I don’t know what to call them. Here’s the original: 의전 대신. If someone knows, please help me. Thank you.
in charge of the entire ceremony, two maids serving Adrian, the attendants, and even the guards attached for security.
Everyone, except Marco, found the prince’s naivety cute.
Of course, they didn’t show it because they would have to face unnecessary scrutiny if the crown prince found out.
“Should I carry you in if it comes to that?”
“That’s even worse.”
The prince sharply rejected Adrian’s proposal, which was full of personal feelings.
He didn’t want to be rumored as the prospective empress who was carried into a gathering of domestic and foreign dignitaries.
Since the two didn’t know that the emperor had already caused a stir by carrying the empress to the event, Adrian only wet his lips with regret.
Then, the master of ceremony looked outside.
After the guests had somewhat settled down, the band that had moved outside began to play a calm music.
“Now, hold hands, and when the door opens, slowly walk towards the high priest.”
Gulp
.
Carl, who was wetting his burning throat with saliva, and Adrian, who thought this was the moment and quickly grabbed his hand, stood side by side in front of the door.
“Uh, how far should I go before I stop?”
Ah
.
One of Carl Lindbergh’s conundrums.
Should he stop right in front of the high priest, or should he stop at a reasonable distance?
“
Ahem
, you can stop when the music stops.”
At the master of ceremony’s words, Carl seemed relieved and stroked his chest.
And everyone who saw that clenched their teeth.
It was the first major event after the emperor’s wedding and the crown prince’s coronation.
The Emperor hated hustle and bustle, and since the engagement had been arranged after a year of little to no fuss, the officials in charge of the ceremony were on edge.
However, the nervous prince, who was curious about everything, made them relax.
Usually, an engagement ceremony is stressful enough to make one lose hair because of the people involved in everything from head to toe, flower decorations to table arrangements.
They thought that Empress Theresa, who had a simple personality, and Prince Carl Lindbergh, who was also simple in that respect, were well suited to their lord.
On the contrary, because their lord was indifferent, they all clenched their fists, burning with the goal of creating an event that would not undermine the dignity of the empire.
On the other hand, Carl Lindbergh stared at the door just before it opened, his eyes wide open.
‘This is the engagement of the only crown prince in the empire. If I fall and disgrace myself, Lindbergh will look ridiculous. That must never happen.’
It was not just about falling down, but also about not stumbling over his words and showing the posture befitting a spouse to the crown prince.
Carl straightened his back.
“Prince, be strong.”
Marco whispered quietly from behind.
The attendant peering out the window cracked the door open slightly.
“When the door is fully open, you may enter slowly.”
Carl and Adrian locked eyes and tightly held hands at the same time.
Outside, the person in charge of the procession shouted loudly.
“His Highness the Crown Prince, Adrian Heineken, and His Highness the Prince, Carl Lindbergh, are entering!”
The door swung open wide, and the two walked out.
Adrian firmly grasped Carl Lindbergh’s hand, as cold as ice. And as Carl walked, moving his left foot, left hand, right foot, and right hand simultaneously, Adrian suppressed his laughter.
A small smile spread among the nobles, and Princess Leia, who was standing just a few feet away, touched her forehead in helplessness. But looking at Carl’s smiling expression, the corners of her mouth twitched in amusement.
His cheeks, slightly flushed from the chilly wind, were lovely with a hint of rosy color.
“Relax, it’s just an engagement ceremony.”
Adrian whispered softly into Carl’s ear, making sure only he could hear.
“How can I?”
Carl replied, not even glancing at Adrian, but focusing only on the pure white new building ahead.
“Even though I’m the only one who you need to look good for?”
Adrian murmured, “Even if you come in doing somersaults, there’s no one here who’ll criticize you.”
Carl chuckled at Adrian’s playful remark.
“Speak sense. We have the dignity of the royal family to uphold.”
The idea that he only needed to look good to him was ridiculous.
But thanks to him, he felt a bit more relaxed.
The distance in front of him seemed to be a hundred meters.
Just as the tip of his nose felt chilly, facing the priest in front of him, Carl saw the face of the sacred high priest shining like a halo, and realized that the author of this novel had a strong tendency towards sensuality.
‘He’s incredibly handsome.’
The high-ranking priest, wearing a tall hat and a white robe, was beautiful like a white lily.
He felt ashamed of himself for thinking of the priest as someone with heaps of white hair, given the grandeur of this remarkable personage.
Adrian’s face was undeniably captivating, even after seeing it a hundred times, but he thought it was because he received a protagonist buff.
Can someone who only appears once or twice in the story be this handsome?
“Both of you, please extend your hands here.”
As the music stopped, the two of them reached out their hands and placed them on the scripture held by the priest.
When the high priest placed his hand on top of theirs, everyone in that spot could briefly smell the exquisite blend of flowers and herbs.
Soft sighs could be heard from various places.
Carl Lindbergh also smelled his own pheromone for the first time.
Thinking that he emitted an indescribable and subtle fragrance every day, his face flushed with embarrassment.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve felt such compatible pheromones.”
When the high priest laughed brightly, Carl Lindbergh couldn’t help but smile along, and as a result, Adrian’s spring-like gaze quickly turned cold like frost.
Glenn, sitting with the empress in a thick outer garment on the terrace one floor above, chuckled.
Theresa stroked her bulging stomach and glanced at her husband.
“Are you laughing?”
It was the engagement ceremony of their precious son.
Not only did Glenn arrange the engagement without saying a word to Theresa, but he also caused embarrassment in front of the nobles by shamelessly kissing her on the cheek.
“It’s amusing, isn’t it?”
Feeling relieved by the feather-like kiss, Theresa leaned against Glenn’s shoulder and looked down, asking what was so amusing.
“The expression you had when you first saw the high priest—the prince is making the same one.”
And Adrian is making the same expression I had back then.
Theresa, who alternated between Adrian’s displeased expression and Carl’s reddened face, crinkled her nose and said:
“It can’t be helped. I didn’t know that he had lived for nearly a hundred years.”
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