FYERIL - Chapter 25 < The Wedding of Doom (4) >




“Yes. Then from this moment on, the two of you will forever- Yes?”

The priest’s voice was off as he was about to recite the obligatory line.

Lucas turned to Ariana like lightning.

The guests, who sensed the bride’s answer was strange, stirred a beat later.

“What was that, just now?”

“Didn’t she say no?”

Lucas, who was momentarily dazed, grabbed Ariana’s arm tightly.

“Ariana. My Ari.”

Lucas whispered with a bright and kind smile.

“You should have just said ‘yes.’ You make all these mistakes because you’re nervous? Haha, you’re cute.”

“It wasn’t a mistake.”

Ariana answered, looking straight at Lucas.

“What is that...”

Lucas’ expression suddenly distorted into a fierce one and he turned to the priest.

“Ha, haha. My bride seems very nervous. Please proceed as planned.”

“Ah... um, yes. Then.”

The priest glanced at the bride with a puzzled face. Her face was so calm considering the bombshell she had made, that the priest wondered if he had misheard her.

“Then, ahem. Anyone who objects to this wedding, speak up now or remain silent forever. Then, we will move on to the next procedure-.”

“There is an objection.”

A clear voice echoed through the room.

Elena looked around her as if she had seen a ghost, startling her.

“...Uh, um. Yes?”

The priest stammered with a face that looked like he had bitten his tongue.

The Duke smiled broadly and sat up. As his body, which had been leaning forward like a well-fed beast, stretched out, his presence expanded suffocatingly.

Countless gazes filled with shock were fixed on him.

“I am against this marriage.”

“Yes, Sir?”

The priest opened his mouth wide as if he had heard an alien language.

The Duke took a brisk stride in of the stunned scene.

His long strides quickly covered the carpet and reached the bride.

In the silence where time seemed to have stopped, the Duke grabbed Ariana’s wrist.

His deep gaze stared at her as if he was going to devour her.

“Ariana.”

The low, locked voice was so sweet that several ladies blushed without realizing it.

“This won’t work, after all.”

He licked his lips as if he was thirsty.

“I can’t give up like this.”

The Duke pulled the wrist he had grabbed and swallowed Ariana’s lips.

“Ugh...!”

Her slender shoulders trembled as if she was surprised.

The Duke confined even that shaking in his firm embrace and delved deeper into the lips that were touching.

“Ugh.”

With a heavy breath, a white fist slapped the shoulder that had confined her.

However, the Duke only stretched his lips and hugged her body more tightly. The bride’s face, which had instantly turned red like a flower petal, seemed as flustered as the guests, but the eyes of those who were shocked couldn’t see that far.

The bride during the wedding was kissing another man.

The priest, who was witnessing the unprecedented situation right in front of him, groped his lips like a person who had lost his voice.

Pitter-patter, patter.

Whether it was because he was out of breath or for some other reason, the priest, whose face was now as red as a ripe apple, pattered the Duke’s body.

Only then did Dante lower his head as if he had no choice.

His red eyes, brighter than usual, looked down at the priest, who was panting heavily. His deep, satisfied smile resembled that of a beast that had just finished a feast.

“Wha, wha... What is this?”

The groom was the first to come to his senses.

Lucas shouted with a face as red as if he would explode at any moment.

“Huh, this, huff... What the hell is this, Your Excellency the Duke!”

He was so excited that his voice trembled as he gasped for breath. Only then did the Duke glance at the groom and open his mouth. He was still holding the bride with one arm.

“I’ve decided. I won’t give her to you.”

Lucas paused for a moment at the sharp gaze, then quickly came to his senses and spoke back.

“This... This is nonsense! Ariana is my fiancée! My, my bride! Even if you are the Duke, I cannot tolerate this kind of behavior! Get away from my bride at once-”

“Shut up, Marquis.”

“What, what did you say?!”

The Duke, turning his back on Lucas whose eyes were rolling back, whispered to Ariana.

“Ariana Lopez.”

Ariana wiped her wet lips and looked up at him with wavering eyes.

The Duke smiled broadly as if he was happy with the sharp gaze.

“Isn’t it time to choose the right answer now?”

“...”

“Choose me instead of that idiot. No one will value you more than me.”

“Ariana!”

Lucas shouted in a frenzy.

“You wouldn’t listen to that kind of talk, would you?! It’s me, Lucas Pedegreen! The one you loved so much!”

Lucas desperately shouted, grabbing Ariana’s arm.

The moment the Duke was about to step forward, Ariana spoke first.

“...Marquis.”

