# 90
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Grace opened her green eyes wide.
You wouldn't know. You wouldn't know how I feel when you, who always try so hard to stay calm, open your eyes wide in surprise like that. You wouldn't know what I want to do when you bite your soft lip.
I took a step closer without even realizing it.
That single step tore down the invisible boundary, and beyond it, reason was no longer of any use. The soft, warm touch of the cheek against the palm of the right hand, and the crimson light between the lips that parted slightly as the chin was pressed, made the beast within him run wild.
I wanted to get closer and closer.
Please, just once.
I wish that I were the one standing by your side, even if only for a single moment.
Ares pleaded with Grace like a fervent and faithful priest. And so, the moment his name finally came out of her lovely lips, Ares thought that it would be alright if the world ended.
Ares.
Ares, who had been picturing that moment with his eyes wide open in a daze, gasped for breath.
As the image of the disheveled blonde hair, the rubbed lips, and the reddened corners of the eyes came to mind, I felt the beast inside me run wild again.
“I’m going crazy, seriously…….”
After washing his face several times, Ares eventually gave up on falling asleep.
The night he had given up on sleeping was colored with Grace, like the natural order of things. Like nature, which gently embraces everything in the world only to suddenly turn cruel, unleashing lightning and turning the earth upside down, Grace shook him.
The pitch-black curtain of night that had covered the whole world. As a hazy light seeped little by little through the warp and weft threads of the curtain, which seemed so solid that there was not a single gap, the world slowly began to brighten.
Ares, who had been shaken all night, was exhausted by then and was sitting half-reclining on the sofa.
As he gazed at the dawn—which seemed like it would never arrive in the middle of the night—so easily driving away the darkness and regaining its true colors, he finally admitted it.
That it is impossible to push Grace away.
So, what should I do now?
Ares rose from his seat and began to adorn himself. He washed, put on the robes Eliza had personally prepared, and paid his respects to his ancestors in accordance with the traditions of Richmond.
And instead of going to the chapel, I moved wherever my feet took me.
"dismissal……?"
The servants who had been following behind with skepticism smiled quietly when they realized his footsteps were heading toward Grace's room.
Mrs. Rexton, who was in charge of Grace's entourage, also widened her eyes at first when she saw the groom appear at the end of the hallway, but soon smiled. Then, true to the nature of a quick-witted lady-in-waiting, she dismissed the maids who had been bustling about in the room.
As Grace, having just finished getting ready, turned to follow the movements of the departing maids, she saw Ares standing there, dressed in a black robe adorned with golden drapery. Appearing more splendid than ever, he pulled his lips into a smile.
Grace paused.
It was because his smile had changed overnight. It was not the smile that always concealed a certain sharpness, but a warm and gentle one. With his long, sharp eyes curved, he offered a greeting.
Hi, Grace.
Ares thought as he looked at the radiantly beautiful Grace.
No matter how long I spend with you.
Even if the day comes when this relationship faces catastrophe. No, because such a moment will arrive someday.
I will be true to you every moment.
You look pretty today, too.
Grace opened her eyes wide in surprise, but Ares smiled brightly.
* * *
The chapel, which was splendid without appearing extravagant, elegant despite its abundance of decoration, and weighty in tone despite its bright colors, delivered a fresh shock to countless nobles. It was not chaotic enough to leave one nowhere to rest, yet it was filled with nothing but rare and precious objects; and although it was not at all excessive, there was not a single small decoration that was not magnificent.
However, even the beautiful chapel was relegated to the background the moment the main characters of the wedding appeared.
The peacock, dressed in ceremonial robes draped in shining golden drapery, was intense, like the personification of a top predator. And the bride standing beside him was also intensely beautiful, to the point where one could not take their eyes off her.
Eliza's wedding dress was designed to be unadorned with a necklace. The intricate lace wrapping around the neck extended along the shoulder line to the wrists, while real diamonds, finely set along the main flow of the lace, shone brilliantly. Although it was a lavish dress that seemed as though it might overwhelm the wearer, it suited Grace perfectly.
While people couldn't take their eyes off the two people's appearance, Eliza thought this.
Something must have happened between those two.
