Chapter 23

The hall of the castle was filled with servants, gardeners, and grooms, and their entrance set off a cheerful and amused hubbub. 

For a moment, Eden felt as if Ian was going to run up the stairs without stopping and take her straight to his room. 

Her heart was pounding with fear and excitement. But he dropped her off in the hall, keeping his fingers entwined with her own.

“Three cheers for milord,” said Jackson. Hip, hip, hip…

The assembled staff didn't really need the butler's encouragement, and the cheers shook the walls of the old house.

Eden felt his eyes fill with tears. All these people seemed genuinely happy to welcome her. Eden untied the ribbons from her hat, and one of the maids came and put it aside, along with her gloves.

“-Deni, I insist on being the first to kiss the groom on the threshold of her new home,” Logan said happily, taking Eden by the shoulders. He kissed her on both cheeks.

“You're a very lucky man, Ian”  he said happily to his cousin.

“I know,” he answered. Without letting go of his Wife’s hand, he took her to the dining room.

“He calls you Deni, do you see that” Ian remarked half-heartedly.

“I thought... since he's your cousin... for the family, right... he asked me to call him Luke. Was I wrong?”

Had she already done something wrong?

“But why Deni and not Eden?”

The guests were following them, but were too far away to hear.

“That is... that's my nickname... iva... I mean, everyone calls me that... my family…”

“I see. Everyone... except me.”

Ian led her to the table, where a Footman held a chair for her.

“This is your seat... Eden, dear.”

“Thank you.”

The young omega tried to keep her smile intact as Ian took his place at the head of the table and the guests settled around it. 

She should never have told him that, to most of the people in her life, she was simply Deni. 

Now Eden was mortified that she had allowed his cousin to call her that and not Ian, her husband. 

A part of her, the part that had not appreciated her reflection in the car last time, felt satisfied with this retort. 

Another part of her was worried about it, and thought her own reaction was petty: she had to do everything to get her marriage off to a good start.

Jasper took a seat on her right, the pastor on her left. Ian was surrounded by Anne and Jasper’s wife. Next to her, Lucas was teasing Alexis, and. She was shaking her head indulgently. 

Eden swallowed hard. This was her first time attending a formal dinner. 

She knew that a simple guest should first make conversation with her neighbor on the right, then with her neighbor on the left; Eden, as the host, should lead the conversation in a more general way, without forgetting anyone.

“Are you both from this district?” Eden asked both her husband's friend and the priest. “I think it's very beautiful…” Eden conveniently remembered the trip in the sedan she had taken the day before. 

All these orchards…

“Yes, I was born less than ten kilometers from here, " Jasper began, only to be interrupted by the clinking of a knife on a glass to attract attention.

Everyone turned to Ian. He stood with a flute of champagne in his hand as the maids finished filling the guests' glasses.

“-Aunty, Alexis, Lucas, my dear friends... I ask you to welcome among us Eden, the new viscountess of Hadleigh. To Eden!”

The alphas stood up and everyone drank to her health.

“To Eden!”

Blushing and delighted, the bride thanked them, and the dinner resumed. Ian kept his eyes fixed on her. 

Suddenly, Ian quietly raised his flute again, without looking away, and his lips silently spoke her name. 

Eden. Then they curled into a mischievous smile that made his eyes shine. 

This simple exchange warmed the omega's heart. Suddenly she felt special, and was ready to give a dinner party for the king himself.