"..." Today is the 02/10/66357, the day of my wedding to Evelyn. Everything is ready, and numerous nobles have been gathered to witness this extremely important matrimony.

"Everything is ready, Esther-sama" a maid speaks to me before stepping away. I look at myself in the mirror, examining my dress. It's a deep navy blue dress, so dark it resembles black.

The dress's frills and the bows in certain sections are white and black, an interesting and elegant detail that resonates well with my appearance. Meanwhile, the jewels are red and purple to match my eyes and Evelyn's hair.

Around my neck is a large necklace with four gems. The base of the necklace is entirely black, while three of the gems are red and positioned in a triangle, with the purple gem placed in the center.

'It's beautiful... She did a fine job making my dress... The jewels are perfect like this...' I look at my hairstyle; it's an elegant, straight style with a silver moon-shaped accessory placed on the right side of my hair.

My footwear is an elegant pair of black high heels with a 5-centimeter base, making me a little taller than I already am.

'A pair of black gloves would look great too, but since I'm getting married, wearing gloves makes no sense...' It's a shame, I think.

"How many guests have arrived?" I ask the maid, stepping away from the mirror after checking my makeup, which is very light and soft as I requested, since I didn't want too much makeup.

"200 guests in total. Everyone has arrived and is in the mansion's main hall! The decorations, food, and music are all perfectly arranged, and everything is in order for the wedding to begin! The bride is also ready, though she is still in her room waiting to be summoned," the servant proactively answers several things.

"Excellent. Then I suppose it's time for me to enter." I wanted a quick and brief wedding, not because I can't afford a long party, but because it's obvious to everyone that this is just a political marriage like all the others.

In other words, for most people here, what matters is currying favor with me to obtain things and make connections with the other powerful nobles who have gathered. The final reception already happened 5 hours ago, so they've had plenty of time to get to know each other.

So now, I just want to skip to the part where I make Evelyn mine for all eternity. Besides, although Evelyn didn't participate, most of the guests arrived three days ago for the first celebration party, bringing various interesting gifts.

And two days ago, there was a meeting between me and them to get acquainted. So, I've done everything a noble should do in a wedding situation. Normally, nobles spend a week on this, but we are at war and were attacked recently, so the Demon King allowed it to be faster, and I managed it with 4 fewer days of celebration.

"..." I start walking, leaving my room and heading to the main hall. I decided the wedding should be held at my mansion, so what I did was connect the lateral side of the main hall to another area.

And I turned that other area into the wedding venue. It turned out very beautiful and elegant, and the fact that it's happening in my own mansion gives this whole wedding affair a special air.

"..." I arrive at the staircase of the main hall, and everyone quickly notices. As soon as I descend the staircase and step onto the hall floor, some servants approach.

"Good evening to all gathered here," I begin to speak, using an artifact to amplify my voice throughout the hall.

"As you all must know, my wedding will begin shortly. I ask for your cooperation to begin. Please proceed to the lateral area of the main hall and take your reserved places so we can start the ceremony." I say only that and hand the artifact to the servants.

Immediately, all 200 guests begin to be guided by my servants while other employees come to me.

"Esther-sama, we have prepared the bride. Just give the command, and we will bring her," the servant quickly communicates.

"Perfect. Bring her in 15 minutes. That's the time it will take for me to go up to the altar and for the priest to be in his place," I tell her while watching the servants quickly scurry away.

'I wonder how Evelyn is...' I admit I haven't seen her dress yet. That pretentious designer only showed me the general base for my approval, but said the rest was a surprise and I could only see it at the wedding because it's "bad luck" to see the bride in her dress before that.

'Well, it doesn't matter...'

"Send the priest to his place," I tell other servants as I see my mother coming towards me. She is elegantly dressed in wine red with matte black.

"...I see you have organized your wedding well," my mother speaks to me in that mechanical, cold tone.

"Yes, naturally," I say just that. She is here because she needs to enter the wedding area with me as the representative member of my family.

