The Stand-In Empress’S Wedding Night [EN]: Chapter 45

45. You, an Empress?

June 09, 2021

“Why is Prince Tesler coming to the Rafion Empire?”

I asked, clenching my fist without realizing it.

“As Your Majesty knows, all countries gather every year for the Continental Hunting Competition, do they not?”

“Yes, but I believe it hasn’t been held in recent years?”

The Continental Hunting Competition is intended to promote friendship between countries, but in reality, it was a competition with the underlying purpose of understanding each other’s movements.

“That’s right. Wyverns started nesting in the Valley of Death between the two continents, which led to a war, and the hunting competition hasn’t been held for three years because of that, but it looks like it might be held this time.”

“I heard it’s the time for the wyverns to return, but they’re still holding the hunting competition?”

“Yes, it seems discussions have arisen due to the letter sent by the Emperor of the Tebello Empire in the Southern Continent to each country.”

“What letter?”

“It suggests that instead of recklessly starting wars, how about maintaining peaceful relations and dealing with the wyvern problem together?”

“Ah, so the emperors of each country are gathering under the pretext of the hunting competition to discuss that issue?”

“That’s right.”

Grand Duke Martins nodded.

“He must have ulterior motives as well, right?”

“Of course. Unless one of the two continents gives up on the wyverns, the war won’t easily stop.”

“Then is there really a need to hold the hunting competition? If they’re going to start a war anyway.”

When I asked with a puzzled expression, the Grand Duke laughed heartily.

“The Continental Hunting Competition is a good opportunity to spy on each other.”

Grand Duke Martins’ words made sense.

“If this hunting competition is held, it will be a silent war, won’t it?”

“You see it well, Your Majesty.”

“And that’s why Prince Tesler is coming here?”

I asked, frowning.

“Yes, since it’s a country located in the same Northern Continent, it seems his purpose is to meet Your Majesty in advance before the hunting competition is held.”

“Then he won’t stay long, will he?”

“That’s right. After all, once the hosting of the hunting competition is confirmed, he will have to come again then.”

If the hunting competition were to be held this time, the starting point of this year’s competition would be the Rafion Empire. That means all the dignitaries from each country attending the hunting competition would gather in the Rafion Empire.

“So, if the starting point is a country in the Northern Continent… which country in the Southern Continent is the destination?”

“It is said to be the Partsha Empire, where the emperor recently changed.”

A smile that didn’t match the conversation spread across Grand Duke Martins’ face.

“Grand Duke, why are you smiling? Do you have some connection with the Partsha Empire?”

“Ah, was I smiling?”

He ran his hand over his face, composing himself.

“I do have a connection. No, Princess Resilia would have a deeper connection than I would.”

Why Princess Resilia?

“What does that mean?”

“You will find out in due course. It seems Your Majesty should also start paying attention to the Partsha Empire from now on.”

Me?

“Why?”

“Because it’s a much more important country than you think.”

Grand Duke Martins’ answer was simple, but I felt uneasy for some reason. As he advised, I kept the Partsha Empire of the Southern Continent in my mind for now.

“Ah, is that why His Majesty is in a meeting with the ministers since this morning?”

“Probably. They must be discussing whether to agree to host the Continental Hunting Competition or not.”

“When will the prince arrive here?”

I didn’t have the confidence to treat Prince Tesler with a smiling face. I even thought that someone should stage an accident at the hunting competition and shoot an arrow into Prince Tesler’s heart. If that were possible, I would…

“Your Majesty, rash actions are forbidden.”

Grand Duke Martins spoke as if he knew what I was thinking right now. I felt embarrassed that he had caught on, but I didn’t want to deny it, so I just remained silent.

“He’s a cruel person.”

The Grand Duke said.

“Yes?”

“I’m talking about the prince. He pretends to be gentle on the outside, but he has a very cruel nature.”

Tesler was cruel? I knew he was a bad seed the day I was sent here as a proxy empress. But until then, I didn’t know that Prince Tesler had a cruel personality. My gaze returned to the jewelry box. The Grand Duke strengthened his voice as he looked at me, seeing my hesitation to agree with his words.

“Your Majesty probably didn’t know about Prince Tesler’s cruelty because you haven’t had the chance to experience it.”

I turned my gaze back to him.

“Grand Duke.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“The prince wouldn’t kill Bonis, would he?”

I asked, clenching my fist so hard that my knuckles seemed about to pierce through my skin.

“He won’t kill him. Not yet.”

My heart sank at the last words the Grand Duke slowly added.

“Not yet? Then do you think there’s a possibility he will in the future?”

“Of course. This will be the beginning of a warning. If Your Majesty continues to get close to His Majesty, he will send a bigger warning.”

“A bigger warning…”

I didn’t want to imagine it. If I thought about it any deeper, I felt like I would run to the Shattonil Kingdom right away and cut off Prince Tesler’s wrist.

“This time, he sent a palm-sized jewelry box, but later, a bigger box might be delivered. For example…”

“That’s enough! I don’t want to hear it.”

“Hmm, I’m sorry. Anyway, we need to find Prince Tesler’s puppet inside the royal palace.”

“The Grand Duke speaks as if he’s a different kind of puppet?”

“I am different.”

He said in an upset tone.

“What’s different?”

“An inflexible puppet brings about unnecessary sacrifices. This is the proof.”

He tapped the lid of the jewelry box as if knocking on it.

“Look around carefully. I’ll do my own investigation as well.”

“I will. Then right now, Bonis… is Prince Tesler keeping him?”

“That’s highly likely.”

If Prince Tesler is keeping Bonis, he must still be inside the royal palace, right? As Bonis’s bright face came to mind, the weight of my guilt grew heavier.

