Chapter 463: Just Live Happily

Before any weighing of gains and losses, Lily truly was like a little sister to me. Honestly, more than any thought of profit, what made me want to help her was family affection.

When I told her so, this naive girl in white immediately got full of herself.

"Hehe, that makes me feel so safe! Even safer than Uncle does!"

"That doesn’t mean you should lean on me too much. Everything in moderation."

"I know what you mean. I’ll only ask for help when I can’t handle something on my own."

Only then did Lily seem relieved. She hadn’t said anything, but she must have been anxious. In Rosenheim, everyone accepted everything about Lily, but the royal palace wasn’t like that. There, watchful eyes would follow her every move.

Anyway, after telling Lily what I’d wanted to say, I felt a lot lighter. I spent my days lazing around with Hilda, whose belly had grown beautifully round, until the day of the proxy wedding finally arrived.

"I wanted to see Lily’s veil dance at the royal palace. What a shame."

"Even so, it wouldn’t hold a candle to your veil dance."

"Of course not. That dance was just for you, Wolf."

The veil dance was a courtship dance the bride performed for the groom in front of the guests. I didn’t know whether it was a Germanic tradition, but in southern Germany, the veil dance was the main event of a wedding.

Hilda had been absolutely breathtaking that day.

Even now, I’d give anything to see it again.

Unfortunately, saying you wanted to see the veil dance again was practically taboo, so I couldn’t ask. Since the dance was performed only at weddings, asking to see it again was code for telling someone to remarry.

"I’m so glad we have Göring. We almost ended up throwing everything together at the last minute."

"Making Priscilla take a break so she wouldn’t overdo it was a really good call."

Priscilla was pregnant too, and when I saw her pushing herself to prepare for the proxy wedding, I freaked out and ordered her to rest right away. Is my child the only precious one?

My retainers’ children are precious too.

Hans, the father, was deeply moved.

Viola had tried to push herself too, so in the end I pulled all the pregnant handmaids off duty. That left a hole, and Göring was the one who stepped in to fill it and took charge. Nothing beats an experienced elder.

Thanks to him, we got the proxy wedding ready without a hitch. Göring humbly remarked that he’d finally earned his keep for the first time in a long while. And Francisco, the court priest officiating the proxy wedding, was very pleased.

Something about it helping establish the authority of the Bishopric of Lanseh?

Aside from my standing in for the groom, the proxy wedding was no different from a regular wedding. With the festivities stretching from Easter all the way to the proxy wedding, the people of Rosenheim ate to their hearts’ content.

We didn’t even need to go to Breisburg. We bought supplies in bulk from the merchants who’d flocked to Vintenheim and handed them out. Giving generously on memorable occasions like this is the mark of a good lord.

Hilda looked visibly exhausted, so I laid her down on the bed. Pregnant as she was, she shouldn’t overexert herself. Lily, meanwhile, was busy entertaining the guests from Breisburg.

I kissed Hilda’s forehead and stroked her cheek.

Hilda clung to me like a little kid and even turned playful.

"Now it’s your turn to spend the night with Lily."

"All I do is touch legs with her and leave. Spend the night, my foot..."

"Oh my, Lily’s been saying she won’t let you get any sleep, you know?"

The custom at a proxy wedding was for the proxy groom and the bride to spend the night with their legs touching, though the proxy groom usually left once the bride fell asleep. The act of touching legs itself was symbolic.

The proxy groom also had to remain unarmed without exception, to prevent anything improper. He had to be dressed in the finest clothes, and the procedure was complete only after he took the pillow oath.

"Brother Wolf, once tonight is over, I have to leave Rosenheim."

"Don’t go making yourself miserable and heartbroken. Just live happily at the royal palace. That’s all I ask."

"Thank you, Brother Wolf. Everyone else just tells me the same thing: fulfill my duties as crown princess and serve His Highness. The only people who actually wish for my happiness are you and Sister Hilda."

A large number of relatives had come from Offenburg too. The Marquis Offenburg and his heir, however, were skipping the proxy wedding and planned to attend the official wedding at the royal palace instead.

