CH 34

Chapter - 34 || Not Once Did They Smile

It was the morning of the wedding.

"Good morning, Lady Natalia."

The maid came to wake her up at an earlier hour than usual, but Natalia did not leave her bed.

"Lady Natalia, we must hurry up and get ready for today."

I was forcibly woken up and took a leisurely bath.

My skin and hair needed to be more polished than usual.

The maids and attendants did not care that Natalia did not talk much, probably because she was still sleepy.

The mistress of the house had always been a woman of highly uneven moods.

"You're so beautiful."

"I'm sure His Majesty is looking forward to it."

Still, they were affectionate and did not forget to praise her. She didn't seem to be listening, but she was. If they didn't praise her, she would be even more flustered.

"You have rosy cheeks."

"You look like an angel."

As she listened to the flowing praise of the maids of honor, Natalia was feeling overwhelmed, even though it was the morning of her long-awaited wedding.

I'm finally going to be a queen.

I won't have to struggle anymore.

So why am I so anxious?

Alexander had been in a bad mood for a while now, and yesterday he exploded it again.

Of all people, it seems that he was stopped from going to see the Crown Princess in person.

I'm not stupid.

That was the first thing Natalia thought when she heard that.

Even his subjects were laughing behind his back.

You broke off the engagement yourself, but you're still very much in love with her.

Thank God the Crown Prince of the Zomer Empire is so generous.

She had heard the whispers of the maids last night. Natalia didn't want to criticize him, because she agreed with her.

After hearing that the Crown Prince and Crown Princess of the Zomer Empire were going to visit Natalia and her family for their wedding, Alexander had clearly gone crazy.

He waited for her arrival now and then and moved Natalia away from their bedroom.

I had heard that they were stranded due to the flooding of the river along the border, but I sent people to check on them every day.

When the Crown Prince and Princess arrived and heard the report that he had refused to eat with Alexander, he threw a paperweight from his desk.

Unfortunately, it hit the former king's cherished vase and cracked it.

Jacek looked just a little sad, but quickly fixed his expression. He was used to it by now.

You said it didn't matter.

Natalia thought as she was polished by the maids.

He was the one who was in a political marriage, and he said he had never had any feelings for her.

And yet,

I feel like I've been lied to.

"Come on, let's get you into your dress."

"It's really nice."

Still, today is Natalia's wedding day.

I'm going to show that woman how happy I am.

Natalia began to put on the dress she had prepared for the occasion.

——

"That's a lovely dress, it goes well with Elvira's hair color."

The dress I had chosen for Alexander and Natalia's wedding was a light gray dress with few ornaments.

Rudolf-sama was the first one to praise me.

"Thank you."

"Let's go."

"Yes."

We went to the palace.

In the Kingdom of Turku, the marriage ceremony was not held in a temple, but in the chapel of the palace, where I and Rudolf-sama and others were married.

Only a limited number of high-ranking nobles, both domestic and foreign, will be present.

In the chapel, people were already gathering.

I saw Patrisch, Anna, Anna's brother Esaias, Count Sylven, and the former queen, Sophia.

There was also Count Huskevi, who was said to have been the guardian of Lady Natalia.

I and Rudolf-sama had special seats, so we could greet them later.

The High Priestess was already waiting for me at the altar. She did not change her expression even when she saw me.

I, of course, did not move an eyebrow.

"You may enter."

The door opened and Alexander-sama and Lady Natalia began to walk on the scarlet carpet embroidered with gold.

"Well."

"This."

We watched as they walked to the altar, and when the nobles saw the color of Natalia's dress, they couldn't help but whisper to each other.

The traditional color of the dress was white.

That's what I, and everyone else, thought.

I saw that Lady Natalia was walking towards me in a dazzling dress.

But it was—

"Red?"

"That's impossible..."

What Lady Natalia was wearing was a gorgeous red dress.

It may have originally been a white dress, but the whole thing seemed to emit a golden light because of the gold threads embroidered all over.

"It's not fancy, it's..."

Rudolf-sama was muttering with his eyes fixed.

Even the strawberry blonde dress that Natalia was so proud of looked heavy and overly decorated rather than flamboyant.

It was fine that her bust was left a bit revealing to emphasize her figure, but the large sapphire necklace she was wearing was not appropriate.

The veil was short, perhaps to make the dress stand out, and because of that, the back view seemed lacking.

"No one said anything..."

I thought that this was more of a problem than the color of the dress.

Anyway, the wedding went off without a hitch.

The couple knelt in front of the altar, urged on by the High Priestess, and said their vows, and were recognized by the High Priestess as married.

But,

Neither Natalia nor Alexander smiled even once.