“You’ve really grown guts just because you’re getting married. How dare you look down on House Rydell?”
“House Rydell abandoned me first, so I’m saying I have no interest in this family either. You don’t have to keep fretting over losing your position to me anymore, so isn’t that a relief for you too?”
Pesha breezed past Jeremy with a light, teasing tone.
Since she had even been forbidden from going outside, she had no desire to bicker with Jeremy any further, get caught by her father, and incur his pointless wrath.
From behind her, she heard Jeremy huffing angrily before knocking on the door of their father’s study.
“Jeremy. Did you have a good time at your lessons?”
And then came her father’s voice, sounding pleased to see his son despite being not quite as warm as he used to be—as though he had never shouted at all moments ago.
It would be a lie to say it didn’t hurt.
But for now, finding a way to survive came first.
***
The marriage between Count Owen Namoi and Lady Pesha Rydell was a hot topic in high society for only a very brief time. Pesha’s unexpected outburst kept people talking about it a little longer, but that was all.
In the end, their marriage was not called off.
For one thing, Duke Rydell, embarrassed after being humiliated at a party attended by the Emperor himself, had changed the wedding into a private ceremony attended only by close relatives. On top of that, almost nothing was known about Count Namoi’s private life, a man who had started out as a commoner and spent more than a decade of his youth on the battlefield.
There was nothing to speculate about when there was so little anyone knew about Owen Namoi.
The only thing that accompanied the topic as a side note was the regret that Pesha, who possessed a beauty counted among the finest in high society, was getting married so anticlimactically.
Interest quickly died down, and in the meantime, a month passed.
The day of the wedding arrived.
The bridal waiting room attached directly beside the chapel of the temple where the ceremony was to be held had the gloomy atmosphere of a funeral home.
Sitting in front of the vanity and looking into the mirror, Pesha was having her hair brushed by Minnie, the maid who had looked after her since childhood. With a face that was almost on the verge of tears, Minnie said,
“My lady, you look so beautiful today. Sniff, you’re so beautiful, so why…….”
“Stop it, Minnie. Do you want to get scolded by Father too?”
Pesha scolded her maid as her gleaming silver hair, thickly braided into a single plait, hung down her back.
Her pale violet eyes, like violets themselves, were sunk in gloom no less than Minnie’s, but she did her best to comfort the maids.
“Girls, I’m not being sold off somewhere. I’m just getting married…….”
In truth, she absolutely was being sold off.
The more Count Namoi’s reputation soared, the louder the public opinion became that he should be granted a ducal title.
It was the will of the people. No matter how much of an Emperor he was, there was no way he could defy such overwhelming public support.
But his pride was hurt at the thought of simply handing a dukedom to a youngster from a mercenary background who was not even thirty.
So the Emperor came up with a scheme.
Instead of granting Owen a dukedom, he arranged for him to marry into a ducal family. Publicly, this allowed him to play the part of a generous monarch who had given Owen a reliable family on his wife’s side, while in reality, his intention was to prevent Owen Namoi’s power from growing even further.
If it were Io, she would somehow make it through this marriage just fine.
But Pesha was different.
‘If only I had that damn purification power too, I wouldn’t have to worry about any of this.’
Pesha secretly let out a deep sigh.
Even though she tried her hardest not to worry, the worries kept flooding in.
What if he gets angry because I embarrassed him and starts making a fuss about how much he dislikes me?
Actually, it wouldn’t be strange if he did.
But when it was obvious to anyone that she was going to marry him only to be killed, how could she possibly have obediently agreed to the marriage on the spot?
I really did live a good life. I didn’t do anything bad!
As long as this man’s territory remained corrupted and Io possessed purification abilities, the two of them would inevitably come to need each other.
‘There’s only one way left now. I’ll make as much money as I can as quickly as possible, hand Owen over to Io, and make my escape.’
Meanwhile, the time for the bride to enter the ceremony drew near, and a servant waiting outside the bridal room knocked softly on the door.
“My lady. Are you all ready?”
At that, the maids’ gazes turned toward Pesha.
Pesha, who had been calming her nerves while staring at herself in the mirror, gave a heavy nod and rose from her seat.
