The Stand-In Empress’S Wedding Night [EN]: Chapter 346

346. If Not a Substitute Empress: Side Story (3)

February 25, 2024

‘Is he really Emperor Lapiel of the Lapion Empire?’

Zelda didn’t dare to ask, and just stared intently at his face.

Reading her expression, Linelle deliberately deepened his voice and said,

“Unfortunately, I am that Emperor of the Lapion Empire whom the Shatuanil Kingdom hates. This room is where I’ll be staying from today.”

Zelda became like a blinking doll, her mind going blank. She endlessly repeated ‘Where am I? Who am I?’ in her head.

Linelle, uncharacteristically, felt a pang of conscience at her extremely tense state, especially since she wasn’t in good health.

Thinking that she needed to relax for the conversation to go smoothly, he even smiled and made a joke.

“If you have any questions before you’re dragged to the guillotine, ask away. I’m feeling generous enough to allow that much.”

It was a joke he often made to his close aides, but even they were always confused whether it was a joke or not, given his grim tone and expression.

Zelda already felt like her head had been chopped off at his chilling smile as he mentioned the guillotine.

She quickly grabbed her neck with both hands.

So, he really was the ruthless and cold emperor; it seemed the rumors weren’t false.

As the time she spent making eye contact with him lengthened, Zelda’s body, of its own accord, knelt down.

“Seeing you kneel, does that mean you remember what you did to me?”

“N-No… I’m sorry, Your Majesty. I don’t remember anything at all.”

“Really? Then tell me what happened before your memory cut off.”

“Pardon?”

“Why did you go into the storage room in the bathroom?”

At Linelle’s question, Zelda looked around the room. It was the room she had come to in the afternoon to check the bath supplies, only to be beaten up by Resilia and the ladies.

Wait, the Lapion Emperor’s room is right next door, isn’t it?

She remembered clearly that she had stopped by that room before coming here.

‘Why is His Majesty using this room?’

A question arose, but she didn’t have the luxury to wonder about such things right now.

Zelda steeled herself again and opened her mouth.

“Well… Ah, I apologize for my tardiness in offering my greetings, Your Majesty. I am Zelda von Trova, working as a bath maid in the royal palace. And today, before welcoming the honored guests of the Lapion Empire, I was checking the supplies prepared in the bathroom.”

“Hmm, and in the process, you got tired and took a nap in the storage room?”

He asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

‘Princess Resilia locked me in there.’

Zelda wanted to reveal the truth.

But the other party was this country’s princess. Even if she told the truth, it would be the end if Resilia denied it.

Rather, she was likely to incur greater wrath for daring to falsely accuse the princess.

Emperor Linelle was someone who would leave in a few days anyway.

It was better to bury the truth that wouldn’t help her current situation.

“Yes… I think I dozed off… I will accept my punishment.”

If she played it humble and begged repeatedly, she might be able to avoid the guillotine.

The blue-eyed emperor was glaring at her with wide, fierce eyes, but it didn’t seem like he would inflict a harsh punishment.

That’s what she thought from the fact that she woke up in the bed.

She really didn’t remember anything because she had lost consciousness due to the fever, but if she had really made a mistake that would warrant being dragged to the guillotine, there was no way the emperor would have gently laid her on the bed.

Even covering her well with a blanket.

Also, wasn’t he sleeping next to her? Just from that, he didn’t seem like the type to torment people without any context, like Resilia.

“Are you a magician?”

“Pardon?”

“Or do you have the skill to lock the latch from the outside?”

“…Ah.”

I’m doomed.

She forgot that the latch was locked from the outside.

Zelda couldn’t continue the lie and just bowed her head, repeating that she was sorry.

“My memory is this. As soon as I arrived here, I tried to take a bath, but I kept hearing knocking sounds from inside the storage room. I wondered if it was an assassin, but the latch was locked. When I unlocked the latch and opened the door, you popped out.”

He didn’t forget to mention that she had rushed at him more fiercely than an assassin.

Zelda squeezed her eyes shut as she listened to his story.

“D-Did I touch His Majesty’s body?!”

