Betrothed to My Sister's Ex

Morning came, and I wasn’t sure whether I had truly slept or not.

In my room, five women had gathered.

They were hired as caretakers for the bride—officially, this role was supposed to be filled by the bride’s relatives. These women were professionals in this line of work and had helped send off many brides before.

“We handle all preparations until the wedding day, as well as taking care of the bride’s clothing, food, and living needs. If the bride’s health declines, we provide treatment, nursing, and even assist with childbirth.”

“Ch-childbirth?”

“That’s why the professional caretakers have also studied medicine, Ms. Marie. You can entrust us when the time comes.”

…Why would a wedding caretaker need to be skilled in childbirth and medical care? I was curious, but it felt a bit too nosy to delve deeper, so I let it be.

They explained clearly about the preparations up to the wedding day.

The first thing the bride must do before the ceremony in a week: beauty care.

“From now on, you will bathe every day and polish your entire body to shine. Come on, let’s go.”

They took me outside the harem to a small stone building.

The Ipsandros-style bath is called a hammam, which means ‘hot air’ in the old empire’s language. The hut features a central pool of hot water, with air and the stone floor warmed accordingly. The system involves lying down on the warm floor wearing a yukata and carefully warming the body.

This type of steam bath isn’t uncommon. The Shadelan Family had the same style, and it’s probably widespread in Dilz too. Baths where you fully immerse yourself in hot water, like those in Granado Castle, are more of a luxury.

But for some reason, this hammam was filled with fragrant herbs scattered underfoot, smelling incredibly pleasant. Lying in the marble stone oven, steamed by herb-scented steam, I felt like a chicken being roasted.

Once my whole body was damp with sweat, it was time for a scrub down by all five of them. Using soft cloths, it felt as if I was being massaged. However, being smothered in fluffy bubbles over my face and body made it tricky to breathe at times. Midway, I put on a bathrobe and took a slow break. They gave me pomegranate juice, which was said to be good for beauty, to rehydrate. Then they brought me back to the hammam to be steamed again while polishing my nails. Every part of me was carefully groomed, and that was the end of day one. That night, I slept like a log.

On the second day, the actual wedding preparations finally began.

First was makeup and wedding dress design fitting. Five women fussed over my entire body, trying out one thing after another, debating various options.

“We would love for you to wear an Ipsandros dress, but your physique is foreign, you know… We have never had a bride this tall before…”

“Oh, sorry, that’s not because of Dilz, it’s just me personally.”

“Once we decide the base dress, we’ll tailor the embroidery patterns accordingly. Please choose whichever you like!”

The dress candidates they brought were all striking crimson rather than white, with exquisite gold embroidery. They were all beautiful, but I chose one without hesitation. It was simple, with no drapes or frills, flaring out towards the bottom. The silhouette emphasized my height. The delicate gold threads curled along the body lines beautifully.

Surely, this one suited me best.

It looked very similar to the deep red dress I had worn the first time I came to Granado Castle, right after bathing.

After this, I was supposed to decide on accessories.

“Why not go all out with a white diamond necklace? Jet would also look lovely with a red dress,” they suggested various things.

But I declined them all.

“The accessories for the wedding are already decided—a piece featuring pearls… I don’t know exactly what it will be yet.”

“Oh, pearls are wonderful! That sounds lovely—I’m looking forward to matching them!”

They agreed immediately.

With the attire decided, we moved on to makeup consultations. Matching my facial features and skin tone, the five women debated and applied various cosmetics.