Chapter 834: Say No To This Marriage
"My Lady, Lord Mortem is here," the older-looking maid that served Evie’s mother informed her.
Back to her senses, Evie looked at the man standing at the entrance of the gazebo and quickly stood up to greet him.
She offered a respectful bow. "Greetings, Lord Mortem."
Nathan maintained his calm and walked ahead.
"Please have a seat," she instructed as she was taught.
Both of them sat on the chairs opposite each other. A maid served them tea and left the gazebo so they could talk.
Evie felt overwhelmed and pressured with his quiet and cold presence, but focused on drinking tea. She didn’t dare look at him.
On the other hand, Nathaniel simply touched the cup but didn’t drink tea.
Once no maid was around, he spoke, "Evie," he called her without any formality.
Evie looked at him, and he said, "You do know why we are here."
She hummed lightly and lowered her gaze, keeping her calm.
"I am here to tell you that this marriage cannot happen," he said, only to have her look up at him.
Her eyes silently watched at him, wanting to hear his reason.
"Just now, I called you by your name and not by a title of lady. It’s because you are Arthur’s little sister, so I consider you as a sister as well and nothing more," he said. "So you should tell your father that you do not want this marriage."
She had a quiet sip of tea and said, her gaze on her cup, "If you do not wish to marry me, you can reject this proposal, Lord Mortem," she said, trying her best to suppress the nervousness she was feeling. "Your words might carry more weight than mine, a young lady of the home whose opinion is rarely considered."
"I cannot do that, unfortunately," he said, suppressing the restlessness he was feeling as if he couldn’t wait to get out of this mess. "I have a reason that I can’t. But, you are the cherished daughter of a family. They will respect your wishes."
"I do not think so," she said, still keeping her gaze low. "My father has made a decision and has already signed an engagement pact. He would not listen to me."
In response, his patience slipped and his hand almost slammed on the table. He let out a deep breath. "This marriage cannot happen. Absolutely not. So just do as I am telling you."
Though startled by the almost missed slam on the table, she looked up at him. A moment of pause as she observed his restless and cold expressions.
"May I ask you something, Lord Mortem?"
He offered a nod.
"Do you have someone you love? Is that why you are rejecting this marriage?" she asked.
"No," he said straightaway. "It’s just that I do not wish to marry anyone or have a family. I wish for a quiet, unbothered life with no family around or people around. That’s what I desire."
She simply hummed and had a sip.
"I said what I was here for. Please do as I said. We cannot get married," he said and stood up. "Take care," and walked away.
Evie didn’t look at him as he left. She quietly looked at the teacup he left without drinking tea.
Once Nathan left, a maid arrived there. "My Lady, how did the talk go?"
"Nothing special," Evie replied and continued to drink her tea, her gaze lost, staring somewhere far in the garden, her mind blank.
"My Lady, we should head back," the maid said. "You have to get ready to attend today’s wedding."
Evie finished her tea and stood up to leave.
----
By early noon, all the guests gathered at the grand hall of the estate to attend the wedding. Arlan and Oriana were the most esteemed guests, and all eyes were on them.
Oriana got to know what was going on and looked for Evie. After all, she was her friend along with Erin. Evie couldn’t come to meet her the previous day due to the ongoing matters.
They finally came across each other in the wedding hall.
"How have you been, Evie?" Oriana asked once Evie greeted her. "You are looking so beautiful."
"Thank you, Your Highness," Evie replied with a smile and said, "Congratulations."
Oriana accepted it, knowing what it was for.
Erin came to them as well. "Our beautiful Evie is getting married, I heard."
There was no happiness on Evie’s face, but utter calmness. "Looks like that," she said and changed the topic. "Where is Aaria?"
"She would be scared to see so many people around, so I didn’t bring her to the wedding hall," Erin replied and didn’t insist on her wedding.
Soon the wedding began.
Nathaniel was there physically, but his mind was somewhere else. Arthur preferred to stay with his family. The other friends wondered what would happen. Arthur and Nathaniel didn’t talk with each other or even come across each other.
Rowan let out an annoyed sigh. "I clearly don’t like this," and said to Nathaniel, "There’s your bride-to-be."
Nathaniel’s gaze ended up looking in the direction where Rowan gestured across the hall. Nathaniel frowned and glared at Rowan. "Shut up."
"I just thought your cold expressions might disappear upon seeing a beautiful lady that’s meant for you," Rowan teased again.
Nathaniel clenched his fists. "If not for being here, I would have broken that annoying mouth of yours."
Before Rowan could say more, Aaron placed his hand over his shoulder. "Enough of teasing. Focus on the wedding ceremony."
Rowan stopped, and finally they watched the wedding ceremony in peace.
Noon passed by, and even evening arrived with the wedding ceremony over, but there was no news about the engagement being canceled. And it made Nathaniel restless.
----
Leaving Oriana to rest in the guest mansion, Arlan sat with Nathaniel. "Be patient. You told her, now it’s her decision."
"By now, my father should have called me or been angry at me, but at the wedding, when I saw him, he looked just the same, smug and annoyingly pleased at something. I am not sure what’s going on."
"I have asked Arthur to be here. We will know once he arrives," Arlan said.
Just as he said it, Arthur was there, at the garden of Arlan’s guest mansion where these two were sitting inside the gazebo.
