The Stand-In Empress’S Wedding Night [EN]: Chapter 57

57. Even the Foam is Delicious

“Yes, Your Majesty. What is it?”

Even spoken casually, Linelle’s voice, with its inherent allure, seemed to deeply affect her, as if she had received a heartfelt confession.

“Doesn’t Princess Chatouney know that one can touch a person with just a look?”

At his words, cracks began to appear on her perfect and pretty face. But she quickly composed herself and smiled brightly.

“I know that too. Ohoho… Your Majesty is so romantic.”

The princess tossed her pink hair back and spoke as if deeply impressed by his words. But only her mouth was smiling; her eyes were still strained. Having watched the princess since childhood, I could tell how taken aback she was. Until now, no one, especially a man, had ever contradicted her opinion with ‘I don’t think so?’ But the Emperor of the Lapion Empire did. Moreover, the man who was almost her husband. No, the man she believed she would soon remarry. He disagreed with her opinion. More than that, she seemed even more shocked that Linelle was showing affection towards me.

“What do you think, Empress? Am I romantic?”

He wanted to confirm the compliment he received from Princess Lesilia with me. The princess’s gaze towards me was very sharp. Unconsciously aware of her, I quietly replied to Linelle.

“You seem to be… changing in that way.”

It’s like I’m becoming more and more beautiful in Your Majesty’s eyes. I whispered the last words softly so only he could hear. He chuckled, patting my thigh under the table. Prince Tesler and Princess Lesilia exchanged glances and frowned simultaneously.

“You two… seem to be getting along very well.”

Prince Tesler, who had been quiet all along, said as he watched him and me intently.

“Getting better and better.”

Linelle replied to the prince, then pulled my shoulder into his embrace and smiled. I glanced at Prince Tesler and quickly escaped from his embrace, straightening my posture. At my request, he had been refraining from showing affection in front of the concubines, but he seemed to think there was no need to be careful in front of the people from Chatouney, the Empress’s home country, and showed a more affectionate side than usual. Generally, there would be nothing strange about this situation, but that was only when I was the ‘real Empress.’ His affection was openly revealed in front of the very people we needed to be careful of. This is going to be really troublesome….

“How close is the Empress to these two?”

At Linelle’s question, I couldn’t help but sigh. The word ‘close’ was not appropriate.

“I’ve often seen them in the Imperial Palace since I was young.”

Noble young ladies or gentlemen, those from humble families, or illegitimate children like me, often mingled with the royal family of their age in childhood. Like living toys. Would it be more accurate to say they were objects of the royal family’s amusement? I was just one of them; I didn’t have a close friendship with those siblings. Although there was a time when I believed that.

“We were like real sisters, Your Majesty.”

Princess Lesilia suddenly interjected, chirping with her dainty lips.

She was pretty enough that I wanted to just accept her lie. But, did all her real sisters die? I turned my head to the side, silently mouthed a curse, and then turned my head back, meeting Norton’s eyes. The prince raised one corner of his mouth. …Could he have read my lips? I touched my neck, feeling embarrassed for no reason. Just then, servants entered the reception room with trays. It was coffee that Princess Lesilia had brought directly from the kingdom. Simple refreshments and coffee with abundant foam were placed in front of us. To me, it just looked like a huge clump of soap bubbles placed on a cup.

“Your Majesty, please try it! The fragrant and rich vanilla foam doesn’t diminish throughout the coffee drinking. Of course, the coffee is delicious too, but like this…”

The princess paused and took a sip of coffee.

“Mmm, the vanilla foam itself is delicious.”

Her upper lip was covered in vanilla foam. Everyone sitting around the table focused on her lips and the tongue that came out. Ha, what’s the intention of doing that? She slowly licked the vanilla foam, staring intently at Linelle. It was a blatant attempt to seduce him. A wave of unease washed over me, a feeling of something being off-kilter. I wanted to smear the vanilla foam on the princess’s eyes right away.

“The Chatouney Kingdom has a rather unique way of enjoying coffee.”

He slowly turned the coffee cup in his hand, looking curiously at the vanilla foam that didn’t sink. I was so busy watching Lesilia lick the foam off her lips that I missed Linelle’s expression. Instead, I examined the expressions of the other two men. The expression of Prince Norton, who was sitting diagonally from her, was unreadable. He certainly seemed surprised, but it was unclear in what sense he was surprised, and Prince Tesler was making the expression I often saw in the royal palace.

‘Should I kill her, or let her live?’

He had looked at her with those eyes whenever Princess Lesilia did something unexpected.

“I enjoy this coffee for the taste of the vanilla foam.”
The princess, speaking softly with a gaze that seemed to say, ‘You’re all smitten with me, aren’t you?’ suddenly flinched.

