IVFV 26

Chapter 26

“What?”

Lumina blinked slowly, her eyes unfocused in shock.

Hold a ceremony with Karayan?

The “ceremony” he meant couldn’t possibly be just any ceremony. No matter how she interpreted it, it sounded like a wedding ceremony.

While Lumina stood there flustered, Lucius seemed to have already carried the thought far ahead on his own.

“I heard you met Princess Arabel. And that she has taken an interest in you.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“She will investigate you. The more frequently you meet Karayan, the more watchful she will become.”

Lumina nodded instinctively. She had experienced Arabel’s obsession firsthand.

“She may even discover that you are a special Legion. And you said you do not wish to reveal that fact to the imperial family.”

“Yes.”

“In that case, the position of the young duchess would be far more convenient than that of a ward.”

‘No. If that happens, Her Highness will try to kill me….’

Unable to hide her turbulent thoughts and anxious gaze, Lumina looked straight at Lucius.

“The marriage would merely be a façade to conceal your identity and ensure our contract proceeds smoothly.”

“……”

“When you come of age, I will arrange a divorce. Until then, you will need the strength of this family.”

Lucius delivered this astonishing proposal as casually as if discussing the weather.

Perhaps it was because he wore dark sunglasses, but he seemed completely unaware of the way Lumina’s eyes trembled.

“I understand that even a minor may register a marriage with a guardian’s consent. But what about the young master?”

She had no choice but to bring up the other party—who was not even present.

“Marriage is important to him as well. And he doesn’t seem particularly fond of me.”

Recalling Karayan’s endless remarks about potatoes, Lumina continued,

“If he dislikes it, then it’s pointless.”

Since it was a difficult subject to answer directly, she deliberately invoked Karayan—Lucius’s most sensitive point.

“He wishes to avoid Princess Arabel’s proposal. He will gladly accept. He may even rejoice that no more marriage offers will come his way.”

At that moment, Lumina understood Lucius’s true intention.

He spoke as though he were protecting her from Arabel, but in reality, he meant to use her as a shield.

‘He really makes sure every exchange is perfectly balanced to the end.’

Still, his reasoning made sense.

Lumina was merely the ward of the Hart heir. She had no formal relationship with Karayan.

Even if brief, frequent contact between them would eventually invite suspicion.

‘But still….’

The position of the Hart heir’s wife?

It was greed—far too much greed.

A red alarm blared in her mind, warning her that she should be satisfied with her position as a ward and not entangle herself any further.

“If you become the young duchess, your relatives will scatter.”

If Lumina became the young duchess and Endymion left for the Academy, their relatives would no longer have any excuse to remain at the estate under the pretense of caring for the children.

It was an undeniably tempting advantage.

But still—too much greed.

Just as Lumina tried to steady her wavering resolve—

He struck decisively.

“And when you divorce, I will provide alimony—this much.”

He scribbled something quickly on a sheet of parchment and held it out so only she could see.

‘One, ten, hundred, thousand, ten thousand, hundred thousand….’

Ding, ding!

An endless row of zeros.

Lumina’s eyes glazed over slightly.

‘No, don’t!’

Alarmed at herself, she squeezed her eyes shut.

But the number he had shown kept flashing before her mind.

‘Don’t fall for money! Lumina, are you that easy?!’

Slowly—

She opened her eyes.

The enormous number was still there, bold and undeniable.

Not just her eyes—her brain felt as though it were melting. Some dormant instinct within Lumina awakened.

‘He’s saying that if I treat Karayan as agreed, he’ll give me that money. It’s like a fortune falling from the sky!’

A fortune falling from the sky.

What a romantic sentence.

‘No! This is not the time to get romantic!’

Her reason screamed again. Marriage was not something to take lightly.

A minor only had one chance to marry before coming of age, and divorce was only possible afterward.

Even then, remarriage could not occur until past the proper marrying age.

It was a law created to prevent abuse among nobles who used marriage as a political tool.

So if she married this year, she wouldn’t even be able to dream of marrying another man for at least ten years.

‘And if I become the young duchess, I’ll attract even more attention than as a ward.’

As she weighed everything, Lumina suddenly realized something and broke into a cold sweat.

