---
At first the doubters believed, as many said the same thing.
Naturally, their interest shifted to the question: "Why did the Grand Duke choose Eileen Elod?" The Grand Duke already possessed power, wealth, and glory that many could envy.
Therefore most considered that, instead of choosing an influential but restless house for the sake of even greater power, he simply chose a Young Lady from a family with which he could feel free and easy.
They assumed that, although Eileen Elod might not be the most beautiful, she, undoubtedly, possessed a surprisingly soft and compliant character.
In the end, the Grand Duke, having wandered over battlefields since childhood, likely chose a woman who would warm his heart.
Rumors, growing like a snowball, reached their peak thanks to Ornella, a Young Lady of House Parbelini.
At a meeting of social ladies she lamented that she had met Eileen in the Imperial Palace and talked with her, expressing serious concern.
"It seems she has financial difficulties in the family.
She asked if I would take her as a servant girl.
I tried to talk her out of it, for we will after all be part of one imperial family...
But it's so painful to me that I cannot help..."
With sadness she added that the Grand Duke, apparently, was too cold toward Young Lady Elod.
When it turned out that the reason for this marriage, which many could not understand, was not even love, everyone experienced a shock, but could not restrain curiosity.
Ornella silently watched as the women vied with each other in making guesses before dropping:
"Maybe, out of pity or a sense of duty?
I heard she's the daughter of his late wet nurse."
This became the news of the day in the Empire.
Ladies and Young Ladies with joy hastened home to immediately spread the rumors throughout High Society.
By the moment of the wedding Eileen Elod's reputation had dropped to the bottom.
She was surrounded by dirty gossip, and many openly criticized the Grand Duke's choice, calling it erroneous.
Therefore the guests invited to the Grand Duke's wedding waited with impatience for the appearance of Eileen Elod, who without exaggeration could be called the main heroine of this day.
Meanwhile Ornella on this day looked exceptionally beautiful, like a lily.
Looking at her, perfectly harmonizing with the lily-decorated place for the ceremony, the guests shook their heads, pitying the bride.
When Cesare appeared in military uniform, some of the guests could not restrain sighs.
How could such a perfect man make such a stupid choice?
They regretted it for him, clucking their tongues.
And then, finally, appeared Eileen Elod, for whose appearance everyone waited with bated breath.
The guests for a moment were struck dumb.
Before them stood a woman who had no equal in neither dreams nor fantasies.
Like a fairy, perfectly harmonizing with the lily-filled wedding hall.
With each light step of the woman in the dress decorated with embroidered lace and crystals, her hair of a mysterious shade softly flowed and fluttered.
Her face, showing through the thin veil, was fresh, as if of a flower fairy.
When the veil was removed, and all Eileen Elod's beauty was revealed, the guests suppressed sighs.
Her eyes made her look like a mystical creature.
A pixie with green pupils into which golden fragments were inlaid, shimmering with different colors in the light.
Those who’d lost their heads from the Grand Duchess's beauty lost their reason altogether when the long kiss of the spouses followed.
They were so shocked that the wedding ended before they could come to their senses.
Guests, holding bouquets of lilies and fresh flowers in their hands, came to themselves only having entered the banquet hall, and all as one spoke in unison: The marriage of Grand Duke Erzet would forever remain in the history of the Traon Empire.
***
To take a photo, one had to stand completely still for several dozen seconds.
Previously hours went for shooting, and even then only shots of landscapes resulted, so this was a huge progress.
But even the need to remain motionless for some time was a strong tension for Eileen.
Being before a camera for the first time, she feared sneezing or doing something wrong and imagining how her ugly image would get into the newspapers.
But when time came to be photographed, she held herself straight, as the photographer said, with a light smile on her lips and didn't move, having managed excellently.
After this, however, a new wave of concern began.
*‘The whole Empire will see the photo of an ugly Grand Duchess.’*
Everyone in the Empire waited with impatience for the wedding photo of Grand Duke Erzet and his spouse.
Newspapers were already preparing to release extra numbers as soon as the shot was handed over.
The head of the newspaper *La Verità*, specially invited for the article, immediately after the wedding rushed back to the editorial office to release the lead article about the event together with the photo.
All other articles had already been written, it only remained to slightly correct them in accordance with the course of the ceremony.
Eileen only hoped that people would not be too disappointed.
Or would decide that Grand Duke Erzet was so kind that he was ready to take even an ugly woman as spouse.
*‘The photo is already taken, so one can just forget about it.’*
Eileen habitually resigned herself and, having said goodbye to Cesare, headed for the bathroom.
While Cesare entertained guests in the banquet hall, Eileen finally was freed of the wedding dress in which she’d been from early morning.
Even despite the fact that her already thin waist had not been too strongly tightened with a corset, she could barely breathe.
And with the heavy decorative elements dangling on her, it seemed to her she was about to die.
Servants in a crowd rushed to remove the dress from her, massaging her exhausted body.
Having refreshed herself with a light snack and drinks, she plunged into the bath.
One of the servant girls brought a small knife, examined Eileen's smooth armpits and pubes and put it aside.
Instead she took a file, carefully having trimmed all nails on hands and feet so as not to accidentally leave scratches on the Grand Duke's body.
For a long time more she was turned and twisted, and at some moment Eileen even dozed off from fatigue.
She woke only when the servant girls began to put on her a nightgown, transparent as dragonfly wings.
*‘Is it really going to happen today?..’*
Eileen bit her lip, looking at the lingerie pointlessly covering her body.
From tension it went dry in her throat.
A servant girl talked her out of drinking, but she felt that if she didn't take a sip, her throat would simply stick together, and drank several glasses.
Having finished all preparations, Eileen entered the bedroom in the Grand Duke's residence.
She expected to see rose petals on the bed, but they were not there.
Instead a huge bouquet of lilies, lisianthus, gerberas, and gypsophila used at the wedding stood in a vase.
When the servants retired, leaving Eileen alone, she approached the vase and inhaled the aroma of flowers.
First the thick smell of lilies was felt.
For Eileen lilies were Cesare's flowers.
Although he himself, it seems, thought otherwise...
After standing a little, enjoying the aroma, Eileen cautiously pulled one lily from the vase.
With a fresh flower in her hand she headed for the bed.
It seemed to her that instead of petals of red roses, a single lily would look beautiful on the bed.
She was just about to try out where to put it when without warning the bedroom door opened.
Eileen winced and, holding the lily, instinctively covered her chest with her hands.
Belatedly noticing the one who’d entered, she saw that he’d already closed the door behind him.
Cesare slowly scanned her from head to foot, then nodded with his chin and asked:
"You're going to cover only the top?"
At his words she hesitantly lowered one hand down, covering the pubes.
But as a result one breast turned out completely exposed.
Nipples having felt the coolness clearly stood out through the thin fabric of the gown.
He quietly laughed and confidently stepped toward her.
Unlike Eileen, clad only in a transparent nightgown, Cesare was still in his military uniform.
Before this flawlessly dressed man she reddened.
The leather of a glove touched her body.
Before they could exchange any greetings or words, he immediately threw her onto the bed.