154. Marriage

154. Marriage

“I guess I have to, right?”

I muttered, holding the letter.

It was a letter stating that same-sex marriage had been legalized, along with thanks directed at me.

It was very early in the morning. I was the only one who received this letter; the others didn’t know the good news yet. It would be fine to wake my friends and share the news like this…

But perhaps… it would be nice to do a little surprise.

“… But how should I do it?”

However, I was completely clueless when it came to surprise events. In my past life, I was the recipient of events, not the organizer.

I didn’t want to just blurt out the idea of marriage. If possible, I wanted to make a more memorable… emotional proposal.

In this world, a proposal is a wedding, and a wedding is a proposal. Since two events were merged into one, I wanted to leave an impressive memory. I pondered, fiddling with the ring on my ring finger.

“Hmm…”

No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t come up with an answer. It was too difficult a problem for me.

Should I ask Mother? Or perhaps asking someone else would be fine.

I first moved my feet and headed towards Mother’s room.

Knock, knock.

“I’m coming in.”

“Oh, Skadi. What brings you here so early in the morning?”

Mother was reading a book early in the morning. When I opened the door and entered, Mother closed the book she was reading and greeted me warmly.

“Your belly has gotten quite big. The babies seem to be doing well.”

“Yes. They sometimes kick.”

“How cute.”

Mother reached out and stroked my head. From top to bottom, a regular and appropriate pressure ruffled my hair, and with a soft rustling sound, I felt a strange sense of powerlessness, and I surrendered my body to Mother, my gaze unfocused and dazed…

“Hah.”

“What’s wrong? Weren’t you here to get some affection from Mom?”

“Ah, n-no. I came because I have something to ask.”

With such skillful hands, I almost got dragged around by Mother for the entire day. If it were any other day, it might have been fine, but not today.

“Actually…”

I explained the situation to Mother. I wanted to propose to my friends and Freya, but I didn’t have any suitable events.

Mother pondered for a moment, resting her chin on her hand, and then said.

“There’s a traditional wedding method passed down among wolf beastkin. How about that?”

“What is it?”

“It’s a tradition where you tie the bride to the bow of the ship and sail through a stormy sea while asking for marriage. Young people these days don’t do it much, but I did it with him. I tied him to the end.”

“Hmm…”

The closest sea to the mansion is the Arctic Ocean. To set sail there and tie my friends and sister to the bow of the ship…

“We’d have to get three ships, and it seems difficult to do right now.”

“Is that so? That’s a bit disappointing.”

Mother said with a slightly disappointed expression. She rested her chin on her hand again and pondered, then offered a different perspective.

“First of all, for a wedding, you’ll need to wear a wedding dress. And a little makeup.”

“Ah… That’s right.”

“Leave this to Mom. Mom has always wanted to dress up my eldest daughter. You always go around with a bare face…”

“Haha… Yes. I’ll come back when you’re ready.”

“Oh, and please send Ur to Mom later. There’s something I need to do.”

“Yes.”

I bowed to Mother and went outside.

Now that the preparations for dressing up were done, it was time to seriously consider the event. Just then, someone passed before my eyes.

“Henir.”

“Yes, Miss?”

A wolf beastkin with brown bobbed hair. It was Henir.

“I have something to ask you…”

I explained the situation to Henir as well. Henir, whose tail wagged as she thought about the word “event,” soon offered a simple answer.

“First, we need to get them drunk!”

“Alcohol…?”

“It’s because the atmosphere is created when there’s a moderate level of intoxication. I know a cocktail that’s good for these occasions, so I’ll make it for you!”

I see. I don’t drink much, so I hadn’t even thought of something like this. My friends and Freya don’t drink much alcohol either.

One might argue that alcohol is bad for the babies in the womb, but Freya’s pregnancy magic is perfect, so harmful substances don’t even reach the babies. Well, considering we have sex every day, a little alcohol is nothing.

It was a good solution.

“Hmm… For the event… How about having dinner together? We can set the mood with a banquet and naturally get them to drink.”

“But we eat together every day. Won’t it be too similar to usual?”

Henir dismissed my concern.

“You don’t need to think of it as something grand, Miss. The atmosphere is the most important thing. In a restaurant where it’s just us, with dim lighting, and soft music playing. As we eat delicious dinner like that, when the mood ripens with intoxication, and then you confess your love and present the ring…!”

“Oh…!”

“How is it?”

“It seems good.”

An atmospheric dinner. It doesn’t require excessive preparation, and it’s sufficiently emotional and impressive. I gave Henir a kiss on the cheek as a token of my gratitude. Her brown tail wagged vigorously.

“Anyway, leave the alcohol to me! I’ve given it to my friends often when they were like this… Ah, no, I mean, I’ve given it to my friends often, so the effect is certain! I’ll make it extra concentrated this time!”

