NOVEL NEXT chapter 177
177 – 177. Marriage Ending
Two months.
In two months, I will become a married man.
Marriage.
Can I truly handle such a high-level sociological act?
I don’t know.
The Baltaria Empire and the Gael Kingdom publicly announced the date and location of the wedding. Invitations were sent to the nobles and clergy loyal to the Empire and the Kingdom.
The red dragon of the Empire and the white dragon of the Kingdom.
And the platinum princess, hailed as the most beautiful in the Empire.
A joint wedding ceremony will be held for three of the continent’s most representative beauties. Upon hearing the announcement from the Empire and the Kingdom, the kings and nobles of the continent were frantically trying to get their hands on an invitation.
“How about a prosthetic arm forged from orichalcum? When the fingers are pulled like triggers, the blades inside will be launched simultaneously!”
“Speak. You have complaints about me, don’t you?”
“There’s also a prosthetic arm wrapped in superalloy! If you grip it tightly, a beam of high heat will be fired! And with one more press, it can even self-destruct, annihilating the surroundings…”
“Is the magic tower filled with idiots?”
I ordered a prosthetic arm.
Then, the grand wizards of the magic tower, like students at a competition, pooled all their skills and abilities to create dazzling prosthetic arms.
They claimed it was to repay the favor of saving the sage, but in truth, it was merely a facade to show off their own abilities. It was evident from the grotesque prosthetic arms, which were practically weapons.
“Damn it! I told you to make it ordinary! I said I needed a prosthetic arm, not a weapon!!”
“B-but…!”
Ordinary.
In the tower of mages, composed of madmen and eccentrics, normalcy was an exceedingly difficult spell to cast.
A mundane design.
A universal that bore no functions.
With countless nobles from across the continent set to attend the wedding, a plain prosthetic was, of course, necessary. Presenting a bizarre and chaotic design would surely reduce it to a mere clownish spectacle.
“Please, I beg you, make a normal prosthetic! Before I drop an atomic bomb on the tower!!”
Damn it.
Would I truly be able to prepare in time?
It wasn’t just the prosthetic.
There was a mountain of things to prepare for the wedding.
People tend to fear the unknown. Having never experienced it before, including in past lives, I felt an unavoidable dread of the unfamiliar, like a mountain goat standing before a narrow bridge.
* * *
I strolled through the garden to shake off the worries coiling in my mind.
Had it been half an hour?
By chance, I came across Maximilian and Beatrice.
As I felt the trivial thought of whether I was interrupting a couple enjoying their date, I took a step forward to intrude upon the cozy time shared by the hero and the saint.
“How’s the wedding preparation going? I heard it’s progressing smoothly.”
“Not at all. It’s my first wedding, and I can’t seem to get a grip on anything.”
“It’s just the growing pains that every newlywed experiences before the wedding. I believe you’ll get through it well.”
“Well… I suppose I’ll manage somehow.”
I let out a wry smile at Beatrice’s analogy of the inevitable growing pains of youth.
It wasn’t wrong.
Humans grow through their growing pains.
Maximilian nodded in agreement, responding to Beatrice’s encouragement. Unintentionally receiving support made him shrug his shoulders, revealing his awkwardness.
“It’s just a ceremony where you exchange rings and vow to be a couple. You seem overly tense.”
“What do you know? Anyone would think you’re already married.”
I had never even considered the thought of whether it was okay to marry before my brother.
What does it matter?
If you felt wronged, you should have married first.
“I’ll definitely attend the wedding! Hang in there, Ethan!”
“…….”
Ludmila and Jeblinne still thought of Beatrice as the ex-girlfriend.
And the relationship with Elizabeta was awkward.
Surely, they wouldn’t outright refuse to attend the wedding. But as soon as the newlywed saint and princesses saw Beatrice, they would undoubtedly show signs of discomfort.
“I will attend with my father.”
“It’s your brother’s wedding, so of course, you should be there. Come early and collect the wedding gifts. We’ll filter out the guests who are stingy with their contributions right away.”
“That’s quite a joke.”
“I’m being serious.”
Is there anything more important than the wedding gifts at a wedding?
Wedding gifts.
A way to materially confirm the sincerity of the guests attending the event.
To give a meager wedding gift at a wedding hosted by the Baltaria Empire and the Gael Kingdom? It would be a rudeness that could be misinterpreted as an act of rebellion against the empire and the kingdom.
“Then it’s better to leave it to Felix…”
“The Mercenary King has already taken charge of security.”
The division of roles had already been completed.
Queris was to officiate, and Madvein was the emcee.
In truth, I wanted to ask Beatrice to officiate, but it was thwarted by Jeblinne and Elizabeta’s strong opposition. So, I asked Beatrice to take on the role of assisting the bride.
“Max! It’s a great opportunity to repay Ethan! And didn’t Saint Jeblinne, Princess Ludmila, and Princess Elizabeta save us from the abyss? Let’s all do our best to repay them!”
“…….”
Sitting there, collecting wedding gifts, the strongest warrior of all time.
Just thinking about it was dizzying.
