Chapter 171: The Victor’s Return 4

At the entrance to Bohemia’s royal palace, the members of Count Andreas’ household had assembled to welcome Santana’s return.

Count Tuahn and his wife were present, while the second son Baiken was absent due to military duties. Instead, their youngest daughter Desth stood in attendance.

With an air of nervous anticipation, Desth prepared to receive the guests.

Then…

‘They’ve arrived… Is that them?’

At last, her eyes fell upon the opulent procession slowly approaching.

Befitting an entourage bearing the Dragonian princess, its grandeur was so resplendent that even Desth felt overwhelmed by its imposing majesty.

‘Someone of such supreme standing… I wonder what manner of person she could be?’

Regrettably, Desth had been apprised of no details regarding her prospective sister-in-law.

For reasons unknown, most information had been withheld – she only knew this marriage had been arranged at the Dragonian Emperor’s recommendation.

‘Could she be hideously ugly or wicked of character…?’

Lacking any substantive knowledge beyond this political union’s blind arrangement, Desth could not help harboring apprehensions about her unseen bride’s potential shortcomings.

With bated breath, she watched the slowly opening carriage door, awash in trepidation.

‘Gulppp…’

Her dry throat constricted with tension.

This individual of loftiest pedigree among any Desth had encountered instilled an overwhelming sense of dread.

Compounded by her Dragonian imperial status – a realm capable of snuffing out Bohemia’s very existence – this formidable pressure weighed immensely upon Desth.

Amidst her pounding heart, she observed her brother Santana alight from the carriage, an expression of apparent joy gracing his beaming countenance.

Authentic or contrived, that smile hinted that his marital prospects might not be utterly dire.

Then, at last, the bride’s visage came into view.

Resplendent in a dazzling white gown, a serene smile adorning her lips, her overall lithe figure exuded an ethereal grace.

Her face, far lovelier than Desth could have envisioned…

“…Eh?”

That startled utterance instinctively escaped Desth’s lips.

Yet she was not alone in her stunned vocalization.

“B-But… Wait…”

“That person is surely…”

Like Desth, her parents’ voices betrayed their own shock and disbelief as the realization forcibly registered.

The woman now approaching, hand clasped in Santana’s, radiating an almost celestial beauty that the pristine bridal gown only accentuated.

Yet this breathtaking loveliness paled beside the profound blow that had robbed Desth of all composure.

‘Wh…What is this…? This situation…? Why is that woman here…? That lowborn wench… Why is she behaving so intimately…?’

The very individual whose countenance Desth knew all too well.

The one she had disdained for her baseborn status, disparaging and spurning her temerity in pursuing her noble brother.

That very woman now deferentially inclined her head towards the aghast Count and Countess, introducing herself with evident elation:

“I am Caseross Sophia Andreas, princess of the Dragonian Empire and the newly wedded wife of Santana Andreas. I shall be in your care from now on, Father, Mother.”

Her voice brimmed with profound joy, prompting the stunned nobles to falteringly respond after a dazed moment:

“U-Uhm… Y-Yes… We shall… rely upon you…”

“P-Please… take good care of our son…”

Myriad questions burned within the bewildered parents, no less than Desth herself.

Yet propriety demanded they officially receive this new imperial daughter-in-law before indulging their queries.

“I…I shall r-rely upon you as well… Lady C-Caseross…”

Following her parents’ lead with a tremulous bow, a whirlwind of shock ravaged Desth’s composure.

Witnessing her demeanor, Caseross responded with a radiant, triumphant smile:

“Yes, let us forge an amicable relationship, dear sister-in-law.”

The initial jarring encounter concluded, they proceeded into the royal palace where Caseross unveiled the full tale to her dumbfounded in-laws.

“And so it transpired.”

“Hoh… What an extraordinary twist of fate. I had thought only our son capable of such eccentric exploits.”

“In retrospect, this must have been destiny. They say marriages are made in heaven – who could have foreseen these two souls would intertwine so?”

As his own son had undergone a similar ordeal, Count Tuahn found himself nodding in bemused understanding at the improbable events.

Meanwhile, the Countess beamed with evident wonder, as if witnessing a fairytale realized through her son’s romance.

In stark contrast to her delighted parents, however, Desth could only feel as if sitting upon a bed of nails, crushed by an oppressive trepidation.

‘How…? How do I…? C-Caseross was truly the Dragonian princess all along…?’

Desth had once rejoiced at chasing this “flyaway wench” from her brother’s orbit when Caseross had departed.

Yet that former glee now manifested as a suffocating, hundredfold dread at the grievous insult she had committed.

For the woman she had so denigrated as a vulgar commoner was none other than a Dragonian imperial princess.

The highest-born individual present, whose status and might utterly eclipsed them all.

Though entering as Santana’s wife, Caseross commanded supreme authority that extended to potentially erasing Bohemia from existence at her imperial realm’s behest.

The very woman Desth had insolently berated and driven away due to her “lowly” station.

While Caseross currently smiled radiantly, if any lingering resentment festered, it could utterly upend Desth’s entire existence.

‘No… It’s certain… She would never simply overlook such transgressions against herself. Vengeance, dealt tenfold, is inevitable.’

Trembling at this vision of her doomed future, Desth came to an inexorable conclusion:

‘Yes… Since it has come to this, I must act swiftly. Rather than enduring a savage beating, I should prostrate myself directly and…’

Preemptive strikes lessened punishments, and confessions mitigated sentences.

As Desth and Caseross would inevitably cross paths going forward, the former resolved that swifter capitulation portended a more merciful fate.