“Thank you, Henir.”

The preparations for dressing up are done. The alcohol is also ready.

Then, all that’s left is to rent the restaurant for a while and prepare dinner.

It’s not a difficult task. Delicious dinner can be easily arranged by asking the mansion’s chef, and borrowing the restaurant can be done by asking the servants for a moment’s favor.

“Hoohoo.”

I headed to the restaurant with a smile.

——

“What is it? What’s the occasion today?”

On the grand evening of dinner, Freya looked a little bewildered by the restaurant’s atmosphere, enhanced by the lighting. Soft music was also playing from one corner.

Claire and Priscilla were no different, both looking around and expressing their confusion.

“Skadi, do you know something?”

“Who knows?”

“Well, I didn’t think you’d know anything.”

That’s too harsh.

We soon sat down in our respective seats. Due to the servants’ meddling with the word “proposal,” I ended up sitting alone, while the other three sat side-by-side on the opposite side, creating a somewhat peculiar arrangement.

It truly fits the saying, “Too many cooks spoil the broth.” However, it didn’t pose any problem for the proposal, so it didn’t matter much.

“What’s today really?”

“I don’t really know either.”

Priscilla briefly got up from her seat, then approached me, buried her face in my tail, and took a deep breath. Then she opened her mouth.

“Your tail is still the same!”

… What is she doing all of a sudden?

Leaving behind the bewildered looks of my friends, the meal soon began.

The dishes, prepared with great effort by the chefs, were served in succession. The taste was so good that even we, who tasted various dishes, were surprised. The plating was beyond question. The title of Grand Duke’s chef was indeed not earned in vain.

The amount was not too little, but not so much that it would interfere with eating the next dish.

It can only be described as perfect. I was almost taken aback by how much the servants had prepared.

The culmination of this exquisite feast was the cocktail in the glass, shimmering with a translucent light. This alcohol, made by Henir, reflected light in seven colors, displaying a beautiful hue. It felt as if one could be drawn into it just by looking at it.

With its beautiful and captivating appearance, and its smooth aroma and taste, everyone kept drinking. I was no exception.

It felt like drinking a light juice. It was addictive, yet it didn’t spoil the taste of the food. It was an alcohol that made me drink it continuously without realizing it. It seemed there was a reason Henir was so confident.

“It’s delicious…”

Freya, her face flushed with intoxication, suddenly murmured. My sister doesn’t usually express admiration like this. Is it the alcohol’s fault, or the delicious food’s?

“Mmm…”

“Yes… I agree…”

Priscilla and Claire were in a similar state. Their faces were red, they exhaled hot breaths, yet they didn’t stop holding their spoons.

I subtly got up from my seat.

——

“Mmm.”

“Ehe…”

Freya, who had been gulping down the alcohol, eventually noticed something strange about her body. At first, she thought it was just intoxication, but this inexplicable sensation became clearer and clearer.

“What the…”

Her reason blurred, and her breath became hot and heavy. Her tongue was twisted, making it impossible to pronounce words properly, and her body reacted sensitively even to the rustling of fabric. Her tail swayed slowly and seductively, like a heat haze.

The others were no different. Both Claire and Priscilla couldn’t control their bodies.

None of them could figure out what this feeling was. It was as if their minds were clouded with fog; the answer seemed simple, yet they couldn’t find it.

Instead, the intense intoxication led their hearts to the river of instinct. A comfortable and happy place where they didn’t need to think complicatedly or worry about anything, just surrender to the flow. At the end of that river, one emotion was concentrated.

“… I want to fuck sister.”

“… I want to have sex with Skadi.”

“… I want to have sex with Skadi.”

All three pairs of eyes turned in the same direction. To the spot where Skadi should have been. But no one was there.

Instead, the door opened in the distance, and the person they desired approached.

“Hey, kids.”

“Sis… ter?”

Her beauty was so breathtaking that for a moment, they forgot to breathe. The subtle, understated makeup enhanced her natural beauty. With just that, the three of them couldn’t take their eyes off Skadi.

Not to mention the beautiful wedding dress covering her body. The pure white color and restrained decorations revealed her figure without concealment, and even the part that bulged from carrying twins could only be described as beautiful now.

Gulp, they swallowed.

Skadi opened her mouth.

“We can get married now, you know? I got a message this morning that marriage between same sexes has become legal.”

“Ah…”

“So.”

Skadi slowly took out what she was holding in her hand.

It was a ring box.

“Will you… marry me?”

Inside were three rings. As if symbolizing each of them, the rings were adorned with green, gold, and red gemstones, respectively.

As Skadi quietly slipped the rings onto her wives’ fingers, she whispered.

“I love you.”

It was the moment when the reason of the three snapped.