Chapter 27

Following the wedding, the maids bustled about with remarkable agitation.

Knowing all too well the reason behind it, Diana could not conceal her mounting tension.

After shedding her dress, cleansing her body in the bath, and adorning herself with only a light touch of makeup that accentuated her youthful skin to the utmost, she had tiny flowers woven into her silver hair.

The handful of servants brought along to the detached residence were all fiercely loyal individuals carefully vetted by Ian.

Even such veteran maids wore expressions that seemed somewhat lighthearted and buoyant.

Yes, the night of the wedding—tonight was the wedding night.

Her preparations complete, clad in a sheer negligee, she sat upon the edge of the bed.

Though she was merely sitting there, Diana’s heart pounded against her ribs like a bronze gong beaten upon a battlefield.

(Calm yourself, Diana. This isn’t your first time experiencing a wedding night…)

Even as she repeated those words to herself, the fluttering in her chest showed no sign of calming down.

Taking deep breaths one after another to steady her respiration, just as she was approaching nearly a hundred breaths──the door made a sharp click.

“Ah…”

For a split second, her violent heartbeat felt as though it had completely frozen.

In that single instant, as if time itself had stopped, neither her pulse nor any other sound could be heard.

She found herself utterly unable to avert her gaze from the person standing on the other side of the threshold──from Alan.

Alan, for his part, caught sight of Diana, drew in a sharp breath, and froze in place.

The hand he still left resting on the door began to grow faintly slick with sweat.

Though he had just moistened his throat after the bath, his throat felt scorched and dry, failing to yield a voice.

The wedding night.

The bedroom of the detached residence they had prepared together.

The wife seated upon the vast bed was more fleeting and beautiful than the moon itself.

Without a word, he closed the door and seated himself down beside Diana.

A brief silence hung between them, neither able to utter a word.

“…Diana. Are you not tired?”

It was Alan who broke the silence first.

Though she practiced the sword and kept herself conditioned, Diana was still a woman.

Her physical endurance could scarcely be compared to Alan’s, a grown man and a knight.

“I am quite well. Are you not fatigued yourself, Lord Alan?”

“Fatigue of this sort is nothing more than pleasant.”

In truth, rather than weariness, Alan was enveloped in a profound sense of fulfillment.

Born into royalty, he had spent his days alienated even by relatives who shared his own blood.

At long last, he had managed to leave the detached palace and begin a brand-new life.

And he was doing so alongside a young, beautiful wife who adored him more than anyone else in the world.

“It feels almost like a dream…”

“It is no dream whatsoever.”

Diana firmly rejected Alan’s murmured words.

This must not be a dream.

If she were to wake up and find that both Alan and Wesley were already gone, and that she was once again fated to be murdered by Cordelia… a chilling shudder ran down Diana’s spine.

“I would not bear for it to be a dream…”

“Diana…”

Alan peered into the face of his wife as she murmured in a raspy voice.

Alan had noticed that Diana occasionally wore an expression as though she were frightened of something.

Could he somehow wipe away that suffering…? With that wish held deep within, he embraced her slender frame with all his might.

“Ah…!”

The tension left Diana’s body all at once.

Enveloped in Alan’s warmth, she buried her face against his chest.

The steady thud echoing deep within his chest tickled her ear.

As if matching that rhythm, her own heart began to race like a flurry of bells, and before long, their heartbeats merged into one.

“That’s right, it’s no dream. We have become husband and wife.”

“…Yes.”

Alan’s large palm caressed her cheek, and Diana closed her eyes in a trance.

“I have loved you… for so long, Lord Alan.”

Ever since that day in her childhood when he had rescued her.

Even on that day in her past life when she heard the news of his tragic demise.

Even after she had become a wife to another man without ever knowing love.

The one who set Diana’s heart ablaze, both then and now, was Alan and Alan alone.

He was alive, and he was holding her close.

She was sharing her very first night together with him.

With just that alone, Diana’s heart was overflowing with warmth.

“Diana, you truly are…!”

Alan, on the other hand, was in a state far from calm.

Clad in a sheer nightgown, the warmth of the Diana he held was transmitted directly to him.

Even though he was desperately trying to keep his reason in check so as not to hurt his young bride, the person in question herself kept shattering that very reason, which made things terribly difficult.

“Lord Alan?”

Even now, she tilted her head in curiosity and looked up at him.

At that gesture, he swallowed hard.

“I promise. I will love only you, for the rest of my life. I swear I will make you happy.”

Alan’s words were powerful and unwavering.

At those words, the expression of the Diana in his arms blossomed softly like a flower in full bloom.

“…Yes!”

Diana blinked her eyes as she felt the strong force pulling her closer by her shoulders.

Noticing Alan’s breath and body growing hot and agitated──finally, a blush spread across Diana’s cheeks as well.

“Diana…”

“Alan, mmpf…”

The voices calling out each other’s names were swallowed up in a kiss.

Beneath the dim candlelight, Diana’s eyelashes trembled slightly.

At that fleeting sight, Alan could no longer hold back the dam of his reason.

The pale moonlight filtering through the window of the quiet detached residence illuminated the white bed linens.

Amidst a silence that seemed to melt into the darkness of the night, only the bedroom of the newlyweds remained wrapped in a soft, gentle glow for all time.