“Breaking news. This morning, NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) announced that traces of civilization have been discovered on ‘Trappist-1d’, an Earth-like exoplanet discovered around 2016.”
“NASA reported that the reason such traces were observed on ‘Trappist-1d’, which was previously presumed to have minimal probability of life forms due to being an ocean planet, is because the planet’s characteristics have been rapidly changing recently.”
***
“Do you both swear to love each other eternally under the realm of light?”
The weather was incredibly good. The ceremony proceeded smoothly amidst the blessings of the people.
I don’t know what the nobles thought, but at least the imperial citizens seemed happy.
I answered with a satisfied expression while holding Calix’s hand.
“Yes.”
It wasn’t a bad feeling. I thought I would feel quite unsettled, but it was better than expected.
Calix carefully cupped my cheeks with his hands and kissed my forehead.
“Yes.”
Cheers erupted throughout the temple. I couldn’t help but laugh at the surreal scene.
Even celebrity weddings probably aren’t like this. I still couldn’t believe how things had turned out this way.
The Pope stretched both hands toward us and sprinkled what looked like clusters of white snow-like light.
That must be divine power, right? The Pope’s divine power quickly enveloped us and spread in all directions, and Calix, still holding my cheeks, gave me a simple kiss.
‘Was this called the kiss of eternity?’
I put my arms around his neck and quietly accepted him.
I heard we needed to stay like this for at least 3 minutes.
It was traditionally a ceremony binding fate at weddings.
So I carefully closed my eyes and tried to stay still, but as time passed, Calix’s fingers holding my face began to fidget.
And soon he tilted my head diagonally and devoured my lips that had only been pressed against his.
‘Has this man gone mad?’
I tensed my arms in astonishment, but regardless, Calix intensified the kiss.
His fingers traveled down through my hair, and now firmly supported my waist.
Screaming cheers seemed to grow deafeningly loud from all directions.
That makes sense. How stimulating must a royal wedding be to people who only engage in primary production without TVs or phones?
Of course.
Especially since my narrative had been carefully built up and spread, they couldn’t help but be excited.
I finally resigned myself and decided to respond passionately as he wanted.
It’s a once-in-a-lifetime wedding, so why hold back?
As soon as my lips parted, he seemed stimulated and aggressively consumed my lips.
I could almost imagine the sour face of the Pope standing right behind us.
Ah, wait a minute.
‘Could it be that he’s doing this more intensely because the Pope was hitting on me and it upset him?’
That seemed right. It was obvious. Look at those upturned corners of his mouth visible through half-lidded eyes.
‘How childish…’
I inwardly clicked my tongue and grinned. Then I stood on my tiptoes and gently bit his lip.
For a moment, Calix’s movements stopped, but soon I could clearly feel his chest rising and falling dramatically.
So I hugged him tightly and patted his back.
Meaning to calm down and not get too excited.
At this rate, he seemed ready to lay me down on the ground right there.
No matter how I thought about it, that wouldn’t be appropriate in the middle of a temple rather than a bedroom.
Fortunately, he had enough sense that his slightly rough panting gradually subsided.
“From this day forward, I bless you both in the name of light to live your lives in happiness as the sky and sun of the Empire.”
With the Pope’s blessing, Calix finally separated from me.
His thumb brushed across my lips, and once again cheers like screams poured out.
He was definitely enjoying this situation.
Heilium flowers, the symbol of the temple, bloomed from the ground I was standing on, and Leharan flowers fluttered and fell from above.
But too many were falling.
They kept landing on my face, so Calix continuously removed the petals stuck to my face.
“…I should find out who the responsible mage is.”
He said with a bright smile, and I chuckled while pinching his waist.
“Just let it go.”
On a good day, we should handle things nicely. I removed the flower petals sitting on Calix’s head and helped tidy him up.
“Rest a bit today. You didn’t sleep last night because you were researching something again.”
