Rewriting the Trash Ending - Chapter 20

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

20.

***

At last, the day of the State Wedding arrived.
Hanna lifted the Veil with trembling hands as she spoke.
“Your Highness, you look absolutely beautiful.”
Lumiere gazed into the mirror.
The white Wedding Dress shimmered with light, its fabric dancing and billowing with each subtle movement.
“You’ve gone through so much trouble.”
“I only did what was necessary, Your Highness.”
The bodice was adorned with delicate embroidery and jewels.
In place of sleeves, long white Gloves that rose to the elbows.
And finally, a sheer lace Veil that covered half her face.
The dress that Hanna had painstakingly altered through sleepless nights appeared as if this had been its design from the start—flawless.
Looking at Hanna, who had labored so hard to complete this beautiful dress, Lumiere felt only gratitude.
She gently took Hanna’s hand.
“Thanks to you, I’ll be able to become the most beautiful and happiest bride in the world today.”
“If anything, it’s my honor that Your Highness would wear a dress I completed on such a special day.”
Though exhaustion marked the skin beneath Hanna’s eyes, her gaze itself gleamed with brightness.
“Your Highness, in any case, it’s time for you to depart.”
“Yes, I’ll see you later.”
She draped a pristine white shawl across her shoulders one last time, then stepped through the door.
But an unexpected figure appeared, and her step faltered.
“Lord Kaiden?”
“I’ll escort you, Your Highness.”
Good heavens.
Kaiden, who had despised her in both her previous life and this one, was offering to serve as her escort.
“Surely someone didn’t ask you to do this?”
At her doubtful question, Kaiden’s face flushed and he spoke gruffly.
“N-no, I simply volunteered. Why? Is there a problem with that?”
It wasn’t so much a problem as it was strange.
After all, he was the type to shudder at even the mention of an Imperial.
‘The Grand Duke must have told him I looked overwhelmed—did I appear that pitiful to him?’
Well, being pitied was better than being hated.
She gave a soft laugh and continued forward.
When they arrived before the Cathedral, the attendants following behind with the hem of her dress removed the shawl from her shoulders.
‘Now I’m truly becoming his wife…….’
Standing before the massive doors, her heart—which had been quiet—began to tremble with a strange vibration.
From today on, she would share a bed with him, and they would be together from the moment she opened her eyes until she closed them.
Scenes she could never have imagined in her previous life—embarrassing scenes—kept rising unbidden to her mind.
Yet rather than feeling discomfort, she felt something else entirely…….
She let out a small, deliberate cough and forced those impure imaginings to settle.
‘…Let me focus for now.’
What mattered right now was the wedding ceremony.
She drew a deep breath and gazed at the slowly opening doors.
Her chest tightened with anticipation.
What expression would he wear as he waited for her? What thoughts occupied his mind? Was he, too, waiting for this moment?
A thousand thoughts scattered through her head in confusion.
But the moment she saw Axid standing at the far end of the Red Carpet visible through the opening doors.
All those tangled thoughts dissolved in an instant.
“…….”
The weight of dozens, hundreds of gazes falling upon her face went unfelt.
Only the man waiting at that distant end filled her vision.
Beneath his dark hair, sharp eyes and a gaze that gleamed with clarity.
Her feet moved of their own accord toward the man who stood rigid, seemingly more nervous than she was.
With each step forward, it felt as though she were walking toward a future she could never have reached before.
When she reached the dais at last, the Priest began the marriage rites.
“……And finally, please exchange your Marital Vows.”
His neat, long fingers lifted the Veil away.
As the curtain that had hidden her fell away, her dark eyes trembled faintly.
“…….”
She watched him bow his head slowly, her eyelids closing gently.
In that moment when warm, soft lips pressed gently against her forehead.
The him from her past life flickered through her mind.
How he had waited endlessly for her to leave the carriage, how she had refused.
After her death, his dark eyes had dimmed as if he’d surrendered something precious.
Even the solitary way he’d stood guard before her tombstone, which no one else ever visited.
“By this, I declare you both husband and wife.”
Applause swelled through the hall as she slowly opened her eyes.
Those dark eyes, which had once always been parched and hollow, now held her within them.
As if she alone existed in this world.
‘This time, I will be here for you.’
Just as you were for me in my past life.
She gazed into those eyes and smiled more brightly than she ever had before.
For the first time, she felt as though she stood at a starting line.
A starting line to rewrite the ending she had ruined in her past life.

