My Dear Grand Duke on a Leash - Chapter 63

Chapter 32.1 — Honeymoon Night (3)

The maids were in formation.

Since the upper-class ladies wouldn’t engage in a raucous bouquet fight, tearing each other’s dresses, their servants, like their representatives, had to be ready to do everything they could to catch the bouquet. The person to throw the bouquet was the Princess’s senior lady-in-waiting.

Bea, who had been talking to her husband, Jacques Saint-Cyr, now leaned towards Riette.

“Riette, are you sure you don’t want to catch the bouquet?”

“What would she do with it? Your younger sister is still too young to get married. Lariette can spend more time with her mother for a few more years. If both of you leave, who should this mother turn to in times of need?”

“Mother, Riette isn’t young. I’m just late to get married because of my weak health. Everyone usually gets married by the age of eighteen.”

“Yes. How refreshing it is for you to marry late and move out! It would be nice not to have to check on you as soon as I open my eyes every day, to share warm tea, or to go for a walk when the weather is nice. Isn’t that right, Lariette?”

Don’t worry, Mother. Now, I’ll repay you for what you used to do for sister. I’m never going to get married, and I’m going to live with you for the rest of my life!

It was normal for those words to come out naturally.

When there was no response, Ceres and Bea both looked at her. Riette, avoiding the conversation, stared blankly in one direction, letting the conversation slip past her like a breeze.

“…Riette?”

At the end of her gaze was the table where the Helios cousins were seated.

As the maids huddled together, each preparing for the impending battle, Narkissis and Cain silently observed the scene. Seated side by side at a round table, the two men hadn’t exchanged a single word since the reception began. It was a stark contrast to the Chalonné royal table, where various topics were chattered about incessantly without a moment’s pause.

“It’s truly a happy day, isn’t it, cousin?”

Narkissis parted his lips while delicately swirling the crystal glass filled with golden whiskey. A satisfied smile flickered at the corner of his mouth as if something good had happened.

“Want a drink? We should toast in sync with the bouquet toss. I know you’re not interested, but it’s a wedding tradition.”

Cain squinted at him in annoyance.

The profile, illuminated by the scarlet dawn, resembled a cunning fox cub plotting to steal someone else’s prey. Whether he was planning on staying all night or not, it was none of his business. It might be better to ignore whatever Narkissis muttered to avoid a confrontation and simply leave to avoid cracking his forehead by snatching the glass from his hand.

The opponent was like a hydra that, even if you cut off its head, it kept coming back to life. So, it was necessary to be patient like a hunting dog, lowering himself until the roots could be cut out.

Cain moved only his hand to pick up the crystal glass on the table. Then, he raised the empty glass to the level of Narkissis‘s face.

“To the glory of this land.”

It was a customary greeting to offer when the royalty presented a drink. However, for the younger generation, like Narkissis, it was an etiquette that could be omitted since it was an extreme greeting that only the heads of great noble families who have long adhered to tradition and etiquette could give.

Despite extending such a polite greeting, why did he look so arrogant that it made his stomach twist? Narkissis twisted his lips while pouring the drink into Cain’s glass.

Clank.

Then, he temperamentally set the whiskey bottle down on the table.

“Cain. As you know, I also like dogs. Like Lariette.”

Cain set down his glass without responding.

Clink.

The sound of glass meeting glass drew a thin incontinence in the air, taut as a rubber band stretched to its limit.

“Once a dog chooses its owner, it doesn’t change. Even if the first owner cut off one of its legs and served it for dinner, the dog would still yearn for them. Like a faithful hound that loves the owner who puts it into the ring of death every day.”

Narkissis stared at him with sharp eyes and took a sip of whiskey.

“So… there’s pleasure in stealing someone else’s dog. A dog that obsessively longs for its first owner, eventually ending up in my cage…”

“Kkyaaaak!“

“Catch the bouquet, quickly!”

The pouring noise of excitement drowned out Narkissis’s words.

Finally, the head maid threw the bouquet.

As the maids rushed forward like athletes, the ladies cheered for their representatives, raising their voices or applauding.

However, unfortunately, the head maid seemed overly tense to lead this great performance. The bouquet was thrown away with such force that the tendons in her forearm rose. The elegant bouquet soared over the outstretched hands of the maids, who leaped simultaneously, drawing a graceful arc towards the sky.

Like a cannonball slicing through the air, the bouquet abruptly came to a halt with a thud! A large hand, clad in white gloves, grasped the stem of the bouquet precisely in mid-air.

“Oh my.”

“Oh, my goodness…”

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