The Stand-In Empress’S Wedding Night [EN]: Chapter 5

5. Healthy Husband

January 20, 2021

Yesterday evening. As I opened the carriage window, the evening air, tinged with approaching darkness, brushed against my face. We had been traveling by carriage for days and nights, from the Kingdom of Shato Neil to the Lapion Empire. Outside the window, endless stretches of farmland unfolded. This must be proof that we were nearing the Imperial Palace of Lapion. Emperor Linell Edpa, the Lion Guardian. What kind of man would he be? Would he be as handsome as Prince Tesla of the Kingdom of Shato Neil, where I used to live? What if I get caught? I just hope he’s not too perceptive. Lost in these thoughts, the towering spires of the Lapion Imperial Palace came into view in the distance. If the fact that I’m a proxy empress is discovered, my head might end up decorating one of those spires.

“My head might be on the line.”

I covered my neck with both hands and swallowed hard. I clasped my hands together and had a quick, irreverent prayer session, cursing Prince Tesla, before closing the carriage window again. I took out a luggage bag from under the carriage seat, which I had carefully packed even while being pressed for time on the day I left for the Lapion Empire. Taking out a mirror from the luggage bag, I looked at my face and touched the burn scar on my right side.

“There’s a magic potion that can make this disappear, right?”

According to Grand Duke Martins, who had escorted me, we would stay overnight at a hotel in the Imperial City and enter the Imperial Palace early the next day. And before going to the hotel tonight, we would first stop by the clinic run by the magician Tesla had mentioned. Excitement made it hard for me to calm down. About an hour later, the carriage stopped. A knock was heard, along with Grand Duke Martins’ voice.

“We have arrived. Please disembark.”

I put on a hat with a veil that came down to the tip of my nose and got out of the carriage. I was immediately taken aback. I wasn’t expecting a grand clinic building, but I certainly didn’t expect it to be in such a secluded alley. The name of the clinic was also quite strange: [Confident Night]. Moreover, the sign depicted a man standing with his legs spread and his hands on his hips, literally in a confident pose.

“…Is this the right place?”

I looked at Grand Duke Martins’ sharp, seemingly inhuman face and pointed to the clinic sign with my finger.

“Yes, this is the place Prince Tesla mentioned.”

“Really…?”

I hesitated to step forward. Seeing me hesitate in front of the clinic door, Grand Duke Martins added,

“Magician Big is known among the nobles of the Lapion Empire as an expert in virility treatments.”

“Virility?”

Ah, so that’s why the clinic is called ‘Confident Night’? I looked up at the sign again.

“That’s the public face, and only a few people know his true abilities. For example, making a magic potion that removes Zelda’s burn scar.”

“So, do most of the nobles who come here have problems with their virility?”

“Probably. But not everyone who buys stamina boosters has functional problems. I’ve heard that people with low energy buy them, regardless of gender or age.”

“Still, most of them come because they can’t be confident at night, right?”

“Well, statistically, that’s probably true. Unless it’s a special case like Zelda.”

Grand Duke Martins nodded in agreement with my words and took out a small pouch from his pocket, handing it to me.

“What’s this?”

“If you go inside and show this, Big will give you the potion.”

I took the pouch and checked the contents.

“Okay.”

The small pouch contained a pink diamond, which is considered precious even in the Kingdom of Shato Neil, the largest producer of diamonds.

“Aren’t you coming in with me, Grand Duke?”

“No, I’ll wait here.”

Grand Duke Martins replied with a tired face.

“How about coming in and buying a stamina booster?”

“…No. I have no problems!”

Grand Duke Martins got unnecessarily defensive. Didn’t he just say that Big’s stamina boosters aren’t just for people with functional problems? I left Grand Duke Martins behind and opened the clinic door with a trembling heart. The inside of the clinic had a dark and secretive atmosphere, like a salon frequented by noble men. Was it deliberately darkened for the privacy of customers who come to buy stamina boosters?

“Looks like there are no customers? Oh, my.”

A man in a black robe with a hood pulled down over his head was sitting like a ghost in a corner of the waiting room.

“How can I help you?”

At that moment, a woman who seemed to be Magician Big’s assistant approached me and asked.

“I came like this.”

I quickly opened the pouch I was holding and showed her the pink diamond.

“Ah, please follow me.”

As if she had heard about it in advance, the assistant led me straight to the examination room.

***

As soon as I entered the examination room and sat down on the chair, Magician Big handed me the magic potion as if he had been waiting.

“Drink this first.”

I gulped it down in one go. I could feel the potion going down my throat. A few seconds later, something unbelievable happened.

“It’s gone… It’s really gone? Doctor! The burn scar that was just there, it’s not just me who can’t see it, right? Right?”

