Lovers Beyond the Mirror

Chapter 5 – Lady Looking In The Mirror (5)

The bright lights of the banquet hall shone from the back, and a thick shadow fell on Vaisha’s face.

Surprised by his appearance, Lucardo let go of his strength, and Seriana, who escaped from his grasp, hurriedly moved her body toward Vaisha.

From Vaisha’s point of view, it was breathtaking.

Before the ceremony, he planned to have a conversation with the Princess, who would become Ranua. It was a rather impulsive decision, but it didn’t seem like a bad plan.

‘There’s nothing wrong with knowing what kind of woman she is in advance.’

If possible, he wished she was an easy-going woman. He thought so lightly and moved on with his steps.

But, what does this mean?

Vaisha never thought he would see some madman get drunk and raise his hand to the royalty of his country. Besides, the Princess came to him and hid her body as if confident that he would save her.

She knew well that Rajen called them barbarians.

Within Rajen, the image of Chaitun was sufficiently described with one word, and no one trusted them.

…No, he thought there wouldn’t be.

‘Why does this princess believe that I will protect her?’

Of course, he will protect her.

Before being the woman who would become his Ranua, Seriana was the weakest in this place and it was the duty of those in power to protect such a person.

‘…I better think about this later.’

That drunken bastard…. No, what if he just threw that madman out of the patio?

Normally, his body would have moved before he thought about it, though the problem was that he quietly promised Chiarin and Kayan that he would only take the Ranua with him calmly.

“It’s difficult. Should I not have promised…”

Vaisha muttered to himself softly.

“You, you are a barbarian…!”

“Be quiet. I’m thinking about what to do with you.”

“You vulgar barbarian!”

“All right, I decided.”

Eventually, he nodded lightly as he watched Lucardo rushing towards him with a staggering look.

There was no hesitation in his actions in making decisions.

With one hand he grabbed Lucardo’s fist, which was swung towards him, and with the other, he grabbed his belt. And Vaisha, who lifted him up, threw Lucardo over the railing of the terrace without any hesitation.

“It got quiet.”

Seriana was watching as Vaisha brushed hands as if to dust them off.

It was only then did he noticed her standing there with her eyes wide open in shock as if she had forgotten to breathe. He avoided her gaze.

If she was a Rajen princess, she would never have seen such a rough appearance.

It was the moment Vaisha tried to apologize, scratching his head, wondering if he had surprised her even before the conversation. Seriana, awakened by the cold night wind brushing her cheeks, hurriedly brushed her tangled hair with her fingers and bowed her head.

“Thank you for saving me.”

Her voice was trembling, though her expression of thanks was as graceful as it was unshaken.

Vaisha, who had stopped Seriana greeting with an awkward gesture, glanced over the railing and opened his mouth.

“He wouldn’t have died from the overgrown bushes below.”

“…Ah, yes.”

“Well, maybe he broke a leg or one of the arms.”

When Vaisha grabbed him, he saw that it was a well-trained fist.

It wouldn’t hurt that much. Obviously, it was possible only when the person who fell out wasn’t drunk, but Vaisha decided to ignore it lightly.

“Can I ask what happened? If anything happens to the Princess’s honor…”

“Oh, no! It never happened!”

Seriana answered quickly.

She didn’t want him to misunderstand her. It was a miraculous meeting, so she didn’t want to throw any filth there.

“He was just drunk. Therefore…”

“So, he didn’t recognize the princess of the royal family he served?”

“….”

“Was he a knight who participated in this war?”

“…Yes.”

“I see.”

A knight who came back alive from this war would have many negative thoughts about Chaitun.

It could be fear, or it could be anger.

Vaisha decided that his anger had been poured out on the Princess who would marry Vaisha. Of course, that didn’t mean he didn’t want to take this thing lightly.

‘I’ll have to ask Jyakam to find out more about this as well.’

Jyakam, who was given a mission to infiltrate into Razen, was accumulating work to be done. Had the person involved been here, he might have uttered several blasphemous words.

The wind blew.

A loud noise from the inside of the hall where the banquet was held passed through the windows on the terrace and spread on the floor as a still noise.

