Shadowless Night

“You too, Lady Chloe.”

“I wish you all the best.”

Simultaneously, tired-looking middle-aged men reached for the chocolate. Everyone seemed hungry for sugar. The maid of the Cimmaron family entered the drawing room with hasty steps.

“My lady, didn’t we tell you to hurry up and prepare!?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Everyone looks so distracted. The crowd probably won’t know whether I’m wearing a wedding dress or a funeral shroud.”

The gathering people laughed at Chloe’s joke. Only the head maid took a deep breath and ranted.

“My lady! How dare you tell such a scary joke!?”

Seeing the head maid’s scary gaze, the men busily toned down their facial expressions. It was funny. Indeed, there was something wrong with the word shroud in the mouth of the bride. It was funny.

They all left the drawing room, unable to overcome the maid’s sharp gaze. The head maid diligently groomed Chloe in front of the vanity. Chloe continued to twirl her hair as she looked at herself in the mirror. There was a constant stream of things to worry about. The woman in the mirror frowned wearily.

Knock, knock. Even though it was open, there was a knock on the door. Chloe turned to receive the polite visitor.

“Miss Chloe.”

“Sir Rosaline.”

A welcome guest had arrived. In Rosaline’s hand was a small white bouquet. It was a flower commonly seen in the kingdom, and because of its tenacious vitality, people often treated it like a weed.

Sir Rosaline brought her lyshes. Chloe laughed. She remembered the time when she was gathering rumors about Rosaline. The flower from which she had sucked the nectar with her brother Calyx was a lysh. Her hand reached out first in joy.

“They’re lyshes. Thank you.”

Rosaline smiled softly.

“It’s delicious.”

Chloe burst out laughing. It was delicious. However, when she looked closely, the length of each stem was uneven and jagged. Rosaline had presented a bouquet wrapped in white lace, but its appearance looked awkward and did not match the ribbon. Which florist made this mess?

“I made it myself.”

“O-oh, my Idelavhim! How precious!”

Rosaline was proud as Chloe hurriedly stroked the bouquet. She pointed at each one and explained the unique aspects to pay attention to. She had ripped the lace from a dress her mother had sent her. The ribbon was from the pretty macaron wrapper Raymond gave her the other day. She’d cut the lysh flowers from a garden in Moonstone Castle. The gardener scolded her, but she still picked the ones blooming fully. Hessa taught her how to tie the ribbon. Rosaline spoke softly.

Chloe couldn’t believe this little bouquet would have such a long history. She listened intently to her words to the point where she momentarily forgot about the Golgartens, Haqab, the 1st Prince, and Balta.

Chloe’s hair fell slightly askew as she nodded in admiration. Rosaline reached out and tugged a strand behind her ear. Chloe’s eyes widened.

“You look very shiny and pretty today.”

“Oh, is that so?” Chloe smiled as she took the bouquet in her arms. Rosaline looked deeper into her silver eyes.

“You look like you’re in a good mood.”

Did she? Did she feel good? Chloe thought for a moment. She was in a bad mood when talking to the gloomy men. There was nothing good about it.

Chloe held the bouquet of lyshes close to her face. The weak scent was fresh. She felt as if the space that had been her office up until now had turned into a bridal waiting room. Come to think of it. Today is the day she gets married. She chuckled. Instead of saying she was in a good mood, then perhaps…

“Yes, it’s a good day.”

That’s the answer. Come to think of it. It was a wonderful day. At that, Rosaline smiled brightly.

***

Idelavhim blesses all who swear eternal love under His light! Love may be lost and change, but a marriage vow will never break. Until death do you part, the great Idelavhim protects the covenant between you two, so even if love falters, the oath will last forever.

[Girlfriend]

[Boyfriend]

No more bleak relationships where labels dictate superior and subordinate relationships. No more classification by title, age, etc.

[Bride] [Groom]

Along with your commitment to walk together, the priest places the couple’s names to the left and the right— equally side by side upon marriage.

Marriage is a significant life event. Even if it’s common sense that everyone knows about, isn’t it necessary to walk through the ritual?

Before they wear their wedding dress and suit, the bride and groom don formal white robes. When the sun rises at its brightest on the lake, the bride and groom enter the lake to swear love under the blessing of Idelavhim.