Having shed her mourning clothes and donned a bright-toned dress just for today, her eyes narrowed. If Ares had met that gaze, he would have shuddered.
“Hmm… it feels quite good.”
At Eliza's muttering, Mrs. Isaac, who was standing beside her, cleared her throat softly. But regardless, Eliza smiled as she watched the young man and woman crossing the chapel.
Last night, Mrs. Isaac quietly comforted her. But Eliza shook her head while holding her hand.
I am happy. I am simply happy, so do not try to comfort me.
The wedding dress, which I thought would never be taken out again, found its owner. I was happy the whole time as I decorated the chapel, which I never thought I would adorn again.
So how can this be comforted?
It would be a lie to say that I didn't think of the child buried in my heart last night.
It is said that you can bury a parent's love, but you cannot bury a parent's love.
Is that all? We call a child who has lost their parents an orphan, a husband who has lost his wife a widower, and a wife who has lost her husband a widow, but what do we call parents who have lost their children? There are no words to dare to speak of them; there isn't even a word to refer to them.
So how could I not have thought of that child?
Eliza tightly clasped her thin hands together.
As a man and woman of magnificent figures knelt before the Archbishop of the Northwest, the Archbishop delivered a long blessing. After the blessing concluded, the Archbishop dipped his fingers in holy water and applied it to their foreheads, then asked.
“Walter Richmond, do you swear to enter this sacred marriage with a pure body and mind?”
Ares answered his question.
Yes, I swear.
Then the Archbishop asked Grace.
“Grace, do you swear to enter this sacred marriage with a pure body and mind?”
“Yes. I swear.”
Eliza raised her head a little higher and looked at the god looking down at the people.
Walter.
baby.
Does Walter Richmond swear before God that he will take Grace as his wife and cherish and love her for the rest of his life?
Yes, I swear.
Forgive this old woman.
Does Grace take Walter Richmond as her husband and swear before God that she will respect and love him for the rest of her life?
Yes, I swear.
Please forgive me for being excited about this marriage and simply wanting to bless the future of those two.
If this hurts your feelings, on the day I die and go to be with you, I will kneel before you and beg for forgiveness.
“With this, I solemnly declare before God that the sacred marriage of Walter Richmond and Grace is consecrated.”
With thunderous applause, tears flowed from Eliza's eyes and fell silently down her chin.
That day, dozens of sparrowhawks took flight from the Duke of Richmond Castle. The sparrowhawks flew across the Deccan, and two of them headed toward the capital, Empire City.
One of the two birds heading toward the capital stopped flying at the Duke of Richmond's mansion, located in Block 1. As the butler of the Duke of Richmond's mansion smiled brightly after unfolding the letter the sparrowhawk had brought, the head maid cautiously asked.
Is there any good news, Deacon?
Then the butler told the head maid with a smiling face.
Change the mansion's flag to yellow right now.
"Yellow?"
“The Grand Madam says that His Excellency has taken the Duchess. Hurry, change the flag!”
"All right!"
Oh, right, and start cleaning the mansion right now.
"if……?"
“Yes, I hear that His Excellency, the Duchess, and the Grand Madam are coming to the capital!”
“Understood, let’s start right away!”
Shortly after, just as the flag on the pointed roof of the Duke of Richmond's mansion in the first quarter was turning yellow, a magnificent carriage came over the noble wall between the second quarter and the first quarter.
The excited voice of the Duke leaked from inside the carriage of the Duke of Taylor's mansion, which was engraved with ears of wheat.
“They say Her Majesty the Empress has been eagerly awaiting our arrival! Hahaha!”
“That’s what I’m saying. Rosie, look at this. They say the Empress wanted you to become her niece-in-law from the very beginning. Right?”
Despite her parents' excited words, Rosette's expression remained gloomy.
Grace remained in a corner of her mind. The more terrible her marriage to Jack Sachsen felt, the more resentment surged within her, wishing that if only Grace had properly married that day.
If Taylor had just properly carried out the wedding scheduled for that day, she would not have faltered.
If I had just properly carried out the wedding scheduled for that day, I would never have ended up marrying Jack Sachsen!
Seeing that Rosette's expression was grim, the Duchess carefully took her hand and spoke.
“Rosie. In the end, you’re the one who’s laughing.”