The Stand-In Empress's Wedding Night - Chapter 64

“Were you… awake?”

I asked in a timid voice while listening to Rinel’s heartbeat.

“Not yet.”

It was a strange answer.

I wanted to ask what he meant, but I didn’t have the courage.

He hugged me tighter and took a deep breath as if smelling something suspicious from me.

“Now that it’s warm again…… I want to.”

His voice, drowsy with sleep, settled strangely on my temple.

“Are you sleep talking right now?”

I barely pulled my face out from his chest and looked up at him.

“How about we fall asleep while kissing? Whoever falls asleep last has to clean up afterwards.”

“Pfft, what’s that?”

I couldn’t help but imagine it as I listened to Rinel’s words.

“Why? You can at least close the mouth of the person who falls asleep first.”

“Are you serious?”

“Heh, would I be?”

“Really?”

“It’s a wish.”

“Shall I grant it for you?”

I asked seriously while trying to hold back my laughter.

“Zelda…… You’re better than God.”

Rinel smiled with his eyes closed.

“From now on, I should worship you instead of God.”

“Just believe in me.”

I said with a confident expression.

After saying it, I felt a pang of conscience.

Just believe in me……

Who was the one deceiving him right now.

I mercilessly mocked myself internally.

“If I believe…… is heaven waiting?”

He asked in a meaningful voice.

“Why wait? We can go right now.”

I slipped out of his arms and half-raised my upper body to look down at him.

He took a deep breath, slowly opened his eyes, and spoke.

“Wait a moment. I just woke up, so my mind and body are waking up separately right now. So wait a bit.”

As he said, I waited for a moment, and he started to lift the blanket he was covered with.

“We’re only going to kiss.”

I said firmly, grabbing his hand that was trying to remove the blanket.

“……Was it the devil?”

Rinel asked with a shocked look.

“The devil’s temptation is usually sweeter, right?”

“Then, how about doing everything else but not kissing……”

He added ‘That wouldn’t work, would it?’ and frowned with a pained expression.

“Say something that makes sense.”

“Why should I only say things that make sense? I think you often forget, but I’m the emperor.”

“Yes, I’m often surprised by that fact myself.”

When I grumbled, he laughed loudly.

Rinel enjoyed it when I challenged his authority like this.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t show such an innocent smile at my somewhat impertinent answer.

He raised one hand to place it on his heart, and the other on my heart.

“What are you doing?”

I asked, covering his large hand on my heart with my own.

“Comparing.”

“The size of our chests?”

“That comparison was already done long ago.”

“……”

“Now I’m comparing whose heart is beating faster.”

“And the result?”

I asked with a smile, and he replied in a solemn tone.

“As I thought. Zelda, you’ll have to work harder from now on.”

“What?”

“My heart is beating much faster. What does this mean? It’s proof that you don’t love me as much as I love you yet.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at him speaking as if his nonsensical words were facts.

“As far as proof goes, that’s too……”

“Accurate, right?”

“?”

“Let’s work a bit harder. But, when are you going to take me to heaven?”

He asked with expectant eyes, propping his head up with one hand.

I looked quietly at Rinel’s smiling face and thought.

That he had already given me heaven first.

With those eyes, that smile, that voice.

My name burst like sweet fruit juice between his parting lips.

“Zelda……”

“Come into heaven……”

I swallowed that sweet voice in one breath by capturing his lips.

Rinel’s surprised breath tickled my chest.

His instincts were awakening again because of me.

The swollen desire shook both our sensitive senses.

Now I could tell when his patience would break just by hearing this man’s breathing.

Rinel had already spent too much energy tonight.

I stopped the kiss while grabbing his two hands that were becoming unrestrained.

I only realized I was on top of him after I came to my senses and opened my eyes.

“Haa…… Wait, let’s stop now.”

“What? Whew, you really must be God.”

“Why?”

“God gives joy but also pain, right?”

I held back my laughter and spoke to him in a demure tone.

“Many dignitaries from various countries will be arriving soon, so you need to manage your condition, Your Majesty.”

