Last Born Of The Desdemona

Chapter 436: Chapter 436: The Wedding of the Generation [2]

Chapter 436 – The Wedding of the Generation [2]

September 1st. Brighthold Hotel. Bridesmaids’ Room.

The room was completely windowless, for reasons none could explain. It was painted in pink and white, colors that would hurt the eyes of any normal human beings who dared to stare at them for too long.

On the walls of the room were portraits that none of the women inside cared about, or even spared a single glance.

All of them were focused on the woman sitting in the middle of the room, with Love de Bayard taking care of her makeup and her hair.

The silence was suffocating, as if the air had solidified.

Even Keisha, who was usually open and outgoing, couldn’t manage a single word out of her mouth. Every time she wanted to speak, seeing the narrowed eyes and hardened face of her best friend, Natalia, brought her straight back to silence.

She was suffering, fidgeting all over like a fish wishing to return to the water but chained to land.

Then there was Natalia herself, who didn’t voice a single word, simply because she wasn’t willing to do so in any kind of manner.

She didn’t wish to be there to begin with, so this entire situation somehow just irritated her.

Natalia was not the only one who didn’t wish to be there. Anesthesia was going through the same feeling, but for completely different reasons.

Yet she was there, a scar on her forehead, yes, but still there, wearing the stunning purple clothes with black stripes that Love had personally chosen.

Clothes all of them shared.

Even Morgan, who was there, seemed amused by the tension in the air, while Meadow was sitting close to Isolde, at her right, whispering to her from time to time to ease her mind.

Sarah was also there, but the very fact that she was in the same room as Anesthesia had put her in a terrible mood. She wanted to go, but she couldn’t do that to Isolde, and certainly not to Cassius.

So she gathered her strength, and within that silence that had settled for so long that even breathing loudly was immediately noticeable, she spoke:

"Happy birthday, Isolde," she said, her voice echoing throughout the room again and again.

Everyone jolted slightly, surprised to the core by the sudden voice. Even Love stopped her silent work, giving Isolde the opportunity to turn and look at Sarah.

Isolde smiled, and Sarah knew at that moment that she had done the right thing.

"Thank you, Sarah," she said gratefully. "I appreciate it."

"Happy birthday too!" Keisha followed, saying the words with so much force that she stood up, and carried by that momentum, she quickly approached Isolde. "I am sorry, Isolde! I wanted to say it from the beginning, but I was...I was...argh!! I am sorry! Happy birthday! I wish you happiness!"

Isolde laughed, wondering how this cute and innocent woman could be friends with the likes of Cassius and Klaus. They were so different. "You don’t have to be sorry, Keisha. Thank you for the wishes."

"Ahh, maybe I should too, now?" Love said, smirking. "Happy birthday, Mrs. Desdemona."

"Hey, don’t say that!" Meadow chirped in. "It’s a bad omen to say that before they are officially wedded. You know that, Love."

"Oh, come on, little nepo girl." Love dismissed Meadow’s words. "Don’t tell me you believe that kind of superstition."

"You would be a fool not to believe in such things, knowing the kind of world we live in," Anesthesia added, looking at Love with scorn. "But what do I expect from someone like you? Disgusting and disappointing."

"You have no reason to say anything like that to me anymore, you know that, dear Thesia?" Love said, before looking at Sarah from the corner of her eyes, her smirk widening even further. "You have done the same thing I did. You stole the love of this innocent, beautiful woman here."

"Stole?" Anesthesia hissed.

"I would appreciate it if you didn’t involve me in your quarrels," Sarah added, her tone sharp and cold.

The tension was thickening, and with no fresh air going in or out, it felt even worse. Keisha was already panicking, waving her hands on all sides as she desperately tried to stop the dispute.

Morgan didn’t bother herself enough to intervene, and at some point, Lilien appeared inside the room, sitting beside her sister and watching the scene with total indifference.

"At least, if you don’t respect Isolde enough to keep your mouths shut and stop arguing," Natalia suddenly spoke, making everyone look at her, "then you should at least keep in mind that seeing his wife unhappy on this day will make Cassius angry."

She smiled thinly. "Have any of you ever seen Cassius angry? I bet not. And I hope you won’t, for your own good."

"Very scary!" Keisha added, remembering when they were young. "And today is Isolde’s birthday! Let’s be nice!"

Keisha looked at Isolde and saw her completely silent. She suddenly felt bad for her and hugged her from behind, making Isolde shudder for a moment. "I am so sorry, Isolde. Happy birthday! Happy birthday! Happy birthday! You must smile, this is your day!"

"Yes, it is," Meadow added, standing up and hugging Isolde from the left side. "Don’t let anything get to you, no matter what anyone says. I have already wished you a happy birthday, but happy birthday again. And this is the gift I prepared for you."

Isolde looked and saw a stunning piercing made of red jade mixed with the tooth of a slain beast. Her eyes widened before she laughed. "You actually remembered what I said? I was just joking, Meadow."

