The Stand-In Empress’S Wedding Night [EN]: Chapter 44

44. I Won’t Let It Go

“What kind of gift is it?”

“Well, it’s not something I prepared…”

The Grand Duke shrugged. He glanced at the jewelry box he was holding, then looked back at Rosie and Pesilini, who were staring intently at it with curious eyes.

“If it’s not a gift prepared by the Grand Duke, then who sent it?”

“It was sent by the Royal Family of Chateaud’Onyx. By Prince Tesler.”

Grand Duke Martins kept glancing at them as he spoke to me. I frowned involuntarily at his obvious interest in the Lapian Empire’s concubines.

“Rosie and Pesilini, you may return now. I need to speak with the Grand Duke.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Then we shall take our leave.”

Rosie and Pesilini bowed and walked out of the Empress Palace’s main gate side by side. I began to speak as I ascended the central staircase with Grand Duke Martins.

“Grand Duke, aren’t you being a bit too obvious with your interest in another country’s concubines?”

“Am I being that obvious?”

Grand Duke Martins asked with a sly expression.

“Well, staring so blatantly might be acceptable to you, but please be more discreet. There are many eyes watching.”

“Thank you for the advice, Your Majesty.”

Grand Duke Martins chuckled. I didn’t like his mocking tone, but I didn’t show it. I dismissed all the attendants as I entered the drawing-room with Grand Duke Martins. Shortly after, Sharon brought in mint tea. The Grand Duke picked up a teacup and inhaled the scent of mint. The jewelry box was placed neatly next to his tea saucer. He didn’t hand it to me right away. *What* expensive gift could be inside that he’s acting like this? There was no lock on the jewelry box. Before bringing it to me, the Grand Duke must have opened it. Then it’s one of two things: either it’s so precious that he’s reluctant to give it to me, or it’s so insignificant that he doesn’t feel the need to hand it over immediately.

“I heard you went directly to His Majesty’s bedroom last night.”

Grand Duke Martins asked after taking a sip of tea.

“I have to fulfill my role as Empress.”

I didn’t have a good excuse to offer.

“You went voluntarily without His Majesty calling for you? Aren’t you taking your role a bit too seriously?”

“Grand Duke.”

I said, placing my teacup on the saucer.

“Yes.”

“How do you know whether His Majesty called for me or I went on my own? How can you presume such a thing?”

“Then… did His Majesty summon you?”

“If His Majesty hadn’t called for me, wouldn’t I have been turned away from his bedroom?”

I cleverly deflected Grand Duke Martins’ question. It was a lie, but for some reason, I didn’t feel any guilt.

“W-Well, that’s true.”

He was momentarily speechless, then asked again, “I have a question. Why do you think His Majesty doesn’t visit the concubines’ residences?”

“Why don’t you ask His Majesty directly instead of asking me?”

“I think His Majesty finds me a bit…uncomfortable.”

Grand Duke Martins chuckled.

“Well, rather than finding you uncomfortable…”

“Rather than?”

“I think he just outright dislikes you.”

“Oh, dear.”

Grand Duke Martins feigned a wounded expression.

“Your Majesty is quite perceptive. I thought I was the only one who felt that way.”

“Well, I’ve been trained to read people’s faces since I was young. It’s my specialty.”

Grand Duke Martins burst out laughing at my sad story, but the laughter was short-lived.

“Then, Your Majesty, who is so perceptive, why don’t you guess?”

“Guess what?”

“Whether what’s inside is a gift or not.”

The Grand Duke slid the jewelry box toward me. I picked it up. What could be inside that makes the Grand Duke look so meaningful?

“Is there a bomb in here or something?”

I asked, shaking the jewelry box slightly. Grand Duke Martins’ expression twisted strangely.

“First, I think it would be good to look and *then* talk.”

“Alright.”

I took my eyes off Grand Duke Martins’ hardened face and opened the jewelry box.

“Huh? It’s a box made with cold and warm magic?”

