The wedding hall was filled with a suffocating silence. In front of the ornately decorated altar, a heavy scent of expensive perfume wafted from the bride's garments standing beside me, weighing down the air. Through the layers of silk fabric, I could see the slender shoulders of the bride trembling slightly.

I slowly reached out and grasped the red veil covering her face. The touch of the veil against my fingers was chillingly smooth. Hundreds of guests held their breath, watching this moment.

The moment I finally lifted that thin curtain, I couldn't help but stop breathing. What was revealed beneath the veil was not the delicate feminine curves I remembered.

A neatly closed mouth, a straight bridge of the nose, and long, elegant eyes. A man with an undisguised bone structure and eyes that were excessively clear was staring straight at me. Silence consumed the hall. Just as the panicked officiant's gaze scattered into the air, the man dressed as a bride opened his mouth.

A low, plain voice sharply broke the silence of the hall. The murmurs of the shocked guests rushed in like a wave.

Only then did everything begin to make sense. The bride had fled, and to prevent the family's ruin, her brother had personally donned the silk clothes and stood upon the altar. Not to deceive me, but while bearing the massive burden of his family's honor alone.