“Does it need to be sent? They’ll come on their own regardless.”

At that, Tilda gave her a look that said, what are you talking about.

“Haah…… I really don’t want to.”

Blair sighed and muttered.

“You had no trouble sending all the other invitations. Why is the one to your parents so difficult?”

At Tilda’s question, Blair had no real answer to give. She simply shifted her gaze to the window. After a moment, she said quietly,

“You probably wouldn’t understand, Tilda.”

Count Royce, Tilda’s father, was well known for his exceptional devotion to his children.

That some parents saw their children as nothing more than tools, that some would drive their own child to the brink of death out of greed, Tilda would never be able to understand that.

Blair swallowed the bitterness and looked at the invitation that still had nothing written on it.

They would already know she had been chosen as princess consort. Or rather, knowing was one thing.

They’re probably foaming at the mouth with excitement.

Even so, sending them a wedding invitation was, in a sense, the natural and proper thing to do. The problem was that their relationship was not one where such things could be called natural.

Blair let out one more long sigh. Then, after a moment, she dipped her pen in ink and wrote a very brief message.

『Three days hence, the Great Feast of Richeter. Royal wedding at the grand temple.
— Blair Mervish』

Tilda was horrified by something that could hardly be called an invitation, but she quietly held her tongue. Whatever the circumstances, it was clear this was the most Blair could manage.

“……I’ll go and post this as it is.”

Tilda left, and Blair sank listlessly back into her chair.

Her gaze drifted without purpose for a while before landing on a small box sitting at the corner of the desk. She had set it aside while tidying the drawer earlier.

Click.

Blair opened the box and looked at the small brooch and worn letter inside. They were the memories left behind by the people who had mattered most to her in her life, and the pain that came with them.

She carefully took out the faded letter. With one finger, she gently traced the name written in the corner.

Rania Mervish.

Even the handwriting had grown faint and hard to make out, yet the ache was still so vivid. Why was that.

The smile that had faded in the warmest of springs felt more missed today than ever.

“Am I doing all right?”

Her sister had always taken her side, whatever she did, but this time Blair was not sure.

After staring at the letter for a long while, Blair carefully placed it back in the box.

❀❀❀

Time passed in a blink, and before she knew it, it was the morning of the royal wedding.

“Goodness, you look absolutely beautiful, Your Highness!”

Tilda and Lucia exclaimed over and over in delight and wonder as they looked at Blair standing before the mirror.

Blair, too, stared at her own reflection in the mirror with a stunned expression.

Is this…… really me?

The pure white wedding dress was more beautiful than anything she had ever worn.

The silhouette that flowed along the lines of her chest and waist was a perfect harmony, neither too much nor too little. The shoulders were left bare to highlight her fair skin, while the arms were covered in delicate lace embroidered with silver thread, lending the whole look an air of quiet elegance.

The glass-bead jewel embellishments sewn along the hem of the dress shimmered softly with every movement she made.

‘This is a masterpiece into which I have poured my very soul!‘

The head tailor had spent days singing her own praises until she was hoarse, and she had every right to.

“And the Leaves of Tamira suit you so perfectly! It’s like the goddess Tamira herself has been reborn!”

“Now, Lucia, that’s a bit……”

Any other time she would have told her the flattery was excessive, but this once she could only offer a weak protest.

The deep green emerald necklace, a shade that matched her own eye color, glimmered with a freshness that seemed to hold an entire forest within it.

“It truly isn’t an exaggeration, you really are beautiful. Her Highness the Queen, who gifted you the necklace, will be overjoyed.”

Tilda nodded as she said it, then added one more thing.

“And His Highness Prince Kalintz goes without saying.”

The mention of Kalintz caught Blair off guard, and she broke into a string of flustered coughs.

“Oh my, why are you going red, Your Highness?”

“Me? Oh, it’s just…… the dress feels a little tight.”

“Does it? It looks perfectly fitted to me. One moment.”

While Tilda instructed Lucia to fetch the tailor, Blair let out a quiet sigh.

