Chapter 395 - Secret Wedding

The death of Lariesa de Valoa was never made known to the outside world.

This is because the Pope, who felt quite burdened by the fact that the Grand Duchess had died as soon as she came into his possession, kept this information secret.

Pope Louis did not even inform Cardinal de Mare of the Grand Duchess's death, because he could clearly see what would happen.

'Your Holiness, shouldn't we announce the death at some point?'

'After I die, go and open the door and tell them that I was dead.'

'Then they'll think I killed them.'

'None of my business?'

Then the little disgruntled de Mare will crawl out like a rat and shout to the neighbors with his little mouth, 'Lariessa de Valois is already dead!'

He probably doesn't want to receive a letter of protest from Philip either.

“Ugh. That kind of thing just sucks.”

The Pope frowned, imagining Philip IV grinning with his usual vulgar smile, wondering what he could get from it.

He was always stressed out because he wasn't feeling well.

Wait a minute, if Philip doesn't come to him, he'll go to de Mare. If de Mare owes too much to those Galico guys, won't it be difficult to push forward with the holy war?

The Pope stroked his beard and thought about it. In fact, it would have been right for him, the current Pope, to turn it over and go.

Well, he's going to die anyway. He can't complain to the coffin. It's always better to blame the dead than the living.

However, Pope Louis was not one to easily forgive past grudges.

'What's wrong with the old man?'

He snorted loudly.

'Do as you please, de Mare!'

He just passed it on because he has faith in his abilities. It's not because he's upset that he made fun of him. It's for real.

***

Once everything was settled, Sir Manfredi lived by the calendar. He waited impatiently for the day he would set out for San Carlo.

“Why on earth are you dragging your feet? We’ve finished everything we need to do here, so let’s hurry up and go back home!”

But Prince Alfonso still had one very important matter to attend to before he could return to the Etruscan kingdom.

It was a secret marriage with Ariadne.

He had planned to finish the wedding ceremony and the marriage contract before returning home. It was obvious that Leo III would not stay still when he returned home.

If Leo III ever learned of the Gallico throne proposed by the Grand Duchess of Lariesa and the Grand Duke Odes, he would surely have said, "You are a fool for not accepting it."

The King, who had almost sold the heir to the throne for gunpowder, not even a country, still did so.

It was fortunate that it ended there.

It was Leo III's style to show flashes of creativity only when he had missed out on something good, to make up for the loss, even if he had never gained it.

No matter what the King did, he had to make it so that his union with Ariadne could not be broken.

“Ari. Let’s get married here and then go back.”

Alfonso whispered in Ariadne's ear as she lay on her side on the bed.

“We will enter through the San Carlo gate as a married couple who have sworn before the gods.”

Alfonso's heavy body pressed down on her. Ariadne, who was in a light sleep with only a very thin sheet wrapped around her, tossed and turned.

“Yeah.”

When there was no answer from Ariadne, Alfonso changed direction and began to climb up, stamping his lips from her toes.

“Answer me, I know you’re not sleeping.”

Smack

The sound of lips and skin meeting echoed throughout the room.

Once more, when she didn't wake up.

Smack 

For a long time, all she could hear was the sound of kissing and the rustling of sheets.

She did not say anything until Alfonso reached her shins. Ariadne held back even as he carefully kissed her round knees.

But the moment those lips pass over her chin, down her leg, and towards her thigh...

“Surrender! Surrender!”

She sat up with a start, covering herself with the sheet.

"Ouch!"

Then he grabbed her waist and lowered his head. It was the aftereffect of last night.

Her entire lower body was sore. She couldn't even move a toe. Round 2 was absolutely impossible.

“Then just stay still.”

Alfonso smiled brightly. Ariadne glared at him with eyes that seemed to be indignant.

Alfonso looked at Ariadne with his smiling, blue-gray eyes.

“Did you hear everything?”

At the same time, Alfonso's hand began to grope under the sheet. He looked like he was going to pounce again. Ariadne quickly stopped him.

“Starting with the part that says, ‘Let’s go as a couple when entering San Carlo.’”

Alfonso sat up with a swollen face and showered Ariadne with kisses on her lips, jawline, and cheeks. She moaned softly.

“Yeah.”

There was a strange balance of annoyance and good feeling. It was too good to push away actively, and too ticklish to enjoy without hesitation.

While Ariadne was still dazed from morning sleep and a shower of kisses, Alfonso held her tightly in his arms and whispered to her.

“Let’s get married here and go back.”

It was a soft voice. His lips hovered near Ariadne's ear.

Alfonso spoke lowly, continuing to place shallow kisses between each syllable.

“I’m sorry, I have to have a grand wedding where all my family and friends are invited.”

Although it was not a prerequisite for marriage in the Holy Nation, there were prerequisites for marriage that had to be met according to social norms.

It was the permission of both sets of parents, or to be exact, the heads of both sets of families.

A priest would not usually perform a wedding ceremony without the permission of the head of the household.

Even if they somehow managed to make a marriage vow, the fathers of both families would grab their children by the hair and drag them home. The church generally tended to conform to the social order to some extent.

