Princess Shu

The designer gently picked up the shoulder line of the wedding dress that she brought. The fluttering hemline dropped down waveringly.

“Marchioness Joanne’s ball gown is the basic of the basics, but ‘basic’ is the foundation for the best transformation. The atmosphere varies widely depending on how the dress was made. Now, you have to try it on, so turn your body around.”

The assistants that she saw for the first time were in sync. Even though the wedding dress was not easy to wear, Valia was able to wear the dress shortly after. She thought that the designer had a complicated way of taking measurements but it was comfortable and perfect for her body.

“Oh my, as expected, I have great insight. You look really good in the dress.”

The designer made a fuss about the dress at first.

“Now, would you like to look in the mirror?”

But making a fuss was justifiable in her circumstances.

‘Wow.’

The wedding dress Valia was wearing was a basic ball gown. It was impossible to change to another type of gown because the basic form had already been decided. She thought there would be limits in the design, but the designer was literally an artisan. It was the first time in her life that Valia had seen such a pretty wedding dress.

The translucent lace covering the neck and collarbone connected the shoulders and stretched out to the arms. The white lace, which had a diagonal shape at the wrist, slightly covered her fingers and was finished beautifully. 

The overall concept was lace.

 Embroidered lace was also adorned at the waistline and the end of the skirt. In particular, the pleats from the waist to the lower part of the chest gave a very elegant feeling. As she looked at the lace covering her arms, Valia thought.

‘This must be very expensive.’

The more elaborate the pattern, the higher the price of the lace. With these laces all over her body, this dress must be very expensive. Valia had to struggle to control her strength so as to not tear this fragile and delicate lace. Obviously, the laces carefully woven by the artisan were stronger than they looked, but the problem was that Valia’s strength could easily tear such laces.

“Do I have to wear it just like this on the wedding day? Or should I wear a corset or a pannier?”

Valia asked the designer who looked at every inch of the dress critically. She would be so nervous on that day that she probably would not even be able to breathe properly. But if she tightened her waist with a corset, she might pass out while walking. Fortunately, the designer shook her head.

“You won’t wear a pannier because it will look ridiculous if the skirt is puffier than it is now. Besides, what do you mean by corset? No lady or woman these days wears a corset. How can you call it beauty if you need to be tortured for the sake of beauty?”

“Those are wise words.”

Valia smiled brightly. As expected of an artisan. She felt that she had a very correct and firm basis for the beauty she pursued.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

On the same day, there was a small commotion in the great temple of the Holy Nation.

“The wedding is in five days?”

“Yes, isn’t it a strange decision? And for the house of Garth, no less”

Marquess Garth of the Gel Empire was a powerful family that was founded on enormous wealth. In addition, this generation of Marquess Garth had an ability extraordinary enough to absolutely astonish the people. Owing to that, the current House of Garth was like giving wings to a tiger. 

The marquess invited a wedding officiant for his wedding. In the Gel Empire, there were priests who were from the Second Temple that were in charge of officiating weddings, but their reputation was very different compared to the priests in the Holy Nation. They were mostly priests who officiated the weddings of commoners, so most nobles directly requested wedding officiants from the Holy Nation.

“Maybe the letter is wrong.”

“It cannot be. It clearly says the ceremony will be in five days.”

“When it was first decided to be in a month, I thought that there was something wrong. But now it has changed to be in five days. This is unprecedented, isn’t it?”

“That’s right. There seems to be a reason for it to be like that, but I can’t figure it out.”

The priests put their heads together and pondered. The priest who decided to officiate at the Marquess of Garth’s wedding also tilted his head.

“To say there is a conflict with family, I heard that the bride is a noble of the Lisa Kingdom…”

The details of the selection of temple princess were a secret shared only by the highest-ranking priests in the Holy Nation. They have not yet revealed to the world that Valia was the temple princess. Most of the priests that became wedding officiants were elderly priests so it was natural that they did not know about Valia. 

The priests had been thinking for a while as to what was the reason for this extremely odd timetable, then they nodded their heads when they saw another letter from the Second Temple.

“It seems that it’s because High Priest Philemon will attend the wedding of Marquess Garth.”

“Pardon? Then, is he attending as a wedding officiant?”

“Historically, there were no cases in which the High Priest attended as a guest, the High Priest has always attended as a wedding officiant. Who would commit such profanity?”

“That’s true.”

The High Priest was considered as a high-ranking position even among the priests. The conditions that had to be met to be a High Priest, such as character, morality, divine power, training, and asceticism, were also complicated. How could such a priest just sit in the guest seat while a regular priest announces the marriage to the heavens? In noble terms, it was like a regular knight leaving behind the knight commander and taking the lead on the battlefield.