“Oh my! This.”

She put down her coffee cup and accidentally spilled coffee on her hand. Whether that was a real accident, well, I don’t know.

“Ah, hot, hot, it’s hot!”

Even though the coffee had cooled down to some extent, Princess Lesilia acted as if she had put her hand in a blazing fire. Seeing her make such a fuss over this level of heat, a suppressed anger surged up. Do you know how hot the red reagent you dropped on my right face was? That feeling of branding flesh with a heated iron? It was too much pain for a child who was only seven years old to bear. But the gazes of people after the burn were even more painful. I put my hands on my knees and clenched them, giving strength to my hands so Linelle wouldn’t see. My kneecaps were starting to hurt, but it was nothing compared to the old wounds in my heart.

“Oh dear, wipe it with this.”

Linelle took out a handkerchief from his pocket and politely handed it to the princess. It was Prince Norton’s handkerchief. The handkerchief was crumpled, showing how hard he had squeezed it. I glanced sideways at Prince Norton. The prince’s expression darkened as his handkerchief was handed to the princess, as if he were watching an important document fall into the hands of the enemy. Prince Norton’s face was like the crumpled handkerchief. The only one blooming brightly in this reception room right now was Princess Lesilia’s face. She quickly took the handkerchief Linelle handed her and wiped the back of her hand.

“Thank you, Your Majesty! To give me Your Majesty’s handkerchief… I’m honored.”

Princess Lesilia said to him in an emotional voice. Then Linelle started to say, ‘Ah, that handkerchief is,’ trying to reveal the owner of the handkerchief.

“I want to cherish it, may I?”

She shyly asked, deliberately placing the handkerchief on her bulging chest. Is she crazy…? If he allowed it, she was ready to put the handkerchief inside her chest right away.

“I think you should ask the prince about that?”

Linelle gestured to Prince Norton.

“Yes? What do you mean…?”

Princess Lesilia dragged out her words and rolled her eyes towards the prince.

“Because the prince is the owner of that handkerchief. Originally, I was going to keep the prince’s handkerchief deep in my heart, but since the princess seems to like it, I’ll gladly give it up.”

Linelle said as if bestowing a great favor. I laughed at his appearance. Conversely, the smile disappeared from Princess Lesilia’s face. She placed the handkerchief she had been holding like a treasure on the table without any regrets and said to Prince Norton with an awkward expression.

“I’ll give it back to you, Prince.”

“You can throw it away.”

“Ah, no, it looks like a good handkerchief, you shouldn’t throw it away carelessly.”

“In a world where people are thrown away, would that handkerchief matter?”

Prince Norton was smiling, but his tone sounded quite aggressive.

“…Yes?”

The princess swallowed hard and widened her eyes.

“Just throw it away, Princess.”

Prince Norton emphasized once again.

“I’m not the type to throw anything away, not even people.”

She blinked her eyes and said in an innocent voice. Some incomprehensible conversations were exchanged between the two. From the perspective of those listening to their conversation, it was a somewhat strange conversation, but the parties involved seemed to understand each other. I’m getting thirsty for no reason. I wanted to drink water, but only coffee that looked like soap bubbles was placed in front of me. I reluctantly took a sip of the coffee Lesilia brought, feeling like I was drinking poison to quench my thirst.

“Your Majesty, we will now retreat to the guesthouse in the annex where the VIP rooms are located.”

Prince Tesler, who had been looking back and forth between Princess Lesilia and Prince Norton since earlier, had a much more tired face than when I first saw him.

“Do so. You must be tired from the long journey, so rest well today, and let’s have a meal together tomorrow and discuss the hunting competition. And also, catch up with the Empress.”

“Thank you for your consideration.”

Prince Tesler glanced at me and slightly bowed his head to him.

“Is that okay, Empress?”

He asked for my opinion. It was a consideration I didn’t want at all, but I had no choice but to answer.

“Yes, I will. Your Majesty.”

“…Ah, you startled me.”

Linelle looked at my face and leaned back, startled.

“What’s wrong, Your Majesty?”

“Empress, I thought the High Priest had come.”

Linelle said, placing his hand on his heart.

“Yes? The High Priest?”

“Your lips.”

He circled his finger around his mouth and spoke in a laughing voice.

“Ah!”

It seemed he was saying that there was vanilla foam on my mouth. Still, to think he mistook me for a High Priest with a full white beard? If vanilla foam gets on Princess Lesilia’s lips, it looks cute, but if it gets on mine, it looks like a white beard? I was about to lick the vanilla foam off my lips like her, but I gave up. Why leave my hands and…? I raised my hand to wipe my lips, but my hand touched not my lips but the back of Linelle’s head. What?! Suddenly, his closed eyes, his long eyelashes, came into my view. And before I could say anything, I felt a stubborn, sweet sensation on my lips. It was Linelle’s lips.

