Ch.382382. Wedding Ceremony (3)

On that day, I went to see what might be happening at the intersection of present and past, but somehow it turned into a visit to announce our marriage plans, like a formal meeting between families.

Nothing I had worried about occurred. As soon as the time was up, the hands of the clock completely lost their light and disappeared, and we returned to our daily lives.

So what remained?

The wedding.

One way or another, the wedding with Renias came first.

But… after several weeks passed without settling on a venue, I came to look around and…

“W-wow…”

“…”

A building I’d never seen before stood before my eyes.

“Oppa. We… didn’t come to the wrong place, did we?”

“According to the address, this is the right place.”

I’m not directionally challenged, nor am I so illiterate that I can’t read an address or find my way.

Which meant this building was our wedding venue.

“Oh, you’ve arrived right on time!”

Huh. Insane.

Why are you, the leader of the Lakan tribe, here?

“Haha! I’ve heard the story. Since you needed a venue, we’ve been building one quickly, but the interior construction is still slightly incomplete. Once we finish the inspection, it should be ready right away.”

“Construction…?”

“We notified you that we would build the venue ourselves. Didn’t you hear?”

My head went blank at the words that they were building it themselves, when I thought they were just finding a venue.

‘So that’s why it was taking so long.’

I’d heard that weddings require more preparation than expected. From choosing which of the many venues in the Empire would be most suitable, to determining the number of staff and guests, to creating seating arrangements—there’s an overwhelming amount to do.

They said you need to check the condition of venues throughout the Empire, and if they’re inadequate, you might hold the ceremony at a hotel or rent an entire noble’s mansion. Considering the reception as well, it does take a considerable amount of time.

But even accounting for that, it seemed to be taking too long.

Renias is quite shy, and I’m not particularly fond of weddings packed with people either. At most, inviting only a few people for a simple wedding ceremony would probably be better for Renias too.

That would naturally reduce the number of guests, and choosing a venue that wouldn’t attract much attention would save time.

Yet they said it would take even longer, which made me suspicious.

That’s why Renias and I came to check it out ourselves today.

‘The reason they haven’t contacted us was because they were building the venue… this is maddening.’

How should I react to this? I don’t know whether to express amazement at this unexpected sight or question it.

For now, I think Renias’s opinion is more important than mine.

So if I ask the bride herself directly…

“Congratulations, Renias. They say the first bride in a new wedding hall becomes especially happy. Isn’t that wonderful?”

“Is there such a saying?!”

“Of course~ Absolutely. They say the new energy fully blesses the new bride.”

“New energy… for the bride…”

Oh my God.

When did these people arrive to fill Renias’s head with such nonsense?

I need to stop this. Just looking at that building, it’s clearly built for a massive wedding with crowds of spectators, not the small ceremony we wanted.

“Ahem, ahem.”

“P-professors?! Why are you blocking the way?”

“I’m sorry, Junon, but your desired small wedding puts us in an awkward position.”

“You’re a hero of the Empire. How would it look if someone who accomplished feats worthy of praise—so much that the Emperor personally came to bestow the middle name ‘Alcaide’—held a shabby wedding?”

“Don’t I have any choice in this…?”

“Hmm. No. Absolutely not.”

“H-if you’re worried about Renias, there’s no need to worry. Those kids are already convincing her, aren’t they? Ho, ho ho…!”

Goodness. Something seems to have happened to all four professors.

Seeing them collectively sweating… this is certain.

Senia must have deliberately pressured the professors!

“Re-Reni!”

“Ahem! Hmm!”

Oh no.

She shouldn’t be fooled by this building that was clearly made to show off, with all this false encouragement.

But it’s too late to realize now.

“And they say there’s a new dress that just came out. If a new bride wears a new dress, it’s even more…”

“I-I want to go see it. I want to go see the dress!”

It’s no use when the bride-to-be has already decided to become a “new bride,” falling completely for their tricks with sparkling eyes.

***

“Haah.”

