SWNOVELXO Chapter 23: Marin’s First Move
Three days after being engaged. Our MC,
Ezrel Dormir is still having confusion. His face still doesn't show any reaction to it. Always acted blank, like nothing happened to him.
But deep inside his heart only he knows the pain got toyed by fate...
He still hadn't spoken to the princess.
Hadn't written a letter.
Hadn't even seen a portrait.
And now got engaged to someone completely unknown to him???
But....
There's nothing he can do.. All things are already arranged by his parent..
Even the palace had already sent over a velvet scroll announcing the "blessed union," embossed with three divine seals..
It's not like he can reject the princess after all that ... right....
He still loves his head where it's supposed to be.
And now , the Dormir mansion was decorated with gold-thread banners.
Even nobles are already here..
They all gathered to celebrate the arrangement that Ezrel hadn't agreed to.
---
"This isn't even the real celebration," Ezrel muttered while adjusting the silk collar that was choking his neck.
A maid beside him, clasped her hand with starry eyes whispered, "The official ceremony will be hosted in the capital. This is just a humble house blessing to honor your holy engagement."
Ezrel stared at her for a long moment. Then looked at the sky.
He wanted to nap in it.
To lazy to be here.
---
Bells rang. Music played. Wine flowed.
Every noble family in the region sent their heirs or envoys. They came to shake hands with Lord Dormir, to flatter Lady Dormir, and most of all to look at Ezrel.
The Serene Heir. The untouched myth. And now their future kings.
He was being paraded by his father .
He was staring at nothing in particular. Bored.
A servant fanned him gently. Another refilled his cup even though he hadn't drunk anything.
One noblewoman leaned toward her son and whispered, "Look. Even his silence has grace."
Ezrel sighed audibly. No one noticed.
---
And quietly, without anyone noticing, there was a woman who approached him.
He sensed it before he saw her.
But this time..
For once, someone approached him without any religious whispering or blinding awe.
He saw it in her eyes..
It looks like looking at another human.
"Congratulations," Marin Velastra said coolly.
Ezrel blinked. Slowly.
She was dressed plainly, at least compared to the nobles parading around him.
Forest green robes with silver thread accents, no tiara, just a simple pinned ribbon in her hair.
"I mean it," she added. "Engagement to royalty. Most nobles would kill for that."
"Maybe they still can," Ezrel replied.
"It's not final until I lose my name."
She smiled faintly. "It won't be a bad match. You'll probably never see her."
"That's what I'm afraid of. If I do, it'll be in a divine ritual or a coffin."
"Ah," Marin said, folding her hands in front of her.
"So you're not in love."
Ezrel raised an eyebrow. "Do I look like I've ever had time for that?"
"No," she admitted, with a nod. "You look like a hostage dressed in silk.. like a dead person without head."
He stared at her again.
This time, a bit longer.
Marin tilted her head toward the garden path beside his platform. "Mind if I sit?"
He shrugged.
She took that as permission.
---
From above, on the eastern balcony of the manor, Lysette Dormir stood in silence.
She had not joined the banquet. She was not required to. She had simply appeared when it began.
The other children had tried to greet her.
She had ignored them all.
To her they not important for her to waster her time.
She always stared at her brother without fail.
But now, her eyes locked onto Marin's green ribbon.
Her fingers slowly wrapped divine thread around her thumb. Just enough to feel the tension.
She said nothing. She only watched.
Like staring at a prey.
---
Marin didn't speak for several minutes. She simply sat beside Ezrel on the stone ledge, legs tucked, hands folded.
It was quiet enough that the birdsong returned between songs.
"You don't remember me," she said finally.
"No," Ezrel admitted. "Should I?"
"We met two months ago. At the Lady Hartbrants gathering..."
"Oh...."
"You forget it right..."
"Hahahahaha... Sorry..."
"It's okay ....but I've been watching ever since. Just curiosity."
Ezrel gave her a side glance.
She looked honest.
And that was suspicious.
---
"I'm not here to seduce you.. You know," Marin said. "You're engaged. And I have no ambition to outrank a princess.."
"I still love my family to fight princess for a man"
Ezrel raised an eyebrow.
"Then why talk to me at all?"
"Because I think you need someone normal. Not a priest. Not a noble. Maybe. Just a normal friend."
Ezrel froze slightly.
Marin didn't seem to notice.
Or maybe she did.
"But mostly," she continued, "because I want to survive the next ten years. And I think that only happens by standing on the side of whatever you are."
Ezrel turned his head.
"What am I?"
"You're not a person anymore," she said gently. "Not to them."
She looked at the crowd. Dozens of nobles were smiling, bowing, whispering about omens and miracles.
"You're a symbol. Symbols don't get friends."
Ezrel blinked.
Then closed his eyes, sighing through his nose.
"I'm not saying yes," he muttered.
Marin stood.
"I wouldn't believe it if you did."
---
She walked back toward the crowd.
Just before she disappeared, she turned back and said:
"When you need to rest somewhere no one's watching, you can come to my house. There will be peace there for you."
And then she left.
---
Above, Lysette's thread glowed faintly.
She let it fall.
She wasn't angry.
She wasn't sad.
But her lips parted, and she spoke to no one:
"He doesn't need hiding places."
Her voice was soft.
"He already has me."
She pressed the thread charm to her chest, and it shimmered once with warmth.
Then faded.
---
Ezrel didn't see any of it.
He closed his eyes, crossing his leg and sighed again.
The celebration carried on.
But to him, it was just another noise.
Another movement around a life he never got to choose.
He whispered:
"I really should've stayed dead."
"That damn entity... It really tricked me.."
---