Chapter 23
Three months later, The Shadow Court was adorned in festive decorations.
Seraphine wore a white wedding gown, her delicate forehead decoration making her skin appear as fair as snow.
Alistair, rarely in a black formal suit, looked so handsome that all the women present blushed.
Halfway through the ceremony, a disciple hurriedly entered.
“Lord, a gift from Valmont Keep has arrived.”
Alistair frowned. “Send it back.”
“Wait.” Seraphine lifted her veil, “Let me see.”
It was a pair of exquisitely crafted jade figurines: a boy holding a scroll and a girl with a short sword at her waist. The base was inscribed with the words “A Hundred Years of Harmony.”
Seraphine’s eyes welled up with tears.
It was the wish she had made when she was seven.
“Master, when I grow up, can I give you two children? One as smart as you, and one as strong as me.”
“Where is Prince Valmont?” she asked.
The disciple shook his head. “The one who sent the gift said that Prince Valmont went to the Occitan Marches to seek medical treatment. Before leaving, he instructed the gift be delivered today.”
Alistair squeezed Seraphine’s hand. “Shall we retrieve it?”
Seraphine shook her head and placed the figurines back into the brocade box.
She lowered her veil again. “Let’s continue the ceremony.”
After the ceremony, Alistair carefully lifted Frost’s pure white veil.
“Does it still hurt?” he gently touched the scar on her shoulder.
Seraphine shook her head, and leaned in to kiss his lips. “Honey…”
The red candles burned brightly as snowflakes unknowingly began to fall outside
A carriage moved slowly along the official road miles away.
The curtain of the carriage lifted, revealing Lucien’s empty sleeves and a relieved smile.
The next morning.
“You’re awake?” Alistair’s voice was husky with sleep, his warm breath brushing past her ear
Seraphine turned slightly and met his eyes, now fully alert.
Sunlight filtered through the veil, casting tiny golden rays into his eyes, where no trace of the Shadow Court’s leader’s coldness remained.
“When did you wake up?”
She reached out to touch the stubble growing on his chin, the prickling sensation making her fingertips tingle.
Alistair caught her restless hand and kissed it.
“I couldn’t bear to move, seeing you sleep so soundly.”
Seraphine noticed that outside the bed, a neat set of clothes lay, and the dressing table had a copper basin of warm water. Even her preferred toothpaste was prepared
Yet Alistair still wore his night clothes, clearly never leaving her side.
“All of this…”
“I had the maid prepare it.”
Alistair sat up, the silk nightshirt slipping down to reveal fresh scratch marks on his neck and shoulders.