***

The nobility were watching the head table with sharp, scrutinizing eyes.
“She looks nothing like the rumors. Wasn’t she supposed to be hideous?”
“I heard her conduct was vulgar, but I can’t believe we’re talking about the same person.”
After this marriage had been arranged.
High Society had erupted with scandal—and in a decidedly negative way.
An Imperial Princess born of a concubine executed by the late Emperor.
Taking as Grand Duchess a woman who’d been the butt of ridicule throughout the Empire’s High Society?
It was insulting to the Grand Duchy—that much went without saying.
“……But she seems far more respectable than expected.”
The words carried multiple layers of meaning.
As if she didn’t understand exactly what position she held.
“Perhaps she’s forcing herself to smile?”
“I’m not sure. She seems genuinely at ease, somehow…….”
The Grand Duchess sat smiling naturally, as if she belonged exactly where she was.
Snow-white hair and elegant, mesmerizing violet eyes.
Though the nobles remained wary of this woman from the Empire, they couldn’t tear their gaze away from her unexpected beauty.
“…I shall not forget your country’s kindness. You’ve traveled so far—I hope you’ll enjoy tonight’s reception at your leisure.”
Lumiere forced her stiff lips into a smile.
She’d been smiling so much her face felt like it might cramp, but countless eyes were fixed upon her.
She couldn’t afford the slightest falter.
People’s reactions to her were generally predictable.
Some marveled at her face, while others studied her with curiosity, wondering if the rumors of her flaws were true.
Still others seemed to be checking whether she’d fallen into despair.
But the moment her eyes met Axid’s, they would hastily look away.
Watching that never failed to remind her what kind of man he truly was.
Kind, in his depths.
“Are you managing all right?”
Noticing her weariness amid the endless procession of Wedding Gifts, Axid spoke in a low voice.
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
It would all be finished once she received the congratulatory gifts from the various envoys.
‘Though I mustn’t let my guard down, of course.’
A discarded Imperial Princess, or a bride forced into marriage.
She had to peel away, one by one, all the labels that clung to her name like tails.
How many rounds of greetings had she endured by now?
Just as the seemingly endless procession of congratulations was finally drawing to a close.
A servant announced the arrival of new guests in a loud voice.
“The delegation from the Wijzer Empire has arrived!”
Through an atmosphere thick with coldness and tension, the Empire’s delegation entered with arrogant bearing.
I can’t quite recall the name of the man at the front, but his face isn’t unfamiliar.
He was the sort who’d fawn over the Emperor, eager enough to lick his boots—a count, at any rate.
‘What’s this about?’
I’d expected them to send a minor noble as their envoy’s representative, at most.
“On behalf of His Imperial Majesty, we offer our most sincere congratulations on the marriage of Your Highnesses. I am Count Crommel, head of this diplomatic delegation.”
“You’ve had quite the journey, Count Crommel. Thank you for coming so far.”
As she returned his bow, Crommel lifted a wooden box.
“This is a gift His Imperial Majesty has graciously prepared to celebrate your union.”
They’d managed the proper form, at least.
A count as representative, a gift prepared and all.
But there was no guarantee the gift itself would be what it seemed.
“His Majesty holds you in such high regard—I hardly know how to express my gratitude.”
“It cannot have been easy to leave behind one so dear, yet you have fulfilled your duties as a princess most admirably. His Majesty speaks of it with considerable pride.”
The eyes turned toward Lumiere shifted subtly.
The baseless rumors circulating through Northern high society concerning the Grand Duchess.
By acknowledging them through the Empire’s delegation, it was all but confirmed.
As the gazes grew colder, tinged with both caution and curiosity, assessing her as though she were merchandise, Lumiere let out a soft laugh.
It was galling, perhaps, but neither unexpected nor unbearable.
“His Majesty worries over nothing. My heart has belonged to the Grand Duke for some time now—there is little I could miss.”
“How fortunate, then. His Majesty will surely be most pleased to hear such words from you, Your Highness.”
Crommel continued smoothly, his tone perfectly measured.
“But come—shall we not examine His Imperial Majesty’s gift at once?”
His eyes glinted with a peculiar intensity.
What on earth could be inside?
When she nodded, he carefully opened the wooden box before all assembled.
Creak…
Beneath the light of the chandeliers.
A lily circlet wrought of silver came into view.
Petals of delicate, silvery work.
Black Jet studded densely along the stamens.
It was a piece exquisite enough to be called art, yet the Banquet Hall fell silent—not with admiration, but with a chill that froze the air.
Lilies were flowers chiefly used for funeral wreaths, and Jet, gleaming black, was a stone worn in mourning garments.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————