That Sibling

2024.02.20.

“The only way I can grow old is…”

Velos hesitated to speak.

The biggest reason he was reluctant was the loving couple in front of him.

It was obvious they wouldn’t understand.

“Is this a story that needs more tears?” Zelda asked quietly, seeing Velos unable to speak easily.

Linell, not wanting to strain his eyes again, tried to produce painless tears, chanting ‘sad thoughts, sad thoughts’ in his mind.

“Tears are not necessary. Just please don’t laugh at me.”

At Velos’s request, the couple simultaneously waved their hands.

“Aww~ we’re not those kinds of people~,” Zelda said, sounding sincere.

“Of course. We care about you. The fact that there’s a way to grow old normally is something to celebrate. Why would we laugh?”

Moreover, Emperor Linell seemed worried about him, which was rare, so Velos decided to take courage.

“The way is… true love. If someone truly loves me, then I can start aging normally.”

Velos revealed a secret he had never told anyone before.

A few seconds of silence followed.

It was the silence he had expected.

Velos waited for them to properly understand and accept his words.

“Hahahaha-!”

Linell burst into laughter.

“It’s nothing much. I thought it was something really difficult.”

Somewhat relieved, he leaned back in his chair and laughed heartily.

“I asked you not to laugh,” Velos said with a sulky face.

“I wasn’t laughing, I was just smiling. The method is ridiculously easy, isn’t it?”

“If it were easy, I would have aged a long time ago,” Velos retorted with a bitter expression.

“In the nearly 300 years you’ve lived, there hasn’t been anyone who truly loved Velos? Not even one person?” Zelda asked her best friend with a sad look.

“Yes.”

Velos considered explaining that he had to subtract 20 years because he had been in this form since he was 21, but he stopped.

Accurately calculating the days he had lived had long become meaningless.

“The other person just has to truly love you?”

“I have to love that person too.”

“But how do you know if the other person really loves Velos or not?”

“I can feel it through physical changes. I don’t know exactly how it feels because I haven’t experienced it yet.”

“I see…”

*Poor thing.*

Zelda pitied Velos.

“Didn’t you say you had loved several women? You even held funerals for some of them,” Linell asked, leaning away from the backrest again.

“Y-yes, that’s right.”

“Didn’t those people really love Velos either?”

“It seems so, seeing as there were no changes in my body.”

Velos replied, staring into space as if reminiscing about his lonely past.

He was sincere, but the other person wasn’t.

It might have just been a lighthearted game, or they liked him but weren’t serious.

“When I hear the words ‘I love you’ and nothing happens, I lose trust in that person. I also feel disappointed… I think, ‘It’s just words again this time, too.'”

He was tired of repeating the process of expecting, doubting, and being disappointed.

After going through that process several times, Velos no longer believed in love.

That might be why he became obsessed with absolute power instead of love.

Because with power, you don’t have to beg for emotions from others.

The absolute power he tried to achieve through the Incarnation [becoming a god] and the Incarnation Sword ultimately failed, but he no longer had any lingering feelings about it.

“Are you hesitating to approach Selani because you’re afraid of getting hurt again?” Zelda hit the nail on the head.

“It’s not really that…”

As Velos tried to deny it,

“That’s right. That was it. That’s why you couldn’t make progress and were being a coward,” Linell concluded, as if stamping a seal.

“…Ouch.”

Velos’s heart stung.

“Ah, I feel like tears are just streaming down. Your story touches my heart more than Hector the Great’s romance novels.”

He took Zelda’s hand, placed it on his heart, and made a heartbroken expression.

Zelda also felt bad, but she couldn’t readily offer the consolation, ‘This time will be different.’

She was also cautious about mentioning hope because it was something the person had to feel directly.

“Still, there’s no need to be afraid in advance. We’re moving forward,” Linell spoke in the solemn tone he used when directing operations on the battlefield.

“You can only know if Selani is sincere after you win her heart. If you don’t do anything, nothing will happen, but who says you won’t get hurt if you do?”

“That’s right. It’s a problem you can worry about after you win her heart. You haven’t even started yet.”

“I have started.”

“That’s just your own thought,” Linell cut him off mercilessly.

“It would be good to show something manly. All you can do is spin potion bottles around. Oh, you also have teleportation.”

He muttered, observing Velos closely.

“For now, all you can do is push forward with your face. From now on, always look at Selani with a deep gaze.”

