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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: Prologue.
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Prologue.

The wedding aisle leading to the sacred altar, and the entrance of the chapel itself, were lavishly adorned with flowers.

Lilies, lisianthuses, and roses, all uniformly white, made the chapel, already the pinnacle of sanctity, appear even more hallowed.

The Central Temple had approved our wedding only last night.

It was thanks to Eric Orleans, the Young Lord first in line to succeed the Duchy of Orleans, who had made an astronomical donation under the guise of a 'contribution'.

Still, to decorate the temple so extravagantly in just one day.

I glanced at Eric Orleans, who was holding my hand.

'He managed all these preparations since dawn...?'

As if sensing my gaze, Eric, his face stiff, spoke calmly.

“I simply didn’t want my wedding to be a shoddy affair.”

I corrected him.

“Your ‘first’ wedding, you mean.”

Eric looked down at me.

Eric, so tall that I wouldn't even reach his chin on my tiptoes, always wore a look of disdain whenever he looked down at me.

Such an arrogant young master.

I quickly added.

“Ah, and of course, my first wedding as well.”

Just then, I saw a priest at the end of the aisle, hurrying in while clutching a holy book.

His face pale, he ascended the altar, escorted—or perhaps threatened—by knights clad in unadorned black attire.

“This is sacrilege.”

Eric made a brief sign of the cross before me.

I scoffed and said,

“Your own knights did this, you know? In any case, we need a priest to give our marriage a strong justification, Young Master. No one lives without sin. There are only those who don't care whether they sin or not, and those who try not to commit great sins but end up sinning anyway.”

Eric glared at me, but I ignored him. I could see the priest, sweating profusely, waiting for us.

I had to finish this wedding before that poor man, dragged here by the Young Lord's authority and the knights' force, decided to flee.

I squeezed Eric's hand tightly and began to stride down the aisle, pulling him along.

The priest's face turned even paler. Eric, following behind me, let out a groan.

It wasn't unheard of for a bride and groom to enter together, but it was rare in noble families. Besides, calling it a 'joint entrance' was generous; a woman striding down the aisle, dragging the groom behind her like an ox, was surely unprecedented.

But I was in a hurry.

The sound of horses neighing could already be heard from outside. It must be those coming to stop our wedding.

It was when I was about halfway down the aisle.

“Why don’t you just run?”

“Should I?”

Eric let out a dry laugh at my response. As if giving up, he looped my hand through his arm and, with long strides, reached the end of the aisle in an instant.

“Priest. Please proceed.”

Eric requested politely, his tone deferential.

It was an unbelievable display of etiquette from a man who had bribed the Central Temple with money last night—at my urging, of course—and had his knights abduct a priest and dump him here.

'Nobles.'

I thought, looking at the priest.

The priest, sweating like it was raining, began to recite the prayer.

“I-In the name of God…”

Just then, a commotion could be heard from outside.

“No, you cannot pass.”

“Is this insubordination!”

“These are the Young Lord's orders!”

“We are here on the Duke's orders!”

Sounds like that.

The priest was now trembling so much he was about to drop the holy book. I said to him,

“I'll just sign first.”

Ignoring the flustered priest's attempt to stop me, I picked up the pen on the altar before us and signed the large document without hesitation.

At the top of the paper, it was written:

Marriage Vows

I didn't bother reading the vows written below—the groom to the bride... blah blah blah... I had no intention of keeping them anyway.

This is just...

“Sign it.”

I held the pen out to Eric. He took it with a displeased expression.

“Sacrilege. This is sacrilege.”

He muttered.

I tried to soothe this poor young master, plagued by guilt.

“This is just a fraudulent marriage, Young Master.”

That's right.

This is nothing more than a fraud.

Thump. Thump.

So for my heart to be pounding this hard is just unfair.

It must be because of my mother's teachings about the sanctity of marriage being deeply ingrained in my mind. Even though she herself went through that 'sacred' marriage five times...

It was then.

The commotion outside seemed to quiet for a moment, and then the chapel doors burst open with a loud bang.

Two familiar figures stood there.

