This was everything that happened leading up to the day before my and Eric’s
first
wedding ceremony.
And, as fate would have it… it all unfolded just before our
first
kiss as well.
Boom—!
Click, click!
Boom—!
Click, click!
Flashes burst like spiritual lightning from the talismanic camera artifacts, and I finally withdrew my hand from where it had been resting on Eric’s nape.
Eric stared down at me with a stone-cold expression, so I jabbed his ribs with a sly grin and whispered threateningly,
“Smile. You’d better smile.”
Eric’s jaw tightened as he forced a stiff, awkward smile.
He had smiled so well back in the Imperial Garden when the photos were taken. Or wait—maybe that hadn’t been a real smile after all. Just a twitch of facial muscles?
It was then that the commotion erupted. Reporters suddenly swarmed around Priest Andrea.
“Is it true you violated your sacred vow of celibacy and sent your own son to a boarding academy?!”
“Word is your son was caught robbing a jeweler and is now imprisoned! Do you have anything to say?!”
Andrea, overwhelmed by the barrage of questions, looked toward Eric and me with a face full of despair.
Wait—who leaked the information to the press? Eric wouldn’t have been this sloppy…
Andrea wailed out,
“Y-your young lordship!”
His expression practically screamed,
This wasn’t part of the deal!
Eric, unfazed, replied as if it were the most natural thing in the world,
“I said I’d pay you, not that I’d hide your son.”
A chill crept down my spine. Just moments ago, hadn’t he shown such reverence for Andrea as a priest? Even acted like the abduction had been my fault?
And now this…
“Wow… there’s supposed to be honor among scoundrels too, you know…”
I muttered in disbelief. Eric, as if admonishing a wayward disciple, said coolly,
“A priest who breaks their vow must face divine punishment.”
I mean… he wasn’t wrong. And yet—was this wickedness, or a twisted form of righteousness? My heart was a tangled mess.
“Have you no shame! Uphold the code of chivalry!”
“I stand with Young Lord Eric!”
Meanwhile, the tension between Eric’s knights and those from the Duke’s household still hadn’t waned. Amid the standoff, my mother glared daggers at me.
If they catch me, I’m dead.
She mouthed the words with fury. Last night, I had worried she’d be heartbroken. But seeing her furious like this actually comforted me.
They say anger is a sign of vitality.
I nodded subtly. My mother clutched her neck dramatically and collapsed into Philip’s arms. He shot a glare my way, mouthing,
Are you out of your mind?
Ah… such a glorious chaos.
Beaming with joy, I gazed at the magnificently decorated wedding altar.
Click!
Boom!
Click!
Boom!
Take more! More pictures! Don’t you people want to make money?! Come on, you wretched journalists!
As I laughed like a demonic sovereign who had taken over the entire spirit temple, Eric tightened his grip around my waist.
“Could you dial it down a little?”
Just then, the Duke’s knights ceased blocking the reporters and began to align in formation.
Not just the knights—everyone, including the reporters, turned to look in the same direction.
Eric and I followed their gaze.
There stood Valdek Orléans, dressed like the star of a heavenly court drama. A pristine corsage of lisianthus adorned his lapel, and white gloves covered his hands.
His crimson eyes blazed as he looked straight at us.
There stood Valdeck Orléans, adorned with a beautiful corsage made of lysianthus and wearing pristine white gloves, dressed like today’s main figure. His crimson eyes flashed as he fixed his gaze on our side.
“So, you’ve come, Emelin. For a family of frauds, you’re surprisingly close-knit. Maybe it was wise to kill with a gun instead of a crossbow after all. Now, hand over that document to me.”
“If I give it to you, you’ll kill me anyway, won’t you?”
“I’ll kill you whether you give it or not.”
The moment I saw the duke, the dream I once had resurfaced in my mind—because the expression on the duke’s face was exactly like the one he wore the day he tried to kill me.
