My Slain Dragon Bride

Chapter 265. The Way of Blessing

Thirty minutes after the marriage was announced, both families were thrown into an uproar.

They had barely recovered from the shock of a wedding that had been finished as quickly as beans fried in a flash of lightning when they heard that the bride had already given birth to a son. At that point, they must have wondered whether this was some kind of board game where someone simply rolled the dice.

After the birth, when both families had gathered together, Lyudmila explained everything that had happened without leaving out a single detail.

They had known that the bride was heavily pregnant, but they had not known that her labor had begun while the ceremony was still underway. Judging by what the midwife had said, the whole situation had been utterly ridiculous.

"In all my years, I have never seen such a reckless young lady, especially for a first-time mother. When we arrived at the delivery room, the baby’s head was already halfway out. If we’d been even a little later, she would have given birth right in the middle of the wedding ceremony. The delivery went so smoothly that all this old woman really had to do was check the baby’s eyes, nose, mouth, hands, and feet."

Everyone was relieved that the delivery had gone smoothly, but they were also furious at such reckless behavior.

They had been about to scold her, but when they saw the movements of the tiny creature that fit perfectly into the arms of Consilus and Purity, their anger quickly faded.

After all, it was easier to ask for forgiveness than permission.

While the family was spending time together, someone carefully entered the recovery room.

"I have come to pay my respects to the Great Flame."

Valdrova quietly nodded.

Consilus and Purity immediately understood the reason for the visit and tactfully withdrew.

"Now that we have seen that the child is safe, we shall go and greet the guests at the banquet."

"Please enjoy yourselves, Arwen. You come along as well."

"Yes."

That left Lyudmila, who was holding the baby, Ferda, and Valdrova in the room.

Once there were no more prying eyes around, Valdrova removed her mask.

There was nothing left to hide on Valdrova’s face, which was flushed bright red.

"Is this... your child?"

"Yes. Isn’t he cute?"

"Yes."

Lyudmila turned her gaze toward Ferda.

Remembering what she had said earlier, she blushed with embarrassment.

"I suppose I should apologize to the Regent first. The woman who is going to become a Countess actually threatened and insulted the husband of a Dragon..."

"It’s all in the past. Don’t worry about it."

Ferda, however, found the transformation rather eerie.

The last time he had seen that gaze, it had been the face of a witch just before joining the Phyliaz.

And now she was as gentle as could be.

The change was so drastic that it would not have been strange if what she had carried in her womb had been all the sins of the world rather than a baby.

Even as their conversation continued, Valdrova kept looking down at the child.

"Would you like to hold the baby?"

Lyudmila gently tilted the baby toward Valdrova.

"M-Me?"

Valdrova panicked and instinctively leaned backward.

Lyudmila smiled brightly as though it were nothing.

"It’s okay. You’re only holding him. I’ll teach you how."

"Y-Yes...!"

"I’m not going to eat you, so don’t worry! Our baby isn’t that bad!"

The light joke eased the tense atmosphere.

Valdrova nodded, but her hands were still trembling.

Only when the swaddled baby was placed in both of her hands did the trembling finally stop.

Once her fear disappeared, it was replaced by amazement.

He’s... incredibly light.

He was light, yet somehow difficult to bear.

Valdrova possessed enough power to kill even a gigantic monster as easily as striking down a mountain, so why did the weight of this tiny child feel so overwhelming?

Valdrova was overcome by an unfamiliar emotion.

Frightened by the strange feeling, she instinctively turned her head and called someone’s name.

"Mr. Ferda..."

"Yes."

She was completely frozen in place, so Ferda carefully stepped beside Valdrova.

He looked down at the child she was staring at.

The baby’s wrinkled skin and swollen eyes made it easy to understand the expression that newborn babies looked like little toads.

"W-What should we call him?"

"Ah, his name..."

Lyudmila looked troubled.

It was only natural.

Commoners did not give their children names before the age of seven, while noble children were not given names until they had passed one hundred days.

Though they spoke of one hundred days, the child was formally given a name at the age of seven, just like commoners.

It was a folk belief intended to prevent wicked demons from casually calling out a child’s name and taking them away.

"That’s right."

But Lyudmila smiled.

"With Lady Valdrova, whom even the Seven Great Demons of Hell revere, serving as his godmother, what is there to fear?"

Lyudmila continued.

"When the child turns seven, we were thinking of naming him Ulvera II."

"Ulv...era?"

