The Stand-In Empress’S Wedding Night [EN]: Chapter 70

70. Stirring Up a Hornet’s Nest

“I have a feeling that Lady Bonis might be arriving with the luggage carts from the Shatoaniel Kingdom.”

For a moment, I was speechless, staring intently at Grand Duke Martins. Bonis is really coming here, to the Lapheon Imperial Palace?! A mix of bewilderment and joy made me forget to breathe for a moment before I regained my composure.

“Grand Duke, why… why are you telling me this?”

“Didn’t you say before that the young lady is precious to Her Majesty the Empress?”

“That’s right. I mean, why are you helping me?”

“What do you mean?”

Grand Duke Martins tilted his head, questioning me before continuing.

“I haven’t helped you with anything yet.”

“No, just telling me about Bonis is help enough.”

“I don’t know what Prince Tesler is thinking, ordering her to be brought here. But I thought you should know. And about Lady Bonis…”

“Yes, I’ll keep what I know a secret.”

If I were to ask Prince Tesler about Bonis coming here first, he would suspect Grand Duke Martins of leaking the information, putting the Grand Duke in a difficult position.

“No, that’s not what I meant. The Prince will probably try to use Lady Bonis as a bargaining chip or to coerce you. So, Her Majesty the Empress should avoid mentioning her as much as possible and think of a plan to deal with it.”

“I will. Thank you.”

I conveyed my sincere gratitude. Grand Duke Martins coughed awkwardly, then narrowed his brows again.

“Ah, and the magic potion needs to be prepared before the hunting trip.”

“Is it possible? It is possible, right?”

The mention of the magic potion made me anxious again.

“Didn’t you say you made a reservation at the clinic back then?”

“Yes, but that magician, Big, said it would take time to make the one I need. So, I’m a bit worried.”

“I’ll send someone to see him—no, I’ll meet him myself.”

“Really… would you do that?”

I asked, half in disbelief at Grand Duke Martins’ unexpected favor.

“Yes, so don’t worry too much, Your Majesty.”

“Thank you. Please act as quickly as possible.”

“I will.”

The Grand Duke, who usually seemed annoying, looked quite reliable today. It couldn’t be helped. Grand Duke Martins was the only one I could discuss this with right now. The fact that he told me about Bonis also played a part. It felt like I was looking at Grand Duke Martins’ face without frowning for the first time today.

“By the way, Grand Duke, did you get a new scar?”

I pointed to the scratch on his right cheek. It looked like a slight cut.

“Ah, this is a kind of proof.”

“Proof of what?”

“Proof that I have a good eye for people. Proof that my choice was right.”

“I don’t understand what you mean.”

“You don’t need to. Come to think of it, I have a scar in a similar place to Her Majesty… We have something in common now.”

Grand Duke Martins said, touching the scar on his right cheek.

“I can’t accept that.”

“Haha, why not?”

The Grand Duke asked with a short laugh when I became serious.

“Your scar will disappear soon, but the scar on my face remains, even though I temporarily erased it with the magic potion.”

I touched the burn scar on my right cheek.

“You’re trying to compare yourself to me with just that little scar?”

Grand Duke Martins made a bitter expression instead of me, which made me laugh in vain. I started walking around the greenhouse with the Grand Duke again. After a while, I lowered my voice and said,

“Yesterday, I happened to see a servant from the West Palace being murdered in the Empress Palace garden. I think Prince Tesler is involved.”

Grand Duke Martins, who had been walking straight ahead, glanced at my face. I told him everything that happened last night, including the fact that Prince Norton had witnessed it as well.

“Prince Norton saw the servant near Consort Pesilini’s residence. It seems Consort Pesilini is Prince Tesler’s puppet. What do you think?”

Unlike me, who was speaking seriously, the Grand Duke seemed calm.

“Yes, that’s right. I was going to tell you that today anyway.”

Grand Duke Martins said calmly.

“Ah, you already found out? But is Prince Norton… okay? What if he tells the Prince that he met me last night…”

“Yes, he’ll be fine. You don’t have to worry about that.”

The Grand Duke said reassuringly, as if he knew what I was worried about.

“How can you be so sure?”

“I already heard about last night from Prince Norton.”

“You two… were you acquainted?”

Come to think of it, when I first met Prince Norton at the training ground, he also asked me about Grand Duke Martins.

“We’re getting to know each other slowly with good feelings. I’m not sure about Prince Norton’s feelings yet, but…”

“…Yes?”

“What’s certain is that Prince Norton likes me more than Prince Tesler does. So, don’t worry. Ah, does that sound strange…?”

Grand Duke Martins continued casually, then chuckled when he saw my curious eyes and quickly added,

“Don’t misunderstand anything strange.”

“Yes, anyway, I hope you two… have a good outcome. Whatever it may be.”

I clenched my fists and cheered them on.

***

After parting ways with Grand Duke Martins in the greenhouse, I returned to the Empress Palace. Hearing about Bonis from the Grand Duke and discussing the purchase of the magic potion eased my anxiety a bit. However, as long as the Shatoaniel royal siblings stayed in this Imperial Palace, I couldn’t help but be on edge. When I arrived at the bedroom floor, I saw Solie and Theresa loitering in the middle of the hallway. Sharon and I looked at each other at the same time. Sharon, also sensing something was wrong, called out their names. The two of them rushed over as if they had been waiting.

“What’s wrong? What happened?”

Sharon asked Solie and Theresa, glancing at me.

“Well… the Princess from Her Majesty the Empress’s home country has been in the bedroom since earlier.”

“Princess Resilia?”

I reacted nervously without realizing it.

“Yes, Your Majesty…”

“What have you been doing? You should have escorted her to the reception room. Why did you let her into the bedroom when Her Majesty the Empress wasn’t here?”

