3.

A wedding night ceremony—reserved for urgent marriages between noble houses. Once the ceremony was complete, witnesses would confirm its consummation, binding the bride and groom’s honor publicly and irrevocably. From that night onward, they were considered married in society’s eyes.

“Count Zellered!”

Unable to contain his anger any longer, Leo Fric barked in outrage. He was humiliated to be ordered into a forced wedding night, as if he were nothing but a pawn.

“Sir Leo Fric. The command states ‘immediate’ compliance.”

“…Do you really think you can force me to comply?” His voice came out in a low growl through clenched teeth.

“Haha, Sir Leo Fric. I know exactly what you’re considering.”

Zellered’s calm demeanor remained unwavering.

“Either you subdue us and leave to reunite with your knights, or if you take too long, the Black Wolf Knights will undoubtedly storm in here.”

“…”

“The Black Wolf Knights will not be coming.”

Zellered gave a slight nod toward a knight at the door, who immediately moved as if signaling.

“By now, three times as many soldiers have surrounded your knights.”

“…”

Leo Fric’s composed face hardened like stone. Just then, the door opened, and an announcement filled the room.

“The bride has arrived.”

A woman entered in a white dress, draped in a densely woven veil. She looked as if she were trapped in that pristine gown, barely able to see through the thick veil, requiring two maids on either side to guide her forward.

There was nothing of a joyful bride in her demeanor. Her hands, clasped tightly in front of her, trembled, and her elegant posture faltered as she staggered occasionally.

“With that look, she appears more like a captive than a bride.”

A fresh, unwilling bride, indeed.

“Shall we at least exchange pleasantries?”

“…I’m not in the mood for idle chatter.”

Abandoning any pretense of courtesy, Leo Fric gave a crooked smile, dismissing her presence. She was merely an unfortunate player in this farce of a wedding. He didn’t spare her another glance.

If it had been anyone else, he might have had some curiosity about her situation—perhaps about what her father might have received in exchange for selling his daughter into this.

“Remove your men from the doorway, Count Zellered, unless you want to be clearing corpses.”

Leo Fric took a threatening step toward the count, focusing his attention entirely on Zellered and the knights blocking his path.

A crash sounded.

Reflexively, he turned to see a vase shattered on the floor. The next thing he knew, a white-clad figure collapsed into his arms.

Out of instinct, his hand went to his waist to grab his sword—but, of course, it wasn’t there.

“Damn it.”

A sharp, throbbing pain shot through his left hand as a blunt impact hit him.

Drip.

Drip.

Warm droplets of blood fell onto his pale face.

The veil had slipped off, fluttering to the ground.

Leo Fric stared up at the bride atop him, pressing a hair ornament sharply into his left hand.

Her face was chillingly expressionless, her crimson eyes filled with blazing hatred.

Long, disheveled black hair brushed against his cheek as she kept the ornament embedded in his hand.

Such pure, unrestrained loathing.

“…An honor to meet you,” he murmured.

So she was the unlucky woman thrust into this situation.

“Bride.”

It was you, wasn’t it?

Though he couldn’t recall her face perfectly, he could never forget those red eyes.

Time, which had seemed to freeze, resumed its course.

After his brief greeting, she was roughly pulled away from him. She resisted silently yet violently, struggling against the knights holding her. They had to twist her right wrist to disarm her, wrenching the weapon from her grip.

“Ahhh!”

“What on earth is happening here?”

“Seize her!”

Chaos erupted.

Screams from servants and maids, the shouts of knights charging in to subdue her, the clinking of armor, and Count Zellered’s frantic commands—all of it belatedly spilled into a cacophony of noise.

“Are you unharmed, my lord?”

The baron, who hadn’t dared utter a word earlier, now approached Leo Fric, looking as if he might burst into tears out of concern.

“…”

Leo Fric paused, seeming lost in thought for a moment before he finally spoke.

“No, it hurts like hell.”

