After getting ready, Estelle headed to the parlor of the Libra Palace. It currently functioned as the waiting room for Estelle’s relatives—the people of House Flozeth.
When she stepped inside, her eyes met those of her uncle and aunt.
“You’re so beautiful, Estelle.”
Estelle’s aunt Pamela was the first to speak. She was the wife of Oscar—the younger brother of Estelle’s father.
“It feels like I’m marrying off my own daughter...” said Oscar, looking sad.
Estelle hadn’t seen him since he’d brought her favorite horse Lunaris to the Libra Palace. As for Pamela, the last time Estelle had seen her had been when she’d left her earldom for Albion in late autumn the previous year.
“We’re planning to stay in Albion for a while after the wedding. We’d be happy if you could tell us in more detail about your life at some point,” said Pamela, eyes filled with curiosity.
The pressure made Estelle’s face cramp. She remembered how excited her aunt had sounded over the mana communicator when Estelle had told her about her engagement with Arcrayne.
“Don’t trouble His Highness and Estelle too much, dear. Either way, I’m glad everything worked out. Make sure to live well and be happy,” said Oscar.
Estelle nodded.
When her engagement had just been decided, she’d been sure she couldn’t establish an ideal household with Arcrayne. Now, things were different.
“Thank you, uncle, aunt. Lord Arc and I will be happy,” she said with resolve and smiled. “By the way, where did my brother go?” Estelle couldn’t see Sirius in the room.
“He went to get some outside air,” replied Pamela.
“He was stiff with nerves, after all... I hope he doesn’t mess up at the wedding...” added Oscar.
Their answers made Estelle uneasy.
No, I have more important things to worry about right now, she said inwardly. She herself had to be careful.
In order to balance out the height difference with the tall Arcrayne, today Estelle wore shoes with higher heels than she usually did. Her footing was unstable, which was quite scary.
To make matters worse, the train of her dress, as well as her veil, were so long that she needed help.
I better be careful... she told herself.
✦ ✦ ✦
The wedding was to begin at eleven in the morning.
The road from the palace to the cathedral was crowded with citizens who’d come to see the royal wedding.
Walking in an orderly formation at the head of the bride’s procession were the Foot Guards. Behind them was the six-horse coach with Estelle and Sirius in it. Surrounding the coach were members of the Royal Guard. One of them was Neville, who’d managed to recover and return to work in time.
An extravagant ceremonial coach had been prepared for Estelle. It was decorated with gold here and there. But while the seats in it were excellent, Estelle’s dress took up seventy percent of the space inside, which made Sirius’s face twitch.
“Isn’t the train too long?” he asked, sitting next to her.
“It has already been made shorter on my request. I’m told that at Her Majesty Queen Miriallia’s wedding, her train was so long it became creased up on the way.”
“Great, you’ve just made me afraid to move around...” Sirius began to fidget uncomfortably. He sighed with a degree of sadness. “Never thought you’d actually be marrying into the royal family.”
“Me neither.”
Just about a year ago, Estelle had been crying over the end of her engagement to Lyle.
She’d been told that his treatment was going well for now. Estelle hoped he would manage to successfully escape his addiction.
Estelle and Sirius smiled and waved at the crowds outside the coach.
At some point, the tall Tower of Albion came into view.
Officially, Truteliese was imprisoned there, but in reality, Sachis had already gotten her out of there and she was living in secrecy in the Leo Palace. Apparently she’d wanted to die, and Sachis had had trouble persuading her, but eventually, she’d given in.
From now on, she would abandon her real name and position and live as someone else entirely. The king planned to eventually make her one of Liedis’s attendants.
This must’ve had a major influence on Liedis. Compared to right after the rebellion, he was doing unrecognizably well. Normally he lived in the Royal College’s dorm, but as it was currently on long summer break, he was back at the palace and he intended to be present at today’s wedding.
He must’ve already been at the cathedral together with Sachis and Arcrayne, waiting for Estelle to arrive.
