I, the Female Lead, Ruined the Original Chapter 145

Rakrensius’s heart thudded—then sank.

 

That’s physically impossible… The moment Selleana entered his sight, walking hand in hand with Duke Elard from the far end of the aisle, he genuinely believed his heart had fallen out and stopped beating.

 

The ceremony was outdoors, with no artificial lighting, just the soft afternoon sun shining evenly on everyone. Yet somehow, in Rakrensius’s eyes, Selleana alone appeared to radiate as if she were bathed in divine light from all directions. A fleeting, rational thought tried to attribute it to her white dress reflecting sunlight—but it faded instantly. Thanks to the damned tradition, this was the first time he’d seen Selleana in her wedding gown—and she looked, quite literally, like an angel descended from the heavens.

 

“Oh my.”

 

“Look over there.”

 

“His Highness is…”

 

Whispers rippled through the guests who noticed Rakrensius’s state. At a glance, his expressionless face looked as composed as usual. But beneath his neatly tied silver hair, his ears and nape were flushed bright red. And once you noticed that everything about the groom’s demeanor seemed utterly unnatural. His lips were held together stiffly as if he were fighting to keep them from trembling. His eyes didn’t blink once, utterly fixated on the bride. Even his shoulders twitched as if he could barely hold himself back from running to her.

 

[Your reputation is shifting in real-time. I can hear it.]

 

Despite the amused jab from his friend, Rakrensius remained entranced by Selleana’s breathtaking presence. She was adorned so beautifully that it bordered on excessive. Her midnight-black hair—his own night sky—was styled with delicate braids framing her forehead, the rest twisted into an elegant high bun that blended curled and braided strands. Topping off her look was a tiara encrusted with yellow diamonds, peridot, and amber—gems that mirrored the color of her eyes.

 

Unlike the tradition of choosing a tiara from the imperial treasures for the imperial wedding, this tiara was specially crafted by the Elard family for this very day. It symbolized that Selleana wasn’t entering the imperial family as a princess consort but rather that the two families were forming an equal alliance through marriage.

 

Unlike the upper part of her face, the dress didn’t feature many jewels. Even though it adhered to the imperial protocol of not exposing shoulders or cleavage, the pearl-sheen silk that draped along her figure naturally revealed her curvaceous body.

 

Unlike the upper part of her face, the dress didn’t feature many jewels. Even though it adhered to the imperial protocol of not exposing shoulders or cleavage, the pearly silk that flowed along her figure naturally revealed her curvaceous body. Adding the final touch was a bold bouquet centered around Selleana’s favorite, scarlet gerberas.

 

With each step Selleana took, embodying the perfect image of a bride, Rakrensius felt as if his breath was being squeezed tighter and tighter. The organza silk layered over her shoulders along the neckline was like the wings of an angel, and the skirt fluttering with her steps was the very flapping of those wings. It felt as if the inside of his chest was being tickled by those feathers. Unable to bear the tickling sensation, he tightly closed his throat. His prominent Adam’s apple bobbed up and down.

 

“…Collin.”

 

While he was distracted by this, Selleana finally approached him. Her large eyes and sensual lips formed a graceful curve on her small face, blossoming into her naturally bright smile. Whenever he saw it, Rakrensius couldn’t help but fidget nervously. Even veiled, her smile burned into his vision.

 

“I look way too pretty today, don’t I?”

 

“Ahem, ahem.”

 

As the prospective son-in-law stood frozen, not even knowing what Selleana was saying to him, the duke cleared his throat to finally bring him back to his senses.

 

“It’s been almost three years since Your Highness met Lea, and seeing you so entranced, I should feel relieved as a father… .”

 

“T-Thank you…”

 

Caught off guard, Rakrensius received Selleana’s hand from Duke Elard, instinctively bowing halfway to him. It was more courteous than necessary. Even though he was the fifth prince, who had been almost insignificant until recently, and his father-in-law was Duke Elard, it was excessive for a prince to bow to a vassal of the imperial family. However, few found this unusual.

