Ch#11

Episode 11

With the bride gone, there was no way the wedding ceremony could proceed properly.

Ludwig had to endure the humiliation of having his bride snatched away right at the temple altar and canceling the wedding, while the guests were busy spreading the shocking news throughout the Capital.

* * *

During my first regression, I also recalled memories of my past life.

The memories of when I lived as an ordinary woman in another world, in Korea.

Back then, among the clichés I saw in morning dramas, there was one like this.

An ex-boyfriend grabbing the bride's hand and running away on the wedding virgin road!

Not that I consciously intended it, but this time, I practically recreated that.

Of course, I did run away with Sir Beltane before, but it wasn't during the wedding ceremony. It was a desperate escape the night before.

Looking at it that way, this time I truly had a 'dramatic' experience.

What if someone asked for my thoughts on it?

My answer would be one.

"...Save me!"

In other words, it could also be expressed like this.

"Please let me down!"

This time, isn't that a line fitting for a bride being abducted?

But there was no leisure for such idle thoughts.

Arpad laughed with an unbearably cheerful air.

"Not yet! I can't let you go until we reach a safe place!"

I cried and shouted.

"We left the Capital ages ago!"

Even as I struggled with my whole body, Arpad didn't budge, thanks to his tremendous strength and sense of balance.

"You never know when pursuit might catch up!"

No, I know perfectly well he's right.

But, but!

Clip-clop, clip-clop!

The strong, fast horse ran without stopping.

Each time the hoofbeats echoed, the world shook violently.

Shake shake shake shake…….

Moreover, I wasn't just riding on the horse; I was seated on Arpad's lap.

The height was higher, so I was shaken from the stomach!

In the end, I had no choice but to set aside all pride and dignity and cry out honestly.

"...I think I'm going to throw up!"

"......!"

>Indeed, even the mad Crown Prince seemed to dislike that, and the horse that felt like it would shake me to death finally stopped.

"Are you alright?"

With Arpad's cautious voice and touch, I was finally able to get down to the ground.

But as soon as my feet touched down, I collapsed right there.

"Urgh!"

>The ground feels like it's shaking too!

It was similar to an incredible hangover I'd never experienced even when living as a Korean.

While I was lying face down on the ground, surprisingly, the mad Crown Prince patted my back and said.

"Are your eyes okay?"

"They're not okay. Even just standing still, everything feels like it's shaking."

"That means they're fine."

He grabbed my shoulder and slowly helped me up.

(Here, I realized he too was afraid of confirming what I had eaten yesterday.)

Where his pale, pretty, but rough finger pointed, a small white castle was visible.

"That's our destination."

At those words, the small, modest castle looked as luxurious and comfortable as the Imperial Palace.

And so, after riding for three days and nights, we arrived at a villa quite far from the Capital.

* * *

I entered the castle looking like a crumpled ball of tissue paper that had been rolled around on a dirt floor.

If Arpad hadn't been supporting me, I wouldn't have been able to walk properly.

At our finally reached destination, with a feeling of wanting to cheer three times over, I exclaimed.

"Finally, I can wash up. Where's the bed?"

Then Arpad, who was supporting me, talked nonsense.

"My bride is being a bit too proactive, it's rather embarrassing."

Flabbergasted, I just turned my head and saw a terribly unfair sight.

Arpad, who was wearing a matching white formal attire, was disgustingly clean and pristine.

'While someone became a crumpled tissue! That's not fair!'

Looking at the man's annoyingly still-sparkling face, I wobbled and retorted.

"I... just can't... joke anymore... or even get angry... so, cut me some slack."

This was real.

Three days of horseback riding with the body of a noble lady who had never undergone any training was truly an extreme experience.

It made me realize anew how much Sir Beltane must have worried about me and adjusted our movements when we fled in my past life.

Ah, maybe that's why we got caught so quickly?

Though I realized the painful reason for my past life's failure, there was something several times more important than that right now.

"I... need... to rest......"

Just as my eyes were about to close, hazy and wavering, Arpad stopped me.

"......!"

But the method left me astonished.

I wouldn't have been this surprised if he had just slapped my cheek.

*Peck.*

He kissed my cheek. A sweet scent brushed the tip of my nose.

My sleepiness vanished instantly.

I literally jumped. It was a vivid movement, like a mackerel thrown onto ice.

So much so that even Arpad missed catching me.

"Wh-what... what are you doing?!"

Then Arpad smiled, curving his eyes like bows.

"A light kiss to wake the sleepy princess?"

"......!"

While I stood there stunned, on the verge of fainting,

Arpad dragged me along into the castle.

Despite not being a large castle, there was a small chapel here.

And there, an old priest was waiting for us.

"You really came, Your Highness."

The priest wore a troubled expression, looking alternately at me and Arpad.

Only then did I feel my sleepiness completely flee.

"It can't just end with the abduction. You must also finish signing the marriage contract right away, and don't forget to get it notarized at the temple!"

