027:- The Morning of the Wedding 2

Queen Nadia considerately walked outside Prince Silvan's door, and closed it behind her before she dematerialized to her son's bedside. Uniformed maidservants were hanging at the edges of his bed, unable to directly disrupt his sleep but needing to rouse him nonetheless.

Such rules didn't constrain Nadia so she threw open the velvet drapes of his bed, her voice loud as a bell. "Wake up, Alessio! It's your wedding day."

Alessio wasn't amused by this jab, he narrowed his eyes at his beaming mother. "Why are you here?"

Nadia perched daintily on the edge of the bed, putting on an affected expression. "Son, I'm hurt. I was under the impression you were looking forward to your wedding."

Alessio threw a silk-covered pillow over his head, the silver tassels swaying. "That was before my bride died." His voice was muffled due to the pillow.

Nadia wore an expression of concern Alessio couldn't see, when she heard from the gossip of the court that her son had been looking forward to the wedding, she hadn't taken it much to heart. Her husband wasn't much help either, he had nothing of use to say to her, it made Nadia wish she had returned to the castle a year earlier.

She had been South of the country for five years now, and before she left, Alessio hardly seemed to remember that he had a betrothed so she didn't know her son's current state of mind. If the child had become besotted with his human bride, it was a little cruel to marry him off to her older brother who despised vampires.

"I can have a human Princess captured for you," She said in her usual teasing way, masking the genuine concern she had shown.

Alessio threw the pillow off his head, and sat upright, getting ready for the ceremony was less daunting than listening to his mother's preposterous suggestions. "No, thank you." He hastily turned her down, not quite sure if she meant it or not.

"You might want to hurry," Nadia casually added as Alessio walked off, "Silvan is long ready."

Alessio picked up the pace despite himself, unable to help wanting Prince Silvan's approval. Last night had shown him that it would be quite difficult to get, and maybe it was because today was the day he was supposed to be married to Eleanor, he was a little despondent.

He trudged to the bathroom, despite how last night had gone, he had found himself thinking about organizing a hunt for Silvan. He couldn't care less about such mindless past times but it could be a chance to get closer to the distant Prince.

Alessio quickly got ready, he never spent much time on foppish trifles, time spent paying attention to the placement of his cravat or how neatly put together he looked could better be spent lounging under the sun, or spending a bit more time in bed.

He might also have hastened a bit more after hearing his mother mention that Silvan was already ready. He didn't spare a second glance at the overcoat, dutifully putting on the waistcoat and even going through the trouble to button his dress shirt all of the way up. Alessio usually left his hair down no matter what event he had to attend but it was only right that he put in some effort for today's ceremony. He found a white ribbon and loosely tied his hair behind his neck.

He made a face at his reflection in the mirror and walked back to the bedroom to find his mother rifling through a chest he thought was well hidden. Alessio panicked, hurrying over. "Mother? What are you doing?"

Queen Nadia froze like she had been caught with her hand down the coin jar, an incriminating unfinished painting held in her hand. "I didn't know you took up painting, Alessio," She said sheepishly, weakly trying to divert the topic of discussion.

Alessio snagged the painting out of her hand and placed it back in the chest— he would do a better job of hiding it after this. "I didn't." He said shortly, leaving no room for further discussion. "I'm all dressed up, you can leave my room now."

Nadia put on a pitiful expression, devastated at being kicked out by her youngest son. It was only two decades ago that he was clinging to her dress, now she was being coldly turned out the door. "You're sure you don't want your mother to keep you company?" She lingered at the door, her head drooping, perfectly styled white hair adding to the air of devastation she had around her.

Alessio's lips lifted with the start of a smile but he pushed it down, "I'm sure Silvan would better appreciate your company." He doubled down, making mental plans to have the chest moved to a secret compartment.

His mother seemed to remember something because she made a face, "I know when my presence is not wanted," She huffed, walking out his door.

Now Alessio smiled— he wasn't quite sure she did.

He sighed in relief when she left his room, sitting on his favorite couch. It was still an hour to the ceremony and he was already fully dressed what was he going to do until the time to be present for the ceremony came? He thought about going to pay Silvan a visit and immediately thought better of it, the air between them was already strained, it would do him no good to worsen it right before the ceremony began.

Almost like Luka could sense his boredom, the noble Vampire materialized in front of him. These past handful of weeks, Luka seemed to be a thorn in his side, disapproval constantly on his handsome face as he nagged on and expressed his dissensions about Alessio choosing to properly wed his human bride.

Now the Vampire had gone back to his usual self, there was a knock on the door shortly after he arrived and with nothing but a devious grin, Luka walked over to the door, to intercept the tray of wine he ordered to his bedroom ahead of his appearance.

Drinking before the ceremony was a terrible idea but Alessio did miss this playful part of Luka, the Vampire that was content to laze with him and shirk duties which were assigned to them by measure of their birth.