CH 34

The engagement ceremony took place in the largest cathedral in the imperial city.

Mariabelle and Renato entered the cathedral through the side gate, instead of the main one, and headed for the chapel in the back, which was reserved for the royal family.

After changing into the chapel's waiting room, Mariabelle nervously went to Renato, who was waiting in front of the priest.

When Renato saw Mariabelle, he looked at her a little dazzled.

She was wearing a blue silk dress, a special product of Count Fidelo's domain, which Renato ordered as soon as they decided on their engagement.

He had the handmaidens that she had taken with her from the imperial capital, take her measurements, so he thought they might need to make some minor adjustments, but as expected, the work of the skilled handmaidens was flawless.

The simple, form-fitting dress draped beautifully from the waist to the hem, and as Mariabelle walked, a thin blue light shimmered on the white fabric like ripples.

If one looked closely, the hem was embroidered with an arrangement of roses; it was so beautiful that it was hard to believe that it had been made in a hurry, and it also brought out Mariabelle's innocent beauty as well.

Renato and Mariabelle faced each other and signed the engagement vows.

Since the emperor's signature had already been filled in, they finished with the signatures of James, Count Fidelo, and Countess Fidelo, who were the witnesses.

"Mariabelle, I can finally call you by your name."

Now that he was officially engaged, Renato finally had the right to call Mariabelle by her name.

As soon as he called her like that, Mariabelle also called Renato's name in a whisper.

"Mr. Renato..."

It was not Carlo... as usual, but a young man who looked a lot like Renato who put a stop to the two gazing at each other.

"That's enough, both of you. You have work to do, brother, so let's go back."

The young man, with slightly drooping blue eyes, smiled and grabbed Renato's arm without mercy.

"Angelo, we just got engaged. Could you take it a little slower?"

"No," he said. "Do you know how many days you have abandoned your work? Do you know how many days it takes to get there and back, no matter how many horses we took? And not just once, but twice!"

"I know that, but it would have been necessary."

"Yes, I know that too. But you've already done the engagement, so why not leave? All the documents I have in my pile are waiting for my brother's signature!

The young man, who had said all this, turned his body toward Mariabelle and bowed gracefully.

"Nice to meet you, my future sister-in-law. My name is Angelo, the third prince of the Galleria Empire. I have come here as a representative of my brother's family. From now on, I look forward to working with you. I have a lot of work to do, so I'm borrowing you for that. I've heard a lot of rumors about you, my future sister-in-law, that you are very talented, so I hope you will learn the ways of the empire and help me with the office."

Angelo, who spoke in one breathless breath, smiled at the distracted Mariabelle.

"What in the world are you saying to someone you've never met before?"

Angelo stared at Renato, who crossed his arms in disgust.

Renato was about to argue with Angelo, but Carlo, who was standing behind him, stopped him.

"Your Highness Angelo, I have to ask you something, but are you getting any sleep?"

"Sleep? Oh, sleep. I can't sleep when my brother suddenly goes away, and after he comes back, he had been working on various things I didn't know and that accumulated an unbelievable number of documents. I saw Rinaldo's eyes were black with dark circles. If you saw him, you would laugh at his funny face."

"How many days have you not slept?" Carlo asked.

Angelo counted the days with a snap of his fingers. "Two... days, maybe three. Perhaps more for brother Rinaldo. We're both pushing our physical limits, but I wonder how many days a person can go without sleep."

"Oh, this is not good, Your Highness. Let's go back to the palace together," Carlo said, turning back to Renato.

Renato, perhaps thinking that this was a bad idea because of his brother's unprecedented talkativeness, said goodbye to Mariabelle, regretting his last words.

"I'm sorry, Mariabelle. I'll make it up to you later."

"No, don't worry about me. Please, take care of yourself, and don't overdo it."

Carlo pulled on Angelo's arm, who was still talking with Renato, who didn't want to leave.

"The two of you, let's go. It's a lot of work for just His Highness alone... I can't believe His Highness Angelo is helping us..." Carlo said as he left, and pulled the royal family along with him, whose shoulders were slumped.