Arpad had accurately remembered and followed the content of my threat... no, my request.

Arpad first knelt before the priest and requested.

"Preside over the wedding ceremony for me and Duchess Hilia Delphine, and be our witness."

This was our wedding.

I collapsed to my knees beside Arpad.

Then the priest's expression grew even more troubled.

He looked at me and asked.

"Your Grace, Duchess Delphine, are you not the bride of His Grace Grand Duke Ludwig? Do you truly consent to this marriage?"

I was reluctant to answer 'yes' here.

Surprisingly, Arpad seemed to have read even this, and answered the priest on my behalf.

"It's already been three days since I abducted the bride on her wedding day. Even if I return her safely now, do you think the Duchess's reputation will remain unscathed?"

"...Your Highness!"

"The path where her honor is least damaged is to marry me."

The priest could not deny Arpad's words.

"And you have already sworn to me, haven't you? That you would do anything to repay the debt you owe my mother."

In the end, he could hold out no longer.

The priest, though very briefly, presided over the wedding ceremony for me and Arpad.

We exchanged vows before the Lord God and Mother Goddess.

We signed our names on the marriage contract. (My fingers were trembling so much I had to press down hard to sign.)

We received holy oil on our heads and heard words of blessing.

"Thus, the two of you are reborn as husband and wife under the care of the Lord God and Mother Goddess."

I finally let out a sigh of relief.

The right to marriage and its recognition belonged uniquely to the Temple.

Not even the Emperor, nor even a dragon, could violate this.

While I was relieved, a completely unexpected word fell from above my head.

"Now, the two of you may exchange the vow's kiss."

"......!"

Startled, I glanced sideways.

There stood the man, still wearing an inscrutable smile, the man who was now my husband.

Arpad brought his face close very naturally.

Under normal circumstances, I would have jumped back in surprise, but now I couldn't.

'This is... just part of the wedding ceremony procedure!'

I squeezed my eyes shut and waited for the event (?) to happen.

Perhaps because my vision was blocked. My other senses felt more acute.

My heart seemed to be pounding like crazy.

It felt like someone was beating a drum right next to my ear.

'Should I just open my eyes?'

But if I did, the atmosphere would become even more awkward, I thought.

After what felt like an agonizingly long wait, I received the vow's kiss.

Surprisingly, the man's lips were soft and plump, and the way they enveloped mine was far more tender than I had expected.

It was completely different from the vow's kiss I had experienced multiple times with Ludwig.

His kiss became voracious, persistent, and intense. As if trying to steal my very breath.

"...Mmh!"

Not just me, but even the priest was surprised.

Until the priest, blushing, could no longer bear it and turned his head away.

Only when I was on the verge of losing my breath did Arpad finally release me.

"...Haah! You should show some restraint, especially with the priest present."

I lightly scolded him, pretending to be an embarrassed new bride.

But inwardly, I felt differently.

'Were you trying to kill someone with respiratory distress?'

Even under that accusatory gaze, Arpad was staring at me with an oddly intense look.

Like someone entranced.

A slight shiver ran down my spine.

'What is it? Surely not already......'

But my thoughts couldn't deepen further. Because the wedding ceremony procedures were still not over.

* * *

Arpad was sensitive to situations where he lost self-control.

Naturally, as he had experienced precursors to the Madness several times since childhood and even minor episodes.

But the kiss just now was utterly bizarre.

The start was merely a necessary act for the wedding ceremony procedure.

But the moment their lips actually touched, Arpad completely lost his reason for an instant.

He thirsted for her like a parched beast finding an oasis in the desert.

And as the kiss deepened and lengthened, he felt a strange sensation.

The feeling of the beast inside his body, always writhing sharply and unpleasantly, suddenly becoming docile for no reason.

It was a sense of satisfaction and joy he had never felt before in his life.

'I've never felt this even during the precursors to the Madness.'

Arpad looked at the woman who had just become his wife with an even more suspicious expression.

* * *

"Your Majesty! Please, please redress this injustice!"

Ludwig had been protesting near the Emperor's bedroom for nearly three days now.

There was no one in the palace who didn't know the reason.

To be precise, there was no one in the Capital who hadn't heard this rumor.

'Because it was an abduction that occurred publicly on the main street right in front of the Imperial Palace.'

Once again, feeling humiliated and boiling with rage, Ludwig bit his lip.

Blood flowed again from his lips, which had been a mess for the past three days.

He deliberately didn't wipe the blood away, so the surrounding eyes could see it.

"When I think of the suffering my wife must be enduring now, I cannot eat or sleep! Please, Your Majesty!"

Listening to his nephew's cries from outside, the Emperor was deep in thought.

What brought his attention back to reality was not Ludwig screaming outside, but the woman sitting across from him.

Empress Isabel.

"Your Majesty. How do you intend to resolve this matter?"

Translator: Nox