But Alfonso had no intention of abiding by such a blunt rule. Although he had once been a model student, he had already enjoyed the convenience of being a 'one-time offender'.

When he got the King's permission and declared, "I am a married man," everything went as he had hoped.

No old men were fretting over their daughters' marriages, no young women harassing them with their bare bodies. And most of all, Leo III did not touch them.

Of course, the marriage declaration that was made without permission was not always sweet. It was a bit, no, a lot of hardship to deal with.

But that was because Alfonso did not want to get married. If it were a real marriage that did not require a wedding, there was no reason not to get married.

He said it again.

“Marry me, Ari.”

Ariadne laughed.

"Good."

She once dreamed of a grand wedding and coronation at the Palazzo Carlo. It was just a pipe dream.

“You don’t have to be sorry.”

In this life, she almost opened the 'Hall of the Sun' and got married there, of all places. If they're going to talk about grandeur, that would have been the best.

But there was no point in showing off one's prestige to the nobility and society figures of San Carlo.

“If I can stand proudly with you in front of the heavenly gods, that is enough for me.”

It was far better to pledge eternity to Alfonso in an obscure little chapel in Trevero than to become the bride of Leo III in the Hall of the Sun, or to have the entire Palazzo Carlo covered in pure white marble and become the Queen of Cesare I.

She looked up at Alfonso, her clear, dark green eyes staring straight at him.

At that moment, Alfonso vowed to himself that he would give Ariadne the most magnificent crowning ceremony in the world.

But he didn't say that decision out loud because he felt like a bastard who would just issue empty promises.

Instead, he held her hand tightly. It was particularly warm and lingered.

***

For that reason, Alfonso de Carlo and Ariadne de Mare were now standing side by side in an unknown little chapel inside Trevero.

The young priest's voice rang out loud.

“We stand here today to announce and ask for permission for the birth of a new couple before the Heavenly Father.”

Raphael de Baldessar, a man who had taken his priestly vows, was now marrying the woman he once loved to his best friend.

He glanced at the shy bride and groom. It was not a lavish wedding befitting the heir to a kingdom and his spouse.

They both just wore the best, cleanest clothes they had packed for the trip.

Alfonso wore a brown cloak over his pure white doublet and shroud.

Ariadne wore a neat, flowing cream-colored dress and a set of jewelry made of clear topaz.

But there was a real smile on their faces. With that tickling feeling of excitement and affection dripping from their gazes at each other.

“Have you come here of your own free will?”

Raphael asked the first question. It was a question that followed the old format of the Holy See. After all, history and tradition exist for a reason.

Isn't this a question that would prevent a fight from the beginning because it was a promise of marriage that wasn't sincere?

"Yes."

Alfonso answered in a deep voice. It was a short and confident answer.

“And the bride?”

This time, Ariadne answered clearly.

"Yes."

Raphael let out a light sigh without realizing it. It was a sigh of regret. And then he was surprised at himself.

Were you expecting someone to come running in saying, "I object!" or were you hoping that one of these two would turn around and leave saying, "That's not true."

It was a ridiculous wish. The ceremony had to continue. Raphael cleared his throat and spoke in a clear voice.

“Today, we stand here before the Lord to pledge our eternal union.”

Dazzling sunlight poured in through the wide-open windows of the chapel, which was simply decorated with wildflowers and green leaves.

The bride lowered her head slightly, perhaps because the light was harsh on her eyes.

Thanks to that, her black hair, which was tied up in a thick bun, and her long white neck caught his eye. Her hair was tied up without any special decorations, and only bouvardia flowers were placed in it.

Raphael tried to look away from the paper in his hand. She was no longer someone he could look at. He had to let her go.

There were more than ten reasons why he should let her go. He could do it. Raphael raised his voice.

“When two people become one, it means that they will support and encourage each other regardless of adversity or hardship.”

If it were a normal Alfonso, he would have teased Raphael, saying, "What do you, a priest, know about the life of two people?" But not today.

He bowed his head reverently before the abbot Baldessar, not before his friend Raphael.

“Share everything, whether it’s happy or sad, without any secrets, that comes in life.”

Surrounded by the rich scent of bouvardia flowers, Ariadne pondered for a moment whether the past events that must not be kept secret also included those that had already passed. For example, a return.

Raphael didn't give Ariadne much time to think about something else. He asked Alfonso a question.

“Will you respect the other person as your wife and as your husband for the rest of your life?”

"Yes!"

Alfonso's loud answer was filled with overwhelming joy. Ariadne couldn't help but smile in return.

Raphael asked Ariadne this time. His voice was soft.

“And the bride?”

Ariadne looked up and looked at Raphael. The bouquet of Bouvardia in her hand swayed along with it.

A flower as comfortable and natural as a wild flower, yet with a breathtaking fragrance. It was truly Ariadne-like.

Ariadne answered Raphael's question in a firm voice.

"Yes."

There was a firm agreement of will. These two loved each other. Raphael smiled faintly.

He looked at Alfonso. It was time to declare.

“The groom, please take the marriage oath.”

Tension rose in the quiet chapel.

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