Read Novel Full Chapter 435: The Wedding of the Generation [1]
Chapter 435: Chapter 435: The Wedding of the Generation [1]
Chapter 435 – The Wedding of the Generation [1]
September 1st. Royal Hood Palace. Groomsmen’s Room.
The room was large, with a single wide window directly facing the door. Its walls were painted in the usual black and red of the Hood Family, though strangely enough, the colors here were tamer than usual, almost inviting.
The golden sun of Sunu Gaal, touched faintly with white, crawled through the open window and sent dozens of rays into the room, looking almost like long fingers reaching for something invisible and unknown.
The temperature inside was warm, the air flooded with the many perfumes and other scents used by the men currently gathered there.
Raven Hood leaned back in a reclining chair, wearing a black suit lined with red stripes, his eyes closed and his hands resting over his chest. Two rings adorned his right hand, one around his pinky with a red gemstone embedded within it, and another, entirely black, around his index finger.
A scar ran along his left cheek.
Raven was smiling.
Omm Min Jambar had heavily insisted on making tea, one known only to his village, and was currently working on it with a faint smile on his face while the kettle hissed and huffed before him.
Like Raven, he wore a black suit with red stripes, though unlike the Prince, he wore no jewelry.
Dorian Desdemona sat beside the window in the same suit, leisurely smoking a cigarette from Hollington, an expensive brand. Pink smoke curled around his face in a strangely beautiful manner, while red earrings dangled from both his pierced ears.
And then there was Klaus, who was completely incapable of remaining still.
He was grinning, and somehow, that grin only seemed to widen with every passing second.
The young Spirit Heir wore the same black suit with red stripes, the clothes fitting his frame so perfectly that his already handsome appearance had become considerably more striking.
His green hair, for once, wasn’t tied up, instead flowing freely until it reached just below his ears, giving him an appearance very few people had ever witnessed.
A green necklace hung around his neck, an expensive watch adorned his wrist, and a single green ring sat on the middle finger of his left hand.
Klaus stood directly in the middle of the room, looking suspiciously like someone preparing to say or do something stupid.
And indeed...
"Guys, you should all respect me, alright? I am the damn Best Man here. Me, Klaus Silicin Handoff, the best man as the Best Man!" Klaus bellowed at the top of his lungs, looking at everyone gathered inside with an enormous grin. "What a perfect name for a perfect role! What a perfect man for a perfect role! What a pretty motherfucker like me for such a pretty motherfucking scene! MAKE SOME NOISE!"
The room remained completely silent.
Not a single person replied. Mostly because this wasn’t the first time Klaus had said those exact words.
It was the thirteenth.
Yet Cassius Desdemona still chuckled at the stupidity of his friend.
The Last Born himself wore a stunning white suit with purple stripes, the stripes forming the sigil of the Desdemona across the fabric: a snake devouring its own tail.
He sat with an expression that was equal parts amused and embarrassed while two women worked on his hair and face.
Cassius’s lips inevitably twitched.
"I really don’t think I need any of this, ladies," he said for what had to be the hundredth time. "I’m already handsome enough."
"Please, just allow us, Lord Cassius," said the woman working on his face, staring at him with stars practically shining in her brown eyes. "This is my first time having the opportunity to work with such a...masterpiece. Please. I won’t disappoint you."
"And your hair is so white. I’ve never seen anything like it." The woman taking care of his hair held it almost reverently. "Are you really an angel, Lord Cassius?"
"Well, do you believe I’m one?" Cassius asked.
"Yes, Lord Cassius."
"Of course, Lord Cassius."
"Then maybe I am."
"He is not!" Klaus’s interruption made both women, and every man in the room, look toward him. "Don’t be fooled by his appearance. He is not an angel. Hell, how can you even believe something like that? This man is a Desdemona!"
"Hey, what do you mean by that?" Dorian protested. "We’re good people, you know? The best."
"Right, brother?" Cassius laughed.
"Indeed, pookie," Dorian replied.
"Don’t listen to him. That’s his brother talking. Of course he’s biased," Klaus retorted.
"Klaus, I didn’t make you my best man for this, you know." Cassius closed his eyes briefly so the woman could continue her work. "Now I’m beginning to dread whatever you’ve prepared for your speech."
"Don’t dread it. Anticipate it. I spent the last three days sitting at a table and thinking deeply about it." Klaus grinned. "You’ll love it, I promise."
"Which means I won’t. Noted."
"But," Omm suddenly chimed in as he handed a cup of tea to Dorian, who accepted it with a quiet thank you, "if angels truly exist, I believe Sir Cassius is indeed the closest definition of one."
"Look at this sucker," Klaus sighed, earning an immediate rebuke from Windy for his rude words. Klaus ignored the Spirit.
"But that’s quite true," Raven added, leaning back in his chair with a smile as he drank his tea. "Cassius has helped me many times. I believe the very fact that I am with Anesthesia today is mainly thanks to him."
"Even the Prince?" Klaus countered. "You can’t even make a woman yours without help? How old are you? Seven?"
"And you’re the one talking?" Raven chuckled. "Last I heard, your family proposed an arranged marriage between you and Love de Bayard of the Rune Tower, which turned out to be..."
He deliberately left the sentence unfinished. But the grin on his face finished it for him.
"Wipe that grin off your face, Prince. I’m so fast that sometimes my hand moves on its own. You might suddenly find it against your face," Klaus said with a sulking tone. "And that’s a completely different situation."
