FINALLY, it was the wedding day.

Diether treated getting married like his duty as the sole successor of House Hexford.

It didn’t help that he wore a white three-piece suit– the same color as his knight uniform. Hence, he felt like he was still at work.

However, he thought his wedding day would be less stressful.

[This is stressing me out.]

“I’m so sorry about this, Diether,” Jericho– his cousin and the Crown Prince– whispered to him. “I didn’t know Mikaela would act up today despite Father’s warning.”

In the Zerua Kingdom, it was a custom for the groom to wait for his bride at the altar.

It was also customary for the groom’s brother, relative, or closest friend to wait with him while holding the box of wedding rings that the groom and the bride would wear later.

The Crown Prince was neither his brother nor a “close” friend.

However, Jericho was still his cousin. Hence, the role of the ‘Ring Bearer’ fell under the Crown Prince’s authority.

[The king made sure that his son would be a part of this wedding.]

And that was how Diether ended up waiting for Sonata at the altar with Jericho.

Standing in that spot gave the two of them a clear view of the guests.

Since the greenhouse didn’t have a second floor, the Royal Family was seated in the front row with Diether’s parents.

[What a mess.]

Princess Mikaela was also there– wearing a WHITE dress that looked like a wedding dress.

[I haven’t seen Sonata’s wedding dress yet, but I can tell that it would be similar to the one Mikaela is wearing.]

He could tell by how his mother looked pale.

Moreover, even King Seymour and Queen Olive looked embarrassed of their daughter.

[The queen rarely makes public appearances, but Mikaela just has to act up now, huh?]

“Sonata is a foreigner, so she may not know about the wedding customs in the kingdom,” Diether said indifferently. “But I do, and I’m not that dense. I know Princess Mikaela wore a white dress on purpose just to humiliate Sonata.”

He could talk like that because Jericho, as the Crown Prince, always had a soundproof barrier around him to make his conversations private. The barrier would also prevent people from reading the movements of their lips.

“Princess Mikaela even dragged her lady friends into her stupid game.”

More than half of the young ladies in attendance wore off-white dresses, a color slightly different from white but enough to keep them out of trouble.

Only Princess Mikaela wore a dress as white as the bride’s gown.

“We will scold Mikaela later for this,” Jericho promised him nervously. “Please leave it to us, Diether.”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

It was the Crown Prince’s way of telling Diether to not scold or punish Princess Mikaela.

“I will not say or do anything to get back at Princess Mikaela,” Diether said indifferently. “But don’t expect me to stop my bride if she wanted to pay back the humiliation that she received from the royal princess.”

To be honest, he was pretty annoyed by Princess Mikaela’s scheme.

He already humiliated Sonata during their first engagement ceremony, and now she would be humiliated again because of the royal princess.

[If only I could kick out Princess Mikaela…]

Diether had already formed a camaraderie with Sonata when they became ‘comrades.’

[She’s also a victim of my father’s selfishness, hence she isn’t an enemy. I should treat her better after this.]

He promised himself that he would make it up to Sonata later.

“Diether, even if it’s your wife, she still can’t touch a member of the Royal Family…”

“His Majesty is pretty fond of my wife,” Diether said, shrugging. “Let’s see whose side the king would take.”

Jericho could only gulp nervously.

Then the two of them stopped talking when the attendant finally announced Sonata’s arrival.

“The bride, Lady Sonata Florin, has arrived!”

After the announcement, the double doors of the greenhouse opened.

Diether’s heart sank when he saw Sonata in a beautiful white wedding dress, the veil that covered her face prevented him from seeing her expression.

[As expected, Princess Mikaela’s white dress is a replica of Sonata’s wedding dress.]

By now, Sonata should have already realized that Princess Mikaela and most of the female guests wore white.

He couldn’t imagine how she probably felt at the moment.

This may be an arranged marriage, but Sonata still had her pride as a lady and as a bride.

For the first time in a while, Diether felt angry for someone else's sake.

[Sonata doesn’t deserve this.]

Diether’s thoughts were interrupted when Jericho suddenly gasped softly.

Hmm?

Diether also noticed that the lights around dimmed. He was nervous that an intruder might attack at any moment, so he subtly looked around to make sure everything was in place.

“Beautiful…” Jericho whispered. “Diether, your bride is beautiful.”

Huh?

Diether finally focused on Sonata, and then he let out a gasp of his own.

[What the…]

With every step that Sonata took, the color of her wedding dress changed.

[And her dress is sparkling…]

Was that why the lights suddenly dimmed?

[But how is that possible when the lights are from magic gems? You have to be at least a 3-Star Mage in order to control magic gems without touching them.]

Was there a mage there?

Diether’s thoughts were once interrupted when Sonata’s wedding dress and veil finally changed their color.

Gold.

Sonata’s wedding dress had turned into a sparkling gold gown.

It matched well with the white bouquet in her hands.

The entire greenhouse already looked enchanting because of the warm lights around. But his bride’s gold wedding dress made everything look more captivating.

Diether let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. “Beautiful…”

Before he knew it, he was already walking towards his bride.

He was actually breaking a tradition there since the groom was supposed to wait for the bride at the altar.

But Diether felt a strange urge to meet Sonata halfway.

And he only had one thing in mind as he did so.

[I need to see her face.]

Sonata stopped walking when they met in the middle of the aisle, then she looked up at him. “I’ll kill you if you run away again, Commander.”

Pfft.

Diether couldn’t help but smile at Sonata’s threat.

Unbeknownst to him, all the guests– even his parents– were shocked to see him smile genuinely in front of a lady that wasn’t Celeste.

But he didn’t notice the strange glances thrown in his direction because he was busy.

“I’m not going anywhere, Lady,” Diether whispered, then he touched the hem of the veil covering Sonata’s face. “Can I lift this up?”

“Can you?” Sonata asked back. “I’m not familiar with the wedding customs here.”

“Well, I already broke a rule. So might as well break another.”

Sonata laughed at his response.

Diether then didn’t hesitate and lifted the veil in a hurry.

[Ah, as expected…]

Sonata was beautiful, and Diether meant it.

“Your gold wedding dress goes well with your purple hair and golden eyes,” Diether said softly. “As expected of my comrade.”

His bride suddenly lowered the veil again, then she tiptoed to whisper in his ear. “I’m still pissed, so can I get even with the royal princess?”

He lowered his head and whispered back in her ear. “How?”

This time, Sonata used her bouquet to cover her mouth as she whispered back to him. “Let’s kiss passionately in front of the brat later to make her realize she has zero chances with you.”

A passionate kiss in front of Princess Mikaela as revenge?

Diether burst out laughing this time.

[Sonata is really funny, huh?]