My burn scar disappeared in an absurdly short amount of time. Was it this simple? And all this time, I was… I was overwhelmed. I kept looking in the mirror, moved by my restored face. Then Magician Big said in a cold tone,

“As you know, this is only a temporary phenomenon.”

“I heard.”

“For now, a month’s worth is prepared as ordered by the client. The assistant will give it to you outside while you wait.”

Prince Tesla, you cheapskate. Only a month?

“A month’s worth? I want to buy more.”

“It’s difficult because it can’t be made right away. This order was really made with great difficulty.”

“Then I’ll make a reservation for the amount to be taken after a month and leave!”

“Well… I’ll take the reservation for now. If you have nothing more to say, would you please go out and wait?”

Magician Big scribbled something on the chart with a somewhat dissatisfied expression.

“Excuse me, besides this potion that temporarily makes the scar disappear, do you also make a cure that can completely heal it here? I heard there was such a cure.”

“Well, that’s beyond my ability.”

“I see… I understand.”

It seemed that I couldn’t ask him for the cure that Prince Tesla had mentioned. I suppressed my disappointment and left the examination room, sitting on the sofa in the waiting room. Wait, something feels empty?

“Ah, I forgot.”

I put on the veiled hat again, which I had taken off in the examination room and was just holding in my hand. The burn scar was gone, but it wouldn’t be good to expose the face that would marry the emperor of this country. Especially in a place like the ‘Confident Night’ clinic. While waiting for the magic potion to take effect, I noticed a Lapion Empire newspaper on the table. To relieve boredom, I reached out and picked up the newspaper, reading it absentmindedly.

“All the women of the empire are curious about the ideal type of His Majesty the Emperor, who is about to have a state wedding. What kind of woman is His Majesty the Emperor’s ideal type? Will the Empress from the Kingdom of Shato Neil, who will soon be married, be able to meet His Majesty the Emperor’s ideal type?”

How childish. If I had a quill pen now, I would have liked to write the answer directly under this article: The woman who will marry the Emperor is 100% unlikely to be his ideal type! I continued to read the newspaper article.

“According to a close aide, the type of woman that Linell Emperor likes is…”

I chuckled as I read the front-page article and turned to the back page.

“What, why is there no next page? Ha, it’s torn off?”

I threw the newspaper on the table.

“Ugh.”

I was a little annoyed because the flow of the article I was reading was interrupted. It wasn’t because I was curious about the Emperor’s ideal type.

“The level of the reporter. Why are you curious about the Emperor’s ideal type? There must have been so many articles like that already. Why don’t you write about the ideal type of the Empress who is going to get married? That would be more refreshing.”

“It seems that you already know the Emperor’s ideal type well?”

A mocking voice was heard from somewhere. There’s no one in front of me, where is that voice coming from?

“Oh, my!”

When I rolled my eyes to the right, I saw a black object in the diagonal corner. On closer inspection, it was the man in the black robe I had first seen when I entered the clinic. He’s still here? Is he waiting for something to take effect like me?

“The ideal types of ordinary men are obvious. Pretty, good body, kind. Would His Majesty the Emperor be any different? But, why are you suddenly talking down to me when you don’t know me?”

“Because I don’t know you.”

“!”

How great a noble is he to be talking down to me out of the blue?

“Aren’t you being too definitive about the Emperor’s ideal type? I don’t think the Emperor is an ordinary man.”

The man was confidently talking down to me.

“You’re talking like you know a lot about His Majesty the Emperor?”

“I’m a little close to him. But… did you just talk down to me?”

The man looked around, asking in disbelief.

“I guess so? Because I don’t know you either. I thought it was polite to talk down to strangers in the Imperial City, so I followed suit, why?”

“Ah, you’re not from around here? Well, this clinic is famous for its stamina boosters in other regions.”

“I didn’t come here to buy stamina boosters?”

“Then why did you come here?”

“Why should I tell you that?”

I snapped back at the man’s words. As a rule, you have to raise your voice to rude people.

“Looking at you. You look like you can’t be confident at night, so you’re wearing a robe and hood like a sinner and sitting in the corner of the waiting room?”

“…That’s ridiculous.”

“Hey, you look so weak that you look like someone who came to buy stamina boosters, what’s wrong with that?”

“…That’s nonsense.”

The man snorted and replied.

“My words are more like words than lying about being close to His Majesty the Emperor, right?”

“…I’m actually close.”

The man’s voice sounded like a growl.

“Oh, really? Are you close? Then what’s the Emperor’s ideal type?”

“Not you.”

“…”

Suddenly, I was hit where it hurts. Wow, I’m about to have a state wedding with the Emperor of this country, I can’t say that! I was so upset that I jumped up from the sofa. How great is he that he’s not only talking down to me from the beginning, but he’s also hopeless? Should I take off that hood?

