Chapter 102 Wedding Dresses
Whether Jonathan was flustered or not, Sandra let out a shallow sigh before continuing.
“You’ve accumulated a lot of karma, big and small. Someone, or a group of people, must have worked together to hire a group of mercenaries to kill Caspian.”
“You really think so?”
Jonathan asked, staring into her eyes.
“If not bandits, then mercenaries, and the minds of those who hired them are obvious. I think that’s enough of an investigation, because finding out who’s behind it won’t bring Caspian back to life.”
Jonathan was surprised again. It wasn’t like Sandra to not want to find her son’s killer.
“Now that Caspian is dead, they’ll be celebrating, but there won’t be another attack, will there? I don’t want people’s unnecessary attention focused on Caspian. Please hear my plea, Your Majesty.”
“Yes, I will, mother.”
Jonathan nodded obediently, but his mind was racing. He thought she would search the ends of the earth to find the killer, but no. Sandra looked like someone who just wanted to give up.
“Then get some rest, mother.”
Tears welled up in Sandra’s eyes as she watched Jonathan’s back as he left the bedroom.
‘I can’t let the investigation drag on, it’ll get me in trouble if they find out I hired mercenaries. I need to distract the imperial family for now, and when the dust settles, I’ll investigate the real culprit myself.’
But first, she need revenge. Sandra wiped away the tears that were streaming down her face and gritted her teeth. Her wet eyes flickered with a dangerous glint.
“Caspian, my son… wait a little longer. I’ll get rid of the humans who’ve been pushing you so hard, and then your mother will follow…”
Muttering to herself, Sandra pushed herself to her feet and began to eat the food Jonathan had left behind.
***
Veronia was choosing a dress for her wedding, which was a month away.
Today, as last time, five of the capital’s most prestigious dressmakers were waiting for her. Each of them had brought two dresses, so there were a total of ten wedding dresses to try on today.
“Can I just choose my favorite one from all of them? If so, I only needed to order one dress from the beginning, but if I order ten dresses, then the rest of the dressing rooms will be wasted.”
‘I’m not sure I’m ready for this,’ Veronia said, checking her reflection in the mirror, wearing a wedding dress with a pannier inside that puffed up the skirt.
At her remark, the wardrobe madam who was helping her try on the dress smiled and shook her head.
“The Duke of Drea says you’re buying all ten wedding dresses.”
“What do you mean, why do you need ten wedding dresses when you only have one body to walk down the aisle, and you’re only going to have one wedding?”
“Because that’s our Drea family tradition.”
Veronia’s eyes widened, and her godmother, who had just entered the room, answered. Veronia’s eyes widened once more, startled by her sudden appearance.
“Ah, Godmother, welcome home.”
“You look beautiful, Lady Nia.”
The Godmother said, her eyes sparkling at the sight of Veronia in her wedding dress. Veronia bowed her head slightly to hide her embarrassment and mouthed a small thank you.
The godmother glanced at the mobile rack where the rest of the wedding dresses were hanging.
“I don’t know when the tradition started, but the bride of the Drea family orders ten wedding dresses and chooses the one that suits her best, and the other nine are given to the other nine brides who are getting married around the same time.”
“Ah… I see.”
Veronia’s jaw dropped at the common-sense Drea tradition.
“My assistants are researching the soon-to-be brides and compiling a list, and Lady Nia can go through the list and pick her favorite.”
“But on what basis should I pick?”
Veronia asked, scratching her head, still clueless.
“The tradition started out as a gift to the bride of a vassal family, but it has since expanded to include lower-class nobles who could not afford a wedding dress.”
“So it’s…”
Veronia was still stumped. There was still a month to go until her wedding, and choosing nine brides without any clear criteria seemed like it was going to be difficult.
The godmother smiled at Veronia as she swallowed hard.
“Don’t worry too much, there’s no pressure, Lady Nia, you can have it your way.”
