The Northern Grand Duke’s Hamster – Side Story 26

The sun was particularly warm and dazzling that day.

The people of the territory had come out dressed in their finest clothes, chatting with bright expressions, and the rarest flowers of the North were lavishly arranged throughout the plaza in front of the castle.

It was a day when everyone came together in celebration.

“Um…”

As I adjusted the hem of my clothes, my eyes darted around before I let out a deep sigh.

“You really don’t have to look at me with such an emotional face.”

Sen had already checked my attire meticulously three times, gazing at me with a face full of sentiment. Watching her like that made me feel strangely self-conscious.

“I-I’m just having a wedding ceremony, that’s all. Nothing is really changing.”

I had decided to marry Kyle.

If you thought about it, that was all there was to it. Nothing would change. Everyone in the territory already openly knew about our relationship, we had been sharing the same bedroom, and we were always together anyway.

“What do you mean, nothing is changing?”

Sen chuckled, tucking a stray lock of hair behind my ear.

“It’ll feel completely different. You’ll know when you stand up there on the platform.”

I couldn’t argue with that. Sen was already married, after all.

As I silently looked at her, she took my hand and gave it a light shake.

“Shu, you have to be happy.”

“Yeah.”

“Just as you made us happy.”

Her words were filled with sincerity, and I found myself feeling a little embarrassed.

What did I even do for her…

Sen’s happiness was something she had found and built entirely on her own. But she didn’t seem to think that way, shaking her head lightly with a smile.

“You shared your miracle with us, Shu.”

“I will never forget that, for the rest of my life.”

Instead of answering, I simply looked at Sen.

The protagonist of Winter’s Heart.

We came from different worlds, and if things had gone differently, we might have never even brushed past each other in our lifetimes. But through countless coincidences and choices, we had become the closest of friends.

Friends who grieved for each other’s misfortunes, wished for each other’s happiness, and shared miracles.

It was the first time I had met a friend with whom I could share my heart like this, someone I could truly rely on.

“I’m glad you were here.”

At my honest words, Sen sucked in a breath. She seemed to be trying to hold back her tears, but there was no stopping the redness spreading across her eyelids.

“Let’s go now.”

“Yeah.”

As I stepped out of the tent we had prepared in place of a waiting room, colorful petals fluttered through the air, and the cheers of the crowd grew louder.

Kyle, already standing at the front of the platform, caught sight of me and gave a slight smile.

Spring had arrived.

Leaving behind the harshness, sorrow, hunger, pain, and longing of winter, everyone was stepping into the warmth of the new season. They basked in this fleeting happiness, hoping this moment would last forever.

“Long live His Grace the Grand Duke!”

“Congratulations! May you live well!”

“Yes! Finding someone you love and growing old together—that’s happiness!”

“Absolutely!”

The world I had chosen surrounded me in a dazzling glow.

The people who would share my life with me were watching over me.

It was time to go to the one who loved me.

“Now entering—Shu, the eternal partner of Grand Duke Blake!”

Just as I hesitated and was about to step onto the red carpet, a voice stopped me.

“Wait.”

A familiar figure strode toward me.

Golden hair that seemed to be spun from sunlight, glittering green eyes, an arrogant yet strikingly handsome face—Belial Serena Meinhardt was looking straight at me.

“Traditionally, the bride’s father walks her to the altar…”

It seemed wedding customs weren’t all that different, regardless of the world. It was the same in Korea, after all.

But I had no parents. Not because I had fallen into another world, but because I had never had them to begin with.

Belial must have heard from Sen that I had lost my parents early and grown up alone. He extended his hand toward me.

“I will do it.”

A murmur spread through the crowd.

It was already a significant political move for the future Emperor of Meinhardt to personally attend the wedding of the Grand Duke of Blake. But to step into a role akin to family—

“I, Belial Serena Meinhardt,” his firm voice rang out,

“will never forget my lifelong respect and gratitude to my savior, and I offer my sincerest blessings for your marriage.”

“Furthermore, I once again vow to consider you an eternal ally of the Meinhardt Imperial Family.”

“Belial, Your Highness…”

He looked at me and gave a faint smile.

