The imposter Jurian led Rhea to the small platform where a middle-aged priest stood with a conflicted expression.
Although this so called wedding meant nothing to Rhea, she couldn't help but feel nervous as they arrived at the platform. Her poor heart was racing and pounding against her rib cage like it would rip her chest open. For all her years, the thought of marriage had never once crossed her mind, all she desired the most was to soar across the world and be wealthy.
But who would have thought she would be here today being forced to marry an imposter? A serpent at that?!
Does this mean she was married to the imposter and not the general the Emperor had bestowed upon the Villden mansion?
No way! She needed to quickly take the stolen treasure from him and leave.
The voice of the priest caught Rhea's train of thought.
"May the groom make his vow to his bride."
Rhea glanced at the man next to her, then frowned. What was wrong with this imposter? His expression looked like he'd seen a ghost as he stared blankly at the priest instead of taking the so called vow.
The priest repeated his words, however Jurian still didn't speak. Rhea scoffed internally; perhaps he also didn't want this marriage. Serves him right for possessing someone else's body!
Murmuring filled the courtyard as the groom didn't speak. The guests began to wonder; Was the general going to lose his temper?
After what seemed like forever, he finally opened his mouth to say, "I take Rhea Villden as my wife." He made the vow as if saying it alone was a curse on his tongue. His expression was indifferent and rigid.
The priest was taken aback as he looked from the groom to the bride. He'd never seen someone make such short vows on their wedding day, however knowing the man before him wasn't just anyone, he cleared his throat and looked to the bride.
"Let the bride bow two times to her husband." He said to Rhea, who shot a glare at Jurian.
The hell! Bow to someone like this? A serpent? Pah. Let the heavens cut down her joints!
Despite Rhea not wanting to bow, the imposter tugged her rope and made her do it against her will. She glare murderously at him while swearing to get back at him later after this cursed wedding.
"May the heavens bless your marriage with love and happiness. I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now share the bonding kiss." The priest declared in a booming voice.
Rhea couldn't help but grimace. Bonding kiss with a serpent?!
Before she could even react, the imposter had leaned down and pressed his lips on her right cheek. Her eyes widened in astonishment.
"You...!" She wanted to snap at him, but before she could even open her mouth to speak, he'd turned and walked away from the platform as if he didn't want anything to do with her nor the wedding ceremony anymore.
'Damn you! Just you wait and see. I will make you pay for taking advantage of my innocence!!' she cried internally as she glared at his retreating figure.
---
After the wedding ceremony was done, old lady Lila sent all the guests away.
Rhea was already in the bridal chamber. Actually it was just Jurian's room, it was spacious and neater than her own room back at her father's mansion, where all her curtains and bedspreads were old and faded. But this room had a masculine theme, with incredibly dark colors, and thick curtains that covered all the windows.
She sat on the rose petals sprinkled on the bed, she couldn't help but let her eyes wander around the room. One side of the wall, had various swords hung on it, and on another, were armours. She was still casually looking around when her sharp ears picked up what old lady Lila was explaining to her grandson outside the room.
"Your wife seems to have a fierce temper, you must first kiss her, pacify her then touch her and take off her clothes. Be so gentle, don't hurt her. But if she starts to resist a lot, don't let her hurt you. If things get out of hand, don't let your anger get the best of you, just call grandma, I will talk to her for you. After tonight, everything will be fine if she gets pregnant with your child. She won't try to escape again."
Rhea was carefully listening and couldn't help but think that it was hilarious yet maddening. On one hand, she felt like this grandma was extremely selfish for making her grandson continue the family tree. It was hard to feel even a little sympathy for her.
It was a pity though, the granny would've never thought that this man hadn't been her precious grandson for quite awhile now. She wondered for how long he'd been pretending to be the general of Birhhan.
With a slight creaking sound, the door was pushed open. The imposter, Jurian walked in alone. However, the old woman was still standing outside, she stuck her head out and pressed it against the door.
Rhea noticed, but pretended like she didn't see anything, she sat patiently on the bed waiting for Jurian to walk over, the moment he stood before her, she suddenly grabbed his clothes in her hands and pulled him over. She pushed him onto the bed making the bed curtains flutter down, isolating the bed from the outside world.
Although Rhea's hands were still tied together so they couldn't freely move, she had no difficulty in chocking him. She sat astride his waist and pushed down on the waist's acupuncture point, making him unable to move. Then she wrapped her hands around his neck,
"Let's see if you can escape me now, serpent."
Jurian looked taken aback for a moment. He then frowned deeply. "I see you've figured it out." He coldly laughed, his expression had a hint of despise, "But don't you know straddling a man to catch a serpent is unladylike, do all women in this land act like this nowadays?"
"Serpent..." Rhea slightly bent over and lowered her voice, it was just like a lover whispering sweet nothings to the others ears, "Don't talk to me about women, I don't care about lectures that are insignificant to me."
She struggled to raise one hand, copying what he did when he touched her face in the stable, she placed one finger on his face to trace a circle. So soft, Rhea thought before she used her two fingers to pinch his cheek and ruthlessly squeezed while pulling his handsome face out of shape.
Rhea was overjoyed as she pulled his face the way she wanted, "Aren't you great at pretending? Why don't you use this handsome face of yours to continue acting for me to see, Jurian?"
Behind the bed curtains, the pair's position couldn't be more suggestive, they looked like lovers getting intimate with each other on the bed.
But Rhea was so overjoyed bullying him that she didn't even take note of their position.
Nonetheless, Jurian scowled, he leaned his head away to shake off Rhea but failed, "Let go. Get off me right now young woman!" He coldly ordered, his voice was clearly filled with an impatient and rage.
However, Rhea didn't pay heed to his displeasure, she was having a great time bullying him. She thought about her yesterday and today's sorry figure in the stable, and also bowing to him at the wedding ceremony, not just that, he went as far as to kiss her cheek when they were asked to share the bonding kiss. But now she was actually enjoying seeing the displeasure on his face, it was pay back time!
Rhea sneered and mockingly laughed, "What? Yesterday when you touched my face, you didn't ask if I wanted it or not, and the day before when you made me bleed, you didn't ask if I wanted it or not. When you dared to kiss my cheek, you didn't ask if I wanted or not. Now it's my turn to!" She pulled his cheek even harder.
"Are you letting go or not?!" His pale blue eyes gradually became frosty as he glared at her in warning.
Rhea was smug, "You even dare glare at me? I won't_Ahh!" She hadn't finished speaking before she suddenly felt like her body was flying, then the world seemed to spin. Before she knew it, Jurian and her had switched positions. Now she was the one being pinned to the bed while he caged her waist between his knees.