A furious glare fueled by a disrupted plan. Yet beneath it, a fierce desire to keep others under his control.
‘That’s the true expression of a psychopath.’
Valdeck Orléans’ enraged face softened suddenly as reporters raised their cameras toward him. With a graceful smile, he waved a palm at the surrounding journalists.
“Enough. I need to speak with my son.”
Perhaps it was the aura emanating from Valdeck’s words, but the reporters’ camera flashes gradually diminished.
Valdeck walked slowly toward us, following the path cleared by the reporters, who clearly knew better than to disobey him—after all, they had taken all the photos they wanted.
Eric extended our marriage contract.
“You haven’t forgotten, right? That I’m going to protect you now…”
“Yes, yes, I know.”
I finished speaking and glared at Valdeck, who had now approached very close. With an elegant expression, Valdeck glanced between Eric and me, his lips moving as if to say something. But I moved first.
Dropping to my knees before him, I cried out,
“Father! Please give your son to me! Right now!”
At that moment, Valdeck’s face twisted into a cruel sneer. Eric chuckled dryly. The flashes, which had paused for a moment, erupted again like lightning filling the chapel.
“Write this down! Write this down! His son…”
“His son belongs to me! This is a scoop!”
“Hurry and write!”
Valdeck lowered his head toward my kneeling form, his eyes flashing.
“What in the world are you all doing?”
He spoke to Eric as if I were not even worth addressing.
“Come here, son. Such vulgar acts don’t suit the heir to our clan. I have the marriage permit granted by the king…”
Valdeck produced the marriage permit from within his cloak, calling Eric over as if luring a hunting dog with a treat.
Suddenly, I realized something.
‘That bastard thinks of Eric as nothing more than a dog he’s raising.’
I shuddered.
Eric grabbed my hand and helped me to my feet. Lily and Eric’s knights had already gathered near the dais.
“There’s no time to argue here. We have to escape.”
“Why…? Isn’t everything over now?”
We held a permit signed earlier than that, and hadn’t we just held the ceremony? Our photos were surely already printed in this morning’s papers.
Eric gave a troubled glance at Lily and the knights before shaking his head.
“There’s one more thing.”
“What?”
“The consummation.”
“...?”
While I was trying to grasp his meaning, Eric clenched his teeth, his face flushed with embarrassment.
“Didn’t you hear? If it’s not proven that the consummation happened, the marriage can be declared invalid.”
Ah, wait a minute… I didn’t expect this one…
“Well, even if it comes to this…”
Could Valdeck really stoop so low as to sabotage our marriage over something like that?
Valdeck’s knights approached Lily and the knights surrounding Eric and me. Valdeck spoke coldly,
“Seize them.”
Eric’s face twisted in fury.
“You would dare raise your blade within a sacred domain?”
As his words echoed through the temple, the knights hesitated. But Valdek stepped forward and declared,
“This is in service of preserving the authority of the Central Divine Temple and His Majesty the King. Should any consequences arise… I shall bear them.”
The moment his words fell, Valdek’s knights drew their swords in unison.
So that’s how it is. What a despicable man.
I let out a hollow laugh as I stared at Valdek.
The so-called Sirens’ Tomb—what was so sacred about it anyway? That treasure belonged to my mother in the first place! And who was the bastard that decided a man could lay claim to his wife’s property just because of marriage?! Which sect invented such a law?!
While I was fuming in silence, Eric pushed me behind the small altar on the ceremonial platform and drew his sword.
The moment his blade left its sheath, Lily and the knights on Eric’s side followed suit, drawing their own swords. I crouched behind the altar, scanning the battlefield.
The consummation night, huh?!
So that’s why Eric was acting all awkward and hesitant last night, delaying until dawn. If he knew this was coming, why didn’t he just say something? We could’ve settled it with a single stroke—done and dusted!
...Wait, but how does one even prove whether it happened or not?