I would be treated as a comedian by the guests attending the wedding.
Maximilian naturally showed a reaction full of discontent. But when Beatrice’s glassy eyes sparkled with pure longing and anticipation, he let out a heavy sigh and lowered his head.
* * *
Three months passed in the blink of an eye, like a dream of adolescence.
Spring.
The season of birth, when countless lives awaken from slumber.
For the wedding held in the imperial capital, extensive promotions and preparations had been underway for months. It was an unprecedented event where the beautiful saint and princesses would hold a joint wedding.
“I can’t tell you how hard it was to get an invitation… Anyway, I’m glad to be attending.”
“It’s a wedding jointly hosted by the empire and the kingdom, isn’t it? I heard the competition for invitations was truly fierce.”
All the kings of the continent affiliated with the alliance were in attendance.
Thus, the joint wedding ceremony of the Empire’s Red Dragon and the Holy Kingdom’s White Dragon, along with the Platinum Princess, could not help but draw even more attention.
It would be recorded as a glory of the family.
Nobles and clergy, gathered like clouds, looked around like country bumpkins as they made their way to the wedding venue.
“Oh!”
“I expected it, but… it truly is magnificent!”
Banners emblazoned with the symbols of the Empire and the Holy Kingdom filled the ceiling of the wedding hall’s corridor.
And that was not all.
Ornate decorations adorned with platinum and countless jewels stood out.
These were gifts sent from across the continent to celebrate the joint wedding of the saint and the princess.
The scale of the wedding far exceeded expectations.
Even the nobles and ladies who had experienced countless weddings and balls were showering praises, so it was clear that an enormous budget had been allocated.
“I hear that Her Highness Princess Ludmila is twenty-eight this year? The prince of the Hoenberg family certainly has a unique charm. I’ve heard he resembles my brother, the unparalleled handsome prince.”
“While the Platinum Princess is one thing, a spinster princess too….”
The gossiping ladies covered their mouths with fans and whispered. At that moment, the Empire’s knights, who were in charge of security in the wedding hall, solemnly intervened.
“Mind your manners.”
The elegantly dressed ladies left, chuckling awkwardly.
“The wedding is about to begin!”
“Ahem, ahem! Guests, please gather in the wedding hall!”
Around noon,
Adorable girls, so cute one could almost want to bite them, stepped forward, guiding the way with little pitter-patter steps.
Luinong.
A legendary race known as the mascot of the Saint’s Party.
I had heard that the Hoenberg family was taking care of the Luinong who had come out into the world. The nobles, captivated by the Luinong’s charming appearance, followed them into the wedding hall.
“Now entering is the first bride of today’s wedding. The Red Dragon of the Baltaria Empire, Her Highness Princess Ludmila!”
How much time had passed,
Once all the guests who received the invitations were seated, the wedding began.
It was time for the bride to make her entrance.
The voice of the master of ceremonies, Madbay, drew the guests’ gazes to one side.
“Oh!”
“She is truly beautiful!”
The bride, adorned in a pure white wedding dress decorated with red roses, entered the wedding hall.
The Second Princess,
Ludmila Draig Baltaria.
The First Princess, Isabel, who was serving as a bridesmaid, gently lifted the hem of the wedding dress to help Ludmila walk gracefully down the virgin road without stumbling.
“The second bride is entering! The white dragon of the Gael Empire, Saint Jeblinne!”
The bride, dressed in a pure white wedding dress embellished with silver bellflowers, similarly made her entrance into the wedding hall.
The First Saint,
Saint Jeblinne Albion Russell.
The beautiful new bride, with her flowing silver hair, was accompanied by the long-missing Second Saint, Beatrice. As the rare sight of the saintesses of the empire entered in harmony unfolded, the guests responded with fervent applause.
“Finally, the third bride is entering! Her Highness, the Third Princess, known as the Empire’s Most Beautiful and the Platinum Princess, Princess Elizabeth!”
The new bride, adorned with petals of golden crown flowers that shimmered like gold, captured the attention of all the guests seated in the wedding hall.
The Third Princess,
Elizabeth von Baltaria.
Her enchanting beauty, reminiscent of the goddess symbolizing beauty and love, evoked both admiration and jealousy. The Platinum Princess, known as the Empire’s Most Beautiful, wore a pure white wedding dress, creating a fierce and relentless synergy.
“Ucha, ucha…!”
Elizabeth’s bridesmaid was a cute girl with light green hair.
Rue Ruinon.
The mascot of the saintess party and the partner of the groom, Edanant.
The scene unfolded as she lifted the hem of the dress with her tiny hands, following with short steps. Although it seemed she almost stumbled over her own feet, she fortunately guided Elizabeth down the virgin road.
“Now! Let us welcome the lucky man who will take all these beautiful brides as his wives!”
Madveig extended his hand and pointed in one direction.
At the same time, a lively drumbeat announcing the entrance resonated, naturally drawing the guests’ attention.
Clack.
Felix, the mercenary king in charge of the wedding hall’s security, opened the firmly closed door, heralding the arrival of the main character.