The real reason her face had gone red was something else entirely.

My, how skilled you are. I’m quite looking forward to tomorrow’s kiss.

Looking forward to it, honestly. A prince with no sense of shame.

Blair thought back to the conversation she had shared with Kalintz the day before and lamented inwardly.

“……and once the high priest pronounces the blessing of matrimony, the two of you will exchange the vow’s kiss.”

It had all started with that one line from the grand temple priest, explaining the ceremony proceedings.

“Blair, you heard that just now, didn’t you?”

The priest’s explanation had just ended and they were about to go their separate ways when Kalintz asked.

“Pardon? Heard what?”

“The kiss.”

Blair flinched slightly. She had been fighting to keep the surprise off her face even while the priest was explaining.

“……So?”

She asked back with a carefully composed expression, and she heard Kalintz let out a small laugh.

“Quite composed. You were all tensed up when the priest first mentioned it.”

No matter how hard she had tried to hide it, Kalintz had pinpointed it exactly, and she found him insufferable for it. On top of that, he looked so utterly at ease.

Blair felt a flicker of irritation, for no particular reason.

“I don’t see any reason to be nervous. It’s only a kiss.”

“Only a kiss?”

Kalintz’s eyebrow shot up immediately.

“You sound rather confident.”

“I could do it with my eyes closed.”

A complete lie, of course.

But watching him look so much more relaxed than she felt, she did not want to show any weakness.

He studied her face with a skeptical, lingering look, then stepped closer and spoke.

“Oh? You could do it with your eyes closed.”

The voice came closer, laced with doubt.

“Of course……”

“When you kiss someone, aren’t your eyes supposed to be closed.”

“!”

Blair lost her words and bit down on her lower lip.

“Quite confident, and yet you didn’t know that.”

“……That’s just a figure of speech.”

The heat had rushed to her face in an instant. She turned her head away and spoke. She could feel his gaze on her, but there was nothing to do but pretend she had not noticed, right to the end.

“Well, in any case.”

Kalintz spoke again after a long pause and finally leaned back. Then he added one last thing.

“How reassuring, that you’re so confident. I’m quite looking forward to tomorrow’s kiss.”

That had been the last exchange between them.

Recalling the shameless smile he had worn as he left, Blair exhaled in quiet displeasure.

“Haah. Whether to close my eyes or not, how would I know, I’ve never done it.”

Regretting whether she had let her pride get the better of her for nothing, she heard the tailor Lucia had fetched come rushing into the room.

“Your Highness! The dress is too tight? That’s strange, it fit perfectly at the last fitting!”

Bracing herself for another round with her, Blair let out a small sigh.

❀❀❀

The royal wedding was held in the Sacer Chapel, the oldest of the several chapels within the grand temple. It was a place steeped in history, where coronations, baptisms, and royal weddings had been held for generations.

Standing before the grand ornamental doors built in the ancient style, Blair steadied her trembling heart and drew a long, deep breath.

The weight of knowing that once she stepped through those doors, there would be no undoing it, settled over her anew.

“Your Highness, are you ready? It’s almost time.”

Tilda’s voice from right beside her sounded strangely far away. The cheerful chatter of the flower children holding their baskets barely reached her ears.

The chapel doors opened. Brilliant light spilled through, and a beautiful melody drifted out through the gap.

One step, two steps. Blair moved forward slowly.

Pink rose petals she had once believed with absolute certainty would become Anais Brienne’s bouquet were scattered across the white carpet.

And at the end of that flower-lined path, he stood. With eyes that held the warmth of midsummer sun.

But the closer she drew, the more he seemed to wear an expression of faint discomfort.

What’s wrong with him.

He really was an impossible man.

“In this sacred place, the oldest sanctuary of the kingdom’s god, we are blessed today with such great joy……”

Kalintz listened to the high priest’s droning words with a blank expression, letting them wash over him.

How the man managed to recite the same speech every time with such apparent emotion was beyond him.