Chapter 3
The day before the wedding, Ruby visited the Marquis Grit’s residence with Lynn.
“It is an honor to meet you both. My name is Damon, and I am the butler of the marquis’s residence.”
Ruby and Lynn gave a slight nod in response to Damon’s courteous greeting.
“The dress is this way.”
Where Damon led them, a white dress transformed into a magnificent wedding gown was hanging.
Ruby stared in admiration at how the plain dress had been transformed into such an elaborate gown. Bella’s craftsmanship was truly remarkable.
“This is your wedding dress? It’s not the dress you showed me.”
Unaware of what had happened, Lynn was dissatisfied with the design, which was completely different from the dress Ruby had previously been considering.
“The wedding was arranged so suddenly that there wasn’t much choice.”
Unable to tell Lynn everything, Ruby gave an awkward smile.
“Are you okay with this?”
“Hm?”
“It’s your one and only wedding. Are you really okay with having it like this?”
Instead, Lynn was looking at Ruby with concern.
Only then did Ruby truly realize her own situation.
A wedding was supposed to be a day for the bride. It shouldn’t have been acceptable to have the most important day of her life reduced to a simple affair because other matters had taken priority.
At least, that was how an ordinary bride would have felt.
“Of course.”
Ruby smiled brightly.
It would be a lie to say she wasn’t disappointed or saddened by it. But when she said she was fine, she meant it.
There had once been a time when Ruby couldn’t even imagine herself standing beside Eli.
Yet now she rode in a carriage with him and was even escorted by him. Honestly, even that alone felt like a dream.
Ruby resolved not to ask for too much.
“Then that’s all that matters. Hurry up and put it on. I want to see you in it.”
Lynn smiled along with her, trying to change the mood.
“Okay.”
Ruby went with the maids of the marquis’s residence to change into the gown.
With their help, she quickly changed into her wedding dress.
“Which jewelry would you like to wear?”
Expensive pieces of jewelry were neatly arranged inside a large case held by one of the maids.
The prices of each gemstone were beyond imagination. If they had belonged to the Viscount Bionne family, they could have carefully selected just one and purchased it.
These are jewelry you will be wearing from now on, so there’s no need to feel burdened by them.
This much is only natural for the Marchioness of Grit.
That was what Retton had said when Ruby had worried that there were too many pieces of jewelry when they were being purchased.
Those few words alone had made Ruby realize just how vast the difference between the two families was.
“I’ll choose the rubies.”
The necklace and earrings featured a large ruby surrounded by small, transparent diamonds arranged like flower petals. They suited Ruby beautifully against the white of her wedding dress.
Ruby smiled with satisfaction.
Ruby tossed and turned, still unable to fall asleep.
She couldn’t tell whether it was because she was sleeping in an unfamiliar place or because she was excited.
Since she had to go to the temple for the wedding the following day, Ruby was spending the night at the Marquis Grit residence and was scheduled to leave with Eli in the morning.
This is the room where the Marchionesses of Grit have stayed for generations.
Perhaps because of that, the room was furnished with pieces that could easily have seemed overly extravagant. Yet combined with the residence’s refined elegance born from the passage of time, it had an old-fashioned charm that was neither excessively lavish nor modest.
Ruby sat up in bed and looked toward the adjoining room.
She had been told that Eli Grit’s room was next door, separated from hers by a small sitting room.
It was quiet, so it seemed he still hadn’t returned.
He really is busy.
She was just beginning to understand why she had rarely seen him at parties, even when he was staying in the capital.
Then the quiet residence suddenly seemed to grow a little noisier.
Soon, she heard the sound of a carriage entering the estate.
The servants moved about with practiced efficiency, but their activity made Ruby nervous for no reason.
I’m still awake. Should I go greet him?
She had left the lights on because she couldn’t sleep anyway. Eli would know that she was still awake because of it.
Even so, it would be rude not to greet him.
Having reached that conclusion, Ruby put on her robe and stepped outside.
“What is that carriage?”
Damon, who had come out first to wait for his master, asked.
The carriage Eli had arrived in was an extravagant vehicle adorned with gold. Both its appearance and its size were striking. It was the sort of carriage Eli would never normally ride in.
“His Majesty gave it to me. He said that since he couldn’t do anything else for the wedding, he wanted to at least give me this.”
The emperor disliked the fact that he couldn’t do anything for the wedding of his right-hand man and closest confidant. Perhaps the value of a wedding gift given to a loyal subject was connected to the emperor’s own dignity, because he had continually tried to give Eli something.
Other nobles would have welcomed such a gift with sparkling eyes, but Eli was completely unimpressed.
“It’s only a wedding. What’s the big deal that everyone’s making such a fuss over it?”
“It’s only because His Majesty cares so much about you, my lord.”
“Then instead of offering support for some pointless wedding ceremony, he could give me something else…”
Eli stopped halfway up the stairs.
Damon abruptly stopped speaking and followed his master’s gaze.
There stood Lady Bionne, looking flustered.
From her expression, it was obvious that she had heard the conversation just before.
Damon inwardly sighed.
Just as he was thinking that he would have to smooth things over—
“You’re still awake.”
Eli spoke before Damon could.
His voice was perfectly calm, as though he wasn’t embarrassed in the slightest.
“…I couldn’t sleep. I heard you coming in, Marquis, so I came out to greet you.”
Ruby was the one who seemed more self-conscious, as though she had interrupted their conversation.