At my words, Calix snickered and then kissed me once more.
“My lips are going to fall off at this rate.”
“Don’t you like it?”
“Of course I do?”
“Then don’t play hard to get.”
He seemed happy.
I couldn’t help but smile seeing Calix’s excited face.
He seems to have become quite brazen with my teasing now.
Calix took my hand and led me to the carriage placed in front of the red carpet.
Now we just need to hold a banquet for the nobles and then I can sleep comfortably.
I sighed in relief as I took a step toward the carriage.
However, I had to hold my breath at the sight unfolding before my eyes.
With a swooshing sound, thousands of golden magic circles surrounded me.
Then, fluttering golden hair appeared right in front of me,
“Rose, you’re alive!”
I saw a dragon.
***
It felt as though time had stopped.
The magic circles densely encased the temple like a dome.
The noise that had been prevalent disappeared as if muted, not even a breath could be heard.
“Do you know how worried I was?”
Eyes slit vertically like the Leviathan I had seen in the desert cave flashed and fixed on me.
It looked human-like but wasn’t human. It had features like a doll made of porcelain.
The dragon approached one step with a tearful expression and said:
“I was so anxious thinking you might have been killed by Morisias. Rose’s shell is human after all.”
Reflexively, I blocked in front of Calix. My mind went blank.
D*mn it. The seal broke much faster than expected.
And to appear now of all times. The timing couldn’t be worse.
“……”
But I needed to stay calm.
Really, I needed to stay calm.
Calix and I had been constantly discussing and preparing for this all along.
Although it wasn’t supposed to happen now, we had fully anticipated that this moment would come someday.
So it was okay. The dragon probably had no intention of killing me anyway.
“Ah, perhaps you’re not familiar with this face?”
In an instant, the dragon’s face writhed and soon changed to a familiar face I knew. Even the voice was identical to the one I knew.
“Rose. Come here. If you come quietly, I’ll spare your human.”
Aaron’s voice kindly coaxed me.
I glanced back at Calix. His pupils trembled with anxiety.
In this frozen space, only Calix seemed to be moving.
“Rose is smart, so you know what the right choice is, right? Let’s go to my lair. I’ll show you something interesting. It’ll be much more fun than the boring imperial palace.”
The dragon in front of me smiled broadly at me.
I took a short breath. Although I still didn’t fully understand exactly what was happening, I just needed to follow the plan.
According to plan.
I squeezed Calix’s fingers tightly and then let go.
‘The absolute being in front of me now is completely different from Morisias who had manifested imperfectly.’
I took one step closer to the dragon.
“Please, spare His Majesty.”
At my words, the dragon’s expression twisted grotesquely.
“Why are you speaking formally, Rose? Be comfortable. Like you used to.”
“Please promise to spare him.”
The dragon stared at me quietly with static eyes. It was a feeling I had never experienced before.
My heart started pounding with a subtle sense of fear.
A being that wasn’t human.
“I’ll spare him, Rose. I can grant that since you’re asking.”
The dragon smiled at me and reached out its hand.
“So let’s go, Rose.”
I took that hand.
Then its appearance blurred and soon writhed, instantly increasing its size.
I closed my eyes tightly and clutched my stomach.
It looked exactly like the dragons I had only seen in movies.
A gold dragon with brilliant golden scales grabbed me with one foot and spread its wings to take flight.
There’s nothing more I can do in this situation.
If I were to resist now and anger the dragon, all the imperial citizens could be massacred.
So, according to the original plan, I won’t resist as much as possible, and when I arrive at the lair, I’ll call for Calix.
There was a chance I might fail to call him, but that was okay.
Even if I failed, I would wait until he came.
Because I said I trusted him, Calix will definitely come.
To me.
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Stupid dragon 🐉 to ruin the wedding 😠- but I got to say that kiss of eternity is freaky 😂😂 come on to remain kissing for 3 minutes in front of an audience is really AKWARD