Neither Vaisha nor Seriana spoke.

He was clumsy in conversing with a lady, and Seriana was confused about what to say first to Vaisha, who stood in front of her as the real person rather than someone in the mirror.

‘I can’t act like I do to Chiarin, to the one who will be my Ranua.’

‘Would it be rude if I called his name? Should I call him Kudra? May I call him that…?’

It was Vaisha who organized his complicated brain first.

Decided to do what he normally would, not being rude, he crossed his arms and looked at Seriana.

“The wedding will be simple.”

“Yes.”

“And, as soon as the ceremony is over, you will leave for the desert.”

“Yes.”

“Aren’t you anxious?”

“…Yes.”

Vaisha tilted his head as he watched Seriana answer meekly.

Finding his Ranua to be to his own liking, her insistent appearance satisfies him, but something bothers him.

“What do you want to say to me before the ceremony?”

There were many.

However, she couldn’t decide what to ask. It was because there were too many questions that had been in her mind for too long.

“Well, when you think of it, ask slowly. We will spend more time together.”

“Yes.”

That one word made her so happy.

She was not afraid to leave Rajen. …No, she was rather happy. It felt like a fresh start in a place where no one knew her.

“Then, you better go inside. You never know what else will happen.”

“Yes.”

“Before that, wait…”

Vaisha, who was about to move into the hall at any moment, reached out to Seriana.

Seriana, who was frozen for a moment, not knowing what he was going to do, dyed her face red as she felt him correcting the crooked tiara.

“Is there anywhere uncomfortable?”

“Oh, no. Excuse me… Mmm, go in first.”

“Hmm?”

“Well, I have something to organize for a moment…”

“If so. Then, see you at the wedding hall later.”

Seriana, who had let Vaisha into the hall first, lowered the curtains on the terrace, grabbed the handle, and slumped in place.

The strength in her legs was loosened by the hand as he was just arranging her tiara.

Her heart felt like it was going to explode.

No, it may have exploded.

Her whole body was pounding as if it had become her heart, and her reddish skin had no intention of returning to its original state.

It was after a long time until Seriana returned to her room.

It was still in the middle of a banquet, though she had left the banquet hall on the excuse that she was not feeling well.

After she threw off the fancy dress and sent all the maids out, Seriana took out one of the old boxes from under the bed.

What was in the box was all sorts of clutter that were insignificant to others.

Seriana, who glanced at round stones with no corners, plain stationery with worn and faded edges, quills with split feathers and old rabbit dolls, and others. She pulled out an arrow wrapped with old cloth around its tip and a bow that seemed to fit the size of the box.

Seeing Vaisha shooting a bow in the mirror, she imitated it blindly, picked up the old bow that the county’s enlisted men had thrown away, and had it until now.

The shooting posture and how to manage the bow were learned from a book in the count’s library, to learn how to shoot Vaisha’s bow.

“…Shall I ask him to teach me how to shoot a bow?”

He said he will spend a lot of time with her in the future…

He might be able to ask if her relationship with him softens up a bit.

With that thought, Seriana patted the old bow with her fingertips, and she prayed unknowingly that that time would come quickly.

And, she finally got her wedding day.

She wore a pure white dress, and Seriana, whose cheeks were dyed rosy in anticipation, was beautiful.

If anyone saw her now, they would agree she was the happiest-looking bride in the world.

Though the only thing watching her with a frown on her face as she finished her wedding preparations in her wedding dress was Ellaire.

“Is it so good to marry a barbarian?”

“…Mother, he is not a barbarian, but a Kudra of Chaitun.”

“What do you know? A barbarian is a barbarian.”

Seriana looked at her grumpy mother’s face and bit her lower lip.

It wasn’t that she expected her mother’s words of blessing. She just wanted her prayers and comfort for her daughter as she was getting married far away. That was why she asked her mother to be invited to the wedding, where only royalty and priests could attend.

“But you, in the end, you didn’t tell His Majesty, did you?”

“Yes…?”

“You should have asked to make me the Queen! Is your head bad? What a kid! You don’t know how pitiful your mother is!”

