“What, what?”
Lucas shrugged his shoulders.
“It’s over. What’s over so quickly?”
What could it be?
‘Your bizarre and pathetic desires.’
“You know, right? What am I talking about?”
Lucas’s eyes slowly widened as I spoke with a faint smile.
His eyes gleamed and scanned me.
I could hear the thoughts racing through his head.
Doubt, anxiety. Confusion and impatience. And irritation at me for daring to bring such feelings to him.
“Um, Marquis. It’s really time for the ceremony to begin.”
Edward, who had been watching blankly, cautiously opened his mouth.
Lucas looked at his watch and clicked his tongue at those words.
“Damn it. Get moving, Ariana. We can’t keep the guests waiting!”
Then he strode ahead toward the wedding hall.
The Marquis's servant, who had come running from afar, hurriedly approached Lucas.
"You're here, Marquis. Please come in. The Lady has just woken up!"
"What? My mother collapsed?!"
I smiled and walked ahead of Lucas.
Our destination was the wedding archway in the distance.
It was the mouth of the gates of hell that had pushed me into the abyss five years ago.
"Hmm, hmm."
Humming lightly, Elena touched her blonde hair.
The man's rough gestures messed up the hair she had worked hard to fix, but she wasn't particularly annoyed.
'The Marquis is in the palm of my hand, after all.'
A few longing glances and impatient touches.
That was all it took for the men.
Even the head of the prestigious family, Marquis Pedegreen, was the same.
Thinking about the eyes that had been filled with excitement and longing for her on the day he had to go marry her sister, Elena's spine tingled. Enough to instantly recover the mood that Ariana had ruined.
After finishing combing, her platinum hair once again fluttered, boasting its dazzling shine.
Elena, who looked at herself in the mirror with satisfaction, got up from her seat.
As she walked down the hallway, she happened to see Ariana and Lucas heading to the wedding hall in front of her.
Lucas was making a face like a demon, unlike a groom who was about to get married.
“What on earth did you do to my mother?! They said it was because of you that she collapsed?”
Pfft.
Elena swallowed a laugh inside.
‘A bride who was being humiliated like that even right before her wedding.’
Poor sister.
When she was young, Ariana seemed to have everything, but now she has it all.
Even her husband.
As she entered the guest seats, the eyes of the guests who were seated turned to Elena.
“Is that lady? The soprano who’s been so popular these days...”
“She’s pretty.”
Naturally enjoying the attention pouring in, Elena slowly looked around the guest seats as if she were looking for a seat.
It was to stay in the center of attention for a little longer.
Her gaze, which had been deliberately delaying, suddenly stopped at a certain place.
'...Huh?'
It was as if her breath suddenly stopped.
'Why is that person here...'
She was not the only one who was bewildered. There was no one around the man as if there was an air barrier. In the middle of that heterogeneous empty space, there was a man.
He was relaxed and took it for granted as if the entire wide space was his proper place. The people sitting near the man were all people who had no status or position.
However, they were all curled up like small animals that had encountered a predator.
Elena felt her heart tremble slightly.
They said he was a war hero, but he was no different from a human butcher.
He cut down hundreds and thousands of those terrifying savages like pieces of meat. They said that blood seeped deep into his skin and the smell of blood would not wash away.
He was a dangerous man. He was not the one who had brought such humiliation upon her.
But why...
Elena bit her lips, pressing hard against her chest. She had no choice but to admit it. The heartbeat wasn't just a feeling of shame.
'Why on earth did he come here?'
The Marquis Pedegreen had no ties to the current Duke of Heigenberg.
In fact, the Marquis was one of the forces that opposed the current Duke, who was an illegitimate child, inheriting the title.
So it was unnatural for the Duke to attend the Marquis’s wedding. When thinking rationally.
Then, perhaps, perhaps...
‘Did you come to see me?’
He was someone who had seen the same performance several times from the front row at the opera house. He had declined her invitation, but perhaps there was a reason why he had to do so at the time.
