The wedding venue chosen is the largest Cathedral of the Holy Spirit in the Royal Capital.
At the tail end of this winter, the Church finally arranged for the handover of the Saintess, and Lilith’s position could be said to have hardly warmed the seat before she was replaced.
But at least the people of the Royal Capital remembered this Saintess, who was different from the previous ones. Not only did she personally distribute porridge, but she also found jobs for the refugees, with many of them celebrating the wedding of the Saintess and the King in the Outer District.
Though Lilith might not have realized it herself, she inadvertently did things that only Isha would have done in the original timeline, winning herself some public support. At least during Lilith’s time, she broke the awkward status of the Saintess being an aloof figure.
“Is this really okay?”
Lilith maintained gravity and elegance in front of her rare close maid.
“Of course, Lady Saintess, you look absolutely radiant today, truly like a Saintess.”
The maids shed tears of emotion, finding it hard to imagine that the previously nonchalant Saintess would be as graceful as she was today.
“Don’t say I looked the same as before.”
Lilith pouted, glancing at herself in the mirror. The pure white wedding dress complemented her jet-black hair; although she was petite, her presence compensated for this. Under the careful embellishment of the makeup artist, Lilith could hardly recognize herself.
Unfortunately, her brother wasn’t here; she wondered how he was doing. By now, had he stopped nursing? She hoped he had also crossed into a game he liked.
Regarding marriage, Lilith still felt a lack of reality. She wasn’t prepared to spend her life with Klan, but just like progressing the story in a game, this moment had truly arrived, and Lilith could only accept it calmly.
The bells of the cathedral rang, and Lilith cast aside distracting thoughts as she was led by the maids to push open the grand doors, seeing Klan waiting for her outside.
As the male protagonist of the original work, Klan’s charisma and looks reached their peak at this moment. Though he had just recovered from a serious illness, he looked full of spirit.
Compared to before, Klan now appeared more reserved, even wearing a king’s robe inlaid with gold and gems without appearing ostentatious.
The security of the cathedral was jointly managed by the royal family and the Church, making it as solid as a fortress. As the solemn prayer began, the entire cathedral fell silent in an instant. The priest stood at the altar, holding the religious texts, with a solemn expression, announcing the beginning of the wedding ceremony in a loud voice.
After the complex ceremony concluded, under the witness of the royal family members, Lilith became the new queen of this country.
Next, she was to take a horse-drawn carriage back to the King’s castle.
To create a more approachable image and reduce the public’s resistance to the new administration, Klan chose an open carriage.
In the carriage, Klan, wearing a crown, held Lilith’s hand, waving the king’s scepter towards the people on the ground.
The common folk along the roadside happily scattered petals that they had prepared in advance.
At least on the day of the King’s wedding, the Royal Capital was prosperous.
In the distance, on a deserted tower, a soldier confirmed everything was fine with another soldier using signals, when suddenly he felt a chill behind him. A shadow crawled up his neck from beneath, and before he could unroll a signal scroll, he lost consciousness.
“The security is more stringent than expected; I need to bribe those green skins when I return.”
The assassin murmured to himself, pulling out many mechanisms from the shadows and quickly assembling them into a heavy crossbow.
Although the Black Crow Society wanted a shocking and extravagant assassination like that of Augustus III, it was impossible. The Black Crow Society lacked the dual insider capabilities like the Lantern Dream to freely traverse the palace and approach their target while setting up magic circles. They could only use some plain and straightforward methods for their assassination attempts.
Moreover, the royal family had been on high alert. From the perspective of the Black Crow Society, even the mysterious organization that had previously assassinated Augustus III had not been able to continue targeting members of the royal family, making this assassination attempt’s difficulty self-evident.
Being able to carry a weapon this close without being discovered was already the limit for freelancers.
The assassin finally took out a plain bolt from the shadows, which, rather than being just a bolt, resembled a sharpened stone resembling a needle.
Watching the King in the distance who was continually waving to the crowd, the assassin hesitated before ultimately deciding to aim for his body.
The assassin could distinctly feel that under the King’s crown, he was wearing armor, and a non-enchanted bolt would be hard to penetrate. However, while the anti-magic stone bolt cannot be enchanted, the crossbow could, and at this distance, it was already sufficient.
With the effort of several shadows, the assassin finally cocked the bow.
“This arrow might cost as much as several Mage Towers. Great Shadow Goddess, if I hit this time, I’ll offer my devotion to you.”
Setting the heavy crossbow on its stand and aiming it at the King’s chest, the assassin pulled the trigger.
The anti-magic stone bolt completely ignored the dense magical defenses around Klan and, under the effect of the enchanted crossbow, pierced through the armor Klan was wearing and firmly embedded itself in his chest.
Cheers erupted from the crowd as Klan fell from the carriage amidst the throng.