“This is the cure you reserved.”

At that time, Big’s assistant brought me a pouch made of carpet.

“Thank you.”

Okay, let’s just go. Don’t talk to that lowly guy who talks down to you for the first time. Still, I was upset to just leave, so I glared at the man while walking to the clinic door and muttered softly.

“The Emperor should be different from such a rude man. Otherwise, only the Empress who came from afar is miserable. I really hate rudeness…”

“Ha, you’re talking like you’re very close to the Empress too. You’re talking like you know the Empress’s ideal type?”

The man, who had luckily heard my mutterings, asked sarcastically.

“I know. I know it well.”

“What is it?”

“Not you.”

“!”

“Absolutely not you.”

I gave back the words the man had said earlier and even hammered them in. I felt so refreshed. As I opened the clinic door, I caught a glimpse of the man taking off his robe. I slightly bent my back and checked the man’s face. Oh, what did I just see! There was an unimaginable face in the hood. I was so surprised that I hurriedly closed the clinic door and ran away. Although that person… committed the rudeness of using familiar language from the first meeting, he was the most handsome man I had ever seen in my life. Oh my god, I didn’t know my ideal type was right in front of me!

***

“So you remember now?”

Emperor Linell asked with his arms crossed, as if interrogating me.

“Yes… I didn’t recognize you yesterday and committed a great rudeness…”

‘It’s because the Emperor talked down to me first, so I did too.’

These words came to the tip of my tongue, but I couldn’t bring myself to say them.

“It’s okay that I’m not the Empress’s ideal type, but let me ask again. Wasn’t today the Empress’s first night?”

I quickly shook my head from side to side.

“No! Your Majesty is exactly my ideal type, and I’m also Your Majesty’s first…”

I threw the words up to this point and deliberately heated up my face. I could control this much blushing as much as I wanted. I don’t know if this can be called an ability, but it’s one of the phenomena that occurred after I got a burn on my right face. Emperor Linell’s expression improved a little.

“But you know. I heard before that in the Empress’s country, people have relationships freely from the age of 20 when they become adults [referring to a debutante ball]. Is that true?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. They have very flashy meetings. Ah, my life was very shabby. Ah ha ha.”

I burst into laughter and replied. In fact, even after the debutante, I was out of the interest of the young masters because of the burn scar. The person speaking is smiling so brightly, but the Emperor’s expression is getting worse and worse. He occasionally twitched as if he was about to make some expression, but there was no sign of smiling at all.

“Hmm, I don’t know if I should call that fortunate…”

His hand went to my right face. The burn scar wouldn’t even be visible to him, but I reflexively avoided his hand without realizing it. The action I just took was clearly an arrogant attitude, but he didn’t say anything. A moment of silence followed. I wanted to change this uncomfortable atmosphere, so I blurted out whatever came to mind.

“I heard that there is a Grand Duke who is much older than Your Majesty.”

Seeing Emperor Linell’s complexion darken rapidly, it seemed like it wasn’t a good choice.

“Come to think of it, it’s been a long time since I talked to that guy.”

“Is the Grand Duke far away?”

I didn’t remember seeing anyone who was presumed to be the Grand Duke at the wedding.

“He’s in a cold place. Maybe the Empress won’t see him either. It’s good that you don’t have to meet a troublesome younger brother.”

He was smiling, but his eyes looked sad.

“He’s in a place where my touch can’t reach even if he’s close. I can’t go because he freezes more if I approach…”

“Where on earth is he…?”

I asked him with surprised eyes.

“Joseph also received the same curse as me. I can use magic, so I wasn’t completely deprived of my body temperature by the curse wave sent by the magician, but Joseph was different.”

I wanted to ask what happened to the Grand Duke in the end, but I couldn’t ask rashly. As I was just looking at him, he added unbelievable words to me.

“Joseph is now trapped in ice.”

Good heavens.

“Is he perhaps in the Imperial Palace?”

When I asked carefully, he didn’t affirm or deny it, and lay down on the bed again.

“I’m going to lie down now. The Empress will have a lot to do from tomorrow.”

It meant don’t ask any more.

“Yes, Your Majesty…”

Well, what would I do if I knew the details? I’m just going to be in the Empress’s seat for a while. Even though I thought so, I felt uncomfortable in one corner of my heart when I saw his sad face.

“And yesterday. About me going to the clinic.”

“Ah, yes.”

“I went to buy a magic potion to raise my body temperature. Only close aides know that I have a hypothermia curse, so I had no choice but to wear a robe like a sinner as the Empress said.”

I was about to lie down in my seat when he laughed and said.

“It’s a blessing in disguise.”

I secretly glanced down and replied.

“The Empress already knows.”

“What?”

“That there is absolutely no problem in the place you just looked at.”

“!”

“I’m not weak, am I?”