As I opened it, a hazy cold air that had been trapped inside spread into the air.

“It looks like a ring?”

A sparkling jewel could be seen through the cold air. The Kingdom of Chateaud’Onyx is the country with the most diamond deposits in the Northern Continent. It was said that 40% of the kingdom’s treasury comes from diamond exports.

“It looks like a pink diamond…?”

Pink diamonds are rare and have few deposits, so they are traded at a fairly high price even in the Kingdom of Chateaud’Onyx. The sparkling pink diamond in the jewelry box wasn’t very *large*, and it was a ring with a simple design. A pink diamond of that size was something that wealthy noble daughters would each have. If you weren’t a wealthy young lady, it was common to receive it as a gift, like me. Wait, the design looked familiar… It looked similar to the ring I received as a gift from Prince Tesler. And that ring was given to Bonnis, a bath maid from a baronet family who was my closest friend before I left the kingdom.

“That’s right. It’s that ring, but why is it here…?”

After confirming the pink diamond through the scattered cold air, I looked up at Grand Duke Martins again. He pointed to the jewelry box, as if telling me to look more closely. I looked back into the jewelry box. As the hazy cold air almost disappeared, the inside began to be seen in detail.

“…Gasp!”

As soon as I checked the contents, I threw the box down on the table.

“Your Majesty, can you tell whose… *thing* is in there? Ugh!”

Before the Grand Duke’s question was over, I quickly grabbed the poker next to the fireplace and aimed it at his neck. I wanted to pierce his neck with it right away.

“Explain!!”

I grabbed a piece of my disappearing reason and shouted at him. Even if I kill him, it wouldn’t be too late to hear an explanation of what this situation is.

“Tell me why Bonnis’s little finger is in here!”

“Y-Your Majesty, please calm down!”

Grand Duke Martins glanced down at the poker that was about to crush his Adam’s apple and spoke in a nervous tone.

“Answer the question first! Otherwise, I’ll press this down on the Grand Duke’s beating heart and *then* calm down!”

I shouted, pressing the poker roughly on his heart, which was aimed at his neck.

“Ugh! Your Majesty, you can’t find out where the owner of that finger is just by killing me.”

Grand Duke Martins quickly added, rubbing his chest with his palm.

“I don’t know anything either. I just received the jewelry box.”

“Really, you got it from Prince Tesler? Why, why did he send me Bonnis’s little finger? Why!”

“It seems like a kind of warning.”

“How does the prince know if I have something to be warned about or not?!”

“I think the prince is starting to get anxious.”

My hand lost strength at Grand Duke Martins’ words.

“What anxiety?”

I asked, pointing the end of the poker that was pressing on his heart to the floor.

“It must be the anxiety that His Majesty has begun to regard Your Majesty specially.”

“You must have reported that kind of thing! So the prince sent this to me?”

I thought that Grand Duke Martins was the culprit. If it wasn’t for this man, Bonnis’s little finger wouldn’t have been cut off. If he hadn’t conveyed strange words to Prince Tesler…! I put the poker back on the Grand Duke’s Adam’s apple.

“Grand Duke, it’s your fault!”

“Your Majesty, please listen to me first.”

He said, raising both hands and trying to appease me.

“I did receive a report from my subordinate that the two of you spent the night together, but I received this jewelry box *before* that.”

“That means…?”

“Yes, someone must have delivered the news before me. There are eyes and ears of Prince Tesler in this Lapian Imperial Palace besides me.”

“Who the hell is doing that?”

My heart fluttered at Grand Duke Martins’ unexpected words.

“I don’t know yet. Your Majesty, please sit down first.”

I suddenly lost strength and sat down on the sofa with a thud. After taking a moment to catch my breath and calm down a bit, I opened my mouth again.

“There’s a spy that the Grand Duke doesn’t know about? But why did Prince Tesler plant someone else here besides the Grand Duke?”

To me, Prince Tesler was no longer someone to be called ‘Prince’.

