Chapter 337: Wedding Dilemma

Until finally her mouth moved."W...what?" she stuttered in complete wonder as she met his gaze, seeing just how seriously he seemed to be taking the entire thing.

"We were going to get married... Why not shift it to tomorrow!" he said, even as he placed her on the bed and hovered over her, his head bent toward hers, his face only a few inches away from her own.

"To-tomorrow?" Rymora asked, still overwhelmed with astonishment she could barely contain, even as she tried to push him away.

Wanting to have a serious conversation without being distracted by his naked body was harder than she had thought.

"We can’t! We’ve not planned for it! We’ve—" She tried to say more but failed, trailing off just as Lord Drehk interrupted before she could finish.

"I have no friends, and for you Lady Aria would suffice! I see no reason to delay!" he outrightly told her, "...Unless you have one..." He looked pointedly at her, waiting for her to speak.

Rymora knew what he was alluding to, wanting her to speak about the matter—something she knew she couldn’t.

"I see no reason why the wedding can’t be held tomorrow!" She sighed, even as she kissed him, returning to distracting him from the topic they had been discussing.

It worked, of course, until they were both naked and she was lying on top of him, even as he spoke in a clearly satisfied tone.

"Your dress will be made and ready tonight, and tomorrow morning, in the eyes of everyone we will be married!" he said, even as he scrambled off the bed and began to dress.

He looked clearly excited to start the arrangements, while Rymora felt only anxiety as she watched him leave.

It was bad! It was very bad! was the only thing she could think about, aware that with the Alpha and Luna in the realm, they would realize that she—a werewolf—was getting married to a vampire.

Her eyes looked wild in fear the deeper and longer she thought about it, her chest tightening with every passing second.

If the wedding went on like it was supposed to, then her secret was bound to be found out.

’A werewolf pregnant for a vampire!’ What a joke, she thought bitterly to herself as she scrambled off the bed and headed off to wash before putting on new clothes.

It was a bad idea, but the only thing she could think of was to get an audience with the king.

Maybe, by some miracle, he would have mercy and prevent the wedding. Even telling Lord Drehk would be preferable than for him to find out in the temple.

But she had just stepped through the door when she froze and came to a complete stop.

Yes, King Zyren knew she was a werewolf, but that didn’t mean he would accept the fact that she was pregnant for a vampire.

Sweat slowly pooled at her back as she came to a full halt, her breath turning uneven. For a second, she felt dizzy, even as she found her balance using the doorframe. But the wave of dizziness had barely passed when she decided she had had enough.

A grave expression crossed her face, showing immense exhaustion, even as tears slowly filled her eyes. It was clear that she was struggling, even as she breathed out a long, trembling breath of air and made up her mind.

’I’ll tell Lord Drehk everything!’ she decided, realizing that trying to keep secrets was draining her.

Touching her belly as she continued to speak to herself, "If he wants you, then you’ll live!" she whispered, realizing that if he didn’t, maybe—just maybe—Lady Aria could keep her alive. But at that point, Rymora wasn’t even sure she wanted to be alive.

Annoyed, she headed out, looking for Lord Drehk by asking the vampire butler, who instantly responded that he had headed off to the city.

Rymora wasn’t happy to hear it, even as she went ahead to wait for him to return.

But even as she waited in the guest receiving area by the door, she was stunned to see maids work their way in—about ten of them—even as they moved toward her, measuring her with extreme politeness.

They worked quickly, whispering to one another as they took measurements, adjusted fabric samples, and carefully noted every inch of her figure.

Soon, they were done.

"The dress will be ready by tomorrow morning," their leader said with a bow before leaving.

Clearly, Rymora’s status had changed.

Rymora was still reeling from the fact that the wedding was still taking place when another visitor entered.

It was Aria, who had a huge smile on her face, filled with hints of concern.

"You’re getting married!" she said, even as Rymora flew up with a severe expression on her face.

"Lord Drehk suddenly came up with the idea!" she gasped.

"I’ll tell him that I’m a werewolf!" Rymora confessed in a low tone, even as Aria instantly nodded her head, realizing that she herself needed to speak to Zyren.

Pulling Rymora in for a hug, she comforted her. "You’ll be fine! Regardless, I won’t let anything happen to you!" Aria promised with a serious expression on her face, even as Rymora did her best to maintain an element of calm where she felt only chaos.

Aria didn’t stay too long before she also left, even as Rymora prepared her heart and will for when Lord Drehk arrived, so she could speak to him before it was too late.

But hours passed extremely slowly, even as she fell asleep on the couch, only to be startled awake by the sounds of loud footsteps of people moving back and forth.

Horrified, she opened her eyes to see that it was morning.

The servants moved with precision and direction, and with all the things they carried, it was clear that they were preparing for the food festival that would take place after the marriage at the temple.

Rymora had only gotten to her feet when she was plucked away by the maids, who instantly led her to a warm tub of water after stripping off her clothes.

"We have so much to do and so little time!" their leader spoke, her voice aged with experience. "I just got a report that Lord Drehk has already arrived at the temple. Your dress took longer to make!" she said, even as Rymora nodded, unable to get a word in.

The bath smelled divine, rich with floral oils and herbs, and if anything, it made her relax a bit regardless of her current circumstances.

But it didn’t help the thumping of her heart, which felt like it was seconds away from simply exploding in her chest.

Drehk hadn’t returned, and she wasn’t going to see him until she got to the temple.

For a second, she considered running away, only to squash the thought. Any other day it would have been difficult, and considering that she was the bride, it was bound to be even harder to hide herself from the many eyes on her.

She was pulled out and dried off, then made to sit in front of a mirror, even as her short curly brown hair was instantly given more attention. First it was adequately dried even as they applied perfumes that made her want to close her eyes and do nothing but breathe them in.

Clearly they were extremely expensive.

Decorated with white flowers meant to match her very red dress—red being the official color for brides.

Rymora had just put it on when her eyes widened, stunned by the details on it. The jewels alone made it sparkle, shimmering under the morning light as the cloth pooled at her feet.

The waistline was cinched in a way that accentuated her mid-region, cut in a V shape to show a bit of her chest.

Servants were meant to cover up, slaves’ clothes were demeaning, but the dress was meant to show freedom in the sense that she could wear whatever she wanted since she was getting married to a lord.

The shoes provided were just as soft, even as the maids stood behind her looking proudly at their work, clearly impressed by the result.

"Can I get a veil?" Rymora suddenly asked, which the maids clearly didn’t like, considering how long they had spent on her face.

"I want to surprise my partner!" she told them, which they instantly approved of as they hurried to make one long enough to cover her entire body.

They had just finished when there was a knock and a familiar voice that belonged to the butler.

"It’s time!" he said, even as the maids hurriedly covered her with the veil as fast as they could making sure it covered her whole body. Before leading her to the door.

But they had just gotten there when the door was pushed open.

Rymora hoped it was Drehk, but it wasn’t.