NOAH.

It was finally happening.

Standing at the altar while waiting for my bride to appear should have made me feel calm, victorious even—but instead, I was nervous.

Terribly nervous.

My palms felt slightly sweaty despite the cool atmosphere inside the hall, and I kept clenching and unclenching my fingers in an attempt to steady myself.

It took everything in me not to break down emotionally right there.

After years of chasing after Maria...after wanting her for so long...she was finally going to become mine officially.

The thought alone felt unreal.

Guests filled the hall, their low murmurs blending softly in the background while everyone waited for the ceremony to begin properly.

The decorations looked perfect—everything looked perfect.

Exactly the way I wanted it.

My gaze swept across the hall absentmindedly until it landed on a familiar group seated not too far away.

The quadruplets.

A slow smug smile spread across my lips instantly–they were here, seated quietly and watching.

And somehow, that alone made reality sink in deeper.

They lost.

The thought crossed my mind naturally, though strangely enough, it didn’t bring me the satisfaction I thought it would.

Because to me...Maria was never a competition, never a prize and never something to "win."

She was far more important than that.

She was everything.

Still...mo matter how I tried to look at it, the truth remained obvious.

I won.

And they didn’t.

I slowly looked away from them again, refusing to let my mood be ruined today.

Instead, I focused on the entrance once more, waiting.

The auspicious hour was drawing closer, yet Maria still hadn’t arrived. And honestly, it was beginning to feel longer than expected.

My mind drifted unintentionally to last night. I remembered standing outside her room like a fool.

I had gone there personally just to see her for a little while before the wedding.

I knocked and waited, and asked her to open the door but she refused completely.

Petty woman.

The memory almost made me laugh again.

She didn’t even bother speaking to me directly. Instead, a small folded paper slid out slowly from beneath the door.

I remembered picking it up with confusion before opening it.

And written in her handwriting were the words:

> Men and women aren’t supposed to see each other the night before the wedding, unless it would bring bad luck.

The moment I read it, I almost burst out laughing. It sounded so ridiculously traditional, so barbaric yet strangely adorable at the same time.

I had stood there for nearly five minutes afterward, staring at the closed door while imagining her proudly sitting inside, believing she was protecting us from "bad luck."

A faint smile tugged at my lips again at the memory.

I still had the letter with me, carefully folded and tucked away, not because it was important but because it was Maria.

And someday, I would definitely use it against her. I could already imagine teasing her endlessly about it after the wedding.

Why the rush anyway?

She would officially become mine tomorrow and once she did—I wanted to see whether she would still refuse to open the door for me then.

Even now, I could still picture the way she had refused to open the door for me last night.

So stubborn.

So dramatic.

And yet, somehow, it only made me love her even more.

I kept smiling on the altar, unable to stop the memory from replaying itself over and over again inside my head.

My fingers twitched slightly by my side as nervousness crept deeper into my chest. I inhaled slowly, trying to calm the storm raging inside me.

"Calm down Noah... she is yours," I muttered inwardly once again, almost like a prayer to myself.

But calming down was impossible.

Not when the woman I had spent years chasing after was finally about to become my wife.

Not when everything I had ever wanted was only a few moments away from me.

Because despite everything, a small part of me still feared something would go wrong before this ceremony ended.

We would explain the fated mate issue to her later—that had been my plan from the beginning.

In fact, that was exactly what I had wanted to tell her last night before everything else happened.

I never wanted her finding out later and accusing me of hiding something this important from her.

No matter what happened after today, I wanted her to know I had intended to be honest with her.

I slowly took in a deep breath, trying to calm myself again.

And just then, the drum echoed loudly twice across the hall.

My heartbeat instantly quickened.

The auspicious hour had finally come.

The entire atmosphere shifted immediately, and then she appeared.

Maria.

The moment she stepped forward, every other thought in my head disappeared completely.

She was dressed in a flowing red silk gown that seemed to glow beneath the light, the fabric moving elegantly with each step she took. A thick red veil covered her face completely, hiding every expression from me.

Even her shoes were red.

The sight alone sent a wave of anticipation crashing through me so suddenly I almost lost focus entirely.

Tonight...I would be the one to undress her.

The thought settled deeply in my chest, making my pulse quicken even more.

As she slowly walked toward the altar, I kept hoping for even the smallest glimpse of her face beneath the veil.

But the material was thick and no matter how hard I looked, I couldn’t see through it.

Gosh.

The impatience was driving me insane.

The priest began reciting the necessary rites, his voice echoing steadily through the hall as the ceremony officially began.

But honestly, I barely heard any of it.

Because throughout everything, my eyes remained completely fixed on Maria.

Even when we were instructed to bow during parts of the rites, I still found myself trying to glance upward just to look at her again.

Everything felt unreal.

Like a dream I had somehow walked into.

And deep down, I kept fearing it might suddenly disappear at any moment.

"I love you, Maria," I whispered softly, my voice barely audible.

But I knew she heard me.

Because her fingers twitched slightly beneath the silk sleeves of her gown. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

And at that exact moment, I smiled again like the happiest man alive.