"Yes. The current head of the family. I heard that after losing both his wife and child through all the hardships he endured, he chose to exile himself here to the Far East."

Ulvera Consilus.

He had once been a promising Central Region nobleman who had even been close to Grand Duke Golt, but after losing his family, he was the man who had chosen to exile himself to the Far East.

"Of course, it’s only my personal decision. I was just worried that it might be presumptuous to give him the name of someone whose blood he cannot inherit..."

"His Excellency will undoubtedly be delighted."

After all, he had treated Arwen like his own son even before taking him in as his adopted son. What difference would his grandson’s name make?

"Then..."

Valdrova looked down at the child in her arms.

A three-syllable name left her lips.

"Ulv- er- a."

The corners of her eyes became moist, as though tears might spill out at any moment.

Yet unlike her sorrowful eyes, the corners of her lips rose toward the sky.

Valdrova gave voice to the overwhelming emotion filling her heart.

"May peace dwell within your family, and may you grow up healthy until the day you reach adulthood..."

It was different from the standardized blessings found in passages of the Bible, but the sincerity in her words was unmistakable.

Knock, knock, knock.

"Um, Miss Lyudmila. May I come in?"

There was kindness and warmth in the voice from the very first syllable.

Lyudmila invited her in, and a woman appeared at the doorway.

No.

It was a beautiful man, so beautiful that he could easily be mistaken for a woman.

It was Rizera.

"I heard the telegram saying that you had given birth, so I came."

"Yes."

"So this must be the child Her Grace, the Grand Duchess, is holding?"

"Yes."

"If you don’t mind, may I hold him?"

"Y-Yes. Here..."

Valdrova handed the child to Rizera.

Rizera accepted the baby carefully, yet with practiced ease.

"How adorable. Isn’t the birth of a new life simply miraculous?"

Rizera smiled like a delicate flower in full bloom.

The mischievous spirits that always followed Rizera fluttered around the baby, giggling.

-He’s so wrinkly!

-He’s ugly!

-Hahahaha!

"Children, you shouldn’t say things like that. I’m sorry, Miss Lyudmila."

Rizera blushed and repeatedly apologized, but Lyudmila knew that the spirits meant no harm, so she simply laughed it off.

Rizera quickly recited the blessing spell he had prepared.

"Mother who has laid down roots in the deepest reaches of the continent, grant joy upon the birth of this new life, and please protect this child until the wondrous moment when he rises and stands upon the earth."

-Bless the ugly baby!

-Bless the wrinkly baby!

-Bless him!

With Rizera, a High Elf, and even three spirits—mischievous though they were—joining together to bless the child, Lyudmila could not imagine a happier day.

"Uwaaaagh!"

Then came a frivolous voice that ruined the joyful atmosphere in an instant.

-Let me go! You beastly barbarians! What are you planning to do to this delicate young lady!?

-Why is this crazy woman so damn loud?

-This won’t do. Let’s stuff something into her mouth.

-N-No! Something that big won’t fit in my mouth, uuvp!

A vulgar voice could be heard from beyond the recovery room.

Rizera instinctively pulled the baby close and covered his ears.

Soon, the voices drew closer, and Lyudmila’s brothers, Sergei and Igor, entered the room.

The person they had brought with them was a pink-haired woman.

"Little sister, just as you asked, we’ve captured this young lady named Penelope."

She had an apple stuffed into her mouth like a whole roasted pig on a barbecue skewer.

"Oh my, thank you, brothers. But you didn’t have to tie her up and bring her here like this..."

"You think we wanted to?"

"When we told her the bride was looking for her, she immediately tried to run away."

"She struggled so much that we had no choice but to tie her up with the ham rope we brought."

"Is that so?"

Lyudmila blinked innocently.

"Could you leave her standing there for a moment and then go outside? I have something to discuss with her."

"Sure."

Sergei and Igor stood Penelope upright as she was and then left the room.

The pink-haired woman, Penelope, twisted her tongue around the apple and finally managed to pull it out of her mouth.

She cautiously looked around before speaking to Lyudmila.

"My goodness, congratulations on your first child, Miss Lyudmila~."

"Thank you, Miss Penelope."

"Looking at this, it seems our Grand Duchess and that disguised-food fellow have already given their blessings. Do you perhaps need a blessing from this humble servant as well?"

"Oh ho, a demon’s blessing? What a joke."

"As I told you, it comes with improved brain development, enhanced night vision, and priority access to high-ranking positions in Hell after death."

"Oh ho, we don’t need anything like that."

