”The Bridal Waiting Room”
It appeared I was going to have a wedding twice.
The husband, of course, was the same man.
“Good heavens, what a waste.”
“My lady, why not try to see the bright side? It’s not every woman who gets to be married twice in one lifetime.”
“I suppose that’s true, but… I’d rather the money go to charity.”
“That’s precisely why the master has already donated a sum exceeding the cost of the wedding itself—in your name, my lady.”
Emily was right about that.
Kael had recently donated an amount equivalent to the cost of our wedding ceremony to every poorhouse in the duchy. And because he’d made the donation in my name, my bedroom was now buried under dozens of letters of gratitude.
“The master does tend to take your every word to heart, my lady.”
That, too, was entirely true.
Kael never let anything I said pass by unnoticed—not even my most offhand remarks. I had been doing my best to fulfill my duties as duchess, including overseeing the household affairs, and in doing so, I had naturally come to learn something of my husband’s business dealings, heard about them in passing the way one picks up things without quite trying.
Many of the ventures he pursued or invested in were ones I recognized. Kael had an extraordinary head for business—sharp and incisive in ways that put me to shame. And yet, even knowing I could offer little of real value, I found myself wanting to be of some help to him. He spent his days shut away in his study from morning to night, and I hated thinking I had nothing to contribute.
And so, drawing on what I knew from my past life, I would quietly offer him suggestions here and there.
‘”Kael, about the southern coastal road project—could we pursue it? Because, well…”‘
My reasoning was thin, my information incomplete. But my husband believed every word I said, utterly and without question. Even when the stakes were high and the investment risks substantial, the moment I voiced an opinion, he moved to act on it.
Fortunately, nothing I had told him so far had turned out to be wrong.
As a result, the Hardeion fortune had grown steadily with each passing month, and the duchy—already immaculate—flourished more with every new day.
There was one rule I had set for myself, however, when it came to using what I knew from the original story. An iron rule, one I would not bend under any circumstances.
I would never touch what rightfully belonged to good people.
The only ventures I quietly steered Kael toward were those whose spoils would have gone to men who wielded wealth to do harm—to commit corruption, to exploit the poor in the shadows of the underworld through predatory money-lending.
‘It was no small satisfaction.’
Six months after our arrival in the capital, we had come to the Hardeion Duchy as promised—and it was on that very day of our arrival that my husband had made his abrupt proposal.
‘”I’d like to hold another wedding.”‘
‘”Pardon? Why?”‘
‘”Just because.”‘
Kael was not a man who offered elaborate explanations. Caught off guard by such a sudden suggestion, I had tried to dissuade him again and again. But he was immovable.
“I understand it, actually,” Emily said. “I imagine the master must have given it a great deal of thought.”
“Thought about what?”
“Think about it, my lady. The first wedding—wasn’t it all rather rushed, in the end?”
“Well, yes, but—”
“I’d wager it’s been quietly weighing on him. A wedding is a once-in-a-lifetime occasion, and that one was thrown together so hastily it was over before anyone had a chance to breathe. Of course there would be some regret.”
“Hmm…”
“And I’m sure he feels some guilt toward you as well. Weddings tend to be deeply meaningful occasions for women.”
Listening to her, I had to admit Emily’s words made sense. The first wedding really had been a whirlwind—the kind you blink through and suddenly find yourself mid-vow without quite understanding how you got there.
“…Still. It was grander than most weddings by any measure. It must have cost a fortune.”
“That’s not quite the same thing, my lady. The difference is where your heart was then versus where it is now.”
“My heart?”
“Yes. Back then, weren’t you frightened into marrying him? You were afraid that if you refused, the master would make you disappear without a trace.”
“Mm. That’s fair.”
“But things are different now. The two of you have finally come to truly understand each other. Surely the master knows that.”
“…Do you think so?”
“Of course. A man as perceptive and sharp as he is—do you really think something like that would escape his notice?”
I turned the thought over quietly.
Come to think of it, Kael did have an uncanny ability to read a room.
“Then I suppose I should be grateful. He’s doing all of this for my sake.”
“Exactly. And it isn’t easy. The master isn’t one for honeyed words or sweet gestures—but something like this makes it plain that he is, without question, a man of action.”
“That’s true. He’s never done anything that would cause me harm…”
“And he’s never once made a show of all the things he does for you, has he?”
“That’s also true… it is. But it really is far too much.”
“Measured against the standard allowance given to most noble ladies for personal upkeep, it is rather excessive, yes.”
My personal household allowance had increased twentyfold since the first sum I had received during my initial days as a bride-in-training—and all of that within six months.
Kael, naturally, had said nothing about it. The problem, in fact, was precisely how little he said. No matter how many times I insisted I had no use for it and asked him to stop, he simply didn’t hear me. The funds continued to arrive, deposited into my account as if my objections were no more than background noise. If my accounts were a physical object, they would have grown so fat they’d have burst at the seams.
“If you’re going to give me all that money, you ought to at least stop buying me things. You give me the money ‘and’ send along all manner of jewels and gowns on top of it—what exactly am I supposed to do with my own funds?”
“You have been spending more than half of it, my lady. Just recently, you opened ten new shelters for unwed mothers throughout the duchy using the bonus you received.”
That was also true.
Kael had, on top of everything else, given me fifty percent of the profits generated by the business ventures I’d recommended—as a bonus. No matter how firmly I waved it away, insisting I truly didn’t want or need it, he remained unmoved.
“I wish he’d stop giving me money…”
“That is precisely the sort of thing that would make passing noblewomen clutch their pearls and faint dead away, my lady.”
“…’Sigh.'”
I exhaled a long, slow breath.
‘Right. This is the second wedding—a celebration he’s arranged not for anyone else, but for me. I should be grateful. I should be glad.’
“Oh, my lady—it’s nearly time for you to make your entrance.”
I had been grumbling about the very idea of a second wedding until moments ago, but the moment Emily spoke those words, my heart began to pound.
Because today’s wedding was going to be extraordinary.
* * *