Ariana looked at Lucas with tears in the corners of her eyes, perhaps because of the kiss from earlier.

Lucas quickly nodded at her innocent and pitiful appearance.

“That, that’s right, Ariana. My Ari.”

He didn’t know why the Duke was acting so crazy all of a sudden, but he couldn’t let Ariana be taken away from him.

If Ariana, who he held in high esteem, chose him, even the most evil Duke would not be able to steal her away in front of so many people.

“Were you scared? Come to me quickly. I’ll protect you!”

Lucas stretched out both arms as if he was trying to protect his woman from the villain. Lucas wasn’t that short, but his physique was so different from the Duke’s that his appearance looked like a rodent instinctively puffing up its body in front of a wild beast.

“I’ve decided.”

Lucas looked back at Ariana with incredulous eyes.

“...Decided?”

“I don’t think I can marry the Marquis after all.”

Her voice was calm, but her tone was firm.

Lucas, with a blank expression, steadily went through the five stages of anger.

“You’re joking... right? Ariana.”

At first, he denied it.

However, when Ariana’s expression remained unmoving, Lucas began to tremble in anger.

“Come out now, huh. A... Are you saying you’re going to break off the engagement? At the wedding hall?!”

Lucas raised his hand and glared at the Duke.

“You’re going to abandon me and take that man’s hand? You’re crazy, you! Don’t you know who that guy is? He’s a murderer, a human slaughterer!”

“Even a murderer has ears to hear.”

Lucas flinched, but at this moment, his anger overpowered his fear.

“Ariana! Why are you suddenly doing this? Do you want to be thrown in a mental hospital?!”

Ariana’s expression flashed with contempt.

Ariana slapped Lucas’ hand away and said,

“Even if it weren’t for His Excellency the Duke, my choice would have been the same. I’d rather grow old and die alone.”

Ariana lowered her head slightly and spoke coldly so that only Lucas could hear.

“I’d rather entrust my body to the dirty hands that play with my sister.”

“Ah, ah...  Ariana.”

Lucas’ mouth fell open.

“You knew?”

His body staggered in shock.

“Since when?”

“Ari, that’s...”

Lucas, who had been mumbling absentmindedly, clenched his teeth.

“Oh... Oh, I can explain everything.”

“It’s over quite quickly.”

Before entering the wedding hall.

The moment he heard that strange voice, the uneasy feeling that had been creeping up on him came back like a nightmare.

Lucas grabbed Ariana’s wrist.

“Let’s talk alone, Ariana.”

“On my body.”

Ariana shook off his hand and said in a frosty voice.

“Don’t get your dirty hands on it.”

Lucas looked at Ariana with eyes of disbelief.

However, he was not given time to lose his mind.

“Did you hear that?”

A low, slow voice pierced Lucas’ ear.

“Your bride chose me.”

Lucas looked up at him absentmindedly.

He saw the Duke’s face grinning contentedly like a full lion.

“So now she’s my woman.”

As he said that, the Duke lifted the bride up and placed her on his shoulder.

A small “Kyaaak” sound came out of the bride’s mouth as if it had not been agreed upon.

Everyone looked at the Duke, who was about to turn around, with astonished eyes.

“The Duke is stealing the bride.”

“What the heck is this...?”

“What am I looking at?”

Everyone’s astonished gazes poured in.

“Oh my God. This is the most fun wedding I’ve ever had.”

Some people had a twinkle in their eyes, sensing that today’s events would be a drinking snack for decades to come.

“Special report. This is special report material!”

There was also the information guild master who was constantly manipulating the camera.

“Hey, stop! Give Ari back! You can’t take her!”

Lucas, who came to his senses late, hurriedly blocked the Duke’s path.

“Really?”

The Duke smiled fiercely, looking down at the obstacle.

“If you can stop it, try to stop it.”

What flashed in his red irises was a clear murderous intent that seemed palpable.

“If you don’t care about your life.”

Lucas momentarily lost his balance and staggered.

The Duke let out a cold laugh and passed Lucas.

“Guards! Damn it, stop anyone!”

Lucas shouted belatedly, but no one could stop him.

The uninvited guests leisurely left the wedding hall without any disturbance.

He carried the beautiful bride on his shoulder like a trophy.

“Ariana! Ariana!”

Lucas, who had finally freed himself, hurriedly chased after her.

“This damn thing, I will never allow this! I will definitely get you back! Ariana!”

“Whoa! The Marchioness has collapsed again!”

The wedding hall where the groom and bride had left erupted in commotion like firecrackers.



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