“Empress, if you’re going to try to persuade me with such words, get off me first. If you have a conscience.”

Rinel said majestically while grasping one of my ankles with his hand.

“I’m sorry.”

I got off his body and lay back down on the bed.

However, because he didn’t let go of my ankle, my posture became quite ridiculous.

“Ah, please let go of my ankle. I can’t sleep properly like this.”

“That’s fair. I can’t sleep properly in this state either.”

“That’s childish!”

“Childish? Hey now, who am I in this country?”

“I’m sorry……”

A minute passed.

He still held onto my ankle with his hand.

“Just hold my hand instead. Not my ankle.”

I offered him my hand.

“Here.”

“?”

Instead of the hand holding my ankle, he awkwardly placed his opposite hand on my palm.

Our bodies were gradually turning into a strange shape.

“If I sleep like this, I might suddenly feel sick tomorrow. Then you’d have to sleep alone, right?”

“Are you daring to threaten me now?”

“I’m compromising.”

“Ah, I see, compromise. You want to sleep holding hands, right?”

I nodded strongly.

“Then we can sleep holding each other fairly.”

“Okay.”

Phew, finally he’s talking sense.

Rinel finally let go of my ankle and held my hand.

“Since I held your hand as you wanted, I should hold what I want for it to be a proper compromise, right?”

His gaze lingered on my chest for a moment before moving up.

“Was that… what fairness meant?”

I asked, glaring at him.

He slowly reached out to me, raising the corner of his mouth crookedly as he spoke.

“What I want is…… here.”

I closed my eyes and prepared myself mentally.

“Huh!”

“Empress, sleep well.”

Contrary to my expectations, Rinel closed his eyes while pinching my nose.

For me, it was the most suffocating night ever.

[This is the timeline separator]

“Thank you for escorting me. We should part here. There are guards at the palace entrance, so……”

Rosie bowed to Prince Norton near her quarters.

“Ah, right. We might cause unnecessary misunderstandings. Then I’ll return from here.”

“Thank you so much, earlier……”

“No need to mention it. Even if it wasn’t Her Majesty the Empress’s request, I would have escorted you for safety.”

Prince Norton humbly waved one hand, cutting off her words.

“Not that…… I was going to thank you for protecting Her Majesty the Empress earlier.”

“……Ah, I see.”

Prince Norton wore a slightly embarrassed expression as he tapped the head of the kitten in Rosie’s arms with his finger and continued speaking.

“You’ll need to keep a closer eye on the cat. It seemed quite rebellious earlier.”

The kitten that had been dozing off suddenly opened its eyes wide.

It threw a futile punch with its small white front paw, as if trying to scratch Prince Norton.

Rosie grabbed the kitten’s four legs like a roast pig, holding its front and back legs in each hand to stop its struggling.

‘You, just wait until we get inside!’

Rosie glared at the baby wyvern turned kitten, shouting internally.

“Well then. If the opportunity arises, I hope to see you again with Her Majesty the Empress.”

As Prince Norton bowed again, Rosie also bowed her head once more and turned around.

[This is the timeline separator]

Returning to her bedroom, Rosie dismissed all her attendants and locked the door.

She put the kitten down in the corner farthest from the bedroom door.

“I knew you’d cause trouble! You ran away while I was just taking a bath? How reckless!”

Rosie, who was furious, yelled while blowing hot air from her nostrils.

“You should have quickly called the master.”

The baby wyvern returned to its original form and talked back, crossing its arms just like Rosie.

At the same time, the white kitten shuddered and looked around Rosie’s room with a bewildered face.

“Hey, don’t be scared. This is the room of the kid I’m taking care of.”

The baby wyvern went to the corner and spoke to the trembling white kitten.

The kitten then looked up at Rosie with a somewhat more relaxed expression, wagging its tail.

“What? Who’s taking care of whom? Wait, did that kitten just understand what you said?”

“Isn’t it weird if it doesn’t understand? Don’t compare this great wyvern with a lowly human, orange head.”

“You little wyvern brat! You almost got Her Majesty the Empress in trouble. Idiot!”

