I Married the Dragon I Killed [Novel] Chapter 264

Chapter 264: In a Flash

“If the contractions are one minute apart… isn’t the baby basically about to come out?”

Ferda checked again.

“That is true, but I can endure a little longer. I’m fiiiiine!!”

Lyudmila clenched her teeth and grabbed her belly.

Another contraction had hit.

“Why not call the midwife now and deliver the child first? We can delay the wedding by an hour or so…”

“No…!”

Even through the pain, she refused to lose her composure.

“This is… my first child with my adorable husband… I can’t let the baby be born illegitimate…!”

For such a trivial reason.

Still, Ferda could understand it from the perspective of a high-ranking noble.

Even if a couple had gone through a formal engagement and genuinely loved one another, a child born before the wedding ceremony would still be recorded as illegitimate.

That fact would remain in the records forever and follow the child like a label.

Later, it could even become a flaw used to question the child’s legitimacy when inheriting a title.

That was also why noble families hurried to arrange marriages whenever their children caused an accident before the wedding.

“If I remember correctly, this wedding is scheduled to last more than three hours.”

“It’s only… three hours, isn’t it?”

“You are about to give birth.”

If they delayed too long, the mother could be endangered.

Ferda decided he would stop this regardless of how stubborn she became.

“In any case, I will use my authority as regent to postpone the ceremony. So…”

“Regeeent…!!”

Lyudmila forced strength into her voice.

Ferda was actually overwhelmed by it.

“At a wedding… the bride’s command is absolute. Do you know why?”

“……”

“Because after the wedding, she becomes a member of an entirely different family. She gets thrown into someone else’s household for years at the shortest, decades at the longest.”

“……”

“And what if she turns out unable to bear children properly? What if her husband starts lusting after some younger woman? If she gets discarded like an old shoe, she has to spend the rest of her life living in a nightmare.”

“……”

“For a man, a wedding might be something like an award ceremony he can go through more than once. But for a woman, it is the most important ceremony she gets only once in her life. That is why, for at least one day, people allow the bride to possess power that would not shame even a queen.”

“…And you intend to use that power?”

“Yes…!”

Lyudmila’s eyes were filled with something even fiercer than the pain she was suffering.

“If you tell Arwen or my father about this, I will curse Regent Ferda for the rest of my life!”

“Are you threatening me right now…?”

“Yes, I am!”

Ferda was speechless.

A woman who was about to become a countess was speaking that way to a dragon’s consort, who was also the regent of a Grand Duchy.

It was unthinkable.

Yet even the protest already forming on his lips died before he could voice it.

“I have made myself… very clear!”

The contraction faded, giving Lyudmila a moment to breathe.

Her eyes were like frost falling in midsummer, like a flame that refused to go out even in the deepest winter.

They bordered on madness.

Ferda had seen eyes like that once before.

Not even in this world, but in the land between worlds known as Limbo.

‘Philiades…’

Beings who spent their entire lives cursing men and existing solely to make their lives miserable.

Lyudmila looked ready to awaken into one at any moment.

* * *

Ferda stepped out of the bride’s waiting room wearing a blank expression.

Igor and Sergei, who had been waiting outside, met his eyes.

“You lost, didn’t you?”

They had already recognized the face of a defeated man.

Ferda obediently nodded.

“I think I understand now why the heir and Great Warrior were making those expressions.”

“At least we learned one thing from this.”

“Our adorable little sister truly does have a warrior’s blood in her veins.”

“……”

They tried to laugh it off, but the situation was far from funny.

“For now, the wedding will proceed as planned.”

“You will not stop it?”

“Apparently, the bride is absolute on her wedding day.”

Everyone quietly nodded as though they too had already lost to that logic.

Whether Lyudmila’s stubbornness was foolish would be proven soon enough.

Ferda decided to trust her and focus on what needed to happen immediately after the ceremony.

“The wedding will proceed, but the instant it ends, the two of you will carry Lyudmila away as if tossing her into the air during a celebration and take her straight to the delivery room. Understood?”

“Yes. Understood.”

“I am more nervous than when an army of orcs charged us.”

“My wife and my other sisters had a terrible time with their first deliveries too. I have no idea how that tiny thing is supposed to endure those contractions for three hours…”

Making a woman who was on the verge of giving birth wait three hours was insane.

“What if we simplify the wedding?”

The ceremony was long because tradition had loaded it with endless empty formalities.

If they cut away the unnecessary portions, the duration could be reduced drastically.

“I am not sure we can change it that freely…”

“It may be impossible for a human. A dragon, however, is another matter.”

The wedding itself was this extravagant because Baldrova was attending.

