TBKU 06

Chapter : 06

“…May God’s blessing be upon the two of you who have become husband and wife.”

With the priest’s blessing, the short wedding ceremony came to an end.

White holy power swirled around Sheila and Lennon before gradually disappearing.

When the comforting warmth of the holy power faded away, Sheila grabbed onto Lennon’s arm as though reluctant to let it go.

It was an unconscious action.

“You can let go now.”

“Huh? Ah…”

Unlike his gentle voice, Lennon moved as though he felt uncomfortable and tried to pull his arm away. Sheila flinched and quickly released her hold.

It had not even been for that long, yet the arm that had been touching him felt strangely empty.

She realized once again that warmth could be this comforting and yet could turn cold so easily at any moment.

Seeing Sheila’s complicated expression, Lennon handed her the documents that had been lying on the desk.

“All you have to do is sign at the bottom, and it’s finished.”

“…Yes.”

It was supposed to mean that the wedding was over.

Yet to Sheila, it felt as though it also meant that there would be no more reason for him to stand beside her.

She hesitated for a moment.

But with the marriage vows being held out right in front of her, Sheila had no choice but to pick up the pen.

Lennon Higgins.

Lennon’s elegant signature was already written across the white paper.

The handwriting was unmistakably Lennon’s.

Sheila stared at his signature for a moment before slowly writing her own name beside it.

“There.”

Lennon took the marriage vows and briefly looked at the signatures.

There, neatly written beside his own name, was Sheila Reebrook.

From now on, that name would become Sheila Higgins.

Feeling strangely moved by the thought, Lennon glanced at her.

Her water-colored eyes trembled slightly before disappearing beneath her eyelids.

‘I’ll have to fix that habit of hers first.’

She was far too timid and submissive.

Hiding his displeasure beneath his handsome face, Lennon handed the marriage vows to the priest.

Holy power soon flowed from the priest’s fingertips and faintly engraved the temple’s emblem onto the paper.

“It is done.”

The priest withdrew his holy power and returned the marriage vows to Lennon.

At Lennon’s glance, Donovan immediately took the document and left the study.

He was going to inform the royal family of the Duke’s marriage.

“Are you really that pleased?”

Although he had spent many years as a priest, this was the first time he had seen a marriage proceed so quickly.

The priest looked back and forth between the groom, who wore a pleased smile, and the bride, who shyly lowered her head, before shaking his head.

What more was there to say?

“I’m telling you, I’m right!”

“Don’t be ridiculous. How could that possibly be true?”

“What’s going on? What happened?”

A commotion broke out among the servants who had gathered for a late lunch.

Curious, Kate widened her eyes and suddenly inserted herself between those arguing.

“Ah! Kate, you came at just the right time. The young lady you’re serving now, Lady Sheila—she really married the Duke today, right?”

“What?”

What kind of ridiculous thing was this?

It was true that the two of them were supposed to get married.

Kate raised her eyebrows and asked again.

“You mean Lady Sheila? She got married? Today?”

“Weren’t you with her?”

“I was with her, but the Duke sent for her, so she went alone…”

“See! I told you! He called her because they were going to get married. The priest even came and left!”

Kate could only blink blankly, utterly bewildered.

Married?

There were still so many things they had not properly prepared, from the dress to the shoes.

They had not even finished preparing the Duchess’s room for Sheila.

Kate’s heart grew restless.

She grabbed a fluffy, fully cooked potato and took a large bite before abruptly getting to her feet.

“I’ll go ask her myself!”

‘May you live happily, Madam.’

After returning to her room, Sheila kept turning those words over in her mind, her heart fluttering uneasily.

The priest had said them as he left after the emotionless wedding ceremony.

Will I be able to live happily from now on?

Having been thrown bare-handed into the marriage market, Sheila had never expected a passionate love.

Even a little warmth would have been enough to become a sanctuary for her.

She wanted to become that kind of person herself as well.

But the Duke did not seem to want such a relationship.

Concern filled Sheila’s furrowed brow.

If she lived according to what Lennon wanted, she did not think she could guarantee her own happiness.

“Lady Sheila! Are you inside?”

Just as Sheila let out a long sigh, Kate’s voice could be heard.

Kate sounded so urgent that Sheila’s own heart began to race, and she hurried to let her in.

“Come in.”

Kate flung open the door and entered. Her cheeks were flushed as though she had run all the way there.

As Kate wiped the sweat from her forehead and carefully examined Sheila from head to toe, Sheila asked worriedly,

“Did you run here? Is something wrong?”

“I wanted to come quickly. It’s nothing serious. But, Lady Sheila, what did the Duke call you for earlier?”

“Ah…”

Had the news already spread throughout the ducal household?

Or was Kate’s information network simply astonishingly efficient?

Sheila clicked her tongue inwardly and made an awkward expression.

She could not bring herself to say that they had held the wedding in the study.

Perhaps Kate already knew.

But if she did not…

Sheila’s thoughts became tangled as she wondered what everyone else would think.

Sheila slowly chose the words she would say.

‘Is she embarrassed? Oh my goodness! They really must have gotten married!’

Misinterpreting Sheila’s hesitant reaction, Kate clapped her hands and spoke excitedly.

“Did you perhaps get married? Just the two of you?”

