This gentleman, do you wish to make a vow to this lady—from this day forward, in good times or bad, in wealth or poverty, in sickness or health, to never leave her, to love her and cherish her until death?
The old bishop’s voice was firm and resonant, his words clear, giving a solemn and sacred feeling to the ears.
False Liya looked at the stunningly beautiful girl across from him.
This was his dream.
He was like the protagonist, already standing at the finish line.
Unlike before, he felt that he was the real Liya.
What would the real Liya do?
Naturally, marry the girl before him, become a noble, and enjoy a lifetime of wealth and honor!
“I do!”
In his eyes, Emily was no longer just Emily.
She was the collection that could fulfill all his desires.
She was the object of his fantasies, the goddess who brought light to his dark life.
I will marry my goddess!
False Liya’s gaze made Emily’s skin crawl.
She almost instinctively recoiled.
She had never seen such disturbing eyes on any man before.
She was a hair’s breadth away from punching him.
If not for the baron’s gaze pinning her down…
Baron Leicester’s aura pressed down on Emily, blocking her magic power and warning her not to cause trouble.
For the prosperity of the family, she had to complete the wedding.
Emily’s heart ached, but she had already cried, so her eyes were only slightly red.
Those with sharp eyes in the audience noticed Emily’s sorrow, but they assumed it was the melancholy of leaving home.
After all, from now on she would change her surname to White and be called Mrs.
White—no longer the genius Miss Emily, but a beautiful lady.
The maiden had become a wife.
Only a handful truly knew what was in the girl’s heart.
Emily instinctively wanted to turn her head and scan the crowd for her best friend—hoping she might do something.
But Baron Leicester did not let her.
It was her turn to answer.
The old bishop also feared more trouble.
It would be bad if rumors spread from his church.
Church weddings were expensive, and this one had earned him a fortune.
“This lady, do you wish to make a vow to this gentleman—from this day forward, in good times or bad, in wealth or poverty, in sickness or health, to never leave him, to love him and cherish him until death?”
His voice quickened slightly.
Other than changing the title, nothing else was different.
He repeated the exact words to Emily.
Then it was up to Emily.
Emily lifted her head slightly and, through the veil covering her face, glanced at the impostor opposite.
She opened her mouth, but no words came out.
It was as if she was waiting—waiting for the miracle Vanessa had mentioned.
‘Will there really be a miracle?’
A long silence. Nothing happened.
She sighed inwardly.
‘That was just to console me, wasn’t it?’
Emily knew that even if the wedding were completed, she would not have to do what an ordinary wife did.
She would receive the assets originally given to Liya White and manage all affairs of the White family,
becoming the head with the most power.
False Liya was just a tool.
She, as Mrs. White, would be the real power.
The family would become a branch.
Ten years later, with two Tier 3 Viscounts, if the Leicester family maneuvered well, it would not be impossible to swallow the White family.
By then, who in Grey Pine City could stand against them?
Baron Leicester believed that with Emily’s talent, she would definitely break through to Tier 3.
The plan was beautiful, but reality was always surreal.
Emily parted her pink lips and uttered a single word: “I.”
She was one breath away from the next two words.
But a cold, clear female voice suddenly interrupted the process, choking the word in her throat.
“Wait!”
Everything stopped at that moment.
Baron Leicester’s handsome face was filled with anger.
Again and again—did that fool really think he could push a baron around?
But when he turned his head to glare at the source of the voice, the fury in his eyes instantly froze into icy spikes that stabbed deep into his heart and mind, causing a sharp pain.
At the church entrance, everyone turned to look.
A girl with ice-blue hair stood in midair, looking down on the masses with an air of superiority.
She wore a blue-white long dress, her bearing like a snow lotus from the heavenly mountains, proud and unmatched.
But beneath the hem of her dress were a pair of round-toed sky-blue leather shoes and cute white socks, the cuffs of which were adorned with little red bows.
Could the ice goddess-like figure also have such an adorable side?
She stepped onto the ground in her little shoes, walking across the bloodstained red carpet.
Wherever she stepped, frost spread instantly.
When the girl descended, everyone felt the temperature in the space drop by at least ten degrees.
What kind of power is this?!
Shu Yue widened her eyes, secretly sizing her up while calculating.
‘This must be the duke’s precious daughter, ranked first among the young ladies of the Northern Frontier—Loran Isolde!’
Beside her, Vanessa looked at Loran, then at Shu Yue.
Her pretty face was filled with tension.
The way she looked at Loran had changed to the gaze one gives an extremely difficult enemy to defeat.
‘So strong, but that’s what makes a challenge fun!’
Loran slowly walked to the front of the stage.
She looked at False Liya.
Her thick, frost-tipped eyelashes trembled slightly as her ice-blue eyes fixed on him.
Her exquisitely crafted, delicate face showed no change in emotion—always cold as ice.
False Liya stared at Loran.
After the previous rounds, he was no longer so weak.
Besides, Emily was about to agree just now, so his confidence was at its peak.
He swallowed a mouthful of saliva, looking at the goddess-like figure before him.
His heart could no longer suppress the burning desire.
“You… have you come for me too?”
Loran slowly raised her hand.
False Liya’s heart leaped with joy.
‘Just as I thought, she has come for me too!’
Seeing Loran raise her hand, he thought she wanted to hold his, so he also raised his hand toward her.
But what awaited him was not the goddess’s affection, but frost that seeped into his soul.
Crack!
A crisp sound, as if something had shattered.
False Liya was still immersed in his own fantasy, unaware that his body was already covered in white frost.
His outstretched hand stopped in midair, then crumbled into sparkling ice powder.