Sharon scolded the two.

“We apologize. We told her that, but…”

“She opened the bedroom door and went in without warning…”

As the two lowered their heads and spoke, Sharon’s voice grew louder.

“Even so!”

“That’s enough. I’ll go in. You’re saying she’s waiting inside the bedroom now?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

I calmed the excited Sharon and walked towards the bedroom door.

***

Today is a really unlucky day. I mentally prepared myself before entering the bedroom. Facing Princess Resilia’s face with such a lousy mood required a great deal of patience. Being skilled at turning people inside out with a bright smile was a specialty of Prince Tesler and Princess Resilia. However, while the Prince gauged the situation before provoking someone, the Princess simply poured oil on the fire. I took a deep breath and opened the bedroom door. Contrary to my expectations, the bedroom was quiet despite my entrance. It was normal to hear Princess Resilia’s boisterous chatter, but there was no reaction. Moreover, she was nowhere to be seen. I slowly looked around before stopping in the middle of the bedroom.

“Ha…”

Princess Resilia was asleep on my bed. It was such an inconsiderate act. Even though I was a proxy Empress, that was only known among us, and there were many eyes watching even in the Empress Palace. Did she not care about their gazes? Besides, it was rare for someone to enter the bedroom and wait while the Empress was away, but a kingdom’s princess was taking a nap on the Empire’s Empress’s bed. Princess Resilia was sleeping exactly on the side where I usually lay. I stared at the sleeping princess’s face and imagined Linell lying next to her. Just imagining him laughing, talking, and sharing love in this bed with another woman, especially Princess Resilia, made my heart ache.

“Huh? When did you get here?”

Princess Resilia woke up. She rubbed her eyes with both hands like a child, yawned, and sat up.

“You should have waited in the reception room.”

Asking her why she came was pointless anyway.

“Why, are you upset? That I came into a bedroom without the owner’s permission?”

I would have been less angry if she had asked in a sharp voice, but the princess’s innocent tone made it sound like she was teasing me.

“It’s not that, but there are many eyes watching, so you should be careful. No matter how much you are the Empress’s home country’s princess, if the servants see you taking a nap in a bedroom without the owner, wouldn’t they think it’s strange?”

“Hmm, sorry! I guess I felt familiar because I thought they would be the servants serving me later? And I fell asleep without realizing it when I just laid down on the bed for a moment.”

“…”

Never mind. I just shut my mouth.

“Which side does His Majesty sleep on? Does he have any sleeping habits?”

“…Pardon?”

“I need to know in advance. Ah, the most important thing! Is there really no problem with him?”

“Problem?”

“In bed…”

Princess Resilia asked secretly with a serious face. I was so dumbfounded that I stared at her face with my mouth open.

“Rumor has it that he has a problem with his function and avoids women. What’s it like sleeping with him? Tell me. Hey, I understand everything.”

“What exactly do you understand?”

I frowned and let out a hollow laugh.

“I understand that you’re sleeping in the same bed with His Majesty as compensation for taking my place. I’m originally cool, you know.”

The princess got out of bed completely, stretched, and said.

“Ha…”

I wanted to tell her that we spend hot nights every night, that he doesn’t let me sleep at all, so I have to take naps like you.

“Instead, are you using contraception properly?”

“!”

“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that part.”

When I looked at Princess Resilia with wide eyes, she opened her mouth again with a look that said she thought I didn’t know.

“I heard that there’s also a contraceptive in the magic potion. Didn’t you know?”

“…Did the Prince tell you that?”

“Yeah. If you get the chance, be sure to thank my brother. He even takes care of such delicate details. He’s so kind.”

“Kind…? Hahahaha.”

It was the funniest thing I had heard lately. The sound of laughter didn’t stop from my mouth. In fact, I had brought contraceptives separately when I left Shatoaniel Royal Palace. I thought such medicine would be unnecessary because I heard from Prince Tesler that Linell had a functional problem and didn’t go near women. However, Bonis said that you never know and urgently obtained contraceptives through an acquaintance maid and put them in my luggage. And on the day of the national wedding, after unexpectedly spending the first night with him, I had been taking the contraceptives that Bonis had given me. As a proxy Empress, it was a natural choice for me because the situation would become complicated if I got pregnant. But Prince Tesler had already taken measures… Ha, should I thank him for his thorough preparation?

“Looking at it, my brother seems to care about you a lot. Sometimes more than me, his own sister.”

“That can’t be.”

I still couldn’t stop laughing.

“Oh my, it’s said that people who only receive don’t know well, and that’s exactly right?”

Princess Resilia glared at me fiercely.

“What did you say?”

“He especially took care of you a lot when you were young. To the point where I was jealous.”

Even though Prince Tesler took me around the Royal Palace here and there when I was young, it wasn’t enough to cause jealousy. But for her, who always had to monopolize everyone’s love and attention, even that much kindness was annoying?

“Wow, but Zelda… the burn scar really disappeared completely.”

She admired, looking closely at my face.

“But I miss the old you.”

The moment I heard those words, goosebumps rose on my arms. It felt like a chilling knife was hidden in what Princess Resilia said.

“You really have to thank my brother. Look, my brother has perfectly fixed what I did, right?”

She said, pointing to my burn scar with her finger.

“Do you remember that day? We were playing hide-and-seek the day you got burned on your face.”

Her tone was as if she had nothing to do with what happened that day. I gathered my last bit of patience and warned her.

“Please… just leave today.”

But Princess Resilia didn’t care and began to bring up the worst day of my life like it was nothing more than a memory.

“But actually, that day…”

Without knowing that she was stirring up a hornet’s nest right now.