The Wedding Day
The day of the ceremony, which he could not prevent even after a year of struggle, dawned.
Rubio opened his eyes without having slept a wink. When he turned his head, a dim blue dawn light was swirling outside the window.
How could he be this tired?
With dark shadows under his eyes, Rubio burrowed back into the blankets, squirming.
Last night, he had quietly returned to the banquet hall and kept his place as he was supposed to. Duke Téllez had not appeared. It was a relief. The gathered people had been murmuring at one of the two main figures being late, but Rubio was relieved.
It was just as that man had said.
When he closed his eyes, the man’s face rose to mind. He was a man he had met by chance. Very tall, and though he looked cold, he was actually kind, and his voice was so low that his ears tingled every time he heard it…..
He had said he would take Rubio away with him.
Now that it had come to this, regret over what he had done washed over him. Rubio shut his eyes tight. Why had he done that?
He had been caught trying to run away by someone whose name was all he knew, had said he hated the betrothal decreed by imperial command, had badmouthed his betrothed to his heart’s content, and in the end had even asked to be taken away once the wedding was over.
A sigh flowed from his lips where he was buried deep in the white feather bedding.
“He did not seem like a bad person… That is why.”
Rubio did not know that his guess was half right and half wrong.
Troubled at heart, he fidgeted with his hands and feet and dawdled. It had been a long while since the dawn rooster crowed, but when there was no sign of movement from inside, Anna, who had been waiting outside, knocked on the door.
“Young master, are you up?”
“Yeah….”
“Shall I bring in the wash water?”
“Yeah.”
There was no strength at all in his voice. Anna, entering the bedroom, saw her master’s face and, aghast, came running to the bedside in a patter of steps.
“Oh my, why does your face look like this! You look like you did not sleep a wink.”
Holding Rubio’s cheeks in both hands, she shook them vigorously to wake him up.
“Even if you are confident in your face, of all days, on the day of the ceremony!”
“I am dizzy… stop it….”
His words trailed off drowsily. When Rubio yawned with a sleepy face, Anna gently let go of his face and soaked a cloth in the basin of lukewarm water. She wrung it out with a trickling sound, wiped Rubio’s face, and asked, “What on earth happened yesterday for you to be so out of it?”
“Nothing happened.”
“Do not lie to me. If nothing happened, why could you not sleep?”
Having grown up with him, she knew Rubio too well. Whenever this young master caused an accident, he always had exactly this face. Thinking that today was the wedding day made her blood run cold. When she pressed him again, Rubio mumbled.
“Just. You know why, so why do you keep asking?”
It meant he had been unable to sleep because he was having to go through with the marriage he hated so much after all.
At the young master’s gloomy face, Anna whispered.
“Let me tell you some good news. The truth is, yesterday I went to Granny Pepe for a fortune reading. You know her, right? The most famous fortune-teller in this neighborhood.”
“I told you not to go to places like that. If Mother finds out, you will be in trouble.”
Rubio was worried the devout duchess might learn of this, but Anna seemed unbothered.
“You will keep it a secret for me, will you not? Anyway, the old woman said that the young master and Duke Téllez are, of all things, a match made in heaven. All I did was give her the two of your birth times.”
“You believe that? Really, Anna, you are so naive….”
“The naive one is you, young master. Do you know how much that fortune cost? I poured a fortune into it for your safe marriage. I feel relieved now. I was worried because the duke is a man with so many rumors about him. Now, come down here.”
Chattering on, Anna washed Rubio all over, draped a robe over him, and once he was roughly in human shape, she set a simple breakfast before him, fed him, then called in servants to attend his bath.
Hot water poured down over his white skin with a rush. Tiny pink flower petals bobbed along round ripples. Rubio stared blankly at them, then slid his gaze toward the window.
The morning sun had risen and was shining brightly. It was the most beautiful weather imaginable.
After the bath with fragrant oils poured in, when he sat before the mirror, three people latched onto him.
“No, no. It has to fall naturally. Give me the comb.”
Rubio, dressed in a white ceremonial robe decorated with gold thread and jeweled buttons, watched Anna through the mirror. She, standing beside the child she was supervising, apparently disliked his hair ornament and grumbled, and in the end arranged his hair with her own hands.
Having stayed up all night, he was tired and sleepy and could barely keep his eyes open. Rubio dozed off in nods, but the servants dressed him with smooth, practiced hands.
