The Stand-In Empress’S Wedding Night [EN]: Chapter 48

48. Right Before My Eyes

I was pretending to be asleep, so there was no way to avoid Linell’s lips. Actually, I didn’t want to avoid them. I just let him explore my lips. His kiss was soft and caressing, and I almost forgot I was pretending to be asleep and opened my lips. Perhaps because he thought I wasn’t feeling well, he only grazed his lips over mine. The ticklish sensation made me open my eyes.

“Y-Your Majesty? When did you arrive?”

I felt caught off guard.

“Just now. Zelda, weren’t you awake?”

“…I just woke up too, because I felt something wriggling on my lips…”

I bit my lower lip slightly as I replied.

“But… why are you undressed?”

“I thought you had a fever, so I needed to cool you down.”

He said it with the solemnity of a court official.

“I feel better now.”

I gently pushed away his firm chest, which was dominating me, with both hands.

“So, you’re telling me to move?”

Linell seemed sulky and deliberately pressed his body closer to mine as he asked.

“…I’m saying you should lie down comfortably next to me.”

I gestured to the spot beside me. But as expected, he didn’t budge.

“You may be feeling better, but now I’m not.”

“Yes? Are you… uncomfortable somewhere?”

At my words, he buried his face in my neck and chuckled briefly before lifting his head again.

“Very.”

“Where are you going?”

I placed my hand on his forehead. Could he be hurting somewhere because he had been in meetings since this morning until late? Fortunately, he didn’t have a fever.

“Where does it hurt?”

“It’s not that something hurts, it’s that I feel too good.”

“What… does that mean?”

“Ha, how can you be so dense?”

Linell sighed as if lamenting.

“You’re calling me dense?”

I wanted to tell him how quickly I had run from the training grounds to this bedroom.

“Yes. Or are you pretending not to know? So sly.”

He pinched my cheek lightly. He seemed fine since he was smiling, but I had no idea why this man was smiling.

“I heard you had a fever and sweated a lot? It’s true.”

He brushed the beads of sweat on my forehead with his hand.

“Ah, yes… I should have taken a quick shower, but I wasn’t feeling well earlier, so I just… lay down. I’ll go to the bathroom for a bit.”

As I tried to get up, he pushed my forehead with his large palm.

“No, stay there.”

“But my body is so sweaty…”

“It’s okay. I’ll sweat too.”

“What will Your Majesty do…?”

“Sweat. Zelda, don’t you think you’ll feel better if you sweat once more?”

His languid voice made me feel hazy.

“I’m fine now, though?”

“What are you talking about? Your body is still so hot.”

Linell leaned over me again and whispered. His eyes were filled with desire as he looked at me. My breathing, which had barely calmed down, quickened again.

“I’ve missed you all day. Here.”

His tender lips parted mine and entered. His soft sensation, spreading sweetly in my mouth, quickly became persistent.

“Haa… You shouldn’t do this to someone who’s sick…”

I could sense guilt in Linell’s voice.

“Sorry, I don’t want to stop.”

His honest confession was incredibly thrilling.

“Zelda, what should I do? Your husband is so inconsiderate.”

His passion, unable to stop even as he continued to blame himself, was also very sexy.

“I’m okay. So please…”

Ah, damn it. I was doing so well, but I couldn’t think of a plausible last word. What should I say? He stared down at me intently. He seemed to be subtly anticipating my next words. When I didn’t continue speaking after a few seconds, he asked first, tired of waiting.

“Please… what?”

“…”

As I stalled, rolling my eyes around, Linell spoke again.

“To stay by your side tonight?”

He asked, twitching his cheek.

“Yes.”

“And cool down the heat left in your body?”

“Yes?”

“So please, start?”

“Yes?!”

“Isn’t that what you wanted to say?”

“No, that’s not what I meant… Ah!”

Linell rolled over, pulling me into his arms. Our positions reversed, and I was now looking down at him.

“Do you know how beautiful you look when you look down at me like this?”

He was already slowly losing his reason. And my reason was willingly preparing to surrender to his instincts. It was a battle I couldn’t resist or win from the start. A surrender that wasn’t humiliating at all. I wanted to surrender to his desire quickly.

“Linell…”

“Do you know how much the you that’s right before my eyes is making me sick?”

My senses suddenly became heightened, and I finally realized what he was saying.

“I know.”

“How?”

“Just, by feeling.”

I placed my hands on his rising and falling chest and replied quietly.

“Haa…”

Linell’s chest swelled greatly and then fell.

“Say, if you start feeling sick again, tell me. No, just bite me.”

“Why bite you?”

“Because I don’t think I can stop if you just tell me.”

He said as if earnestly entrusting me.

“But, where should I bite you?”

“You can bite almost anywhere except for a few places.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Aren’t you going to ask where those places are?”

A playful look crept into Linell’s eyes.

“Would you like me to ask?”

I lowered my upper body slowly and asked secretly. I could feel his valiant muscles twitching here and there.

“Well, you can just pretend not to know.”

The hands holding my waist were tightening.

