CHAPTER 226: CHAPTER 185: WEDDING NIGHT

The night was deep, the guests had departed, and most of the lights had already dimmed.

The heavy wooden door gently closed after the attendant withdrew, leaving only a soft "click" to separate the world outside.

The bedroom was spacious and silent, with drapes hanging low, and the air retained a faint sweet scent of roses and incense.

In the room, only the two of them remained.

Emily stood in the center of the room, head bowed, her hands subconsciously clutching the hem of her wedding dress.

It was the wedding dress she proudly wore today, one that had amazed everyone.

Yet at this moment, Emily found herself feeling... a bit at a loss.

Her ears were burning, and her heart pounded as if she had just fought a battle.

She didn’t even dare to look at Louis.

"Is this what they call a wedding night?" she silently asked herself.

Just then, she heard the soft rustle of fabric behind her.

Louis had taken off his outer robe and carefully draped it over the back of a nearby chair.

He then approached her, his footsteps so light they were almost inaudible.

Emily felt him standing in front of her.

Then her hand was taken.

His hand was warm, his palm dry and strong, enveloping her cold fingers.

"Are you still nervous?" Louis asked, humor tinging his low voice.

Before she could answer, he suddenly put on a serious expression and said earnestly, "Should I... go and fetch the priest back? We can hold the ceremony formally once more."

"Pfft." Emily couldn’t help but laugh, raising her eyes to glare at him, yet a smile had already found its way to her lips.

"What nonsense are you saying?"

"You smiled." Louis also smiled, lowering his head to plant a gentle kiss on the back of her hand, "That puts me at ease."

Louis didn’t rush into anything, merely looking at her quietly.

"Emily," he said softly, "I won’t rush, nor will I let you be afraid."

He raised a hand to gently brush aside a lock of her drooping blue hair, then began to unfasten the intricate buttons on her wedding dress.

His movements were extremely gentle, whispering in her ear with each button he unfastened.

Sometimes it was a playful joke: "These buttons are so hard to undo..."

Sometimes it was tender sentiments: "You looked truly beautiful today, I’ve never seen a more radiant bride than you."

Emily blushed so deeply that her neck and shoulders seemed to be on fire from his words.

"You... stop talking." She mumbled, turning her face aside, yet couldn’t help but chuckle softly.

Though her heart raced as if it wanted to burst from her chest, within those gentle moments, she slowly calmed down.

That uncertainty, that self-reminder of "this is a political marriage", seemed to quietly dissolve into an invisible emotion on this night.

Emily gently closed her eyes.

He gently led her to the bed, with no hasty movements, no restless emotions.

Step by step, they closed the distance, not like a conquest, but more like a guiding path.

"You don’t have to be nervous, I’m here." he said softly, like a reassurance, also like a promise.

Emily bit her lip, her face buried deep in the pillow.

Every inch of contact felt like breaking that barrier of seeming closeness yet distance.

He occasionally whispered something in her ear, like a joke, or a teasing: "Do you regret it yet? Marrying a ’political tool’ like me."

"Shut up..." she lightly punched him, not daring to look at him, only burying her face deeper.

Then their silhouettes slowly entwined, the candlelight flickered gently, within the canopy, time seemed to stand still.

Until the night was deep as ink, the wind stopped, everything outside had nothing to do with them anymore.

In this gentle glow, they finally truly became husband and wife.

......

The morning light shone softly through the thin curtains into the room, spreading over the carved wooden bed and the pale golden carpet.

Warm, yet not glaring.

Louis woke very early.

He always did, even if last night... after an extraordinary night, his body felt slightly tired, yet his mind was remarkably clear.

Last night’s memories returned to him like a tide.

He instinctively reached out beside him, touching a soft and warm form.

Emily lay curled in his arms, breathing steadily, her eyelashes quietly lowered, like a small beast sleeping in the snow.

Perhaps she was too tired, not even disturbed by the slightest dreams.

Some blush lingered on her face, a trace of the emotions and warmth from last night.

Louis gazed dazedly at her, not moving for a long time.

Her long blue hair spread out like flowing water in the morning light, enhancing the snow-white of her skin.

Her features were still exquisitely beautiful, with that high and straight nose, the light-colored lips, and those closed ice-blue eyes, even now, not open, bearing a natural cool elegance.

No wonder she’s called the "Flower of the North".

He had heard that said many times before but never really paid attention.

But now, he suddenly felt those words were too shallow.

She was not just beautiful, but stunningly compelling.

Not only her appearance, but a presence that commanded respect and a desire to protect.

Louis gently raised his hand, his fingertips pausing through her hair, caution evident in his movements, as if worried about waking her.

Recalling last night, when she lay in his arms, the tears in her eyes and her efforts to restrain her voice.

He bowed his head and left a kiss on her forehead.

Although last night was indeed wonderful, enough to be a treasured page in life.

But come morning, there was still work to be done; after all, the Northern Province of the Ironblood Empire, Snow Peak County, still rested upon his shoulders.

He raised his hand slightly and opened the Daily Intelligence System.

"Swish—"

A translucent light screen quietly appeared before Louis, and familiar fonts slowly rolled.

When Louis’s gaze fell on the Daily Intelligence light screen that emerged in front of him, he was slightly taken aback.

