Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic
Chapter 895 - 895: The Eve of the Wedding

In this world, there is no such thing as "bride price," a culture familiar to the Outlanders, but there is "dowry." It is a large sum of money that noble families provide as a dowry when their daughters marry. It could be jewelry, property deeds, or even a vast territory.

Especially for the Grand Nobles with notable status, the dowry that a family's daughter receives when she marries is a reflection of the family's strength and face.

Larus III was not marrying off a daughter for the first time, so the dowries for the Princesses of this generation of the Cavendish Family were already established by customary rules.

Curiously, Shard inquired from Dorothy, who counted with her fingers:

"First, a vast piece of land, but not around Tobesk since the land here is too expensive. Then, two or three estates of the Royal Family across the nation, Lecia said that Mona's sister wanted the estate in the Far North Ice City. Lakeside Manor being bought by the Esberg Family is also related to this. There are also industries, the King has prepared a long-term profitable industry for his daughter, theoretically belonging only to Mona, but the family cannot interfere after marriage."

The wealth she mentioned is something that the majority of people in this world could never obtain in their lifetime.

"The Cavendish Family does not have the tradition of providing cash as a dowry, but the family has inherited a lot of jewelry over generations. Mona chose a Sapphire hairpiece left by her grandmother, which was worn by her grandmother during her own wedding. Angelina mentioned privately that she quite liked the hairpiece. Besides the jewelry, there are also antiques, although Lecia did not describe them in detail, it's said they could fill three carriages. Oh, Mother, I mean Queen Diana, will also offer some jewelry. For instance, the Ruby Ring she gave you, if not given to you in the summer, is most likely to be taken by Mona this time."

Shard could not calculate how many Gold Pounds these items were worth, and even using a larger value like "Mia," it could probably fill No. 6, Saint Delan Square with Mia.

"Meow?"

The cat walking back and forth on the floor curiously glanced at Shard.

"How did Princess Mona Cavendish meet the Esberg family's gentleman?"

He curiously inquired again, for such topics are always interesting:

"Or is it a political marriage?"

"Both."

Dorothy held a teacup, the warm steam making her feel comfortable:

"Mona met the young Mr. Esberg at an outdoor ball three summers ago, and they slowly started writing to each other weekly. When His Majesty the King heard about this, he thought it was beneficial for the Royal Family and Duke Esberg to be united in marriage, so he tacitly approved of their correspondence. They got engaged this spring, and the wedding preparations have been underway since. I heard there are delicacies from the Far North Ice Cap specially stored from spring for the banquet at Lakeside Manor tonight."

"Sounds wonderful."

Shard praised:

"It's a marriage that can be blessed by God."

"Yes."

Dorothy's eyes fell on Mia's tail, wandering on the floor, its soft, flexible form swaying like a giant orange and white worm:

"Angelina is quite envious of her sister, but of course, she's more envious of... these three rings, aren't they all Relics?"

"Hmm? What? Oh, yes, they're all Relics."

Shard gestured to the cat, and Mia leapt onto the sofa from the floor. Shard smiled and reached out to stroke Mia's little head, and the cat, narrowing its eyes, purred cooperatively.

The blonde girl somewhat helplessly said:

"I know you're good to your cat, but sometimes you need to remember, it's just a regular cat. Even normal people can't wear three Relic Rings at once; Shard, you're spoiling Mia too much."

As they were going to the church for the grand wedding in the afternoon, they left for lunch at eleven. But as soon as they reached Silver Cross Avenue, Dorothy suddenly paused, then said to Shard:

"Wait a moment."

She closed her eyes and leaned against Shard, but only for a few seconds, without even drawing curiosity from passing pedestrians, she opened her eyes again.

"Meow~"

The cat on Shard's shoulder immediately cried out, "Dorothy" looked at the cat disapprovingly:

"Its sensitivity always surprises me."

"Lecia?"

Shard was even more surprised and glanced at Yordle Palace a few hundred meters away:

"Why are you here?"

"There's just too much going on, I'm really exhausted. Let Dorothy handle things for me first, at least during lunch, I want to have a break."

