Maria sobbed bitterly as she voiced her grievances.

Although the only people listening were the five or six maids helping with her preparations, she had to vent her unjust feelings somewhere or she wouldn’t be able to bear it.

At this rate, she would be crying not only during the preparations but also throughout her entrance to the wedding hall.

Lindsay, Maria’s personal maid, settled at Maria’s knees with a towel soaked in warm water.

She wiped Maria’s wet face with gentle hands and spoke in a kind voice:

“The situation isn’t good. But Miss, please don’t cry too much. You’re the most beautiful person in this country. Wouldn’t it be a waste for the most beautiful person to appear with a swollen face at the wedding where she should look her most beautiful?”

“……Lindsay.”

She was a maid who had worked under the ill-tempered Maria for seven years.

When it came to handling Maria, she was much better than Landers or Schultz.

“So please don’t cry, Miss. No matter what, this is the day you become the Queen. If it can’t be undone, I’d like you to appear in your most beautiful form. Beautiful enough to make people say, ‘That’s indeed Maria Tartien.'”

“……”

Lindsay’s words seemed to have an effect, as the lips that had been loudly crying finally closed.

Maria stared at Lindsay who was caressing her cheek.

“How many years have you worked for me? Five years?”

“……Seven years.”

“Oh my, has it been that long already? Goodness, you’ve endured a lot.”

Lindsay silently smiled at Maria’s words and finished wiping her face.

Maria stayed still for a moment, then took off the bracelet she was wearing and handed it to Lindsay, saying,

“Here. Take this.”

“Ah, should I put this away separately? Would you like to see the jewels you’ll wear today?”

“No, this is for you to keep.”

“……What?”

“When I become queen, you’ll immediately become the queen’s direct maid. Your husband is a baron, right? I’ll raise his rank too.”

“Ah, Miss.”

“……It’s just that it’s hard to find a comfortable maid like you! So don’t betray me, and keep doing a good job like now!”

“Yes, yes, Miss. I, I will.”

“……But why aren’t Father and Landers coming yet?”

Maria, who had stopped crying, sniffled and glared at the closed door.

The bride’s preparations, which had been halted, finally resumed.

* * *

“What? They’re heading to the prison?”

Schultz, who had placed Maria in the bride’s waiting room and was overseeing the wedding preparations, turned pale at the news Landers brought.

“Those, those crazy fools are determined to cause trouble……”

He felt an emotion beyond anger.

He wanted to catch each participant in the protest, skin them alive, and burn them to death.

What day was this? It was finally the day when Schultz Tartien would officially become a member of the royal family.

Sparks flew from Schultz’s eyes.

‘I will not let them ruin this.’

On the day when the king of this country was taking a queen, how dare these citizens try to ruin the king’s wedding with their antics!

“Landers, we must stop them. I’ll handle things here somehow, so you rush to the prison and make sure they don’t cause any more trouble!”

At Schultz’s fierce command, Landers added with a stiff face:

“There could be casualties.”

“I don’t care! Go and stop them at all costs. Hurry!”

As if he had been waiting for these words, Landers immediately rushed outside and gathered the soldiers.

His blood was boiling too.

What kind of wedding was this that they were trying to protect?

I, Landers Tartien, had bowed my head to secure this wedding.

‘To that vermin king and that crazy doctor!’

For the sake of the future, today’s wedding must proceed.

A royal marriage cannot be officially recognized without testimony from the temple.

If today’s situation is deemed concerning and the date is postponed, or if only a written pledge is submitted, it would not only create problems with legitimacy but also give the nobles and the king something to criticize.

Something that could be used to drive out the Tartiens.

‘I will never allow that to happen.’

Since the royal guards had to protect the wedding, there weren’t many soldiers available to gather.

But it didn’t matter.

They had plenty of the latest firearms imported from across the sea.

“Everyone, grab your weapons. Dangerous elements are trying to harm innocent people. Do your best to stop them, and if necessary, you may kill them!”

‘If necessary’—these words were as good as authorizing casualties.

A solemn look crossed the soldiers’ faces.

The fact that casualties might occur meant the protests would become that much more intense.

“Remember! If we don’t stop them, there will be deaths on our side! Now, let’s move out!”

Landers’ horse charged ahead, leading the way.

* * *

As the sun rose, busy sounds began to be heard from outside.

Karl’s villa was very close to the palace chapel where the wedding would be held.

How close? There was a bridge connecting the two buildings, and the chapel was just a short walk along that bridge.

Therefore, it was natural that sounds of preparation for the wedding ceremony at the chapel, the reception immediately after the wedding, and the party that would last all night could be faintly heard from Karl’s bedroom.

In fact, most of the preparations had already been completed over the past week, but as always, the final inspection was most important.

