"The ceremony?!" Rafael squawked loudly before collecting himself. He wrapped an arm around Soleia's waist protectively and nearly plastered himself to her, as though he expected Elinora to rip them apart.
A hairline crack appeared in Elinora's flawless, elegant facade as she watched both of them behave as though they were one whole being.
"Father, I was under the impression that―" Rafael began, intending to bargain for more time. Or at least, an explanation for why his father was so impatient. It wasn't as though he had any other heirs to choose from. Whether or not Rafael married Elinora today, a month later, or a year later wasn't going to make his brothers any less dead.
There was no need to rush a marriage when there was only one candidate for the groom.
