Chapter 04 

From Bridesmaid to Bride

While the High Priest’s proclamation echoed distantly in her ears, Florence frantically shifted her gaze around. That was when she caught sight of the guests attending the wedding.

The seats on either side of the altar were occupied by archpriests from famous temples throughout the Empire, all dressed in ceremonial robes and wearing solemn expressions.

In the VIP section sat Princess Miel, the Emperor’s younger sister, along with her husband and their two young daughters.

Uncle Raul had been telling the truth. Members of the Imperial Family really were here.

And that wasn’t all.

The great noble families of the South, whose names were well known even in the capital, were sitting prominently among the guests with their family crests displayed for all to see.

With so many distinguished people present, Florence absolutely could not afford to behave strangely.

It’ll just be a brief kiss, right? For now, I should focus on getting through the wedding without causing a commotion.

Just as Florence made up her mind and reached up to lift her veil, Grand Duke Edelston suddenly slipped beneath it first.

It was as though they had been locked inside a small private prison meant only for the two of them, and his presence felt strangely vivid.

His lavender eyes remained fixed on her, filled with an unfathomable mixture of emotions.

It was as though tens of thousands of feelings had been thrown together all at once.

Even in her bewilderment, Florence couldn’t tear her eyes away. She simply stared back at him.

“……Florence Sinclair. Ah, I suppose it’s Ricardo now. So we meet again.”

Human anxiety was often born from imagining the worst possible outcome for an uncertain future.

Florence had done the same as she walked down the aisle.

She had imagined the worst-case scenarios: the groom discovering her face and causing a scene, or worse, accusing the Sinclair family of fraud and filing a criminal complaint against them.

But Grand Duke Edelston looked strangely calm.

In fact, he even seemed pleased about marrying her.

Florence found that incredibly puzzling, but this was hardly the time to wonder about it.

Greatly relieved that she had managed to get through the immediate situation without causing a major disturbance, Florence nodded and whispered.

“Your Grace, you can just pretend to kiss me, so—mmph!”

But before she could finish speaking, the rough tip of his finger gently pressed against her lower lip, and his breath cautiously brushed against her.

The kiss began gently, almost tenderly, but the moment Grand Duke Edelston wrapped an arm around the bride’s waist, it deepened without end.

Florence had only expected their lips to briefly touch.

Instead, the soft sensation of his tongue pushing boldly into her mouth made her mind go blank.

A kiss like this, where they exchanged saliva and a sensation seemed to sweep over her entire body!

She had always thought kissing was simply a matter of pressing one’s lips together.

Only today did she learn that it could become something so overwhelming.

And absurdly enough, it was happening at Marianne’s wedding, with the very man she had desperately wanted to avoid becoming entangled with.

The hand that had been caressing her cheek now completely cradled the back of her head.

The hand around her waist moved along the curve of her slender waist, tracing upward along the line of her spine.

His suggestive movements seemed intent on drawing out some desire sleeping deep within her, and Florence’s breathing gradually grew heavier.

Just as an unfamiliar tingling sensation began to rise inside her—

Get a grip! We’re in front of Imperial royalty and the archpriests right now……!

She suddenly came to her senses and pushed him away with all her strength.

But he didn’t budge, as immovable as a rock.

Only after their tongues had met several more times and he had indulged his desire to his satisfaction did he finally release her, an unmistakable trace of reluctance on his face.

“Please step out from under the veil for a moment……”

Florence was catching her breath when her eyes met Edelston’s.

She immediately forgot what she had been about to say and simply stared blankly at him.

His gaze was filled with such tenderness that it was as though he were looking at the most precious thing in the world.

We had absolutely no connection besides what happened at the banquet, so why is he looking at me like that?

And why had he kissed her so passionately when she wasn’t even the bride?

Florence was utterly confused.

The Grand Duke lowered his eyes and gently traced her lips with his fingers.

Then, as though he couldn’t resist, he gave her one more brief kiss before finally stepping out from beneath the veil.

The heavy scent of sandalwood still lingered in the air.

Florence’s lips, which he had marked as though claiming them as his own, parted as she struggled to catch her breath.

“The bride and groom will now proceed down the aisle. Guests, please rise and bless the newlyweds as they embark on their new life together.”

All she had to do was leave the chapel.

That was it.

But perhaps because one shocking event had followed another, Florence couldn’t calm her dizzy mind.

She must have unconsciously tightened her grip on the arm she had placed around him, because she could feel the Grand Duke’s gaze upon her.

“Congratulations on your marriage!”

“Be happy!”

In the Astricen Empire, it was customary to scatter small white Calliano flowers with five petals, known as the “Flowers of Blessing,” at the end of a wedding ceremony.

