Chapter 1

“Before making the vow……”

A clear voice echoed through the spacious hall.

The attention of the seated guests naturally focused on the bride.

Originally, the bride should have gently sworn to the marriage and then closed her mouth. Like the empresses who had held their weddings in this Grand Hall of the Imperial Palace.

“There is one thing I would like to ask.”

However, Aristie raised an objection.

More precisely, it meant she had a question, but to the guests, it sounded for a moment as if she was opposing the marriage.

What could there possibly be to ask about at the moment of the vow, in front of countless people and priests? Everyone couldn’t help but become curious as well.

“What is it, Lady?”

The High Priest asked with a disgruntled face. Perhaps inwardly he was shouting, ‘Just do it as usual!’

As the one officiating the marriage of the noble imperial family, he wouldn’t want to allow even the slightest mistake.

But…

“I couldn’t find any precedent when looking at past wedding examples.”

Unfortunately, that expectation would have to be betrayed. Aristie steeled herself, recalling the events that had led her to this place.

The one lesson that life had left her, living under a noble mask, was this,

To deal with a villainess, one must become a mad dog.

Even if it means being abandoned by her husband, expelled from her family, and ultimately branded and punished as a criminal.

“Precedent? About what?”

The High Priest asked, as if he couldn’t understand.

Don’t tremble. You can do this. Aristie gripped her bouquet tightly and calmly asked her question.

“Is there no problem in establishing a marriage if the spouse has unusual s*xual preferences?”

Unusual… what?

Murmurs could be heard from the audience. They wore faces that showed they couldn’t understand what she meant at all.

The High Priest was equally baffled. He interrogated Aristie in a low tone, dumbfounded.

“What on earth are you talking about?”

“In other words, His Majesty the Emperor prefers the same gender as himself.”

The murmurs grew louder. Loud enough to make one’s eardrums vibrate.

But this wasn’t enough. If she had made up her mind to do this, she needed to cause a proper uproar…!

Aristie looked straight at the confused guests and drove the point home.

“He’s homosexual.”

“Good heavens!”

“Oh my!”

Screams erupted from all around.

If a bomb had fallen in the middle of the ceremony hall, the reaction would have been just like this, only they weren’t fleeing.

The Emperor of the great empire, a homosexual. A massive shock swirled together and swept through the hall like a storm.

Now everyone properly understood Aristie’s revelation.

“Lady, are you in your right mind?”

The High Priest asked with an angry face.

‘As if I would be in my right mind?’

Aristie inwardly retorted as she extended her finger to point at someone.

“I’m certain. His partner is Lord Zephyros over there.”

“……!”

Zephyros, known as the Emperor’s hawk, closed his eyes tightly. He seemed to have given up, as though he was letting things unfold as they may.

On the other hand, his twin brother Rhion’s eyes were so wide they looked like they might fall out.

‘Why is my brother involved in this? When on earth did he and His Majesty…!’

It wasn’t just Rhion who was looking at Zephyros with shocked eyes. The shock received by the guests was no less intense.

From somewhere came the sound of someone exclaiming, “Oh God!” and everyone started chattering as if speaking in tongues.

There was even a young lady who ran out while shedding tears.

Whether the object of her affection was the Emperor or Zephyros, it’s unclear.

“How insolent! To dare such a thing in front of His Majesty the Emperor!”

Amidst the sudden chaos in the audience, Marquis Vascus seized the opportunity to stand up and shout. Following his lead, the nobles under him also stood up and poured out various criticisms.

The Captain of the Imperial Guard tried to move his soldiers but couldn’t make a decision.

Who should be dragged out?

The nobles shouting loudly at the sacred wedding ceremony? Or the prospective Empress who insulted the Emperor with her preposterous statement?

“How could you utter such nonsense in this solemn gathering! This could be grounds for arrest on charges of insulting the Imperial Family!”

The High Priest seemed to place more weight on the prospective Empress’s misconduct. As he sternly warned Aristie, suddenly her brother Aiden stood up to defend his sister.

“The… Yenatrice ducal fa-family has im-immunity, as far as I kn-know. Ex…cept for serious cr-crimes like treason. I’m… using that im-immunity now!”

The nobles’ expressions contorted.

At the voice of the young duke with a stutter they hadn’t heard in a long time.

Any other time, there would have been muffled laughter here and there. But with the enormous bomb that had just been dropped, they weren’t in the mood for that.

Especially their father, Duke Yenatrice, who seemed to have lost his senses in anger and bewilderment.

