Chapter 49

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Translator: Harry Potta
Chapter: 49
Chapter Title: The Eve of the Wedding
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He drooped his eyes, looking so pitiful that I couldn’t help but laugh. The knights watched me laugh out loud, their eyes filled with warmth. Rotan added gently.
“It suits you well. It’s a much better look.”
The compliment, delivered in his deep voice, put me at ease. It might have been an empty platitude meant to console me, but it still felt good. I mumbled, shyly touching my bangs.
“Thank you, everyone.”
They showered me with enough praise to make me float before finally getting to the point.
“Tomorrow, we and the soldiers will be in charge of security for the wedding. We’ll be armed, so you can rest assured. If any bastards give you trouble, I’ll just…!”
Michele made a gun shape with her hand and mimed shooting it. Rotan grabbed her hand and pulled it down.
“We will ensure nothing of the sort happens, so please do not worry.”
Rotan calmly explained how the security for the wedding would be handled.
“All of us, including the soldiers, will be in uniform. They are all people you know, Lady Aileen, so you must not follow anyone you don’t recognize.”
“…”
I felt a slight annoyance at his tone, which was like he was teaching a child about stranger danger. But with one kidnapping and one abduction—a grand total of two incidents—under my belt, I listened obediently without protest.
“However, the number of soldiers we can deploy at the wedding venue is limited, so our line of sight will be restricted.”
Rotan had me sit in a chair and spread out the blueprints of the grand duke’s residence on the table. He pointed to a red dot marked on the plans and continued his explanation.
“These are the positions where the soldiers will be stationed for guard duty. The highest number of personnel will be deployed here in the rear garden, where the ceremony will be held…”
He took out a fountain pen and drew a large circle on the blueprint.
“Please try to remain in the wedding venue as much as possible, but if you must go inside the mansion, you have to use this passage. It is the safest route.”
It was the main entrance that connected the garden to the mansion.
“Once inside the mansion, you’ll be with His Excellency the Grand Duke anyway, but just to explain.”
Rotan’s pen glided across the blueprint.
“You must always use this central staircase. It’s unlikely to happen, but in the one-in-a-million chance of an emergency, you must go here.”
He drew a star on a room in the far corner of the top floor. Rotan, who had deftly drawn a star with his bear-like hands, stressed the point.
“No matter what. We’ll practice together later, but you must be able to get there on your own. Once inside the room, you’ll see paintings on display. There is a secret passage behind the largest frame.”
Emergency funds, dry rations, and a change of clothes were prepared there, and the passage led to the outskirts of the capital.
After listening to Rotan’s lengthy explanation, I naturally grew tense. I couldn’t help but imagine the terrible things that might happen at the wedding. I swallowed dryly and asked.
“Did you… receive some kind of warning?”
I wondered if that was why they were preparing so thoroughly. But Rotan flatly denied it.
“If we had received that kind of warning, His Excellency would have canceled or postponed the wedding. Until the culprit was caught.”
He would have sent the blackmailer to the guillotine or had them face a firing squad. Rotan said calmly that Cesare would only have set a new wedding date after dealing with the threat decisively.
“You will not have to use this passage, Lady Aileen. We will make sure of it. The reason I’m explaining this is to prepare for every possibility.”
Cesare had had blood on his hands for a very long time. He had fought his first battle as a boy soldier at the tender age of ten. He was sent there to die, but he returned alive, and even after that, he was often called to the battlefield.
To survive, he naturally had to kill his opponents. With every new medal added to Cesare’s uniform, the number of people who held a grudge against him also grew.
“You may have already guessed to some extent… but His Excellency’s enemies are not confined to the empire.”
Cesare had enemies not only in the Traon Empire but in other countries as well. Just like when the assassins had attacked the greenhouse, there was no telling what might happen.
At least within the empire, Cesare was slowly beginning to get the nobles under his thumb. But like Mattio, the former senate chairman’s son-in-law, there was always the distinct possibility that some madman would do something mad.
From the moment I was announced as the Grand Duchess of Erzet, I, too, became their target.
For me, who used to just handle blades of grass and sell a few paltry medicines from my shabby laboratory in a run-down inn, this was a tremendous change.
“I apologize for these grim words… but we will risk our lives to protect you, Lady Aileen, so I hope you won’t worry too much.”
Having given me a fright only to then reassure me, Rotan looked a little embarrassed. He gave an awkward smile. I looked at the burn scars covering his face and answered quietly.
“…Don’t do that.”
I met the eyes of all four of them, one by one. Only then did I continue.
“I’d rather you didn’t risk your lives. I’ll be careful, too. I’ll be sure to stay where you can protect me.”
At that, they all suddenly went quiet. Rotan clenched his jaw, then replied in a faintly trembling voice.
“Yes, Lady Aileen.”
After the detailed explanation, I walked the route he had described with Rotan. When he saw that I had memorized everything after hearing it just once, he was extremely pleased.
And then, it was the day of the wedding.
***
I had gone to bed early the night before. I had to wake up before sunrise, so I was determined to fall asleep early, but things rarely go as planned.
I tossed and turned with nervousness before finally drifting off, only to wake up again after just a few hours of sleep. From then on, I was dragged around by the servants in a half-asleep daze.
Every time I blinked my half-dozing eyes, the scene would change dramatically, but after bathing in a tub full of flower petals, I couldn’t doze off anymore.
Several servants flocked around me, meticulously adorning me. The servant doing my makeup kept marveling and showing me a hand mirror, but I just smiled and subtly avoided its reflection.
Around sunrise, the owners of the dress shops arrived.
They had stayed up all night, working on the wedding dress until the very last minute, and had dark circles under their eyes. Their usual unique and stylish outfits were nowhere to be seen; today, they all wore the same shabby work clothes. A woman who seemed to be Bellezza said in a hoarse voice.
“It’s good to see you again. I would love to ask how you’ve been in detail, but we’re short on time, so we’ll begin immediately.”
Then all three of them rushed at me, their eyes gleaming with a look that bordered on madness. I felt a slight chill and stood frozen in place.
I put on a chemise and drawers, and the corset was tightened. No bustle was used to puff out the skirt, as the goal was a naturally flowing silhouette.
Next, they all put on white gloves and began to dress me in the wedding gown. The gloves were to prevent any smudges on the pure white dress. Their hands were incredibly serious as they delicately tied ribbons and adjusted the fabric.
When my preparations were finally complete, the three women, once bitter rivals, shed tears of emotion and clasped each other’s hands.
“To think that we… we created such a masterpiece…!”
Dabbing at their eyes with handkerchiefs, the dress shop owners adjusted my veil to cover my face and eagerly tried to drum up more business.
“Please allow us to make all your future clothes as well.”
“The three of us! Together! We will dedicate ourselves to creating them for you.”
I privately wondered if my plain looks would tarnish their reputation, but I couldn’t bring myself to pour cold water on their excitement, so I remained quiet.
At last, all the preparations were finished, and it was time to go to the ceremony.
The veil made my vision slightly blurry. But for me, who had always hidden my eyes with my bangs, the hazy view offered a strange sense of comfort.
With the help of the servants, I slowly made my way to the wedding venue. The moment I stepped out of the mansion.
A cascade of sounds washed over me—the cheerful melody of music, the chatter and laughter of people, the chirping of birds. Along with the gazes of all the guests, turning to me at once.
At the bride’s appearance, the crowd, which had been boisterously chattering just a moment before, suddenly fell silent.