The Stand-In Empress’S Wedding Night [EN]: Chapter 75

75. Run, Rabbit, Run

2021.09.22.

There was no time to calmly take the teacup, nor to explain to him. I hurriedly knocked the cocoa cup from his hand. It fell to the marble floor with a loud crash and shattered. Linelle had already taken a sip, so I had nothing to lose. He turned to me, surprised, and I immediately covered his lips with mine. Emperor Adrian had clearly stated that the poison in the cocoa wouldn’t spread rapidly if mixed with someone else’s saliva. Without hesitation, I ruthlessly stirred around in Linelle’s mouth. Despite the urgency, I could distinctly taste the sweet cocoa. I kissed him passionately, determined to dilute the poison he had ingested. Linelle’s bewilderment was palpable. Was his mouth already going numb? He was swept away by my fervent kiss, led by my actions. I focused on completely erasing the traces of cocoa when he grabbed my face with both hands, as if to steady me, and pulled away. His blue eyes met mine, shaking intensely, whether from the poison or because of me.

“Your Majesty, are you alright?”

“Isn’t that… what I should be asking? Empress, are you alright?”

Linelle’s expression suggested he thought I was out of my mind, but perhaps because Emperor Adrian was present, his tone remained polite.

“Ah… I’m fine. Um… I suddenly smelled the sweet cocoa and lost it, I’m sorry!”

Ha, without a proper excuse, it was truly a deathly situation. I wasn’t afraid even if that silverfish bastard from the Thebelo Empire had poisoned my cocoa. My blood vessels would freeze, and I’d die from the cold? Fine. I’d lived with a hot body my whole life; I could freeze to death just once at the end! That’s what I was thinking. As long as Linelle was okay, I didn’t care about anything else. I was really… sincere.

“Your Majesty, you’re really alright, right?”

I asked again, checking his condition.

“No, I’m not alright.”

He said seriously.

“Yes?! Where? Where does it hurt?”

“My heart. Your provocation is making my body hot. And there’s an audience in front of us, making it even worse.”

Linelle gestured towards Emperor Adrian and spoke shyly, but his expression didn’t look shy at all.

“Sweet. Sweeter than cocoa.”

Linelle whispered in my ear. I then heard Emperor Adrian’s thoughts as he watched this scene. This time, it wasn’t a monologue but a direct… message to me.

-‘I was doubtful, but… So, you can hear me? What I’m saying.’

A chill ran down my spine. Emperor Adrian’s words felt like rubbing my back against a giant iceberg. Wait, so the words about the poison in the cocoa were a lie to test me? To see if I could really hear his thoughts? I looked straight at Emperor Adrian’s face, which I had been deliberately avoiding.

“I will have my servant bring Your Majesty another cup of cocoa.”

Emperor Adrian didn’t show any reaction outwardly.

“It’s alright. I’ll have it later separately.”

Linelle lightly shook his head, refusing.

“Yes, please do. But the reception room is a bit chilly. Would you allow me to light the fireplace?”

“As you wish.”

As soon as permission was given, Emperor Adrian put his fingers together and flicked them lightly towards the fireplace. Immediately, the pile of firewood inside caught fire, and the flames soared. The fire is too strong? I waited until Emperor Adrian looked away and subtly adjusted the fire to lower the flames. Controlling the flames to that extent was nothing to me.

“The two of you seem to have a better relationship than I thought.”

Emperor Adrian rubbed his lips, looking back and forth between Linelle and me.

“Hahaha, Emperor Adrian, please don’t spread the scene you just witnessed to other dignitaries.”

Linelle’s tone suggested he wouldn’t mind if the rumors did spread.

“It seems Empress cannot control her love for Emperor Linelle. But it seems you can control other things well.”

Emperor Adrian glanced at the fireplace and gave a strange smile. I wanted to throw that silverfish into the fireplace and roast him. Trying to test me with a lie about poisoning the cocoa. Emperor Adrian, what is your true identity? What are you that I can hear your thoughts?

“Now that I’ve had tea, I’ll disappear back to my detached palace. Oh, when will the party for the dignitaries be held?”

Emperor Adrian asked Linelle, who had risen to see him off.

“I plan to hold it as soon as all the dignitaries arrive.”

“Oh, I’m very much looking forward to the banquet in the Northern Continent.”

“There’s nothing special, but we are paying special attention since it’s the first gathering of all countries in years.”

“Indeed. As expected.”

Emperor Adrian chuckled, and Linelle raised an eyebrow.

“What do you mean?”

“Just that it probably won’t be as special as you said. So, I’ve prepared a truly ‘special’ performance to liven up the banquet atmosphere, unique to the Thebelo Empire, which you can’t see in the Northern Continent.”

“A special performance? What is it?”

Linelle asked with a puzzled expression.

“A banquet should be pleasing to the eye, shouldn’t it? You won’t be disappointed. Look forward to it. Then, I’ll disappear back to my detached palace.”

“Yes, thank you, though it’s late. Rest well, Emperor Adrian.”

In response to Linelle’s greeting, I also gave a light bow. Emperor Adrian, who briefly made eye contact with me, extended a hand towards the door as he walked out. Then, the reception room door opened on its own.

-‘Empress, you are hiding something special. I will soon uncover it.’

The silverfish left me with that unsettling thought and disappeared.

***
It wasn’t that late, but my fatigue was profound. In the end, as Linelle suggested, I couldn’t return to the Empress Palace and stayed in the main palace bedroom.

“It was a bit chaotic today, wasn’t it?”