[Daily Intelligence Update Complete]

[1: Vic led the Northern Elite Knights deep into the Dark Snow Forest to track the Insect Swarm and discovered a giant Nest in the depths of the forest. After the troops were exposed, they engaged in combat. Vic volunteered to cover the retreat and confirmed a heroic sacrifice.]

[2: The surviving knight Carl escaped alone and arrived at Red Tide Territory this morning. He will personally report the details of the incident to Louis and Duke Edmund.]

[3: The Nest is the second experimental product of the Desperate Witch, characterized by high fear of extreme high temperature explosion; once the central sac core is destroyed, a structural collapse will occur, paralyzing all insect bodies and causing mass death.]

Louis squinted his eyes and silently watched the intelligence roll by.

The content updated today was more important than any day before.

Three pieces of intelligence, all about the Insect Swarm, all... extremely shocking.

Discovering the Nest was undoubtedly a huge breakthrough.

He had long suspected the existence of a master brain in the swarm, but this was the first time it turned from a "guess" into a clearly marked "target."

But the next line tightened his eyebrows.

Vic, dead.

The Northern Extraordinary Knight whom he had only met once, with a straightforward disposition and not many words, yet with eyes extremely steady, now became the "sacrifice" in the intelligence.

Louis didn’t feel deeply moved, but a faint regret indeed arose in the depths of his heart.

"Quite a pity," he sighed. "He was a good person."

Someone he had only met once made him somewhat regretful, probably because such proactive High-tier Knight should have lived.

Moreover, losing an extraordinary level warrior like this also indirectly indicated how dangerous that place was.

This wasn’t the lair of a small group of insect corpses but likely the uncontrollable source of pollution threatening Snow Peak County and even the Northern Territory.

And being so close to his territory made him somewhat alarmed.

The second piece of intelligence, however, let him slightly breathe a sigh of relief.

"At least someone survived to return. The Duke... he’ll handle the explanation."

Someone coming to report saved Louis a lot of trouble in figuring out how to "reasonably conceal the source of intelligence."

But what truly made him sit up straight and sharpen his gaze was the third piece of intelligence.

"...Desperate Witch?"

Louis murmured the unfamiliar name under his breath, and his voice carried an undeniable severity.

He had never heard of this name before. No records, no rumors, not even in the secret reports of the Empire.

The name itself sent a chill into one’s heart.

"The Nest... is her experimental product?"

This wasn’t ordinary demon breeding, nor an unconscious mutation.

Behind it lay an intention, a design, control.

The swarm was no longer beasts but more like some manipulated weapon.

Purposeful expansion, logical nest construction, experiments, iterations, evolution.

"If that’s just ’Second Number’..."

Then where are the First, Third, Fourth... hidden? What intentions do they hold?

He couldn’t help but clench his fist at this thought, his palm slightly sweating.

Louis wasn’t afraid of battles or enemies.

He feared unseen enemies, the sinister hand quietly arranging fate in the dark.

"The swarm is just the surface. The real threat is the one who created them."

Yet the intelligence below struck his mind like a bolt of thunder.

"Extremely high temperature explosion fear. Once the central sac core is destroyed, the entire Nest collapses."

Louis froze suddenly, then slowly curved his lips into a smile.

"That does help me a lot." He sat upright, his gaze steadily growing sharp, like a wolf in the snow catching the scent of prey.

Something in his warehouse instantly came to mind.

Red Platinum Magic Explosion Bullet, Hillco’s proud work, capable of destroying walls several meters thick.

Originally just reserve emergency stock, but now seems crafted for this moment.

"The Nest fears this? Then it seems I’ve made the right bet in advance."

He couldn’t help but chuckle lightly, feeling a kind of rejoicing as if "good fortune had finally come to me."

This means they now have the possibility to actively strike and resolve the Nest rather than passively wait for the Insect Tide to consume them.

"As long as we can get close... as long as we can blast that core."

His mind had already begun simulating the raid routes, force configurations, detonation conditions...

"Good news." He whispered, his eyes already reflecting the icy contours of the battlefield.

"Next, it’s just about how to take it down." He slowly closed the light screen, his expression restrained, taking a deep breath.

Although the emergence of the Nest brought unprecedented darkness.

But at least now they finally hold the key to counterattack.

"As long as there’s intelligence... I can win," he said softly.

Louis lifted the covers quietly, afraid to disturb Emily.

He reached out and rubbed his brow, looking out the window where dawn had not yet fully broken, just a layer of very faint silver blue.

He should have another four hours for cultivation, but today is different.

The Duke is scheduled to leave for Frost Halberd City this morning.

Last night’s banquet, his father-in-law sincerely invited him to join breakfast, saying, "We should have a good chat."

Between them lie family matters as well as the Northern Territory’s grand scheme to discuss.

"So cultivation time has to be compressed..."

He sat cross-legged, gaze focused, hesitating between Fighting Energy and Magic, ultimately choosing the latter as the Primordial Meditation Technique’s magic benefits were greater for him.

Louis slowly exhaled, letting the magic power inside him flow gently through the circuit, entering a meditative state.

Meanwhile, his mind had already started contemplating tactics: how to approach the core of the Nest? How to deploy the Magic Explosion Bullet? Is there a team capable of undertaking the infiltration mission?

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