The Stand-In Empress’S Wedding Night [EN]: Chapter 58

58. Hold Me

“Are you crazy? Don’t provoke him. Stay put. I’ll figure out what’s going on.”

The Prince lowered his voice, urging her. When he first saw Norton at the entrance of the main palace, he didn’t recognize him. But upon closer inspection, it was indeed the mercenary knight who had eloped with his sister. He thought he was dead. How was he alive and well? If he had known this would happen, he would have ordered his head to be cut off and thrown off a cliff. Norton with just the name ‘Norton’ and Norton with the surname ‘Asalman’ were worlds apart. Things have gotten seriously twisted.

‘When things get too twisted, you don’t untangle them.’

It was better to just cut it off.

“I need to reopen the heart Norton closed to me. I need to melt his heart again.”

Princess Resilia said to herself, reaffirming her will.

“What?”

Prince Tesler, who had been lost in thought, suddenly raised his head at his sister’s nonsense.

“That’s how I won’t be hindered in my path.”

Princess Resilia smiled brightly, recalling Linell’s face, which had made her heart flutter at first sight.

“Please, Resil! Just stay still and don’t provoke him!”

There’s no hope for someone who’s not only stupid but also stubborn. Prince Tesler was about to say something more but closed his mouth, hitting his chest with his fist.

“No, I know him well!”

The Princess raised her voice, not backing down.

“If I soothe him well again, he’ll definitely do something for me.”

Because Norton loves me. He has no choice but to love me. She still believed that.

“What do you think that guy will do for you?”

Prince Tesler, who had been nervously sweeping his hair back several times, paused and asked.

“Do you think he’d push the woman he eloped with and had a child with to remarry another man? Especially marriage with Emperor Lapion?”

“Do you think I’m stupid? I won’t reveal all those facts.”

“Then what are you going to do?”

“First, I’ll have Zelda approach him.”

“……And then?”

“I need to create something that will tarnish the Empress’s honor.”

“Do you trust him? Do you think he’ll move according to your will?”

Prince Tesler seemed to listen to the Princess for a moment, then sneered at her again.

“He was a man who would pretend to die if I told him to! I’m going to meet Norton. There’s something I want to ask.”

“What is it? About the child?”

“Yes, Rams… is he being raised in the Partsha Imperial Family?”

Prince Tesler’s eyebrows twitched.

‘Should I tell her everything now?’

He hesitated for a moment. His sister didn’t know what had happened to Norton and the child. The fact she knew was, ‘The Royal Knights let Norton go that day, and Norton took the child and left the Shato Neil Kingdom.’

‘Rams’ face…….’

Princess Resilia recalled her son after a long time. But surprisingly, the face of that small, pretty child was already blurry. In fact, the child she remembered was just a bothersome being who only whined and cried. The biggest reason she followed the Royal Knights again was the stress of childcare.

“Brother, I’m going to meet Norton. Something’s changed… that look keeps bothering me.”

My sister isn’t completely clueless. The Prince snorted without realizing it.

“Resil, what if… what if you can’t win Emperor Linell’s heart? What will you do then?”

That’s unlikely. No, it shouldn’t be.

“Then I’ll have no choice but to follow Norton to the Partsha Empire.”

Princess Resilia replied with a cheerful face. The problem was that her mind was also cheerful.

“Ha, are you serious?”

“It’s not as good as being an Empress, but being a Prince Consort is 괜찮지 [Gwaenchanhji – Korean for ‘not bad’, ‘okay’]. If Norton’s brother becomes Emperor, he’ll become a Grand Duke, and I’ll become a Grand Duchess, but that’s not bad either.”

“Sister, you’re so positive.”

Prince Tesler nodded at her calculating attitude. But the probability of Norton accepting her… was almost zero.

“Anyway, I’m still royalty.”

Princess Resilia continued to chatter with a dreamy face.

“Who knows? My son might ascend to the throne. Or Norton might become Emperor before that.”

“Give up on that guy, Norton.”

“Why……?”

At the Princess’s slow question, Prince Tesler revealed all the truth of ‘that day.’ If he couldn’t get rid of Norton from the Lapion Imperial Family right away, the Princess needed to know about what happened that day.