Karl silently paid his respects to Countess Carol, the head lady-in-waiting, who must have been running around all month until her feet developed heat rash for today.

Thanks to his repeated insistence that everything be prepared as simply as possible, the event had become much more modest compared to past royal weddings.

Among all the preparations, the simplest and most modest was that of Karl, the main protagonist of the event.

He washed himself neatly, finished a simple breakfast, and changed into the prepared formal attire.

That was all.

Originally, there would have been dozens of ceremonies requiring the chamberlain or close secretaries to attend to him, but all were omitted.

He was supposed to change clothes five times, recite prayers, visit the temple for blessings, and so on, but all were skipped.

There was quite some resistance from the temple, but since it was known that he could barely leave the palace, a compromise was possible.

“I have one thing I’m curious about.”

After all preparations were complete and they had a moment to catch their breath, Lumiere, who had been staring at Karl, spoke.

“What?”

“If today doesn’t go according to your plan…… do you have another plan in mind?”

Karl hesitated momentarily at her question.

Then, with a peculiar expression, he looked at Lumiere, kissed her cheek, and whispered.

“Everything will proceed according to plan. I’ve been preparing for much longer than you know.”

“……But there’s always a possibility. What if.”

“Well, I do have a contingency plan, but that’s not very important right now. When all this is over, I’ll tell you about it then.”

It somehow felt like he was hiding something.

Lumiere narrowed her eyes and stared at Karl.

“……I’m not particularly trying to hide it from you, but it’s not a plan that would make you feel good.”

“Ah, I see. You’re not telling me because it might not make me feel good……”

Lumiere nodded as if she understood perfectly well and smiled slyly.

“Then I’ll also only tell you things that might make you feel good.”

A look of dismay crossed Karl’s face for a moment.

He quickly pulled her waist close, embraced her, and whispered with their foreheads touching.

“Look at this. You know too well who I fear most in this world.”

“Who is it?”

“You, Lumiere. You.”

A lie.

Lumiere rolled her eyes skeptically, showing she didn’t believe him.

He kissed her suspicious eyes and murmured that it was true.

And after a faint sigh, he revealed the story she wanted to know.

“If today doesn’t go according to plan, we’ll proceed with the wedding as is. And Maria Tartien will become queen, and empowered by that, I’ll let her do as she pleases. The same goes for Schultz and Landers. And then after about half a year……”

“After that?”

“……They will kill the king.”

“……”

“Around that time, Maria Tartien will probably claim she’s pregnant or something. Their plan is obvious. I’ll pretend to go along with their plan while changing the ending.”

“What do you mean by changing the ending?”

“The ending they envision would be the king dying in an accident, or a natural death, or becoming critically ill due to disease…… But in my ending, they become traitors who killed the king to strengthen the power of the in-law faction. They become rebels.”

Karl paused and looked out the window.

It was where gunshots had been heard a little while ago.

“Nobles who manipulate even the king, trying to grasp everything in their hands…… The citizens won’t stand by and watch.”

Hearing his words, she could roughly picture it in her mind.

Yes, that could happen.

In any case, it seemed that ‘Laedro,’ the king of this country, was destined to be sacrificed.

She felt momentarily sad.

If nothing had happened to the late Crown Prince and his wife, if there had been no tragedy for us……

Perhaps Karl would have become king without much difficulty.

Somewhat arrogant but wise, loving his country, he would have become a king who developed advanced technologies as the late Crown Prince had dreamed.

Instead of this wedding surrounded by the aura of death, he would have held a real royal wedding and welcomed a beautiful queen.

And perhaps that position might have been filled by Philia Buchanan……

‘Would we have loved each other then too, Karl?’

Lumiere gazed quietly into Karl’s beautiful golden eyes.

In his eyes that shone brilliantly like the sun, she saw herself.

Herself as ‘Lumiere Lashantia,’ not ‘Philia Buchanan.’

Yes, what use is there in ‘what might have been’?

What matters is who we are now, living each moment to the fullest.

“What’s that face for?”

Lumiere smiled slightly and shrugged.

“Just…… you said the king would die, which means you would die. I don’t like that.”

“It’s not like I’d really die, you know.”

“……Still. I don’t even want to imagine such a thing.”

Lumiere wrapped her arms tightly around Karl’s waist.

She rested her cheek against his broad chest, closed her eyes, and felt his heart beating strongly.

“Always let me hear your heartbeat like this by my side. It calms me down.”

“If you want, I’ll even tear out my heart for you.”

“……That’s not what I want!”

He laughed as if he meant it and hugged her tightly.

At that moment,

Ding.

Karl froze at the very subtle bell sound. Then he looked toward the eastern wall.

“……What’s wrong?”

“It’s Brook calling. I need to go check.”