“Mother, please…”

Seriana closed her eyes as she watched her mother burst into anger. She was sorry for her mother, but her greed wasn’t the kind of thing Seriana could satisfy.

When will her mother accept the fact that the King won’t make her the Queen?

“I will put on the veil.”

At that, she bent her knees slightly and lowered her head, as a white veil is placed over her head. The edge of the lace-finished translucent veil touched her shoulders.

Her vision was blurry, although it wasn’t at all uncomfortable.

“It’s time.”

The door to the bride’s waiting room opened slowly.

At the request of the bride, she was able to enter the waiting room, but Ellaire, who was not a member of the royal family, could not attend the wedding.

Seriana looked over the veil for a moment to her mother, who didn’t say a word of kind words until the end and began to move slowly.

Although this was her last time with her mother, she did not feel much regret.

‘I’m sorry…’

She swallowed her words that she would not have conveyed.

 

*** 

She was moving slowly.

The veil that obscured her vision did not block her steps.

As the wedding hall drew nearer, Seriana’s palpitations grew stronger. Weak fear and anticipation. She was married to Vaisha, whom she thought she would never see in her lifetime.

What time will she spend in the desert? Although it was an arranged marriage by the necessity of Rajen and Chaitun, she swore that she would love him with all her heart.

It was a love that started even before she met him.

Whatever the purpose of marriage, it had nothing to do with Seriana.

The wedding venue was a small temple inside the royal castle.

The King and Queen of Rajen and Crown Prince Gyro were seated in the space reserved for the royal mass.

Princess Lumius did not attend the wedding. It was because of the Queen, who was worried that the King of the barbarian might fall in love with Lumius at first sight, and might force to offer her as the bride on behalf of Seriana.

From Lumius’s point of view, she quietly obeyed the Queen’s words, as she was not obliged to watch the King of Chaitun, who gave her goosebumps just by looking at Seriana, who was being sold on her behalf.

In the seat reserved for the groom’s side, there were only two people standing, a man named Kayan, whom she had met once in the flower garden, and a woman with long black hair tied together.

The rest of the party would be packing up to leave as soon as the wedding was over.

And, there was him…

Vaisha, wearing a red cloth and vest embroidered with ornate gold thread, was waiting for Seriana at the end of the path.

Seriana felt herself spontaneously speeding up her steps as she continued to struggle the corners of her lips that rose above.

The wedding was as simple as he said.

Many of the procedures that followed royal weddings were omitted, and many were reduced.

Seriana was rather pleased with it.

As she took his hand, she wanted to run to the desert at any moment.

Unaware that she was thinking like that, Vaisha looked at the priest, who muttered meaningless words with a cold sweat in indifferent eyes. If it weren’t for Seriana’s scent next to him, he might have yawned in boredom.

The wedding, a mixture of different thoughts, ended briefly with the priest’s blessings.

The two of them stood facing each other and briefly glanced back and forth.

“The groom takes off the bride’s veil and kisses the bride.”

It was the groom’s privilege to remove the bride’s veil.

Vaisha gazed down at Seriana, who lowered her head slightly so that he could remove her veil.

He hadn’t told Helaim yet, but from now on, this woman was his Ranua…

Vaisha’s large hand moved slowly and lifted her veil.

Her small, white face was revealed, and her red lips were lodged in his eyes under the fluttering eyelashes.

He reached out his hand and wrapped his arms around Seriana’s waist.

He was satisfied with her slender body that fits snugly in his arms. Vaisha, who moved his other hand that didn’t wrap around her waist and pulled Seriana’s chin with his fingertips, swallowed her lips.

Seriana stiffened at the instantaneous action, and immediately felt a breath as hot as her body temperature run through her lips before shutting her eyes tightly.

It was hot and sweet.

An unfamiliar feeling of heat began to bloom in her body.

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“My Ranua.”

While their lips parted for a moment, his gentle voice reached Seriana’s ear.

She thought for a moment whether she should call his name, but before she could come up with an answer, Vaisha swallowed her lips again.

Seriana, trembling at the deep kiss, carefully placed her hand on Vaisha’s shoulder.

For the first time in her life, it was an ‘answer’ that she squeezed out courage with all her might.