Chapter 138: The Wedding Day
Soleia stared at herself in the mirror. This was the morning of her wedding, and her stomach was threatening to twist itself into knots. She was in the private room of the church, after being rudely awakened at the break of dawn to prepare for her wedding. She was shoved into a hot bath and scrubbed clean.
The maids then fluttered around her, styling her hair into an elegant chignon. They powdered her face to conceal the dark circles, and applied rouge on her cheeks and lips to give her the image of a blissful bride, oblivious to the turmoil brewing in Soleia’s heart.
Soleia wet her lips. It was nearly time for her to walk down the aisle. She could hear the excited chatter of the guests as they streamed through the open doors of the church, eagerly taking their seats. She glanced down at herself, smoothing through the folds of her dress.
She was wearing an elegant ball gown, encrusted with diamonds at her bodice. They blinded her every time she took a breath, as the shifting fabric reflected sunlight streaming in from the open window.
Soleia had never been clad with this much luxury all her life. Her father had dipped into the royal treasury, adamant about giving Soleia an exorbitant wedding dress to suit the utter spectacle that was her wedding. Even if Soleia would have preferred a simpler gown and had the design sketches to prove it, it was simply impossible― King Godwin refused to make it seem that he couldn’t afford to marry his third daughter in style in front of visiting royalty.
The only thing that grounded her was her favorite pair of selenite earrings, along with the aquamarine necklace Celestina had given her.
"Are you sure you don’t want to eat anything?" Bellaflor asked. She and Celestina were making a last-minute visit to check on their youngest sister, just in case she had prenuptial jitters. "You’re starting to look a little pale. It’ll be a while before the wedding feast starts; you need to keep your energy levels up."
"I can’t swallow a thing," Soleia confessed. "I feel like vomiting."
"Don’t do it in this dress," Celestina said, patting her back lightly for fear of damaging her outfit. "It’s overwhelming, but it’ll all be over before you know it."