Now she understood why he had mentioned the guillotine out of the blue.

Even if she was going to die, she should at least know exactly what sacrilege she had committed before dying.

“Did you only touch me?”

“Then…”

“You were begging to live and hugging me so tightly that I thought my deceased mother had come back to life.”

“!”

“And I don’t know if your taste is the bathroom floor, but it’s not my taste, so I moved you to the bed.”

It would have been better not to know.

“Tell me, who crammed you into the storage room? Thanks to that, I almost died of a heart attack, so I need to know.”

“…It’s difficult to say.”

“Really? Then I’ll have to bring everyone who came into this room today, line them up in the hallway, and interrogate them. I have nothing else to do anyway, so that’s good. How about it? Wouldn’t it be nice to have a friend to be dragged to the guillotine with?”

“T-That person is someone I can’t do that to!”

“Listen, Zelda. There’s no one in this world that I can’t do that to. Especially here in the Shatuanil royal palace. Does this give you a little courage?”

Linelle’s words had an effect.

“Please don’t punish that person instead.”

It was more beneficial to Zelda’s well-being not to touch her if she couldn’t kill her.

“Okay. I won’t.”

“It’s Princess Resilia.”

“…Wow, I almost married such a crazy B, didn’t I?”

Linelle chuckled and muttered.

‘Indeed, you’re very lucky.’

Zelda retorted inwardly.

Before the Lapion Empire conquered the Shatuanil Kingdom, everyone knew that there had been talks of a royal marriage between the two countries.

‘Tsk, how did she get on the princess’s bad side?’

Linelle gave Zelda a pitiful look.

Well, anyway.

“Let me say it again, Zelda, two more people witnessed the indecency or disgrace you committed against me, so drop the excuse that you don’t remember.”

Zelda nodded with a miserable heart and carefully revealed her situation.

“I have a fever, so I sometimes lose consciousness. You may not believe it, but it’s true.”

“I heard. You’ve been taking a magic potion, haven’t you?”

“Did… Logan happen to visit?”

Zelda asked with a slightly relieved expression.

If he had met Logan, it was fortunate because she could at least prove that what she was saying now wasn’t a lie.

“The mage tower lord [leader of the mage tower] who came with me is his teacher. He went to meet Logan, so he’ll either bring the potion you’re taking or bring Logan.”

“I have the potion too.”

“Really?”

“Yes. And Logan is currently on a business trip, so he’s not in the palace. I’m sorry, Your Majesty, but please allow me to return to my residence to take the potion…”

Zelda hesitated and showed movement to get out of bed.

“No.”

Linelle said coldly.

As she moved away, he suddenly felt cold again, so he spoke strongly without realizing it.

From Zelda’s point of view, it was like a death sentence, so she dared to make an ugly face in front of the emperor.

“Please!”

“You seem fine now?”

“The fever has gone down, but if I don’t take the potion, it’ll be a little… difficult.”

Strangely enough, the fever had indeed gone down. But the burn scar on her right face would reappear if she didn’t take the potion.

That’s why she couldn’t help but feel anxious.

People who saw her face immediately after the burn already knew, but no one had seen the burn scar since she started taking the magic potion that Logan made.

It had to stay that way in the future too.

To Zelda, the burn scar was more painful than the fever, and it was a flaw she didn’t want to reveal to others.

“What becomes difficult?”

“That’s…”

Zelda couldn’t answer, only touching her right face with her hand.

“Is it because of the scar on your right face?”

His face suddenly came close to her eyes as he asked.

“H-How did you know that!”

Zelda turned her head and looked around the room, then found the place with the mirror and darted off the bed like an arrow.

‘Huh? I can’t see it?’

Fortunately, the burn scar wasn’t visible.

But how does that ice human know about the burn scar on my right face?

Did the mage tower lord say it? Yes, he might have heard it from Logan.

“I saw it earlier. After I laid you on the bed, it flashed and revealed itself like a light turning on and off.”

He, who had approached her side before she knew it, told her in detail.

“Y-You saw it? That…?”

Zelda was ashamed and embarrassed. Despair was good fuel.