"Are you ready?" she asks.

"Yes. Evelyn will arrive in 12 minutes, so we should go now or it will delay my schedule," I say, starting to walk towards the door. I stop in front of it as I approach my mother.

"You know you can never annul this marriage, don't you? Did you think about what I said before?" she asks while I roll my eyes.

"I know that well, and it doesn't matter. I won't yield to any instincts or anything similar." When I say this, a mocking smile appears on her face.

"Of course. Let's see then, Esther. But when you need help, don't forget that I will always be here to point out where you failed." As she says this, I signal for the servants to open the door.

The music begins to play as I enter, heading straight for the altar, accompanied by my mother. The priest is already in position. I step up onto the altar, standing directly on the left side, about 1 meter away from the priest's spot.

Now all that's left is to wait. I look at the various guests; most are people I've never met in person. They were invited just to maintain the noble image and not because they truly matter.

"..." I find myself strangely anxious about this. I don't know why, but my heart races and I start to feel somewhat nervous.

'It must just be anxiety about her making some mistake...' I wait, every second feeling like an eternity, until I hear the sound of a clock, showing it is exactly 10:00 PM.

Then the door opens again. Everyone looks over as Evelyn enters, holding her mother's arm.

Evelyn is wearing an elegant black dress, with a translucent dark gray frill that cascades down like soft, elegant waves with a slight silvery shine.

Her dress perfectly accentuates her lovely proportions, while the sound of her little shoes echoes through the hall. At her waist, perfectly fitted to the dress, is a deep, blood-red bow that stands out amidst the shades of black.

She is wearing a simple necklace with an elegant red and black gem that matches mine. Her hair is styled elegantly, falling softly, almost supernaturally, like a doll too perfect.

In her hair is an accessory of an elegantly sculpted black rose, while her face is covered by a translucent black veil. On the veil, various embroideries of black roses are visible, intertwined with each other.

Overall, her appearance is perfect, to the point where several nobles look at her in surprise. Evelyn is so beautiful that her mother next to her seems like just an irrelevant part of the scenery.

'...' My heart accelerates and my face turns red before I even realize it, and I can't stop staring fixedly at her.

'Was she always so... beautiful?!...' I feel genuinely nervous, swallowing dryly. I think I've never felt this kind of nervousness before; it's even a little strange. I take a deep breath, trying to calm down and not show this strange embarrassment.

...

...

...

I enter through the door with my mother, and the first thing I see is a beautiful white venue full of lovely white roses, and the second thing I see is Esther. She looks very beautiful in that dress.

'So this is it... I'm going to marry Esther... what an unexpected turn for my life...' I start to act as I should. Throwing a tantrum is useless; if I cause problems now, Esther will do horrible things to me.

'Why does Esther look so stiff?' As I take steps forward, leaning on my mother so I don't fall, I notice how rigid Esther is.

[Esther's Favorability +30 (Total = 60/100)]

'W-WHAT!!?!! W-WHY DID IT JUMP SO MUCH!' Suddenly the system screen appears, showing that Esther's favorability has made an absurd and abnormal leap.

'30... plus 30 makes 60... and in the system, a favorability of 60 is... Romantic Interest... Esther... sees me as a romantic interest?! How? Does she really have romantic feelings for me? But I'm just a love target! How can I receive love?' I'm confused.

My mother notices me stiffening but helps me keep walking without stopping. I look at my mother, who gives me a smile, and I decide to just go along with the plan.

'This jump isn't normal... jumping 30 points at once? I've only seen that happen with negative points! Never with positive ones... Could it be because of that?' Esther said I'm just like her.

I wonder if, from Esther's perspective, since I'm the only one who is "like" her, I'm naturally the only option for someone she can love. It makes sense, right? I think it does, at least.

'Maybe... maybe Esther can truly love? That... would be... good... Maybe if she can really love, she'll become a better person and drop that whole genocide idea...' I feel hopeful. I just hope this hope lasts.

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