Yuri had been waiting for a while in the room where the Wedding-Night Ceremony would be held when the door opened softly.
He lifted his head—and there, entering quietly into his line of sight, was Celine in a nightgown.
The soft gown flowed beautifully along the curves of her body, trailing all the way to the floor.
The way it moved was as graceful as a flower swaying in the night breeze.
Fresh from her bath, Celine's cheeks were faintly pink, and her flushed face glowed with a lustrous warmth.
Yuri caught his breath without meaning to.
His heart pounded, and he swallowed hard.
This is bad... She's too beautiful...
He tried to act composed, but Celine's beauty was so dazzling he could not look away.
Each time she took another quiet step toward him, her gown swayed with elegant softness, and each time it did, Yuri's heart beat faster still.
"M-my lord husband? If you stare at me that much... even I find it rather embarrassing..."
Celine shifted slightly, her cheeks reddening as she whispered the words in a shy voice.
"S-sorry. I-I'm ready, so... please, come in."
So flustered that his voice cracked, Yuri hurried back to his seat at the table where the ritual had been prepared.
He tried to calm himself somehow, but the tension inside him refused to ease in the slightest.
After Celine came Lieselotte and Ophelia.
So they really are going to watch...
He had already been told the two of them would be observing the ritual, so that much did not surprise him. But the next instant, Yuri found himself holding his breath again.
A-a nightgown...?
They were not wearing dresses.
Like Celine, they were dressed for the night—in nightgowns.
He had assumed they would come in modest dresses, and the unexpected sight sent his heart reeling at once.
Lieselotte approached quietly, a trace of bashfulness on her face, her cheeks softly flushed.
Ophelia, too, wore a gentler, more restrained smile than usual.
The two of them were normally so composed, but now they looked strangely unguarded, almost approachable.
Reason was screaming inside him, but emotion rose harder still, and heat came rushing up from somewhere deep within.
His heart hammered faster and faster, and panic and exhilaration together began running wild in his chest.
He knew what he was supposed to do, and yet he still could not drag his eyes away from them.
"My lord husband, do calm yourself a little. At that rate, your body won't hold out to the end."
At some point Aina had appeared beside him in her maid's uniform, leaning close enough to whisper the warning into his ear.
Thank goodness... Aina's only here as the witness.
Yuri felt a small pang of disappointment, but at the same time a certain relief.
That relief lasted only a moment.
The door never closed, and more people kept filing in—solemn-faced priests, followed by nobles wearing equally grave expressions.
Wait... all of them are coming in? Isn't this too many?
He had known priests would attend the Wedding-Night Ceremony, but he had never imagined this many nobles would gather for it.
And he absolutely hated the way their eyes were glued to Celine, Lieselotte, and Ophelia in their nightgowns.
Aina! Start already!
Wanting to get them out of those nobles' sight as quickly as possible, Yuri shot Aina a desperate look.
But Aina herself was busy menacing the room with a glare that seemed to say, Every man staring at Lady Celine is dead the moment this is over, and showed no sign of noticing his appeal at all.
Um... Miss Aina...?
Seeing that, Celine let out a small laugh.
"You really are impossible."
Then, as though she had guessed exactly what Yuri was thinking, she turned to the priest and addressed him quietly.
"Would you begin the ceremony, please?"
At Celine's words, the priest hastily straightened up and raised his voice.
"V-very well! We shall now commence the Wedding-Night Ceremony!"
At the priest's declaration, a pair of small cups and a ceramic bottle were set before them.
The bottle was engraved with intricate carvings depicting an ancient legend.
On one side, a beautiful goddess reclined with one hand outstretched.
On the other, a strong-winged angel reached back toward her while straining against the wind.
Contrary to the design, Yuri sat on the woman's side, while Celine sat on the man's.
And what lay between them was not a mere cup, but an important ritual vessel that would soon become a symbol of their vows.
"First, exchange your cups and pour the wine."
At the priest's instruction, Yuri and Celine quietly exchanged cups.
Yuri carefully poured wine into the cup that had belonged to Celine. Then Celine did the same for his.
The clear red liquid caught the candlelight and glittered like a jewel.
"Has everyone in attendance also been served?"
The priest looked around the room, confirmed that all was ready, and let his solemn voice ring out.
"Then raise your cups. May blessings be upon these two as they swear eternal love from this moment onward!"
"""Blessings upon the two!"""
The words echoed through the room in place of a toast.
Yuri lightly touched his cup to Celine's, then tipped the red liquid down his throat in a single swallow.
The next moment, a burning heat struck the back of his throat.
A rich sweetness spread across his mouth, touched by the faintest hint of bitterness. The alcoholic aroma that rushed through his nose violently stirred his senses.
"Strong..."
The word slipped out before he could stop it, and Yuri somehow managed to endure it with a hand pressed to his throat.
"This really hits..."
Beside him, Celine let out a soft laugh and whispered gently,
"It's your first time, so you don't need to force yourself."
Her cheeks, too, were lightly flushed, and the sight of it sent a sharp jolt through Yuri's chest.
A heat like fire spread from deep in his stomach through his whole body, and warmth began to seep through him.
From all around the room came the sounds of the attendees emptying their cups, and then quiet applause began to spread, gradually filling the entire chamber.
"This concludes the Wedding-Night Ceremony. We shall now proceed to the Bedding Ceremony.
Lady Aina, I leave the rest to you."
"I humbly accept the duty of witness."
With that, Aina knelt on one knee before the priest, crossed her arms over her chest as though in prayer to the gods, and bowed her head.
Then she rose, opened the door leading to the bedchamber, and called to them.
"Lady Celine, Lord Yuri, Lady Lieselotte, Lady Ophelia—this way, if you please."
The instant Aina's voice rang quietly through the room, the nobles who had been watching fell utterly silent, as though all at once they had forgotten how to breathe.
But only for an instant.
"H-hey... all four of them...?"
"No, surely not... Does the baron-consort really go that far...?"
"I-I'm so jealous I could die...!!"
One of the nobles muttered in a trembling voice, unable to hide the excitement on his face.
The others looked at one another in disbelief, and the whole room broke into an uproar.
"Not just Lady Celine, but Lady Lieselotte and Lady Ophelia as well..."
"And with a hapless noble, of all people...! H-how can something like this be allowed...!?"
"Why would Her Majesty the Queen Dowager subject us to such a trial!?"
Jealous eyes turned toward Yuri one after another.
The nobles' reactions varied.
Some stared wide-eyed with their mouths hanging open.
Some covered their faces with one hand.
Some bit their lips and endured it in silence.
A few even stamped their feet in frustration on the spot.
"...The Kingdom's Treasure, the Fairy Princess, and the Jet-Black Moonflower Princess... impossible..."
The young noble who muttered that covered his face with both hands and let his shoulders sag, as though mourning his own fate.
"Why does it have to be that hapless noble... Why couldn't I have been younger...?"
Beside him, an older noble poured wine into a trembling glass, drained it in one go, then closed his eyes and stared up at the ceiling with a deep sigh.
"One more. I need one more drink, or I won't survive this..."
At that mutter, the surrounding nobles nodded in agreement, raised their glasses, and started drinking again.
The whole room had become an unmanageable whirlpool of jealousy and excitement.
Th-this is bad... This is actually going to kill me...
With the nobles' jealous stares pouring down on him from every side, Yuri entered the bedchamber, accompanied by Celine, Lieselotte, Ophelia, and Aina.