On that day, extravagantly-dressed people gathered at Baltzar’s Royal Chapel for the wedding ceremony of Crown Prince Claudio.
People dressed in multicolored outfits lined the pews like a human flower garden. On the upper stage, the Archbishop was reciting a passage from scripture in front of the sublime white altar that sat opposite the guests in attendance. In front of him stood a man and a woman, shoulder-to-shoulder, both dressed in wedding attire.
Soft light poured over them through the church’s skylight, almost as if they were accepting the blessings of the gods upon their very forms—a sight so surreal and inexplicable that it left anyone who saw it breathless.
The bells chimed and resounded so close they were practically echoing through her head, a far cry from the muffled sounds from afar she came to know in the past. As the soft warmth that she felt on her forehead grew further away, she opened her eyes.
That was when a figure popped into her field of vision—a young man with slick black hair. Claudio stood before her, slender and beautiful in his black formal attire, far more splendid than that of any of the royals or nobles in the pews.
He hovered over her, a docile look in his eyes.
“My bride, you are quite adorable when you’re bashful.” His sweet voice spilled from the set of elegant lips that had just planted a kiss upon Rosemarie’s forehead not two seconds ago, which made the girl feel lightheaded. He wore the same sharply-featured human face he always had. Which meant that his words were more than likely honest.
(How did I get myself into this...?)
It all happened just the other day—actually, it was three months ago by this point. Claudio’s aide escorted her to the waiting room, where—for whatever reason—the prince gave her a warm, courteous reception. Then, while she was stunned over it all, he proposed that they get engaged. Afterward, before she could even comprehend what was going on, negotiations with her homeland went through. Before she knew it, she was the distinguished fiancee of the Crown Prince of Baltzar.
And so, unbelievably enough, that is where we are now—right in the middle of the wedding ceremony.
The chapel built within Baltzar’s royal castle was far grander than the one in Volland; it had a surreal, yet inexplicable, air of mystery about it. Even with the slew of people there, the mood remained pure and slightly tense.
(Oh, God, I want to go home... Why does the prince want to take a princess from such a small nation as his wife, anyway...?)
She was gung-ho to nominate herself to be Claudio’s bride, but now that she had actually come to fill that role, she couldn’t help but feel the urge to run away.
She wasn’t particularly beautiful. She was socially awkward. And she was a cowering introvert of a girl. The diplomats that arrived with her from Volland had been in a panic, checking Claudio’s intentions again and again. Even the people of her motherland thought that she wasn’t a proper match for him, a fact of which she herself was well aware.
“I was attracted by your tender care—the same that showed concern after noticing how pale in the face I was.” Rosemarie hid this bit of reasoning she had heard from Claudio from the diplomats—a piece of reasoning that made her, for the first time, want to wear a bucket over her head not out of fear, but out of embarrassment.
“Mind your feet, now.” It would seem that while she had been locked in deep thought, the ceremony had gone off without a hitch. Claudio presented his arm and she grabbed on to it awkwardly, to which he smiled in satisfaction at her.
“I have finally managed to make you my queen. You have no idea how I have longed for this day to come,” he whispered, his mind in a dream-like trance. Rosemarie responded with a bewildered smile.
Rosemarie had never been able to reciprocate the sheer amount of affectionate words with which Claudio showered her constantly. Even so, even now, neither his patience nor his love grew any thinner.
It didn’t stop there, as in the three months leading up to the wedding, he did not allow her to return back to Volland even once. When she’d said she needed to return home as she’d only packed enough to attend the gala, he’d had whatever essentials she needed prepared for her. When she’d asked to go home to say farewell to her parents, he’d sent for her mother and (of course) her siblings well in advance of the wedding.
She missed the flowers in the villa’s garden. But after hearing Claudio beg her not to return home because he would feel empty inside without her, she didn’t have the heart to make any more selfish demands than she already had.
(It doesn’t seem like he’s telling any sort of lie, but...)
Ever since the night of that gala, his head hadn’t appeared as a beast—not even once. However, he seemed absolutely opposed to sending her back to Volland. That one thing didn’t sit right in her stomach.