"Hahaha, don’t mock him too much, though, Uncle," Cassius joined in. "Klaus might actually be the next one getting married here. He might surprise you."
"What kind of nonsense are you saying now, bastard?" the Prince of Wind muttered, staring at his friend with wide eyes.
The others laughed.
Even the two women working on Cassius couldn’t help themselves, secretly wishing they could somehow immortalize the scene before them.
No one would believe them if they claimed to have witnessed so many famous young figures of the Kingdom gathered in one room, talking such complete nonsense.
And surprisingly, or perhaps not, their conversations weren’t all that different from those of any other group of young men.
"I can relate to what the Prince said," Omm spoke after a moment. "The main reason I’m here today is also thanks to Sir Cassius."
"Me?" Cassius echoed, genuinely confused. "How? I don’t remember doing anything for you. Maybe except trying to get you together with Meadow, but even then, Meadow only took you because you were competent."
"I had decided not to bring this up, but perhaps I should sincerely thank you for that as well. And for inviting me, a commoner, into the Royal Palace." Omm smiled nervously. "I told my parents about the wedding, and they couldn’t believe me. They prayed a lot for you. I hope you don’t mind."
"Hahaha. I don’t mind, Omm. I really don’t." Cassius smiled. "Tell them thank you for their prayers. I appreciate it."
"But what exactly did he do for you?" Klaus asked, tilting his head. "Because as far as I’m concerned, I’m always the one doing things for this bastard, so I can’t relate."
"Oh, really?" Cassius grinned. "Maybe I should tell these gentle folks about that night when a woman made you—!"
"ANYWAY!" Klaus cut him off with a shout before immediately whirling toward Omm, who was already chuckling. "Answer the question."
"I don’t think Sir Cassius remembers anymore," Omm said. "But once, you bought a man’s carriage. He was brown-skinned, very large, with broad shoulders. He talk quite a lot too, hahaha. Anyway, you bought his carriage for three times its actual price."
The moment Cassius heard those words, his thoughts traveled far into the past.
He remembered. It had happened just before he entered the Outskirts of Desde City with Océane.
And as Cassius looked at Omm now, really looked at him, he suddenly realized just how much Omm resembled that man.
How had he never noticed it before?
"That money was used to buy the Health Potion that cured my illness," Omm continued, still smiling. "An illness that, sooner or later, I believe would have killed me."
Cassius’s expression slowly changed.
"And what remained of that money was used to buy the books I needed to prepare for the Scholarship Exam."
"Oh my," Raven muttered, genuinely surprised.
"Dude, this sounds like some damn drama." Klaus narrowed his eyes suspiciously at Omm. "Are you sure you didn’t pull this story out of your ass?"
Windy slapped him. This time, Klaus yelped.
"That’s indeed my pookie," Dorian said proudly.
Even the two women attending Cassius had stopped what they were doing for a moment, staring at him with increasingly bright eyes.
At that instant, someone could have told them Cassius Desdemona was the reincarnation of some ancient god, and they probably would have believed it without asking a single question.
Cassius himself, however, looked deeply embarrassed by all the attention and waved a hand gently toward Omm.
"I didn’t know any of that. I just helped because I could."
And those words made him pause.
’One of the rare times I helped someone without wanting anything in return.’
He had been new to this world back then.
Still adjusting and still carrying so much of Noah within himself that sometimes he hadn’t known where Noah ended and Cassius began.
’I was still...not fully Cassius.’ His eyes remained on Omm. ’How much have I changed?’
Cassius shook his head gently, pushing the thought aside. "I’m happy that I somehow helped you."
"And you also helped me gain Miss Meadow’s attention, which eventually led to her hiring me as her Shepherd." Omm’s smile widened, carrying a warmth that seemed untouched by any darkness, his soothing presence slowly spreading throughout the room. "So for all of that, Sir Cassius..."
He looked directly at him.
"I hope you enjoy this day. And I hope you and your wife, Ma’am Isolde, will be happy together forever."
Cassius went quiet.
"I hope so too," Raven said. "You deserve it. And we’re not saying that simply because you’ve helped all of us in one way or another. We might not know everything you’re going through, Cassius, but we know you’re working hard for what you want."
"So take a deep breath, little bastard." Klaus had somehow moved behind Cassius. He bent slightly and placed a hand on his friend’s shoulder, tapping it softly. "Forget all the burdens. Forget the worries, the insecurities, and every damn thing that could possibly go wrong. Today, I want you focused on one thing and one thing only."
His grin returned.
"Your wedding. You hear me?"
"And nothing will happen anyway," Dorian added calmly. "If anyone wants to disturb this wedding, they’ll have to go through all of us first."
"Ah, and me too."
The voice came from nowhere.
Every shadow inside the room suddenly bolted forward. They converged in the middle of the chamber, flowing together before rising from the ground like living ink.
A humanoid figure slowly took shape within that darkness, and before anyone could even determine who it was, Cassius and Dorian already knew.
The Last Born smiled, and the shadows peeled away.
Lucian stood in the middle of the room with his usual wide grin.
"Morning, morning, morning," he said in that familiar rhythmic voice of his, looking around before his eyes finally settled on Cassius. "Youngest, youngest, youngest. Right on time?"
Cassius laughed, happy.
And almost as though Lucian had planned it perfectly, the two women stepped away from Cassius at that exact moment, finally finished with their work.
The Last Born rose from his chair — tall, majestic and ready.
"Right on time, bastard."
—End of Chapter 435—