“How can I pretend not to know? You’re being so obvious…”

“Obvious about what?”

He raised one eyebrow and made a mischievous expression.

“I don’t like it, I won’t say it.”

I said coyly, watching his reaction. He laughed. And a warm vitality began to circulate in his cold face. I could feel love in his increasingly hot breath.

“If you don’t want to say it, you can show me with your actions.”

“Since it’s Your Majesty’s command, I must obey, right?”

At his slightly teasing tone, I boldly moved my body.

“Ugh…! Zelda?”

Linell’s composed and serious baritone voice faltered and permeated my ear erotically. It was a deep night. We were also deepening endlessly. Moments from which we couldn’t escape each other continued endlessly. Even the moments of separation were just preparations for greater joy. Every gaze, every breath, every movement was nothing but love. As Linell said, I sweated as much as I had, or even more. Only after exhausting all our energy did tranquility come. I didn’t even have the strength to make a sound. But he constantly extended a hand of seduction to me. Later, perhaps because he didn’t even have the strength to move his arms, he used his legs to entangle my body. He tried to hold me in his arms no matter what.

“I heard you have more meetings starting tomorrow morning, please get some sleep.”

“I will. I’m trying to.”

His body was already exhausted, but his blue eyes, looking at me, still seemed lively. His gaze, craving me, wasn’t about to fade easily.

“Is your fever really gone now?”

Linell asked, placing his hand on my forehead.

“Yes, I wasn’t as sick as someone else.”

“That’s a relief. But I’m done for now. I think I’ll be sick every day.”

“Hmm, what should we do then?”

I deliberately feigned worry and made a sad face. He glared at me and then stroked my back with his large hand as he replied.

“What else? You’ll just have to make me better every day.”

“I will.”

I want to. As I answered him, I recalled Duke Martins’ words.

‘If you can’t control your feelings for His Majesty, don’t get caught. That’s all you need to do.’

At least in a space where only the two of us are, there are no watchful eyes, so I don’t have to control my feelings, right? Thinking that made me feel much lighter.

“I’ve taken care of what’s ailing me, now it’s your turn.”

“My turn?”

“It’s my turn to heal where you’re hurting.”

Linell got up from the bed.

“Where are you going?”

“Wait here.”

He put his clothes back on, opened the bedroom door, and went outside. *** While he was gone, I put on the gown that was lying on the floor and sat with my back against the headboard, waiting for him. After a while, he opened the bedroom door again, holding something in his hand. What is that? He was holding a silver medical box in his hand.

“Why suddenly that…?”

“Because someone suddenly got hurt.”

Linell got on the bed and flipped the blanket I was covering myself with upwards.

“Oh my! What are you doing?”

In the blink of an eye, my two legs, exposed from under the blanket, were on his thighs.

“What are you doing?”

“…Yes?”

“Where did you get this?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Your knees.”

He grabbed my ankle with one hand and opened the lid of the medical box with the other. Only then did I look down at my knees.

“…Ah.”

It looked like a wound I got when I fell in the middle of the field while running like crazy. Both knees were scraped up nicely. I had completely forgotten about it, but when did Linell see this wound?

“I kept thinking, what reason would a queen of a country, not a commoner, have for scraping her knees like this…”

He said as he disinfected the wound himself.

“When did you think about that? Ah, it stings…”

“Throughout our lovemaking.”

“…”

The wounded area stung, but his answer stung even more.

“If you had fallen while wearing a dress, it wouldn’t have been this bad, would it?”

His gaze was fixed on my knees before suddenly meeting my eyes and asking as if interrogating me. Should I say I went horseback riding? No. A lie that would be easily revealed if asked to the stableman was dangerous. What should I make up?

“Did you fall in the bathroom?”

Ah, I didn’t think of that! I jumped at Linell’s question.

“That’s right! I slipped coming out of the bathtub.”

“Didn’t you say you couldn’t even shower earlier?”

“…Ah, that’s…”

Oops, I forgot. Wait, is he deliberately testing me right now? I was at a loss for words at his surprise question. It felt like he had thrown the bathroom out as bait and was watching my reaction. Did he already notice that I was hiding something and was asking?

“Linell, actually, I fell on the stairs earlier…”

“It’s okay.”

Linell stopped me from speaking as he applied medicine to my knees.

“Hoo-.”

He put his lips close to my knees and kept blowing air to help the medicine dry quickly. As his cool breath touched my wounded knees, it felt like new flesh would grow right away.

“Zelda.”

“Yes…”

“Be in front of my eyes when I need you. That’s all you need to do.”

Looking at him as he spoke as if pleading, I just mouthed the words. Linell put the medical box on the side table and sat facing me again.

“Instead, don’t make things like this. It makes me angry.”

He frowned deeply and said firmly.

“That you be in front of my eyes is a request, and that you don’t make these kinds of wounds on your body is an order.”

“Okay. I’ll be… careful in the future.”

“Okay, that’s good.”

He smiled kindly. Before the smile disappeared from his face, I quietly opened my mouth.

“Linell, I have a request too.”

“What is it?”