Linelle asked, sitting on the bed after coming out of the bathroom.

“It was.”

“It’ll be even more chaotic starting tomorrow. I guarantee it.”

Linelle approached, playfully threatening. Actually, it doesn’t even have to wait until tomorrow, does it? The way he’s loosely wearing a towel around his waist is already making me lose my mind. I exchanged appreciative glances with his muscles, each faithfully showing off their presence. He put his hands on his waist and said to me.

“I didn’t break our promise earlier. You couldn’t resist and kissed me.”

“Ah, it’s not that I couldn’t resist, it’s just that the cocoa…”

I started to say but then stopped myself.

‘It might sound strange, but I can hear Emperor Adrian’s thoughts. And that damn silverfish said there was poison in the teacup to test me? So, when Linelle drank the cocoa, I lost my mind and started kissing him…’

That’s it. Never mind. He wouldn’t believe me even if I told him the truth. More than that, what is Emperor Adrian’s real identity? And I need to find out why I can hear his thoughts and how he can talk to me in my mind. But how? With what means? While I was lost in thought, Linelle’s shy voice reached me.

“Excuses are unnecessary. Even if you hadn’t kissed me first, I wouldn’t have been able to resist anyway.”

Linelle’s hand reached for the towel around his waist.

“I really can’t resist right now…”

“P-Please wear this!”

I picked up his gown that was laid out next to the bed and shook it like a handkerchief. Linelle looked at it and tilted his head as if asking, ‘What is this for?’

“Zelda. Do you really… need that now?”

“You might catch a cold.”

“My body feels warmer wearing you than wearing a thin gown like that.”

His eyes, uttering such embarrassing words without a care, were more than just warm; they were boiling. Why does the expression ‘wearing me’ sound so suggestive? Stay calm, stay calm.

“The best way to get warmer is to run.”

I said jokingly, fanning my flushed face.

“That’s true. So, how about we run together tonight?”

“…What do you mean?”

“If you get caught, I can do whatever I want, but if you don’t get caught and come back to this bedroom floor, then I’ll grant you one wish.”

“Are you really… literally suggesting we run right now?”

“Oh… were you expecting something else, Empress?”

Linelle grabbed the end of the towel and asked in a languid voice.

“N-No, I wasn’t!”

“Your face says otherwise?”

Linelle mimicked my tone and laughed.

“Well, it’s obviously a game you’re going to lose.”

“I… You might be surprised if I tell you this.”

I should have stopped there.

“But ever since I was little, when it comes to running? I’ve never been caught by anyone.”

But my unnecessary pride kicked in, and I blurted it out.

“Hmm, interesting. I’m someone who has never missed catching the person I need to catch.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes.”

“Then shall we try?”

“Tonight, one of us will have their history changed.”

“Are we really starting?”

“We have to.”

He readily nodded. I slowly got off the bed with a determined expression.

“If you get caught while running, it’s over, and if you don’t get caught by me and come back to this bedroom floor, you win. Got it?”

“Okay.”

A strangely tense atmosphere suddenly arose between us. A different kind of excitement than what I felt on the bed enveloped my body.

“Throw that away first. If that towel comes off while you’re running, it’s perfect for turning into a beast.”

Linelle pointed to his clothes placed on the bed. I threw the gown to him. Oh my god… Can’t we do one action at a time? He put on the gown with one hand while pulling the towel down with the other. Instantly, my eyes moved separately. It seems like this is a tactic to distract me, but no way. I squeezed my eyes shut, which had widened in surprise, and prepared to run. Linelle also seriously said, twisting his waist as if doing warm-up exercises.

“I’ll say it again, if you get caught, I’ll do whatever I want.”

It won’t be that easy.

“Today, Your Majesty will realize that there are quite a few things in the world that don’t go as you please. It’s about time you did.”

I provoked him, slowly backing away towards the bedroom door. He laughed as if I were amusing.

“Cute. I feel like a hunter chasing a rabbit. What does a hunter do first when they catch a rabbit?”

“I don’t know? Give it a carrot?”

I replied seriously.

“Skin it.”

“…You’re not planning to skin me, are you?”

I covered my body with both hands.

“Fortunately, humans have something else covering their skin.”

In other words, he was saying he would undress me.

“The hunt won’t be easy today.”

Fortunately, I had changed into a light dress that Sharon had brought from the Empress Palace in the evening, so it was easier to move.

“Well, it wouldn’t be fun if it were easy. In that sense, I’ll give you 5 seconds of grace.”

“You’ll regret it?”

“Not at all. What are you doing? Run, rabbit, run!”

He crossed his arms and started counting. I could cover quite a distance in 5 seconds. There’s no way he doesn’t know this, but he’s still giving me 5 seconds? He must really be underestimating my running skills.

“One, twooo…ooo…”

Moreover, Linelle was counting slowly, taking his time. I smiled triumphantly and ran straight to the bedroom door, throwing it open. Although torches were lit in the middle of the main palace bedroom floor, the long corridor felt even more distant because it was night. Tonight, I’ll show him the human cheetah. I started running quickly down the corridor without even looking back.

“Get out of the way, get out of the way, get out of the way!”

The servants who were waiting outside were startled and blocked my path, then hurriedly split to both sides.

“Out, out, out!”

Linelle’s voice overlapped with my urgent voice right after.

“Move, move, move!”

Did this man really count to 5 seconds? It felt like he came out after only 3 seconds? I glanced back while running. Linelle was chasing me at a terrifying speed.