As Claudio escorted her down the aisle between the rows of guests, she caught faint glimpses of their beast heads between the flower petals they tossed into the air. Every time she did, her shoulders gave a pathetic little jolt. Without thinking, she caught herself squeezing Claudio’s arm tightly. In response, and most likely sensing her nervousness, he stroked the back of her hand for support.
“What is your favorite color?”
“Huh?” She had no answer for the rather abrupt question. Pressed for time, she looked into Claudio’s blue eyes.
“It’s... blue.”
“I see. Blue, is it?” Claudio nodded once, then glanced behind them. Close behind was the sorcerer who also acted as their attendant. They wore a gloomy-looking indigo hood and mantle quite unbefitting a wedding. As it covered their head and body, their face, gender, and even age were a complete mystery.
She had heard that a sorcerer affiliated with the royal palace and the state church’s bishop would be present at the royal wedding. But, bishops aside, sorcerers were something that she wasn’t familiar with even in her motherland, so they were a bit of a mystery to her—and a scary mystery, at that. A grand sigh poured out of that wizard’s mouth.
“...Such a slog.” The barely-audible yet weary-sounding voice definitely came from the sorcerer.
As Rosemarie’s eyes widened in surprise, Claudio wrapped his hand around hers to get her attention.
“Please, behold.” Claudio then extended his free hand above him and waved quickly.
“—?!”
The next moment, the multicolored flower petals being thrown by the guests suddenly transformed into a flock of small blue birds. A sudden mix of gasps and cheers erupted from the crowd around them.
The small blue birds chirped loudly as each flap of their wings scattered the same vibrant flower petals as before down to the earth, leading them to eventually melt away into the breeze. The sight was extraordinary... almost otherworldly.
(I almost forgot; the prince is a sorcerer himself...)
He apparently had the greatest mana of anyone in the nation, as well. This was probably nothing more than child’s play to him.
After watching the flock of small birds in awe, Rosemarie softly turned her attention to Claudio standing by her side. As their eyes met, he smiled at her.
“Has that helped relieve your nerves?”
“—Oh, yes. Thank you very much.” The care that he was showing for her seeped into her body and filled her heart with joy. A tickle started to form in her chest and her pulse quickened, but the feeling of being devoid of tension and fear was not in the least unpleasant.
“You’re finally smiling, I see.”
“W-Was I not smiling before?”
“Well, you were, but it seemed somewhat insincere. I was a bit pushy in my proposal for matrimony, so I can’t say that I blame you for resenting me.” She didn’t resent him. She had just been at a loss as to how she should react.
Claudio let out a chuckle before leaning over ever so slightly.
“I will care for you. Every waking moment dedicated to you, never looking away, I swear,” he whispered quietly into Rosemarie’s ear. She blushed.
(Someone, bring me a bucket...)
For one thing, she wasn’t accustomed to receiving such words of affection. But, too, it didn’t seem like the sort of thing to say in front of such a big crowd. Not to mention, they were just about to pass in front of her family. This was not the right time to get embarrassed.
As she timidly looked their way, a pair of dog ears, the same brown color as his hair, had sprouted up on her father’s head. Next to him, her mother wore a white pair of rabbit ears atop her head. She couldn’t quite see her sisters, as they stood behind her parents. Her parents were smiling, but seeing as how they their heads had started to turn beastly, chances were that they weren’t actually pleased with this matrimony. In brutally honest terms, this was akin to a superpowered nation exerting its dominance and gaining an engagement as spoils, just as Claudio had mentioned.
✦ ✦ ✦
Her face still red, Rosemarie smiled at her parents to reassure them.
She was going to be all right. Claudio was an honest person who didn’t lie. Which is why it would all be all right.
(Which is why I need to tell him straight about my eyes...)
She saw the head of anyone who harbored animosity as that of a beast—she has yet to tell that to Claudio. She had made it this far, yet it was still extremely difficult to speak up about it.
She found herself perplexed that she was so biased in Claudio’s favor that she was worried about the consequences of him potentially getting sick of her.
The chamberlain slowly pushed open the chapel’s double doors. Suddenly, the ivory engraving above the door caught her eye.
A gallant lion rampant, with curly goat horns extending from its head, and elegant wings on its back. That was the creature placed on Baltzar’s national flag—the silver lion, renowned as a sacred beast.
Squinting against the light of early summer beaming through, Rosemarie silently prayed for the silver lion to give her courage.