The Stand-In Empress’S Wedding Night [EN]: Chapter 47

47. Sly Empress

I stepped into the training grounds, my heart fluttering. Just as Sharon had said, the training grounds were deserted at this hour. Devices to light lamps were installed in various places on the walls, but turning them on would risk exposing my presence, as the light would leak outside. It was safer to let my eyes adjust to the darkness. I looked around and found a corner where weapons were displayed. Training wooden swords and real swords were lined up side by side. I went straight there and picked up a real sword without hesitation. Feeling the sword handle in my hand after so long sent shivers down my spine. If Prince Tesler were in front of me right now, I would want to do to him exactly what he did to Bonnis. I imagined cutting off that crazy bastard’s little finger—no, his entire wrist—and gripped the sword tightly. As time passed, the darkness inside the training grounds deepened. I took a deep breath, holding the sword. I began to swing it, imagining Prince Tesler standing in front of me, to my sides, and behind me, in every direction. This pathetic reality, where all I could do was swing the sword at empty air, was another enemy of mine. As I moved my body frantically, sweat poured down like rain. Gripping the sword after so long and crying with my whole body made the heat in my body quickly subside, regardless of my mood. I bit my lip tightly and continued to cut through the darkness. If my lips parted even slightly, curses would spew out uncontrollably. I had to hide my anger and wait for the right moment. Revenge requires patience.

I moved around the training grounds, performing all the movements of swordsmanship. My breath grew heavy. Eventually, I exhaled as if spitting out the breath between my tightly closed lips.

“Haa, haa, damn it!”

I threw the sword to the ground and knelt down. Sweat and tears mixed together and fell to the floor in drops.

“I just want to make sure Bonnis is safe……”

I wiped away tears with the back of my hand and bit my lower lip. I can’t get weak already. I had to think about what to do next. But right now, I couldn’t think of anything. And Linelle… what if that person is also in danger because of me? As Duke Martins said, finding the spy that Prince Tesler planted in the Imperial Palace was the priority. I sat on the floor for a moment, imagining his reaction if I confessed that I was the surrogate empress. I had no idea how heavy the weight of betrayal he would feel towards me would be.

“I have to unravel it one by one.”

My head was a mess, but I tried to pull myself together. Just then, I heard someone’s voice from the entrance of the training grounds.

“Indeed… my feeling was right.”

I quickly picked up the sword and stood up.

“Who is it? You don’t seem like a knight under my command.”

The man asked as he calmly walked towards me, who was holding a sword. Stay calm. He won’t be able to see my face. The training grounds were already completely dark, so unless he turned on the lamp, he wouldn’t be able to recognize me. But wouldn’t he recognize me if he got closer?

‘Don’t worry. That man is blind.’

My inner spirit said.

‘But don’t let your guard down. He’s a Sword Master with great inner energy.’

What? That man is a Sword Master? Judging by the way he was walking straight towards me, he didn’t seem like someone who couldn’t see.

“Who are you?”

I asked with a voice full of wariness.

“Hmm, you don’t recognize me, so you must not be someone from the Imperial Palace?”

The man changed direction as if he was coming towards me, then leaned against the wall with his arms crossed.

“A female knight wielding a sword alone in the training grounds inside the Imperial Palace without turning on the lamp……”

The man muttered in an interesting tone, touching his chin. At first, I thought he was a knight managing this training ground, but judging from his tone and attire, his rank seemed quite high. Moreover, the aura emanating from the man was distinctly different from ordinary knights. As my inner spirit said, he was definitely someone skilled in swordsmanship. The man’s hand went up to the sword sheath on his right side. He seemed to have sensed my energy as well. I quickly raised my sword. If he pointed his sword at me, I would have no choice but to fight in the dark. That was better than revealing that I was the Empress.

“It’s clear you’re not a knight who belongs here. It’s an unfamiliar energy I’ve never felt before. Who on earth are you?”

“……”

“If you’ve come to assassinate our Emperor, you seem to have taken the wrong path.”

The man casually mentioned the assassination of the Emperor of the Lapion Empire. Is he a knight who is hostile to Linelle? Judging by his smiling face, that didn’t seem to be the case.

“Wait, now that I see……”

The man tilted his head and trailed off as if he had recognized my presence. My heart began to beat faster.

“I heard they were recruiting a female knight to protect the Empress, so they must have already hired one.”

What? Hire someone to protect me? What on earth is he talking about?

“Our Emperor is quick to act.”

“?”