Elena, who had been pondering, made up her mind and started walking.
As she sat down next to the Duke in a seat where no one had ever been, she heard a small murmur from around her.
“Hello, Your Excellency the Duke.”
Elena greeted him in a sly voice.
“My name is Elena Lopez. I am the younger sister of today’s bride, Ariana.”
The Duke glanced at her.
That was all, but she felt her heart beating fast.
“Ah.”
The man turned his gaze straight ahead again and said with his mouth slanted.
“That’s the younger sister.”
You know me.
Elena’s heart pounded faster than before.
‘As expected, you came here to see me!’
Her fingertips clenched and the corners of her mouth kept twitching. She had never felt this way even when she was with Lucas. The Duke must have not accepted the invitation back then because of unavoidable circumstances.
Now, seeing that he had come to an unrelated wedding just to see her.
As she sat close, the Duke’s scent permeated her nose.
He didn’t smell anything like blood. Rather, it was a refreshing yet somewhat heavy scent like a forest... a dizzyingly alluring male scent.
‘This is the perfect opportunity to get closer.’
It was the moment when she lifted her buttocks to sit closer.
“Next, the groom will be entering.”
The priest who officiated the wedding solemnly said after the boring opening speech.
“Please welcome the groom with applause.”
Lucas appeared after the thunderous applause.
Lucas, dressed in a smart suit, looked as powerful as the main character of the day.
But Lucas’s face, which had always been so splendid, even up until the secret meeting a little while ago, now felt somehow boring.
Lucas, who had walked down the wedding road with a confident gait, smiled leisurely while receiving all the attention of the guests.
“The bride will now enter. Please welcome her with applause.”
From far away, the bride appeared, stepping on the pure white carpet.
Her platinum hair flowed beautifully. Her facial features were elegant and delicate, like the lilies that adorned her hair.
The guests murmured lightly at the appearance of the beautiful bride.
“That lady is the eldest daughter of the Lopez family. The last time I saw her was when she was a child when Count Eduardo Lopez carried her...”
“She has never shown herself in society, so it has been a long time since I last saw her. Ahem. She has grown up much more beautifully than I expected.”
“That is true. I thought she grew up to be ugly because she was a recluse. That is not true at all.”
“Well, that’s why she was able to have the good fortune of becoming the daughter-in-law of the Marquis of Pedegreen.”
Voices quietly evaluating the bride. Eyes scanning the bride up and down.
Ariana silently stepped on the carpet amidst them.
Elena pursed her lips in displeasure.
The gaze that had always been hers whenever they were together was now focused only on Ariana today.
‘Well. It’s only today, though.’
Elena, who habitually glanced at the Duke, opened her eyes slightly wide.
The red gaze was fixed on Ariana.
The gaze that had been leisurely like a free beast just a moment ago was nowhere to be found. What was gleaming in the red eyes was dry irritation and displeasure. Something unresolved was condensed in those gazes as if it would explode at any moment.
‘Why are you looking at her like that?’
Elena thought blankly.
Could it be that the Duke disliked Ariana?
Even if Ariana had no brains, how could she get caught by the Duke of Heigenberg...
The moment she thought that the bride finally reached the podium.
The priest began to recite his wedding speech.
“...May the blessings of all the guests and the blessings of God be with the bride and groom as they start a new family...”
The bride, who had almost finished her speech, looked at the groom.
“Does the groom, Lucas Pedegreen, pledge his eternal love to the bride?”
“Yes. I do.”
Lucas’s hand, which was clasped with Ariana’s, tightened.
The muscles on his chin were bulging as if the heat from the previous fight had not yet subsided.
The priest looked back at Ariana with a businesslike look.
“So, does the bride Ariana Lopez pledge her eternal love to the groom?”
But the answer that should have been heard did not come.
“...”
“Ahem.”
As the silence grew longer, the priest coughed uncomfortably and asked again.
“Does the bride Ariana Lopez pledge her eternal love to the groom?”
Only then did Ariana slowly open her mouth.