“Mm…”

“Oh my, oh my! You really did! Congratulations, Lady Sheila!”

“Thank you…”

“A huge, magnificent wedding would be wonderful, of course, but I think a wedding with just the two of you is even more romantic. I never knew the Duke had that side to him!”

Sheila could not decide whether she should correct this enormous misunderstanding or leave it alone.

Looking at Kate’s dreamy expression, Sheila eventually turned her head away.

It seemed that Lennon also wanted them to appear like a married couple in front of other people.

She decided not to go out of her way to tell Kate, We aren’t actually in love with each other the way you think.

You never knew what might happen in life.

More than anything, she simply did not want to say it herself.

Although they had not married for love, there were people who became husband and wife and spent their entire lives together like friends.

Especially among nobles.

Sheila wanted to place her hopes in that possibility.

Even if she could not be happy, she wanted at least to live without being unhappy.

“Oh! Then what should we do about the wedding night?”

Kate muttered to herself, but Sheila’s heart jolted.

“…The wedding night?”

“The Duke really should have told us in advance. I don’t know if we’ll be able to get everything ready by tonight.”

“Ah, I don’t think we need to…”

Sheila’s face grew as hot as the midday sun.

Seeing Sheila furiously fanning herself with her palms, Kate gave her a mischievous smile.

“No, Lady Sheila! Don’t worry! I’ll prepare everything so the two of you can have some private time together. Just wait here for a moment!”

Leaving the deeply embarrassed Sheila behind, Kate hurried out of the room.

The corners of her mouth, raised almost to her ears, showed no sign of coming down.

As she hurried along, Kate organized everything she needed to do in her head.

‘There’s so much to do. First, I should go to the head maid.’

Time was tight if she wanted to finish everything by nightfall.

Kate’s steps gradually quickened until she was practically running.

Moonlight streamed through the darkened window.

The once-round, full moon had begun to slowly fade into the dark night sky some time ago.

In just a few more days, that moon would disappear completely.

Sheila stared blankly up at the sky and felt strangely sad.

Even after she drew the curtains and covered the window, the cold light of the moon remained in her heart, casting a shadow.

‘It seems it’s already past the time to sleep…’

As time passed, Sheila’s heart beat more and more anxiously.

It was even worse because Kate had not shown so much as the tip of her nose since bringing dinner.

She must have been busy preparing the wedding night.

Sheila could not help feeling guilty that Kate seemed to be going to all that trouble for nothing.

On the other hand, if Lennon really intended to spend their first night together, that would be a problem too.

‘I’m so nervous that I don’t think I’ll be able to do anything properly.’

Until now, Sheila had attended every banquet her father had pushed her into attending.

Some of them had been far from wholesome, and as a result, Sheila had learned many things she would rather not have known.

That was why those memories had suddenly come rushing back when Kate mentioned the wedding night, causing her face to turn red.

No matter how hard she tried, she could not prepare herself mentally.

She was seriously considering simply falling asleep right then and there when, at last, someone knocked on Sheila’s door.

“Lady Sheila, it’s Kate. May I come in?”

“Yes.”

Through the slightly opened door, Kate cautiously poked her head inside, looking extremely tense.

“Why aren’t you coming in?”

Sheila found her unusually cautious behavior strange.

At the same time, she suddenly became afraid that Kate had some bad news to deliver.

Following Kate’s expression, Sheila’s face also stiffened.

After hesitantly making her way into the room, Kate stood near the door and lowered her head deeply.

She could not bring herself to approach Sheila.

“…Is something wrong? Is it something bad?”

“Well…”

Kate wanted to gag her past self for having been so careless with her words.

Looking miserable with guilt, Kate answered quietly.

“I think you’ll have to continue staying in this room for the time being…”

“I see.”

“I-I really mean just for the time being! If you wait just a little longer…”

It was a lie.

Sheila instinctively realized that Kate was making excuses.

Apparently, Lennon did not want her using the Duchess’s room.

And there was one more thing.

“Could you just prepare the bed for me? I’m tired and want to sleep.”

“Ah! Yes, yes…”

Lennon clearly had no intention of spending their first night together either.

Strangely, that actually made her feel relieved, so Sheila gave Kate, who was hurriedly moving around, a small smile.

Just like the smile that soon disappeared from Sheila’s lips, Kate also wanted to hurry back to her own room.

It felt as though the heavy atmosphere was pressing down on her shoulders.

“Then, good night.”

“You sleep well too.”

Kate fled the room as though running away.

Darkness settled over the bed where Sheila lay curled up, replacing the blanket.

‘May you live happily, Madam.’

Why were those words echoing in her ears again?

With the bridge of her nose stinging, Sheila buried her face in the pillow.

She did not want to cry.

If she gave in to her feelings and cried endlessly, she would surely wake up the next morning with swollen eyes and a miserable appearance.

She could not sleep, but Sheila closed her eyes and desperately tried to fall asleep.

It was a futile wish, but she hoped that when she woke up, everything would be different.

After a long while, her thin, trembling eyelids finally became still.

Without even knowing that an order had been issued throughout the entire ducal estate to keep her living arrangements a secret, Sheila fell asleep and dreamed.

It was a happy dream in which she received a very beautiful, fully bloomed flower as a gift.