Zelda squinted her eyes and demonstrated.

“I don’t know how to look with a deep gaze…”

As Velos scratched his head,

“No. You’re good at that,” Linell suddenly interjected.

“Me?”

“Yeah. In the past, the way you looked at Zelda was like that. Looking with a deep gaze? You have a talent for it. I guarantee it.”

It was a statement close to an affirmation.

“…Thank you for the compliment?”

“Yeah. You have to acknowledge what you have to acknowledge. I’ll take my leave now. We need to spend some time gazing deeply, too.”

Linell gestured towards the guest room door.

“Yes. Thank you for your advice. Have a good night.”

“You should have a night of reflection.”

“…I will.”

***

After leaving the imperial couple’s guest room, Velos trudged towards his own guest room and stopped in front of the guest room where Selani was staying, borrowing courage from the alcohol.

He just stood there gazing deeply at the guest room door, fidgeting with the hand he wanted to knock with for a few minutes.

“What are you doing?” Raphael’s voice came from behind him.

“Ah, aren’t you asleep yet?”

“I was just about to go to sleep. I was a bit late because I was having a drink with Stian in the lounge,” Raphael replied, turning his gaze towards the guest room door Velos was looking at.

“Did you come to see Selani?”

“No. I didn’t.”

“Yes, you did. Master Magician, may I give you some advice?”

Raphael whispered with a serious expression.

“You don’t have to do that too. I’m on my way after hearing advice from His Majesty.”

“Pah! Are you comparing our Majesty and me, this Raphael’s love advice? Master Magician, I’m really hurt.”

Raphael laughed in disbelief, then patted his uniform and huffed.

*What’s wrong with him again?*

Velos pushed Raphael’s back.

“Go back to your room and rest.”

“Me? How many years have I lived as the open pants of the Imperial Castle [a well-known and accessible figure], and you’re comparing me to our Majesty, who couldn’t even have a romance and got married, huh?!”

The open pants of the Imperial Castle, the giant squid of the Imperial Palace, was drunk.

Raphael suddenly started taking off his belt and acting up.

*He’s going to take down his pants zipper.*

He was more like a rogue than the Emperor’s secretary.

“Why haven’t you gotten married yet, Secretary, who knows so much about romance?” Velos asked, unable to bear it any longer.

Then Raphael, who had been standing with his hands on his hips in a confident pose, drooped his shoulders and leaned against the wall.

“I finally have a woman I want to marry, but she won’t open her heart.”

Raphael lowered his head.

“She doesn’t like you.”

“No! It’s because of the difference in status that she’s pushing me away.”

Raphael dropped his head.

“Difference in status? Who are you in love with?” Velos suddenly became curious, perhaps because he had known him for a long time.

*Was there a woman around who Raphael would like?*

“Sharon.”

Raphael plainly spoke her name.

“Who? Sharon? You’re in love with Sharon?”

“Yes. Sharon is pushing me away because of the difference in status, but she must be dying to ignore my charm.”

Raphael’s confidence was admirable.

Sharon, a commoner, and Raphael, a noble.

*It’s a bit of a difficult problem…*

“I offer my condolences,” Velos said, forgetting his own situation for a moment and comforting Raphael.

The two looked at each other for a moment.

They each gained comfort with the look of ‘Still, I’m better than him.’

“I refuse your condolences. I won’t give up.”

“Well, good luck.”

Velos and Raphael bumped their fists together and were about to go their separate ways when,

“Oh my. What’s going on?” Selani opened the guest room door and came out.

“Ah, I was just passing by…”

“The Master Magician has something to say! Then I’ll be on my way.”

Raphael pushed Velos in front of Selani and fled as if running away.

“What do you have to say at this hour?” Selani asked with a look of anticipation.

“I hope you have a good night. I hope you sleep well.”

At Velos’s words, Selani blatantly showed her disappointment.

“That’s all you wanted to say?”

“Probably.”

“?”

***

The next day.

The dignitaries of the Rafion Empire arrived in the Kingdom of Aclato.

The royal palace was located just across a wall from the port. There were two gates in the wall, one leading to the royal castle and the other leading directly to the royal palace.

Once the carriage passed through the wall gate, it only took a few minutes to reach the main palace of the royal palace.

“Welcome. Did you have any discomfort on the way?” Hector greeted Emperor Linell, who was entering the royal palace lobby, with a light handshake.