 

No one attending the wedding today was unaware that the groom was utterly smitten with the bride, and everyone understood that their marriage went beyond a mere equal union between the imperial family and the House of Elard, with the fifth prince essentially entering Elard as a sort of son-in-law. The fact that the wedding was held in the Elard territory, with significant influence from Elard and the bride’s side, was evidence of this. The only ones uneasy about this were Tashur III and the crown prince seated at the high table.

 

The wedding was unconventional in many ways. First of all, there was no priest to officiate the ceremony. Traditionally, the imperial wedding followed the form of holy matrimony, but the involvement of the temple was excluded from their wedding. No one questioned this.

 

Everyone knew the fifth prince had been oppressed by the deposed empress, who was once a saintess, for a long time, and Elard had also had significant conflicts with her, so everyone understood their desire to exclude the temple. Of course, no one knew the real reason. The truth was that they decided this way because they believed they didn’t need the blessing of the gods, as they were beings who transcended the divine average… except for Selleana’s friends and Di.

 

The somewhat unfamiliar order of the ceremony proceeded smoothly. The groom frequently glanced at his bride and froze, but it only brought amused smiles to the guests and didn’t hinder the proceedings at all.

 

Emperor Tashur III took on the role of officiant. Thanks to him, the unconventional wedding managed to maintain the appearance of an imperial marriage. However, given that he had lost two wives and had his last wife deposed due to unfortunate circumstances, it was indeed awkward for him to offer any words of wisdom. Thus, he offered a heartfelt blessing filled with guilt and affection for the son whose growth he had not been able to pay attention to.

 

“May the two of you respect each other’s lives as much as your own, be more moved by each other’s joys than your own, and be more saddened by each other’s sorrows than your own, and continue to be happy together every day as you have been until now—”

 

“Oh, this is going to take all night. Am I the only one thinking of the tower lord’s mother and feeling creeped out?”

 

“I feel the same way.”

 

“Yeah, me too.”

 

Fortunately, the irreverent whispers of the bride’s attendants, who spoke without moving their lips, didn’t spread far.

 

As the ceremony continued, the guests’ eyes repeatedly narrowed. When it came to exchanging the vows and gifts, Rakrensius was so nervous that his hand trembled, and he failed to slide the ring onto Selleana’s finger in one go.

 

“With this, I declare that Selleana of the 57th generation of Elard has become the wife of my son Rakrensius and a member of the imperial family.”

 

The moment Emperor Tashur III declared the marriage, the bride lifted her own veil, embraced the groom’s neck, and sealed their vows with a kiss. The unexpected gesture made the crown prince and a few gentlemen pull faces, but that was all.

 

The wedding ceremony, marked by simplicity and boldness, concluded amidst the enthusiastic cheers and blessings of the guests. There was no declaration of purity that Selleana had once seen in a nightmare, nor any process of the Great Temple’s scripture determining her worth. Her worth was overflowing with just the love of Rakrensius.

 

Before the reception began, a unique event took place. The bride wanted to share her happiness by gifting her bouquet to the guests, incorporating a bouquet toss into the ceremony.

 

“If you’re thinking about getting married, please come over here! Whoever catches my bouquet will receive a blessing to get married within three years. Even if you don’t have a partner now, you’ll soon meet a gentleman who will sweep you off your feet, just like I did!”

 

Selleana’s cheerful explanation gathered all the unmarried ladies, except for those like Doloret and Agnesia, who had no intention of marrying, near the stage. It was an unfamiliar event in Nepelsian, as there was no similar custom, but everyone joined in with excitement. Those on the verge of marriage, those who had just started a fresh relationship, and even those without a fiancé or lover—all the ladies dreaming of marriage focused on Selleana’s hand holding the bouquet, hoping to catch the energy of the lovebirds who were marrying after the most extravagant romance in recent Nepelsian history.

 

“Three, two, one—say it with me!”

 

Three! Two! One! As the guests counted down, Selleana swung her arm back, tossing the bouquet she had been waving up and down in the air…

 

“Ah!”

 

And the scarlet gerbera bouquet, tracing an arc through the air, landed in Michi’s arms.