Chapter 2

The wedding venue was much shabbier than Octavia had imagined.

Clearly, the Seymour Family had no real intention of hosting this wedding. They didn't even pretend.

Under the officiant's half-hearted guidance, Octavia slowly walked to the center of the stage.

The guests were all prominent figures from Emberfall City. The Seymour Family probably wanted everyone to know this was an act of revenge.

Monica had even invited media outlets and livestreamers.

"The wedding started ten minutes ago, but guess what? The bride's the only one on stage!"

"Forget about the groom Leopold—not one of the three Seymour siblings has shown up."

"They've just left her standing there. How much must they hate her!"

Whispers spread among the guests too.

"Mr. Seymour hasn't appeared in public since that accident. Is he really not coming to his own wedding?"

"Isn't it obvious? Miss Boleyn used to be so arrogant and annoying. And now that Mr. Seymour has changed so much, how could he possibly want to marry her?"

"Then why hold a wedding at all?"

"With his condition, anyone willing to marry him is just settling."

"A blind man marrying a fool—quite a match."

"Didn't you notice? Only the bride's photos are displayed outside."

"I bet Claire was the one who insisted on this marriage."

"Has she lost her mind?"

The voices grew louder, rushing into Octavia's ears and hammering at her nerves.

She knew that because of Claire's past behaviour, the Seymour Family expected her to lose control─or beg for mercy─when left alone at the wedding.

Either way, she would embarrass herself in Emberfall City and become a madwoman.

That was why she had wanted to take Claire with her back then to avoid this kind of retaliation from the Seymour family.

She never expected Edward and Claire to leave her to bear the consequences.

Octavia closed her eyes briefly, then slowly smiled.

Edward and Claire had never truly understood her.

And the Seymour Family had underestimated her even more.

The music at the venue shifted into a soft, melodic tune.

Octavia put on a dignified and graceful smile, took the microphone from the officiant's hand, and spoke gently.

"Dear elders and friends, thank you for taking time out of your busy schedules to attend my husband's wedding and mine."

"Due to pressing company matters, we've kept everything simple today. I hope you'll understand."

She slowly walked off the stage and approached an elderly gentleman.

"Mr. Morris, thank you so much for coming. Leopold said he wanted to greet you personally."

She gave him an apologetic smile.

"But as you know, Leopold's health isn't great. This morning he insisted on coming for the ceremony, but I firmly stopped him. He's still upset with me about it."

Mr. Morris's eyes shifted slightly as he nodded. "Health comes first. You've been put in a difficult position."

"Not at all." Octavia smiled sweetly and shyly. "After all, the elders are here. We couldn't let everyone make the trip for nothing."

She straightened up and raised her glass to all the guests.

"My husband's absence today was an unfortunate incident. On behalf of the Seymour Family, I apologize to everyone."

With that, she drained the champagne in one gulp.

In a private room on the second floor, Monica was furious and about to rush out.

"Who does she think she is, representing the Seymour Family? I'm going to teach her a lesson!"

"Stop."

Her twin brother Patrick Seymour blocked her way, his gaze fixed on the phone.

"Leopold, did you hear that?"

After a brief silence, a cold male voice finally came through the static.

"Yeah."

Patrick's expression darkened. "She didn't go crazy. Judging by their faces, they might have changed their opinion of her."

"Leopold, what should we do?"

Silence again.

Neither Patrick nor Monica dared to speak.

After a long while, Leopold said coldly,

"Continue. Let's see how long she can keep this up."

The next day, when Octavia woke up, everything was still pitch black.

After the wedding Monica had staged to humiliate her, she was brought back to the Seymour Family by a butler named John Dixon.

But she hadn't seen any of the Seymour Family members before going to sleep.

Someone had put a blindfold on her while she slept. Why would the butler do that?

Octavia wasn't that naive.

She reached up to try it—the blindfold was tied with a complicated knot, positioned so tightly that not a sliver of light could get through.

But it wasn't impossible to tear off forcibly, just a bit painful.

Just as Octavia was about to pull hard, something flashed through her mind like lightning, and she paused.

Even if the butler was being kind, there was no need to sneak in and put a blindfold on her in the middle of the night.

Everyone in their circle knew that after the car accident, doctors had said Leopold's eyes would be very difficult to restore.

Leopold was now blind.

Octavia slowly lowered her hand and sat there for a while.

Then she made her decision.

She felt her way out of bed and, with difficulty, managed to reach what seemed to be the door by touching furniture and feeling along the walls.

But after opening the door and walking out, she tripped over a flowerpot at her feet and fell with a thud.

It was quite a loud noise, yet she heard no one coming.

Octavia slowly got up and, counting her steps and relying on last night's memory, walked all the way to the other end of the hallway.

She knocked gently on the door.

"Is anyone there?"

She waited a moment before pressing down the door handle and pushing it open.

"Get out."

Only then did a cold voice respond to her.

Octavia feigned surprise and asked timidly, "I'm sorry, I thought no one was here. You are?"

She was lying, of course. She knew perfectly well that she was now facing Leopold himself.

Last night, while everyone was asleep, she had already explored the structure of the Seymour Family home and knew this was a study that only Leopold could use, but Leopold didn't respond.

Octavia waited a moment, then said, "Sorry for disturbing you," while making a show of turning around and fumbling her way out.

Before she could actually leave, Leopold's emotionless voice came from behind her.

"Wearing a blindfold—what kind of quirk is that?"

Octavia paused, and before she could answer, she heard him say:

"You're not blind like Leopold."

'He's even insulting himself,' Octavia thought sarcastically, but her face showed slight displeasure. "Mr. Seymour isn't blind, he's just temporarily unwell."

She paused, then smiled shyly. "I don't know who put the blindfold on me while I was sleeping. It was probably Monica trying to mess with me."

"But this works out fine. Mr. Seymour can't see, and I was afraid he'd think I couldn't empathize with him. But husband and wife should share hardships together, so I can understand him better and take care of him."

As her words fell, the room became completely silent.