50
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In truth, God had rarely answered Aileen's prayers. Still, if He were to grant even a single wish, she hoped it would be today's. It was a special day, so she believed God would at least consider her prayer this time.
After completing the vows, a page approached and presented a ring box on a tray. Cesare picked up the small red velvet box.
She hadn't received a proposal ring after all, but it didn't matter. Aileen would be happy as long as Cesare gave her a wedding ring. With a fluttering heart, she waited for him to hand it over.
The moment the red velvet box opened, Aileen couldn't believe her eyes. Inside was a ring that was both unfamiliar and familiar.
It was a platinum ring set with a large diamond and emerald. The band was also adorned with delicate filigree and small diamonds. The jewels, bathed in the bright sunlight, emitted a dazzling radiance.
The extravagantly ornate ring was so expensive that she couldn't even imagine its price, but Aileen was more surprised by another fact.
'How…'
This was the ring that young Aileen had secretly drawn in her diary. The design, bearing the marks of a child's clumsiness, had been transformed into a beautiful work of art through delicate craftsmanship.
How could Cesare know about the ring she had secretly drawn in her childhood diary?
It was impossible that he had read her diary. Cesare had only visited the brick house a handful of times, and he had only gone upstairs to the second floor once.
Of course, she might have shown Cesare the drawing of the ring when she was young, but Aileen remembered the time she spent with the prince all too well.
It was physically impossible and made no sense, but that fact didn't feel strange. A feeling of floating on clouds numbed Aileen's sense of reality.
Cesare, holding the ring, knelt on one knee and looked up at Aileen. Aileen extended her trembling hand to him. His long eyes, filled with crimson eyes, curved into a smile.
He took Aileen's hand and slowly slipped the ring on. The solid metal slid over her finger and deep inside, finally settling at the base of her fourth finger. The perfectly sized ring encircled her finger without a gap.
The ring sparkled beneath the lace glove covering the back of her hand. Aileen looked at the ring with overwhelming emotion. She then received the box from the page and took out Cesare's ring.
His ring was a simple design with only a small diamond, compared to Aileen's. The clean shape seemed to suit Cesare perfectly.
While Aileen admired the ring for a moment, Cesare stood up straight and removed the glove from his left hand. He held out his hand to Aileen.
He was only putting on a ring, but she didn't know why she was trembling so much. Aileen even took a small, deep breath as she took Cesare's hand.
Even his hands were beautiful. Manly and large with prominent veins, yet his fingers were long and straight. Unconsciously caressing his hand lightly, Aileen carefully put on the ring.
Her hands trembled so much that putting on the ring was slow and clumsy. Cesare waited for Aileen without complaint, even though it must have been frustrating. Finally, she pushed the ring all the way to the end of his finger. Aileen was swept away by blissful happiness as she looked at the rings shining on his hand and her own.
Cesare also admired the pair of rings on the new couple's hands. His red eyes moved slowly, capturing Aileen. Aileen smiled shyly at him.
"……."
Seeing her smile like a flower bud bursting open, Cesare took a deep breath. The scent of lilies filling his lungs made his head spin. Watching Aileen smile like a blooming flower, he swallowed a twisted laugh.
The first and last chance.
He thought he would never attain perfect happiness. The path he was taking was not for Aileen's happiness, but for Aileen's survival.
Therefore, he thought it couldn't be helped even if Aileen became somewhat unhappy, but that didn't mean he didn't wish for her happiness. He had always loved Aileen's smiling face the most.
Cesare could no longer endure. He pulled the bride's waist and hugged her.
Holding his child, now his wife Aileen, tightly in his arms, he supported her back with his other hand and kissed her roughly.
"Ah…!"
Aileen, whose body was thrown back, let out a shrill cry. Her eyes, wide with surprise, were round like a rabbit's.
Along with her pupils, shaking messily with bewilderment, her small hands urgently grabbed Cesare's uniform. A vile laugh escaped him at the sight of her holding on to him as if he were her lifeline. Cesare looked straight at Aileen and continued to kiss her.
It was too long and rough to be a vow kiss, in fact, it was an act close to lust. Cesare didn't care even though the high priest of the temple and numerous guests were watching.
He had already experienced too much to care about the gazes of others. He simply devoured Aileen's mouth as if he would eat her.
The sweet and electrifying pleasure numbed her senses. Excitement and elation soared, and her crimson eyes blazed with a dangerous light.
If possible, he truly wanted to chew Aileen up and swallow her. If he kept her in his stomach, no one would be able to harm Aileen. Only he would make her unhappy.
But Cesare habitually suppressed his impulses. Instead, he poured out his boiling desire with a hot kiss. He licked and persistently tormented her soft palate, and Aileen, who had been embarrassed and didn't know what to do, gradually lost focus.
He was driven mad by her golden-green eyes, filled only with himself. No, had he already gone mad?
He swallowed a laugh and trapped her small, soft tongue in his mouth and bit it. He left his mark on her by leaving a tooth mark. He confirmed again and again that this was the world where Aileen existed, and that he was by Aileen's side.
Everything was for Aileen.
Cesare could do anything for Aileen.
It was a vow kiss that the new couple performed as a formality. But the Erzeht Grand Duke couple's kiss was so explicit and lewd that all the guests blushed.
The sticky kiss ended only when the bride's legs gave way and she staggered. The Archduke Erzeht greeted the guests with his bride, whose white cheeks were all flushed, and went inside the residence for a while.
It was to take wedding photos to be published in the newspaper for the people of the empire. After taking the photos, the bride would prepare for the wedding night, and the groom would treat the guests who had come to celebrate with drinks and food and chat with them.
The Erzeht Grand Duke Residence's employees diligently moved to lead the guests, who were still dazed, to the banquet hall. The fresh flowers that had decorated the outdoor wedding venue were made into beautiful bouquets and distributed to the guests, filling the banquet hall with a fresh floral scent.
The guests, who had been half out of their minds, gradually regained their senses, and soon began to buzz like a swarm of bees, talking about today's historic wedding.
The guests invited to Archduke Erzeht's wedding were a select few. Only those born with noble blood from the bone, such as foreign royalty or the country's great nobles, could attend the wedding. This meant that all the guests in attendance were people who were accustomed to luxurious extravagance.
However, the guests were amazed as soon as they arrived at the outdoor wedding venue of the Erzeht Grand Duke Residence. The wedding venue, decorated in the backyard of the residence, was truly a world of flowers.
Various expensive fresh flowers, centered on lilies, were used lavishly. Yet, it didn't feel excessive and had a pure and innocent feel, making it a sophisticated wedding venue that couldn't be obtained even with money.
The guests sat in the wedding venue, which was delicately decorated in every corner, and waited for today's protagonists. Meanwhile, they gossiped about Aileen Elrod, who had been a major topic of conversation in the empire recently.
She was merely a young lady from a Baron family. Archduke Erzeht, a member of the imperial family, chose a young lady from a family with no wealth, power, or honor as his wife. At first, everyone speculated that the Elrod young lady must be a great beauty.
But the rumors of her being a stunning beauty soon died down. This was because those who knew her face were spreading rumors here and there. They said that they had never seen such a countrified ugly woman in the world.