“No.”
Lucas shrugged his shoulders.
“It’s over. What’s over so quickly?”
What could it be?
‘Your bizarre and pathetic desires.’
“You know, right? What am I talking about?”
Lucas’s eyes slowly widened as I spoke with a faint smile.
His eyes gleamed and scanned me.
I could hear the thoughts racing through his head.
Doubt, anxiety. Confusion and impatience. And irritation at me for daring to bring such feelings to him.
“Um, Marquis. It’s really time for the ceremony to begin.”
Edward, who had been watching blankly, cautiously opened his mouth.
Lucas looked at his watch and clicked his tongue at those words.
“Damn it. Get moving, Ariana. We can’t keep the guests waiting!”
Then he strode ahead toward the wedding hall.
The Marquis's servant, who had come running from afar, hurriedly approached Lucas.
"You're here, Marquis. Please come in. The Lady has just woken up!"
"What? My mother collapsed?!"
I smiled and walked ahead of Lucas.
Our destination was the wedding archway in the distance.
It was the mouth of the gates of hell that had pushed me into the abyss five years ago.
***
"Hmm, hmm."
Humming lightly, Elena touched her blonde hair.
The man's rough gestures messed up the hair she had worked hard to fix, but she wasn't particularly annoyed.
'The Marquis is in the palm of my hand, after all.'
A few longing glances and impatient touches.
That was all it took for the men.
Even the head of the prestigious family, Marquis Pedegreen, was the same.
Thinking about the eyes that had been filled with excitement and longing for her on the day he had to go marry her sister, Elena's spine tingled. Enough to instantly recover the mood that Ariana had ruined.
After finishing combing, her platinum hair once again fluttered, boasting its dazzling shine.
Elena, who looked at herself in the mirror with satisfaction, got up from her seat.
As she walked down the hallway, she happened to see Ariana and Lucas heading to the wedding hall in front of her.
Lucas was making a face like a demon, unlike a groom who was about to get married.
“What on earth did you do to my mother?! They said it was because of you that she collapsed?”
Pfft.
Elena swallowed a laugh inside.
‘A bride who was being humiliated like that even right before her wedding.’
Poor sister.
When she was young, Ariana seemed to have everything, but now she has it all.
Even her husband.
As she entered the guest seats, the eyes of the guests who were seated turned to Elena.
“Is that lady? The soprano who’s been so popular these days...”
“She’s pretty.”
Naturally enjoying the attention pouring in, Elena slowly looked around the guest seats as if she were looking for a seat.
It was to stay in the center of attention for a little longer.
Her gaze, which had been deliberately delaying, suddenly stopped at a certain place.
'...Huh?'
It was as if her breath suddenly stopped.
'Why is that person here...'
She was not the only one who was bewildered. There was no one around the man as if there was an air barrier. In the middle of that heterogeneous empty space, there was a man.
He was relaxed and took it for granted as if the entire wide space was his proper place. The people sitting near the man were all people who had no status or position.
However, they were all curled up like small animals that had encountered a predator.
Elena felt her heart tremble slightly.
They said he was a war hero, but he was no different from a human butcher.
He cut down hundreds and thousands of those terrifying savages like pieces of meat. They said that blood seeped deep into his skin and the smell of blood would not wash away.
He was a dangerous man. He was not the one who had brought such humiliation upon her.
But why...
Elena bit her lips, pressing hard against her chest. She had no choice but to admit it. The heartbeat wasn't just a feeling of shame.
'Why on earth did he come here?'
The Marquis Pedegreen had no ties to the current Duke of Heigenberg.
In fact, the Marquis was one of the forces that opposed the current Duke, who was an illegitimate child, inheriting the title.
So it was unnatural for the Duke to attend the Marquis’s wedding. When thinking rationally.
Then, perhaps, perhaps...
‘Did you come to see me?’
He was someone who had seen the same performance several times from the front row at the opera house. He had declined her invitation, but perhaps there was a reason why he had to do so at the time.