Her body started to get hot again.

“Don’t worry. I’m the only one who saw it.”

Linelle was flustered as he looked at her tearful eyes.

She’s really going to cry at this rate.

“The burn scar appeared after the mage tower lord and my secretary left. It seems that the burn scar is picky about who it shows itself to. Haha.”

He said that thinking it would make her less upset.

“Sniff, sniff, sniffle… !”

That rather burst Zelda’s tear ducts.

Linelle was restless and didn’t know what to do as he watched her cry sadly.

“Why are you crying? I said I’m the only one who saw it.”

What does that mean, you have eyes too?

Zelda glared at him without realizing it.

“Your Majesty saw it too! Sniff sniffle…”

“I have so many scars on my body that I wasn’t even surprised, so why.”

Linelle rather got angry at Zelda, asking what she was upset about and crying.

“Ah, are you upset that I’m the only one who saw your scar? Then, would this, would this be fair?”

He suddenly lifted his shirt up, revealing his abs.

“W-What are you doing?!”

Zelda took a step back in shock.

“Look at the scars on my body too. Here, there are a lot on my back too.”

He lowered his shirt again, asking, ‘Is that okay now?’

But Zelda stared at him intently with eyes that didn’t think anything was okay.

‘Did he even see my burn scar properly?’

If he had, he wouldn’t have treated it so casually.

She still vividly remembered the gazes of the nobles who had seen the burn scar.

No one had ever said it so nonchalantly.

Because of Linelle’s attitude, she felt like she had become someone who was making a fuss over nothing.

“I haven’t hurt my face yet. It seems that even my enemies want to protect my face. You have to be at least decent-looking. Don’t you think?”

He proudly raised his head and swaggered.

Judging from the pride that was dripping down, he was serious.

What kind of expression should I make in this situation… While she was pondering, Linelle added a word.

“Ah, but that’s not to say that your face is decent enough to have suffered such an accident, so don’t misunderstand.”

“…Pardon?”

She felt like she had been hit after being spaced out.

Ugh, if he wasn’t the emperor, I’d have a fight with him.

Zelda clenched her fists tightly, exerting patience from her core.

“Why are you shivering?”

“I suddenly feel a little cold…”

“Hmm, you might be because you sweated a lot. But is it only your fists that are cold? Why are only your fists trembling?”

He glanced at Zelda’s hands, which were full of strength, and asked.

“It’s just, that’s how I am.”

She answered, quickly hiding her clenched hands behind her back.

Linelle laughed it off nonchalantly and continued the conversation.

“Does the scar disappear when you drink the potion?”

“Yes, it does.”

“It’s much better than my curse. I’m jealous.”

Even though he said it with a smile, his eyes looked forlorn.

As she stared at him blankly, he opened his mouth again.

“I live with a hypothermia curse [a curse that causes the body to be abnormally cold]. Even if I pour in all kinds of potions, it only alleviates it a little, and the symptoms don’t disappear completely temporarily like you.”

“Then, could it be that the heat in my body disappeared because of Your Majesty’s hypothermia?”

Zelda covered her mouth before she could even hear an answer from him.

So, it was clear that she had instinctively rushed at him even while her mind was going back and forth.

“Yes. And thanks to you, my body got a little warmer too.”

“Then, what you said earlier about sending me to the guillotine…”

“Of course, it was a joke. Can’t you tell just by listening?”

I believed that.

Linelle rather rebuked her.

She wanted to argue, asking who would say such a thing as a joke, but Zelda bowed her head to him in a more gentle tone.

“Your Majesty, I don’t know how to repay this grace of saving my life. I will cherish this grateful heart forever…”

“So, you’re saying you’ll leave now?”

Linelle narrowed his eyes and approached Zelda.

“I-If there’s anything you need me to do, I can serve you in place of a servant…”

“I saved your life, isn’t that too weak?”

He cut off Zelda’s words and made a disappointed expression.

In fact, she was secretly thinking that way too, so she nodded.

Then Linelle asked as if he was doing her a favor.

“Grace, shall I tell you how to repay it?”