“Proud, blunt, utterly inflexible, and at times so unbearably irritating that I once thought we would remain worse than enemies until the day we died…”

He trailed off for a moment before continuing.

“But still, I congratulate you on marrying my half-brother. And…”

Belial hesitated before adding,

“…thank you for saving me.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. Then, I took his hand.

At first, I had only intervened because I didn’t want him to become Kyle’s enemy. I thought nothing of it, convinced that I could never feel any sense of connection with someone so arrogant. Saving him from nearly being crushed by a chandelier—that was all there was to it, or so I had believed.

But now, things were different. He was still infuriating, still occasionally exasperating, and his childish bickering with Kyle was still ridiculous to witness.

And yet, I knew now that he would be a good emperor. More than anyone in this world, he cherished Sen, loved her, tended to her wounds, and would walk beside her for the rest of his life.

I took my first steps down the carpeted aisle. My heart pounded loudly.

For the first time, it truly hit me—I was standing here before all the people of this land, about to marry Kyle.

Kyle extended his hand toward me.

Belial, wanting to tease him, didn’t hand me over immediately. Even in this moment, he still wanted to be childish about it. But then again, their constant back-and-forth was proof of how close they had become.

I quietly watched them exchange a few petty words before placing my hand in Kyle’s. I laced my fingers tightly with his.

“Grand Duke Kyle Blake, please make your wedding vow.”

“I, Kyle Blake, take Baek Soo-hyun as my lifelong partner, to love and honor with all my heart. I will treasure his life as I do my own, and his happiness will be my happiness. There will not be a single moment when I do not give him my whole devotion.”

“Do you swear it?”

“On all the honor of my life.”

In the solemn silence, I looked up at Kyle.

Jet-black hair and red eyes. A man with striking yet cold, lonely features. Someone who had once come to this frozen land, abandoned and fleeing, only to fight with everything he had to survive.

A man who, by all accounts, should have been sacrificed for someone else’s happiness, should have met the most desolate and sorrowful end.

But he hadn’t died. He hadn’t been consumed by misfortune.

He had survived. And he had found happiness.

I knew just how warm Kyle truly was. I knew better than anyone how his kindness could melt even the deepest loneliness.

“I… Baek Soo-hyun…”

A surge of emotion welled up inside me. I didn’t want to be foolish and start crying, so I quickly swallowed my breath and continued.

“Take Kyle Blake, lord of this land, as my lifelong partner.”

His unwavering gaze met mine.

It was strange—just looking at him made me want to laugh and cry at the same time.

Perhaps when a person is too happy, they end up wanting to cry.

“I vow to devote my life to loving only you, and to do everything I can to ensure our happiness together.”

Because as long as we were together, all those years of loneliness would no longer mean anything.

“Your laughter is my greatest joy, and your tears are my greatest sorrow.”

If two people who crossed worlds to find each other could share the same moment, the same emotions—then what more could I ask for?

“And so, I wish for your happiness more than anyone else does.”

That is what fate is—something we now understand.

“If we can become salvation, light, and warmth for each other under the name of love…”

My destiny now belongs to you alone, Kyle.

“Then I have nothing more to ask for.”

Kyle slid a new ring onto the ring finger of my left hand. His scarred hands gently brushed the back of mine, warmth seeping through my thin skin with every touch.

As I reached for him, he wrapped an arm around my waist. Without knowing who moved first, our lips met briefly before parting.

A deafening cheer erupted from the crowd, and flower petals once again danced through the sky.

Perhaps it was just a ceremony. Maybe, in the end, it was nothing more than a formality.

But it was never meaningless.

Because at this moment, every single person gathered here was smiling brightly.

“Thank you.”

I pressed a quick kiss to Kyle’s cheek before pulling back. Turning to face forward, I bowed my head.

“For blessing my marriage, and for being here with us.”

This was the final chapter of a story.

“We will live happily.”

A moment capturing someone’s greatest happiness.

And a promise for someone’s everlasting joy.

The final, dazzling end to a story.

[And so, they all lived happily ever after.]

[TRUE ENDING :: HAMSTER EVER AFTER!]

[(∩˘ω˘∩)]

—The End of The Northern Grand Duke’s Hamster Side Story.

Author: Levia