Lila’s POV
It was a wedding gown nad "Star Dust."
It wasn’t a traditional, puffy, and elaborate princess gown, but rather a minimalist cut with an extrely modern feel. The main fabric was hand-embroidered tulle weighing dozens of pounds, with every stitch adorned with fine crystals and mother-of-pearl. From a distance, it looked as if a real-life galaxy had been draped over the body. The train swept the floor, creating an iridescent shimr like the aurora borealis with every movent. The back was a daring open design, with fine silver thread tracing vine-like patterns that ford a wolf’s head totem.
"This is too... extravagant." I instinctively took half a step back.
Zoe walked over and gently draped the layer of tulle over my shoulders herself. Its cool touch instantly enveloped . The reflection in the mirror looked as if I were shrouded in starlight.
"This is the wedding of the century, Lila." Zoe stood behind , her hands on my shoulders, her gaze eting mine in the mirror. "It’s not just a wedding. It’s a ceremony for the Wolf Clan’s royal family to declare its sovereignty to the world. It’s the stage for your official coronation as the new Queen. You have to be so breathtakingly beautiful that you silence those elders and their ulterior motives, so beautiful that all voices of doubt turn to submission."
I looked at my reflection. The wedding gown was like an ornate suit of armor, encasing perfectly. I reached out, my fingertips touching the fine embroidery. Every single bead was smooth and hard.
"Don’t you think I look like a sacrifice, exquisitely dressed for the altar?" I gave a bitter smile, my voice so soft it was nearly absorbed by the carpet.
"Don’t be ridiculous." She released her hands and turned to grab a few other options from a nearby rack, her cheerful tone failing to hide sothing as she flipped through them. "This is just part of the process. The more elaborate the preparations, you know, the more it shows everyone how revered you are."
"I know," I cut in, taking a deep breath and letting the stylist guide to the dressing room. "The way this wedding is presented is crucial for us."
When I stepped out of the dressing room again, the entire studio fell silent.
Wearing "Star Dust" felt lighter than I had imagined. The intricate embroidery wasn’t as heavy as I’d expected; instead, it felt like a second skin, rising and falling with my every breath. The open-back design perfectly revealed the lines of my shoulder blades, and the silver-threaded totem seed to co alive on my skin, radiating a wild and sacred beauty.
The train pooled on the floor like a blossoming, luminous cloud.
Zoe stared at , a flash of awe in her eyes.
"Perfect." She walked a circle around , her fingertips gently brushing the tassels on the train. "This is the one. ’Star Dust.’ It symbolizes the ancient legend of the Wolf Clan originating from the stars, and it also symbolizes you—Lila. You will illuminate this family’s future like the stars themselves."
I stood before the massive floor-to-ceiling mirror, looking at the woman enveloped in starlight.
She was beautiful, as beautiful as an unreal dream. But I knew that beneath this layer of starlight lay cold calculations, an impending storm, and the net called a ’wedding’ that Jasper had been forced to weave to protect .
"Lila..." Zoe looked at with concern. "Do you feel like... this wedding is too calculated?"
"You noticed, Zoe." I heard my own voice, calm yet tinged with a weary resignation. "I do feel a sense of regret."
I paused, my gaze falling on my own slightly furrowed brow in the reflection.
"This is nothing like the ending to a love story I used to imagine," I said softly, my voice quiet, yet every word was clear. "I used to think that if I ever got married, it would be in a small garden with only a few of our closest loved ones. I’d wear a simple white dress, not to intimidate anyone, but just to make myself happy. My beloved would hold my hand and say a few clumsy but sincere words..."
Zoe didn’t laugh or respond. She just listened quietly, her fingers resting lightly on my shoulder like a silent pillar of support.
"At a ti like this, clinging to words like ’romance,’ ’purity,’ and ’heart-stopping monts’... seems really inappropriate."
Zoe looked at . Suddenly, she stepped forward, opened her arms, and held in a tight embrace.
Her embrace was warm and carried a faint scent of citrus and mint—a scent that was uniquely Zoe’s. She didn’t speak, just held firmly and steadily, as if embracing a warrior about to go into battle, or soothing a child who had been lost for a long ti.
A few seconds later, she let go, cupped my face in her hands, and looked seriously into my eyes.
"But Lila, you don’t have to be held hostage by grand words like responsibility, bloodline, and salvation."
She paused, her fingertip gently wiping away a tear that had yet to fall from the corner of my eye.
"You’re allowed to have regrets. You’re allowed to miss that garden and think about that simple white dress. Those feelings aren’t lodramatic; they are the most real and precious parts of you as a person." Her gaze was blazing, like two inextinguishable flas. "You don’t need to lock your heart away in a golden cage called ’Queen’ for the sake of ’the bigger picture.’"
"Lila," she called my na softly. "Do you really think this wedding is all for the Wolf Clan?"
I froze.
"It’s for Jasper." She reached out and gently tucked a stray strand of hair at my temple. "That man... He’s terrified. He’s terrified of losing you, terrified the seal inside you will turn against you, terrified that Derek’s ’Furnace’ will devour you. The only way He could think of to protect you was to use every ans at his disposal to give you the strongest shield possible."
She paused, her gaze falling to the ring on my ring finger.
My tears finally broke free.
"But... the Wolf Clan’s crisis..."
"Jasper and the elders can deal with the Wolf Clan’s crisis." Zoe patted my back forcefully, as if trying to infuse so of her strength into . "Your job is to survive and to be happy. If you feel this wedding is making you unhappy, then treat it like a play. But even in a play, you have to act for yourself, not for so hollow sense of duty."
I buried my face in the crook of her neck, letting my tears soak her delicate shoulder.
"But, Zoe..." I sobbed, my voice breaking. "I’m afraid I’m not worthy. I’m afraid all of this beauty is just a beautiful illusion."
"You silly girl." Zoe pulled back, cupped my face, and looked seriously into my eyes. "Look at . The way Jasper looks at you is different from how he looks at anyone else. That’s not duty. That’s love. The kind of love that would shield you from harm even if the world were ending."
She took my hand and led back to the mirror.
"Look at yourself in the mirror." She pointed to the woman enveloped in starlight. "You are the woman he would give his heart to. You are one of a kind. You don’t have to do anything—your very existence is aningful enough."
"Okay." I took a deep breath, opened my eyes, and forced a smile. "Then... let’s go with ’Star Dust.’"
"That’s more like it, my Queen!" She linked her arm with mine and turned toward the massive floor-to-ceiling window. "Co on. Let’s go tell the world that the Queen of the Wolf Clan is about to arrive."
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