She should have been thinking about how to refuse—but without realizing it, she had been considering everything on the premise of accepting.

The moment she saw that number, the inner voice shouting “greed” had vanished without a trace.

“Is the amount not to your liking?”

After her prolonged silence, Lucius withdrew the parchment.

It was only numbers. Yet Lumina felt as if money she already possessed had been snatched away.

Gulp.

She swallowed dryly.

She shouldn’t cling to it, but the attachment only grew stronger.

While Lumina fought with herself several times over, Lucius drew a line through the number on the parchment.

Scratch—

It felt as though her heart were being shredded.

Resisting the urge to clutch her chest, she watched as he wrote a new figure.

“And this?”

He held the parchment out again.

Beneath the heavily crossed-out number, a new one appeared.

There were even more zeros.

The moment she saw it, Lumina’s mouth moved of its own accord.

“Ha….”

Her voice trembled.

“I’ll do it.”

The amount was simply too large to refuse.

Dong, dong—

A heavy bell tolled.

It was a cloudless, brilliant day. Flower petals scattered in the gentle breeze.

Veiled in white, Lumina walked slowly down a white carpet in her wedding dress.

As she lifted her head, there stood the man who would become her husband—

“Ahhh!”

Snap—

Lumina screamed and shot upright.

Yes. It had all been a ridiculous dream.

A cloudless, radiant day?

A pure white wedding dress?

A groom waiting at the end of a white aisle?

None of that existed.

“My lady!”

The only thing before her was Olivia, who had rushed in upon hearing her scream.

“Olivia….”

“Was there an intruder? What happened?”

As Olivia approached, Lumina found herself flinching involuntarily.

“There’s no intruder. Could you put that down first?”

“Huh? Ah.”

Coming to her senses, Olivia lowered the ominous sword she was holding in her right hand.

If things had gone wrong, Lumina might have fallen into a dream called death—and never awakened.

“It was just a nightmare.”

“What kind of nightmare made you scream like that? Your face is pale. You’re sweating.”

Olivia gently wiped the sweat from her forehead.

Lumina exhaled shakily, replaying the nightmare in her mind.

She was only twelve years old.

And yet she had dreamed of marriage—something she hadn’t even done in her previous life.

No—she had nearly done it in her previous life.

The problem had been that she hadn’t even known the man’s face. Thinking about it rationally now made her shudder.

‘Back then, I wasn’t in my right mind, so I agreed. If it were me now, I’d have smashed my uncle’s head with a tray.’

And given Joseph’s temperament, he would never have selected a decent groom.

Most likely she would have been the tenth wife of some wealthy, greedy old man.

“Sorry for screaming so loudly. I startled you, didn’t I? Don’t worry—you can go back.”

“No. I was about to wake you anyway.”

Hm?

Faint blue light filtered through the curtains. It was dawn.

Wake her?

“We’re holding the ceremony today.”

Lumina’s lips parted slightly.

“Then I’ll prepare some water for you to wash.”

Perhaps thinking Lumina was still half-asleep, Olivia let out a small chuckle and turned away.

When she wasn’t looking, Lumina pinched her own cheek.

“Ow.”

She pinched so hard that tears welled in her eyes.

‘It’s not a dream…?’

She swallowed back tears and rubbed her reddened cheek.

Lumina washed up quickly and changed her clothes.

After brushing her hair neatly, she followed Olivia.

The estate was quiet at such an early hour.

‘I did hear it would be an early ceremony. I was half-asleep and couldn’t recall it right away.’

And that dream hadn’t helped.

“My lady. This way.”

They arrived at a detached building.

She had only ever seen it from afar—this was her first time entering.

The scene inside was nothing like her dream.

It was not bright midday, nor was she wearing a splendid wedding gown.

Instead, flickering candles dimly illuminated the antique interior.

It felt like stepping into an ancient castle. Darkness outweighed the light.

And geometric patterns—drawn in what appeared to be blood—decorated the floor.

A chilling atmosphere hung thick in the air.

‘…Are we summoning a demon or something?’

It was a perfectly reasonable suspicion.

And before the ritual even began, a demon appeared.

No—not a real demon.

But if this were a fairy tale, he would surely be cast in that role.

Lucius.