As soon as Lariesa lay down on her bed, trying to make up for the sleep she had lost in the early morning, she received a call from her father, Grand Duke Odes.
She left the bedroom, rubbing her eyes, wearing only a robe over her pajamas.
“What’s wrong, father?”
The Grand Duke of Odes motioned for everyone to leave. After handing over the servants, he was left alone with his daughter and asked openly.
“Did you send Prince Alfonso and his party away?”
He knew his daughter would be surprised or even afraid.
Of course, she would say no, and he thought he would have to ask her questions like, "Then why did you wash in the morning?", "What did you do so early in the morning that you have to sleep during the day?", etc.
But his eldest daughter, who he loved so much that he couldn't even bear to put her in his eyes, died young, and now his only remaining daughter opened her eyes wide and answered confidently.
“Yes. I set the fire. Why?”
Duke Odes raised his voice without realizing it.
“What? Are you out of your mind right now?!”
Lariesa looked surprised at her father's sudden questioning.
“What’s wrong with that?”
"Oh my God!"
It was a perfect match. Grand Duke Odes was horrified by his daughter's perception of reality. He knew she was a bit of a strange child, but it was beyond his imagination.
“You set fire to the palace where His Majesty the King resides! If you get caught, you could be punished for plotting to conspire against the King! It’s treason, treason!”
Lariesa answered with a pouty face that showed no signs of fatigue.
“I know it was dangerous, but I just did what I had to do.”
“What? Are you really crazy?”
“It was my father who taught me that a woman should go through any hardship for her husband!”
“What?”
To Duke Odes, who was doubting whether he had heard correctly, Lariesa repeated each and every word.
“G. A. B.”
The Grand Duke of Odes was turned over.
“Why is that guy your husband!”
He thought he was going crazy because his daughter was lost in the flower garden.
“I understand that you were very fond of the Etruscan Prince. But all that came between you and him was a marriage proposal, and that marriage never came to fruition!”
Grand Duke Odes decided to reveal a little secret to convince his daughter.
“And I can’t go into detail, but given His Majesty the King’s wishes, this marriage will be difficult to carry out. Even if His Majesty the King wants you to marry Prince Alfonso, you must not accept it! Trust your father and come to your senses!”
Lariesa answered proudly.
“I know. After killing Prince Alfonso, His Majesty the King intended to marry Bianca of Taranto and bring the Etruscan throne to the Briand dynasty!”
“How did you do that...?”
Lariesa didn't answer at all and just smiled sinisterly at her astonished father.
“That’s why I let Prince Alfonso escape! You tried to kill him! He’s my husband!”
“You’re not even married, what kind of husband is he! Come to your senses!”
Lariesa looked straight at her father.
“No, I’m married.”
“What? What are you talking about?”
“If you promise not to get angry, I’ll tell you slowly.”
“What are you talking about? Are you out of your mind?”
The excited Grand Duke Odes shook his hands involuntarily and shouted. To Lariesa, it looked like her father was punching the air.
At her father's anger, Lariesa's eyes welled up with tears and she hid behind the sofa.
CLANG!
At this moment, the door to Lariesa's reception room opened.
“Honey? Honey?”
It was Grand Duchess Bernadette. She ran in, hugged Lariesa, and protested to her husband.
“What are you doing to our Larry right now!”
"Mom!"
Lariesa burrowed into her mother's arms. The Grand Duchess scolded her husband harshly.
“The child is crying!”
"Honey!"
Grand Duke Odes shouted with a seething heart.
“The girl says she is married!”
"Yes?"
Even the mother who was holding Lariesa in her arms pushed her daughter away and looked straight at her with wide eyes.
Lariesa, who had lost the corner she had trusted, cried as if the ceiling was collapsing.
“Mom! Dad! It’s bad! No one cares about my happiness!”
Grand Duchess Bernadette asked her daughter.
“No, but what the hell does that mean? You’re married? You have a husband?”
“Don’t ask me anything!”
Lariesa burst into tears and began to sob.
Grand Duchess Bernadette was in a state of panic, trying hard to comfort her daughter, while Grand Duke Odes sat in front, bewildered.
It was a long time before Lariesa finally came to her senses.
She barely stopped crying in her mother's arms as she continued to pat her back persistently and whispered.
“Mom, I married Prince Alfonso.”
“!”
