Ch.143Side Story 1 – Wedding (3)

As soon as we woke up in the morning, we packed our bags and headed straight to the guild to go to the place where Leo, Yong-in, and Ha-eun were.

The moment we arrived at the guild, I made eye contact with someone I wasn’t particularly happy to see.

“Hello, it’s been a while.”

The orange-haired guy waved at us with a bright smile. He’s not trying to hit on someone who already has a partner, is he?

No, my female intuition is screaming that he’s definitely flirting. After all, feelings of love don’t just disappear so easily, right?

So to protect Ju-an, I glared at him with sharp eyes, but he continued talking without paying any attention to my hostility.

“What brings you here anyway?”

“I’m going somewhere private with Ju-an.”

“Traveling with your lover, I’m a bit jealous of that. Well, take care.”

Suddenly, the orange-haired guy started walking past us with a grin. Could my intuition be wrong?

Well, I’ve lived as a man for much longer, so my intuition probably wouldn’t improve that quickly.

Anyway, once I was certain he wasn’t a romantic rival, I suddenly felt more comfortable around him.

“You sound like someone who’s leaving for good.”

“I submitted my resignation letter, so yes, I am leaving for good.”

“What?”

“I’m just going to wander the world aimlessly. Find hidden dungeons and treasures, and maybe some wonderful connections along the way.”

Come to think of it, we did make a bet in the past out of frustration. If I played a major role in defeating the Demon King, this orange-haired guy would pursue what he wanted to do.

But I never actually fought directly; all I did was provide a little help with my abilities.

Well, sometimes the truth is more beautiful when left unknown, right? I’ll just keep this to myself until the grave.

Anyway, I greeted the orange-haired guy with a somewhat brighter expression.

“I hope you meet someone nice.”

This isn’t just a formality; I genuinely mean it. If this orange-haired guy meets another man, he’ll never look at our Ju-an again.

“Well, take care.”

After the orange-haired guy completely disappeared, we went back inside the guild.

“Ju-an, it’s been so long!”

Then these tactless women greeted Ju-an warmly while staring at him with eyes full of ulterior motives.

But my intuition could be wrong again. Maybe they’re just genuinely happy to see him after a long time.

Still, just to be safe, I naturally linked arms with Ju-an and subtly warned those women.

“Ju-an? Who are these people?”

“Just work colleagues.”

“I see.”

When I deliberately gave those women a relaxed look, their expressions slightly twisted. So I was right about their ulterior motives.

“Are you going to send wedding invitations to them too?”

“Probably.”

To ward off those women, I stroked my belly with an affectionate touch and asked Ju-an.

“By the way, would you prefer our baby to be a boy or a girl?”

“Obviously, I’d love a beautiful daughter like you.”

“I’d prefer a handsome son like you.”

To drive the point home, I wrapped both arms around Ju-an’s arm and rested my head against it, saying in a happy voice:

“I guess it doesn’t matter since we’ll have both eventually?”

After successfully keeping those women away from Ju-an, their initially smiling faces disappeared completely, replaced by expressions of frustration.

“Shall we go distribute the wedding invitations now?”

“Okay.”

I stayed close to Ju-an, who had a pure, oblivious expression, as we headed to the place where the airplane was supposed to be.

When we arrived, there was a small airplane that could fit about four people.

Since it was just the two of us going, it didn’t really matter. As I boarded the plane, I felt inexplicably happy.

“This feels nice, like we’re traveling alone together.”

As I leaned against Ju-an’s sturdy shoulder, he kissed my forehead and said:

“Then we should travel more often from now on.”

Seeing Ju-an speak with such a gentle smile made my face flush red. It’s really unfair to use that face…

While thinking this, my desire honestly slipped out of my mouth.

“…Want to do it?”

“This plane is fast so we’ll arrive soon… mmph?”

I instinctively climbed on top of Ju-an and kissed him as I always did.

“So you don’t want to?”

“…You seduced me first.”

