Chapter 11
"But there's a snowstorm right now..."
"I won't get hurt; I think I can make it through somehow. Thanks to the map, I know where we are currently, and if I walk in the right direction, I will meet up with the search team."
Kalis's eyes shone with determination.
"Lina, I know the number of this cabin. As soon as I meet the search team, I'll send them here."
"Are you going to leave me here?"
The glacier was dark outside, while the inside was like a vast sea. Being alone in a place like this?
Lina was scared and trembling.
"It's too dangerous to take you with me."
"Do you have to go? It's your wedding, isn't it? Isn't it okay to postpone it for a day or two? Isn't it a noble wedding?"
Kalis spoke in a very heavy tone.
"Postponing Stern's wedding is not okay. It's never okay, Lina."
Lina couldn't quite understand Kalis's words. How was Stern's wedding different from other nobles' weddings?
"Then, when the snowstorm stops a bit, we can go... Kalis?"
Suddenly, Lina's eyes widened and she screamed nervously.
"Kalis!"
While wiping his mouth, his gaze wavered towards the bright spots of blood on the back of his hand.
"Are you okay? Why are you suddenly bleeding?"
Kalis looked at the red blood without responding and moved towards the small window. When he opened the wooden window, another vertical window appeared. When he opened it carefully, the snowy wind roared outside. He squinted because it was dark outside, but he was sure the wedding was beginning.
He coughed and closed the window.
He needed to return somehow.
Kalis, who was walking towards the door, suddenly sat down like a sick person with a broken leg.
"Kalis!"
After a series of coughs, blood came out of his mouth. In that short time, Kalis's face was as pale as wax. Somehow, Lina managed to pull him and put him on the bed, then covered him with a blanket.
She wasn't a doctor, but just by looking, she realized Kalis's condition was unusual. Meanwhile, Kalis, who was vomiting more and more blood, murmured confusedly.
"Seria..."
At that moment, Lina's face hardened. A constellation-shaped chain emerged from Kalis's neck and began to tighten around his neck.
(Note: This is not a physical necklace, but like a halo or a magic circle that suddenly appeared and tightened around his neck.)
"This..."
Lina closed her mouth with both hands. She didn't take a formal class on Stern, but she learned briefly when she took a doctrine class from the priest. It was a sign of the vow made to the Stern's pact.
But why was it strangling Kalis?
"Kalis! Kalis!"
Lina hurriedly tried to pull the chain of light from his neck, but it was in vain. Suddenly, blood fell from Kalis's face.
The wedding hall on the day of the main ceremony was more beautiful than ever.
The lights shining from the luxurious chandelier were dazzling. The red sash, which started from the entrance, was placed on the altar, and abundant flowers in glass baskets were placed on the edges to refresh the wedding hall. Divine insignias shone on the floating candles. Many priests who came here just for the wedding gathered like a choir. Their expressions were deep. Occasionally, worried sighs were heard.
Kalis didn't come. In the wedding hall without the groom, Seria was alone in front of the altar. Fortunately, the guest seats were full. No, she didn't really know if it was fortunate or unfortunate.
A bride, standing alone in an empty space, would have been the laughingstock.
The veil, which designer Begonia secured with a teardrop-shaped diamond pin, gently covered her face. As confident as she was, the wedding dress she carefully retouched until the end of the day was extraordinarily beautiful.
With the lighting of the wedding hall, special attention was added, and hundreds of multi-angled beads shone wonderfully. Like this brilliant wedding dress, golden vessels were placed on either side of the officiant's seat, shining brightly.
In the golden bowls, holy water was constantly falling like a water clock.
A month ago, during the pact ceremony with Kalis in the temple, there was a golden bowl. With the bowl of holy water in his hands, Kalis swore to become the man of Stern.
The ceremony began when the holy water started to fall, and when it fell completely, the ceremony ended. She wasn't sure why a time bomb was needed. While looking at the golden bowl in silence, a scream was suddenly heard from behind.
"My lady..? My lady!"
"Lady Stern!"
Belatedly, Seria recognized that she was the target of the scream. As she looked down, all she could see was blood.
As if it had come out of a bucket, her shoes were covered in blood, then she burst into a cough. The white bridal gloves, which designer Begonia took two months to make, were stained with blood.
"Huh...?"
She couldn't understand what was happening.