He replied in an indifferent tone, adding a dose of exaggerated complaint. Refusing the baron’s attempt to assist him, he stood up lightly on his own. One more absurdity added to this already ridiculous day hardly mattered. In fact, Leo Fric found the entire situation so preposterous that it had almost turned amusing.

Crash!

The door burst open with such force it seemed on the verge of shattering, and a knight armed with a sword rushed in.

“Commander!”

The knight bore the emblem of the Black Wolf. Breathing heavily, he called out to Leo Fric, who, unsurprised, offered a sly grin. He’d anticipated the man’s arrival as soon as the uproar started, and, sure enough, here he was.

“You’ve arrived?”

It was Jinpetsu, the vice-commander. His sharp gaze swept over the chaotic room, his expression darkening when he saw the blood dripping from Leo Fric’s left hand.

“Unforgivable!”

“Unforgivable? That’s my line. First, you promised my safety and disarmed me before leading me in here alone. And now, this—what exactly is going on?”

Count Zellered momentarily fell silent in the face of Jinpetsu’s accusations. Clearly rattled by the succession of unexpected events, he seemed at a loss.

“…It was an accident!”

The count’s face displayed utter frustration.

“An accident? That’s a convenient excuse.”

Leo Fric gestured towards the woman with his chin.

“She seemed quite intent on killing me.”

The slender woman—her striking red eyes the only feature visible through the veil of restraint—stood restrained but still radiated pure hatred. When Leo Fric’s gaze landed on her, she writhed slightly, eyes burning with raw, unfiltered loathing.

She stood with quiet defiance, her trembling arms betraying an effort to suppress her fear.

“…”

Count Zellered fell silent once again, words failing him. Any attempt to pass this off as a mistake or an accident was quickly becoming a farce, especially with the woman’s fiery defiance pouring gasoline onto an already burning situation.

“You claimed you were sending me a bride, yet it seems I’ve received an assassin instead. Can you imagine how that feels, Jinpetsu?”

Leo Fric clapped a hand on Jinpetsu’s shoulder, feigning a tone of wounded disappointment, barely containing his laughter.

Perhaps I owe the lady some thanks.

Given her little display with the hair ornament, talk of a wedding night or marriage would be out of the question for now.

Calculating quickly, he decided that, in exchange for his bleeding left hand, it was a fair price if it meant he could leave this absurd situation without openly defying the royal command.

“No! She’s the bride His Majesty sent!”

Count Zellered exclaimed, desperation seeping into his voice.

“His Majesty may have sent a bride, but who’s to say someone didn’t switch her out with an assassin along the way? It wouldn’t be surprising, considering how messages went missing on the battlefield. Losing a bride in transit sounds perfectly plausible.”

Leo Fric’s mocking tone caused Zellered’s face to contort with anger.

“…”

“Well, it seems that immediate compliance with this command won’t be possible, Count Zellered. If only you’d let me leave with the command in hand earlier, I wouldn’t have ended up injured. Ah, this is something I’ll formally complain about later.”

He emphasized the count’s responsibility, driving his point home.

“…You can’t leave.”

Zellered muttered, clenching his fists. This arrogant man didn’t realize the extent of their preparations to ensure this order would be fulfilled. Though his voice trembled with rage, a sly smile twisted his lips.

“You’re not in a position to say that.”

“Remember that the Black Wolf Knights are surrounded?”

“…”

“The surrounding soldiers have received orders: if you defy the king’s command and somehow attempt to leave, they are to slaughter your knights before you can reach them.”

“…”

“What will you do?”

* * *

After an exhausting, drawn-out exchange with Leo Fric, Zellered finally retreated, drained from the relentless volley of veiled threats and high-handed rhetoric.

Barely containing his frustration, he made his way to the room where the woman, his “bride,” had been isolated.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“…”

“Princess Ateira!”

He barked out her title harshly. Her red eyes flicked toward him briefly, then drifted back to the window.

“Have you learned nothing during your time here in the capital?”

A spark of fire danced in her cold eyes.

“And what exactly do you mean by that?”

She replied, her clear voice spilling out in a low, steady tone.

“That refusing their orders means death?”