Suddenly Ju-an changed positions, laying me down on the airplane seat and climbing on top of me.

Just as our lips were about to meet, we heard an enormous explosion nearby.

The heated atmosphere instantly vanished, and we turned our attention to where the explosion had occurred.

“Isn’t that where Leo is supposed to be?”

Not only Leo, but Ha-eun, Yong-in, and even the person Leo loved are there. So if something happened there…

“Ju-an! Let’s go there right now!”

“Got it!”

Ju-an skillfully pressed various buttons on the airplane, and it quickly moved to that location at a much faster speed.

Having arrived at the explosion site so quickly, we cautiously entered the building while remaining vigilant.

And inside…

“What kind of idiot sets ‘pineapple pizza’ as the activation command for magic?!”

“But isn’t this a phrase that would never be used?”

“It’s a phrase used all the time in daily life, you blockhead!”

“Why would this be used frequently?”

“Because it’s food people eat often, you moron!”

“You’re telling me people actually eat this?”

“Yes, you primitive lizard!”

There were Leo and Yong-in fighting passionately over something trivial as usual, with Ha-eun and the former Holy Maiden watching peacefully.

“I’m glad nothing serious happened.”

“…You call this nothing?”

“This is actually pretty tame.”

At least no one died, so it ended well. Buildings like this can be easily repaired anyway.

Having calmed down, I approached Ha-eun who was watching from the side.

“Hi, have you been well?”

“Nothing special on my end. But what brings you here?”

“W-well… you see…”

In my head, I always answered this casually, but actually saying it out loud was incredibly difficult.

But it’s something that needs to be revealed eventually. So I steeled myself and spoke.

“I-I came to… distribute wedding invitations…”

As I barely managed to squeeze out the words in a shrinking voice, the atmosphere around us changed instantly.

“Congratulations, senior! The partner is Ju-an, right?”

“Congratulations from me too. Getting married already? I’m a bit envious.”

“I also congratulate you. But isn’t this a bit too soon?”

Ha-eun, Yong-in, and the former Holy Maiden congratulated us, but…

“…”

Leo stared at me with wildly shaking pupils and asked in an extremely trembling voice:

“It’s only been three months. And you’re already getting married?”

“Because I got pregnant…”

Before I could finish speaking, Leo suddenly pulled out a rope from a drawer, stepped on a chair, and hung the rope from the ceiling.

Then he put his head through the rope and kicked away the chair he was standing on.

“L-Leo?!”

“What.”

Leo, dangling from the rope, responded with a rotten expression as if nothing was wrong.

“Aren’t you… choking?”

“I’m breathing just fine.”

“Isn’t the rope blocking your airway?”

“Do you think my body is weak enough for my airway to be blocked by this little force?”

“…How strong does your body have to be for that to be possible?”

“Strong enough that even if a normal person swung a sword at my neck with full force, it wouldn’t leave a scratch.”

Leo replied calmly while still hanging from the rope.

“Then why attempt suicide when it won’t work?”

“I’m expressing how badly I want to die.”

“Are you still trapped in the past?”

“That’s not wrong, but that’s not why.”

“Then why are you doing this?”

“Because of you, you damn woman.”

Suddenly Leo pulled out a dagger from his chest and threw it at me.

“What dangerous behavior is this?”

Our dependable Ju-an calmly caught the dagger and threw it toward the rope that was suspending Leo.

After the dagger cut the rope, Leo landed gracefully on the floor and said with an incredibly deep sigh:

“This world really is shit.”

“Why are you suddenly like this?”

“It’s because of you, damn woman.”

“I don’t understand.”

“…So this is what cosmic horror feels like.”

Leo looked at me with eyes mixed with all sorts of emotions, then tried to leave for somewhere.

“Where are you going?”

“To research magic.”

“We just met after so long…”

“Shut up.”

Leo cut me off sharply, then entered some room, and the sound of something breaking loudly came from inside.

I guess Leo still hasn’t completely moved on from the past. With that thought, I started chatting with the people I hadn’t seen in a while.