51
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At first, people were skeptical, but when several people said the same thing, they began to believe it. Naturally, people's interest flowed to 'Why did the Grand Duke choose Aileen Elrod?'
He was already a Grand Duke with power, wealth, and honor that were second to none. Therefore, the general opinion was that instead of choosing a troublesome family to gain even more power, he chose a duchess young lady from a family he could treat comfortably as he pleased.
They speculated that Aileen Elrod might be lacking in appearance, but she would have a surprisingly kind and docile personality. They said that the Grand Duke, who had wandered the battlefield since he was young, would have chosen a woman who would embrace him.
The rumors, which were growing uncontrollably, reached their peak due to Parvellini Duchess Young Lady Ornella.
She attended a private gathering of duchess young ladies and noblewomen, and she said that she had met Aileen at the Imperial Palace and had a conversation with her, and she confided her worries as if she was quite concerned.
"It seems like her family is having some difficulties. She asked me if she could work as a maid for me, so I dissuaded her, saying how could she do that when she would become a member of the Imperial Family. I couldn't help her, so my heart was so troubled..."
She sadly said that His Excellency the Grand Duke seemed too indifferent to the Elrod duchess young lady.
When it was revealed that the reason for the incomprehensible marriage of unequal status was not even love, people were all shocked but couldn't resist their curiosity. Ornella quietly watched the women who were busy guessing the reasons, and then threw out a word.
"Could it be sympathy or loyalty? I heard that she is the daughter of a dead nanny."
It was the hottest new information in the Traon Empire. The noblewomen and duchess young ladies were excited and went home, and immediately spread the rumors throughout society.
By the time the wedding day arrived, Aileen Elrod's reputation was completely at rock bottom. Dirty scandals surrounded her, and there were quite a few people who openly criticized the Grand Duke's choice as wrong.
Therefore, the guests invited to the Grand Duke's wedding were eagerly waiting for Aileen Elrod, who could be said to be the real protagonist of today's wedding, to appear.
In the meantime, Ornella was unusually beautiful like a lily today. Looking at her, who matched well with the outdoor wedding hall decorated with lilies, the guests shook their heads, saying that the bride would be embarrassed.
When Cesare appeared in his uniform, some of the guests even sighed. They clicked their tongues, saying how unfortunate it was that such a perfect man had made such a foolish choice.
And finally, when Aileen Elrod, whom everyone had been waiting for, appeared.
The guests lost their voices for a moment. Before their eyes stood a woman they had never seen in any dream or fantasy. Someone like a fairy who perfectly matched the wedding hall full of lilies.
Every time the woman wearing a dress decorated with embroidered lace and crystals moved lightly, her hair of mysterious colors fluttered softly. The face that was visible through the thin veil was as pure as a flower fairy.
When the veil was lifted and Aileen Elrod's beauty was fully revealed. The guests swallowed a suppressed moan.
The apex that made her mysterious like an inhuman being was her eyes. The pie eyes, with gold mixed like fragments in the green eyes, rippled in various colors whenever they received light.
Those who were mesmerized by the Grand Duchess's beauty were even more out of their minds at the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess's deep kiss that followed. When they woke up from being completely captivated, the wedding was already over.
The guests, who were holding bouquets of lilies and fresh flowers, came to their senses only after entering the banquet hall, and they all said the same thing in unison.
The wedding of Archduke Erzeht and the Grand Duchess would be remembered forever in the history of the Traon Empire.
To take a picture, you had to stay still in the same pose for dozens of seconds. In the past, it took several hours to take one picture, so you could barely take landscape photos, so it was a great development compared to that.
Still, the fact that I couldn't move for a while was quite burdensome. Aileen, who was taking a picture for the first time, kept worrying. She imagined several times that a strangely taken picture would be published in the newspaper because she accidentally sneezed or something.
When she actually took the picture, she straightened her posture as the photographer told her to, and she did well without moving, with a faint smile on her lips.
But after the picture was taken, she started another worry.
'A picture of the ugly Grand Duchess is being released to the entire empire.'
All the people of the empire were waiting for and expecting the wedding photo of Archduke Erzeht and the Grand Duchess. If the photo was handed over, the newspaper company would immediately print newspapers like crazy, they said.
The president of The Truth, who was specially invited for the article, rushed back to the newspaper company as soon as the wedding was over. It was to publish an editorial about today's wedding along with the photo. I heard that all the other articles had been written, so they only needed to change them slightly to match the wedding content.
Aileen could only hope that people wouldn't be too disappointed. Or that Archduke Erzeht's personality was so surprisingly kind that he welcomed even a woman with a hideous appearance as his wife.
'Let's just forget about it since it's already taken.'
Aileen resigned herself as usual and parted ways with Cesare to head to the bathroom.
While Cesare was entertaining the guests at the banquet hall, Aileen was finally freed from the wedding dress she had been wearing since morning. Her waist was slender, so the corset wasn't tightened that much, but she was still suffocating. She almost died from hanging all the uncomfortable decorations.
All the employees rushed to take off Aileen's dress and massaged her overworked body. After filling her hungry stomach with simple food and drinks, she soaked her body in the bathtub.
An employee who came with a small knife checked Aileen's smooth armpits and below and put down the knife. Instead, she brought a file. She filed all her fingernails and toenails smoothly so as not to injure the Grand Duke's body.
Besides that, she was tossed around for a long time, but from the middle, she was too tired and fell asleep. Then, she suddenly woke up when the employee was about to put on a night robe that was as transparent as a dragonfly's wing.
'Is it really going to happen? Today...?'
Aileen looked down at the night robe, which had little meaning, and bit her lip. Her throat was parched with tension. When she tried to drink water, the employee dissuaded her, but she felt like her throat would stick together if she didn't drink, so she just drank several glasses.
After finishing all the preparations, Aileen entered the bedroom of the Grand Duke's Residence. She thought there would be rose petals scattered on the bed, but there was nothing like that. They only made large bouquets of lilies, lisianthuses, gerberas, and baby's breath that were used at today's wedding and put them in vases.
After the employees left, Aileen, left alone in the bedroom, approached the vase and smelled the flowers. The strong scent of lilies was the first to be felt.
To Aileen, lilies were Cesare's flowers. Cesare seems to think the opposite...
After smelling the scent for a while, Aileen gently took out a lily from the vase. She took the fresh flower to the bed. It seemed like it would be pretty to put a lily on the bed instead of red rose petals.
She was trying to figure out where to put the lily. Without any warning, the bedroom door opened.
Aileen was startled and hugged her chest with her arms, holding the lily. When she belatedly checked the intruder, he had already closed the door and come inside. Cesare briefly scanned Aileen's appearance up and down. He tilted his chin and asked.
"Is it over if you just cover the top?"
At Cesare's words, she lowered one hand slightly to cover the bottom as well. Although she covered the bottom, one breast was clearly exposed. The tip of her breast, which was exposed to the cold air, was plump over the thin night robe.
He let out a low laugh and strode towards Aileen. Unlike Aileen, who was only wearing a dragonfly's wing, Cesare was still in his uniform. Aileen blushed in front of the man in full uniform.
Leather gloves touched her skin. Before exchanging any greetings or conversations, he immediately threw Aileen onto the bed.
