“Who said you could disappear without my permission?” Cedric asked, staring into Emily’s eyes.
“Ce-Cedric?” Emily’s heart was racing.
Everyone in the room was also frozen in place, watching the unfolding events.
Until the High Priest’s voice broke the tension.
“Isn’t this a beautiful day to be spending arguing?
Please, the ceremony is about to begin,” the High Priest said with a smile.
Cedric then shook off Duke Louis’s hand and pulled Emily to stand behind him.
Duke Louis clutched his reddened wrist, which Cedric had gripped with all his strength.
Cedric pointed at Duke Louis’s face and threatened him, his eyes blazing with anger.
“I’ll let you off this time, because I still respect you as Emily’s father.
But if this happens again, I’ll make sure you get what you deserve.” Emily could only gaze at Cedric with eyes sparkling with admiration.
WOW Is this the aura of an Alpha male, like the ones described in adult novels?
Emily could only bite her lower lip.
For some reason, her fiancé looked so sexy today.
“Let’s go!” Cedric said, taking Emily’s hand.
“…” But they had only taken a few steps when they heard Duchess Aria calling out to Emily.
“Emily, you’re going to regret this.
Don’t think I’ll still consider you my daughter after this!” Duchess Aria threatened.
Cedric turned toward Emily, who stood frozen in place with her head bowed.
“Emily… are you okay?” Cedric whispered worriedly.
But suddenly Emily lifted her head and, without looking back, she replied.
“Maybe I will regret it…” “But from the very beginning, you two were never really like parents to me.” Then Emily continued walking, pulling Cedric away from the room.
They were then followed by Philip, Arthur, and the High Priest.
Meanwhile, Duke Louis, Duchess Aria, and Elise could only watch them leave, their faces filled with frustration and disbelief at what had just happened.
“Emily, I will definitely make you pay for this,” Elise muttered.
…
After entering the main church hall, Cedric and Emily sat in the middle row.
Philip and Arthur sat behind them.
Inside the church’s main hall stood two giant statues of a man and a woman side by side, symbolizing the god Helios and the goddess Selene.
Ding… Ding… Ding… The church bells rang, signaling the start of the ceremony.
All attendees rose from their seats to join in the communal prayer.
The High Priest, who was already standing in front of the statues, recited prayers addressed to Helios, the Sun God, and Selene, the Moon Goddess.
Although Emily did not believe in any religion, neither in her past life nor now, she still participated in the procession with sincerity to respect the local beliefs.
After the prayer ceremony concluded, before leaving the main hall of the church, each participant was invited one by one to step forward to receive a blessing from the High Priest—in the form of advice or guidance received through the gods’ whispers.
Until it was Cedric and Emily’s turn.
Cedric stood before the High Priest with his head bowed.
The High Priest placed both hands on either side of Cedric’s shoulders and whispered a message.
“What you see is not always what is real.
Follow your heart; it is true guide to the truth.” Then the High Priest patted Cedric on the shoulder, signaling the end of his blessing.
Cedric then got up from his spot and moved aside to give Emily, who was standing behind him, a turn to receive the blessing.
Unlike with the male visitors, the High Priest held out both his palms to the female visitors, so that they could touch him themselves.
Hesitantly, Emily stepped forward and touched the High Priest’s hands.
“Is this some kind of fortune-telling?” Emily wondered.
As soon as Emily’s hands touched the High Priest’s, he paused for a moment.
But his words then left Emily in shock.
“I know this is all hard to believe, but isn’t your very presence here a miracle?” the High Priest asked, smiling at Emily.
Emily was startled by the High Priest’s question.
‘That can’t be possible, can it?’ Emily thought.
“You’ve already lived a hard and lonely life before.
Now is your chance to seize your own happiness.
Destiny isn’t set in stone; everything can change depending on the efforts we make.” Then, slowly, the High Priest released his hands from Emily’s.
Although surprised, Emily tried not to show it and walked backward, following Cedric.
‘The High Priest’s words were a bit strange… does he know that this is my second life?’ ============================================================== After finishing their prayers and leaving the church, the sky had already grown dark.
Inside the carriage, the atmosphere grew quiet again as Cedric and Emily remained silent.
Cedric stole a glance at Emily, who had been staring blankly out the window the whole time.
From the outside, Emily looked perfectly fine, but who in the world wouldn’t be sad if they’d just been disowned by their parents?
For some reason, Cedric’s heart felt uneasy.
Worried Anxious Afraid These were feelings he’d never felt before—toward another person.
Cedric wasn’t the type to be good with words, so he was also at a loss as to how to comfort Emily.
Meanwhile, Emily was already too exhausted from all the drama that had happened earlier and didn’t have the energy to say much.
“Screw that family.
Right now, I just want to make it to my room and roll around on the bed,” Emily muttered.
… Suddenly, Cedric opened the carriage window and called out to Philip.
“Philip, come here!” Philip, who had been at the back of the group, rushed his horse forward to follow his master’s orders.
They whispered to each other for a moment.
Then the carriage stopped suddenly.