“Your Majesty. You must be more careful from now on.”

“…What should I be careful about? Do you mean I should stay away from His Majesty?”

“Don’t you know? The prince has started to be wary.”

“What if… I just confess my identity? How would His Majesty react?”

I brought up the words that had been lingering in my head to Grand Duke Martins.

“That’s not a good idea. Finding the spy the prince has planted is the priority. And if you act rashly, Your Majesty’s life will be in danger.”

“The prince… doesn’t have a reason to kill me, does he?”

At my question, the Grand Duke gave me a pitiful smile, as if looking at an innocent child.

“Your Majesty is not related to the prince by blood. That means you are of no real help in strengthening the royal power. What the prince wanted from this state marriage was not simply to maintain the alliance while being mindful of the Rafion Empire.”

“Then…?”

“He has a bigger ambition than that, so he’s trying to put his own younger sister, Princess Resilia, on the throne of the Rafion Empire, even if he has to force it.”

“Ha, is he planning to wait until His Majesty gets old and then unify the Northern Continent himself?”

When I asked, suppressing my anger, the Grand Duke chuckled briefly and replied.

“All he needs is a justification. If he has a nephew to put forward, why wouldn’t he wait until the current His Majesty dies?”

“Surely he wouldn’t kill His Majesty before that…?”

“Yes, he can just poison or assassinate him.”

“!”

I couldn’t believe it. How far does Prince Tesler’s vain ambition extend? Is he really planning to integrate the entire Northern Continent? Prince Tesler, doing what Rinell couldn’t do? Crazy bastard. The prince must be a delusional madman.

“Your Majesty, don’t become a needless sacrifice.”

Grand Duke Martins said, worrying about me in a way that didn’t suit him. It was even more embarrassing because it seemed like he was saying it from the bottom of his heart.

“I think I’m already a sacrifice?”

“I’m saying that because you’re adapting too well here.”

“Even if I perform my role perfectly, I get treated like this?”

I scoffed and retorted bluntly. While we were talking, I was constantly tormented by worry about Bonis.

“If you really can’t stop your feelings for His Majesty…”

Grand Duke Martins got up from the sofa and trailed off. I looked up at him. I was very curious about what he would say next.

“Don’t get caught.”

“?”

“That’s all you need to do.”

The Grand Duke left the drawing-room, leaving behind words that were confusing whether they were advice or a warning. Only I and the jewelry box containing Bonis’s little finger were left in the drawing-room. I sat on the drawing-room sofa for a while, then took the box and headed to the bedroom.

***

Prince Tesler’s office.

“Huh, is this Emperor Rinell’s face?”

Princess Resilia, who was looking at the three pictures lined up on the table, asked Prince Tesler in a very excited voice.

“Yes. If you hadn’t done something stupid, that would have been the face of your husband.”

The pictures were drawn by the Shattonil court painter on the day of Rinell and Zelda’s state marriage.

“Is this really his face? Didn’t the painter beautify it?”

“Not at all. Rather, he didn’t capture the emperor’s appearance properly.”

To Prince Tesler, who had met Emperor Rinell several times, the picture fell far short of his real appearance.

“That’s impossible. I thought he was ugly!”

Princess Resilia held up Rinell’s portrait and admired it.

“What? Why did you think that?”

“Brother told me. That the Rafion Emperor keeps women at a distance.”

“What does that have to do with his appearance?”

“I thought there was something wrong with him, so women didn’t like him, so he kept women at a distance.”

“You thought that flaw was his face? How foolish.”

Prince Tesler looked at his sister with an absurd expression.

“If I had known he was such a handsome man…”

As she muttered softly, the prince suddenly interjected.

“He’s much better than that Norton mercenary, isn’t he?”

“Why are you like this? Norton is also handsome. And he’s a man’s man!”

“Resil, haven’t you come to your senses yet?”

He pointed at his younger sister and raised his voice.

“Even if Emperor Rinell has an outstanding appearance, what are you going to do if he’s useless at night?”

Princess Resilia glared at her brother and asked.

“What am I going to do? I’ll have to give him medicine to make him useful.”

“No. Surely when he sees me, he won’t need that kind of medicine.”

Her worries were short-lived, and she smiled confidently.

Then she looked down at Zelda’s appearance drawn next to Rinell and frowned.

“Why does she… look so shabby even when she’s wearing a pretty wedding dress? Don’t you think so, Brother?”

“Well? Is it because she drank the magic potion and the burn scars disappeared? She seems to have become a lot prettier?”

“Are your eyes blurry?”

“Ahem, is it because of the crown? Looking at it like this, she seems like a real empress…”

Prince Tesler cleared his throat and trailed off.

“Brother, are you saying that in your right mind? Whether she has burn scars or not, Zelda is just Zelda! What empress, of all people?”

“Ah, I don’t know. Be quiet.”

At her nervous reaction, Prince Tesler left the office first with a tired expression. As soon as her brother left, she waited and tore the picture of Rinell and Zelda standing side by side in half, then threw the side with Zelda drawn on the floor. Then, she began to stomp and smear the burn scar area on Zelda’s right face with her shoe.

“That’s it, that’s it.”

After a while, a satisfied smile appeared on the princess’s face.

“Now, Zelda von Troba’s original face is coming out.”

She picked up Zelda’s portrait from the floor again.

“You know, Zelda. I really want to see Rinell Emperor’s frowning face when he sees your original face. Will he still look handsome then?”

Zelda’s portrait was torn and scattered into the air with Princess Resilia’s coy laughter.

“Hehehe, I’m really curious. Right?”