Does she really not realize that carrying on a centuries-old tradition in her own way is worrisome and burdensome? Veronia tried to smile after her godmother, but it only produced an awkward grin.
***
“Rumor has it that you looked very beautiful in your wedding dress.”
Later that night, Killion came to Veronia after returning home late, pushing a trolley with a few snacks and wine.
It was a hastily arranged private moment, as Jedidiah wanted to sleep with his godmother tonight.
“I’m glad you heard about it through the grapevine.”
Veronia said with a pointed look.
“Were you disappointed that I wasn’t with you, or were you angry? I’ve had a busy day and couldn’t get away.”
“I’m not upset, I know you’re a very busy person.”
“That’s too bad.”
“Of what?”
She wasn’t angry, and now she is suddenly disappointed? What is it? Veronia asked, puzzled. Killion poured wine slowly into her goblet and spoke.
“It’s just that for a moment I thought I’d like to see you angry with me.”
“What? What’s that…”
Is that ridiculous? Veronia swallowed the words she couldn’t bring herself to say, but she couldn’t hide her expression. Killion smirked and scratched his cheek.
“I know, I know. That I’m weird.”
“It must be because you haven’t seen me really angry, because if you had, you wouldn’t think such a thing.”
With that, Veronia lifted her wine glass to her mouth and took a sip. The sweet flavor spread pleasantly across her mouth.
“So did you pick out your favorite wedding dress?”
“Yes. They were all so beautiful, it was hard to choose just one.”
“I can’t wait to see it. Nia, how you look in your wedding dress.”
“…”
Embarrassed, Veronia sipped her wine, unable to make proper eye contact with Killion.
“You might get drunk if you drink that fast.”
“Aren’t you supposed to drink to get drunk?”
“That’s right.”
Killion nodded and set the wine glass he’d picked up back down. Veronia looked up at him with a look that said she had a lot of questions. He answered her unasked question as if he knew what she meant.
“I think one of us needs to be the voice of reason.”
After speaking, Killion quenched his thirst with water instead of wine. For a moment, Veronia’s eyes widened. The tone of his voice was vaguely annoying.
“What, are you suggesting I’m going to get drunk and lose my senses?”
“…”
“You think I’m going to inject myself?”
Veronia’s question made Killion hold his tongue. But she didn’t back down, her intense gaze waiting for his answer. Kilion’s face flushed slightly as he opened his mouth to speak.
“I was thinking that if we both got drunk and lost our senses, there might be a second…”
“What? What’s that…”
“I wanted to save it for the wedding.”
Ah… Veronia’s face flushed red as she belatedly understood Killion’s meaning. Killion’s face was no different.
He took Veronia’s burnt wine glass and raised it to his mouth. He gulped it down without thinking, and when he realized it was wine.
“Oops!”
He quickly put the glass back on the table, but his hand slipped and the glass fell to the floor.
Veronia squeezed her eyes shut and rolled her shoulders in fear of breaking the glass. But thankfully, the fluffy rug prevented that from happening.
“Are you okay, Nia?”
Killion moved quickly. He picked up her glass from the floor and set it back on the table, wiping her wine-soaked hands on a napkin.
Veronia was a little surprised to see Killion so casually dropping to one knee and concentrating on his task.
Embarrassed that she had left her hands completely in Killion’s hands, Veronia looked at the deep red stain on the beige rug and said.
“Oh no. That’s a stain on the rug.”
“Good, it’s a testament to the time we spent together tonight.”
“Evidence, …not a crime scene of some sort.”
Phew, she laughed a little, and Killion followed suit. Veronia was grateful that he was trying to save her from embarrassment.
“I think it would be a good idea to make it a crime scene.”
“What? A crime scene?”
“Like… an incident like this…?”
When he finished wiping her hand, Killion pressed his lips to the back of her hand this time. Veronia flinched at the suddenly soft, cool touch on the back of her hand.
