“—up. Wake up, Lady Estelle.”
When Estelle felt somebody shaking her, her eyes snapped open.
“Oh, was I asleep...?” she asked, sitting up in a fluster and finding Leah looking at her with sympathy.
“You must’ve been tired. We’ve finished working on you,” said May with a giggle and handed Estelle pure white nightwear.
Estelle had somehow managed to get through the long events following the wedding, and while her attendants had honed her appearance to perfection, she’d dozed off in the process.
The nightwear they’d prepared for her was easy to take off, but had a refined design.
When Estelle thought of how she was about to spend her first night with Arcrayne as his wife, it made her heart race. They’d slept together many times already, but that had been as fiancés, and then as lovers. Tonight was special.
Estelle had already returned to Sachis the ring she’d worn as contraception. Which meant that starting from today, her nights would bear the purpose of making children. Merely imagining it made Estelle beet red with embarrassment.
But just as she sighed listlessly, the door of her bedroom opened.
“Lord Arc?!” she exclaimed.
Estelle widened her eyes at the sight of Arcrayne entering in his nightclothes. It was the first time he’d come in here without asking for her permission. While she remained confused by the sudden turn of events, he came closer.
“I asked May to call me once you were ready. You looked somewhat unsteady on your feet when you walked here after the dinner party.”
His words took Estelle by surprise.
“How are your feet? Were your shoes a poor fit?” asked the prince.
“Um... It is probably because the heels I wore at the wedding were higher than what I normally wear.”
The heels had been that high so that she would look good standing next to Arcrayne, who was quite tall. They had placed significant stress on her feet, which had reached the point of exhaustion.
Estelle had done her best to maintain a beautiful posture until all the events were over, but the fact that Arcrayne had seen through her meant she needed more training. Estelle drooped her shoulders.
“I knew it. Come, I’ll carry you.” Arcrayne extended his hand.
May was looking away and pretending not to notice, but Leah looked on with eyes full of anticipation.
While it was a little embarrassing, the mood dictated that Estelle couldn’t refuse. Arcrayne bent down, and Estelle wrapped her arms around his neck, at which point he lifted her into his arms.
“I’ll be taking her,” he said to Estelle’s attendants and started walking.
Arcrayne’s step and the way he held her felt stable and reassuring. Smiling, Estelle leaned in and entrusted herself to the prince.
When she closed her eyes, the events of the day flashed vividly before her.
The wedding at the cathedral had been followed by a parade, and after they’d gone back to the palace, there’d been the ritual at the underground Shrine.
His Majesty called it a ritual...but if anything, it was more of a registration, remarked Estelle, thinking over what had happened at the Shrine.
The only people present at the ritual had been Sachis, Arcrayne, and Estelle. After activating the altar with the Key, Sachis had given Estelle the Quill—another of the regalia.
“Write your name there using your mana.” Sachis pointed at a semitransparent board that had appeared above the altar.
Estelle did as she was told and wrote,
Estelle of Rosalia.
That was her new name, now that she was married to Arcrayne.
Once she was done, Arcrayne channeled his mana into the Key in Sachis’s stead. Then, the Foundation Monument at the center of the Shrine began to emit silver light and surrounded Estelle with an incredible volume of mana.
Apparently, this ritual granted Estelle the right to use the regalia and remade her body into one capable of bearing a royal heir.
She looked at herself. What she’d been through today, including the underground ritual, didn’t feel real—like it had all been a dream.
Before Estelle knew it, Arcrayne had brought her to the shared bedroom and carefully sat her down on the bed.
She stared at his face from up close. It was still hard to believe he’d become her husband.
Arcrayne knelt on one knee and lifted Estelle’s foot. “They’re red,” he said.
Estelle saw that, indeed, her toes were red. “It was probably the pressure from the high heels,” she replied.
Arcrayne put Estelle’s feet back down for the time being and got up. He poured hot water into a bowl that had sat on the bedside table and brought it over. Then, he immersed a piece of linen in it, wrung it, and wrapped Estelle’s right foot with it to start.
“I cannot make you do this, Lord Arc...”
“I want to do it. Let me know if it hurts.”
“It feels pleasant,” Estelle replied after a pause.
The massage through the linen felt really good.
After the right foot, Arcrayne switched to the left one. His touch was gentle and soothing.
Pleasant as it was, the thought that she had the crown prince kneeling before her made Estelle feel like she was doing something naughty.
After he was done with the massage, Arcrayne lifted Estelle’s left foot and kissed the top of it.
It caught her by surprise. “Stop! You must not do this.”
“Why not?”
“B-Because that is my foot...”
“Do you not like my lips on your foot, my queen?”
The prince’s teasing smile rendered Estelle speechless.