Chapter 05
“Married couples always face adversity, but this is the trial God sends to confirm the two people’s true love…”
Throughout the clichĆ©d officiant’s speech, Nadia’s gaze remained fixed on her feet. Lev occasionally glanced sideways at the bride who never once looked his way.
“Nadia Turik, do you swear to take our King as your husband and to always love and be loyal to him in all circumstances?”
“I swear.”
Even when making her marriage vows, the woman’s gaze never once turned toward him.
At this point, it seems she dislikes me more than I dislike her.
“As the final step of the holy matrimony, kiss each other.”
Only then did the woman’s eyes, which had been quiet all along, waver, and she looked at Lev at a loss. At that change, Lev suddenly felt interested. He lowered his head and whispered into the stiff woman’s ear.
“What are you doing?”
“……”
“You have to kiss me, Nadia Turik.”
Nadia looked at Lev with a troubled face, then slowly raised herself on her toes. And carefully pressed her lips to Lev’s.
It was more like a child’s kiss, more like play. In any case, the matrimonial procedure was satisfied. It was when Nadia was about to quickly pull away from Lev.
“Ah…!”
Lev pulled Nadia’s waist as it was and parted his lips. Lips met lips without a gap.
While Nadia’s eyes rapidly widened, Lev swept broadly through the inside of Nadia’s mouth.
From here and there came the sound of people gasping in shock. At the same time, Lev pulled his lips away from Nadia.
Nadia’s lips trembled as she let out a fragile breath. Her dazed face felt fresh.
She was a woman whose eyes had remained hard as rock no matter what she witnessed, though she might be shocked. Even when watching her mother and half-brother die before her eyes, even when he had gone to the Queen’s Palace at Albina’s request. But now…
“…I hereby declare that the two are officially husband and wife.”
She was wavering like the candle flame in the officiant’s hand.
As Lev quietly watched, Nadia hurriedly lowered her gaze.
The corners of Lev’s mouth rose slightly.
Even a woman like an impregnable fortress was not entirely without openings.
***
“What possessed you to do something so sudden, Your Majesty?”
At the reception hall. Albina, who had approached Lev’s empty side, shuddered as if still chilled.
“I thought my heart was going to drop out.”
“I thought there should be at least that much of an event for the guests.”
“Your Majesty.”
When Albina gave him a light glare as if telling him not to joke, Lev answered with a faint smile.
He had been curious. Whether this woman would still control her emotions with rock-hard eyes even after mingling tongues with him. The curiosity that suddenly arose from the light kiss made him bold.
“Yes, well. If your purpose was to humiliate the queen.”
Albina asked with one eyebrow furrowed.
“Are you really not going to visit the queen at all?”
At the same time, Albina’s and Lev’s heads turned toward where Nadia was. There was no one around her, making her look terribly pitiful.
If her husband were at least beside her, her situation would look a bit better, but Lev had let go of the bride’s hand the moment he entered the reception hall.
“The ceremony is over, so if you’re tired, you may return to the Queen’s Palace and rest.”
With those rather considerate words. What had her expression been then?
“I mean the queen. It won’t be easy for her.”
At Albina’s serious voice, Lev came to his senses and looked at Albina. She pointed at Nadia with her chin.
“Look at her holding her place without batting an eye even in this situation.”
Yes, that was exactly that expression. A face that was momentarily flustered but soon calmly accepted the situation. It was the same now.
No one approached her, so she must feel humiliated, yet she showed no sign of it and simply held her place calmly.
After watching a little longer, a sigh finally escaped Albina’s lips.
“As expected of Agnes’s daughter. She’s no ordinary one.”
Well, where would that bloodline go?
Lev let out a small laugh at her muttering. The same gossip circulated about him, who had gained a favored concubine the moment he ascended the throne.
Albina, unaware that she had unintentionally sniper-fired at her own lord, innocently sipped her cocktail.
“…Huh?”
It was then. Albina’s eyes narrowed.
“That personāisn’t that Duke Rodgin the Younger?”
