Chapter 34
The day of the royal marriage had dawned.
Agnès, who had prepared with renewed determination, awoke early that morning and found she couldn’t fall back asleep. It was her wedding day, after all, and she desperately wanted to look beautiful in Teowin’s eyes. She tried and tried to drift back into slumber, but in the end, she failed.
When the cheerful knock of Taryn, who came to wake her, echoed against the door, Agnès squeezed her eyes shut in resignation.
“My lady! You’re beautiful today as always!”
Taryn’s words, like a morning alarm, always came at the same time every day, but they were also a voice that breathed life into the air. Especially today.
But strangely, after delivering her usual lively greeting, the girl fell quiet—too quiet. Normally, she would have filled the room with chatter, spilling all her excitement about the royal wedding. Wondering what was wrong, Agnès glanced over, only to see Taryn’s face twisted with barely contained emotion as she combed her mistress’s hair.
“Taryn, are you… crying?”
“Hup! N-no, no I’m not!”
Her voice cracked, caught in her throat as if she had been holding back tears for too long.
“Your face is bright red.”
“Hing… My lady, I really can’t fool you, can I?”
Taryn’s arms dropped helplessly to her sides, her face collapsing into a sob. Tears brimmed in her wide eyes before spilling down her cheeks in thick trails.
“My lady, you must live happily in the Imperial Palace. Truly, you must live happily ever after!”
What was Agnès to do with such a girl? She felt thankful that Taryn did not hold an important role in the Marquis’s household—otherwise, bringing her along would have been a much more difficult decision.
“What are you so sad and worried about? You’ll still be by my side. But remember, you can’t cry like this in the palace, alright?”
“…E-excuse me? Th-the palace?”
Smiling mischievously, Agnès teased her. Taryn, who only moments ago seemed ready to burst into tears, stared at her wide-eyed.
“Heavens… you don’t mean—?”
“I think I do.”
“M-me? In the palace? As a lady-in-waiting to Her Highness the Crown Princess?”
When Agnès nodded, Taryn let out a shriek that sounded almost like a death cry and began hopping excitedly around the room. Agnès, watching the girl bounce like a rabbit, shook her head with a laugh.
“At this rate, if we don’t hurry, neither of us will make it into the palace.”
Though it was Agnès herself who had overslept and delayed her bath, she blamed Taryn instead. Singing “Thank you, my lady!” over and over like a refrain, the girl quickly resumed combing Agnès’s hair.
From then on, everything flowed smoothly. Under the head maid’s direction, Agnès was dressed in her ceremonial gown and her hair was adorned with elaborate ornaments. Normally, Agnès preferred simplicity, but today she couldn’t make such choices.
The imperial majesty, it seemed, had to be displayed through dress and headdress.
“To think I have to go to the palace like this. Couldn’t they just do it there?”
Still, the thought of Teowin being the first to see her like this made her smile faintly. She had struggled so much up to this point—grieving the thought of leaving the Marquis’s household, worrying her mistakes might burden those greater than herself.
But in the end… once she found the thread of love, all those fears became meaningless. Nothing else mattered. She was walking the path toward the one she loved, the one she believed she could love forever.
“You’ve done wonderfully, my lady.”
“Truly, Your Highness the Crown Princess looks breathtaking.”
The lady-in-waiting sent from the palace to assist her couldn’t close her mouth in awe.
The white dress and veil accentuated Agnès’s delicate skin. Though it was a shame to hide such beauty from the world, protocol required her face to remain covered beneath a thick veil until she entered the palace.
“Now then, shall we go?”
On either side, Rosa and the palace maid reached out and took her hands, guiding her forward.
Agnès prayed that her future would not remain veiled in haze like her vision under the cloth, but shine clearly once the veil was lifted. Her story was far from over.
All the luggage had been loaded. It was heavy, for it carried everything needed to begin a new life in the Imperial Palace. In short, the preparations to depart were complete.
Standing at the front gate with Taryn, she chatted lightly until Teowin appeared. His refined appearance was so immaculate that Agnès instinctively took a small step closer to him.
“My heart is pounding so loudly right now. Your Highness the Crown Prince, can you hear it?”
Thump, thump, thump. Her chest raced so wildly it felt like she could almost voice the sound aloud.
Her eyelids quivered from the tension, but she forced herself to smile, worried that her unease might weigh down the mood.
The carriage provided by the palace was meant only for Teowin and Agnès, while the servants and luggage were sent together in the Marquis’s carriages, where the chatter would keep the atmosphere lively.
Though the arrangement might have been a bit cramped for the others, Teowin accompanied Agnès into the spacious imperial carriage.
“So, just the two of us? You almost look like you’d rather be over there instead.”
The carriage rumbled faintly as it began to move.
The sensation was new to Agnès. She sat stiffly, nervous the jolts might send her tumbling awkwardly to the floor. Her face turned pale with worry.
“Are you truly so tense? His Majesty is a very good man.”
“I know, I know… His Majesty is kind, like a father. But still…”
Her words trailed off. It wasn’t the Emperor that mattered most to her in this moment.
“No matter what, I can’t help but be nervous. It’s only because I know—you’re someone I can rely on, someone who won’t waver beneath me.”
Teowin looked at her solemnly, and Agnès smiled shyly in return.
“Come here.”
As the carriage jolted again, he extended his hand. Remembering how often she had nearly lost her balance already, she couldn’t refuse.
His grip pulled her closer, seating her right at his side. The carriage was not small, yet in this moment, the closeness felt natural, almost inevitable.
“Like this, perhaps you’ll be less nervous.”
“As if! This only makes me more nervous…”
Her face burned. To be seated so near him in broad daylight, facing each other in such a posture—it was unbearably embarrassing. Yet she made no move to push him away. Instead, she gazed into his eyes and grinned softly.
“Teowin, are you alright with this? With the royal wedding, I mean…”
He fell silent for a moment, as if considering. It had been such a long road to get here, and now, to finally be with the one he loved—he felt no fear.
“I don’t feel nervous, not really. What I do feel is anticipation. I want to see His Majesty’s reaction when he sees you—when he sees us.”
He sat so still it almost seemed as though he were doing nothing at all.
For Agnès, her feelings were no longer simply nerves. They were closer to expectation—excitement.
“Even so… I still feel a little shaky. The royal wedding—it feels unreal.”
“I understand. A royal wedding is no small matter.”
His gentle smile almost made her feel as though she were already in the Emperor’s presence.
The large carriage moved smoothly, hardly jolting at all.
Agnès clasped and unclasped her hands, squeezing tightly before letting go again, without even realizing it. Teowin noticed, and reaching across, he took her hands in his own and laid them gently on her lap—his large hands enveloping hers.
Only then did she realize how restless she had been.
“Ah…”
She looked down at their joined hands. His were rough, strong, yet careful as they wrapped around her smaller ones.
She knew she couldn’t afford to let her tension overwhelm her. If her body gave out along the way, it would only burden everyone else.
So she took a breath, turned her head slightly, and gazed out the window at the scenery rushing by. As her attention shifted, she could feel her nerves gradually easing.
The houses, the trees, the roads—all different from what she had known in the Marquis’s estate—seemed novel, almost enchanting.
And though she wasn’t used to it yet, the warmth beside her felt natural. Not merely someone sitting near, but…
By the time she realized the carriage seemed to sway more heavily than before, it was too late.
Agnès had leaned against Teowin’s shoulder, eyes closed, as if asleep, her face nestled into him.