“The day you returned to the Royal Palace, that bastard fell off a cliff. With the child.”

“……What, what are you talking about?!”

“But he met some kind of miracle and is alive and well? Ha, I don’t know how he survived… damn it.”

Prince Tesler suppressed his anger and spoke quietly.

“That bastard will want to take revenge on you. Don’t you think?”

Princess Resilia, who had learned all the truth, sat down on the chair with a complicated face.

“……Then, Rams must be dead, right?”

That was her first words, as if it would be more troublesome if the child was alive.

“I need to find out now.”

Prince Tesler’s eyes deepened even more.

“Even in this situation, you don’t want to get back with that guy, do you?”

“But…….”

“Since you’re going to be killed by a man who wants to kill you anyway, wouldn’t it be better to be an Empress rather than a Prince Consort?”

“Th, that’s right.”

Princess Resilia nodded at her brother’s words without realizing it, as Linell’s face, which was much more splendid than she had imagined, came to mind.

“Listen carefully. If Norton gets in the way of our plans or becomes a hindrance, we have to get rid of him again. If the child is alive, get rid of him too.”

“……Huh?”

At her blank question, Prince Tesler put strength into his voice.

“Otherwise, you and I will die!”

At Prince Tesler’s words, the Princess frowned. Norton cherished Rams very much. If that child died on the cliff… If that were the case, she thought Norton might really kill her.

“The probability of not becoming the Empress of the Lapion Empire is much higher than the probability of not becoming the Prince Consort of the Partsha Empire! Got it?”

“The words ‘get rid of’ in front of my eyes… doesn’t necessarily mean kill, right? Not Norton.”

Princess Resilia asked with a confused face. So, does that mean the child is okay? Prince Tesler looked at her with an equally confused face before opening his mouth.

“Let’s think about whether to kill him and get rid of him or save him and get rid of him somewhere else later. First, we need to make sure he doesn’t become an obstacle.”

“I’ll, I’ll find out.”

“What?”

“Whether Rams is safe. And if he’s alive, where he’s been taken.”

In fact, in this situation, finding out through Resilia was the most accurate and easiest way. The Prince hesitated for a moment and nodded.

“Okay, it’s okay to approach him to get information. But if it doesn’t work out, we have to take action right away. Resil, are you okay?”

Prince Tesler asked, examining the Princess’s complexion. Norton was one thing, but knowing that her child had fallen off a cliff, her shock must have been great. But.

“If he’s dead, it can’t be helped.”

Princess Resilia shook her hand and got up from the chair, replying.

“I can have another child. It’s okay as long as Norton is alive.”

“!”

Prince Tesler was newly surprised by the fact that his sister was more vicious than he thought. But what was even more surprising was that she liked Emperor Linell quite a bit, even though she still had affection for Norton.

“I’m just going to change my dress and go to Norton.”

Princess Resilia, with a happy face again, took her servants and disappeared into the dressing room.

‘You are as hopeless now as you were then.’

Norton looked at Princess Resilia, who had come to his bedroom without permission, with an indifferent gaze.

“What brings the Princess of Shato Neil here?”

The Prince asked coldly. Then she shook her body with an affectionate gesture with moist eyes like a deer caught in the rain.

“I missed you.”

“You’re still shameless.”

“You’re still 멋있고 [meosissgo – Korean for ‘cool’, ‘handsome’]. No, you’ve become even more 멋있어 [meosiss-eo]!”

“What are you doing?”

Norton spoke informally to the Princess for the first time. Absurdly, Princess Resilia’s heart suddenly began to beat at the sight. He was a man who had never spoken informally to her even when they ran away and lived together. Of course, it was probably because he was angry at the betrayal, but the way he treated her carelessly was strangely sexy. It seemed to be felt even more so after learning about his status. Princess Resilia, who had been standing far away, ran to him, who was leaning against the window, watching Norton’s mood.

“Are you crazy?”

The Prince glared at her with a contemptuous gaze as she approached right under his chin.

“I was originally crazy about you. That’s why I even ran away with you!”