As it shattered inch by inch, the wind carried it away.
Until his death, he never understood how he died.
He simply dissipated on the spot.
In less than three breaths, False Liya had vanished into nothing.
Such a method was shocking beyond belief!
“You are not him.”
Loran said flatly, still showing no emotional fluctuation.
Yet in her words, there was a faint hint of anger.
She slowly turned her head and looked at Emily, who stood frozen in place.
The next moment, a terrifying aura radiated from the girl as the epicenter, instantly covering the entire wedding venue in a single breath.
The grass blades on the ground, the clothes of the people, even the tips of their hair and eyelashes—all rapidly condensed with sparkling white frost.
The temperature plummeted, making everyone’s bodies tense, their hearts pounding desperately to resist this extreme cold.
But that was not the most terrifying thing.
What truly horrified them was the trembling that came from the depths of their genes.
Every cell seemed to scream in fear:
Leave!
Leave now!
Yet without permission, no one could step out of this snowfield even half a step.
None of the people present were weak; they all had some strength.
But under Loran’s pressure, they could barely stand, and one by one they fell to their knees.
Was it a superior’s aura?
No—this was…
Bloodline!
Such terrifying bloodline pressure—the answer was clear in everyone’s minds.
In truth, from the moment they saw Loran’s goddess-like face, they had already guessed.
Now that the bloodline power had manifested, the girl’s identity was beyond doubt.
Bloodline returning to the source, born with sacred blood.
One who would surely step into the Saint realm in the future—the most noble young lady of the Northern Frontier, Loran Isolde!
Baron Leicester and Viscount Hermann were the strongest present, both having reached Tier 3.
Yet even they could not withstand the sacred blood pressure.
They were forced to one knee, heads bowed.
The tyranny of bloodline was now fully revealed.
Emily, as the focal point, had long since collapsed to the ground, trembling uncontrollably.
Was she going to die?
Just like that impostor—killed worthlessly because she displeased someone…
She lowered her head.
A tear slid from her eye, but before it fell halfway, it froze into a grain of ice, striking her chest.
Loran’s gaze shifted slightly, landing on Emily’s impressive chest.
Emily might not be the brightest, but those peaches were really big!
Shu Yue shivered, realizing that this pressure felt familiar—very similar to her Dragon’s Majesty, though Loran’s effect was clearly stronger.
She looked at Loran with admiration.
Shu Yue could sense that Loran’s realm was probably similar to Eustia’s.
She wondered who was stronger between them.
‘Speaking of which, did Eustia secretly learn Loran’s spells?’
Shu Yue remembered that Eustia also used ice-type abilities.
She had even seen her use wind magic, and didn’t know if she wielded other elements.
Resisting the bloodline pressure was easy for Shu Yue.
The Silver Dragon bloodline was even more useful than she had imagined.
She looked at everyone kneeling around her and couldn’t help thinking:
‘Do I have to kneel to her too?’
Just then, she felt a soft warmth behind her.
Vanessa leaned against her.
This indeed made Vanessa feel much better.
But leaning was fine—why did her hands have to wrap around my waist?
Shu Yue’s mouth twitched.
She barely suppressed the impulse to push Vanessa away.
Doing that would draw Loran’s attention.
Seeing how violent Loran was, Shu Yue instantly chickened out.
After all, she was a fake too.
What if she got killed?
So she chose to crouch and hide, deciding to observe the situation first.
Loran turned her gaze again, this time looking at Baron Leicester beside Emily.
“Give me a reasonable explanation.”
“Y-your Highness…”
Baron Leicester trembled all over.
This was the first time he had shown such fear since becoming a baron.
Without hesitation, he spilled everything.
“Noble Highness, Count Dulles sent me a personal letter, delivered by an unidentified strong expert, instructing me to marry my daughter to Lord Liya.”
“Lord Liya agreed and stayed in Grey Pine City to prepare for today’s wedding. But two days ago, Lord Liya suddenly disappeared. I searched frantically but found nothing. With no other choice, I found someone to impersonate Lord Liya to complete the wedding—to fulfill the superior’s orders.”
“I had no other option either.”
“If Your Highness harbors resentment, you may dispose of this daughter of mine as you see fit. Please calm your anger!”
Emily’s body trembled slightly.
She let out a breath as if utterly exhausted, resigning herself to her fate.
The audience instantly understood.
Baron Leicester took the benefits and still shamelessly claimed he had worked hard.
What a shameless man.
Yet it was only such shamelessness that allowed him to reach this point today.
He could even offer his own daughter as a sacrifice.
To climb higher, he truly stopped at nothing.
Now that the real partner had arrived, Miss Emily, who had inexplicably become the “other woman,” was offered up by her own father to appease the other’s anger.
From the way that impostor was killed just now, it was clear that this rightful partner’s heart was as cold as ice.
No mercy whatsoever.
Miss Emily was going to suffer greatly.
As expected, Loran’s face darkened.
It seemed only matters concerning Liya could stir her emotions.
“Where is he now?”
“Th-this… I don’t know…”
Baron Leicester’s expression was dreadful.
How would he know?
Shu Yue heard this and couldn’t help thinking to herself:
‘Sister, the real Liya is not even ashes now…
I burned him!’
Just as everyone expected the esteemed lady to erupt in fury, another series of crackling sounds suddenly rang out.
Everyone turned to the source of the sound.
Shu Yue stood there dumbfounded.
She had just felt something pick her up.
Then all eyes fell on her.
“Huh?”
Shu Yue touched her face.
The disguise mask was gone.
She had revealed her true face under the Mirror Flower Water Moon.