Chương 174: Chapter 172: Wedding-Crasher(2)
"Alright, this is it. Is everyone ready?"
Miya then turned around to face Luke, who was fixing his suit. The suits he received were hastily purchased by Miya yesterday. Fortunately, it fits him perfectly. Miya has a keen sense of proportion.
Luke simply sighed and looked at Erdene and Liam, who were both staring at him. Erdene followed up with a question. Erdene looks like he doesn't want to mingle with human activities.
"Are we just going to stand outside and wait?"
Luke gave a nod. Luke then looked at Liam and patted Snow's head.
"Of course, just wait in the carriage with Liam and Snow."
"Why am I even a part of this?"
"Well you are already here so might as well help me out, please?"
"Fine."
"Thanks. Now let's go."
When Klein opened the door, they all saw a carriage waiting outside. Klein smiled at his family and spoke.
"I've already requested a carriage for us."
Klein then cast a glance at Luke, who was standing next to him. Klein then nudged Luke's sides to catch his attention and spoke to him in hushed tones.
"As you requested, I purchased a carriage. What do you even need a carriage for?"
Luke remained silent for a moment before patting Klein's shoulders, which caused Klein to flinch.
"You don't have to know because this is our business."
Klein regarded Luke, who was walking past him, with suspicion. When Luke does strange things, disaster always follows. Klein learned this from his interactions with Luke... And now he has a bad feeling about this.
'He won't possibly do anything to the wedding... Right?'
Klein gulped and jumped onto the carriage with the others. The carriage begins to move once all of them are inside. No one dares to speak inside the carriage and instead just stares out the window. There were numerous extravagant decorations in the street and a large crowd gathered around the fancy streets of the city. The Grand Duke surely put all the effort into his wedding today. Everything appears to be very expensive.
They arrived in front of the Cathedral after a few minutes because it is not far from Klein's house. A knight soon stops their carriage, opens the door, and inspects each and every one of them. The knight then raised his hands to Miya, as if to ask her something. Miya recognized the knight's actions and gave him a gold-plated wedding invitation that she pulls out from her bag. The carriage continued to move after the knight gave a short nod and closed the door, proving that the invitation was genuine. Luke could then hear Miya sighing.
"Even if the Grand Duke is a jerk, I can't deny that his wedding is so fancy and extravagant that being invited makes me feel honored."
Lizzie then agreed with a nod.
"Even my classmates, who despise the Grand Duke, were envious of my invitation."
Luke then grinned at them.
"That is money's power. People can't deny your worth if you have money, even if you're the trash of the trash."
The others then nodded silently in agreement. Money can be a very frightening thing sometimes.
The carriage then came to a halt in front of the cathedral. The carriage doors were then opened by a knight, and Lizzie, Miya, Klein, and Luke entered. Liam, Snow, and Erdene were the only ones who remained inside. Luke turned to face them and spoke to them.
"Wait for us."
Erdene just rolled his eyes and sighed, while Liam and Snow nodded. Luke returned their nod before closing the door and allowing the carriage to take them away. Luke sighed and began to follow Klein towards the flight of stairs that lead towards the main door of the cathedral. Despite having seen the cathedral the day before, Luke is still taken aback by its enormity. The cathedral is just that big.
While walking up towards the flight of stairs, in the corner of Luke's eyes, he saw a familiar vermillion color. Luke just thought he was seeing things, so he shrugged it off and kept walking.
"Smiley?"
Luke's eyes widened and he came to a halt. Luke then began to sweat nervously. He recognizes this voice, and it is the voice of someone he never expected to see again.
'I'll just pretend that I didn't hear that.'
Luke then took a deep breath and resumed his walk. When he sensed someone following behind him, he began to walk faster.
"Smiley! Isn't that you?"
Luke gritted his teeth and continued to walk with a hardened face.
'Shit, shit, shit.'
"Smiley, I know it's you! Turn around! Hey! HEY!"
Luke's face crumpled as he bit his lips. He then sighed and hesitantly turned his head around. As soon as Luke turned around, he saw Valerie's face close to him. Valerie is looking at Luke with suspicion, while Luke is just smiling nervously.
"Long time no see... Valerie."
"What are you doing here, Smiley?"
Luke scratched his head and made a dumbfounded expression.
"I was invited here."
"Invited? How is this even possible? Are you not a beggar?"
"A-ah... About that..."
"Who are you talking to, Luke?"
When Luke turned around, he saw Klein walking back towards him. Luke simply frowned and raised his hand to stop Klein from approaching.
"Go ahead without me; I'll catch up later."
Klein came to a halt and looked at Luke, perplexed. His gaze was drawn to Valerie, and his jaw immediately dropped. Klein appears to have grasped the situation and simply nodded before walking away without saying anything. Luke simply sighed and turned to face Valerie.
"Listen carefully, Valerie, i-"
"So you tricked me?"
Luke was speechless in the face of Valerie's direct words, but he eventually nodded.
"Yes, yes I did."
"Why? Why did you deceive me?"
