Chapter 100

The morning of the wedding day.

Astelle went to see Theor early in the morning and said, “Listen to Grandpa and have fun.”

Theor rubbed his eyes as he sat on the bed with his still sleepy face.

“Mom, where are you going?”

“Today is the wedding day, so I have to go to the temple.”

Neither Astelle nor Hannah talked about the wedding very much, so neither did Theor have much in mind.

Theor asked Astelle, “Can’t I go too?”

“Do you want to go to the wedding?”

“Yes, I want to see my mom in a wedding dress. I want to go too.”

Astelle was planning to leave Theor in the Empress Palace with her maternal grandfather without taking him to the wedding.

This marriage is not a happy marriage for the bride and groom. She didn’t want to leave the scene of an unhappy marriage in Theor’s memory.

“Why don’t you take him with you?”

Her maternal grandfather, who was listening to their conversation, asked sadly.

“It’s is still his parents’ wedding. If he doesn’t attend, it might burden him later on.”

“……”

Her grandfather’s advice shook her heart.

It might be better for Theor to remember that the wedding was held like an ordinary wedding.

Astelle smiled at Theor.

“Then let’s go together. Get up, eat breakfast, and get ready.”

“Yes!”

Theor got up from the bed and went down to the floor.

“I will take care of Theor. Shouldn’t you be getting ready too?”

“I just need to put on some makeup.”

Thousands of people have been busy preparing for this wedding for over a month.

However, Astelle, the bride, had nothing to prepare in particular.

All she had to do was put on makeup and a dress.

She had no intention of preparing any more than that.

After leaving Theor for a while with her maternal grandfather, Astelle returned to her residence.

With the help of the maids, she bathed in water mixed with perfumed oil and got ready to do her makeup.

“Lady Astelle. I brought the dress.”

Hannah went to the dressing room herself and brought the finished dress.

A dazzlingly beautiful white dress was taken out of a big box.

It was the first time she saw the finished dress in person.

The bodice on the chest is tightly studded with small diamonds in a lily pattern.

The skirt is especially beautiful with layers of pearl silk and muslin.

The skirt has three layers, with embroidered pearlescent lace fluttering to the floor.

It was incomparably more glamorous than what she had worn to her first wedding before.

Vellian once asked if she knew how much this dress cost.

It certainly looks like it cost a lot of money.

Hannah handed the dress to the other maids and picked up the comb.

“The duke contacted me,” she said.

As she dried her still wet hair, Hannah quietly reported.

Astelle beckoned at other maids to leave.

“It is said that they caught a man who sneaked into the dressing room at dawn.”

“What was he trying to do?”

“I think he tried to apply poison to the embroidery decoration.”

Astelle looked into the mirror and raised one eyebrow.

“Poisoning an embroidered decoration on a dress is a useless effort.”

If you apply poison to a cloth, it will be found out during the inspection.

Since it’s a thin cloth, do you want the poison to seep into my skin over time?

‘That much won’t kill me right away.’

Or are you going to keep spending money like that to make me die slowly?

“Go to Sir Lyndon and ask him to investigate the dressing room owner and clerks.”

Hannah said with a slightly confused expression, “I think the duke is still interrogating them.”

It was probably torture, not an interrogation.

One way or another, she just needed to reveal who was behind all of this, but it was still better for Lyndon to officially investigate and reveal the culprit than her father to find out.

Astelle wore a corset and a crinoline to widen her skirt.

A petticoat was put on it and finally, the dress was put on.

It was made according to Astelle’s size, so it fit her perfectly.

“Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?”

“It’s okay.”

Then she wore a white veil that stretched down her back.

The veil was also elegant and beautiful.

It was embroidered with delicate and elaborate floral patterns.

After putting on the veil, she picked up a bouquet of lilies.

She could see a bride in a white veil in the mirror.

“Congratulations, Lady Astelle.”

Hannah, standing behind her, looked at her calmly and said the same congratulations as she did six years ago.

Astelle in a wedding dress, and Hannah standing next to her.