Realizing what had happened, Lilith reached out to grab Klan, but her fingers only barely touched him as he fell.
The King was assassinated before the public.
Lilith felt as if her sky had collapsed.
On the other side, within the Graywhite Territory, Lena had already donned the new military uniform designed by Lind.
Though it was a new military uniform, Lind had merely altered the coat style from his past life and changed the patterns to fit the alternate world’s style.
Moreover, this outfit was not exclusively military but rather a characteristic uniform of the Graywhite Territory.
Currently, there were two sets: black and white. The white represented military officers and army personnel, as the Lars Family seemed to particularly favor white; even their armor was chosen in pure white.
The black represented the government system, and most new nobility who became officials through examinations were of this color, including Lind himself, who also wore black.
The new uniform also made most officials understand that Lind preferred a simple and capable style. After all, even for high-ranking officials, the difference in uniforms was merely an extra shoulder cape. Compared to the complicated fashion etiquette of the former nobility, it could already be said to be a severance below the neck.
This was also part of Lind’s plan to change ceremonial practices; useless etiquette would only hinder administrative efficiency.
“Lind, are you watching?”
Lena spread her arms and ran in the snow, her golden hair dancing in the cold wind against the silver-white world. Her cheeks, tinged with the cold, turned slightly red as she turned back to Lind, showcasing a brilliant smile.
“What’s there to look at? This aesthetic is too simple; even our elves are more refined.”
Tia adjusted the hem of her coat. If living in modern times, Tia would likely judge Lind’s design as typical straight male aesthetics. Greya beside her fully agreed with Tia’s sentiment, though Greya’s gaze remained fixed, somewhat envious of Lena’s white uniform.
Two kinds of individuals cannot sleep under one blanket, and Lena greatly liked Lind’s straightforward male aesthetic, just as Lind appreciated the hardcore design of the train prototype Lena created.
“We’re in a meeting, be serious!”
Lind sighed at Lena, despite it being the end of winter, the temperature felt even lower than during the harshest cold.
Currently, Lind had summoned all the key heads of the territory to discuss the spring campaign plans and the King’s intent to expand the Queen’s power, which could significantly impact whether the Royal Capital would interfere in the Northern Border during spring.
Lena pouted and huffed back, but the Lars generals showed expressions of relief. Although the Lord Governor seemed a bit relaxed lately, still having the energy to engage in fashion design meant the army was harmonious as long as the relationships between the Governor and the Governor’s wife were cordial.
Meanwhile, an assassin nearby felt agitated and wished that the mushy couple could just fall out at that moment.
After all, while Lena appeared to be somewhat simple-minded, she was an actual sixth-tier professional and was renowned for her defense as a Lars Knight. The assassin had initially hoped for an opportunity to strike once they separated, but aside from the fleeting chance moments earlier, the rest of the time Lena and Lind were like conjoined twins, stuck together.
At this moment, the Black Crow Society’s assassin realized the difficulties they faced were even greater than those from the Royal Capital. Since the fallout between the Royal Capital and the Northern Border, there had been no Lars knights guarding the King. Here, however, the place was filled with Lars Knights.
Moreover, to evade detection by bards, this assassin found it even harder to use shadows, infiltrating a mere local lord’s territory proved more difficult than sneaking into the King’s wedding.
Seeing the target about to enter the building, the assassin grit their teeth, preparing to leave everything to the Shadow Goddess as the anti-magic stone bolt burst through the howling northern wind.
Sensing something, Lena suddenly clasped Lind in her arms. Lind thought to chide her for interrupting the meeting, advising that hugs could wait until after the meeting, when he was suddenly pushed back with tremendous force.
Falling to the ground, Lind felt something hot soak into his shoulder while the weak Lena confirmed her own well-being with blurred vision, soon revealing a smile.
On Lena’s pure white uniform, a fresh red bloodstain bloomed on her shoulder.
The stone bolt lodged into Lena’s shoulder, not touching Lind, yet at that moment, Lind felt unbearable pain.
“The Governor has been attacked! Seal off the area!”
“Target spotted, where’s the guard? Where’s the guard?”
The scene descended into chaos. Lucanus moved toward the direction of the assassin as quickly as possible, while the Sisters squeezed through the crowd to check on Lind and Lena’s injuries.
“Quick, bring holy water! The Governor’s wife’s injury isn’t severe, but she is infected with disease; disperse the crowd, hurry!”
The cacophony became quieter in Lind’s ears; reason told him he should stand up and take control of the situation, yet his body remained immobile.
“Brother… you can’t fall down yet, you have to be the Prime Minister, to be the highest official… you need to stand at the highest place…”
Lena’s tone was weak. Even close to Lind’s ear, her voice was faint. To Lind, this sound thundered louder than the surrounding chaos.
