Chapter 63

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Magnificent music reverberated through the chapel. It was the beginning of the wedding ceremony.

A priest who appeared in the inner room stood in front of the officiating table.

All the guests sitting in their seats looked amazed at him.

There was a separate priest who presided over the marriage ceremony. He was not often present at other events, except for the weddings that took place in the temple.

Thanks to this, most of the people of the Empire thought that he had a different status from the ordinary priest, who was equivalent to the high priest.

But I had a different opinion. He was just a puppet for the temple. a puppet made to enhance the value of a wedding held in the temple.

I looked at the priest with a blank face. He opened the Bible, which seemed too much to lift, and muttered something.

Then he raised his hands to both sides, and the guests began to applaud.

“Grand Duchess! You have to get out now!”

I moved slowly at the urging of the maid.

Devan also walked out slowly across from me. There was still an arrogant smile on his lips.

“It’s beautiful.”

I remembered what Devan whispered earlier and I blushed again. I think he just said it to tease me.

I thought so, but I was embarrassed to look at Devan. I tried to avoid his gaze.

At last we stood side by side in front of the priest.

The priest, who looked at us once, began to mutter as he turned several pages of the Bible. It seemed to be the beginning of a full-fledged speech.

Instead of listening to a boring speech, I focused more on glancing at Devan next to me.

A sharp nose bridge, long eyelashes, beautiful red eyes hidden in them. I wonder if it had been like that.

Tuk – I felt a touch on my hand.

Devan? When I looked at him with a puzzled expression on my face, Devan, who was still staring at the priest, mouthing again.

“Focus.”

His expression was more of a mischievous than a reproach.

Everyone must have noticed that I was just staring at him.

I hurriedly took my eyes off his face because I thought it would heat up again.

“Well, then….”

The priest closed the Bible.

It happened that the speech was over, and the bride and groom had to exchange rings.

Wait, the ring?

All I had prepared for the wedding was to drink tea to make myself resistant to poison and choose a dress suit with Devan.

I barely picked the attire together because of circumstances, but there was no way Devan had prepared a ring.

I didn’t know much about weddings, so I didn’t even think about rings.

Even the butler who helped prepare the meal didn’t mention the rings.

Devan said he’d take care of communicating with the temple and inviting guests.… What about the rings?

Did Devan not tell me to have it ready because he didn’t even know?

My face turned white with many thoughts.

What should I do? Can the ceremony proceed successfully without the rings?

When I was restless inside, Devan skillfully grabbed my hand.

“……Devan?”

Unable to hide my bewildered expression, I looked at Devan.

“We need to exchange the ring.”

He had the rings? Did he pick it out himself?

Deban took the ring case out of his pocket with a face of no importance.

I recalled choosing robes with Devan. His terrible aesthetic.

If Devan chose the ring himself… Indeed… a ring of many bizarre designs flashed through my mind.

Still… better than nothing. ……maybe.

I held out my hand with my eyes closed.

I could feel the ring being inserted into my trembling fingers. But it wasn’t too heavy or strange, so it seemed better than I thought.

“Now, your turn.”

I barely opened my eyes to Devan’s words.

“……What?”

The ring Devan gave me was surprisingly plain.

So it didn’t have a ridiculously large skeleton on it. It wasn’t thick or heavy, or an odd shaped cut diamond.

No, what the… The ring was beautiful, not ordinary.

A small diamond was wrapped around an opal cut in polka dots. It was a platinum ring that took the form of a tiara as a whole.

Did he ask the old butler to choose the ring?

“Evelyn?”

Looking at the ring in a daze, I raised my head at Devan’s call.

“Oh, yes.”

Devan was holding out a ring case to me. There was a ring for Devan inside.

Unlike mine, Devan’s ring was simple platinum, with opal set like thin lines.

It was a ring that seemed similar to mine and had each personality.

When I looked at it, I was convinced. I’m sure Devan couldn’t have picked the rings.

I slowly put the ring on the fourth finger of Devan’s left hand, which was held out as if it were natural. It matched very well with the white and long fingers of Devan.

Devan looked at me and my hand alternately with a proud expression.