“I see. Did you like the dress?”
“Yes. I love it.”
Ruby answered quickly.
She was actually grateful that Eli hadn’t shown any sign of displeasure.
“I’m glad. Ah, we’ll be leaving for the estate immediately after the wedding tomorrow.”
“Oh… Then does that mean there won’t be a wedding reception either?”
“We won’t have one in the capital.”
“I see…”
“If you really want one, we can hold one at the estate.”
If he had been thinking only of Ruby, he would have found it bothersome and wouldn’t have brought it up at all.
But his mother cared about appearances and formalities more than anyone. She might want to hold a reception.
She was the sort of person who couldn’t rest until she had done everything everyone else was doing, so Eli thought it would be better to at least mention the possibility to Ruby.
On the other hand, considering that she had sent a letter almost as though protesting her displeasure at his marriage to Ruby, perhaps she wouldn’t want one after all.
“No, it’s fine.”
“All right. Even without a reception, there will be plenty of parties.”
Satisfied with Ruby’s answer, Eli had no intention of asking anything further.
“You won’t have much time to rest tomorrow, so you’d better get some sleep now.”
“Ah… Yes. …You too, Marquis.”
Watching Ruby return to her room without another word, Eli thought that he had made the right choice in marrying her.
“When we go to the temple tomorrow, we’ll use the carriage His Majesty gave me. Have it prepared.”
“Yes, my lord.”
After giving Damon his final order, Eli soon went into his own room as well.
Only after hearing the sound of Eli’s door closing did Ruby let out a long breath.
Only then did the tension finally leave her body.
Even though he hadn’t been looking at her room or anything of the sort.
A pointless wedding.
Ruby quietly mulled over the words he had spoken.
She knew better than anyone why the Marquis of Grit had agreed to this marriage.
Knowing that, Ruby tried to soothe the part of herself that kept wanting to be hurt anyway.
Tomorrow, she would no longer be Ruby Bionne.
She would become Ruby Grit.
Sharing his surname meant that, from now on, no matter what anyone said, she would be the only woman who could stand beside him.
Let’s not ask for too much.
Ruby repeated those words to herself once more and tried to fall asleep, even though sleep refused to come.
The wedding ceremony was held at the temple.
A marriage performed at the temple symbolized a sacred union.
There was even a belief among the people that receiving a prayer known as the God’s Blessing would help the couple live happily together.
Of course, such a blessing came at a considerable price.
There were different levels of blessings, and Eli chose the highest one—the blessing in which the gods would continue to watch over the couple even after death.
It wasn’t as though the blessing had any particular meaning to him.
He was doing it for his mother, the Marchioness Dowager of Grit.
Since he had already chosen to hold the wedding at the temple, he figured that if he was going to do it, he might as well choose the highest level.
Besides, to Eli, the cost was literally nothing.
When morning came, Ruby put on her wedding dress and headed to the temple with Eli.
Because the wedding had been arranged in such a hurry, neither of them had invited their immediate family.
Instead, they had decided to hold a very simple ceremony attended by only a small number of relatives and friends.
Perhaps because of that, the area in front of the temple where the marquis’s carriage stopped was far too quiet for a wedding ceremony.
“Let’s go in.”
Eli stepped down first and held out his hand to Ruby.
There were no people offering blessings, no flower petals scattered about as was common on wedding days, and no bouquet.
But Eli was there.
Not just anyone—Eli.
That alone made Ruby’s heart flutter with excitement.
Even in that brief moment, she realized once again just how deeply she loved him.
And because of that, she felt certain that no matter what happened, she could be happy.
With an expression no different from that of any other bride entering a happy marriage, Ruby gently took his hand.
“That’s not what I mean.”
At a single remark from her mother-in-law, Marie, the Marchioness Dowager of Grit, what had been a casual family tea time instantly turned into an etiquette lesson for Ruby.
“When you hold the cup, your fingers should be a little more feminine and graceful.”
“L-Like this?”
Under her criticism, Ruby nervously adjusted the way she held the teacup.
But her body and fingers, already stiff with tension, refused to move the way she wanted them to.
“Even the youngest can do it properly. Why can’t my sister-in-law manage it yet?”
Eve, Eli’s first younger sister, remarked.
Ruby heard things like this every day while living with Eli’s family at the Grit estate.
“I’ve been doing this since I was little, that’s all.”
Emily, Eli’s youngest sister, who would be old enough to make her debut in high society in just a few more years, shrugged.
But the faint smile on her lips was unmistakably tinged with superiority.
I feel like I’m going to choke.
Even though the words were clearly meant to belittle her, Ruby could do nothing but pretend she hadn’t understood and offer an awkward smile.
“Will you be able to do a little better at this party? No, really. Is it reasonable that I still have to worry about the etiquette of a daughter-in-law who has already been the Marchioness for three years?”
Someone quietly muttered, “It’s truly embarrassing.”
Marie, who was displeased by the fact that the wedding had been hastily held in the capital, never missed an opportunity to point out Ruby’s shortcomings.
“What are you going to do about your dress?”
“Ah… I was thinking of wearing one of the dresses I had made for the last tea party.”
Ruby had no intention of changing her decision, no matter how much of the usual nagging followed.
She lowered her gaze, avoiding Marie’s cold stare.
Marie looked at Ruby, who was nervously holding her teacup with trembling hands, with a slightly irritated expression.
(To be continued in the next chapter.)
