The Stand-In Empress’S Wedding Night [EN]: Chapter 51

51. Negotiation is Timing

“Your Majesty, what are you saying…?”

Linelle couldn’t finish his sentence and stared intently at me. The concubines also looked equally surprised at my words.

“Your Majesty, the Empress, you must be… skilled at riding?”

Only Raphael’s eyes sparkled as he asked me.

“Well, I can ride without falling off.”

I shrugged and answered nonchalantly. This time, Rosie showed curiosity.

“Ah, I’ve heard that the Kingdom of Chatouney, Her Majesty’s homeland, has mostly flat land, making it a great place to ride horses!”

Yes, perfect for horse riding and sword fighting.

“I may not be as good as Her Majesty, but I can ride a horse.”

Rosie said, raising her hand timidly with a bright face. Melanie, sitting next to her, glared at Rosie once before pouting with a tearful expression.

“Even if Her Majesty is good at riding, we are different, aren’t we?”

“That’s right. And we could become a laughingstock in front of the women from the Southern Continent who are skilled in martial arts!”

Catherine, who had a bad expression all along, also chimed in. On the other hand, Pessillini, sitting like an invisible person, was quietly observing this whole situation, just like at the last banquet.

“Empress, there’s no need to push yourself.”

He said, trying to dissuade me.

“No, Your Majesty. I’ve been learning to ride since I was young, so I’m better at handling horses than most knights.”

I suppressed the urge to smooth out Linelle’s furrowed brow and reassured him, but he still seemed unconvinced and continued.

“Riding a horse well and hunting on horseback are different things.”

I responded to his disapproving gaze with a relaxed smile.

“Of course, I know that very well.”

It’s a very thrilling and competitive activity! Just imagining riding a horse and shooting arrows at a target already made me feel exhilarated.

“Knowing that, you still want to participate in the competition? You know this isn’t a hunting competition where you chase after cute rabbits, right?”

“We should let the cute rabbits play.”

“…Empress, do you think I’m joking?”

Linelle was overly serious. He seemed a little angry for some reason.

“If none of the empresses and concubines from the Northern Continent countries participate in the hunting competition, that could be even more of a laughingstock.”

I tried to persuade him by invoking the honor of the Rafion Empire.

“That’s better than you getting hurt.”

“Your Majesty, why are you assuming I’ll get hurt?”

I asked, revealing my disappointed expression.

“I wonder if you can even hold the reins with these small hands.”

Linelle placed my hand on his palm as if picking up pudding and sighed deeply. At that moment, I met Catherine’s eyes, who was sitting diagonally across from me. Catherine had a lot to say about Linelle’s assessment of me. She kept moving her lips as if she wanted to reveal something.

‘Go ahead and spill it.’

I stared at Catherine, touched the back of my head, tapped my nose with my finger, and smiled. Then Catherine flinched, closed her lips again, and covered her high nose with her hand.

“Even if these weak… hands can’t catch beasts, I can still talk to the women from the Southern Continent and understand their movements.”

Linelle chuckled at my words.

“You don’t need to figure out their movements.”

“I disagree. The conversations you have at a banquet in a dress and the conversations you have while working together in the forest are definitely different, right?”

“I don’t want to use the Empress’s body to obtain information from the Southern Continent countries.”

He dismissed my words again. But I didn’t give up either.

“No, I have to mingle with the women from the Southern Continent. Even if there’s no other intention, since the Rafion Empire has become the starting point for this Continental Hunting Competition, we should have someone on our side to respond to the women from the Southern Continent.”

“Why does it have to be you?”

He asked sullenly.

“Because I’m… the Empress of the Rafion Empire and Your Majesty’s wife.”

I raised my voice and retorted. This time, he only stared at me and didn’t say anything. Linelle’s time seemed to have stopped in my eyes, and he seemed to be struggling with something. I took this opportunity to push my opinion further.

“And since I and Rosie are the only ones who know how to handle horses, there’s no other choice. Don’t worry, Your Majesty. Instead, at the banquet party, the concubines will be able to treat the VIPs [Very Important People] more skillfully than I can. Isn’t that right?”

I met Linelle’s hot gaze and turned my eyes to the concubines and asked.

“We are honored, Your Majesty!”

The four concubines bowed their heads at the same time and gathered their voices. There was a sense of relief in the concubines’ voices that they didn’t have to participate in the hunting competition.

“I cannot allow it.”

Linelle said firmly and turned his gaze to the secretary.

“Raphael, what do you think?”

“I applauded Her Majesty the Empress’s words a little while ago.”

“You little…”

He glared sharply at Raphael. Raphael avoided his eyes and quickly lowered his head, but he steadfastly spoke his mind like a loyal subject.

“The hunting competition doesn’t necessarily mean you have to catch beasts, does it? If you’re participating for the purpose of friendship with the Southern Continent Empresses, as Her Majesty the Empress said, I don’t think there will be anything too dangerous.”

“That’s right, Your Majesty can simply teach me how to shoot an arrow before the hunting competition starts, right? I may not actually shoot, but even if I do, I probably won’t hit anything… Oh, hoho.”

I changed my strategy and spoke in a cute voice to melt his heart. The concubines’ expressions suddenly turned very bad. Their eyes seemed to be saying, ‘Your *aegyo* [acting cute] is terrible.’ I glanced at Linelle’s face with a desperate heart. But unexpectedly, unlike the concubines who were frowning, the expression of the person who received my *aegyo* wasn’t so bad.

“You’re really reckless.”

Clearly, Linelle’s expression a moment ago was a permission, but suddenly he jumped up from the sofa and raised his voice. Strange? Why is he doing that?

“Your Majesty…?”

“Empress, come see me for a moment. It would be unpleasant for both of us to raise our voices in front of the concubines.”