“You should know that it’s all thanks to me that you were chosen as the Empress’s guard.”

“Why? What do you mean……?”

I asked him back, pretending to be a knight.

“Because His Majesty was so worried that the Empress was frail, I advised him to hire a female knight to strengthen her guard.”

What?

“But I didn’t expect him to hire one so quickly in just one day.”

The man had already concluded that I was a female knight hired to guard the Empress. I lowered the tip of my sword to the ground and relaxed my tense shoulders. An unexpected event was unfolding. But thanks to that, it seemed I wouldn’t have to shed blood.

“……Thank you.”

“Anyway, it’s nice to meet you. I am Macrome, the Honorary Knight Commander who was the best Master in the Lapion Empire…… no, whose reputation will continue to be maintained unless there are any changes in the future.”

“Nice to meet you, Commander Macrome. But Honorary…… Knight Commander?”

“Yes. I stepped down from the position of the First Knight Commander who served His Majesty closely, but everyone still calls me Commander. Well, as you know, I quit that position because of a small defect.”

Commander Macrome pointed to his eyes with his finger.

‘See, I told you he was blind, right?’

My inner spirit suddenly spoke.

“Ah, I see.”

I carefully took a step closer and looked closely at Commander Macrome’s eyes. When I looked at them up close, the focus of his pupils seemed slightly blurred.

“……What, that reaction of not knowing? Didn’t you already know from hearing about it?”

“Ah, I…….”

“Are you a knight from the Imperial Academy?”

“Yes, I came from another city.”

“Which city?”

“It’s a very rural area. You probably wouldn’t know even if I told you…….”

“Well, in that case, you might not know much about me.”

Fortunately, Commander Macrome didn’t press me for details and nodded in agreement.

“But Commander, what happened to your eyesight……?”

“Let’s just say it’s a glorious wound I got on the last battlefield I was on with His Majesty. Are you really a knight who doesn’t know anything about me?”

“I’m sorry. But I have thoroughly familiarized myself with the task of serving the Empress.”

I quickly glossed over the words.

“Hahaha. Well, that’s all that matters.”

Commander Macrome laughed heartily.

“It seems like someone else is coming.”

He stopped laughing and turned his head towards the entrance of the training grounds. Although Commander Macrome had lost his eyesight, he seemed to have excellent senses in all other aspects. I also moved my gaze to where he was looking. Theresa? Theresa was panting and running into the training grounds. I quickly turned on one of the lamps.

“You must return to the Empress’s Palace quickly……!”

Theresa, who was desperately waving her arms and speaking, noticed Commander Macrome in front of me and quickly shut her mouth. I raised my hand and signaled her to wait. Theresa nodded and stood in place.

“Commander, I must be going now. It seems the Empress is urgently looking for me.”

“Then you must go. Wait. What’s your name?”

I was momentarily speechless. I didn’t expect him to ask for my name. There was no suitable name that came to mind. Judging from Theresa’s expression, something urgent seemed to have happened in the Empress’s Palace. I couldn’t delay any longer, so I ended up saying the name I had been thinking about the most today.

“It’s Bonnis…….”

“I see. It was nice meeting you. Bonnis, would you like to spar with me next time?”

“……I would. It would be an honor.”

Although I hesitated for a moment before answering, if I encountered him again in the training grounds, I could just pretend to be the Empress’s knight.

“Then I’ll be on my way.”

“Alright.”

I turned my back on Commander Macrome and quickly ran to Theresa.

“Theresa, what brings you here?”

I asked as I took her and almost ran out of the training grounds building and into the forest path.

“It’s a disaster. His Majesty is coming to the Empress’s Palace!”

“What?!”

“Sharon told the Head Court Lady that the Empress was not feeling well and would be going to bed early today, but His Majesty heard this and said he would finish the meeting in 30 minutes and go to the Empress’s Palace!”

“Sharon would have had time to come to the Empress’s Palace, so there’s less than 30 minutes left now, right?”

Even if Linelle had time to finish the meeting and come to the Empress’s Palace, time was running out.

“If you subtract the time it took me to run here, there’s less than 10 minutes left. What should we do?”

“What do you mean, we have to run. Did you leave the back door of the laundry room open?”

“Of course, Your Majesty.”

“Good. Then we have to run hard from now on. Theresa, I’ll go first!”

“I’ll follow you as hard as I can. Solie is waiting in front of the dressing room door with the clothes you’ll change into!”

“Okay, see you later!”

