Chapter 2.3

The carriage that would take Livie to the chapel for the ceremony was waiting in the center of the estate. Livie calmly descended the stone steps. Hands reached out on either side to assist her.  

Caw!  

Startled by the sudden noise, Livie looked up. She saw the small feet of birds perched closely together on the roof.  

“Crows have been multiplying lately.”  

Livie frowned as she gazed at the crows.  

No one knew where they had come from, but their numbers had steadily increased.  

A single crow might be dismissed as a lost bird from the forest, but such a large flock was certainly unusual.  

“Could it be one of them…?”  

The owner of the black feather that had flown in while she slept.  

“Huh? What do you mean?”  

At her friend’s question, Livie shook her head.  

“It’s nothing.”  

Her friends, who were lifting the long train of her dress, exchanged glances.  

“Livie, the Duke will cherish you.”  

Arisa said.  

“Yes. Among all the women in that castle, you’ll probably be the youngest and prettiest… Ow!”  

Rita, who had been rambling, let out a small yelp as someone pinched her from the side.  

“…You’re the Duchess now. I’m jealous, Livie. Nobles really are different.”  

Livie let her friend’s words pass through one ear and out the other. Whether her friend truly envied her or was mocking her didn’t matter.  

After all, Livie was a bride getting married today. She was leaving this village today and would never return.  

“I’ll go ahead.”  

Livie sat down in the carriage, spreading out her dress.  

The carriage, sent by the Resette Duke for his bride, boasted plush seats and a luxuriously decorated interior. Livie couldn’t help but gape at the sight; she had never seen such a carriage before.  

The carriage swayed gently before setting off. Through the closed window, Livie watched her friends waving goodbye. Then, she folded her hands neatly and sat still.  

She gazed at the passing scenery with a sense of unfamiliarity.  

Today would be the last time she traveled this path.  

Even the roads lined with the white roses she had carefully cultivated would no longer be visible to her.  

As she took in the ordinary scenery one detail at a time, Livie grew increasingly uneasy. The time to say goodbye to everything in this village was drawing near.  

“…”  

But something felt off. Livie stared at the scenery before her and suddenly realized something.  

She called out to the coachman.  

“Where are we going? This isn’t the way to the chapel…”  

It wasn’t.  

It was the outer road leading out of Tiso Village.  

“Excuse me, excuse me…”  

Livie opened the door leading to the driver’s seat and called out to him, but her words caught in her throat.  

“Father?”  

The man gripping the reins, his hat pressed firmly down, was none other than Earl Nicholas Hayden.  

“How are you here? Where are we going…”  

“Livie, I’m sorry.”  

Earl Hayden tightened his grip on the reins. The carriage picked up speed, moving further away from the village center.  

“I may not have been a good father, but I cannot let you go through with this marriage.”  

Nicholas’s eyes gleamed with determination.  

But for Livie, the overwhelming emotion wasn’t gratitude—it was fear.  

Because at this moment, her father was essentially kidnapping her to escape an unwanted marriage.  

“Father, are you insane? If the King finds out—or worse, if the Duke finds out—they’ll kill us!”  

Her vision darkened. This was recklessly foolish—beyond foolish.  

The marriage had been decreed by the King.  

Her groom-to-be was the master of the Duchy, which governed nearly a third of the Kingdom—someone even the King couldn’t easily oppose.  

If either party discovered them, not only Livie and her father but also her twin siblings and the villagers would not be spared.  

“Father, stop the carriage. Right now. If you don’t, we’re in serious trouble.”  

Livie grabbed Nicholas’s collar.  

The swaying carriage caused the crown on her head to slide off and roll onto the floor. It suddenly seemed cheap and fake.  

“I can’t send you so far away, Livie. To a man with so many women and children already… How could I let my daughter marry him after raising you myself?”  

Nicholas’s voice trembled with emotion. It was a voice full of anguish.  

Since Livie’s marriage had been decided, her father had been drinking heavily, neglecting his duties as an Earl, and shutting himself away.  

“I understand how you feel, but if you do this, we’ll all die!”  

Livie shouted desperately.  