Elena, who had been pondering, made up her mind and started walking.
As she sat down next to the Duke in a seat where no one had ever been, she heard a small murmur from around her.
“Hello, Your Excellency the Duke.”
Elena greeted him in a sly voice.
“My name is Elena Lopez. I am the younger sister of today’s bride, Ariana.”
The Duke glanced at her.
That was all, but she felt her heart beating fast.
“Ah.”
The man turned his gaze straight ahead again and said with his mouth slanted.
“That’s the younger sister.”
You know me.
Elena’s heart pounded faster than before.
‘As expected, you came here to see me!’
Her fingertips clenched and the corners of her mouth kept twitching. She had never felt this way even when she was with Lucas. The Duke must have not accepted the invitation back then because of unavoidable circumstances.
Now, seeing that he had come to an unrelated wedding just to see her.
As she sat close, the Duke’s scent permeated her nose.
He didn’t smell anything like blood. Rather, it was a refreshing yet somewhat heavy scent like a forest... a dizzyingly alluring male scent.
‘This is the perfect opportunity to get closer.’
It was the moment when she lifted her buttocks to sit closer.
“Next, the groom will be entering.”
The priest who officiated the wedding solemnly said after the boring opening speech.
“Please welcome the groom with applause.”
Lucas appeared after the thunderous applause.
Lucas, dressed in a smart suit, looked as powerful as the main character of the day.
But Lucas’s face, which had always been so splendid, even up until the secret meeting a little while ago, now felt somehow boring.
Lucas, who had walked down the wedding road with a confident gait, smiled leisurely while receiving all the attention of the guests.
“The bride will now enter. Please welcome her with applause.”
From far away, the bride appeared, stepping on the pure white carpet.
Her platinum hair flowed beautifully. Her facial features were elegant and delicate, like the lilies that adorned her hair.
The guests murmured lightly at the appearance of the beautiful bride.
“That lady is the eldest daughter of the Lopez family. The last time I saw her was when she was a child when Count Eduardo Lopez carried her...”
“She has never shown herself in society, so it has been a long time since I last saw her. Ahem. She has grown up much more beautifully than I expected.”
“That is true. I thought she grew up to be ugly because she was a recluse. That is not true at all.”
“Well, that’s why she was able to have the good fortune of becoming the daughter-in-law of the Marquis of Pedegreen.”
Voices quietly evaluating the bride. Eyes scanning the bride up and down.
Ariana silently stepped on the carpet amidst them.
Elena pursed her lips in displeasure.
The gaze that had always been hers whenever they were together was now focused only on Ariana today.
‘Well. It’s only today, though.’
Elena, who habitually glanced at the Duke, opened her eyes slightly wide.
The red gaze was fixed on Ariana.
The gaze that had been leisurely like a free beast just a moment ago was nowhere to be found. What was gleaming in the red eyes was dry irritation and displeasure. Something unresolved was condensed in those gazes as if it would explode at any moment.
‘Why are you looking at her like that?’
Elena thought blankly.
Could it be that the Duke disliked Ariana?
Even if Ariana had no brains, how could she get caught by the Duke of Heigenberg...
The moment she thought that the bride finally reached the podium.
The priest began to recite his wedding speech.
“...May the blessings of all the guests and the blessings of God be with the bride and groom as they start a new family...”
The bride, who had almost finished her speech, looked at the groom.
“Does the groom, Lucas Pedegreen, pledge his eternal love to the bride?”
“Yes. I do.”
Lucas’s hand, which was clasped with Ariana’s, tightened.
The muscles on his chin were bulging as if the heat from the previous fight had not yet subsided.
The priest looked back at Ariana with a businesslike look.
“So, does the bride Ariana Lopez pledge her eternal love to the groom?”
But the answer that should have been heard did not come.
“...”
“Ahem.”
As the silence grew longer, the priest coughed uncomfortably and asked again.
“Does the bride Ariana Lopez pledge her eternal love to the groom?”
Only then did Ariana slowly open her mouth.
“No.”
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