She turned around only to see Arianna, Rienne, and Alice all wearing black gowns.

"How do we look, my princess?" Rienne asked after giving a little twirl.

"Like someone had died." Lilith said.

"Well something did die." Alice answered ambiguously.

"Evelina's glory days are over!" Rienne cheered with the brightest smile. Lilith couldn't help but chuckle. Arianna let out a small smirk but concealed it quickly.

"I didn't expect for you to join in the fun, Arianna." Lilith said.

"Well sometimes, you can't help but enjoy the misery of another." Arianna said. She took out a fan and covered half of her face as she let out a laugh.

"My princess, you look so nice today!" Rienne opened her arms and hugged Lilith's shoulders. "But I still look the best, of course." Rienne teased with a smug look hanging on her pretty face.

Lilith, amused, decided to bite back. She turned her sights to Alice and asked with a charming grin, "What do you think, Alice? Who do you think is prettier today?"

"Naturally our princess Lilith!" Alice came over and hugged Lilith's waist. She wore a sly smile and looked at Rienne while snickering. Rienne returned her gaze with a fierce glare. But seconds later, everyone ended up laughing. The nobles around them couldn't help but spectate while speculation and judgement swirled inside their heads. But what could they do, the second princess is on the rise and has been spoiled by the imperial family. They couldn't bear to offend her.

The four of them made their way to greet Rulias. Seeing how the three dressed, his smile couldn't help but sink. With a forced smile and a not so pleasant tone, he said, "This one is honored and delighted to have you all attend my wedding. Thank you for coming all the way here…"

"It's a pleasure. Today is such an important day for both young master Rulias and lady Evelina. Oh! Oh my… I'm sorry. I seem to have forgotten to bring a gift…" Alice frantically apologized. Rienne smiled before saying,

"I didn't prepare anything either and neither did lady Arianna. But I'm sure this young master doesn't mind, having our presence during this wedding is already a gift in itself, no?"

"..." He stood there in silence. He was smiling but it couldn't appear any more fake. Lilith had to resist the urge of adjusting his smile herself for how bad of an attempt it was to hide rage. Lilith scanned the room once again and barely found familiar faces. Most who came were below the status of a count. There wasn't a trace of the Casspan family. Lilith began to wonder, would Chase feel sad? Well it doesn't matter anymore.

After minutes of absolutely nothing, the wedding actually started. By then, all were seated and looking forward to Evelina's appearance. They were as excited as a group of spectators waiting to see the final act of a circus start. The musicians began their performance and this lovely tune began to ring in the ears of all present. Lilith's smile grew wider as she heard the light footsteps coming from behind. Everyone looked behind them with either scrutiny or shock.

As expected of the lady that once held the title of the empire's top beauty.

Even with a very simple gown and hairstyle, Evelina's gentle and soft beauty managed to shine through. But something was off. Her beauty looked sickly, almost twistedly stunning. She appeared thinner and the white gown made her skin look ghostly pale.

Lilith bit her tongue and scoffed.

Evelina walked with grace and slowly made her way to stand with Rulias. The priest began his speech and Lilith instantly felt bored. Eventually her eyes and Eve's eyes met. Evelina just smiled and Lilith smiled back. But those eyes directed at each other were anything but loving.

When the time came for Eve to say her I do, she stayed silent fot a moment before saying, "I do. I promise through richness and poverty we shall remain side by side. Even if one was to fall to the endless abyss, we shall suffer together."

Were odd and sort of chilling as she did not exactly follow what the priest instructed. But what was most eerie was that Evelina stared straight at Lilith, this was only clear to Alice who sat at Lilith's side. But unexpectedly, Lilith didn't flinch or look away from those cold eyes, instead her grin grew wider and her eyes softened frighteningly. Alice shuddered.

After that passed, Rulias knudged Evelina by the shoulder and glared at her, "Why would you say that?"

"Is it not romantic enough? I just thought it was fitting" Evelina said.

"Just don't cause any trouble! You've already made this wedding hard enough for my family." Rulias told her before leaving to speak to the guests. As the days leading up to their wedding passed, he felt as if she was becoming more and more different than the Evelina he knew. The Eve he admired was sweet, humble, gentle, and always had the prettiest smile on her face that could make anyone fall for her. Now she's very strange and irritating. In the past he always thought how Evelina was much more pleasing than Rienne, but now, Rienne is far better than the Evelina of the present.

Soon after that, Duke Skyler pulled Evelina outside and warned, "Be sure to lay low from now on. You're a married woman now and stop lurking around other men, you must do your absolute best to please Rulias. The Aurabella family is not much but they're doing better than us."