It would be effortless for the Resette Duke’s knights to raze the village in retaliation for her escape.  

“Father, please… Ah!”  

Suddenly, Livie screamed as an arrow flew in and struck the carriage.  

Thud, thud, thud.  

The sound wasn’t coming from the horses’ hooves.  

Several horses were galloping toward them at high speed.  

Neigh!  

The horses let out loud cries as they came to a halt. Livie, thrown forward, fell to the floor of the carriage.  

As she struggled to lift her head, the carriage door was violently opened.  

Outside, a dozen knights surrounded the carriage.  

“…” 

Through her disheveled hair, Livie saw Nicholas, who had been seized by the knights.  

“Father!”  

Livie reached out, but another knight grabbed her arm and pulled her up.  

It was a forceful act disguised as politeness.  

Unable to move, Livie couldn’t reach her father.  

Nicholas’s face was already bloodied, as if he had been struck several times.  

Seeing this, Livie’s face turned pale.  

“Shall we go?”

At the threatening voice, Livie’s head snapped around.  

“Let go of my father! What do you think you’re doing?”  

Livie bit her lip tightly, trying to calm her trembling voice.  

“Smuggling the bride away is a serious crime.” 

The knight said coldly.  

“Due to the risk of escape, Earl Hayden will be detained by us.”  

“What are you saying… Let me go!”  

Livie was dragged back into the carriage. The hands pulling her were unbearably rough.  

“Don’t you dare lay a hand on my daughter!”  

Nicholas shouted furiously, but his face was slammed to the ground.  

“Urgh… ugh…”  

The sound of his suppressed groans tore at Livie’s heart. Nicholas’s face, buried in the dirt, was in a terrible state. Blood dripped from his mouth and nose. Yet, even through his battered eyelids, he managed to open his eyes and smile at Livie.  

“Father!”  

Livie screamed as if she were having a seizure. But what blocked her path was the knight’s sword.  

“What will you do?”  

The knight arrogantly raised his chin and asked. His expression was worse than that of a thug.  

“Shall we leave the Earl as he is?”  

“…”  

Livie glanced at the knight, then at the sword barring her way, before finally opening her mouth.  

“I won’t run. I’ll marry as promised…”  

She looked at Nicholas, who was mouthing words as if to tell her not to speak. His trembling lips were pitiful.  

“Let my father go.”  

***

The atmosphere outside the chapel had turned grim. Armed knights lined up at the entrance, glaring fiercely.  

The gathered crowd exchanged uneasy glances, trying to gauge the tense mood. Livie stepped down from the carriage as if nothing had happened. Her legs trembled slightly, but she forced herself to walk steadily.  

Nicholas had been captured. Though Livie had known this marriage was coerced, seeing her father seized before her eyes made it feel all the more devastating.  

Livie entered the open doors of the chapel. Thus, the wedding began.  

The groom’s entrance was omitted. Livie walked the aisle alone.  

As she passed the guest seats, she caught glimpses of most of the villagers’ faces.  

Everyone in the village knew how this marriage had come to be.  

It was the price of the peace treaty between the royal family and the Resette family after a prolonged war. Livie was the offering.  

Though it was hailed as an honorable marriage, Livie already knew how the people around her truly saw her.  

‘Poor Livie.’  

Of course, there were also opinions that she should be happy to become a Duchess. But considering the situation, where she was being dragged away almost as a hostage, there was nothing romantic about it.  

‘I should’ve just quietly gone to the Resette estate.’  

But the wedding had already begun. There was no turning back now. So Livie walked even more confidently.  

Through the veil, the inside of the chapel looked faintly misty.  

Friends stationed on either side of the aisle grabbed handfuls of petals from their baskets and scattered them into the air. It was all for the bride walking alone.  

Livie strode forward and arrived at the altar.  

Her steps had been quicker than expected, so her friends had to follow her to scatter the remaining petals.  

Pink, purple, and yellow petals settled on the long veil trailing behind her.  

The bride, standing alone, waited for the bishop to officiate. The bishop, who had been half-asleep at the altar, finally stirred and stood up about five minutes after Livie had been staring at him.