Vera stood in the Audience Hall of the White Sea Imperial City.
She looked down and found she was wearing an ice-blue gown.
The dress shimmered with the clear luster of thin ice under the skylight of the dome, and the frost-crystal patterns adorning the hem swayed gently with her movements.
‘I feel a bit strange. How can I be wearing clothes like this? I am Father Emperor’s official, the commander of the army… In a place like the Audience Hall, I should be wearing my military uniform.’
As Vera stared blankly at her dress, someone suddenly walked over and patted her on the back.
“Why do you have such a bewildered look? Does the dress not fit?”
She turned around to look at the person — it was Iyue, the scout and ranger of the Hero’s Party, and one of her best friends.
She was also wearing a gorgeous green and white gown that looked very much in the style of her Elf race.
“No. I’m just not quite used to it.”
She answered in such a manner… and then the empty Audience Hall became crowded with people.
Seeing these people, she finally remembered why she was wearing a gown in the Audience Hall — she was here to attend a wedding, a wedding being held in this very Audience Hall.
“Do you want something to drink? You look like you’re in a daze.”
Iyue took a glass of champagne from the tray of a passing waiter and handed it over.
“…Alright.”
Vera took the glass. The liquid in the glass was a bright amber color…
Just like Meliya’s eyes. She took a sip of the wine and found the taste very familiar.
This was wine from the Palace. Vera remembered that the last time she drank this wine was with that brat, Lian En.
After a training session, he had forced her to break into the Palace wine cellar to steal some wine, using the excuse of venting their pent-up stress.
That was also the first time the two of them had ever drunk alcohol.
Although it was their first time, the two of them perfectly demonstrated their potential to become excellent drunkards.
They drank an entire barrel of wine that night… and then remained unconscious from drunkenness until the next morning.
Thinking of this, she smiled happily and drained the glass in one gulp.
“Girl… is this wine really that delicious? Look at how happy you are.”
“You drunkard really have no sense of romance. She’s not happy because the wine is delicious.”
Two people walking toward them carrying wine glasses — it was the Dragon King Laide and the Blood Demon Duke Kui Yin. They were the only two members of the Demon Race in the Hero’s Party, so they always moved together on such occasions.
“Are you two here as well?”
“Waste of words. Today is that guy’s wedding, how could this King not come? As for the stinking bat… you can just treat her as someone here to make up the numbers.”
“Screw your ancestors! Are you looking for a beating?”
“Ahaha… Vera, let’s go see the bride first, shall we? Don’t keep her waiting.”
Leaving behind the two Magi who had started bickering on the spot, Iyue pulled Vera forward through the Audience Hall.
Her words reminded Vera that she was the bride’s bridesmaid… The wedding was about to start, so she had to hurry.
Thus, they passed through several layers of guests.
As they passed the delegation from the Holy Nation, the usually frivolous Holy Maiden Linxi was forced to put on a serious expression while surrounded by a group of bishops, bowing her head toward them.
Near The Throne, they saw her eldest brother, King Roland, wearing his crown and talking to a petite girl — it was Sephy, who had changed her usual habit, taken off her mage hat and white wizard robes, and put on a set of formal clothes.
Both of them were people Vera respected and admired most in her life.
So, she stepped forward and greeted them.
“Little sister Vera, congratulations!”
Roland laughed heartily and slapped her on the shoulder… She felt as if she could hear her bones trembling.
“…Be gentler. Don’t break her.”
Sephy’s tone as she reminded him sounded as exhausted as ever.
But when her gaze turned toward Vera, she still wore a warm smile.
“Vera… congratulations.”
“Why are the two of you congratulating me… I’m not the bride.”
Vera responded to their blessings with a smile.
But as she said those words, she suddenly felt a bit empty inside.
The small talk with her companions finally ended.
Vera and Iyue entered the side gallery of the Audience Hall.
This was a corridor leading to the Emperor’s living quarters, the same passage the Emperor usually took when attending court.
And in this passage, she saw the bride wearing a veil… and the young man standing beside her, whispering into her ear — it was Lian En.
“Ahem, cough!”
Iyue, standing beside her, reacted before Vera did. She coughed pretentiously, her voice echoing in the corridor.
The newlyweds, who were sharing secrets, noticed someone’s arrival and quickly let go of each other’s tightly held hands.
“…”
“Ah… sorry, hehe.”
The bride did not speak, only turning her face away.
Meanwhile, Lian En looked at his two companions awkwardly, his face as red as a ripe persimmon.
“How shameless. The wedding hasn’t even started yet, what were you trying to do to the girl?”
“It hurts, it hurts! I was just saying a few words to her… Old woman, let go!”
“Who are you calling an old woman! I’m only 432 years old! That’s the prime of youth for an Elf!”
Sigh, there was really nothing to be done about these two.
After casting a helpless look at Iyue, who had grabbed Lian En’s ear and begun to lecture him, Vera approached the bride.
Sensing her approach, the bride, who had been looking away, also turned her face to look at her.
“This veil is so thick. I’m afraid you won’t be able to breathe.”
“It’s fine. It adds a sense of mystery~”
The bride responded playfully. This fit Vera’s impression of her perfectly… she was such a lovely and lively person.
To see her walk down the aisle with her beloved, Vera felt sincere relief and happiness.
“Congratulations, Meliya.”
So Vera offered her heartfelt congratulations… Even if there was still that small sense of loss in her heart, what did that loss matter compared to the happiness of the girl in front of her?
Suddenly, everyone’s eyes turned toward her. Not only Iyue and Lian En, who were bickering nearby, but even the bride in front of her lifted her head, her gaze seemingly trying to pierce through the veil —
“Sister, who is Meliya?”
Hearing her call her that, Vera suddenly felt a wave of dread… a chill that surged from the soles of her feet up her spine, reaching the top of her head.
“Vera… what are you doing!”
She ripped off the veil of the bride in front of her, before Lian En and Iyue beside her even had time to stop her.
And then she saw a face that was incredibly familiar to her, a face she missed beyond words.
She had pale blue hair, and her soft features were four or five parts similar to the face of her deceased mother, the late Empress, whom she had seen in portraits.
“…Diana.”
She called out the girl’s name with a trembling voice.
“Yes. I am Sister’s Diana, right? I am Sister’s and Brother Leon’s one and only ‘Moon’.”
The girl said this while smiling at her.
She had seen this smile of hers countless times… but only in dreams, it could only be in dreams — because she was already dead.
And so, Vera woke from her dream.