CHAPTER 66: THE MAN AFTER THE POPE

Emperor Alfred and Crown Princess Penelope, standing right next to him, had to force themselves not to laugh.

Duke Kassadin and his wife, Zoey’s siblings, and everyone were completely stunned.

Zoey was wearing a dress.

A female knight, and Wirgo’s female knight, was wearing a dress.

Kassadin and his wife’s eyes were brimming with tears. The five empresses and the six princesses, except for Penelope, had already started crying.

After holding back his laughter, Alfred remembered what he had told Luke and Zoey five days before the ball began:

"Get married. Let the day the ball and feast begin be the day you get married, my children."

Luke and Zoey were naturally surprised by these words.

"What?" Zoey asked, her tone a bit disrespectful.

"As you heard, I have already permitted you to marry. On your wedding day, I will summon the holiest priest I can summon and complete your marriage under legal conditions."

"But... Your Majesty..." Zoey said, then gathered her courage and corrected herself, "But Father... I thought you had refused."

Alfred smiled and then looked into Luke’s eyes and asked, "I need to learn from my mistakes, don’t I, little girl?"

This was what truly altered Luke and Zoey’s plans.

Of course, the ballroom being too small to accommodate so many people was also a factor, but Luke and Zoey had desired everything to be more "grand."

Kevin, Aelia, and the servants under their command immediately set to work upon hearing the news, without informing any nobles.

Luke’s servants respected him so much that the existence of the wedding had not leaked out, not even to the empresses and princesses.

Only Crown Princess Penelope knew what was going to happen.

This was what the current situation looked like.

"Today is a blessed day!" Luke suddenly shouted, and although everyone’s attention was already on him, his authoritative voice still managed to bring everyone into line.

At the same time, Alfred took a few steps forward and pointed to the entrance of the vast palace courtyard.

"Come on, get out of here!" said one of the nobles who had been following Luke from the beginning and did not hate him.

"You can’t be serious..." said another noble.

"I can’t believe what I’m seeing..." added another.

Luke had never had many friends in his life. In his opinion, friends were not something to be chosen, but if they had to be chosen, the best ones, or rather those with the brightest spirits, should be chosen.

When viewed through the eyes of a Crown Prince, however, the word ’friend’ lost its meaning entirely.

Especially when everyone was trying to gain something by standing by Hiera’s side, it was almost nonexistent.

However, occasionally, very rarely, there were exceptions to this rule.

The person entering the palace courtyard was one of those exceptions.

At the age of 6, he was freed from slavery thanks to the Hieras.

At the age of 8, he managed to become a priest.

By the time he was 13, he had already risen to the highest position in the priesthood, sitting in one of the seats immediately behind the Pope.

This year, he was the same age as Luke, 18 years old.

Behind him came dozens of priests and nuns, along with the Holy Knight who had come with him—none other than Aphelios Crumbel himself.

He was one of Luke’s four friends and one of the four people he could truly dedicate his life to, someone he was certain he would give his life for.

When Alfred said, "The most holiest priest I can summon," Luke did not understand who he was talking about because Luke himself had not seen Aphelios for almost six years.

The last time the two friends had seen each other was when Aphelios came to the capital to perform a sacred ceremony for a few people to win their gifts when Luke was twelve years old.

Other than that, Saint Leonardo Marcelo, who had personally trained Aphelios, would not allow him to go outside, that is, outside the Holy Empire.

Still, today was a blessed day.

"Yes, today is a blessed day, my two dear friends Luke and Zoey," Aphelios said suddenly.

No one had knelt, but everyone except the imperial family members and, of course, Zoey had bowed their heads in greeting.

The Holy Empire worshipped Nyx and her family directly, and the Hieras were seen as the cherished children of the Chaos-Born. This meant they were the only family who did not need to bow their heads in respect before the Holy Empire.

Of course, Zoey was now part of that family as well, even though the ceremony had not yet been completed.

"Aphelios..." Luke had said suddenly, turning to Zoey and asking her if he could go.

Zoey smiled and removed her arm from Luke’s, saying, "Together, as he is the friend of both of us."

Within seconds, the two of them had appeared before Aphelios, who was perhaps hundreds of metres away from them.

Aphelios was a handsome man. He had red hair and jet-black eyes, and his face looked like a carved statue...literally.

Luke and Zoey didn’t hesitate for a second and immediately embraced Aphelios.

Aphelios’s eyes welled up with tears, but he didn’t hesitate to embrace his two friends as well.

Every Holy Knight, priest, and nun around them had, of course, knelt before the prince of the empire and his wife, Zoey.

"I can’t believe it. I can’t even imagine Saint Leonardo agreeing to send you here," Luke said when he let go of the hug.

"Well..." Aphelios said suddenly.

Zoey and Luke looked at each other, and laughter echoed through the vast courtyard. Aphelios calmly said, "Master went to the eastern forests to investigate a curse... When Uncle Alfred sent me a letter, I realised I couldn’t wait for Master."

He then added, "I’m not heartless enough to miss the happiest day of the two people I value most in my entire life."

These words were enough to bring tears to Luke and Zoey’s eyes.

Fortunately, Zoey hadn’t worn any makeup, as even without it, the young woman was the most beautiful in the empire.

Luke, meanwhile, averted his eyes from Aphelios to keep from crying.