What do you mean about the lake? Isn’t it deep? Deep, of course! So isn’t it dangerous? Of course, it is. Now you know why your parents taught you to swim as a child. Young children will have difficulty determining the connection between swimming and marriage, but all grown-ups will understand. One shouldn’t turn a wedding into a funeral.

More than a hundred years ago, there were frequent incidents of drowning. Even fatal accidents still happen occasionally. Of course, it is not just drowning due to the inability to swim but also the event of a demon intruding on the wedding ceremony. We’ve recently moved toward creating artificial lakes to eliminate various risks, so don’t worry.

Still, be mindful of your prospective spouse’s insistence on natural lakes, so you’d better learn how to swim.

Let’s go back to weddings again. Assuming the bride and groom swim well, the two enter the lake. The shallow part of the lake shore is good, and the deep center is also good. When the sun reaches its peak, the radiance of the Idelavhim shines, and the two swear their oaths. The vows are not that short. But it’s not that long, so make sure to memorize it.

The covenant made under the name of God is the most crucial part of the wedding process. They say that when they wrote down the history of Illavenia, our forefathers wrote down this covenant alongside it. Isn’t a vow handed down from generation to generation for hundreds of years incredible? Glory to Illavenia! Blessed Idelavhim!

After the priest blesses the vow between the two before Idelavhim, the bride and groom walk out of the lake. Many guests surrounding the lake will clap and bless them. The bride removes her wet robes, changes into a wedding dress, and the groom into a suit. From now on, it’s the festival of humans! After roughly signing the documents, the two of them are now married until death do them part!

Of course, some interpret this sentence differently and try to hasten their spouse’s death. Please, I hope you’re not one of them.

***

“What kind of scammer sold this booklet?”

Ricardis flipped through a small booklet consisting of three pages.

“They say the businessman who rents out artificial lakes wrote it… Chloe received it while preparing for the wedding, and she says it’s fun to flip through when she’s bored. For your information, the businessman has welcomed his third wife.”

Ricardis snorted.

“The part about breaking the oath by hastening the death of one’s spouse is more relevant to him.”

Many people gathered around the lakeside at Moonstone Castle.

The Cimmarons, Brulites, Sihorges, Walegraves, Falhas, several other families, and even some royalty attened the event. Thanks to Raymond’s vast connections and Chloe, who led an organization, Moonstone Castle was full of patronage even though they’d only invited a few close friends.

Ricardis looked around. Amid the amicable people eating food and chatting, there was a disparate atmosphere in the corner.

A group of gloomy men were flipping cards around a table, frowning. Some familiar high-ranking nobles were seen, including Pardict and Arendt, the heir of Marquis Cimmaron. Among them, the most prominent was a strange woman with brown hair. As soon as she spread her cards, groans erupted from all sides. She swept away the gold coins. Anyone could tell they were gambling.

One person stood up as if his money had run out. Ricardis spotted the 4th Prince and current high priest, Laheansi, enjoying the card game more than anyone else while hiding behind the man.

“It’s here! It’s here! Hehehe!”

He was humiliating the whole family by himself.

“I’ll take it all! I’ll put all the chips in! If you’re scared, better cover up your cards, hehehehe!”

He couldn’t bear to see this with his eyes open. However, precisely ten seconds later, the elated Laheanshi had to give all the money to the woman previously mentioned. As Laheansi sobbed, the priests who followed tried to cover him with parasols. Seeing the person called the high priest discrediting his family by gambling was shameful. Unfortunately, the priests’ efforts were in vain due to the temple’s sigil engraved on the parasols.

The woman was arrogantly crossing her legs, not flinching even among the smoking men. She had all the gold coins on the table stacked before her.

She upped her stakes like crazy again. Thinking she had a good hand, everyone put their cards down on the table and surrendered. As a result, before the woman could do anything else, Calyx Radwiell appeared and dragged her away.

In the gambling ring in which the woman had left, Laheansi turned her cards upside down.

“T-two pairs?”

She was going all-in with just two pairs? She was a terrifying master of bluffing. Everyone nodded as they looked at her position.

“…”

He couldn’t understand, but everyone seemed to have entered their own world. Ricardis was dumbfounded and shifted his gaze elsewhere.