CH 4: The wedding

No one expected there to be any love or respect in this marriage — Erna was keenly aware of that. Nevertheless, she bore the littlest expectation. She thought at least he would understand. Even without asking, she could grasp his situation with a mere look at his appearance. No one here would blink an eye if he died right now. Perhaps the Aether Kingdom sent him here because they thought there would be another assassination attempt. He was just like her.

They both were in a situation where they had to share a position that was actually meant for only one person. So she thought at least he would sympathise with her, knowing that they both were in the same boat. But he only spouted out derogatory words as soon as he saw her.

Erna had given Kalion all the sympathy that she could muster. After that, she was left with nothing but anger. This world was full of enemies. It was something that would not change even if she died. The kingdom that abandoned her, the maids and knights who laughed at her. And now Kalion…

The helplessness that filled Erna’s heart doused her ignited rage. She quickly turned her head, which felt as if it was being crushed. If she could, she wanted to throw away the responsibilities of the Grand Duke and hit Kalion’s dumb face with the bouquet in her hand. After that, she wanted to punish all the rude maids and knights for treating her like a clown and throw them all in prison.

But she didn’t have the power to do so. For now, she was just a useless princess of the Haband kingdom. Erna knew that in order for her to have some value in this hopeless situation, she had to become the Grand Duke of Hessenguard. And the position of Grand Duke would be given to her only after completing this marriage.

“Yes, please begin.”

When Kalion heard Erna speak gravely, a slight surprise appeared on his face. Erna ignored him and kept her gaze fixed at Vanessa.

“Does Prince Kalion agree?”

At Vanessa’s polite question, Kalion hesitated for a moment and then nodded as if he couldn’t help it.

“I agree. Let’s proceed.”

“Alright. I believe you both are fully aware of the obligations and responsibilities that come with this marriage. So I will proceed with the ceremony.”

And so a quiet wedding ceremony was held in the middle of a cold hall.

* * *

“It hurts…”

Back in her room, Erna groaned and removed her shoes, which did not fit Erna’s feet as it had belonged to a royal princess, who had come here before Erna. She hurriedly took off her dress and threw them all away. When things that didn’t fit her disappeared, she could finally breathe.

She couldn’t remember how the wedding went or even how it ended. The only memory she had of it was of Kalion staring at her intently, as Vanessa blessed their marriage. When Vanessa asked them to kiss to seal the oath, the faces of the two people distorted terribly in a grossed expression. It hadn’t even been an hour since they met, but the hostility between the two had reached such a level, that they didn’t have any good impression of each other.

Sadly, it couldn’t be helped. The kiss was the last process of the wedding and after that the ceremony would end safely. At that moment, Erna hoped that Kalion wouldn’t kiss her. Then the responsibility of annulling this marriage would fall on him and the Aether Kingdom would have to send a new royal family member.

The succession of the powers of the Grand Duke of Hessenguard would be delayed a little, but if her marriage partner wasn’t him, she could patiently endure the waiting period. At least the Chairman of Hessenguard Council didn’t seem to think badly of her. However, contrary to Erna’s expectations, Kalion clenched his teeth and approached her. He pressed his lips against hers with a gloomy face as if he had no other choice but to do so. In less than a second, the lips of the two touched and then parted from each other right away.

“With this, I inform everyone that the wedding ceremony has been completed.”

As soon as Vanessa’s words fell, both of them groaned as if they were disgusted and crazily rubbed their lips with the back of their hands. There was nothing noble in the royal marriage,that was said to bind the two warring kingdoms and decide the fate of the Grand Duchy of Hessenguard.

Erna clenched her fist. The wedding was finally over. Now, she was the Grand Duke of Hessenguard. She was going to start working on her duties the next day and immediately get rid of all the maids assigned to her. The moment she decided to do so, the said maids rushed into her room.

“What’s going on?” she asked. Although she had decided to get rid of them, Erna looked at them timidly as she always did and asked carefully. This had become a habit because she had lived being wary of them for a long time.

“What do you mean Princess, oh no, Grand Duke.”

Even though her title had changed, the high handed attitude of the maids remained the same.

“You have to get ready for your wedding night.”

Wedding night? The words made Erna stiff to her bones. It was something that she had never thought about. Since it was a formal marriage, she thought that with the completion of the ceremony, the big deal was over. She had completely forgotten that the treaty stated- the child born between the royal members of the two kingdoms would be the next Grand Duke of Hessenguard. But both she and Kalion were only sixteen years old.