"Wasn't 'lurking around other men' your idea?"

"You!"

"Alright, I understand. Instead of caring about your useless daughter, maybe focus on saving your own skin…" Evelina rolled her eyes. The duke, tired of her words, left without looking back.

***************

"That seems like the most miserable wedding ever!" Marie said with a glass of wine in her hands, "I will never let my precious princess have a wedding like that!"

"Miss Marie, I think you should drink more water." Eric noticed her being a little tipsy.

"He's right, Marie." Lilith chuckled. After leaving Evelina's wedding, Lilith decided to celebrate by having a meal with Marie and Eric in the second princess's palace. After tasting the flavorless food that was served in Evelina's wedding, who would want to stay? Of course only Marie was drinking wine, Lilith didn't allow Eric to touch alcohol. As for Lilith? Well she wanted to drink as well but Marie adamantly refused to allow her a single sip.

"I'm not drunk! If my princess gets set up with an unsightly man, I'll beat him to death and burn their wedding to the ground. Then I'll marry her myself!" Marie shouted.

"She's definitely not sober…" Eric sighed.

Just then a voice sounded not too far away, "This looks fun, why wasn't I invited?" There Charles stood with a bouquet of camellias, wearing the attire of a male palace servant. Although the relationship between the two empires have been growing closer and closer, it would still be a shocking sight if one were to see the ruler of a foreign empire sneak inside the palace of their second princess. Thus Lilith gave him a servant's uniform and fake identity if he wished to see her. Well he could contact her through Serina…

"Oh, Charles… I forgot about you for a moment." Lilith smiled.

"Your teasing has been growing more and more crueler…" Charles left the bouquet in her hands.

"Well you don't seem to mind."

Eric sat with an indifferent expression. Of course he had seen Charles with Lilith before but his mood still turned gloomier. He could clearly see the growing intimacy between them and he's already accepted it. Any man could see that Charles was pursuing Lilith.

"Oh the magic boy is here as well, I didn't see you." Charles acted surprised but how could he not see Eric who was sitting right there?

Eric's expression turned ashen and he frowned.

It was already cold outside but Eric's glare made Lilith shiver.

"Eric, Marie looks like she's getting a little tired. Please escort her inside the palace for me." Lilith said.

"What? No, I can still drink more!" Marie whined.

Lilith gave her most docile smile and Eric took Marie inside reluctantly. After the backs of those two could not be seen, Lilith glared at Charles and asked, "It's so late, why are you trying to provoke him? What has he ever done to you, oh so mighty Emperor?"

Charles chuckled, "That boy seems to harbor intentions towards you, that's why. How could another yearn for the lady I'm pursuing? But fortunately for him, it appears he has long thrown those thoughts to the back of his mind. If not, he wouldn't be having such a leisurely time."

"..." Lilith stared at him in disbelief.

"What? Don't pretend to be clueless. You must've sensed something." Charles pulled a chair and sat beside her.

"Maybe I did, maybe I didn't. It isn't for you to know."

"..."

"Oh my, I'm so popular now. It's almost exhausting." Lilith stretched her arms up and smirked.

"..." Charles sighed and leaned his head against his hand as he stared at her helplessly.

"Also… Just to appease my curiosity, what made you fall for me? According to those blind men of the past, I wasn't very likeable or suitable for a man's preference." Lilith felt a little bold today and she decided to tickle his heart. But his answer was quite unexpected…

"Well, you are very arrogant.You get too full of yourself sometimes and your pride is frightening… You are talented but if anyone overtakes you in something you're good at, you go mad. You're also not the most generous, benevolent, or gentle girl. Hm, it is a wonder how I fell so deeply for you…"

"..." Lilith sat there, stunned. The color leaving her face. Sometimes she wonders whether this man is really pursuing her or just making fun of her. He named his horse after her and now he's listing all her bad sides…

Seeing her expression, Charles almost laughed. He broke into a grin and said, "But I know deep down, you're a girl that just wants to have fun. You have lots of insecurities so you hide it behind this wall of arrogance and you hate it if anyone tries to break it down. You can be very simple sometimes but also very extreme.You're prideful but that's because you're always seeking another's praise."

"Alright! That's enough…" Lilith desperately wishes to dig herself a hole and bury herself inside it. Her hands shook as she restrained herself from throwing the camellias right at his face!

"To be honest, I'm not sure when or why my heart started to long for your's but I never believed that love needed a reason. Sometimes the memories we make and the time we spend together are enough." Charles sat up and pinched Lilith's cheek.

"Poof"

Lilith threw the camellias on his face.

Maybe she should really think about stripping his right of freely visiting her soon!