The Scarred Queen's Rise (Athena) novel Chapter 424

The chorus of blessings from outside sent a flush to Willow’s checks and made her heart flutter. She lowered her head shyly, her eyes alight with quiet triumph. ‘How wonderful, she thought, feeling both bashful and secretly delighted.

‘All my persistence has paid off, Willow mused with quiet satisfaction. ‘Michael is my rock. Only by marrying him can I secure a lifetime of happiness,’

The wedding had virtually taken half the city by storm, and Athena was no exception. But Athena paid no mind to their wedding. With Jessa and several attendants in tow, she headed straight for the Guardian Church. She had a special surprise in store for Willow.

Athena came to a halt at the cliff’s edge and peered down into the abyss below. Jessa looked at her, puzzled. “Miss Athena, what are you looking at?”

“My adoptive father’s remains are down there,” Athena pointed out. “Jessa, take some men and retrieve them.”

Jessa gasped, her round eyes widening in disgust. “Ew, a corpse? That’s so gross. No way, I’m retrieving that!”

“What if you help me with this, and I get you a puppy? You know that Chow Chow breed?”

After observing Jessa for some time, Athena realized she was a foodie, but, upon further observation, she had an absolute weakness for anything fluffy. Jessa once chased a wild cat for two miles. She even gave all the precious jerky she’d been hoarding to feed the cat.

Jessa’s eyes nearly popped out. “For real?”

Chow Chows were pets reserved solely for the nobles. Commoners like her would never even get a glimpse of one. Athena’s offer was simply irresistible, and just thinking about it made Jessa’s heart race. She imagined cuddling that fluffy little puppy in her arms, and it made her excited. She felt like she could die from happiness.

‘If I could keep one by my side, I’d be in cloud seven,‘ Jessa thought.

She immediately shed her earlier disgust and quirked an eyebrow at Athena. “Just a corpse? Pfft, forget carrying it up—I’d even take a bite if I had to.”

With that, Athena leapt into the air and dove straight down the cliff face. Such prowess was jaw–dropping.

By mid–afternoon, Michael’s wedding procession had been moving for two hours, yet they still hadn’t cleared the city walls.

With so much money scattered around, several townsfolk began to make plans to renovate their house, and some even planned to start a small business.

The broad avenues, normally so open, had become so packed because of the massive crowd.

With kids clamoring for snacks and beggars crowding around, the procession came to a halt now and then.

At first, Michael could still manage a smile. After all, in his eyes, this was supposed to be a joyous occasion. But as the crowd grew thicker, Michael could barely move, and any trace of a smile quickly vanished from his face.

To make matters worse, the universe seemed to turn against him—it even started to rain. The once–pristine roads quickly turned into a treacherous, muddy quagmire.

The muddy road was treacherously slick, sending people in the wedding procession tumbling one after another in utter

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Chapter 424

disarray. Michael watched the bridal sedan chair anxiously, silently praying, ‘Please, let nothing go wrong now!‘

But of course, just as he feared, the very thing he dreaded most came to pass. Though the sedan bearers were all brawny men, they couldn’t endure the grueling ordeal of those several hours. At that moment, everyone was utterly famished, and their vision was swimming.

One of the sedan bearers suddenly lost his footing and crashed to his knees in the mud. Though he steadied himself at the last moment, the bridal sedan chair still listed precariously.

Willow’s scream tore from inside the sedan chair as she came tumbling out like a sack of potatoes, rolling right onto the muddy ground.

“Willow!” Michael reacted with lightning reflexes, darting forward in a blur to catch her.

Willow came within an inch of landing in the mud. But Michael wasn’t so lucky. His magnificent wedding suit was splattered with mud. With a tremendous impact, Willow was thrown into Michael’s arms, knocking him heavily to the ground.

Seeing this, the sedan bearer was mortified. He scrambled to his knees, groveling for mercy and crying out, “Lord Osborne, spare my life. Spare my life, my lord!”

Michael’s expression turned thunderous. He fought the urge to wring the sedan bearer’s neck to vent his fury. However, that day was his wedding day–bloodshed was out of the question.

Michael could only suppress the fury burning in his chest. Through gritted teeth, he shot the bearer a furious glare and snapped, “How could you be so careless? If the bride had fallen, do you think you could bear the consequences?”

Just then, a terrified voice suddenly cried out from the wedding procession, “Lord Osborne, it’s a disaster! The ceremonial wedding doves—it’s dead!”