Previously
Following Angelica's departure, Dolores verifies her communication signals with the covert guards stationed outside by Resurreccion.
If she remembered correctly, every secret passageway in the chapel led to the basement.
From there, she had to find a way outside the building.
Where should she go then?
‘I cannot return to the marquisate.’
Her father had to be in league with James.
Every servant in the estate was a watcher.
‘Then I must find the way toward the Lancaster mansion!’
She had undoubtedly signaled distress.
Someone from the Grand Duke’s side would come to her aid.
“Ugh…”
The foul stench of the damp, dark tunnel choked her.
She thought she felt a rat scuttle across the top of her foot.
‘Still, I cannot stop.’
She had slid the mirror shut behind her, but there was no telling when they would notice.
How long had she wandered aimlessly in the pitch-black?
Tracing the wall with her fingers, Dolores finally realized she was nearing the subterranean level.
‘This is it!’
She hastened her steps, breaking into a run through the dim expanse ahead.
Just then, a thread of light bled through from her right.
“Ugh…!”
Startled by the sudden glare, Dolores shrank back, shielding her face.
Creeeak…
With the sound of a door swinging open, the amber light flared brighter.
Simultaneously, a breathy, coquettish laugh drifted over.
“Oh my, look who it is…”
A woman adorned with a magnificent diamond necklace that properly belonged to an empress.
Madame Rouare was giggling down at the frozen Dolores.
“Fufu. I never imagined the Marquis’s daughter would play such a charming little rat.”
“Madame Rouare…! Ah!”
Good heavens. Did this woman never age?
The vise-like grip digging into her forearm was terrible.
Yet what was truly dreadful was Madame Rouare’s gaze.
‘I caught her red-handed.’
Having caught the prospective crown princess in an egregious misstep, her chilling desire to pick her clean was utterly terrifying.
“Hoho. I wondered if you might pass through around here.”
“Let… let me go…!”
“It seems my intuition was spot on.”
“Ah!”
The corridor near the chapel was where Madame had opened the hidden door.
Consequently, in trying to flee the dressing room, Dolores had ended up dragged right to the chapel’s threshold instead.
Madame Rouare handed Dolores over to the guards.
Dolores thrashed frantically, but they naturally did not budge an inch.
“Unhand me! I already have His Majesty’s permission—I am marrying the Grand Duke!”
“Once you sign before God, it’s settled.”
Madame Rouare jeered at her from behind her fan.
Watching a young, lovely wench get thoroughly broken sent a tingling thrill of pleasure surging through her stomach.
“As for the Grand Duke, he ought to be grateful to receive any other woman.”
“You…!”
Just then, the chapel doors swung wide.
Only a handful of people occupied the space inside.
Marquis Rochester. James. A few attendants. The bishop presiding over the marriage vows.
And Adrian.
“Ugh…!”
At this moment, even Dolores could not offer her usual smile.
Her breath seized.
It felt as if she would throw up on the spot.
If things went on like this, she would be hurled right back into being an empress who threw hysterical fits every day over being unable to bear a child.
“Hah, ugh…!”
Though she struggled desperately, her arms were pinned behind her back, leaving her completely powerless.
The altar holding the sacred marriage vows was right before her eyes.
When she resisted, James caught Dolores’s hand with rough force.
“Dolores! Stop fighting!”
“James, let—let go of this…!”
“Later on, you’ll thank us for this!”
“Thank you?!”
Just as she was about to shout whether he was out of his mind, the nib was forced to scrawl a clumsy “Dolores.”
Next came her middle name, “Sienna.”
And right as the “R” in “Rochester” was being dragged out…
Crash.
The chapel doors slammed open with violence.
A scent entirely ill-suited for this sacred place rushed in.
The odor of gunpowder, blood, and a clammy dawn.
“…Ha. The whole family gathered, I see?”
The voice that followed was sinister to the bone.
Like the sound of a beast grinding its fangs.
Madame Rouare and the maidservants shrieked in horror.
“The Grand Duke…!”
“Aaaah!”
“G-good heavens!”
It was only natural, for the nave of the holy chapel had been splattered with blood.
Blood dripped down Resurreccion’s black uniform.
Crimson beads flecked his face as well.
“Your Highness…?”
Dolores stammered, stunned by the sight of him.
She had thought she knew the man fairly well.
Yet in all that time, she had never seen him so thoroughly disheveled.
“Aha. And here I wondered why you sent me on such a petty errand.”
He gave a harsh, throat-rumbling laugh.
Then, with a casual flick as if rolling a ball, he tossed something forward.
A bundle swathed in cloth tumbled across the floor.
“Hah…!”
James, who had been holding Dolores, stumbled back in terror.
