Independent from any jurisdiction of the four kingdoms, the knight of Saintsheild bowed to no King. Being recognized as the highest contributor in conjugating monsters like Chedne and their subspecies, they were given special privilege by the High Priest to act as an independent faction, away from the political conflicts of the four ruling Kingdoms. Because of this recognition, the members of Saintsheild were considered elites of the centuries. Though many of them were used to be mercenaries, they were now baptised by the High Priest.
After the recent fall of the Probriterra Empire, who had control over the four Kingdoms, the power struggle began, leading to frequent wars to seize power over one another. This resulted in the King of Ibreotha losing many of his economic resources-- the loss of land, money and people have slowly weakened his defenses overtime.
With King Stefan III, Elena's father, in desperate need to regain momentum to become a leading nation, he made foul attempts to lure the Saintsheild Knight to come under his wings. This time, he was able to trick the leader of the knights to consume a high dosage of Aphrodisiac. For the many various and questionable attempts he made, it was understandable the members of Knighthood would have underlying mistrust to the King of Ibreotha; the guilt of knowing all these secrets had initially made her hesitant to accept the offer of arranged marriage.
But she was an unwanted child, accused of killing the King's most favored mistress because she was the most deprived out of all her half-siblings.
The attention and love that was supposedly for her was centered around the King's most fancied concubine. Though the accusation was not the truth, no one was willing to take her side to prove her innocence. She knew her father had the power to take her life, and by sending her away as a sacrificial lamb if the attempt to lure the leader of Saintsheild Knights was to fail, she had paid for her crime.
Although terrified because she had no one, she was convinced that her death sentence would be at the hands of the person she had always looked at with admiration. Her father, who already turned away from her a long time ago, chose the most painful way to tell her that she was never loved.
There, at the center of the altar, she looked at the man with trembling hands where tears gathered in one corner of her eyes.
"Is something wrong Princess?"
She shook her head quickly, her heart beating so loud as the face of Sir Knight came closer in a breath. Blinded by the high dose of Aprohdisiac, how can she be happy? Her face reddened with shame.
The man leaned in towards her, carefully holding her hands. The metal pieces of his leather gloves against her thin lace gloves were undeniably caring and warm, a feeling she couldn't quite understand how to process. Her head was blank as she stood, admiring the man's beauty unknowingly. It was an unfamiliar feeling she never experienced before. Was she that deprived of love? Even knowing that this whole thing was not true, her heart swayed by his presence.
Elena furrowed her brows, hardly swallowing the taste of bitterness stuck in her throat. As her thoughts persisted, Johan quickly removed his robe over his head, carefully placing it over her shoulder that was wet from the sprinkled rain drops.
"W-what are—"
Surprised by the kind gesture from a stranger, she averted her eyes, stuttering without a reason and quickly turning around. But, she got caught by his hands, refusing to let her go as he held onto her tightly.
"Your hands are cold, Princess…"
Johan held her hands on his face, the heat transferring from his reddened cheeks onto her icy hands. By the small gesture, his face blushed while his pale blue eyes looked at her lovingly. Elena couldn't believe it and touched his lips as if he wasn't real. For a second, she felt he had just taken her breath away. Convinced Johan, the leader of Saintshield, was seemingly in love with her.
"I've always thought your eyes were gray…"
By her amusing words, he chuckled. The man she only knew from afar could actually make a face like a feverish child, she didn't know— The effect of the Aphrodisiac that he had consumed must have been pretty strong for him not to realize who she really was.
"Can we hurry it up? A storm might come before this is all over…" the soldier behind her sighed irritatedly, making an impatient remark. Elena flinched as flashes of their rough treatment towards her suddenly emerged.
Johan's jaw quickly tightened, a piercing glance was thrown towards the two soldiers who King Stefan had thoughtlessly assigned to be a witness of the pair's wedding. Shivers ran through their backs and they quickly shut their mouths.
"I hope you're aware that the king sent you here because he does not care if you die here or return…"
Though Elena knew Johan's words were meant for the soldiers behind her, it seemed that it found its way towards her, striking her with guilt and fear.
Water tapped and bounced off of the velvet cloak on Elena's shoulder. She looked up to the sky, the heaven threatening to pour as it became more clouded and dark… but the ceremony must end before leaving this place, she thought.
She looked at Johan, biting her lips. Probiterra's west field, where they were at the moment, becomes a hunting ground for monsters once this rain pours. The priest, who silently watched them as he stood in front of the altar, finally spoke.
"By the authority given to me by the clergy, I will officiate your wedding. Please come forward."
Johan looked down at her and smiled gently before he spoke.
"Princess…" he called her lovingly as he kissed her hands gently, saying "let's get married."