He was meticulously stealing the vanilla foam from my lips with his mouth.

“Even the foam is delicious.”

Only after lingering over my lips a few more times did his lively softness return to its place.

“Your affection for each other… is deep. From the perspective of the Chatouney royal family, it’s a truly joyful… thing.”

Prince Tesler asked, probing him with a cunning smile. At the same time, the prince looked at me and fiddled with his pinky finger with his other hand, then moved the area and massaged his wrist. Disgusting guy. His gesture seemed like a warning and a threat that he could blow Bonis’s wrist off next time.

“It seems like only I’m deep right now.”

Linelle retorted to Prince Tesler.

“Yes? Your Majesty, only you are deep?”

“If I don’t push myself on the Empress like this, there’s no opportunity. It’s a rare opportunity, so please excuse my rudeness.”

He chuckled, slightly raising his teacup. His one word just now seemed to save me and Bonis.

“Oh dear… Empress, why don’t you treat His Majesty more affectionately?”

Prince Tesler deliberately said, urging me.

“Please understand, Your Majesty. The Empress has been lacking in charm since she was young.”

Her voice, fluttering with flattery, was quite annoying, but it wasn’t a lie.

“Oh my, what a consistent person.”

But Linelle looked at me with admiration, as if he had heard a compliment about me.

“?”

I was very curious about what kind of expression I was making right now. I couldn’t frown or smile at his words.

“Anyway, thanks to the coffee the princess brought, I got to taste the vanilla foam properly. Thank you.”

His gaze fixed on my lips as he spoke to Princess Lesilia. Displeasure swept across her face, and she eventually rose from her chair even before Prince Tesler.

“I, I will return to the guesthouse now…”

*** The two siblings of the Chatouney royal family hurriedly left the main palace and took the carriage back to the annex with the VIP rooms.

“What’s so good about that damn beggar that he’s wiping foam off her lips with his own mouth?”

Princess Lesilia’s annoyance began from the moment she got into the carriage.

“Lesil, shut your mouth!”

She pouted at Prince Tesler’s shout. The prince’s head felt like it was about to explode just from Norton’s problem.

‘A mercenary knight of unclear origin turns out to be a prince of the Partsha Empire? Moreover, he survived even after falling off a cliff?’

*** Upon arriving at the annex, the two were guided to the VIP floor where they would be staying. Prince Tesler entered the VIP room assigned to the princess with her.

“What on earth were you thinking doing such a thing! I told you to just smile and do nothing!”

He had given her so much caution before coming to the Lapion Empire. As soon as the bedroom door closed, Prince Tesler shouted. Before bringing up the story about Prince Norton, he first scolded her for her behavior in the reception room.

“Brother, how on earth did Zelda win over the Emperor? This doesn’t make sense.”

Princess Lesilia ignored the prince’s scolding and was furious at Linelle’s attitude, who showed no interest in her at all.

“What’s going on, damn it…”

Prince Tesler was just as annoyed.

“Did Zelda feed him something weird? Otherwise, how could the Emperor look at such a thing with such affectionate eyes!”

“Lower your voice, you brat!”

Prince Tesler put his hand on his forehead.

“Why did you spill coffee unnecessarily and see things you didn’t need to see?”

“Ah, I don’t know, I don’t know! Brother, get me a magic potion to change my eye color.”

“What? What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

“I hate that Zelda and I have the same hair color.”

She swept all of her abundant pink hair to one side and began to comb it.

“If possible, it would be nice to have black eyes that don’t even know who they’ve captured, right?”

The princess, who had been frowning, looked in the mirror and quickly spoke in a nightingale-like voice.

“Stop talking nonsense.”

Prince Tesler liked seeing his reflection in Zelda’s clear pink eyes. Zelda with black eyes… it didn’t suit her at all. No matter how much she was his younger sister, he couldn’t help but sigh when she often made such absurd demands.

“You, you really didn’t know that he was a prince of the Partsha Empire?”

Prince Tesler asked, putting his hand on his forehead.

“If I had known, would I have betrayed Norton and followed the royal knights? But it’s strange. Why did he hide that he was a prince from me too?”

“Haa, that’s probably because there was a bloodbath going on in the Partsha imperial family.”

“Ah, the 2nd Prince killed the 1st Prince and started a rebellion?”

“Yes. He came to the Northern Continent because of that, so he wouldn’t have wanted to reveal his identity.”

‘Bastard, but there was no reason to survive the cliff, was there? As if he was the 3rd Prince.’

Prince Tesler smiled bitterly.

“I have to meet Norton.”

Princess Lesilia, who had been rolling her eyes and biting her nails, said with a determined look.