Adrian gritted his teeth, turning ashen pale. Blood was seeping through the cloth.
Rubbing his stiff neck, Resurreccion strode forward with heavy steps.
“I took care of Anglesey as you commanded, Brother.”
“H-how did you return so quickly…?”
“Haha. I did push myself a bit.”
Resurreccion’s golden eyes glinted cold.
“Hurry as I might to see Lady Rochester sooner, wouldn’t you know, it gave me a burst of energy.”
“You…!”
“And yet, what do we have here?”
Resurreccion glared down at James, who was hovering awkwardly near Dolores.
“This is the first wedding I’ve seen where the groom himself wasn’t even invited.”
“Eek…!”
James flinched violently, like a cornered beast.
He flung Dolores’s hand away as though burned. Clutching her wrist, Dolores let out a soft groan.
“Ugh.”
“Are you all right, Lady Rochester?”
Resurreccion caught her hand.
Only then did Adrian regain his senses and step forward.
Yet he could not easily draw near, wary of being soiled with blood.
“Step back, Resurreccion!”
“Hey, Bishop.”
The bishop complicit in this fraud flinched on cue.
He knew the Crown Prince held the future reins of power, but having this monster before his very eyes made his knees tremble of their own accord.
“G-Grand Duke.”
“Since we’re here, why not just get on with it?”
“B-but…! T-there is a separate date set for the ceremo—”
“Does scribbling a signature early roast you in the fires of hell?”
Resurreccion nodded toward Dolores.
Understanding that he was asking for her opinion, she answered without hesitation.
“It suits me fine, Bishop.”
“M-My Lady.”
“Now that the real groom has arrived, I would have it done properly.”
Shouts erupted around them.
Yet Dolores merely looked up at Resurreccion and let out a sigh.
“Your Highness. To come all this way, really—”
“Why is the bride in such a state?”
“…”
Dolores stared blankly up at the blood-drenched man.
Seeing the bloody beast grinning down at her struck her as utterly absurd.
In the end, she could not resist retorting.
“You aren’t looking much better yourself.”
The contractual bond between doll and beast promised to be anything but simple from the start.
The wedding abduction farce ended in total defeat for the Crown Prince.
Naturally, Adrian’s failure was Dolores’s triumph.
Though unintended, she had secured her marriage vows with the Grand Duke in the blink of an eye.
To her immense relief, the Emperor sided with the Grand Duke and Dolores.
“Tsk. Scheming to ruin a marriage I personally sanctioned.”
The Emperor had also been awake because of the unrest in Anglesey.
Then his second son had barged in drenched in blood, announcing he had ‘come to pay his respects with his bride.’
What followed was a farce as the rest of the imperial family and the marquisate household rushed in after them in a panic.
After hearing the full account, the Emperor made his displeasure toward Madame Rouare known for the first time in ages.
“Agnes. I hold you dear, yet you dared participate in Adrian’s foolish prank?”
“Your Majesty!”
“No matter how dearly you looked after Adrian like a true mother, this crosses the line.”
“…F-forgive me, Your Majesty.”
“And you, Adrian. I know you have harbored feelings for Dolores for a long time, but—”
“Imperial Father! It was hardly just harboring feelings!”
Realizing his plot had crumbled, Adrian shouted in sheer fury.
“Dolly was destined to be my wife! How could you give her to that bastard…!”
Adrian ground his teeth at Resurreccion, who remained in his bloodstained uniform.
Resurreccion merely smirked with a look that said, ‘Glare all you want, what can you do about it?’
Confronted with that swaggering grin, Adrian’s insides boiled.
‘Why does Imperial Father favor him?’
Certainly, the Emperor did not dote on him enough to grant authority rivaling that of the Crown Prince.
Yet whenever Resurreccion dug in his heels, the Emperor generally humored him.
Much like soothing a useful beast.
Just then, the Emperor addressed the other main actor, who had remained silent throughout.
“Lady Rochester. No, I must call you Grand Duchess now.”
“I am unworthy of such regard, Your Majesty.”
“That your wedding was conducted in defiance of decorum is truly regrettable.”
“I can only beg your pardon for causing you such concern, Your Majesty.”
“What blame could possibly lie with you?”
The Emperor narrowed his eyes with an awkward, gentle smile.
To hear him speak, he sounded like an exceptionally benevolent father-in-law.
As though he were genuinely apologetic that his daughter-in-law had been dealt such a miserable beginning.
Yet his aged eyes could not conceal a gleam of naked greed.
“It will be enough if you let me hear the cries of a babe from the Lancaster mansion.”
“…I shall strive to bring you joy.”
Dolores merely offered a seamless smile.
Pressuring her for an heir the moment she was wed.
‘You indulge in fantasies that will never come to pass.’