“I’m reflecting on that too……”

The baby wyvern couldn’t bring himself to reveal that the attendant had been killed by Prince Tessler’s knight because of him.

If he told Rosie the truth, a second murder might occur tonight.

The baby wyvern bowed his head in reflection, then raised it again with his red eyes sparkling.

“Oh right, from now on call me by my name! If not, I’ll scorch that orange hair of yours black.”

“You’re being ridiculous. Since when do you have a name?”

Rosie snorted.

“I do now! I decided to use the first thing the master said when she saw me as my name!”

“So what’s your name then?”

Rosie was incredulous at the baby wyvern’s words, but secretly curious.

“Moiya.”

“……What?”

“My name from now on is ‘Moiya’.”

“What did Her Majesty the Empress call you to end up with a name like that?”

Rosie sat down on the bedroom floor with a puzzled expression.

“As soon as she saw me, she said, ‘Is this, moiya?’ Really. Really? Cotton ball.”

The baby wyvern looked back and forth between Rosie and the white kitten, speaking proudly.

“You… Did you take Her Majesty the Empress’s words ‘What is this?’ and make that your name……”

“That’s right! The master spoke like that.”

“She probably just said that wondering what kind of cat you were.”

“When I was in the egg, the first thing the master said when she saw me was that too. But when our eyes actually met, I heard the same words again, so it must have meaning, moiya~?”

The baby wyvern, who had already become Moiya to the bone, flapped his wings excitedly.

“Ah, so that’s why you’ve been adding ‘moiya’ to the end of your sentences lately?”

Rosie sneered incredulously.

“Yes!”

“Hey, if you’re going to do that, why not use ‘Is this’ as your name instead?”

Rosie burst out laughing and mocked.

“That won’t work. I didn’t make eye contact with the master then. By the way Rosie, how did you know I had turned into a cat?”

“I was reading a book not knowing you had left, and saw it by chance. Doppelganger is one of the abilities of some great wyverns. I can’t believe that applied to you too!”

Rosie put her hand to her forehead and looked back and forth between the baby wyvern and the kitten sitting side by side in front of her.

Despite their cute appearances, she couldn’t help but sigh.

“What are you going to do now? Her Majesty the Empress thinks you’re that kitten, so what will you do if she comes to my quarters looking for you?”

“What’s the problem? I’ll just turn into that one for a moment then.”

“Meow!”

The kitten meowed sharply towards Moiya.

“What did that cat say? It doesn’t want to?”

Moiya shook his head at Rosie’s words.

“No. It’s saying it understood, so shut up and give it some food.”

“Huh?”

Rosie pounded her chest with her fist.

“Yeah, make yourself at home. Rosie may seem cold, but… um, she’ll be nice soon.”

Moiya patted the kitten’s back, acting like the owner of the house.

Though she was angry, she called her attendant to get some snacks for the cat as she opened the bedroom door and went out.

“See, she listens well.”

“Meow. (You seem to have trained her well.)”

Moiya nodded at the kitten’s words, glancing at Rosie’s back.

“Aoh…… shit!”

Just before the bedroom door closed, Rosie’s irritated voice could be heard.

Moiya tapped the kitten and said,

“Hey, cotton ball. From now on your name is ‘Aohshit’.”

“Meow! (I love it so much!)”

The cat, who had suddenly gained the name Aohshit, started licking Moiya’s small wings.

[This is the timeline separator]

After seeing Rinel off early in the morning, I leisurely finished my shower and left the bathroom.

But my refreshed mood changed to feeling like I was covered in filth in less than a second.

It wasn’t a dream. Even if it were a dream, this was close to a nightmare.

In front of my eyes, in the middle of the bedroom, stood Prince Tessler.

Why is that bastard here!

I couldn’t hide my surprised expression.

“How…… did you get in?”

“There are many ways. Rather than how I got in, you should be curious about… why I came in.”

Prince Tessler twitched one cheek and spread his arms towards me.

“Your Majesty the Empress, won’t you give me a welcome greeting again?”