“I find that strange too. I don’t know if Prince Tesler didn’t trust me from the beginning and planted a spy, or if it’s a new spy he brought in this time.”

“Do you have anyone in mind?”

“No, not yet.”

Grand Duke Martins said, as if he was frustrated. I narrowed my eyes and stared at the jewelry box again. The cold air in the box had already dissipated. Bonnis’s little finger, wearing a pink diamond ring, was too clearly visible. I clenched my teeth tightly and closed the lid.

“I have no idea at all. However, one thing is certain: I think it must be one of the people close to Your Majesty.”

The Grand Duke said, looking down at my hand closing the box lid.

“Someone close to me…?”

Well, there was no one that came to mind. Who is close to me and has a relationship with the Kingdom of Chateaud’Onyx?

“If it’s someone who knows about Your Majesty going to the main palace last night and going to the concubine’s residence with His Majesty, wouldn’t they be close?”

Grand Duke Martins seemed to have thought a lot about this.

“Are you saying it’s one of the concubines?”

“It could be one of the servants who serve the concubines. It’s not certain, but I think the possibility is high.”

“Hmm, by the way… Bonnis. The Grand Duke also doesn’t know what happened to Bonnis after she went through something like this?”

I asked, gesturing at the jewelry box.

“Yes, I’m sorry. I’ve asked my subordinates to find out, so please wait a little longer.”

I looked into Grand Duke Martins’ eyes for a moment. It wasn’t a lying look.

“Is it really Prince Tesler’s doing?”

“Isn’t the prince in charge of all the affairs of the royal family on behalf of His Majesty the King, who is in bed? Without his orders, no one would send something like that.”

“Why is he doing this? Why to me!”

I clenched the hem of my dress tightly.

“It must be a threat.”

Grand Duke Martins said as if it were obvious. It’s because of me. Bonnis went through this because of me. Guilt washed over me along with anger.

“I think *you* feel threatened.”

“Me?”

“No, Prince Tesler.”

“Isn’t that all thanks to the Grand Duke’s diligent reporting?”

Grand Duke Martins looked wronged at my sarcastic tone.

“It seems that *not* reporting diligently has turned into anger and returned in this way.”

He said, pointing to the jewelry box with his chin gloomily.

“Did you say Bonnis *Young Lady*? You seem to be very close to Your Majesty.”

Looking at him asking such a question, it seemed that he really didn’t know anything about this.

“She’s the young lady of the Epin baronet family who was with me as a bath maid in the royal family…”

I covered my face with both hands and lowered my waist, burying my face in my thighs.

“Perhaps… Bonnis Young Lady’s father was the court wizard, Logan Epin?”

“That’s right. The missing Logan is her father.”

“Hmm, I see.”

Grand Duke Martins had a thoughtful expression.

“Why are you doing that?”

“Ah, no. Nothing…”

He shrugged and continued, “By the way, did you recognize that the little finger was Bonnis Young Lady’s because of the pink diamond ring?”

“That’s right. I gave it to Bonnis on the day I left for here. And that pink diamond ring was given to me by Prince Tesler as a birthday present two years ago.”

“Ah, so the prince sent Bonnis Young Lady’s little finger wearing the ring, so that Your Majesty can recognize it right away.”

Grand Duke Martins nodded as if the mystery had been solved, then leaned forward with a face as if he had something to say.

“Prince Tesler told me to tell you to ‘keep each other’s lines’.”

“Line? I crossed the line first, so he crossed the line too? So he cut off Bonnis’s little finger?”

Prince Tesler, you son of a bitch! I will never let you go.

“That must be what it means. And if Your Majesty continues to cross the line, then maybe something else of Bonnis Young Lady’s…”

“Stop! I don’t want to hear it.”

I covered my ears with both hands and lowered my head.

“Your Majesty, you must pull yourself together at times like this.”

Grand Duke Martins said seriously in a low voice.

“Prince Tesler will be visiting this Lapian Imperial Palace soon.”

“What?”

I raised my head in a flash.