"If you don’t want a blessing, I can give you a curse instead. If I spit right here, it’ll become a demon’s curse..."

"Miss Penelope."

"That wouldn’t be appropriate, would it? Whew, this mouth of mine really is troublesome!"

Her tone suddenly became so cold that it sent chills down the spine.

It was the face she had worn just before becoming a witch.

Anyone who saw such a face would normally shut up immediately.

Penelope, however, could not.

"Anyway! Didn’t everything go smoothly because of me? Instead of giving me a reward, why are you treating me like a criminal and dragging me here?"

"You ruined my wedding, didn’t you?"

"The marriage still happened, didn’t it!? And everyone is safe!"

"Safe? Not exactly. Some demon went on a rampage."

Penelope’s face twisted into a deep frown.

"Then what was I supposed to do!? Were you planning to announce to the whole neighborhood that the bride was pissing herself!? "

"......"

"Did you want rumors going around that the bride was so disgusted by the groom that she wet her skirt, and that the young lady of the Ducal family had actually been threatened!?"

"...."

"What I’m saying is, you should be thanking me! Is this really how you treat me after I did you a favor!?"

Why couldn’t that mouth just shut up?

After hearing her out, Lyudmila seemed to think for a moment before nodding.

"You’re right. If you hadn’t stepped in, the wedding would have been a complete disaster. I’m truly grateful."

"Right? You’re grateful, aren’t you? So could you hurry up and untie me?"

"We’ll do that later. I would like you to bless us first, Miss Penelope. Would you be willing to do that?"

"A blessing? Of course! That’s a piece of cake."

She smiled.

Like a fisherman who had finally spotted the big catch he’d been waiting for.

"I asked you for one favor before, remember?"

"What... favor?"

"As I told you, there is a custom in the North called the Autumn Festival’s ward against misfortune, right?"

"...Uh, I think you mentioned something like that."

"It’s a tradition where a doll imitating a demon is hung on a cross to pray for abundance and the safety of the family. I was planning to carry out the ritual together with today’s wedding."

".....You’re not saying you’re going to hang me on a cross, are you?"

"....."

Lyudmila did not answer.

She merely smiled gently and stared at Penelope.

That gentle smile seemed to turn into fire and burn Penelope alive.

"You’re planning to burn me to death!?"

"No. Surely I wouldn’t burn you, Miss Penelope."

"Then?"

Lyudmila glanced outside.

The autumn sky was high and clear, without a single cloud.

"I’ll just have you hang there under the scorching sun for about three hours."

Sunlight was like poison to demons.

It would not kill her because she possessed a Great Demon Life Vessel, but that did not mean it would not hurt.

"....Don’t joke around."

"....."

"Tell me you’re joking!"

Lyudmila merely smiled.

"Brothers."

Igor and Sergei, who had been waiting outside, entered the room.

"Please hang Miss Penelope on a cross and raise her to the highest point."

"Uh..."

"Are you serious?"

When they questioned the merciless command, she simply added:

"Please put an apple in her mouth like before so she won’t get hungry."

The one thing that was clear in this situation was that the bride’s commands during a wedding were absolute.

"Kieeeeeeek!!"

Penelope was dragged away while shrieking like a demon.

With the blessings of a Dragon and a High Elf, and now a demon hung on a cross as a scapegoat for misfortune, Ulvera II’s future was certain to be bright.

Watching the scene, Ferda said,

"That is truly heartless."

"Heartless? This is all for everyone’s sake."

Lyudmila answered calmly.

"Among today’s guests are some naive young ladies. They are innocent enough to be easily led astray with just a little persuasion. If there is an unstable element capable of coming to someone else’s wedding and causing nothing but trouble..."

Her eyes curved into a smile.

"Shouldn’t we eliminate it?"

Ferda suddenly became curious.

What would happen if that innocent Arwen ever ended up fighting this woman?

Lyudmila, who had been sitting on the bed, energetically rose to her feet.

"Now then, let’s get ready and head outside!"

"You’re not going to rest any longer?"

"I can rest tomorrow! Today is my wedding, isn’t it? It would be a shame to leave dancing out on such a joyous day! Come on, Your Grace, let’s go together!"

Lyudmila returned to the banquet hall together with Valdrova.

Even though she had given birth only moments ago, she moved so energetically that no one would have believed she was a woman who had just given birth.

Lyudmila danced enough to make everyone fear the consequences she might suffer afterward, but in the end, all she experienced was a little muscle soreness.

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