Thanks to sitting still for two hours entrusting everything to them, all the preparations were finally complete.
Just as he was leaving the room on time, the Duchess de la Rosa was walking toward him from across the corridor. She smiled brightly and came running toward her youngest son.
“Rubio!”
“Mother.”
“My baby, you are prettier today than ever, as always.”
Embracing Rubio tightly and leaving kisses smacking on his forehead and cheeks, the duchess pinned the pale pink peony decorating his chest properly into place.
“God will watch over you. The weather is so fine, after all.”
With every sentence it was “our Rubi,” “youngest,” “baby.” As the duchess’s eyes reddened with her youngest son’s wedding right before her, Anna comforted her.
“Do not worry, my lady. I am going along, so what could possibly happen?”
“That is right. I am counting on you, Anna.”
Though it felt strangely as though he were being handed over from his mother to Anna, Rubio kept his mouth shut and went down to the first floor wedged between the two of them.
Duke de la Rosa, who had been waiting, also appeared neatly dressed, as if all his preparations were done.
The duchess, who had spent her whole life teasing her husband for being a man who got up in the pitch-dark before the sun rose, was quiet today. That was because she knew he, like her, had not slept a wink all night either.
The duke, unable to take his eyes off his youngest, cleared his throat awkwardly and spoke to Rubio.
“Did you sleep well?”
Unable to lie, Rubio only nodded.
“Lionela and Evan are to come straight to the cathedral.”
“Ye-es…….”
A listless answer flowed from the ever-gentle, docile son’s lips. Though he thought it could not be helped on the day of the marriage he had resisted so much, his heart ached.
“Come, dear, let us go.”
When the duke’s face clouded over, the duchess linked her arm through her husband’s and dragged him toward the entrance hall. Rubio and Anna followed behind them and, amid the household’s farewells, boarded the carriage.
It was not as if he were being sold off, but at the thought that they would not see Rubio anymore, everyone’s eyes were red.
“Young master, congratulations on your marriage.”
“Congratulations.”
Outside the carriage window, the long line of people bowed in courtesy.
They all knew they would see him again at the celebration after the Mass, but their regret was boundless.
Feeling a prick of conscience, Rubio greeted them with his eyes.
If he went with that man, when would he be able to come home again?
The face he had thought about all through the dawn rose again. Perhaps he had done something foolish. But there had been no other way.
Swallowing his nerves and a sigh, Rubio looked out the window.
The carriage, entering a forest road, left the residence behind and began to run at a steady pace.
***
Around the cathedral, an endless procession of carriages stretched on without ceasing, forming a sea of people.
They were all nobles invited to the wedding of Duke Téllez and Rubio de la Rosa.
Under a clear autumn sky without a single cloud, high and blue, white doves in the plaza burst into flight in a flurry, and amid them Rubio stepped down carefully from the carriage, holding an attendant’s hand.
At his appearance, gazes instantly concentrated in that direction. Due to the gathered crowd, the surroundings grew noisy in an instant.
“It is Master Rubio!”
“Goodness, look at Master Rubio.”
“The young master of de la Rosa is an angel whenever you see him.”
With each of his steps, effusive gasps and praise poured out. His steps slowly climbing the stairs to the cathedral were as elegant as a butterfly alighting on flower petals.
His long blond hair was pure, and his splendid ceremonial clothes were buried beneath his lovely beauty besides. However, perhaps because his wedding was ahead, his expression was a little stiff.
“How cute. He must be nervous.”
“Well, of course! His husband is that Duke Téllez.”
“But is it true the duke did not come to last night’s banquet?”
The lively voice dropped lower. At the subtle question, a lady standing beside her whispered.
“Well… they say there was an accident on the way, but how would we know? Why it happened.”
“To be honest, the two houses were never on good terms, were they?”
“Oh my, what are you saying? Let us stop and go in. The ceremony will begin soon.”
At the words of an elderly gentleman of years, the whispering ladies shut their mouths, fluttering their fans.
And after watching Rubio and the de la Rosa party enter the chapel, once their figures disappeared, they followed after them.
Climbing the long stairs led to the sanctuary. Beneath the enormous dome built of multicolored marble, the cathedral interior was filled with sacred paintings and statues made by the geniuses of the century, exceedingly lavish.
The stained glass on both sides of the corridor sparkled softly in the sunlight, inspiring awe. The distinctive scent of the cathedral calmly filled the interior.
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