Luke was about to respond to the truth when he came to a halt and reflected. If he tells Valerie the truth right now, she may feel betrayed and flee once more. He hasn't received his money from the empress yet, so Valerie fleeing before that will be inconvenient and annoying.
"I am... I am a friend of the mermaids."
Valerie remained silent for a moment before looking at Luke, perplexed.
"Mermaids? You are friends with them?"
"Yes, so basically what happened was... The mermaids were disturbed by your pirate friends' appearance above their territory. And because you might recognize their appearance, I was assigned to go to you guys and see if you're not a threat. If you pose a threat, your ship will be destroyed immediately. But because you're not a big threat to them, they let you go."
"By poking multiple holes in our ship and stealing our treasure loots?"
"Hahaha... Yes, they like to give you guys a bit of punishment for disturbing them."
Valerie simply sighed and scratched her head in frustration. Luke then used that time to observe Valerie's clothes. Her clothes appear to be shabby and worn. This appears to be the type of clothing she usually wears when going out in the city. But there's something strange going on here...
'Why is she here?'
Luke appears to have been unable to contain his curiosity and asked Valerie a question.
"What exactly are you doing here? Valerie?"
Valerie came to a halt and appeared to be considering what to say.
"Hmm, I am here to crash the wedding."
"...Pardon?"
Valerie then smirked at Luke's baffled expression.
"I am going to crash the wedding, want to help me?"
Before speaking, Luke opened and closed his mouth several times.
"Hold on, hold on! First of all, why? What is your reason?"
Valerie then frowned at Luke's expression.
"Do you ever need an excuse to save a friend from marrying a dickhead?"
For a few seconds, Luke's mind went blank. He felt as if he had discovered yet another fact that he should not have known. Luke was deafeningly quiet for a few moments. After deeply thinking about multiple kinds of stuff, Luke spoke.
"Are you friends with the bride?"
Valerie gave a nod.
"She and I have a long history. We grew up together. In fact, it was because of her that I was able to flee from my mother."
Luke's expression then turned serious.
"So you know she's the Queen of the Underworld, don't you?"
Valerie's pupils dilated. She then moved her gaze to Luke's serious expression. This expression of his appears so foreign to her that she believes she is looking at someone who is not the Smiley she knew.
"You... How did you find out about that?"
"I don't have time to explain how I found out about it, but I'm here to tell you that you and I are working toward the same goal."
"What? What do you mean the same goal?"
"I'm also here to crash the wedding."
Valerie's jaw dropped as she stared at Luke with wide eyes. She can't speak because she's too stunned by the multiple bombs that have been thrown at her. Luke ignores this and continues to speak.
"How about we work together? What do you think?"
"Wait a minute, Smiley-"
"Save your questions for a later time. So, are you willing to work with us or not?"
Luke then extended his hand to Valerie. Valerie just stared at it for a few seconds before accepting it hesitantly. She then began to speak cautiously.
"...First, we need to talk to Irene."
"Oh? Do you know ways to talk to her?"
"Yeah, she told me where to go. I came here because I heard she was being forced to marry, and I wanted to help her. I was on my way to meet her earlier."
"Wonderful, let's meet her first. We'll talk about the plan once we meet her."
Valerie nodded and began to lead the way.
"All right, let's go."
Luke then trailed Valerie towards one of the buildings near the cathedral. Luke then takes a look around the place and begins to ask questions.
"What is the bride doing in here? Isn't she supposed to be in a location quite far away from the cathedral?"
"The Grand Duke forced her to prepare here rather than elsewhere. The Grand Duke is well aware that Irene does not wish to marry him, so he makes every effort to keep her within his sight so she cannot flee."
"What a freaky guy, no wonder no one likes him."
Valerie agreed with a sigh and a nod. She then begins to open one of the buildings' doors and enters it. A flight of stairs soon greeted them. Luke and Valerie then continued walking while conversing.
"It's odd, why isn't there anyone guarding this place?"
"Irene and her henchmen took care of them. She knows I'm coming, so she wants me to have a smooth journey."
"She really wants you to ruin the wedding, huh?"
"Yes, if she could only use her powers as Queen of the Underworld on the Duke, none of this would have happened."
"Well, that's one of the drawbacks of choosing to be a faceless Queen."
Faceless Queen, the other name that Irene received as the ruler of the Underworld. It's because, unlike Marcel, she hides her face behind a white mask, making it impossible for anyone to identify her. Because her face and identity are unknown, it is more difficult for her enemies to find her or find records to use against her. That's one of the things Marcel despises about her, but he can't deny that being the faceless queen made her a lot safer than Marcel, whose face and identity are completely revealed to his subordinates.
"You seemed to know a lot about her."
"Let's say I read some things about her."
"Smiley, you are funny."
Luke just stared at Valerie's giggling. She must have thought he was joking.
'But I am not joking though.'
Luke simply sighed and continued walking, but he soon came to a halt when he noticed Valerie also came to a halt.
"Smiley, what do you think of me?"
"...What?"
Valerie remained silent for a brief moment before slowly turning around to face Luke. Luke's eyes widened in surprise when he noticed a muzzle in front of his face.
'Wait... A muzzle?'
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