One was Baldeck Orleans, the father of the man standing beside me, Eric Orleans. And the other was—

My mother, who was scheduled to marry that very same Baldeck Orleans today.

The hem of her form-fitting white dress fanned out beautifully, like a blooming flower petal.

It was the wedding dress she was supposed to wear at her ceremony today.

'My, how beautiful you are, Mother...'

I was the one who had picked it out for her.

Mother had wanted a dress covered in flashy jewels, something that would fetch a good price if sold, but I talked her out of it. This dress looked far more elegant and pure.

But right now, my mother was glaring at me with a face that was neither pure nor elegant.

“Imeliiiine!”

My mother wailed my name.

'I told you we should live virtuously, Mother.'

I looked at my mother and gave her a wide grin. Then, I picked up the marriage vows, now signed by Eric.

When I held it up for my mother and Duke Orleans's men to see, she collapsed in despair.

The knights surrounded my collapsed mother. I had to restrain myself from running to her.

Just then, the priest stammered,

“A-According to the temple's procedures, for the marriage to be valid, th-there is one more thing required…”

What's left?

I grew inexplicably anxious and checked the marriage vows again. The signatures are all there, aren't they?

It was then.

“A-A kiss.”

At the priest's words, Eric and I looked at each other. Displeasure was written all over Eric's face.

What—

What?

I flinched and tried to step back, but I couldn't. Too many eyes were on us.

Weren't we, for all intents and purposes, a marrying couple right now?

Eric sighed and looked straight down at me.

“Just do it.”

“Alright. Let's get it over with.”

Eric grabbed my waist firmly as I flailed like a freshly caught cod, bent his large frame, and pressed his lips firmly against mine.

He pulled back immediately and looked at me.

“There, satisfied?”

What are you doing?

I looked up at Eric, bewildered. He looked back, completely clueless.

What am I going to do with this young master.

“Listen carefully, Young Master. I'm telling you this so you don't do it like this in your second marriage.”

“...What?”

“This isn't how a married couple kisses.”

“Then how?”

Looking at Eric, whose eyes were wide with genuine confusion, I realized just how lacking a nobleman's education could be. Well, I may lack experience myself... but I'm well-versed in theory.

I wrapped my arms around Eric's neck. He tried to pull away.

“Shut up and stay still. Everyone is watching us.”

“What are you trying to do?”

Eric's face contorted, but I paid it no mind.

In fact, seeing his twisted expression seemed to calm my pounding heart a little. It was as if it reminded me that this was all just a fraudulent marriage anyway.

“A real kiss.”

“A real kiss? What's that?”

The troubled voice of Duke Orleans's subordinate could be heard.

“You can't take pictures in here!”

“We heard the Young Lord's wedding was being held in secret! Is it true?”

“Hey, over there, there! Take the picture!”

Behind them, a crowd of reporters from the capital had gathered. They were all holding cameras.

Those damn cameras.

Thanks to that invention, the tabloids were making a fortune off all sorts of sensational photos. The media, bloodshot with greed, had begun to slip from the nobles' control. Today, however, I intended to benefit from that very same money-grubbing press.

I said.

“First, to have a real kiss, you need to open your mouth.”

“What?”

I didn't miss the moment Eric's lips parted.

Flash!

The sound of a camera's flash went off. It was the sound of this moment being immortalized as my most embarrassing memory.

The headline would probably be something like this, right?

Eric Orleans Elopes with His Father's Fiancée's Daughter and Registers a Surprise Marriage! Shares a Lewd Kiss in the Chapel...

I had to try so hard to look lewd so as not to disappoint the readers. After my first wedding ceremony was over, my neck was so stiff I almost had to lie down in bed.

And so, after the sound of the 'real kiss,' which was louder than the camera flash, ended, I looked at Eric, whose face was so red it looked like it might explode, and smiled sweetly.

“Try to do better in your second marriage. Got it?”

While Eric remained frozen like a broken machine, unable to even respond, I looked upon my chaotic first wedding ceremony with satisfaction.

Now, this is the story from one week before my first wedding.