Chapter 67
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The Magic Circle didn't react to Odelia's Purification Power at all.
The streams of blessed light hanging from the ceiling didn't even flicker.
No energy fluctuations, reactions, or distortions were detected.
The wedding guests were simply watching the ceremony calmly, as if they were appreciating a scene from a sacred ritual.
"...?"
Gawain couldn't hide his confusion. He widened his eyes and held back a curse that was about to burst out.
Could something be wrong? Was there a mistake in the setup?
Gawain narrowed his eyes.
No, the Cardel family had staked their fate on this.
There was no way they could have made a mistake in such a crucial matter.
Meanwhile, Beloa also hurriedly examined Odelia's face with a stiff expression.
She was calm.
Too calm.
Even though she was a bride getting married, she strangely didn't seem nervous at all.
Even though the eyes of the Imperial Family, the clergy, and the nobles were all focused on her.
There was no way she wouldn't be nervous.
There was no way.
But…
…The sacred object was silent.
The Magic Circle didn't even budge.
There were no murmurs or abnormal reactions.
Even some sensitive priests seemed to feel nothing and were simply focused on the ceremony.
'She's not nervous at all?'
Did she control her emotions that perfectly?
'...No way.'
As the Cardel siblings' confusion continued, the high priest's blessing prayer filled the Grand Cathedral.
Odelia didn't need to look at the guests to know what expressions Gawain and Beloa were making.
They were probably trying to hide their bewildered looks.
Their expectations were probably limited to the variable that Odelia would be a little nervous. Could they have even imagined that it wouldn't activate at all?
'Too bad. They prepared so meticulously.'
Cardel left no traces at all.
So, under normal circumstances, Odelia should have been on edge, not knowing when or where they would strike. Like a rabbit trembling, not knowing from which direction a beast hidden in the bushes would pounce.
But…
'That's only if I hadn't seen Ludville's memories.'
And the memories of a regressor who had walked the same path countless times.
The only reason the sacred object wasn't reacting right now was because.
'I fixed everything beforehand.'
Odelia knew exactly.
How Beloa had broken her down.
Inside the stage called the 'Grand Cathedral', what means, in what order, and at what timing the attacks would come.
'I've been summoned to the Grand Cathedral countless times because of my Purification Power.'
She had even been a Saintess, imprisoned, interrogated, and burned at the stake…
During her thousands of lives, Beloa had tampered with the Barrier dozens of times to break Odelia.
Besides that, there were roughly twelve other patterns of disrupting the wedding.
For example, using contact poison within reach to cause paralysis, inducing memory loss magic, or even using the choir.
Odelia retraced every location where she had been attacked by her in the Grand Cathedral.
She sent Freya under the pretext of inspecting the interior decorations.
That was because Freya was the former Head Maid of the Imperial Palace and had a long-standing friendship with the Grand Cathedral's protocol officer.
And in the end, she identified and neutralized the Barrier that Cardel had tampered with.
She also knew that Ludville had created that opportunity.
A few days ago, Ludville had delivered a document to the clergy.
It was a request under the guise of 'As this is a ceremony approved by the Imperial Family, we will conduct a final confirmation of the interior decorations.'
On the surface, it was a simple inspection, but in reality, it was a measure to open the way for Odelia and Freya to investigate the interior.
"Odelia."
It was then.
As if he had noticed that Odelia's attention was briefly directed towards the guests in the back, Ludville quietly called her name. It was an indication that the ceremony was coming to an end.
The high priest's voice echoed.
"O God, bestow your blessings upon this covenant between these two. May this oath not be stained with blood, not be swayed by power and greed, and may they be together in joy on calm days and in will on stormy nights. This ring will be the symbol of that oath."
Edwin came forward, holding a tray.
The reason why the Grand Duke's aide was doing this was because he had insisted on doing it himself.
"……."
Anyway, a pair of rings was placed on it.
The jewels on the elaborately crafted rings were almost colorless.
When exposed to light, a faint sky-blue color flashed, and at first glance, it looked like carved pieces of ice.
It was as if they had condensed a clear and transparent lake.
It was a legendary jewel called 'Pielite', which was once mined only in the northern part of the continent but whose veins had completely disappeared.
Odelia recognized it and was momentarily startled.
'How did he…'
…How did he get it?
Ludville had obtained this jewel in one of her thousands of lives.
But that was only possible because he was a regressor who retained the memories of his previous life.
But when did he prepare this ring to be able to get it for the wedding?
"Your Highness, the thing you asked me to prepare a while ago has finally…"
Odelia suddenly remembered Edwin visiting Ludville the day before.
The urgent matter… could it be?
He was looking for the ring until the day before the wedding?
Turning her head, Ludville was right in front of her.
He had been staring at her intently all along, and Odelia was suddenly overwhelmed with a feeling of suffocation.
He was still silent.
But his eyes were looking at her with an emotion she couldn't explain.
While Odelia was frozen, Ludville reached out first.
He put the ring on Odelia's left ring finger.
"I thought it resembled your eyes."
No, even so, this was…
It wasn't something you could get just because you wanted to, was it?
Besides, if he had been looking for it since he decided on a contract marriage with Odelia, she couldn't even guess what means he had used.
Odelia looked down at the ring that fit perfectly on her ring finger with a dazed expression.
"Please put it on, Odelia."
Odelia snapped back to her senses at Ludville's whispered voice.
She felt strangely unfamiliar, as the ring exchange had been omitted in her past life.
Odelia picked up the ring and put it on Ludville's ring finger.
The ring, which was thicker to fit his finger, had a slightly rougher impression than hers.
But if you looked at the two rings side by side, anyone could tell that they had the same craftsmanship, the same texture, and the same light.
It was clearly a ring made for each other.
"……."
Odelia suddenly thought.
Perhaps, if she hadn't disarmed the sacred object that Cardel had installed in advance, she might have gone berserk by now.