They and many other priests had never seen a wedding officiated by a High Priest. Therefore, they were unaware of the fact that, if the High Priest was the wedding officiant, his name would be clearly marked as the officiant on the wedding invitation. The prejudice that [the only reason for a High Priest to attend was to officiate] also contributed to this misconception.

“I am glad that High Priest Philemon contacted us. The wedding officiant almost attended the wedding for nothing.”

In the end, the opinion that High Priest Philemon would officiate Marquess Garth’s wedding was accepted as a fact. After that conclusion, they felt the pure happiness of celebration. The priests who had pure feelings were sincerely pleased that the High Priest would officiate the Marquess’ wedding.

“Historically, the High Priest only officiated for the wedding ceremony of the Emperor and the Empress. It would be a great honor for Marquess Garth.”

“Well, Marquess Garth seems to be blessed.”

“Of course. Even the guests will be blessed.”

The High Priest only officiates at the wedding of the Emperor and his first wife. No matter how favored a concubine was, the High Priest did not respond to requests to officiate weddings. Only one marriage was allowed per person. Because it was the strong will of the temple, even if the Emperor took the second Empress, he could not ask the High Priest to officiate his wedding. Therefore, the wedding ceremony that was officiated by the High Priest was very precious and was considered to be a one in a million chance.

“Then, I don’t have to go to the Gel Empire?”

The priest that was originally chosen to officiate the wedding asked. The other priests nodded. No one knew what repercussions this would have at the Marquess’ wedding a few days later.  

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

On the day of the wedding.

That day was different from other days. Everyone was solemn, everyone was nervous. But it was also a day when everyone was excited.

Of course, it was not the same for Valia, she was just nervous. And she had a hard time falling asleep at night. With her eyes closed, she tossed and turned, opened her eyes, and tossed and turned again. She had been like that ever since she heard that her wedding would be in five days.

Even though she could not sleep, she did not worry about her skin. The reason was simple. For the perfect fitting of the dress, the designer was staying in the room next to the guest room. As she repeatedly did the fitting, put on decorations, and ripped it off, she also paid attention to Valia’s skin. As evidence, Valia had to put all kinds of fruits and vegetables on her face all week.

‘I think I put more fruit on my face than I put in my mouth.’

Due to that, Valia’s skin was in the shiniest state it had ever been. At first, she felt awkward with this kind of luxury. But as she could adapt easily, she was accustomed to it after a week or so.

Anyway, today was the day of her wedding. Valia got up from her bed because she could not sleep any longer. Then, she looked around the guest room. She could visit the temple at any time but not the guest room. Even though it was a place where she just stayed and left, it seemed that she had grown attached to it in her own way.

“Oh my, you’re already awake.”

The designer, who came in cautiously to wake Valia up, gestured behind her. The assistants came in with the wedding dress in their careful hands.

“This is the wedding dress that I pour my heart and soul into. If you see it, I am sure you will like it.”

As proof of her words, the shade under the designer’s eyes had become even darker.

‘An artisan is really amazing.’

Valia admired silently. She was so amazed that the designer still looked full of energy even after staying up all night and focusing on the dress for days.

“Today, I will make you be the most beautiful bride.”

The designer’s voice was determined. After receiving a massage that relaxed her muscles, Valia washed her face with water with roses floating around. She did not know how time had passed since then. If she was told to close her eyes, she would do so. If she was told to raise her arms, she would do so.

In addition to the dazzling wedding dress covered with elaborate lace, she also wore diamond earrings, a thin shiny bracelet, and a crown made of jewels draped over her head. The colorful light that scattered every time it received sunlight was very beautiful.

Now that she was finished with her body, they proceeded with her face. One of the assistants was in charge of Valia’s makeup.

The assistant created a blushing look by lightly applying a cool pink color to Valia’s cheeks that matched her bluish-black hair. She was going to be the most beautiful bride today. The assistant also applied a subtle pink lipstick and a sparkly pearl on her lips. The assistant said that applying pink to the eyelids could make her look tacky so Valia’s eyelids were shaded with light maroon. After meticulously drawing her eye line, her eyelashes were raised one by one with a matching color mascara.

“Wow…”

As soon as Valia looked in the mirror, she opened her mouth slightly. It was a bit embarrassing to be amazed while looking in the mirror, but it could not be helped because it amazed her how someone could change this much.

It was not that she had not decorated herself in the past, but it was really the first time she had grown up beautifully. As Valia could not take her eyes off the mirror, the designer laughed. She would soon officially become Marchioness Garth, but for now, Valia was merely a lovely lady who was just about to make her social debut. From the designer’s point of view, this was a very satisfactory response.

“Do you like it, Marchioness? To be honest, I’m hesitant to say this, but you look really pretty, right?”

She was really pretty. Even from Valia’s point of view, the woman in the mirror was a beauty with her eyes wide open. But Valia was a bit shy to say she was pretty, so she beat around the bush.

“His Excellency will be pleased.”