"Ever since Grandmother passed away, I’ve always been the black sheep. Growing up, I kept hearing that relations between the Rudelich and Altringen families weren’t as friendly as they used to be, and that I might be the spark that set things off."

"Is that why you threw yourself into your hobbies?"

"In a novel, I can create whatever story I want. That’s why it was so much fun. But the people in my family never respected my hobby at all."

It was an era when literature and art were considered the exclusive domain of men, and many female artists had struggled relentlessly to break through the walls of pride and prejudice. Maybe Lily would end up leading Beren’s literary world.

The Charging Wolf had become a massive hit among noble ladies, and I’d heard the presses at the Gutenberg print shop in Rosenheim were running so hot they might catch fire. In the end, Gens went all in on romance novels because they sold like hotcakes.

"Work hard and try to get His Highness to accept your hobby."

"How exactly should I go about it?"

"If you take control in bed... ahem, what am I even saying?"

"I know all about that stuff, you know! Sister Hilda taught me everything!"

Lily was confident she’d have the crown prince wrapped around her finger. She said she’d learned some amazing techniques from Hilda, but I was the one who had taught Hilda those techniques in the first place. My bedroom tricks aren’t going to spread through the royal family, are they?

Anyway, apparently the two of them had been sharing that kind of info without my knowledge. More importantly, it was late at night, so why wasn’t Lily asleep yet? She chattered away nonstop and looked ready to stay up all night.

"Go to sleep already. You have to leave for the royal palace tomorrow."

"I’m not sleepy at all! It must be because our legs are touching!"

"Hey, why do you keep rubbing your legs? Hold still, will you?"

"Hehe, can’t you feel how smooth my legs are?"

"Cut the crap and just go to sleep!"

The girl in white refused to fall asleep and kept on talking. As if she’d planned it all along, she poured out a flood of stories I’d never heard, most of them about trouble she’d gotten into while I was away from Feuzen.

"Damn it, I’d wondered why the top-shelf wine kept disappearing. You drank it all?"

"I’m sorry, Brother Wolf. It was so good that I kept sneaking some before I knew it."

"I’m billing His Highness for every drop. Brace yourself."

"Aww! That’s so mean! Just think of it as having gone down your lovely little sister’s throat!"

And apparently, the one who’d actually done the sneaking was Bodo.

That little punk. If I see him at the royal palace, he’s dead.

"One day I had a drawing lesson with Aachen. He told me to do a simple sketch, but I drew you and Sister Hilda kissing sweetly."

"What? Why kissing, of all things?"

"Because that’s what I saw the most, so it’s burned deep into my brain."

Lily burst out laughing as she described the dumbfounded look on Aachen’s face when he saw the sketch. Even Hieronymus Aachen, the most unhinged painter in my book, couldn’t handle Lily.

Right now, I couldn’t handle her either.

Go to sleep before I spank you!

In the end, I barely managed to escape at dawn. Sabine, who’d been waiting outside, looked at me with pity in her eyes. Some of the other relatives from Offenburg were there too.

"You’ve been through a lot, Master."

"Thanks for noticing, at least."

"Lady Lily must really hate to say goodbye."

Just as Sabine said, I could feel how reluctant Lily was to leave. But I couldn’t keep her here forever. Her home would no longer be Rosenheim but the royal palace.

In the morning, we got everything ready for her departure to the royal palace.

"Sister Hilda! I’m going to miss you so much!"

"Once I have the baby, I’ll come visit you at the palace often."

"Huh? Is that really okay? For real?"

"Luckily, Wolf gave his permission."

"Yay! Thank you, Brother Wolf!"

When I’d suggested that Hilda visit the royal palace now and then so Lily wouldn’t get lonely, Hilda had been overjoyed. And now Lily’s gloomy face lit up like a German iris in full bloom.

Seeing her so happy, I was glad I’d made the big decision to allow it.

Vermeer bowed courteously and spoke to Lily.

"Your Highness, it’s time to go."

"Very well. I’ll leave it to you to escort me to Breisburg."

"It is my honor. Please, board the carriage."

Lily’s expression, which had been so childlike in front of the two of us, changed completely. Now she would proudly enter Breisburg as the crown princess. And there, she would begin a new life.

All I could do was wish her every blessing.