[BL]Reborn as the Empire's Most Desired Omega
Chapter 205: I stand with you.

Chapter 205: Chapter 205: I stand with you.

The great hall shimmered with golden light, a cathedral of art and wealth rather than a simple room. Gilded sconces held hundreds of candles, their flames mirrored in towering gilt-framed mirrors along the walls. Crystal chandeliers dripped from the vaulted ceiling like frozen constellations, scattering shards of brilliance across polished marble floors.

Above, painted gods and muses floated across the frescoed ceiling, their flowing robes and solemn gazes watching from their eternal perch as though blessing, or judging, the ceremony below.

Lucas stepped through the towering double doors into this world spun from opulence. His coat‑cape moved like liquid ink, embroidery glinting in the sea of gold and marble. His boots clicked softly against the stone, each step an echo through the cavernous hall. Sunlight cut through tall arched windows, pooling on the floor in bright, perfect rectangles, washing over rows of sculpted figures that lined the walls, each pedestal bearing a marble saint or hero frozen mid‑gesture.

He had seen the hall at the brief rehearsal the night before, but Serathine and Cressida had clearly decided that was only a draft. Overnight, the space had been transformed into something that seemed to hover between reality and myth.

Fresh arrangements of white lilies and deep crimson roses curled around the bases of the statues, their petals scattering faint perfume into the air. The gilded mirrors now bore subtle drapings of silk in Fitzgeralt violet and imperial gold, catching the light and multiplying it into soft rivers that chased one another across the marble floor. Between the columns, slender crystal vases stood on plinths, each holding sprays of orchids so perfect they might have been carved from glass.

Even the chandeliers, already decadent in their own right, seemed brighter, polished to a brilliance that sent shards of light skipping like stars. Above, the frescoed ceiling felt alive, the painted gods watching with more vivid color than Lucas remembered, as though they too had been woken for this moment.

His breath caught despite himself.

Serathine and Cressida hadn’t simply decorated a hall; they had built a throne room for a legend.

For him.

Lucas adjusted the fall of his coat‑cape as he moved deeper into the golden expanse, refusing to let the awe show on his face. He carried himself as though he belonged in a hall like this, because today, no matter how absurd it felt, he did.

His stride was steady and practiced, each step measured as every eye in the room followed him.

But then, just beyond the aisle lined with orchids and glinting glass, Lucas’s gaze lifted to the raised dais where Trevor waited, where the ceremonial table stood, and where...

He stopped breathing for a beat.

The man standing behind that gilded lectern, draped in imperial robes stitched with sun‑bright thread and obsidian trim, was not the quiet official they had rehearsed with.

It was the Emperor.

For half a heartbeat, Lucas thought the air had been punched from his lungs. His chest tightened, his fingers flexed at his sides, and he fought the absurd, instinctive urge to glance over his shoulder and make sure they hadn’t dragged the wrong person down the aisle.

Because of course the Emperor would officiate. Why not? It wasn’t enough that the hall looked like something out of a fevered dream, or that the press had turned this day into a spectacle that would ripple through every court in the continent. Now the Empire itself, embodied in that tall figure in black and gold, was the one holding the ceremony together.

Lucas inhaled sharply, willing his expression to remain carved in calm. His pulse, however, betrayed him, hammering loud in his ears as his eyes flicked, just once, toward Trevor.

Trevor.

The Duke was resplendent in deep black and regal violet, his ceremonial sash catching threads of light, silver pins at his collar gleaming like tempered steel. He stood tall, shoulders squared, a presence carved out of calm authority. But when his eyes met Lucas’s, storm‑dark and unwavering; the weight of the Empire, the banners, and the scrutiny all seemed to thin.

For just a moment, it was only them.

Lucas took his place before Trevor, the soft rustle of his coat settling around his legs as the murmurs of the crowd stilled completely. Caelan stepped forward, his expression measured, his voice resonant, filling the hall with an effortless command.

"Before these witnesses," the Emperor began, his tone low and deliberate, "we stand to mark a union that binds not only two souls but two houses, and, by extension, the strength of this Empire itself."

Lucas felt the words reverberate through him, the surreal edge of the moment pulling tight as Caelan continued.

"This is no mere alliance of convenience. It is a vow made under heaven and crown alike. Trevor Ariston Fitzgeralt, Grand Duke, do you swear before your Emperor, your peers, and the people who look to you to guard and honor the one who stands before you?"

Trevor’s answer was steady, rich with conviction. "I do."

Caelan’s gaze shifted, sharp and assessing, to Lucas. "And you, Lucas Oz D’Argente, Grand Duchess, do you swear to stand beside him, to honor the bond you forge this day, before your Emperor, your peers, and the people who look to you?"

Lucas’s pulse thrummed once, hard, but his voice was calm when it came. "I do."

A ripple of approval murmured through the terrace, soft and restrained.

"Then," Caelan said, his tone carrying that faint shadow of a smile only those closest to him would catch, "by the authority vested in me as Emperor, and as witness to the vows spoken here, I seal this union."

He inclined his head toward Trevor, toward Lucas. "You may exchange your vows."

Trevor took Lucas’s hands in his own, his grip steady and warm, a grounding tether in the sea of eyes. His storm‑dark gaze softened, voice dropping low enough to carry only just beyond them. "No matter how this world turns, no matter who stands against us, I will always choose you. Today, tomorrow, and after."

Lucas felt his own breath catch, but he didn’t look away. "Then know this," he replied, his voice even but threaded with something fierce and bright. "No title, no power, no crown changes who I am or where I stand. And I stand with you."

The Imperial musicians struck a soft note, the sound swelling like a tide beneath Caelan’s final words.

"Then let it be known," the Emperor declared, his voice carrying over the gathered crowd, "that before the Empire and the heavens, Trevor Fitzgeralt and Lucas of House D’Argente are bound as one."

A rush of sound rose, a thousand conversations breaking, applause mingled with the toll of distant bells and the call of trumpets echoing from the gardens below.

Trevor leaned forward, his lips finding Lucas’s in a kiss that was brief, but unmistakable in its claim. The roar of approval swelled, the banners rippling in the summer wind as the Imperial photographers captured every heartbeat of the moment.

And through it all, Lucas didn’t flinch, didn’t waver. Even with Caelan’s gaze sharp on him, even with the Empire itself watching, he held Trevor’s hand as though it had always belonged there, and always would.