"What is going on here?" a lady whispered to another lady curiously. "I do not understand the sudden commotion." — or rather, the abrupt silence and the long pause of the groom from sealing the union.
The lady beside her leaned over and whispered in her ear whilst covering it with her fan. The lady, who was unaware of this unspoken tale of the crown prince's favorite "trophy," widened her eyes, listening to the causerie.
"Oh, good lord," she gasped and covered her gaping mouth. She cast the other lady a knowing look, while the former nodded and placed a finger in front of her lips to warn her a word about it.
Apparently, the face standing in front of the crown prince of the Maganti Empire was someone very familiar. Changing the color of her hair to a dazzling, lush green, she would be 'that' foolish woman.
That foolish woman who led her soldiers to their death, that foolish woman who would rather lick the ground than kiss the crown prince's boots and insult him at every turn. That woman... that woman who was passed on among the crown prince's close confidante now standing in the same room as them.
But not as the fallen princess who fell from her grace, but as Daniella Circe Vandran, an influential noblewoman who was said to return from the grave right after she met the devils guarding the fiery door.
While everyone held their breaths, wide-eyed, the crown prince was fixed on every detail of her facial features. She looked exactly like the Aries he knew back in Rikhill with only that added dot mole on her cheekbone near her left eye.
His mouth fell slightly ajar as he shifted his focus on the difference between 'that' Aries and this woman before him. Surely, he was a thorough person who uses his head at all times.
The Aries he knew in Rikhill was beautiful, radiating, and warm. But the woman standing before him was stunning and elegant, eyes cold as ice and... aloof. There was more difference between Aries and Daniella, but aside from their face, one thing didn't change.
She was definitely someone... he would love to tame.
"Is everything alright, Your Royal Highness?" when a mellifluent voice caressed his ears, he arched a brow slightly.
'They too sound the same, but also different in a way, it was hard to point out exactly,' he thought before flashing her a gentle smile.
His eyes glanced to his left, gaze landing on a nobleman briefly. The latter's breath hitched, but a second later, a furious voice rang across the staid chapel walls, pointing a finger at the bride.
"Is Haimirich toying with us?! How dare they send back a slave to become the crown princess?! Impudence!" The crown prince carefully watched her furrow her brows and frown. By the looks of it, she wasn't angry but insulted.
Her aloof and icy glare fixated into his eyes before the corner of her lips curled up into a satirical sneer. "Is this how the citizen of Maganti offer their felicitations? It's quite unique!"
Aries faced the direction of the source, catching a nobleman's smoldering in fear hidden behind his outburst. She wasn't surprised. This man... was one of the many cannon fodders of the crown prince.
As soon as Aries spoke using their language, although rough in accent, it was overlooked by her delivery, warranting gasp from the guests. Even the nobleman's eyes dilated as his finger trembled, but he huffed and gritted his teeth.
"Your Highness, there's no mistake that the Haimirich Empire were toying with us! There's no way they would send the real princess of their empire! They probably see our Great Maganti as a joke!" came out another wave of ear-piercing rumbling.
Aries's expression gradually grew colder as she listened to that man's continuous disrespect. If the crown prince didn't want this from happening, this man's throat was already hollowed out of his neck.
He was testing her or trying to get a reaction from her, studying her every slight movement, even how her eyelashes fluttered. He was watching very carefully, and she was deeply aware of that.
"How impudent..." she snickered under her breath, raising her sharp eyes at the nobleman and tilting her head to the side. "... you are calling me a slave? Me? A proud Vandran? On this day of all days, you... chose to mock me at my wedding..? How amusing."
Aries chuckled as her eyes glossed over the guest before she set them at a knight from the Haimirich who attended, along with the Haimirich delegation, to witness the wedding. A short scoff escaped her mouth as she snapped her eyes back to the one 'ruining' her special day.
"How will you appease Haimirich for this discourtesy?" she arched a brow and raised her chin, throwing the crown prince's an indifferent side-eye. "I do not accept anything less, Your Royal Highness."
The crown prince exchanged gazes with her for a second before he flashed her a kind smile. "Forgive me, crown princess. It seems someone attended after having a glass of wine." He waved, mobilizing a knight with just a flick of a finger.
"Drag him out..." he trailed off upon sensing the mockery in her gaze. "... how will I appease my crown princess?" came out a quiet and curious voice.
She smirked, pleased at how quick he could catch on. "The Haimirich way," she stressed under her breath. "Normally, this sort of discourtesy guarantees a death row. However, I do not want to undermine your authority. The finger he used to point at me — spare his eyes."
Aries's demands were absolute and unwavering, giving full resolve to what she wanted. His lips were drawn into a thin slash while rocking his head, casting the knights who were holding the panicking nobleman by the shoulders.
"Take the finger he used to point at my wife, and the crown princess," he ordered, hearing the nobleman's stuttering voice as multiple knights pinned him down.
"No! Your Highness! Please! I — ahhh!!"
Aries's face remained unreadable. She didn't show a slight satisfaction or remorse while watching a knight draw a knife to cut off the man's finger. She didn't even pay attention to the guest, knowing full well that these people... were worse than the nobles in Haimirich.
They would turn a blind eye to this and would surely ostracize this poor cannon fodder. He just lost the crown prince's good graces, after all.
"Did that quench your anger even the slightest?" she blinked and looked back at the crown prince's pretentious smile. Aries didn't reply as she faced him squarely, taking a step forward that caused his brow to arch.
Stopping a palm length away from him, Aries stood on her toes, tilting her head to the side before planting her lips on his, sealing their damned marriage. Her sharp eyes were open, side-eyeing him before she felt his lips grin against hers.
"Not even a graze, husband," she whispered as she drew back, smirking daringly at him. She kept her voice low, offering her hand, and waited for him to hold it.
"You have a bad habit of making me wait."
"Forgive me," he playfully chuckled as he held her hand gently as if the wedding went out smoothly without interruptions. "Your elegance bedazzles me to silence."
She chuckled as they made their way to receive felicitations from the guest. "Fair enough."
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