“Huh?” Emily didn’t understand why they had stopped, since they still had a long way to go.
“Get off.” “But why?” Emily asked, confused.
Cedric reached out his hand to help Emily get off the carriage.
“We’re going to see the mask festival.” “Oh…” Emily took Cedric’s hand and stepped down from the carriage.
…
That night, the capital transformed into a sea of light.
Golden lanterns hung along the streets, traditional music echoed from the corners of the alleys, and people walked around wearing masks of various shapes—from mysterious foxes and beautiful birds to monsters that were deliberately made to look funny.
Emily gazed at the crowd with sparkling eyes.
“Wow… so the mask festival really is just like it’s described in the novel,” she murmured.
Cedric, walking beside her, merely glanced her way.
“You look more surprised than a kid who just found a candy store.” Emily turned to him immediately.
“What do you mean?
I’m just enjoying the atmosphere.” Cedric gave a faint smile.
“Right.
Of course.” The tone of his voice made Emily suspicious.
“What?” “Nothing.” “You’re clearly making fun of me.” “I’m just stating the facts.” Emily snorted and started walking faster, leaving him behind.
But after just a few steps, Emily accidentally tripped over a rock.
“Whoa!” She almost lost her balance.
Grab… Luckily, Cedric quickly grabbed her hand, so Emily didn’t fall to the ground—instead, she fell into Cedric’s arms.
“Is this another one of your ways of flirting with me?” Cedric asked, staring at Emily and smiling sarcastically.
“As if.” Emily replied irritably, her face flushing with embarrassment.
Emily started walking quickly again, and Cedric followed behind her.
“Adorable,” Cedric murmured.
Meanwhile, from a distance, Philip and Arthur kept watching them, like parents watching over their children who were head over heels in love.
… In the middle of the festival, a mask stall caught Emily’s attention.
“How cute!” She approached the various masks on display.
There was a white rabbit mask, a cat mask, and a red fox mask.
Emily picked up a mask.
“What do you think?” Cedric looked at the cat mask Emily was holding.
“It looks like it suits you.” Emily smiled contentedly.
“You really do look like a cat,” Cedric chuckled.
That was rare.
Cedric was usually calm and aloof.
“Are you laughing?” Cedric went back to his usual expression.
“No.” “I saw it.” “You’re wrong.” “Impossible.
I have eyes.” “Sometimes your eyes make strange conclusions.” Emily put on a annoyed expression.
Then she took another mask.
A black wolf mask, and put it on Cedric’s face.
“This suits you,” Emily said, sticking out her tongue mockingly.
… They ended up buying two masks.
Emily wore a cat mask, while Cedric wore a black wolf mask.
They wandered around, watching the night performances and trying various foods at the street stalls.
Emily seemed unable to stay in one place.
That night, Cedric saw a different side of Emily.
Beyond the crazy ways she used to flirt with him, Emily was actually so innocent.
She smiled and laughed at even the smallest things.
Funny masks, clowns, adorable animals, even joking with street vendors just to get a discount.
In the middle of their walk, Cedric struck up a conversation.
“You know, this festival is held because of a legend that has been passed down through generations in the country of Malakar.” “A legend?” Emily asked curiously.
“Legend has it that the Sun and the Moon once loved each other, but the universe did not approve.
So they were separated; fortunately, at certain times they can be together—namely, during an eclipse,” Cedric explained, looking gently into Emily’s eyes.
Emily looked back into Cedric’s eyes.
For a while, they simply stood there in silence, gazing into each other’s eyes.
‘WHAT IS THIS?
WHAT KIND OF MOOD IS THIS?’ ‘Is this a cue to kiss him?
But there are too many people!’ ‘We could get arrested for public indecency, right?’ Emily’s thoughts were all over the place.
BLIP.
Suddenly, all the lanterns in the city were turned off at the same time.
The only light left that night was the moonlight.
Emily looked around in surprise; everyone else seemed to be standing still as well.
“What’s going on, Cedric?” Emily asked, confused.
“Look up.” When Emily looked up, she saw the moon, which had been round, gradually darkening as it was covered by the sun’s shadow.
And a few minutes later, the moon was completely obscured by the sun’s shadow.
It became pitch black.
“Cedric, look, the moon is being—” Emily didn’t get to finish her sentence.
Suddenly, Cedric’s hands were cupping Emily’s face and pulling it toward his, and…
SMACK Emily’s lips brushed against Cedric’s.
‘WHAT THE HELL,’ Emily screamed inside her head.
‘Cedric, you better take responsibility if my heart condition comes back.’ Unlike their two previous kisses, which had felt rushed and full of lust, their kiss tonight felt incredibly warm and romantic.
Hardly breaking away from Cedric’s sudden kiss, Emily asked, “After this, are you going to call it a mistake again?” “Maybe.
You said you like making mistakes.” “Are you crazy?” “Should we make an even bigger mistake at the Archibald family villa not far from here?” Cedric asked seriously, still holding Emily’s face.
It felt like tonight he didn’t want to let Emily go.
“Should we?”