"The nostalgia of my childhood, my life back in my hometown... from today forward everything will change" Kelly thought, her fingers tightening around her bouquet until her knuckles turned white. "I will have my own life, my own family. This music, I will feel it, a memory that will last until the very end."
As she walked down the long, beautiful aisle, the chatter of the crowd seemed to fade into a dull hum, replaced by a melody that swelled within the stone walls of the church. She heard the music clearly in her ears. Lilium et Falsitas, a composition that felt entirely suited for her wedding. It was a song written for a bittersweet purity, an intricate dance of love, betrayal, and a complete lack of choice.
The mournful strings of the lute and the vielle rose first, crying out beneath the high vaulted ceiling. Then came the delicate, weeping pluck of the harp, underscored by the steady, rhythmic thrum of a soft frame drum. The instruments played in perfect, haunting sync with her heartbeat, vibrating through her feet and echoing in her chest.
She heard it and felt it deeply in her mind, her body, and her soul. Each note carried the absolute purity of her love toward the man standing in front of her, a devotion she felt at both the highest and the lowest points of her life. Yet, the sharper, minor chords mirrored the betrayal she felt for being kept in the dark, a pawn to a legacy she did not choose. This was a choice she never had from the very beginning, a bittersweet union that would mark the start of everything. The melody seemed to engrave itself into her heart and soul, cementing a path that looked beautiful on the surface, but was entirely imperfect. It was her new truth and her inescapable reality. She was stepping forward to have a life she never had.
The title looped endlessly in her thoughts: Lilium et Falsitas, The Lily and the Falsehood.
In this moment, enveloped in white silk and lace, she felt exactly like the lily of the valley back in her hometown, a delicate, hidden beauty growing quietly under the protective shade of the ancient trees. She closed her eyes for a brief second, longing for that peaceful woodland she never truly feels anymore.
Her innocence had been taken for granted, used as currency by the traditions of Bial. But as she opened her eyes and took another step toward the altar, her gaze hardened against the staring crowd. The rebirth of her true self would grow, breaking through the shadow of the Laurdy family like wild flowers in full bloom under the brilliant sunlight.
It was never in her dreams, but it was now her reality.