Valdek’s plan was obvious now: if he could prevent Eric and me from consummating the marriage and drag us back to the palace, he’d find a way to nullify the whole union.
With a cold glint in his eyes, Valdek gave the command.
The clash of swords erupted in an instant.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
These weren’t like the duels I’d seen before—this was different. Each strike carried the weight of true cultivation strength, a force that resonated through the air with killing intent.
The only "battles" I’d ever seen were back when I was under the protection of the Violet Road Merchant Guild. Back then, when foolish bandits dared to attack our convoys, the Guild Master would punish them by forcing the scrawny, weaponless thieves—most of them barely older than ten—to spar against seasoned mercenaries. That was just a brutal massacre, devoid of honor or form.
But this? This was something else. The knights here, each a cultivator in their own right, clashed with long swords as heavy as I was. Every swing shook the air with spiritual pressure.
The sanctuary filled with murderous qi. The reporters fled, abandoning their artifact-cameras in sheer terror.
Even I found it hard to breathe, my chest heaving under the suffocating weight of spiritual energy. The shrill clashing of weapons and groans of pain rang without end, scrambling my thoughts.
Memories of my childhood surfaced, and sweat began to pour down the back of my neck.
Damn it! Why do I always start sweating and trembling in moments like these?!
“Shit!”
I cursed aloud, forcing my panicked mind to focus and scanning for anything that could be used as a weapon.
That’s when I saw it—a small hatch beneath the altar. Instinctively, I reached for it.
It led into the hollow space inside the altar itself. My eyes caught sight of a ritual staff—likely used by the priests for ceremonies. I reached to grab it, hoping it would serve as a decent weapon.
But just as I laid hands on it—so did someone else.
“Oh, Heavens above…”
A trembling voice rang out from within the dark space.
Every hair on my body stood on end. I peered inside the hollow of the altar—and there he was.
Andrea.
The corrupt priest who should’ve long since left this place was hiding right beneath our feet.
With bloodshot eyes, Andrea glared at me as if possessed.
“How could you break our promise?! You filthy traitors!”
Oh, really? And who’s calling who a traitor right now?!
“You were the one who started all this, remember? Maybe if you hadn’t tried being so evil, things wouldn’t have turned out like this!”
I aimed a kick at Andrea.
He didn’t let go of the staff—instead, he twisted and lunged, sinking his teeth into my hand.
“ARGHH!!”
I screamed, flinging myself backward as pain seared through my hand. Andrea yanked the staff toward himself, and it slipped right out of my grasp.
Andrea raised a heavy iron staff with a triumphant grin and made the sacred sign.
“Indeed, the Heavens have not forsaken me!”
“...Still spouting nonsense until the very end.”
I muttered, squeezing my eyes shut.
Divine Realm, if You truly exist, even if I die here, please make sure that bastard falls into the Abyss. So that we can meet again in the Netherworld and settle the score.
‘Anyway, I’m going to Hell, right?’
No hope for ascending to the Celestial Realm!
Clasping my hands in prayer, I waited for the iron staff to strike down upon my head.
One second. Two seconds.
No, one minute...
No matter how long I waited, the dull, heavy pain never came crashing down on me.
Peeking one eye open, I looked up.
In my sight was Andrea, collapsed with a forehead swollen red... and—
“...You! Didn’t I tell you? Capricorn’s fate is to beware men and metal!”
Philip entered, holding the iron staff he had wrested from Andrea.
I gaped and stared up at Philip. He slammed the staff onto the ground, then crouched and grabbed me by the arm.
“Why do you never listen to your brother?!”
His words left me stunned.
Philip then nudged Andrea, who groaned on the floor, and said,
“I’m the only one allowed to lay a hand on my sister!”
Why was it that the moment I heard that brat’s arrogant claim, I suddenly wrapped my arms tightly around Philip’s neck?
An embrace with Philip.
Truly, a moment ripe for a decade’s worth of teasing.