“If we say Her Highness is becoming bored, they may be willing to simplify the ceremony substantially.”

“It is a good idea, but there is one problem.”

Zed, who had appeared late, spoke up.

As an attendant, he had arrived at the castle earlier than the others.

“What problem?”

“Penelope was already screaming that something had gone wrong, so I figured out the situation first and had no choice but to ask the priest…”

“What did he say?”

“The young priest officiating the ceremony understands the situation and says he can move things along quickly. But…”

“But?”

“The problem is the bishop responsible for the blessing. He has been highly respected for many years, but he is extremely old, hard of hearing, and stubborn.”

“How stubborn could he possibly be?”

“They say something similar happened once before, and he canceled the entire wedding. He insisted there were no shortcuts in a sacred rite…”

Senile old bastard.

He was old enough to have nothing left to lose, which made him one of the most troublesome kinds of opponents Ferda could face.

“What if we threaten him with the dragon?”

“I suspect he would happily volunteer for martyrdom.”

Could they just remove him?

“Can we exclude him from the ceremony?”

“Probably not.”

Since the Alte Faith was the state religion of the Arken Empire, a priestly blessing was indispensable at an aristocratic wedding.

And because Lyudmila wanted a perfect wedding, she would never compromise on that point.

“Then we will have to leave the blessing as it is. How long does it take?”

“The blessing prayer alone, where he dips his hand into a bowl of holy water and sprinkles it over both parties, will take more than an hour.”

It accounted for a full third of the ceremony.

For a pregnant woman running out of time, one hour was practically an eternity of suffering.

Postponing the wedding was still the best option.

Unfortunately, the bride herself refused to consider it.

If Ferda attempted a clumsy persuasion, Lyudmila would become a witch and curse him for the rest of his life.

‘What a headache.’

A wedding was the bride’s absolute day.

Ferda had no idea how to resolve this.

* * *

After putting their heads together for quite some time, Ferda finally returned to his seat.

Baldrova had apparently become so absorbed in the orchestra that she did not even notice him until he was close.

“How was the music?”

Baldrova answered excitedly.

“It was wonderful. Northern music seems so lively.”

“I am glad you enjoyed it.”

Ferda sat down as though nothing were wrong.

A short while later, the servants dismissed the orchestra and a young priest stepped onto the platform.

He cleared his throat and began officiating.

“We shall now begin the wedding ceremony. Ordinarily, it would be proper for me to quote the words of holy Alte and offer wisdom to everyone gathered here. Yet I can already see that the divine dwells within the hearts of all present. Therefore, one as inexperienced as I shall refrain from burdening you with unnecessary words.”

Just as Zed had said, the young priest was flexible.

Normally, he would have spent around forty minutes quoting scripture.

And nobody disliked hearing that the unnecessary speech was being skipped.

Ferda had worried the change might feel unnatural, but the young priest handled it skillfully.

He accelerated the ceremony without making it feel crude or disrespectful.

“In accordance with the teachings of Alte, Father of Great Light, I declare before all gathered here that I shall serve as His witness. Let the groom enter.”

Arwen appeared.

His expression clearly showed his nervousness.

He almost certainly had no idea what had happened behind the scenes.

“And now, the bride shall enter.”

Everyone rose to welcome her.

Lady Lyudmila Purity entered in a white dress to the sound of a sweet melody.

“Hm…?”

Baldrova looked toward the bride with a questioning tilt of her head.

“What is it?”

“Well… Lyudmila’s complexion looks a little strange…”

Her eyesight was sharp enough to see through the thick veil.

Still, she did not seem certain.

“Ferda… how does she look to you?”

“She looks fine to me.”

“Really? Then perhaps I imagined it.”

Baldrova said nothing more and simply watched Lyudmila with quiet concern.

Ferda felt strangely guilty.

Meanwhile, the young priest continued rushing through the ceremony.

“We shall now conduct the blessing for the future of the bride and groom.”

Then the elderly bishop entered.

One could tell how ancient he was simply from the way he walked.

“Hoo… Give me a moment to rest. My knees are not what they used to be at my age.”

The old bishop stopped several times while entering, catching his breath.

Anyone unaware of the situation would have watched with sympathetic understanding.

To those who knew, however, it was maddening.

They probably wanted to scoop him up and deliver him to the platform themselves.

Eventually, he reached the altar and began sprinkling holy water from a silver bowl.

“In the name of great Alte, I command that you…”

He wet his hand with holy water and sprinkled it toward the bride and groom.

His chant was slow.

His footsteps were even slower.

And the hand sprinkling the water somehow managed to be slowest of all.

Lyudmila smiled with her eyes closed.

She was biting her lips so hard that the tendons in her jaw visibly stood out.