At first, she was shocked, but Grand Duchess Bernadette, who had suffered a meltdown after asking her daughter a question just twenty minutes ago, asked her daughter gently.
“Prince? That’s great! When?”
“Last night.”
From behind, Grand Duke Odes grabbed him by the nape of his neck. He was about to fall backward.
But Grand Duchess Bernadette persistently consoled her grown daughter. What she feared more than anything in the world was seeing her own child cry.
“Was it romantic?”
The Grand Duchess could not bring herself to ask, “Have you had a wedding?” If it was Prince Alfonso, he would have been on the run, and a wedding would have been out of the question.
It was a brave question that she could ask because she could never have imagined that her daughter would not even receive a heartfelt confession.
“Ugh, ugh...”
Lariesa began to cry again. Unable to bear it any longer, Grand Duke Odes shouted.
“You couldn’t even have sex, it’s not romantic, and you didn’t have parental permission! What kind of marriage is that! You must have thought it was just a child’s play! Do you think marriage is something that involves sharing a single ring?”
Lariesa, who couldn't even share a single ring, protested vehemently.
"No!"
She had something to say too.
“We officially signed the marriage contract!”
"What?!"
If there were documents, it would be a different story. Lariesa went into the room in a hurry and came out with the marriage contract documents.
“Look at this! We’re a couple!”
Grand Duke Odes picked up the parchment his daughter held out with trembling hands. Please, let it not be true. Let it be a childish commotion caused by his childish daughter.
"Marriage Vow.
The Etruscan prince, Alfonso de Carlo, marries the Grand Duchess Lariesa of Valoa, Grand Duchy of Valoa, Kingdom of Gallico...(omitted)."
The contents were in the exact format of a formal document, and the signatures of both the groom and the bride were in the correct boxes.
There was nothing to find fault with, including the date.
“No... That can’t be... There must be a problem with the format somewhere...”
At her father's distraught muttering, Lariesa replied with a grumpy face.
“No way. It’s a marriage contract written after confirmation.”
It was the work of Lariesa, who had once written a contract for Grand Duke Mireille and had suffered greatly.
But Grand Duke Odes shook his head and called out to someone outside.
“Listen! Bring the Grand Duke’s Doctor of Laws! Now!”
In principle, the handling of condolences related to birth, aging, illness, and death, such as birth certificates, marriage certificates, and death certificates, is the responsibility of the Holy See Office.
That is, the people who know best about this are the clergy.
However, the Doctor of Law of the Grand Duke of Valoa, although not as expert, had incomparable advantages over the clergy of the Holy See.
The point is that he is completely the Grand Duke of Valoa's man.
He was a man who could be trusted not to let word leak out even if he showed the bombshell that was the wedding vows between the Grand Duchess of Lariesa and Prince Alfonso.
The 50-year-old law doctor lifted his monocle, looked closely at the documents, and asked Lariesa a few questions.
And he declared firmly.
“Your Highness, you are not a married woman.”
The face of Grand Duke Odes brightened noticeably, and Grand Duchess Bernadette also looked quite relieved, contrary to what she had said to her daughter.
Where is the mother who would be happy when her daughter got married without even having a wedding ceremony and her son-in-law is missing?
But Princess Lariesa reacted violently.
“Lies! You’re my father’s man! So you’re saying whatever you want to please him!”
She lunged at the law doctor and physically snatched the marriage certificate from him.
This piece of paper was the only thing that connected her to Prince Alfonso. She could never let it go.
“Lariesa!”
“Larry, if you do that you’ll get hurt!”
Her parents were terrified, but she paid no attention.
The doctor of law, who could not dare to physically attack his master, had no choice but to obediently take away the marriage contract, but was angry that the Grand Duchess had trampled on his professional pride.
“Your Highness! Please don’t call me such a traitor! This marriage contract is truly worthless as a marriage.”
Grand Duke Odes smiled and added his approval to the doctor of law's words.
“Yes, Lariesa. Listen to the doctor. Look, it’s because the signature isn’t in ink, right? It’s not a proper signature, it’s a mottled brown signature, and you can’t even read the name...”
“It’s not a signature problem. The document itself is perfect.”
The proud professional pride of a doctor of law was not broken when it came to his daughter or his father. The embarrassed Grand Duke Odes coughed in vain.
“What... If only my daughter wasn’t tied up with another man...”
“Oh, Your Highness. It is true that Princess Lariesa is bound to Prince Alfonso.”