Everything was the same as it was six years ago. But she was not as happy as she was then.

“Let’s go now.”

***

Kaizen was waiting for Astelle inside the temple.

The Great Hall was crowded with people.

Almost all the nobles in the capital gathered in the Great Hall for today’s wedding ceremony. As he wished to give Astelle an unprecedentedly splendid wedding, this wedding was much more extravagant and grander than their first wedding in the past.

“Your Majesty, Lady Astelle has come.”

Kaizen, who was sitting in the waiting room, got up from his seat and went outside.

Astelle, in a wedding dress, was walking into the temple.

Kaizen, who came out to greet the bride, stopped there.

“…..!”

Astelle in a white wedding dress was dazzlingly beautiful. Her face was beautiful even with light makeup, and her platinum blonde hair didn’t lose its radiance despite being covered in a long veil.

Moreover, her dainty pearlescent dress made her elegant look even more dazzling.

Her figure, standing with a bouquet of white flowers, was as graceful and noble as a lily.

Kaizen stood there mesmerized for a moment.

Astelle approached him slowly and bent her knees.

“Your Majesty, I apologize for being late.”

Her cold and calm voice brought Kaizen to his senses.

“……it’s okay.”

He hesitated and held out his hand, and Astelle put her hand on his.

Unlike Kaizen, Astelle’s beautiful face had neither tension nor excitement.

She was just looking forward with an icy expression.

When she held Theor’s hand and went out into the garden, she seemed happier than she was now.

‘……’

It was his own fault.

In the first place, this is a forced contract marriage.

There was no reason for her to be happy.

Rather, he would be glad if she didn’t hate being by his side.

In his distant memories, a twenty-year-old Astelle in a wedding dress appeared in his mind.

Astelle held his hand with her face full of joy and happiness.

Her hand that he was holding trembled slightly. She looked nervous.

Cold sweat was also dripping from her forehead.

“Are you nervous?”

Astelle, who always smiled calmly and gracefully like a doll, was trembling with tension.

Twenty-year-old Kaizen wrapped his hand around the back of Astelle’s hand.

“Don’t be nervous, Astelle.”

He didn’t mean to calm Astelle down in particular.

He just smiled and comforted her just to make her feel better.

But Astelle looked back at him with an emotional look.

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

Her voice was full of affection back then.

But now Astelle was holding his hand with a statue-like cold stare.

Astelle never looked back at him as she walked toward the altar.

Kaizen held her hand tighter.

But the more he did, the more he felt distant from Astelle.

***

The wedding ceremony was held in the main building of the temple.

The light of the candlesticks colored the quiet wedding hall with a soft golden light.

The two walked towards the altar.

Astelle stood in front of the altar with Kaizen beside her.

I can’t believe I’m repeating this boring ceremony with this man again.

Is there anything more bizarre than marrying the same emperor again?

Astelle herself will likely be remembered in the history of the empire as the empress who married the same emperor after being divorced.

The old high priest gave an endless series of sermons and congratulations to the two of them.

“Now, please sign your marriage vows.”

The two most important things in marriage are the marriage vows and the first night.

If the two are done properly, the marriage is legally completed.

Kaizen first took the pen and wrote his long name that spanned two lines.

Astelle also took the pen and wrote her own name next to the emperor’s name.

The old high priest, who confirmed their signature, declared to the two, “It’s done. In the name of the gods, you two are now officially married.”

***

‘What happened?’

Watching the wedding ceremony, the Marchioness tightly gripped the handkerchief in nervousness.

She had sent someone to poison Astelle’s wedding dress but he did not return. Then she sent her maid to find out what had happened, but even her maid was gone.

She wanted to send the marquis’ knights, but to do so, she had to explain the situation to her husband, the Marquis.

‘If things go wrong……’

She didn’t have the courage to tell her husband about this.

‘What the hell happened?’

What if they get caught?

As she watched the wedding ceremony anxiously, one of the guards approached her.

“Madam.”

And he said, “I have something to tell you. Please come this way.”