Linelle pointed with his chin to another door in the office. It was a lounge where he took short breaks while working. I got up from the sofa in a daze and followed him. Seeing him open the lounge door and go inside with a bang, he seemed to be very angry. Raphael and the four concubines all looked at me. Some were sending me worried glances, while others were sending me gloating glances. I tensed up at Linelle’s sudden behavior and followed him into the room leisurely.

***

As I entered the lounge, his broad back was the first thing that caught my eye.

“Your Majesty, why are you so angry… Ugh?!”

Linelle kissed me roughly.

“Haa… You drive me crazy in many ways.”

“Wh, what are you talking about?”

“Let’s start with a kiss. Huh? Otherwise, my mouth won’t move properly, and I won’t be able to speak properly…”

He pushed me against the wall. His large hand was already covering the back of my head, so my head wouldn’t hit the wall.

“Th, there are people outside, we agreed not to do this when there are people!”

“That’s why I did as you wanted.”

“Huh?”

“You told me not to show it in front of others. So I’m doing this behind the scenes, why?”

Linelle kissed my shoulder and pressed his body, which was full of strength, closer to me.

“Could it be… did you get angry on purpose earlier to call me to the lounge?”

“That’s right. I’ve felt this before, but I’m really smart. Don’t you think?”

He chuckled and tickled my collarbone. I burst out laughing in disbelief.

“Then you’re allowing me to attend the hunting competition, right?”

“If you allow me too.”

“Allow what?”

“Shh, just a moment.”

“?”

He pressed his index finger on my lips, turned his body, and walked towards the door. Then suddenly,

“Empress, are you out of your mind? What kind of disgrace would it be if you fell off your horse!”

He shouted loudly towards the door.

“…Why are you doing this?”

I lowered my voice as much as possible and asked. He walked back to me and whispered.

“If I shout like this, they won’t suspect anything.”

“Suspect what?”

“Suspect that we’re doing *this* here.”

Linelle quickly took off his uniform jacket and threw it away.

“Yo, Your Majesty! What did you just do?”

“Negotiation.”

“!”

“In exchange for allowing you to participate in the hunting competition, I’m going to get what I want too.”

Oh my gosh. I quickly ran to the lounge door and tried to escape.

“Where are you running off to? It won’t take long.”

“Ah!”

The moment I reached for the doorknob, Linelle picked me up in a flash. My feet were kicking meaninglessly in the air.

“Put me down, do you have to do this now? We can negotiate at night… can’t we!”

“No.”

Before I knew it, I was sitting on the mahogany table. Linelle looked down at me and said in a clear, cold tone.

“Negotiation is all about timing.”

I couldn’t push his body away. There was no particular reason to.

It was a very good negotiation where we could get what we wanted… I benefited more in many ways.

***

After the meeting, the concubines returned to their palaces. But Rosie stayed until the end, hovering around me until she met my eyes. She cautiously suggested that she wanted to invite me to her residence. I readily agreed. Excited, Rosie chattered non-stop about her favorite books as we headed to her residence together. I also found her stories interesting and enjoyable.

“Um… Your Majesty, the Empress, you seem very tired. I’m worried that I might be bothering you…”

She asked cautiously when we arrived at Rosie’s residence.

“I’m not tired? Do I look like it?”

“Yes, you looked a bit tired when you came out of the lounge earlier. And your face was flushed too.”

“…Hahaha. Was it?”

I touched my cheeks and smiled awkwardly. The negotiation I had with Linelle in the lounge came to my mind vividly.

“You had… an argument with His Majesty, right? In the lounge.”

“Ah, no. There were some differences of opinion with His Majesty, but we negotiated well, so it’s okay.”

I said with a smile, but she didn’t believe me. Rosie, who didn’t know what happened in the lounge, felt sorry for me.

“Was His Majesty very angry?”

“Angry?”

“Yes, he seemed very angry when he called Her Majesty the Empress to the lounge, and His Majesty’s voice was occasionally heard from outside the lounge.”

“That’s right. He was very angry… he was.”

I fanned my face with both hands and replied.

“Right? I think His Majesty was very excited too!”

“Rosie has a very… accurate eye, doesn’t she?”

I bit my lower lip and held back a laugh.

“Yes! I am.”

Rosie smiled brightly and replied. As we laughed and chatted together, we arrived in front of her bedroom door. “It’s an honor to have you visit my humble place, Your Majesty, the Empress.”

“I’m grateful that you invited me.”

She gestured to her servant, and the bedroom door opened. I turned to her with surprised eyes as I stepped into the bedroom.

“Hehe, no matter how much I clean up, it always ends up in the same state, so I just started leaving it like this.”

Rosie smiled brightly as if she knew I would look back at her with that expression.

“No, but still…”

Hundreds of books were scattered all over the bedroom floor.

“I’m a guest, so it’s okay. But aren’t you uncomfortable living like this?”

I looked around at the many books scattered on the floor and asked.

“I’m comfortable with this? It may look disorganized to you, but I’ve organized it in my own way.”

Rosie replied proudly.

“This state? No, this condition?”

“Of course, Your Majesty!”

I was speechless at her dignified attitude. At that moment, something rolled out from under the bed and stopped at my feet.

“Rosie, what is this…?”

At first, I thought it was a ball, but then I realized it was an egg. I narrowed my eyes and slowly lowered my body to the marble floor, looking up at her. Rosie was staring at the egg with wide eyes. It looked like she was scolding it with her eyes.

“Is it an ostrich egg?”

I asked, holding the egg.

“Ah, th, that’s…”

She stammered and was embarrassed. Why is she doing this?

“Rosie, is this perhaps our snack?”

I smiled, turning the large egg in my hands. Then her pupils shook violently.