7924-chapter-46
Finally, the day Ivan had been waiting for dawned.
Two days seemed like twenty to him.
Ivan was waiting for her at the west wing’s patronage wall, as he had arranged with Katya.
“Didn’t you say the Grand Duke and his entourage would be staying in the west wing?”
“Yeah, that’s why everyone who doesn’t have assigned duties there moved to the east wing to make them more comfortable.”
“But what if the Grand Duke discovers you escaping?”
“In that case, I’ll have to cross the wall before the Grand Duke comes out for his morning training. You know, it’s always dark under the lantern1a saying that means something obvious or important is often overlooked because it is so close or familiar.[/mfn.]”
It was early in the morning, with a light mist in the mauve-colored sky.
Normally, he would still be drifting in dreamland, but Ivan had actually been awake since last night.
He’d been so excited that he couldn’t sleep, so he’d stayed up all night.
It was a good thing, he thought, because sleeping in on such an important day would, at best, jeopardize the plans they’d put together as a couple.
“Couple?”
Rolling his tongue over the word in his head, Ivan scratched his head in embarrassment.
He and Katya are really going to be a couple.
Everything was so perfect. It was a perfect day to get married.
Ivan was worried that if it rained, they would be stuck traveling from Padovangrad to other cities, but they were very lucky.
Ivan was wearing a men’s suit that he bought with the last of his money.
He couldn’t afford an expensive wedding outfit, but Katya would understand, because unlike other women, she’s not a snob.
‘Clothes? What could be the problem? My face can carry anything. With my looks, I’m in the top 1%.’
Ivan, who had been squirming inwardly, straightened his clothes with pride.
The dew that had been clinging to the blades of grass beneath the wall was dripping to the ground.
Birds flapped their wings and chirped, their songs echoing in his ears.
Ivan closed his eyes for a moment and listened to all these sounds, big and small, that he usually ignored.
It seemed like every sound in the world was celebrating their marriage.
‘Katya, you’re mine now, and only I can touch you. I’m so glad I was able to have you before some other man got his hands on you.’
As the groom of the day basked in his sense of conquest and triumph, he heard a shout from overhead.
“Hey, get out of the way!”
Katya, standing on top of the fence, gave him a small warning and jumped down.
Ivan quickly spun around to catch her fall, not wanting to miss the chance to hug her.
Or rather, he tried to, but his core strength wasn’t strong enough to support his weight, and he fell backwards into her embrace.
“Ouch!”
“Tsk, tsk, get out of the way.”
Katya said, clicking her tongue at her out-of-shape groom.
Nikolai had always carried her like a feather, so she’d assumed it was normal, but apparently not with Ivan.
Just then, a familiar voice on the other side of the wall was heard.
“Princess! Princess!”
It was Alyona, calling urgently for her.
Ivan was pinned beneath her, his mouth agape.
His breath caught in his throat, but the faint scent of her body on his hand soon lulled him into ecstasy.
It was like playing hide-and-seek, and it was exciting.
“Well, well. Where the hell did you go at this early hour?”
As she muttered in a worried voice, the knights of the Grand Duchy stretched out in front of her.
They had come to the manor to do their daily training.
“What’s going on in the west wing at this hour?”
Nikolai asked her when he spotted her.
Since she served as a lady’s maid to the Smirnov sisters, her usual duties and movements were limited to the east wing long before the Grand Duke’s arrival. Thus, it was very rare for her to visit the west wing.
“Well, Your Highness……. I didn’t see Princess Katarina. She’s supposed to be in bed right now, and when I went in to change the flower pot in the vase, I found her bed empty!”
“What?”
The sword in his hand clattered to the well-polished marble sidewalk in front of the building.
At the sound, the knights beside him shouted.
“Egmonina1a sound made when you are very sick, tired, surprised, or shocked, what a surprise!”
“No, I can’t believe this, what the hell is going on?”
“Oh, yes, I’m in the mood for a good kicking.”
“Yeah, I’m even thinking it wouldn’t be strange if the Grand Duke fainted right now.”
“Don’t we need to look for him immediately?”
“Yes, let’s hurry and go!”
At the sound of hurried footsteps approaching from somewhere, Katya quickly got up from Ivan’s side.
She leapt onto the horse she had prepared and held out her hand to him.
“Let’s hurry and leave! They’ll catch up to us soon!”
“Uh, let’s go!”
As soon as Ivan was on the back, Katya took the reins and spurred the horse into a run.
The white horse carrying them was the same one Katya had picked out at the carriage shop before.
The horse was unhappy to have a stranger on his back, but excited to be running with Katya for the first time in a while.
Luckily, there were no roadside hawkers or passing carriages today, so they quickly reached their destination.
“I thought we were going to get caught.”
Katya whispered with a sigh of relief as they stood in front of the temple.
