The day of the wedding arrived, and as expected, it was set to follow werewolf customs. First, a typical white wedding would take place, followed by a mating ceremony. To Tessa's relief, Elias had rejected the honeymoon.
"Why do we need earrings?" Tessa queried, frustrated and on the verge of losing it from the redundant accessories being put on her.
She had attended weddings before, and brides were never dressed this excessively. She could barely tolerate more jewelry, yet they kept insisting on their customs.
"Bear with it, my lady," the maid responsible for the jewelry said sympathetically. She had worked with numerous royal women and knew how inconvenient such occasions could be.
"I hope your lady doesn't choke to death," Tessa joked, exhaling as she adjusted in the lavish white dress she was wearing.
"This is the 21st century, what's with the whole princess dressing?"
"Are you going to pin me again?"
"Oh wait, I love that color better. Talk about slaying!"
"Geez, is this wedding going to last more than a day?"
"What is the husband going to be wearing? I can't wait to see how ridiculous he looks in a suit."
"Will I get to eat amidst all of this?"
Throughout the preparations for the white wedding, Tessa kept the maids entertained with her sarcastic remarks. They found her so amusing that they intentionally delayed her dress-up until Veronica came looking for her.
"Oh my, what's taking so long?" Veronica asked anxiously, pacing around and scaring the maids into hurrying. They quickly added the finishing touches and got Tessa ready to leave.
"Alright. She looks fantastic, escorts her to the hall," Veronica said, satisfied with their work. She had waited a long time for this day when her son would finally meet his mate and overcome his depression. Nothing was going to come in the way of the wedding, and she was determined to make it perfect.
After years of sorrow, the light finally shone on them, and even if it came most unexpectedly, it was still a blessing. Veronica believed in Tessa and couldn't wait to see love blossom between her and Elias.
"Shouldn't my father walk me down the aisle?" Tessa asked as they led her to the wedding hall, curious about how the ceremony would proceed.
In the kingdom, most werewolves had adopted human norms and customs after years without their king's presence. Now, the human way of living was common in most kingdoms, including the vampire kingdom.
"Your father? Since when did weddings happen like that?" The confused maids inquired, totally shocked by her question.
As if already knowing the reason for their lack of knowledge, she clicked her tongue and said, "Poor ladies. You must have been locked up for years with your depressed king. Such fine thieves you would make for my coven," expressing pity for them even though it sounded more like a mockery.
"Our king is not depressed, he is just struggling to move on at the moment." One of the maids defended, looking away from Tessa to avoid being recognized.
"Monica!" Nudging, the maid beside her scolded, warning her with a stern gaze that the former ignored.
"What?!" Quietly, she muttered, staring back at the maid like she hadn't done anything wrong. If anything, it was the thief who miraculously ended up with their sweet king who said something wrong. She has only just met him and she was already judging him based on the first encounter.
"Leave her. I love her devotion to the depressed king." Emphasizing the last part, Tessa evilly smirked at the maid and started walking away. She was going to spare her since she was going to be escaping the stupid castle soon, she had no time to teach a foolish maid how to talk.
"You are dismissed, go back to the quarters." The maid who scolded her earlier said, punishing her for her mistake.
"I have not said anything too much, we all know what happened, unlike that clueless thief." Eyeing Tessa's retreating figure, the maid sneered, her gaze full of hatred for Tessa. She never truly liked Tessa's blunt behavior and only admired her carefree nature.
"I said you are Dismissed." Repeating herself, the senior maid commanded and stared hard at her until the junior maid gave in and left.
"You know nothing." Watching the junior maid stomp her feet away, the senior maid remarked and soon left the scene.
"Why is the journey so long?" Patting her thighs, Tessa whined, already tired of walking all over the castle.
"We have only walked for two minutes," absentmindedly, another maid reminded, finding Tessa's complaint cute.
"Oh, has it only been two minutes?" Feeling embarrassed about being corrected, she asked and started chuckling.
"Enough!" Clearing her throat, she said, holding her hands up to stop the maids from chuckling further, and continued walking.
They soon got to their destination and everywhere was unexpectedly quiet for a king's wedding. It was like the event was over when the bride was only just arriving.
Entering the hall, some people were sitting, awaiting her arrival it seems, since the king was already standing in front of the priest who was to orchestrate their wedding.
"Worst wedding ever," now walking down the alley, she commented, fuming inwardly for being wedded so poorly. How can such a great thief like her have the most distasteful wedding? Those who weren't as rich as her got better weddings than these. But honestly, her past weddings were worse than this.
Tell me about the most hateful person in the kingdom, though she was sure that was her at the moment but that moody king was surely Top 2 most hated. She wouldn't set up a wedding for her enemy like this? For some reason, she couldn't control being irritated at the setup of the wedding even if it wouldn't last for long.
"Wait, isn't that the night owl?"