The woman looked at the doctor of law with completely different expressions this time. The father was angry, and the daughter was delighted.
The law doctor, who had unintentionally thrown his employers into an emotional storm, began his explanation leisurely.
“Uh... The elements of a marriage contract are...”
“Just tell me the conclusion!”
The most angry was Grand Duchess Bernadette.
The doctor of law, startled by the Grand Duchess's rebuke, gave a curt answer as his wife had instructed.
“There was no priest present. So this marriage is invalid!”
Grand Duke Odes wiped his face with an expression that showed that his stomach ailment had completely healed. Grand Duchess Lariesa cried out in despair.
“But Prince Alfonso is bound to me!”
“Yes, that’s right.”
The doctor of law continued his explanation.
“Uh... Five formalities must be included when writing a marriage contract...”
“Just tell me the conclusion!”
“Just the conclusion!”
“So what’s the conclusion!”
The doctor of law, who had been persecuted by three family members, briefly explained to those who did not know the beauty of law with a tired expression.
“Since the moment of signing was not certified by a priest, it has no validity as a marriage. However, if you look at the contents of this marriage contract, the agreement of both parties to marry is clearly revealed...”
Grand Duchess Bernadette glared at the doctor of law with wide eyes.
He was quick to jump to conclusions because he was stung.
“In conclusion, this document has the effect of an engagement.”
He drove the wedge in just in case those fools didn't understand.
“You two are officially engaged.”
Princess Lariesa's expression brightened somewhat. If she were Alfonso's fiancée, then there was a possibility. As his fiancée, she had many privileges.
“Then, Doctor, the Prince can no longer marry any other woman but me?”
The doctor of law nodded.
“Yes. If a man marries another woman while his fiancée is still alive, the fiancée can file an official objection to the Holy See to have their marriage annulled.”
“Can I ask the Prince to marry me sooner?”
“Uh... That’s a bit tricky. As a rule of thumb...”
“No, wait a minute.”
The one who interrupted the Doctor of Law's lengthy explanation was Grand Duke Odes. He spoke with shining eyes.
“‘Official’? This marriage contract hasn’t been published anywhere yet.”
He fixed his gaze on the parchment he held preciously in his daughter's arms with a meaningful expression.
She left the bedroom, rubbing her eyes, wearing only a robe over her pajamas.
“What’s wrong, father?”
The Grand Duke of Odes motioned for everyone to leave. After handing over the servants, he was left alone with his daughter and asked openly.
“Did you send Prince Alfonso and his party away?”
He knew his daughter would be surprised or even afraid.
Of course, she would say no, and he thought he would have to ask her questions like, "Then why did you wash in the morning?", "What did you do so early in the morning that you have to sleep during the day?", etc.
But his eldest daughter, who he loved so much that he couldn't even bear to put her in his eyes, died young, and now his only remaining daughter opened her eyes wide and answered confidently.
“Yes. I set the fire. Why?”
Duke Odes raised his voice without realizing it.
“What? Are you out of your mind right now?!”
Lariesa looked surprised at her father's sudden questioning.
“What’s wrong with that?”
"Oh my God!"
It was a perfect match. Grand Duke Odes was horrified by his daughter's perception of reality. He knew she was a bit of a strange child, but it was beyond his imagination.
“You set fire to the palace where His Majesty the King resides! If you get caught, you could be punished for plotting to conspire against the King! It’s treason, treason!”
Lariesa answered with a pouty face that showed no signs of fatigue.
“I know it was dangerous, but I just did what I had to do.”
“What? Are you really crazy?”
“It was my father who taught me that a woman should go through any hardship for her husband!”
“What?”
To Duke Odes, who was doubting whether he had heard correctly, Lariesa repeated each and every word.
“G. A. B.”
The Grand Duke of Odes was turned over.
“Why is that guy your husband!”
He thought he was going crazy because his daughter was lost in the flower garden.
“I understand that you were very fond of the Etruscan Prince. But all that came between you and him was a marriage proposal, and that marriage never came to fruition!”
Grand Duke Odes decided to reveal a little secret to convince his daughter.
“And I can’t go into detail, but given His Majesty the King’s wishes, this marriage will be difficult to carry out. Even if His Majesty the King wants you to marry Prince Alfonso, you must not accept it! Trust your father and come to your senses!”
Lariesa answered proudly.