Lev’s gaze turned in the same direction as Albina’s. As she said, his cousin, Arons Rodgin, was approaching the queen.
***
“You may return to the Queen’s Palace. His Majesty has permitted it as well.”
Olga said, unable to bear watching Nadia, who was not only a wallflower but being treated as if she didn’t exist.
Nadia, who had been standing blankly gazing at the people in the reception hall, slowly turned her head and replied.
“It’s alright. His Majesty is still here, so it would be rude for me to leave first.”
“……”
Olga did not press further, as if to say do as you please. It was not that she had spoken out of genuine concern for the queen. It was because she felt displeased with her own situation of having to stay by the queen who was ignored by everyone.
Normally one would not be able to endure this humiliating situation and would flee, yet she had the nerve to hold her place to the end. Truly just like Agnes’s daughter, who had started as a mistress and nearly become queenāit was then.
“Your Highness the Queen.”
At the familiar voice, Nadia reflexively turned her head. A man with a lean frame was coming toward her.
At the sight of his curly long platinum blond hair and brilliant eyes like embedded amethysts, a faint smile unconsciously rose to Nadia’s lips.
“Duke Rodgin.”
“Please address me comfortably. You are now Her Highness the Queen.”
Arons Rodgin added with a smile.
“Like when we were young.”
She and Arons had often met since childhood. It was because they were distantly related through the maternal line.
After Agnes became the king’s mistress, she waited only for the days Arons came. Nadia, briefly recalling the past, quickly shook her head.
“I can’t do that. The situation has changed.”
As she replied bitterly, Nadia suddenly thought Arons might misunderstand and hurriedly added.
“Oh, don’t misunderstand. What I meant was…”
“I understand, Your Highness. I am sorry about the matter with the Countess Turik.”
After briefly expressing his condolences, Arons turned the subject with a relieved expression.
“Still, I am truly glad you did not have to go abroad. How surprised I was to hear the sudden news of your marriage…”
“Yes, I am grateful to His Majesty.”
“Grateful…”
Arons quietly chewed over Nadia’s words, then soon furrowed his brow.
“To the one who leaves Your Highness alone like this?”
It was a voice tinged with a peculiar resentment. It must have been aimed at the king, yet Nadia instead felt as if she were being criticized. It was because she knew better than anyone why the king treated her coldly.
“His Majesty surely did not take Your Highness as his wife with pure intentions.”
“I know.”
At Nadia’s obedient answer, Arons furrowed one brow. Nadia looked at him and tried to force a cheerful smile.
“But what does it matter? Thanks to His Majesty, I no longer have to go to a foreign land where I can’t even communicate well.”
In any case, there was no guarantee she would have had a happy married life there either, the kind others wished for.
She had never expected her mother to choose a man who would cherish her as a groom in the first place.
So perhaps the current situation was not the worst. Nadia tried to think as positively as possible.
“So I’m fine.”
It was said with all sincerity, but Arons did not seem convinced at all. Well, even if she were a third party, it would be hard to easily believe her words. After all, she was receiving this kind of poor treatment even at her own wedding reception.
“When did you come to the capital?”
“I arrived yesterday.”
When Nadia changed the subject, Arons opened his mouth slowly. He looked at Nadia with a thoroughly worried face and continued.
“I will come up often. I’ll keep you company for conversation, and…”
“It’s alright, Duke Rodgin.”
When Nadia politely declined, Arons’s eyes wavered.
“You must be busy looking for a bride, so I cannot burden you with such things.”
“A bride?”
“You are also at the age where you must marry now, Duke Rodgin.”
Arons was twenty-three this year. It was time to start looking for a bride so he could marry before it was too late.
“With your handsome features and noble status, you will surely find a good match before long.”
“Ah…”
Arons wore an unfamiliar expression, as if he had heard something he had never considered before. He wet his lips for a moment and responded with an awkward smile.
“Thank you, Your Highness.”
“Not at all.”
Then suddenly Nadia’s eyes met a pair of dark green eyes in the distance. The king, with Albina at his side, was watching her with a sharp gaze.
