The wedding was held during the night, a request from the Duke of Amstel whose lineage was pure-blooded vampires.
The wedding took place amidst the enchanting gardens of the castle of Roselei. A long aisle, carpeted in rich red, was scattered with pristine white rose petals, offering a stark contrast to the evening's darkness. The event was attended primarily by the aristocrats of Sienna's clansmen who had gathered under the moon's silvery glow.
Dread filled Sienna as she walked down the aisle as though she were marching to her death.
Strings of pearls adorned her cascading silver hair, which flowed gracefully beneath a white veil. Following the Azure clan's tradition, half of her face remained concealed by a veil with her family's embroidered crest, allowing only her eyes to be visible.
The night sky was a velvety expanse, devoid of stars, yet the full moon loomed on the horizon, casting a soft, ethereal light over the proceedings. It bathed the scene in a gentle radiance.
Although Sienna's full face was not visible, every onlooker was spellbound by her mesmerizing presence, especially the Azure clan members who were never given a chance to have a glimpse of their princess before.
Her silver hair cascaded like liquid silk down to her waist, shimmering in the moonlight as if it were woven from stardust. Her deep blue eyes, the only feature unveiled, seemed to reflect the profound beauty of the ocean's depths, leaving everyone captivated by her otherworldly allure.
As Sienna moved down the aisle with a measured pace, her long white dress elegantly swaying with every glide, she could not help but take in the expressions of her clansmen.
Some of them appeared genuinely happy, while the majority regarded her with pity and disappointment.
Everything had gone according to her parents' plan. A few days before the wedding, it was announced that her loss of powers had been caused by a man defiling her. The scapegoat was publicly executed, and during that event, Sienna cried all day in her room.
With the pitiful expressions her clansmen wore, she knew they all shared the same thought: that she was being married off to another land because she was no longer eligible to be the next ruler of the clan.
A sense of guilt washed over her. It wasn't her fault that she hadn't been born as exceptional as they had anticipated, but she felt as though she had been deceiving them all her life.
Her gaze shifted to her parents who stood with a look of satisfaction in their eyes as if their daughter's wedding was no more than a well-executed business transaction. It didn't surprise Sienna at all.
But it was when her eyes fell upon the figure standing beside her mother and father that her insides twisted in discomfort.
Her uncle Ambrose locked his unsettling gaze on her, and an eerie feeling of foreboding overcame her. Under the veil that concealed her face, her lips trembled, an involuntary reaction to the uncanny way he stared at her.
Sienna averted her gaze, her trembling hands clutching the bouquet of flowers.
When she finally mustered the courage to raise her eyes, it was then that she laid her gaze upon the man who was to be her groom.
Her heart throbbed wildly in her chest, the intensity of its pounding the only sound she could hear.
In the months leading up to the wedding, ever since she had been informed of it, a sense of impending doom had gripped her, leading to constant nightmares about the man she had yet to meet.
And now, it felt as though her nightmares had come to life right before her.
Lemiel Von Amstel, her soon-to-be husband, stood there in all his regal splendor. Clad in the finest attire a man of noble standing could wear, he exuded an air of commanding presence. His white doublet, embellished with a high, pristine collar, was the epitome of elegance. Draped across his shoulders was a rich, black cape that cascaded like a midnight waterfall, adding a striking contrast to the rest of his ensemble.
His eyes, a striking pair of rich amber, bore into her with an intensity that seemed to seep under her very skin.
And she knew that once those amber eyes turned crimson, she would see him as a monster and not as a man.
In a world where the tyranny of the strong prevailed, vampires had always reigned supreme, their kind considered the most formidable. Having spent her eighteen years isolated within the walls of her family's castle, rarely speaking to anyone, let alone encountering different beings, the idea of marrying a creature of the night felt like an unsettling prospect.
And it didn't help that this man, the notorious third young master of Amstel Fortress, had always been someone monstrous in her thoughts.
Only that…
She didn't expect him to have a face so beautifully sculpted that it looked surreal. Ominous. Unearthly.
His inky black hair framed a strong, chiseled face, and his dark brows lent an air of mystery to his countenance. But it was his eyes that held her gaze most intensely.
Warm and inviting, they appeared like radiant rings of daylight, contrasting starkly with the darkness that surrounded him. The warm, inviting gaze held a charming yet mischievous look, as though dark secrets and bloody schemes danced in those mesmerizing orbs.
As she took the final step toward him, Sienna's heart momentarily ceased its frantic beating.
She stood before her groom, and he loomed over her, a towering figure that dominated her field of vision.
His gaze, sharp and penetrating, seemed to strip her of everything, laying her bare under the weight of his scrutiny.