Chapter 291



291 The Night Run

Selma Payne’s POV:

After the bride and groom were led into the new house, my duty ended.

The new couple’s parents sent the concierges off one by one. When it was my turn, they said gratefully, ” Thank you for coming to this wedding, Your Highness. If there’s anything unsatisfactory, please tell us.”

“Everything is fine.” I comforted the two nervous parents. “Avril is my good friend. Perrin is also a good guy. It’s my honor to be their honored guest.”

After my identity was exposed, I often received an attitude of fear and respect from my old friends. If I was disappointed and lost before, I was used to it now.

The Lycan Pack in the early morning was like a jigsaw puzzle, a busy place was joined by a quiet night, and a brightly lit place was joined by a dark alley. The car window was the screen that showed everything, playing colorful pictures for the people in the car.

I was suddenly interested in the light and shadow under the street lamps. I counted the balls of light that I passed by, but I kept getting dizzy. After counting thirty to fifty, I had to start again.

Aldrich quietly drove the car, and none of us spoke. The atmosphere was very quiet for a while. But this time, it wasn’t as awkward as before. For two people with the same mind, words didn’t mean everything.

The early morning breeze gently lifted the hair falling on my temples, making my ears itch.

I removed my hair bun and pulled it back into a loose bun.

Aldrich didn’t look at me, but I knew he was smiling.

Looking at the seemingly endless lights, I softly said, “… when do you think we should hold our wedding?”

“What do you think?” Aldrich asked back.

“If I could choose, I hope it would be tomorrow.”

“I, too, think tomorrow is the best, but His Majesty will not agree,” he said, laughing.

“I know, I was just joking.”

“Other than tomorrow?”

“The day after tomorrow is fine too.”

“The day after tomorrow, His Majesty will be angry too.”

“Don’t worry about that. We’re the ones getting married anyway.”

“Ohoho! Has our twenty-year-old Princess entered her late rebellious phase? This is not good.”

“If the day after tomorrow is no good either, then we can do the day after tomorrow.”

“To be honest, I’m not afraid. But you don’t want to be out of your father’s, do you?”

“My parents would never do that. They would support all my decisions.”

“I agree with the former, but I think the latter is open to discussion.”

“This won’t do, that won’t do. When do you think is the best time?”

“I think now is the best time.”

I slapped him and laughed, “Be serious!”

“I’m being serious, the serious words in my heart.” Aldrich shrugged. “God knows how much I want to drag you to the church to get married right now.”

I chuckled and said, “That won’t do. Didn’t you see? Earlier, the priest left halfway through the wedding. I think the old man is sleeping soundly now.”

“We can wake him up or perform the ritual in his bedroom. That way, he can go back to sleep immediately after he finishes the ritual.”

“This doesn’t seem right.”

“So what should we do? Not today, tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, not even the day after tomorrow. The longer I wait, the more I miss you. If I wait any longer, I’m going to die.”

“Perhaps we have other solutions.”

“What?”

I whispered in Aldrich’s ear, “Let’s elope!”

Riding on the moonlight, riding on the evening wind, riding on the lights of thousands of houses. We could drive the car into the sky and let the midnight raven lead the way. We could ask the lingering white clouds to guide us when the day broke.

We crossed the stars, the sun, and the circling eagles and petrels until we touched the cool moonlight and stood in the bustling courtyard of the Moon Palace.

The valkyrie would guide us, and the servants would wash away the dust. We came to the Moon Goddess like naked babies, begging for her forgiveness, blessing, and love.

The goddess dipped bay leaves in the moonlight to bless us and then weaved a gauze cloak with the moonlight to cover us. She would use her majestic yet gentle voice to make an oath for us and then carve the Eternal Oath on the floor tiles of the courtyard.

From now on, we’d be eternal lovers. The moon was our witness, and time was our escort. Even if the physical body died or the soul reincarnated, the meaningful oath would forever be engraved in the deepest part of our true self. In the future, meeting in the middle of a sea of people would begin another journey.

Right now, right this second.

While the moon was still there, while the stars were still there.

‘My lover, are you willing to elope with me?’

My wedding with Aldrich had been brought forward.

According to tradition – why were there so many traditions recently – the marriage of a prince or princess would take at least half a year to prepare. In history, many people took three to five years to become officially married couples from an engaged couple. However, when it came to me, I wasn’t so particular. As a Princess who had ‘wandered among the common folk’ for more than ten years, my life had nothing to do with tradition.