I left Theresa behind and started running. I had to be lying in bed before Linelle arrived at the Empress’s Palace and opened the bedroom door. So…… I had no choice but to run like my life depended on it. I felt like my heart was thumping against my throat. Even if my heart popped out of my mouth, there wouldn’t be time to pick it up again. ***　 I ran madly across the field leading from the cypress forest path to the Empress’s Palace. When I started to see the Empress’s Palace, I felt a little relieved, but my legs gave out and I fell hard in the middle of the field.

“Ugh.”

I think I hit my knee on a rock as I fell, but without even having time to feel the pain, I quickly got up again. When I got up after falling, I saw Solie in the distance, pacing back and forth at the back door leading to the laundry room.

“Your Majesty! Hurry!”

Solie’s expression, waving her hand at me, looked very anxious. Wait, Theresa said that Solie was waiting in front of the dressing room door? Why is she suddenly out in front of the laundry room back door?

“Hurry! I just saw His Majesty entering the main gate of the Empress’s Palace, hurry!”

Ah, good heavens. I became anxious at Solie’s words. Without even having time to catch my panting breath, I went straight to the spiral staircase connected to the dressing room with Solie, climbing two or three steps at a time. Clang-. As soon as I opened the dressing room door and entered, I collapsed to the floor as if falling.

“Your Majesty, you must take off your riding clothes quickly!”

Just in time, Sharon, who had entered the dressing room, knelt down in front of me as if sliding and quickly began to take off the riding clothes I was wearing.

“Huk, huk, Sharon, I think I should take a quick shower……?”

I was covered in too much sweat.

“There’s no time for that! His Majesty is coming up to the bedroom now!”

Sharon and Solie supported my arms and lifted me up. Seeing Sharon’s urgent expression, I once again realized the seriousness of this situation. The breath that had been rising to my chin also began to calm down little by little. I threw off all my riding clothes and became naked.

“The slip is on the bed. Please go into the bedroom quickly!”

Sharon said, draping a thin slip gown over my shoulders. We almost ran out of the dressing room. Knock knock knock-. Just as I reached right in front of the bed, the bedroom door opened with a knock. In a split second, Sharon and I simultaneously widened our eyes and looked at each other. Unlike me, who had frozen in place, Sharon quickly pulled back the blanket and pushed me into it. In the process, the slip gown I had been wearing on my shoulders fell to the floor. Without even being able to touch the slip placed on the bed, I had no choice but to lie down covering myself with only a blanket in a naked state. I squeezed my eyes shut and pretended to be asleep.

“I, I greet Your Majesty!”

Sharon’s trembling voice was heard.

“Is the Empress already asleep?”

Linelle lowered his voice and asked her. It was funny, but even in this precarious situation, I was glad to see him.

“Ah, yes, Your Majesty! She has a bit of a fever, so she…… sweated a lot.”

“Sweated? Even now?”

“N, now she’s feeling better…….”

“Hmm, I’ll take care of the Empress, so you may leave now.”

Linelle’s voice, walking towards the bed with long strides, was filled with concern.

“Yes…… Your Majesty.”

Along with Sharon’s reply, the bedroom door soon closed. I kept my eyes tightly closed and continued to pretend to be asleep. The thought that he was looking down at me made even my breathing awkward and out of rhythm.

“Her hair is wet with sweat. It seems like she has a fever too?”

Linelle’s cold hand touched my forehead and neck, which were boiling hot. Ah, it was so cool.

“Seeing the slip on the floor, is she sleeping without any clothes on…… because she has a fever?”

Linelle slightly lifted the blanket I was covering myself with. Hey…… please cover me with the blanket, please! I wanted to snatch the blanket from his hand right away, but I held back. If I keep pretending to be asleep until the end, he will go back to the main palace again. Yes, this too shall pass…….

“Hmm, she really seems to be unwell.”

Linelle’s sigh quietly spread into the air. After a while, I heard a rustling sound. I had the urge to squint and check what he was doing now. But there was a high possibility that his gaze was fixed on me.

“Then there’s no choice.”

Fortunately, it seemed like he was just trying to go back to the main palace.

“I have no choice but to lower her fever with my body.”

“!”

Linelle whispered in my ear. What did you say?! At the same time as a heavy feeling was felt on top of me, the hot blood flowing through my body was instantly cooling down. Could it be that he also took off all his clothes? I wanted to open my eyes, but I couldn’t right now.

“Empress…… no, Zelda, you didn’t intend this, did you?”

Before I knew it, his breath was close to my face.