In the past, there had been some people who married and also had children at this age. But, having children at a young age risked the lives of both the child and the mother. So recently, people didn’t have children until the age of twenty.  She thought she wouldn’t have to go through the wedding night for the next few years, at least until she had turned twenty. Besides, before departing for Hessenguard, Marquess Canavan, who was incharge of this operation from the Haband’s side, had already discussed this with Erna. He had assured her that she wouldn’t have to share the wedding night with Kalion for a while. Why all of a sudden?

Erna saw what was in the hands of the maids approaching her. It was a very thin negligee. She didn’t know from what material it was made of, but it was almost transparent. 

“Now, you have to wash up and change into this.’

“No, I don’t want to,” she refused.

“Grand Duke, this is a very important matter. It is imperative to complete the agreement between the two kingdoms. You can’t just decide whether to do it or not because of your personal feelings.”

The maids did not listen to her at all, as if they knew Erna was going to rebel. They grabbed Erna and forcefully led her to the bathroom, holding the negligee in their arms.

“Let go of me! Marquess Canavan himself said that there will be no wedding night! Bring him in! Something must be wrong!”

“Marquess Canavan gave me a special order to help you prepare for the wedding night. You! What are you doing? Why aren’t you taking the Grand Duke to the bathroom?”

The maids, repeatedly calling Erna ‘Grand Duke’, made her feel very annoyed. It was clear that they still didn’t respect her and addressed her as the Grand Duke only for formality. It didn’t seem like it mattered to them whether she was a princess or a Grand Duke.

She thought she wouldn’t experience this kind of rudeness after the wedding, but now facing the same behavior again, Erna fiercely resisted with violence. But strangely, the maids strongly retaliated and dragged her into the bathroom. As Erna screamed and protested, her voice leaked out of the bathroom and rang through her room and hallway.

After a while, a maid went out and bowed to a man standing in the hallway.

“My lord, I have done what you told me to do.”

“Alright, good job.”

The man standing in the hallway was Marquess Canavan, who was incharge of this operation from the Haband’s side. Hearing Erna’s screams, he clicked his tongue. He said slowly, “A member of the Haband royal family is behaving in such a way… It’s so embarrassing. Before the Haband Kingdom, before the Aether Kingdom. And also before the Duchy of Hessenguard. Don’t you think so?”

The maid bowed deeply when Marquess Canavan asked for her opinion. “The princess, no, the Grand Duke is still young, so she doesn’t know how to behave as per her status. I think the Marquess should give her a lot of guidance.”

“Of course, of course. That’s why Your Majesty sent me here as a representative of the delegation. The duties assigned to me by Your Majesty also includes providing guidance to the Grand Duke. As we all know… she lacks etiquette and manners when compared to the other royal princesses.” Marquess Canavan recalled the princess’ actions during the wedding while touching his mustache. A pride which he had trimmed dozens of times. “This brazen girl! Does she think now that she has become a real Grand Duke, she can do whatever she wants?”

Before they left the Kingdom of Haband, Marquess Canavan was very pleased with Erna. Erna, who had been accustomed to the cold treatment of the royal family, was a weak woman and did not dare to express her opinions. A princess who had a noble status but didn’t much stand out. She was a perfect scarecrow.

“I don’t expect much from her. Even if she dies, I won’t hold you responsible. Your job is just to keep an eye on Hessenguard and Aether.”

Before sending Erna to this deathtrap, the king had said so to the Marquess. Thanks to this, the Marquess was able to come to Hessenguard without any worries. The previous two attacks were targeted only at the royal family members. So even if something happened again this time, it would be only Princess Erna who would die. All in all, he would be safe. Of course, it was even better that Erna was alive. Now, by giving the excuse of looking after the little princess, he could take over her duties and live like the Grand Duke of Hessenguard.

Marquess Canavan frowned as he recalled Erna’s quarrel with Kalion at the wedding. She didn’t even realise what kind of terrible aftermath that situation could have. Moreover, her words were childish and crude. He shot her several warning glances, reminding her to behave properly, but Erna ignored him completely and behaved as she wanted. It was as if she had become a completely different person.

#Erna is called Duke as she is equally share the dukedom with Kalion. Both are duke.

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