"Well, joke or not, you told me that you wanted to have a piercing like Esmeray," Meadow said. "So here, a nose piercing. I think it will suit you really well."

"My gift is not as charming as Meadow’s, but here is my own," Sarah added, showing a small white notebook with a chuckle. "This contains all the things I have heard Cassius say he loves and hates. I think you might have great use for it."

"I have one too!" Keisha said, showing a beautiful lotus made entirely of ice. "I made it myself!" She smiled proudly. "Well, not me exactly, but it’s still me! This lotus will not melt unless you put it against a fire above the Fourth Rank."

"Woah! Keisha, you are so good!" Meadow whispered.

"Heheh! Right? Right?" Keisha was delighted. "It’s for Isolde!"

"I don’t like this," Natalia groaned, making everyone stare at her, "but I can’t come here and not give you something. And I think a mirror is essential for any woman, so here is one you can carry with you everywhere. It’s a specialty of my family."

"NATY! YOU ACTUALLY LISTENED TO ME!" Kei was so happy that she screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Hahaha, this is so fun," Morgan said, and that was when everyone finally noticed Lilien beside her, almost jumping in shock. "Here, my little gift."

She pulled out a picture, one showing Cassius when he was only one year old, with chubby cheeks, pouting with food smeared all over his mouth.

The moment the photo was seen, everyone instinctively let out a collective, "So cute!!"

But Isolde’s hand moved faster than anything, snatching the photo away and hiding it before anyone could get a proper look at such a cute side of her husband.

"T-Thank you!" Isolde said with a wide smile, then to everyone, "Thank you so much! I...I don’t even know what to say."

"I am giving you my little brother without making a scene," Lilien added flatly. "That’s my gift."

The girls laughed nervously. Somehow, Lilien was more intimidating than Morgan.

One by one, the girls gave Isolde their gifts and wished her a happy birthday. Love’s gift was all the makeup and clothes she had personally chosen and paid for herself.

Slowly and steadily, the tension inside the room began to deflate like a balloon, while Isolde sat there in her white wedding robe, not even knowing what to feel or say.

Her eyes were teary, and she was doing her absolute best not to let any tears fall.

For so many years, her birthday had passed in silence, with no one giving her anything or even wishing her a happy birthday.

Not even her own family.

During those years, she had been living a life she believed she didn’t deserve to live, and the only reason she had wanted to continue was to destroy the life of her sister.

Yet here she was now, inside a room full of people she barely truly knew, and still none of them had hesitated to give her something and wish her...a happy birthday.

’I was unseen and unheard for more than half of my life,’ she thought, her lips shaking, ’but I am not anymore, despite the fact that my power has grown stronger than ever before.’

All of that was thanks to one person: Cassius.

He had chosen to see her, and through that choice, she had become alive.

And by becoming alive, she began to have other people around her who started to see her, to listen to her, to hate her, to love her.

Suddenly, Isolde lowered her head, and all the talking women fell into an almost religious silence as they watched the soon-to-be wife struggle to hold back her tears.

Anesthesia saw this scene and clenched her fists tightly, struggling with something deep inside herself. She closed her eyes, not wanting to witness any of it, but the words of Raven slithered into her mind, uninvited.

’Whatever you do, don’t do anything you will regret,’ he had said.

Knowing that, the Chosen Heiress truly couldn’t stop herself anymore.

She dragged her feet forward, reached Isolde and knelt in front of her.

The scene made everyone’s eyes widen.

Anesthesia then grabbed the hands of the woman she had hated and loathed for almost all her life, and with a shaking voice, she uttered words she had never thought she would say one day.

"Happy birthday, Isolde."

The world seemed to pause at that instant as Isolde mechanically lifted her head, her eyes widening while the tears she had desperately tried to hold back finally began to fall.

"M...Me?" Isolde muttered, truly unable to believe that her own sister, the one who had never once wished her a happy birthday, had actually done it today.

"Hey, I can’t repeat that again. Impossible." Anesthesia shook her head. "And stop crying, damn it. You are ruining all the makeup!"

"AHH! Fuck, don’t cry, Isolde! Do you realize how much effort that took me?!" Love added, panicking.

But Isolde was still crying, and she cried even harder when she suddenly heard a voice coming from the door.

"Sorry to disturb this emotional moment between my two troublesome daughters," Sophia Amaris said. "Your bastard of a father isn’t here, surely dying somewhere Vorn knows where, so there is no one to walk you down to your husband. I guess I have to take responsibility."

Every one of them shifted to look at her, and Vorn’s breath, she was stunning, wearing the purple colors of the Amaris Family, with a hairpin shaped like a musical note resting high in her hair.

Isolde and Anesthesia looked at their mother, and Sophia looked at both of her daughters before her eyes finally focused only on Isolde.

"Well?" She cocked her head. "Stand up, young girl. We are running late."

Isolde stared at her a bit longer, then said slowly,

"Yes...Mother."

—End of Chapter 436—