At this moment, she exuded a sense of laziness, but soon a smile appeared on her face again. As she and Shard walked toward the restaurant where a table had already been booked, her steps seemed much lighter:

"It's such a wonderful feeling to walk freely on the streets without having to think about what to do next. Shard, do you know what time I got up this morning? I've never felt the morning so long, and now thinking of Mona's wedding dress... oh my God, thank goodness Angelina can still help me."

"But since it's already this time and the wedding preparations are over, what else do you have to be busy with?"

Shard asked again, feeling that Lecia seemed to have "switched" with Dorothy as if she were escaping.

"Lunch, it's Mona Cavendish's last luncheon at Yordle Palace. After this afternoon, there'll be no more Mona Cavendish, only Mona Esberg."

Saying this, she slightly turned her head to look in the direction of Yordle Palace, paused for a moment before catching up with Shard, who was turning his head to look at her:

"We need to hurry up, I don't want to miss the afternoon wedding."

Marriage is always such a heavy topic, but Shard also wished the soon-to-be-married couple well. On this early winter noon, as he walked into the restaurant with the blonde girl, Shard, like Lecia earlier, turned his head again to look at Yordle Palace.

"Maybe in a few years, or many years later, I will also welcome Lecia walking out from here."

[But more likely, Lecia Cavendish will be there to welcome you.]

After lunch, the two quickly returned to Saint Delan Square with the cat. It took Shard only twenty minutes to change clothes and fix his hair, but Lecia was much more troublesome.

But according to her, Dorothy's gown was even more cumbersome than her bridesmaid's dress. She was happily tidying up her clothes and even had Shard check the lace hem of her dress to make sure it hadn't been damaged during transportation.

And since he was planning to take Mia to the wedding, Shard prepared a blue bow for the cat.

Unfortunately, the usually well-behaved cat was not cooperative this time. In the end, Shard had to give up but still used Mia's dedicated comb to groom it, then sat on the sofa waiting for Lecia to finish getting ready.

When Lecia finally finished smoothing Dorothy's golden long hair in front of the mirror in the bathroom, she used a blue ribbon to tie her hair together, then took Shard's arm, stepped on high heels, and went downstairs with him.

There were many guests invited to attend the grand banquet at Lakeside Manor tonight, but only a small number were invited to the afternoon wedding, as the church's chapel had limited seating.

Shard's invitation came from Queen Diana, who had a good impression of Shard and intended to approach Duchess Galina's only "lover" to maintain the relationship between the king and Miss Galina. Even though Dorothy was a renowned writer recently in the limelight, she couldn't possibly be invited to the princess's wedding, so she would attend as Shard's companion.

Since the "Hamilton Detective Stories" were penned by her, it was well-known that the relationship between the writer and the detective was good, making her an appropriate companion.

The Peace Chapel of the Tobesk Parish is located in the eastern part of the city. When Shard first arrived in this world, if it weren't for the incident with "Lady Lassoya", he almost went to the church to collect relief food.

The church's exact location is on Saint Isor Street, the main street of the city's east area, about two miles (approximately 3.2km) long, and wide enough to accommodate five or six carriages at once. Black iron railings stand at both ends of the street as starting and ending points, and the street surface is laid with small gray flagstones.

The legendary "Saint Isor" was a saint who lived thousands of years ago in the Peace Church. It is said that the lady, through her persuasion, facilitated the establishment of the first unified human empire in the Sixth Era of the Old Continent, ensuring peace lasted for many years, and this street was named in her honor.

The carriage soon brought Shard and Lecia here, and when Shard held Lecia's gloved hand as they stepped down, he suddenly realized an issue:

"This afternoon, will you and Dorothy switch back?"

Lecia instinctively touched her ear and then dangled the Red Butterfly Pendant hanging from her waist at Shard:

"Maybe we will, maybe we won't. Shard, how many times can you tell the difference?"

"Meow~"

Shard immediately raised his hand to pet the cat, as Mia energetically called out in the afternoon sun.

The centralized steam heating in Tobesk was about to start, and due to the burning coal, the smog in the city had been quite heavy these days. Even in the afternoon, the street was foggy and particularly suffocating.

At the bottom of the steps in front of the imposing church, the blonde girl smiled:

"If only every day could be this peaceful, how wonderful that would be."

"It will be, it will be someday."

Shard said softly, ascending the steps with the followers of the Peace Church. Though a wedding would be held in the chapel, the church remained open to ordinary believers.

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