“I know. After killing Prince Alfonso, His Majesty the King intended to marry Bianca of Taranto and bring the Etruscan throne to the Briand dynasty!”
“How did you do that...?”
Lariesa didn't answer at all and just smiled sinisterly at her astonished father.
“That’s why I let Prince Alfonso escape! You tried to kill him! He’s my husband!”
“You’re not even married, what kind of husband is he! Come to your senses!”
Lariesa looked straight at her father.
“No, I’m married.”
“What? What are you talking about?”
“If you promise not to get angry, I’ll tell you slowly.”
“What are you talking about? Are you out of your mind?”
The excited Grand Duke Odes shook his hands involuntarily and shouted. To Lariesa, it looked like her father was punching the air.
At her father's anger, Lariesa's eyes welled up with tears and she hid behind the sofa.
CLANG!
At this moment, the door to Lariesa's reception room opened.
“Honey? Honey?”
It was Grand Duchess Bernadette. She ran in, hugged Lariesa, and protested to her husband.
“What are you doing to our Larry right now!”
"Mom!"
Lariesa burrowed into her mother's arms. The Grand Duchess scolded her husband harshly.
“The child is crying!”
"Honey!"
Grand Duke Odes shouted with a seething heart.
“The girl says she is married!”
"Yes?"
Even the mother who was holding Lariesa in her arms pushed her daughter away and looked straight at her with wide eyes.
Lariesa, who had lost the corner she had trusted, cried as if the ceiling was collapsing.
“Mom! Dad! It’s bad! No one cares about my happiness!”
Grand Duchess Bernadette asked her daughter.
“No, but what the hell does that mean? You’re married? You have a husband?”
“Don’t ask me anything!”
Lariesa burst into tears and began to sob.
Grand Duchess Bernadette was in a state of panic, trying hard to comfort her daughter, while Grand Duke Odes sat in front, bewildered.
It was a long time before Lariesa finally came to her senses.
She barely stopped crying in her mother's arms as she continued to pat her back persistently and whispered.
“Mom, I married Prince Alfonso.”
“!”
At first, she was shocked, but Grand Duchess Bernadette, who had suffered a meltdown after asking her daughter a question just twenty minutes ago, asked her daughter gently.
“Prince? That’s great! When?”
“Last night.”
From behind, Grand Duke Odes grabbed him by the nape of his neck. He was about to fall backward.
But Grand Duchess Bernadette persistently consoled her grown daughter. What she feared more than anything in the world was seeing her own child cry.
“Was it romantic?”
The Grand Duchess could not bring herself to ask, “Have you had a wedding?” If it was Prince Alfonso, he would have been on the run, and a wedding would have been out of the question.
It was a brave question that she could ask because she could never have imagined that her daughter would not even receive a heartfelt confession.
“Ugh, ugh...”
Lariesa began to cry again. Unable to bear it any longer, Grand Duke Odes shouted.
“You couldn’t even have sex, it’s not romantic, and you didn’t have parental permission! What kind of marriage is that! You must have thought it was just a child’s play! Do you think marriage is something that involves sharing a single ring?”
Lariesa, who couldn't even share a single ring, protested vehemently.
"No!"
She had something to say too.
“We officially signed the marriage contract!”
"What?!"
If there were documents, it would be a different story. Lariesa went into the room in a hurry and came out with the marriage contract documents.
“Look at this! We’re a couple!”
Grand Duke Odes picked up the parchment his daughter held out with trembling hands. Please, let it not be true. Let it be a childish commotion caused by his childish daughter.
"Marriage Vow.
The Etruscan prince, Alfonso de Carlo, marries the Grand Duchess Lariesa of Valoa, Grand Duchy of Valoa, Kingdom of Gallico...(omitted)."
The contents were in the exact format of a formal document, and the signatures of both the groom and the bride were in the correct boxes.
There was nothing to find fault with, including the date.
“No... That can’t be... There must be a problem with the format somewhere...”
At her father's distraught muttering, Lariesa replied with a grumpy face.
“No way. It’s a marriage contract written after confirmation.”
It was the work of Lariesa, who had once written a contract for Grand Duke Mireille and had suffered greatly.
But Grand Duke Odes shook his head and called out to someone outside.
“Listen! Bring the Grand Duke’s Doctor of Laws! Now!”