“Now that you have completed the ring exchange, I will proceed with the pledge.”

The priest raised one hand. It was time to recite the wedding vows in front of the guests.

Turning to the signal, I saw people sitting in the chapel’s chairs.

Come to think of it… Is Count Diego here too?

I pretended to recite my vows and glanced at the guests.

There was no way Devan had not invited him, since our marriage was partly to show Count Diego in the first place.

However, there was no familiar face among the guests who filled the chapel.

Count Diego didn’t come? Why?

The Count was a man of practical importance.

Rather than getting angry at the fact that I disappeared in front of his eyes and came back shamelessly, he was a person who thought about how to use the status of the Grand Duke as his son in law.

That was why he couldn’t have not come. …….

It was when I frowned slightly.

Creak! The doors of the chapel were opened.

The sudden disturbance drew everyone’s attention to it.

A large figure stood at the door. He looked heavily armed in armor. He held a long sword in one hand.

Who is it?

I couldn’t see his face well because of the pouring light.

“In the sacred chapel where the wedding is taking place…!”

The priest rebuked in a rather dignified voice.

However, the opponent slowly walked toward the officiating table, as if he didn’t hear it.

No.

My stiffened as the shadow approached.

It was a familiar body, a familiar gaze. A persistent gaze.

My body trembled violently. Devan grabbed my hand and hid me 

behind him.

“Why is he here….”

Devan’s thought didn’t seem too different from mine.

‘What the hell…… why is he here?’

The uninvited guest who suddenly opened the door of the chapel was Killian Diego.

It’s already been a while since I came to the palace. Killian had not showed up.

I thought he had given up everything and gone somewhere.…. Why did he show up now?

As Killian drew nearer, the seated guests screamed.

It was because of the blood on his body.

Every time he moved, red blood dripped from his sword.

“Blood..?”

An ominous energy swept through my body. There was no focus in Killian’s eyes as he drew nearer.

Now he was dragging one foot a little.

Is he hurt? Is it his own blood?

The priest who belatedly grasped the situation left in a hurry.

Devan winked, and a sword flew from behind the right curtain. It seemed that he had prepared in advance for what was about to happen.

“Devan, this is…….”

“Run with the priest.”

“What? But…….”

“But what? Your brother?”

“……Yes.”

Killian came here probably because of me.

“Run away now, whether it’s your brother or not. It doesn’t look like he’s in a state of conversation.”

At the end of his speech, Devan drew his sword. A sword with a beautiful handle, seen in his office.

The black sword shone sharply.

Killian, who was approaching, opened his eyes wide. He gripped 

the sword handle he was dragging tightly.

In an unusual atmosphere, the guests were getting up from their seats and running away.

The chairs fell and people bumped into each other in a hurry to escape.

Screams filled the chapel. The sacred wedding turned into a disaster in an instant.

“Your Highness! Your Highness!”

When did the maid show up? She pulled me aside.

“Hurry up, Your Highness!”

She held my trembling body tightly.

I couldn’t come or go behind Devan. To escape like this, Killian’s eyes were nailed to me.

Would my escape really solve the problem? The armor, the blood, the hideous eyes.….

Is Killian here to kill me?

Looking around, I couldn’t find a soldier to help us.

The temple was a place free of swords, blood, power, etc. externally. To emphasize the ‘sacredness’, there were escorts.

“…… Evelyn.”

At that moment, Killian’s voice shook my body. Before I knew it, Killian was right in front of us.

“You’d better not come any closer.”

Devan thundered menacingly.

Killian stopped there, either because of the threat or conscious of Devan’s raised sword. The dripping blood was forming a puddle on the floor.

But the gaze that persisted on me was still the same.

“Evelyn, come on.”

Devan, frowned, motioned at me. It was a sign to run away.

Instead of running away, I whispered to the maid who was holding my arm tightly.

“Bring the knights.”

“What?”

“Come on!”

The maid looked very perplexed. I pushed her back and urged her on.

After seeing her exit through the back door, I walked past Devan and took a step forward.

Killian’s eyes trembled. I stared at his eyes without wavering.