Chapter 5: Marriage II

Chapter 5: Marriage II

Third Person’s POV

The bright yellow hue of the horizon mellowed to orange as the sun slowly hid in the embrace of the clouds.

The grand manor of the Valerius king family stood at the central territory of the Rogue capital along with the Cavalier king family and the Sanguis king family.

The central territory is home to the nobles, generals and the wealthy citizens at the top of the Rogue kingdom’s hierarchy.

The black ivory walls of the grand manor shone with a repressed authority.

Red flags bearing the Valerius sigil hang proudly at every pillar, and the white marbled floor glittered like mirrors from the hard work of the servants.

The quarter of the grand heir of the Valerius was situated at the third story of the five-story grand manor. Its balcony faces the east with plentiful of sunlight and owns a good view of the wide front garden of the manor.

Raimere walked out of the cloakroom, followed by the smiling Bella and the blushing Nora.

“My lady, you look amazing.”

Bella gushed as she respectfully guided Raimere to stand in front of the full-body mirror.

Nora nodded her head, her flushing face reddened deeper as she peeked at her new master.

Bella and Nora were servants of her highness, Crown Princess Lyra Valerius, but they were appointed to Raimere as soon as the marriage seal took effect.

Nora was a new servant out of training, and she did not expect that her first master to serve would be the princess consort of the grand heir himself. And that she would look so otherworldly.

“Thank you.”

Raimere stood in front of the mirror with a gaze of wonder.

Her auburn hair the color of autumn was braided into a crown, and her golden pupils gleamed with light brighter than the morning star.

Looking down at her skin that resembles a transparent peach with its pinkish white complexion, Raimere could only stare at Bella with awe.

It was as if Bella was a whirlwind that shuttled two hours to turn her disheveled figure into a delicate and soft noble lady.

Raimere’s figure was wrapped up in an ivory velvet dress embroidered with white gold peony from the sleeves to the hem.

She touched the soft texture of the fabric and felt a sense of irony.

Raimere never thought that her simple dream in the past would be realized inside the devil’s den.

“Is this what they call seeing the good in every situation?” Raimere’s lips curled up in her ridiculous thoughts. “I must be mad.”

“My lady?” Bella could not help but call out at seeing the unfocused eyes and indiscernible mutters of their master.

“Hm? It was nothing.” Raimere snapped out of her useless thoughts as she turned around with a long deep breath.

“Let’s go.” Thinking that it is better to face what is coming head on, than to hide from the inevitable, Raimere clenched her hands into fists before loosening them.

Bella hurriedly led the way with Nora trailing behind Raimere.

The dizzying corridors and stairs of the grand manor wasted a quarter of an hour of their time.

They arrived in front of a three-meter-tall double door, one that was wafting with a mesmerizing smell.

“Halt!”

Standing guard on each side of the door are two tall men in black leather armor.

“Identify yourselves.”

Their piercing gaze roved over the three of them like maddened beasts ready for slaughter.

“My lady is his highness, the grand heir’s princess consort.”

At Bella’s words, the two door guards bowed in Raimere’s direction before opening the door. Their swift actions showed that they are aware of the sudden appearance of the grand heir’s princess consort, but the protocols of the Valerius king clan cannot be dismissed.

The moment the door opened, resplendent lights assaulted their visions. Fist-sized orbs glowing with a soft white light were embedded on the tall ceiling adorned with lifelike inscriptions of mythical beasts like dragons and phoenixes.

At the center of the dining hall was a long twelve-seater blackwood table with a spread of tantalizing dishes that prompted a silent gulp in Raimere’s thoughts.

Bella tugged the edge of Raimere's dress, and she hurriedly bowed down in an elegant curtsy while facing the stares of the imposing family at the dinner table.

“Greetings, your majesty, your highnesses.”

Raimere’s eyes trailed down the marbled floor as her shaky voice came out of her dried throat.

She could feel the marriage seal on her ring finger emitting heat, as if reminding her of the presence of the other person it is connected to.

Lyra Valerius stood up from her seat and welcomed Raimere inside the dining hall and ushered her to sit next to Varyan.