“It was a pleasant journey without Galaco,” Linell joked and laughed.

Galaco [pirate group] was exterminated by Hector’s order seven years ago.

Since they no longer engaged in piracy, there was no need to raise Galaco.

“Empress! You have to talk to me all night starting tonight. I’ve been itching to talk all this time,” Melanie hugged Zelda and smiled brightly.

“All night?” Following Zelda’s question, Linell subtly gave Melanie a look.

“Hey, Queen, I think I’ve seen you a lot in the Rafion Imperial Palace? That’s not allowed.”

“Your Majesty, you don’t have to worry. I’ve brought someone who will talk to the Queen all night instead of me,” Zelda said, linking arms with Linell. At the same time, she stared at Melanie again, trying not to miss her surprised expression.

“Who is it?” Melanie asked, tilting her head.

“The Queen’s gift, please come this way.”

At Zelda’s words, a woman wearing a black robe approached Melanie from the end of the group.

“I greet the Queen of the Kingdom of Aclato.”

As Selani took off the hood of her robe and raised her head, Melanie’s eyes widened.

Melanie, who had stepped back in surprise, opened her arms and hugged Selani tightly, saying, “My sister!”

The two sisters hugged each other and rejoiced, then pulled Zelda in as well, creating a scene where the three hugged at the same time.

The men burst into laughter at the sight.

“We can’t lose either. Hector, Master Magician, come here,” Linell said, grabbing Hector’s shoulder with one hand and waving at Velos with the other.

Velos made a disgusted expression and pretended not to hear, looking into the distance.

“Let’s go in. I’ll take you to the reception room,” Hector said, and everyone headed to the central staircase.

They decided to meet again for dinner, and the men and women each entered separate reception rooms.

***

“I have prepared some simple refreshments before dinner,” Ash entered the reception room with Melanie, accompanied by servants.

“Thank you. Ah, this is Ash, who has become our couple’s maid this time,” Melanie introduced Ash, who was standing next to her, to Zelda and Selani.

“Couple’s maid?” Zelda looked back and forth between Melanie and Ash with a look of ‘That’s a bit strange?’

“She was a maid who served the Great King from the royal family of Tanya Island, but she was so good at her job that she became a court lady in charge of administrative work. She continued to protect the royal family of Tanya Island and arrived here yesterday. As soon as she arrived, she didn’t even rest and took care of me and the Great King’s bath.”

“The Queen’s bath is one thing, but taking care of the Great King’s bath?” Selani scanned Ash up and down and asked her sister.

“Yes. She’s a maid who even scrubs our couple’s backs.”

Zelda and Selani simultaneously widened their eyes, wondering what kind of strange sound this was.

“Queen, you know that I used to be a bath maid in the Shatonil royal family, right? So I know very well, but even if they are servants, they don’t scrub the backs of royals of different genders. They just prepare before the bath.”

*Unless they have a secret relationship with that servant.*

Zelda didn’t bother to say the rest.

“It’s an old custom of Tanya Island. But the Great King immediately got rid of it because of me. I wanted to experience it too.”

“Queen, keep your dignity,” Selani whispered quietly to her sister, then naturally dropped the handkerchief she had in her hand on the floor.

Then Ash, who was standing nearby, picked up Selani’s handkerchief instead.

“Thank you, Ash,” Selani said, receiving the handkerchief, and Ash slightly bent her knees and replied, “You’re welcome.”

“By the way, the dress is a bit too revealing for a maid’s outfit. Who are you trying to intimidate by wearing a dress with such a low neckline? It’s not like anyone’s going to be intimidated, though,” Selani glanced at Melanie and said.

Selani laughed silently as her sister glared at her, then continued to speak to Ash.

“I see you’re not careful about covering up when you bend over, so it would be better to pay attention to your outfit in the first place. It’ll be easier for you too.”

“Yes?”

“Refrain from wearing dresses that are more than 6cm deep from the collarbone. It looks like more things will spill out when you drop something and pick it up.”

“Advice… Thank you.”

“Huh? It’s not advice, it’s an order, right?” Selani wrinkled her nose cutely and said kindly.

“I’ll look for that kind of dress and change into it right away if there is one.”

“What if there isn’t one?”

“…Yes?”

“Are you saying you’ll keep wearing it if there isn’t one?” Selani continued to maintain her smile and tightened Ash’s neck with a soft voice.