The bride and groom would walk through the falling petals like snow while wishing for a dazzling future together.

Under normal circumstances, Florence loved the flowers because of their cute, star-like shape.

But not now.

She was already dizzy, and with white petals flying wildly before her eyes, she felt nauseous enough to throw up.

I just need to get past that door. I can endure this.

Even though every step felt incredibly difficult, Florence desperately looked around for Viscount Raul and his wife.

But perhaps they had already left the ceremony hall, because she couldn’t see them anywhere.

He said we’d find Marianne after the ceremony was over…….

She shouldn’t have trusted Uncle in the first place.

How could he dump everything on her like this and then run away?

Her legs were gradually losing their strength, and she could feel it with every step.

They had perhaps made it halfway when she finally reached the point where she couldn’t go any farther.

Suddenly, Grand Duke Edelston wrapped an arm around her shoulders and lifted Florence effortlessly into his arms.

The sudden change in her position made her dizziness even worse.

Unable even to push him away, she simply rested her face against his chest and struggled to breathe.

“Then we shall take our leave first. I’m looking forward to our first night together. Thank you all for attending our wedding.”

His cheerful voice as he bid farewell to the guests rang loudly in Florence’s head.

No, no. That’s not how this is supposed to go. Put me down…….

As the laughter of the guests gradually faded into the distance, Florence’s vision turned completely black, and she lost consciousness.

Inside the carriage heading toward the castle of the Duchy of Rika.

Edelston sat deep in thought as he held Florence, now his wife, tightly in his arms.

She must have been very shocked. But this was my last chance, too. You have no idea how long I’ve waited for this moment.

As the wind blowing through the open window gently tousled his hair, he carefully brushed the strands that had fallen across her face aside.

No matter what you look like, you will always be the most beautiful woman in the world to me.

Her rounded forehead flowed into crescent-shaped brows, followed by an elegant nose and stubbornly closed rose-colored lips.

There wasn’t a single feature that wasn’t beautiful.

Florence herself didn’t seem to realize it, but she was quietly famous in high society.

Her graceful and elegant features contrasted beautifully with her slender, curvaceous figure, while her long, wavy pale-blond hair brought to mind Diana, the moon goddess from ancient classics.

It wasn’t only her appearance.

Her calm demeanor, the relaxed atmosphere she possessed as she offered gentle consideration to others, and her composed social skills—befitting a noblewoman of the neutral faction, she knew how to build moderate goodwill with people regardless of faction—were particularly well regarded by seasoned elderly nobles.

Because her fiancé had been decided upon at a young age, people generally treated her like a figure from a painting.

Even so, whenever someone announced, “Lady Sinclair has arrived,” there had been plenty of men who would spring to their feet and rush over to see her.

Edelston had always watched them from afar.

And every single time, he had used superhuman patience to suppress his desire to cut their eyes out.

But after all, he had even tolerated Clark.

He couldn’t cause unnecessary trouble now and jeopardize the plan he had spent so long preparing.

If Clark had been a decent man, I would have dealt with him long ago.

Clark had survived thanks to his pathetic personality.

Of course, Edelston had no intention of letting him off easily after monopolizing Florence for ten years and daring to hurt her.

At the very least, shouldn’t he make him lose everything and leave him impotent?

After Florence’s broken engagement, Edelston had gone through considerable trouble dealing with the men who tried to propose to the Sinclair family.

There were men who sent their sisters or younger female relatives to the Sinclair estate under the pretext of asking after Florence’s well-being, subtly trying to test the waters.

There were even noblewomen who came barging in, declaring that they wanted Florence as their daughter-in-law immediately.

Even in this life, Edelston had to struggle to make Florence his.

My wife. My wife, Florence.

Edelston repeated the word wife silently several times.

The emotion swelling inside him almost overwhelmed him, but he barely managed to suppress it before pulling her closer into his arms.

An unbelievably wonderful scent came from her pale, delicate neck.

He desperately wanted to bury his face against her soft skin and breathe in her natural scent as much as he pleased.

But if he did that, this dreamlike, blissful moment of holding her would end in an instant.

Afraid that if he kept staring at Florence he might kiss her again without realizing it, Edelston deliberately turned his gaze toward the window.

It was early summer, the middle of the day beneath a brilliant blue sky.

It was exactly the same kind of day as the day she had left him without giving him the chance to do anything.

Edelston raised a hand to block the sunlight falling across her face.

At the same time, he struggled desperately to push away the unpleasant memories that were beginning to creep into his mind.

But the human mind had never been particularly obedient.

The image of large, vivid red blossoms of blood slowly spreading across a chest pierced by a pitch-black sword.

Perhaps because of that memory, Edelston still hated red flowers even now.