Chapter 08
“Ah.”
Claudel finally regained a bit of composure.
At this point in time, they had only exchanged a few words with each other.
“H-he must think I’m acting strange…”
Claudel bit her lips hard.
As proof, the knights of Valdemar were staring at her blankly.
It was likely because of her unusual behavior.
“I-I’m sorry.”
Claudel’s cheeks flushed red.
Thankfully, her face was hidden behind the bridal veil.
Otherwise, she would have shown him her completely flustered expression.
“I think… I was just startled.”
“Well, that can happen.”
Fortunately, Reinhardt didn’t press the matter.
After hearing the full story from a knight, Reinhardt furrowed his brows and asked Claudel,
“So the maid attacked you?”
“Will you be able to go through with the wedding as planned?”
“What?”
Claudel blinked in confusion.
“You must have been shaken.”
“…Your Grace.”
“I don’t mind if we postpone the wedding. People are more important.”
In that moment, Claudel felt her heart ache warmly.
To Reinhardt, she was nothing more than a chain the King had forced on him.
A humiliating marriage.
An insult to Valdemar.
And yet…
“You’re still so kind…”
So Claudel shook her head.
“No, it’s fine. I’m fine.”
She knew well what people thought of her.
The King’s mistress.
A temptress who, in her desperate longing for the King’s love, had gone through two husbands already.
Even though she had never had any choice in her three marriages,
society’s perception of her was fixed.
If the wedding was canceled now—
“It would tarnish Valdemar’s honor…”
No matter how much they tried to explain it was because of Grit, the rumors would spiral out of control.
…Just like they had in the past before her return.
And Claudel had her own personal desire as well.
“I… I want to go through with the ceremony.”
Claudel’s face flushed red without realizing it.
In the past, because of her suicide attempt, she had never been able to hold the wedding.
But now…
“I want to officially become the Duke’s wife… in front of everyone.”
Of course, in the long run, Claudel knew she would have to leave the Duke’s household.
Hermann had used Claudel before as an excuse to falsely accuse House Valdemar of plotting treason.
She couldn’t leave a stain like herself on the glorious name of Valdemar.
But right now, the marriage to Reinhardt was already in motion.
If they postponed the wedding now, it would only make Reinhardt take on a new disgrace—
“The bride refused to marry him.”
Even if that wasn’t true, people would see it that way.
So…
“Isn’t this a little bit of selfishness I’m allowed to have?”
For the Duke.
And for herself…
Reinhardt looked down at Claudel with an unreadable expression.
And then—
“Understood.”
He quietly nodded and extended his hand to her.
“Then let’s go. There isn’t much time left.”
It was the gentlemanly gesture of escorting a lady.
“I never thought… I’d be able to hold this hand again.”
Claudel stared blankly at the hand offered to her, then carefully placed her own on top of his.
It was warm.
“I really didn’t think I’d get to stand at the wedding altar…”
Claudel looked around with a strange, fresh feeling.
The wedding ceremonies of the Dukes of Valdemar had always been held in the estate’s largest and most splendid hall, “The Sun Hall.”
It had the signature Northern style—high ceilings, colorful light pouring down through stained glass windows,
luxurious silver candelabras, and fresh flowers blooming extravagantly even in the winter season.
And even the statue of the goddess with a benevolent smile watched over them.
As Claudel looked at the picture-perfect scene, she felt her chest tighten with guilt.
“In my previous life… this beautiful hall must have been dismantled without ever being used.”
Because of her suicide attempt,
all the time and effort that had gone into decorating this hall had been wasted.
Meanwhile, despite it being the day a new Duchess was entering House Valdemar,
the atmosphere inside the hall was cold and stiff.
No guest in the hall welcomed Claudel.
“It’s fine.”
Claudel forced herself to straighten her back.
Even if this marriage would forever make her Reinhardt’s one and only stain,
still—
“His Grace is alive, standing right in front of me.”
Valdemar’s estate had not yet been burned down.
And Reinhardt was looking at her with an unscathed, flawless face.
That fact alone filled Claudel with overwhelming joy.
Though in her first life, it had all ended so tragically—
“This time, I won’t let that future return.”
Her hand gripped the bouquet of lilies-of-the-valley tightly.
“I will change everything, no matter what.”
At that moment, the high priest presiding over the ceremony opened his mouth with a solemn voice.
“Reinhardt von Valdemar.”
“Yes.”
“Do you vow to take Claudel Dotrisch as your wife,
to remain faithful to her for life with trust and affection?”
Claudel unconsciously swallowed dryly.
The moment Reinhardt’s lips opened felt like an eternity.
And then—
“Yes.”
Reinhardt answered calmly.
“Haa…”
Claudel let out a breath of relief in her heart as her tension melted away.
Then, the high priest turned toward Claudel.
“Claudel Dotrisch.”
“Yes.”
Claudel straightened her posture and responded.
“Do you vow to take Reinhardt von Valdemar as your husband,
to remain faithful to him for life with trust and love?”
“Yes.”
Although she was stiff with nerves, at least her voice sounded calm enough.
“Then the two of you will now exchange rings.”
An attendant carrying the wedding rings on a silk cushion stepped forward.
Reinhardt, with an indifferent expression, picked up a ring and spoke politely to Claudel.
“Lady Dotrisch, your hand.”
Claudel, trying not to tremble, extended her hand.
On her slender finger, the clear diamond ring shone brilliantly as it caught the light.
After that, Claudel also placed the ring on Reinhardt’s finger.
Her blue eyes trembled slightly.
“I… I’m exchanging wedding rings with the Duke. This feels like a dream.”
Her heart was pounding so wildly she thought Reinhardt might hear it.
But the final step of the wedding still remained.
The high priest looked back and forth between Claudel and Reinhardt.
“Now, the vow’s kiss.”
Reinhardt stepped forward, closing the distance between them in one stride.
As he lifted the translucent wedding veil, Claudel’s face was revealed—her eyes gazing up at him blankly.
Reinhardt was momentarily at a loss for words.
“……”
Those deep blue eyes resembled a tranquil lake.
Her silver hair reminded him of untouched, pristine snow.
In that moment, Claudel looked like a winter spirit who had lost her way and wandered into the human world.
“I understand now why Hermann was so obsessed with her…”
There was a fleeting, ethereal quality about her, as if she could vanish from this world at any moment.
Perhaps that was why she made people feel a strange, anxious pull.
“Enough. This is pointless thinking.”
Reinhardt clicked his tongue silently and leaned down.
As his lips captured Claudel’s soft, rosy lips, her mouth opened slightly in surprise.
The faint breath that brushed against him was… strangely sweet.
At the same time, the high priest declared:
“In the name of the goddess, I now pronounce you husband and wife.”
After the wedding and its accompanying ceremonies were completed,
the newly wedded Duke and Duchess of Valdemar retired together to their bridal chamber.
They had just shared their first night as husband and wife.
Reinhardt, his gaze complicated, looked down at Claudel, who had fallen asleep almost as if she’d fainted.
“Well, it’s true she must have been very tired today…”
He reached out and gently arranged her completely disheveled silver hair.
A maid had tried to attack Claudel earlier.
That alone must have been terribly frightening, and yet she had still pushed through and held the wedding.
Reinhardt knew Claudel was likely aware of the unflattering rumors about herself.
“She must have forced herself for this…”
Suddenly, Reinhardt recalled the first time they had ever discussed the marriage.
No she knows rein..🥲🥲