“No, Alyona, why is she so diligent today when she usually sleeps in? Sorry, Ivan. Were you surprised too?”
“It’s alright. By the way, you look incredibly beautiful today.”
Ivan blushed and scratched the back of his head sheepishly.
Wearing a pristine white dress from her wardrobe since they couldn’t prepare a wedding dress, she looked like an angel straight out of a painting.
Looking at the groom, who couldn’t control his excitement, Katya took his hand in hers and whispered shyly.
“You look great today too…… honey.”
“…… honey?”
“Then it’s not honey?”
He had the urge to pick her up and put her in bed right now.
How could she be so adorable?
“No! Yes, honey, it’s just that it’s not the usual.”
“You said that’s what you wanted. Affection and obedience. Now that we’re getting married, we can’t keep having conflicts like this, can we? Besides, as your wife, I don’t want to be outside, making it difficult for you, and coming home to a husband who’s hurt and upset.”
“Katya…”
“Before, you said husbands are lords, and wives are vassals. I’ve been thinking about it deeply since we got back home. I think I understand now. If I resist you, I become a rebel. Have I been too arrogant all this time? From now on, I promise to treat you kindly and obey your words.”
Like an unbridled colt, she gave the signal of obedience.
A shiver of excitement ran through Ivan’s body like a wave.
His heart trembled as if an earthquake had struck within him.
‘I have truly tamed this tomboy.’
He wanted to boast at the top of his lungs to all the men in the world.
Of his bloody victory and this priceless achievement.
Now that he thought about it, he felt ridiculous.
He was so high and mighty, and yet he couldn’t have her.
‘She chose me.’
That alone made him feel even more superior to the Grand Duke.
The two walked hand in hand into the chapel.
At the altar, the priest Ivan had requested was waiting.
The wedding ceremony began without delay, as the Grand Duke could arrive at any moment.
“…Katarina Smirnov, the lamb of the god, now welcomes Ivan Petrozsky as her husband and becomes Katarina Petrozsky. With this, I declare in the presence of the gods that the two are officially married.”
In Hersen, a country founded on religion, a wedding in the presence of a priest was enough to make a marriage valid.
Ivan’s eyes filled with tears as he realized that it was all over.
He took the hand of his new wife, Katya, and sobbed like a child, rubbing his eyes.
“Ivan, why are you crying on such a good day.”
“Because I don’t believe it, hmmm……. This isn’t a dream, is it?”
“It’s not a dream.”
She wiped his wet cheeks with a loving touch.
“Do you like me like that?”
“Yes. I love you so much it’s crazy. I love you, Katya.”
“But still, my love, I must admit that I was really hurt when you forced me into marriage by threatening to expose my secret and then took me away on charges of marriage fraud.”
Katya said with a pouting expression, her tone mixed with playfulness.
His heart felt a tingling sensation.
“I’m sorry, honey. I wanted you so badly that I had no choice but to lie to you like that.”
“Why did you do such a risky thing if you knew the penalties for lying to the courts and getting caught would be severe?”
“It was a risk worth taking. This is how I got to marry you, honey. And don’t worry about the lawsuit. Today is a weekend, and I’ll drop the case tomorrow.”
“Really? Thank you, Ivan.”
Smiling as bright as the sun, Katya slowly released her grip on his hand and climbed up the podium.
“Where are you going?”
“Actually, Ivan, I have a surprise for you today.”
“A surprise?”
“Yes, you can look forward to it. It’s going to be a real surprise, but you can’t faint from the surprise, okay?”
Katya frowned out of the corner of her eye and tried to lift the curtain behind the priest.
“Oh dear, it’s too heavy and won’t open easily.”
“May I help you, Your Highness?”
Today, the priest, whom she met for the first time, suddenly spoke to her as if they had known each other for a long time.
‘And Your Highness? Why does he call Katya ‘Your Highness’?’
Ivan felt a slight discomfort, but his mind was already filled with a garden full of flowers, so it didn’t bother him too much.
“Yeah, please help me.”
With that, the priest stood beside her and reached for the opposite end of the fabric.
Grunting under the weight, Katya pulled the curtain open in unison with him.
Then the hidden space beyond the curtain was revealed.
Half the space of the third chapel had been divided in two by the curtain, like a false wall.
Ivan was stunned by what happened next.
The people sitting in the pews across the aisle were all looking this way, including Katya’s family and Nikolai.
And at the back of the room, a judge in a robe sat at the bench.
“Welcome, Ivan, to the first open-air trial in Hersen’s history, authorized by the Grand Duke.”
Katya smiled broadly as she said that, in the midst of a makeshift tribunal set up inside a chapel rather than a courtroom.
Ivan heard a hallucination of his dream being shattered like a broken thread.
He felt as if he was slowly descending into the depths, gurgling with bubbles and spewing foam from his mouth.
Ah, oddly enough, today! His luck had been good until now…….