But some things could not be endured by sheer will.

Everything had its proper time.

And Lyudmila’s time arrived without mercy.

The pure white dress slowly began growing damp from within.

Just as Ferda had feared, her water had broken in the middle of the ceremony.

‘What the hell am I supposed to do now…?’

At present, only Ferda, who was actively watching for it, could barely notice.

Soon, however, everyone would realize what had happened.

The bride’s word might be absolute at her wedding, but did that still apply when the lives of both mother and child could be endangered?

Perhaps it would be better to save them even if Lyudmila cursed him afterward.

Ferda reached that conclusion and carefully began to rise.

-Kyahahahaha!!

A frivolous laugh rang through the sacred atmosphere.

The elderly bishop narrowed his eyes and barked,

“Who is it? What insolent creature dares laugh like that during this sacred wedding?”

-If you ask who I am, then it is only proper that I answer, foolish servant of Alte!

POOF!

Something appeared in a cloud of violet smoke.

A party mask covered her face, but her white hair and violet skin were unmistakable.

A spade-shaped tail.

Bat wings.

Ram-like horns on her head.

Only one kind of being possessed those features.

The entire gathering cried out at once.

“A demon?!”

“Why would a demon invade a sacred wedding?!”

Everyone was shocked.

The only difference was that most were shocked because they did not know who she was, while a handful were shocked because they did.

‘Penelope?’

“Penelope?”

Baldrova recognized her and spoke her name.

“Why is she…”

Before she could say more, Ferda quietly took her hand.

Do not acknowledge her.

Apparently understanding his intention, Baldrova fell silent.

The demon Penelope pranced forward like a mischievous child until she stood before the old bishop.

“Hyah!”

She flipped the silver bowl from his hands, splashing its contents toward Lyudmila and Arwen.

“Y-You blasphemous creature!”

“Drag that demon down at once!”

Just as the guards prepared to move at the furious guests’ orders,

“Silence!”

The old bishop stopped them.

“Do not behave recklessly during a sacred rite!”

His voice was so powerful it was difficult to believe he had looked half-dead only moments earlier.

Age and authority combined until even the head of House Purity hesitated to move.

“Filthy demon! You intend to ruin a wedding being conducted under Alte’s protection, do you not?!”

“That’s right! I came to ruin their wedding! So what are you going to do about it, old man?!”

Penelope shouted with deliberate obnoxiousness.

“What can you even do?”

“You impudent wretch…!”

“So the so-called head of the Alte Faith is nothing but talk! Kyahaha! The only thing you can do is splash a bowl of plain water into someone’s face, you useless old man!”

That was when it happened.

As Penelope mocked and insulted him with all the shamelessness expected of a demon, the ancient bishop’s deeply wrinkled face began changing.

The powerless old man vanished.

In his place appeared something resembling a terrifying judge.

His drooping eyebrows rose sharply, and his eyes burned with faith.

“You filthy third-rate demon! Just as your shallow tricks cannot cover the heavens, they cannot obscure the light of Alte!”

In a clear, powerful voice, he raised both hands and formed the shape of a round sun.

“Though the water was spilled by your hand, Alte’s blessing has already seeped into these two! All that remains is for me to declare it in the name of the Church!”

“W-What?!”

Penelope pretended to panic.

As though delivering the final blow, the bishop roared,

“In the name of Alte’s representative, Bishop Nordic Grayhorn, I declare that these two have become husband and wife beneath Alte’s blessing!”

“No! I’m ruined!!”

Having completed her task, Penelope immediately fled.

The bishop, eyes blazing with fury, thundered,

“The ceremony is concluded! Seize that blasphemous demon!”

“Catch her! Guards! Knights!”

Amid the chaos, Igor and Sergei, who had already been briefed on the plan, pretended to toss the bride in celebration while rapidly carrying her away.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye.

Arwen, completely bewildered by the situation, quietly approached Ferda.

“That demon… wasn’t that Penelope?”

Arwen had recognized the mysterious intruder immediately as well.

Ferda nodded.

“Yes. It was Penelope.”

“Lyudmila said she was sneaky, but also too shallow to be truly dangerous and therefore useful as a friend… Why did she turn the wedding into a disaster? She didn’t strike me as a demon incapable of understanding something this basic…”

Without knowing what had happened behind the scenes, of course he could not understand the situation.

Would he even believe the truth?

That the demon had protected Lyudmila’s honor?

Ferda placed a hand on Arwen’s shoulder.

“In any case, congratulations.”

“Pardon? Ah, thank you.”

“I hope your first son, who will be born shortly, is healthy.”

“Yes… Yes?”

Arwen understood what Ferda meant thirty minutes later.