Since Sachis hadn’t charged Liedis with anything and Arcrayne had told the public about his reconciliation with his half brother, people weren’t as harsh with him as had been expected at the time.
At the end of the day, he was the second prince. Showing insolence toward him would be disrespecting royalty, so even if someone didn’t like him, they probably couldn’t put it on display.
I suppose we should be glad, concluded Estelle, recalling Liedis’s face. His relationship with Arcrayne had improved, and he was now closer to Estelle too. The relationships of people around Estelle were becoming incomparably better than when she’d just met Arcrayne. I met him at the start of November, which was eight months ago...
It was hard to believe it had only been that long. That was how much had happened over that time.
“Make sure you become happy, Estelle.”
“You too, brother.”
Sirius too had found himself a potential fiancée. It was a woman from an earl-ranked family whose domain lay in central Rosalia. He’d promised to introduce her to Estelle once the marriage talks had progressed further, and Estelle was looking forward to it.
✦ ✦ ✦
Once the bride’s procession reached the cathedral, a cheer resonated through the area—so loud it resembled angry shouts.
“It’s Princess Dragon Exterminator!”
“God bless the new princess!”
“Congratulations, Your Highness Princess Estelle!”
To the cheering of the people, Estelle took Sirius’s hand and got out of the coach. Then, her aunt Pamela and May came out of the coach which had followed theirs, and carefully brought out the train of Estelle’s dress, as well as her veil. May went on to carry the train and the veil as bridesmaid.
Leah handed Estelle a bouquet.
Estelle waved broadly to the masses and let Sirius escort her to the cathedral. A red carpet had been laid from the coach to the cathedral’s entrance. It was surrounded on each side by guards of honor armed with bayonets.
The air in the chapel, where the wedding would be held, was sacred and solemn.
When Estelle and Sirius stepped inside, a pipe organ began to play, celebrating the union that was about to form. At the same time, Estelle gathered the looks of important guests from both in and out of Rosalia who’d been waiting for the bride’s arrival.
Marwick’s High Treason had made the emotions directed at Arcrayne and Estelle in high society much more favorable than before. It was a world of difference from when Arcrayne had announced their engagement. There had been some of Estelle’s old friends from her academy, such as Keira, who’d given their blessings at the time, and Estelle saw them here too, which put a happy smile on her face.
Next to the altar were the people of House Rogell and members of the royal family. Claus and Olivia still seemed to be talking to each other regularly. And while Sierra wasn’t pleased, perhaps it wouldn’t be long before something good came of the two’s relationship.
The place of honor among the royal seats belonged to Sachis and Liedis. The color of their mana almost moved Estelle to tears. She’d always wanted to become a bride who would have everyone’s blessing—and now, she felt that that dream of hers had come true.
With Sirius pulling on her arm, Estelle headed to the end of the wedding aisle, where Arcrayne waited.
Clad in a wedding suit, he looked even more dazzling than usual. The enormous mass of mana overflowing from his body was radiant with silver light, conveying his joy to Estelle.
I’m glad I have this power. It was the first time Estelle had thought that way. Her power allowed her to truly feel Arcrayne’s love for her.
Perhaps it was also the reason she wasn’t bothered much by the looks of strangers.
The throne Arcrayne would be taking in the near future wasn’t anything pure. As seen during Marwick’s High Treason only two months ago, plenty of blood had been spilled over it.
The throne was inseparable from heavy responsibility and duty. The prospect of supporting Arcrayne from beside him when he became king was still a little scary.
But Estelle wasn’t going to give away the place she stood in right now—it was out of the question. All she did was gaze at the prince, not looking away.
Estelle finally reached the altar. Sirius handed her over to Arcrayne.
The prince extended his hand to her, and as she took it, his deep blue eyes—their color proof of his royalty—became filled with affection.
Standing before God, Estelle would swear her eternal love for Arcrayne and become his wife—in sickness and in health, until death do them part.