"Lady Seria!"
Abigail came running towards her, but the priests grabbed her arms and stopped her.
"No! You can't touch her!"
"Are you crazy? My lady is covered in blood!"
"It's Stern's ritual! If you touch her and something goes wrong, her divine power could cause more harm."
The priests said nothing was wrong. Until the wedding was over, Stern couldn't be touched except by those who had completed the pact ceremony. It was an unwritten rule.
The same applied if an accident occurred on the wedding day, and even if she seemed to be dying from blood loss, no one could touch her. Because if there were contact, her divine power could go wrong and she would go mad. Now she understood the priests' words, demanding that the wedding be punctual.
"When will Marquis Haneton arrive?"
"Gather all the Stern insignias! I will do everything I can with my divine power."
At some point, Seria was lying on the podium. Her head was dizzy. She thought she had somehow avoided the tragic end of the original story, but was this how she was supposed to die? Couldn't it be avoided because Seria Stern was a villainess?
But she hadn't even bothered the main characters. She hadn't even coveted them.
'I'm still a villainess. What did I do wrong?'
Tears ran down her cheeks.
The heavy diamond accessories and the long veil she wore on her head fell together. Although her tangled hair hurt, the pain on the other side was greater.
It was terribly painful, and even in the midst of the pain, she knew clearly that she was going to die here.
At Stern's wedding, which everyone envied, the man who said he only loved her didn't even attend. Everything felt like a parody.
"Ah! Your Highness!"
"Grand Duke Berg!"
Seria slowly perceived that there was a lot of noise at the entrance, but she lay still on the ground.
Blurred, metal-plated boots covered in white snow and mud appeared before her eyes. They came closer and closer. Then, he knelt in front of her and removed the veil that covered her face.
"No, Your Highness!"
"You must not touch Lady Stern!"
The priests' screams were deafening.
"Will you solve any problem by watching her die?"
Lesche shouted loudly and looked at her.
"Seria Stern!"
She looked blankly at the man who was shaking her body. It wasn't her fiancé, Kalis Haneton.
A crumpled veil fell to the ground.
He gritted his teeth and called her name as she lay in a blood-soaked wedding dress. Even her beautiful silver hair had some blood.
"Wake up. Don't die. Don't die, damn it!"
She couldn't say exactly what kind of expression he had while looking at her. Her vision was not clear.
Lesche looked at his bloodstained hands and stood up. With blurred vision, she could see him walking and dipping his hands in the bowls of holy water placed on either side of the altar.
"Prepare for the pact."
"What?"
"Do it simple. Now!"
The priest stiffened like a rock and, as if possessed by something, took out the Bible, read it, and placed his hand on Lesche's forehead. A burst of pure white light erupted. The steps were omitted and greatly simplified, but the outline was similar to the pact ceremony that Kalis had received.
Linon ran and handed white gloves to Lesche. Then, he approached her with the gloves on his hands. Suddenly, her body was lifted, and she belatedly realized that she was being embraced by him, Lesche Berg.
"Proceed with the wedding!"
She felt people stirring. The bloodstained veil was held in her hand once more.
"...Therefore, I promise eternity to Stern, who is blessed by the Holy Spirit..."
Suddenly, it seemed that a strange stamped circle of light was engraved on Lesche's neck. Perhaps because Seria was dying, she couldn't see anything clearly. She lost consciousness that way.
Please don't kill me so terribly. I want to live. I want to live. Don't kill me!
"Stern! Seria Stern!"
Seria woke up drenched in cold sweat. The familiar ceiling caught her eyes. It was the bedroom she had stayed in. Her eyes were wet.
Did she cry while sleeping?
She thought she had a nightmare, but couldn't remember it well.
While rubbing her wet eyes with the back of her hand, a soft cloth fell on her forehead. It was a man's handkerchief.
"Use it to dry your eyes."
Only then did she turn and look to the side. Silver hair. She also saw red eyes through long silver eyelashes.
It was Lesche Berg.
Normally, she would have been surprised to see him beside her bed, but now she had no strength left. She was dazed, maybe because she had overcome death. It felt like a tsunami had chewed her up and brought her ashore.
"Your Highness..."
After all, as she had indeed feared for a whole year, Seria asked hesitantly.
"Can I... lie down?"
"Ha."
Lesche smirked with a smile.