“Yes. I’ll go out now.”
The maids, who had been wearing faces as though they were attending a funeral, composed their expressions one by one and lifted the train of Pesha’s wedding dress.
“Open the door.”
At Pesha’s command, the maids opened the door to the bridal waiting room.
Pesha tightened her abdomen as though bracing herself and walked out with stiff steps.
The chapel, located directly beside the bridal waiting room, had its doors thrown wide open, as though some terrifying beast had opened its jaws wide to swallow its prey.
Entering with the feeling of walking straight into a tiger’s den, the first thing Pesha saw was her relatives seated in the chapel pews.
The relatives of House Rydell were seated on the left, and on the right……
‘Huh?’
Pesha’s steps abruptly came to a halt just as she was about to walk down the virgin road.
There were only four or five people seated on the right side of the guest seats.
Although they were dressed in ordinary formal suits, their figures were so perfectly rigid, as though measured with a ruler, that anyone could tell they were soldiers.
Judging by appearances, they were probably Owen’s adjutants.
‘Good grief. There weren’t enough people to fill the seats, so he had to seat his adjutants.’
And it was understandable.
Owen was an orphan.
Since he did not even know his parents, there was no way he could invite any relatives.
But still!
It was painfully obvious that the relatives from House Rydell were whispering among themselves while pretending not to notice the completely empty seats on the right.
Perhaps because that bothered her a little, Pesha stole a glance at Owen’s back, standing at the end of the virgin road.
Whether he knew Pesha had arrived or not, he was looking only at the high priest who had been chosen to officiate the ceremony directly in front of him.
Pesha stared fixedly at his broad back, so wide that the fabric wrapped around his body was pulled taut.
Then she swallowed dryly and walked toward him almost as though charging.
When she arrived beside the groom with surprisingly valiant steps for a new bride, the officiant, whose expression was just as bewildered as the guests on the bride’s side, cleared his throat.
“Ahem, hm. Then I shall begin with the declaration of marriage.”
“…….”
“The bride and groom have vowed, in this glorious place where their families and relatives have gathered to bless them, to become husband and wife and share the joys and hardships of life together. Is this correct?”
“…….”
“Is that correct?”
The officiant asked again, but no answer came from Owen.
So Pesha belatedly answered in a small voice.
“Y-Yes…….”
She stole a glance to the side.
Owen merely glared at the high priest officiating the ceremony with a face stiff as stone.
‘Does he hate this marriage so much that he’s glaring at the innocent officiant?’
The thought made her already unwelcome marriage feel even more unpleasant.
I’m not getting married because I like it either.
She was silently pouting when the officiant continued reciting the wedding address.
She remembered that even at weddings she had attended as a guest in the past, the officiant’s speech had been maddeningly long.
But perhaps because this frightened high priest wanted to get away from Owen, who was glaring at him, as quickly as possible, he hurried through his lines.
“Then, please exchange rings.”
At that, Owen turned toward Pesha for the first time today.
It was almost the first time she had been able to properly examine his face.
For the brief moment when he slipped the ring onto her finger, Pesha stared intently at Owen’s face.
Until now, she had been so consumed by the fear that this man would kill her that she had not really noticed.
Owen was an extraordinarily handsome man, the kind whose face was so striking that once you looked at him, it was difficult to take your eyes away.
Beneath his slightly disheveled caramel-colored hair, thick eyebrows followed his bold facial contours, while the black eyes beneath his slightly fiercely upturned eyes glared so sharply that anyone being looked at by them would instinctively shrink back.
Then there was his knife-sharp nose and tightly pressed lips.
If it were not for his social status, women would have been lined up to marry him, for he exuded an intensely rich, unmistakable masculinity.
While Pesha was staring blankly, utterly entranced, the ring slipped onto her ring finger.
Then it was Pesha’s turn to put the ring on him.
With slightly trembling hands, Pesha slipped the ring onto Owen’s thick finger.
The matching rings glittered as they caught the sunlight, and seeing them made her heart feel so unbearably complicated.
As she looked at the ring while sighing inwardly, the officiant continued.
“Now, we shall proceed with the kiss of vows.”
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