Busan territory, it had just turned winter.
Today, along the Oakstone River, the sounds of laughter and joking rang out continuously. The people of Busan territory sat gathered together around bonfires, eating roasted meat and white bread that they rarely got the chance to eat.
These things were the wedding banquet the respected Lord invited them to, because today was his happy day.
Each person only received a few slices of white bread and a small piece of meat the size of a hand; the men got a cup of beer. There was no other way, the Lord himself was not much richer than them; this wedding banquet could be said to have exhausted his entire fortune.
"I heard the bride is a noble lady from Boma City." A young girl added firewood to the bonfire, her face flushed red as she spoke happily.
"That's right, I wonder if she is beautiful? She must be the most beautiful girl to be worthy of the Lord." The older woman sitting opposite her bit into a small piece of meat and spoke affectionately.
Several men sitting at the bonfire next to them slowly enjoyed their beer; one said in a rasping voice:
"What's the use of being beautiful? It can't be ground into rice to eat."
The women did not agree and were about to refute him when a girl who had snuck off to listen for news returned; she lifted her dress and sat down grumpily, saying:
"Damn it, who are you looking down on!"
The older woman scolded:
"Phobe, watch your language. You are an unmarried girl, how can you swear like that? Who will dare to marry you in the future!"
Phobe curled her lip unhappily, but she did not refute what the woman said. Lena, who was also the young girl adding firewood, curiously leaned closer and asked:
"Phobe, what made you so annoyed? Didn't you go to find out the situation of the bride's family? Could it be you couldn't ask and got scolded instead?"
"Who dares to scold me!" Phobe widened her eyes: "Damn it, I asked, and it was after asking that I got this angry!"
Hearing this, everyone clamored to get closer to Phobe, waiting for her to tell them the whole story. Phobe snatched the beer cup from her uncle's hand, took a gulp, then returned it, saying menacingly:
"Damn it, that family really doesn't respect anyone! What the hell kind of noble lady?! That old man Walter accepted the Lord's betrothal gifts but didn't want to marry off a legitimate daughter, so he picked an illegitimate child with brain problems and kicked her over here. Damn it, it's bad enough she's a lowly illegitimate child, but she's also a fool."
Phobe got more angry as she spoke, snatching the beer cup again to take another big gulp.
Everyone stared with their mouths open, unable to believe a noble family could be so shameless.
"So what should be done? Surely the Lord must go and demand justice?"
"Demand my ass!" Phobe shouted again: "F*** those dogs, the Lord and that fool established a blood pact; they are husband and wife certified by God, it can't be undone. Damn it, no wonder the Walter family's mage slipped away faster than a rabbit after helping establish the pact!"
"That's not all!"
Phobe finished off her uncle's beer, returned the empty cup to him, and snatched the beer cup of the neighbor, but unfortunately, the guy was quick to pull it back, so she grabbed at empty air. She didn't bother arguing, wiping her mouth with her sleeve:
"Those servants of the Walter family spoke rudely to the Lord, which is one thing, but they also laughed loudly saying the bride's chest of dowry was completely divided up by them on the way here. The Lord brought back a fool with not even a dowry!"
Actually, the bride's dowry didn't have much; this chest only contained a few old clothes that Baron Walter's daughter had thrown away, some cheap jewelry, and a few odd silver coins.
However, a mosquito is still meat even if it's small; thinking about that amount being divided up by those bastards, leaving only a few torn clothes, Phobe was angry to the point her liver hurt.
Splash!
While everyone was vying to be indignant on behalf of their respected Lord, a loud noise rang out. After a few minutes of astonishment, everyone sitting there immediately jumped up, shouting:
"Someone fell into the water! Someone fell into the water!"
When everyone ran to that location, the hem of a dress that had just floated up sank down after a moment.
Sangi was the only young man nearby who knew how to swim. He didn't have time to say anything before diving into the river to save the person. The person under the river sank very fast; Sangi surfaced and dove down several times but still hadn't found the person.
At this moment, a few other young men in the territory also joined forces to jump down and search for the person; everyone on the shore tried to raise their torches high to light the way for them.
The noise attracted two patrol guards in Busan Castle. They climbed up the city wall to look and saw everyone crowding around a corner of the river, with several people swimming below. Worried that someone drunk had accidentally fallen in, they immediately ran out to check.
Busan Castle was located right next to the Oakstone River; they only needed to go around a section to reach the side gate. By the time they crossed the rickety wooden bridge and arrived, the person who fell into the river had been fished up by the combined efforts of the young men.
Everyone worked together to carry the person to the bonfire.
The light clearly illuminated the person lying on the ground, and everyone simultaneously sucked in a breath of cold air. It was a girl with red hair and a pale face. She was still wearing a puffy dress; that was the reason she sank so quickly.
More importantly, in this entire land, the only person dressed like that was the bride who had just been married this afternoon.
The bride had jumped into the river as soon as she arrived!