***
In principle, the handling of condolences related to birth, aging, illness, and death, such as birth certificates, marriage certificates, and death certificates, is the responsibility of the Holy See Office.
That is, the people who know best about this are the clergy.
However, the Doctor of Law of the Grand Duke of Valoa, although not as expert, had incomparable advantages over the clergy of the Holy See.
The point is that he is completely the Grand Duke of Valoa's man.
He was a man who could be trusted not to let word leak out even if he showed the bombshell that was the wedding vows between the Grand Duchess of Lariesa and Prince Alfonso.
The 50-year-old law doctor lifted his monocle, looked closely at the documents, and asked Lariesa a few questions.
And he declared firmly.
“Your Highness, you are not a married woman.”
The face of Grand Duke Odes brightened noticeably, and Grand Duchess Bernadette also looked quite relieved, contrary to what she had said to her daughter.
Where is the mother who would be happy when her daughter got married without even having a wedding ceremony and her son-in-law is missing?
But Princess Lariesa reacted violently.
“Lies! You’re my father’s man! So you’re saying whatever you want to please him!”
She lunged at the law doctor and physically snatched the marriage certificate from him.
This piece of paper was the only thing that connected her to Prince Alfonso. She could never let it go.
“Lariesa!”
“Larry, if you do that you’ll get hurt!”
Her parents were terrified, but she paid no attention.
The doctor of law, who could not dare to physically attack his master, had no choice but to obediently take away the marriage contract, but was angry that the Grand Duchess had trampled on his professional pride.
“Your Highness! Please don’t call me such a traitor! This marriage contract is truly worthless as a marriage.”
Grand Duke Odes smiled and added his approval to the doctor of law's words.
“Yes, Lariesa. Listen to the doctor. Look, it’s because the signature isn’t in ink, right? It’s not a proper signature, it’s a mottled brown signature, and you can’t even read the name...”
“It’s not a signature problem. The document itself is perfect.”
The proud professional pride of a doctor of law was not broken when it came to his daughter or his father. The embarrassed Grand Duke Odes coughed in vain.
“What... If only my daughter wasn’t tied up with another man...”
“Oh, Your Highness. It is true that Princess Lariesa is bound to Prince Alfonso.”
The woman looked at the doctor of law with completely different expressions this time. The father was angry, and the daughter was delighted.
The law doctor, who had unintentionally thrown his employers into an emotional storm, began his explanation leisurely.
“Uh... The elements of a marriage contract are...”
“Just tell me the conclusion!”
The most angry was Grand Duchess Bernadette.
The doctor of law, startled by the Grand Duchess's rebuke, gave a curt answer as his wife had instructed.
“There was no priest present. So this marriage is invalid!”
Grand Duke Odes wiped his face with an expression that showed that his stomach ailment had completely healed. Grand Duchess Lariesa cried out in despair.
“But Prince Alfonso is bound to me!”
“Yes, that’s right.”
The doctor of law continued his explanation.
“Uh... Five formalities must be included when writing a marriage contract...”
“Just tell me the conclusion!”
“Just the conclusion!”
“So what’s the conclusion!”
The doctor of law, who had been persecuted by three family members, briefly explained to those who did not know the beauty of law with a tired expression.
“Since the moment of signing was not certified by a priest, it has no validity as a marriage. However, if you look at the contents of this marriage contract, the agreement of both parties to marry is clearly revealed...”
Grand Duchess Bernadette glared at the doctor of law with wide eyes.
He was quick to jump to conclusions because he was stung.
“In conclusion, this document has the effect of an engagement.”
He drove the wedge in just in case those fools didn't understand.
“You two are officially engaged.”
Princess Lariesa's expression brightened somewhat. If she were Alfonso's fiancée, then there was a possibility. As his fiancée, she had many privileges.
“Then, Doctor, the Prince can no longer marry any other woman but me?”
The doctor of law nodded.
“Yes. If a man marries another woman while his fiancée is still alive, the fiancée can file an official objection to the Holy See to have their marriage annulled.”
“Can I ask the Prince to marry me sooner?”
“Uh... That’s a bit tricky. As a rule of thumb...”
“No, wait a minute.”
The one who interrupted the Doctor of Law's lengthy explanation was Grand Duke Odes. He spoke with shining eyes.
“‘Official’? This marriage contract hasn’t been published anywhere yet.”
He fixed his gaze on the parchment he held preciously in his daughter's arms with a meaningful expression.
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