“Then I guess running away is a hobby, seeing that you abandoned me and Rams and ran away again.”

“Rams… is our Rams… healthy? Is he doing well?”

Princess Resilia asked with sad eyes. He stared intently at her teary eyes and said.

“Isn’t that something you shouldn’t be asking?”

“Why? I’m Rams’ mother.”

“The day you abandoned the child, you were no longer a mother. What? You don’t even have affection, but what? Is Rams doing well?”

Princess Resilia could feel anger in his voice. It’s okay. It was anger that she could handle anyway.

“Why don’t I have affection? If I didn’t have affection, I wouldn’t have run away with you to give birth to Rams!”

People tend to be more angry when they have a lot to be pricked at.

“Let’s get the words right, Princess.”

Norton’s eyes fell scarily on her beautiful face.

“Until I heard about the national marriage with Emperor Linell, you didn’t even know you were pregnant. And you said that if you gave birth to a child in the Royal Palace, your status would fall.”

“Th, that’s true. But I ran away for Rams’ safety.”

“No? You just wanted to have an affair. Besides, who was the one who said that Emperor Linell was a flawed guy somewhere?”

At his questioning, Princess Resilia’s face turned red, and she only moved her lips.

“Rams was just something you had to give birth to because it was too late to do anything. Isn’t it?”

“No, that’s not it! I, I really regretted it a lot. How much did I cry every night thinking about you and Rams…….”

She unconsciously raised her voice with a mixture of annoyance, then immediately softened her voice and made a pitiful expression.

“Don’t worry about Rams anymore. Mind your own business.”

At Norton’s words, her expression, which had been hanging her head, slightly changed.

‘He’s still alive…….’

Princess Resilia unknowingly clenched her teeth tightly. As soon as she heard that her son was alive, she felt like a cumbersome burden.

“Tell me why you came here. It’s painful just looking at you like this.”

“Why? Why is it painful?”

“What?”

“Because you still love me? Because you hate me to death but still love me? Is that why? Huh?”

She blinked her long eyelashes and looked up at him.

“That’s ridiculous.”

Norton turned away coldly, with an expression that he didn’t want to talk anymore.

“I still love you!”

Princess Resilia hugged him tightly from behind. He mercilessly took off the Princess’s hand that was wrapped around his waist and turned to her.

“Do it moderately. My patience is running out.”

“It’s true. I realized it as soon as I saw you today. Can’t you forgive me? You used to do whatever I wanted. Norton, please…….”

“Why should I forgive you?”

“W, we have Rams! I’m that child’s mother. Rams must have missed me a lot…… sob, sob, sob.”

Princess Resilia cried and rubbed his hands against her cheeks.

“I’m crying like this. You said that even the tears I shed were precious. You said you couldn’t bear it because your heart hurt.”

That was sincere. Princess Resilia was a lovely woman even when she cried. Norton’s frowning expression slightly relaxed.

‘He’s wavering!’

She shouted confidently in her heart, looking at his face. She had to shake him up even more in this gap.

“I missed you so much every night. Norton…….”

“!”

Princess Resilia raised her heels tightly, grabbed his shoulders with both hands, and kissed him as is. She forcibly opened Norton’s tightly closed lips.

After pouring out kisses as she pleased for a while, Princess Resilia took her lips off and hugged him as if clinging to him.

‘Norton, you’re just like I thought.’

As she expected, he did not reject her. She enjoyed the sense of victory for a moment and then looked at him again with a pitiful expression.

“By the way, where is our Rams… now?”

“Not far from this Imperial Palace.”

Norton replied obediently. Moreover, in a friendly voice like before.

“H, here in the Lapion Empire?!”

“Yes, so don’t worry. Our son is healthy and well.”

He said in a much calmer voice. Princess Resilia was greatly embarrassed by the fact that Rams was in the Lapion Empire, but she quickly buried her face in his chest.

‘Thank goodness. Resilia. You’re still the same.’

The Prince patted her back and raised one corner of his mouth.

“Hold me. Right now.”

Princess Resilia, who raised her head again, acted coyly and pulled Norton’s hand to the bed.