Seated at the center end of the table facing the door was the feared Valerius king, Veron Valerius, the grandfather of Varyan.

The seats on his left and right were the couple, Lyra and Victor Valerius.

The eldest, Vincent Valerius and the second son, Varyan Valerius were seated next to their father, while the eldest daughter, Leah Vale Valerius, third son, Visher Valerius and youngest child, Violet Lex Valerius were seated next to their mother on the left seats.

Varyan did not even glance at Raimere. His sight never left the small, opened book on his right hand, seemingly bored about the events at the dinner table that wholly concerns him.

“Now that we are all here, I would like to introduce this young lady.”

Lyra stood up and raised a wine glass in Raimere’s direction.

“Lady Raimere Celeste, granddaughter of the Celeste Clan patriarch and will be Varyan’s princess consort.”

Raimere did not need to sweep her gaze to guess the various colorful emotions painted on the faces of the Valerius family members around the dining table. She even heard a gasp in front of her, followed by two giggling voices that she deduced came from the two princesses, Leah and Violet.

A frown was etched on Varyan’s forehead, but a stern glare from his mother clamped down the words of rebuttal that was about to flow out of his lips.

King Veron gave his son, Victor a pointed look, as if saying to look at the willful decision of his wife.

Victor could only shake his head. His standing in the family has always been lower than his wife, and he knows that his wife has always been worried about the marriage matters of his second son, which is why he agreed to her actions of finding a marriage tribute for that troublemaking son of his.

“Wow, hello second sister-in-law!” Visher stood up reached out a handshake to Raimere. His youthful face was filled with smiles, seemingly not aware of the murderous glares coming from his second brother.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, second sister-in-law.” Leah nodded with a small smile, and Violet waved gleefully from the other side of the table.

“Yes, H-Hello, your highnesses.”

“Oh, don’t be too formal, after all, you are now our second sister-in-law.” Leah chuckled and Raimere could only nod at the easy-going siblings of Varyan.

‘Are they really siblings? Why is he a devil amongst these angels?’

The dinner was filled with tension between the mother and son but was able to finish without any bloodshed.

One good thing was that Varyan did not go back to his quarters, which saved Raimere the energy to worry about facing him after that debacle in the afternoon.

But she was relieved too soon.

The moment she was woken up, bathed, dressed and ushered inside a luxurious carriage bearing the Valerius sigil, Raimere felt her muddled and sleep-addled brain clear up with an ominous storm.

Inside the carriage was none other than the man that she doesn’t want to see in the slightest.

Before she could ask to ride another carriage, Bella resolutely pushed her inside and closed the door with a loud click.

Raimere stiffly stood while lowering her head to avoid touching the carriage roof and Varyan merely gave her a passing glance before looking out of the window.

‘Ugh! This devil just irks the hell out of me!’

Raimere cleared her throat and slowly sat down at the other end of the carriage, shrinking as far away as possible, trying not breath the same air as Varyan.

But just the menacing presence exuding from the latter deemed her struggle useless.

Varyan Ley Valerius just has that presence.

A presence that no one can ignore.

Accompanied by six carriages and thirty shadow horse cavalries, the envoy of the Valerius king family sauntered out of their manor, heading straight to the Valerius castle outside of the Rogue capital.

At the same time, sealed golden letters with the sigil of the Valerius clan were sent to every noble house, esteemed individuals and the royal houses of the entire Rogue capital.

A two-meter falcon carrying the same sealed letter was seen rising and flying out of the Valerius manor to the direction of the emerald forest of the Celeste werewolf clan.

The nearest manor that received the sealed golden letter was the Cavalier king clan.

Terrion Cavalier handed the letter to his grandfather, King Titan Cavalier.

“What is this?” The old king leaned behind the soft chaise inside his personal chambers.

“It was a letter from the Valerius clan, grandfather.”

He looked down at the sigil of the Valerius clan before opening the seal.

“Oh?”

A spirited laugh rang out inside the old king’s chambers.

“A marriage invitation for that little Valerius devil?”

“We’ll surely not miss such an interesting event.”