Belated Happy New Year to everyone 💕
....·*·....
"I never imagined that you would send your Mistress' daughter to that cruel land, don't you have any pity on her?"
The one who spoke was Evangeline Rhea Van Doren, the official wife of the pope and Henrietta's stepmother.
In her right hand, she elegantly raises the teacup to her thin lips before sipping quietly then looking back at her husband whose eyes are staring outside of the window while he's puffing his cigar that contains a drug.
"She was after all the spitting image of Adelai-"
"Shut your mouth... I told you that you will never speak about that topic, have I not made myself clear?"
Evangeline looked down and sighed softly.
"Karriel immediately accepted the proposal that I sent, after promising Henrietta's purity they sent a letter that they agreed with the promise of handing the barren land in the Vatican's hand." The pope looked at his wife, with his dull eyes, there was nothing but disgust as he stares at his wife.
"Karriel... They are cautious bastards, but after hearing about a pure bride from the Vatican, I could already imagine the bastard Emperor salivating like a dog. I knew from the start that Karriel's royalty would only take a pure bride, but I had never wanted Henrietta to marry such a man. But I wanted that barren land so badly that I can't help it, that daughter of mine could've been the Empress of Salvatore you know, and Louisa... That daughter of yours could be Henrietta's maid, or probably at least a daughter of a baron, at most a count? Who knows? That kid takes after you."
He puffed his cigar once again before continuing.
"I'm relieved that your idiotic son who lusts after his sister didn't dare to make a such mistake as claiming her. But if he did, you know what I'd do... You are already a failure to be my wife as well as a mother."
He looked at Evangeline with disappointment before standing up and going out of the room.
Evangeline could only suppress her emotions deep inside of her and let it all go with a deep sigh.
.·*·.
It amazes Henrietta seeing that the Imperial Palace of Karriel is well decorated just for a wedding of a stranger from the Vatican.
Before coming here to Karriel, Henrietta had read a lot of books about Karriel's customs. The procedure of Karriel's wedding was very different from the procedure that she knows.
Unlike in the Vatican and in the Empire of Salvatore, where of course political marriage is famous, but weddings come first before anything else.
However in Karriel, the purity of the bride is a must and before the wedding, the bride-to-be must carry the heir of the Emperor before proceeding with the wedding.
The Royal family of Karriel has always been in small numbers. Just like the current Emperor, he is the only child and heir to the throne. His father, the previous Emperor was also an only child, and his mother who was from the Empire of Consus doesn't have anything to do with her family since just like Henrietta, Klauss' mother was arranged to marry into the Imperial Family of Karriel.
Henrietta thought that Karriel was desperate and in need of an heir.
"Woah..."
"She's..."
"Is she His Majesty's Bride?"
"It seems so, don't you see that she is the only woman who has that weird-looking appearance?"