Aristie and Aiden. These were children who had never properly rebelled against him before. Yet at such a crucial moment, they were openly acting crazy! Without even a word of warning to their father beforehand!

“You mentioned the crime of insulting the Imperial Family.”

Whether the Duke was glaring at her from the audience or not, Aristie calmly opened her mouth.

“As you know, enjoying homosexuality is not considered a crime. There’s no separate law for punishment either.”

“This is different! How can it not be a crime when the Lady’s statement is so insulting!”

“There’s no need for the High Priest to be so upset. You’re not of imperial blood, after all.”

At this cold rebuttal, the High Priest was momentarily at a loss for words. It was an unpleasant truth, but not incorrect.

The authority to judge whether something is a crime or not basically lies with the Imperial Family. Especially in such ambiguous cases.

“Whether my question is an insult to the Imperial Family or not will be judged directly by His Majesty the Emperor. If it constitutes an insult, I will gladly accept punishment. And let me make it clear.”

Aristie lifted her chin slightly and spoke proudly.

“I have never refused this marriage. Nor do I intend to forcibly change His Majesty’s preferences. I merely asked whether these facts pose a problem for the establishment of the marriage.”

Having achieved her goal, she lowered her eyelashes gently and murmured.

“I agree to this marriage.”

With those words, Aristie’s lips closed gracefully. As if they had never been opened in the first place.

The silence she created quietly swept through the hall, causing the guests to shift their gaze to the side.

Towards the Emperor, who had been maintaining silence throughout beside the bride who had caused the commotion.

“Your Majesty.”

The High Priest called out to the Emperor pleadingly. The Emperor, now the focus of everyone’s attention, remained expressionless and silent.

As if frozen in anger… or perhaps, it might even look like he’s trying to hold back laughter?

Surely not, though.

“I too would like to ask.”

Finally, the Emperor opened his mouth.

“Is there a problem?”

“What do you mean by problem?”

When the High Priest asked in confusion, the Emperor pointed with his eyes at Aristie who was standing beside him.

“I’m asking if the ‘spouse’s unusual s*xual preference’ that the bride pointed out poses a problem for the establishment of the marriage.”

‘…No, how am I supposed to know that! More importantly, is it true?’

For a moment, the High Priest almost burst out shouting, but he barely managed to swallow it on the tip of his tongue.

What had he been practicing all these long years for? Wasn’t it to not lose his mind even in such a shitty situation?

Quickly regaining his composure, the High Priest answered with proper etiquette.

“It’s difficult to give an answer as there has been no precedent for such an issue being raised.”

“I see… Then we can proceed as is.”

After answering thus, the Emperor once again glanced at the seat beside him. Aristie was simply looking straight ahead as before.

The Emperor’s gaze soon turned in the same direction as hers. And he spoke.

“I also agree to this marriage.”

The High Priest looked at the Emperor dazedly, and when their eyes met, he nodded with a start.

If the parties involved are fine with it, what can he do? All he could do was quickly finish the job at hand and go home to rest.

He cleared his throat and declared to all present in a booming voice.

“I hereby declare that His Majesty Khalid Arcadian Isha Ferzen, Emperor of the Great Ferzen Empire, and Aristie Crua of the Yentrice Ducal Family are now husband and wife!”

The guests listened to the High Priest’s declaration with dumbfounded expressions.

Gradually, applause rang out, cheers spread, and countless whispers were exchanged amidst it all.

The Ferzen Empire, which had enjoyed prosperity for generations under the wise rule of successive emperors. This was the moment when an unprecedented wedding scandal was recorded like a blemish in the history of such an empire.

***

After returning to the waiting room, Aristie collapsed against the door. Staring blankly into space, she muttered as if in disbelief.

“I did it. I really did it……”

To humiliate the Emperor of the great empire in front of everyone, she had actually done that crazy thing.

It was unbelievable even to herself. Perhaps she had been half out of her mind with anger. Although she had prepared herself, honestly, until the moment she opened her mouth, she hadn’t been confident that she could actually carry it out.

And to think she could receive congratulations on her marriage after that.

‘Khalid. Our relationship wasn’t this bad. How on earth did it come to this….’

Aristie gently pressed her numbing chest and closed her eyes. As her vision turned black, that day inevitably came to mind.

The afternoon of that day when her life, which had been as straight as a single path, began to twist miserably.

— I met a woman.

Six months ago, it all started when the Emperor, while proposing to her, simultaneously confessed about another woman.

***