White Dress, Dark Opening (2)

“Duke, she’s hiding something—”

“Are you saying I shouldn’t trust her?” Kael questioned, startling Detri.

Detri gulped and lowered his head again.

“My apologies. I spoke too far without thinking…”

Kael sighed, looking up at the sky.

“Today is our wedding… just make sure no monsters are nearby to disrupt the vows,” he commanded. He returned inside.

Detri nodded, staring at the door. You’ve become desperate… you didn’t care about suffering before. What changed, Commander? He leaped away and checked the premises against monsters.

Meanwhile, Valencia stared at the balcony window, losing herself in nothingness while the maids put the wedding dress on her.

A voice around her rose.

“Valencia?” Nuredus called. She looked at Valencia, stepping in front of Valencia. “Valencia, are you okay?”

“Huh?” Valencia snapped. Then she averted her gaze and nodded hesitantly. “Yes…”

“Are you nervous?” Nuredus wondered with a smile.

Valencia blushed, chuckling lightly.

“A little… I would never have thought that I would be getting married this early in life,” Valencia answered.

Nuredus sighed in relief and nodded.

“I never thought my son would match with an S-rank guide’s daughter,” she claimed.

The maids finished and left the room. The room filled with silence as Valencia stared at Nuredus.

“Did you know… my mother?”

“Know? I was very fond of her,” Nuredus explained. “Your mother was the most beautiful noble lady in society, who even the Crown Prince wanted to claim as his own.”

Valencia tightened her jaw, recalling the dream… the memory that Roman killed her father.

“The Crown Prince? As in…?”

“Roman. He chased her through the Academy days… However, things went out of order after she claimed to be the Void Esper’s guide,” Nuredus said, her voice slowly turning into a whisper. She rubbed her chin, pondering. “I’m not sure, but knowing her, she voiced it herself. When she did that, she meant it firmly. So there’s no doubt that your father could be the Void Esper that defeated the Demon King.”

“But… wouldn’t I be considered—?”

“I don’t care if you are the late Void Esper’s daughter…” Nuredus interrupted. Valencia jolted and locked eyes with her. Nuredus smiled warmly and stood to grab Valencia’s hands. “If anything, we, the Izekiah, will do everything in our power to protect you from the Royal Family.”

Valencia froze, her hands trembling as tears appeared in her eyes.

“Wh-what…?”

“Child, I know more than I pretend… eyes and ears are everywhere. But in the Izekiah’s home, every truth you have will stay here with us. As Persai and Eureon’s daughter…” Nuredus whispered. Valencia’s body tensed as the tears fell down her face. “I won’t let the Royal Family hurt you… again.”

Valencia leaned against Nuredus’s shoulder and silently sobbed.

“Thank you…”

Nuredus nodded and patted the back of her head gently.

“You can always come to us when you’re struggling with anything.”

Valencia nodded, muffling her yes.

Once Valencia steadied her breathing and smiled at Nuredus, the Lady’s maids entered the room and reapplied Valencia’s cosmetics. Kael left the residence and headed to the chapel nearby. Nuredus sat and smiled at her dear son.

“What took you forever?” Ezrael asked.

Nuredus nudged his shoulder.

“Just talking to my sweet soon-to-be daughter…” she answered.

Ezrael narrowed his eyes as he stared at Nuredus.

“You didn’t scare her away, did you?”

Nuredus’s eyes went white in pure irritation, as if her pupils had decided this conversation was not worth existing for. Her veins popped at her temple.

“Do I look like I would scare my daughter-in-law away?!”

Ezrael chuckled awkwardly and nodded.

“You’re right… you don’t… especially since you only show that to me—”

“Shut up!”

While they bickered, Kael turned to them, waiting anxiously with the priest. He stared at the audience as they looked at him, smiling. He took a deep breath. Will you walk down the aisle? He looked down—

The ensemble played as the door opened. Valencia stood at the light between the aisle and outside. The veil mesh covered her face, yet Kael could see her fiddling with her hands. She took each step carefully as she walked toward him.

As she stood before him, he held his breath, unable to process what to do next. Ezrael stared, turning and clearing his throat. Kael snapped out of his world, admiring her, and nodded.

“I do…”

The crowd laughed. The priest coughed, hiding his smile.

“Young Duke, I haven’t even prompted your vows yet…”

Valencia smiled as she averted her gaze. Kael flushed before he grabbed her hands.

The priest guided them through their vows.

As Kael removed her veil and kissed her, the crowd murmured happily. Kael swept Valencia into his arms and spun her once before carrying her out of the chapel, laughing.

Far below the world's skin, something shifted.

A throne of charred bodies rose from nothing. Their blackened fingers reached upward—not in agony, but in offering. Above them, the sky had no stars. No moon.

Then it cracked.

A seam split the dark open and through it forced an eye—vast, furious, ancient. It pressed against the gap like something that had been pressing for a very long time. The darkness groaned with the effort of holding.

It knew.

Somewhere above, something had weakened. Something that had kept the seal from breathing—that had kept it from breathing—had finally, quietly, begun to fail.

Not broken. Not yet.

But the gap had been wider this time than the last.

The crack sealed itself shut.

The eye was gone.

But the dark had tasted it before.

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