“Why are you sighing like that? On such a good day.”

“Is it so unpleasant that your future wife came to choose a dress?”

Glare.

Junon, who had been sighing deeply, glares at Senia and Michelle.

For Junon, this situation was truly unsatisfactory. The fact that what could have been a simple wedding ceremony had ballooned to this size.

The cause was obvious. As evident from how they were filling Renias’s head with nonsense earlier—his former colleagues.

“Did you really have to bring the professors too and make it a public wedding?”

“Of course. Do you know how exhausted we were because of your romance?”

Exhausted, my foot. Senia’s neatly folded, mischievous eyes clearly weren’t using that as the real reason.

More like she just wanted to tease him.

“Anyway, congratulations. You’ve managed to charm the Empire’s greatest beauty and become husband and wife at such a young age. Hehe.”

See? Just as I thought. She definitely wanted to tease.

Senia then smiled slightly, carefully looked around, and cautiously began to speak.

“You can take everything else as an excuse, but there really is a reason why the wedding had to be delayed this much.”

“What is it?”

“That wedding hall. Didn’t you think it was a bit strange?”

“Well… yes? It’s huge, and the architectural style and decorations were clearly noble-class. But wasn’t it built that way deliberately to attract attention?”

“No. If that was the goal, just advertising that you and Renias were getting married would have been enough.”

While the person in question might not think so, Michelle’s point made sense.

Everyone knows Renias, and currently, the name Junon is known to everyone in the Empire as well.

Their names alone would draw crowds, so the size of the wedding venue wouldn’t matter.

So why did Senia ask Junon if he found it strange?

“Looking at the list of people you’ve saved so far, there’s actually no one with that kind of capital. Right now, even the nobles are struggling with purifying lands devastated by the war with monsters or accepting refugees into their territories. Yet this much money appeared, which means it’s not from the Empire’s capital.”

“If not from the Empire’s capital, then money from the Imperial family?”

“That’s right.”

The more he heard, the less he could understand.

Even the Imperial family, while supporting the Empire, had only managed to restore the capital Levrant so far. Pouring this much money into a mere wedding would obviously cause extreme public discontent.

Which means…

“There’s… an investor.”

“Bingo. I wonder if it’s about getting back what was given?”

Senia stood up, saying she didn’t need to explain further. Michelle also left with a smile, giving a silent affirmation.

Though the two seemed to be speaking vaguely, that wasn’t quite the case. Relief was visible on Junon’s face as he understood Senia’s hint.

“…An investor. So that’s what happened.”

Junon, summoned to the Empire as Calix, had no connection to the Imperial family.

Investor? There might be people wanting to invest after hearing the fame of Lord Alcaide. But since the Artena Imperial family had said they would prevent nobles from interfering, no one would reach out.

That meant someone who already had a connection had gone to the Imperial family. If that person had contacted the Eshret Trading Company and asked them to relay this information to him, there was only one person it could be.

Junon realized this and felt relieved.

“It seems she’s recovered well. Adel.”

If this is her way of repaying…

Refusing would be impolite.

“Hmm? But why is it so quiet?”

Renias is currently in the changing room trying on the new dress. With the help of the members, there had been quite a bit of squealing and laughter coming from inside until just now.

The sudden silence made him vaguely sense that something was off.

Just as Junon was about to ask if anything had happened near the changing room…

-Swish!

“Senior Junon!”

The curtain was pulled back, and Charlotte’s urgent voice was heard.

He rushed over at her plea for help.

“Reni!”

“Uh… Oppa? I’m okay. Just a little dizzy… hehe.”

Renias, dressed in her gown, was slumped against one wall, holding her forehead as if dizzy.

“What happened?”

“Senior Renias said she wanted a macaron, so I gave her one… but suddenly she felt nauseous. Then she collapsed, but other than that…”

“Nausea? Were there any other symptoms?”

“Really, that’s all. That was brought by our staff as today’s snack… When I and the other ladies ate them, there was no problem, so why only Senior Renias?”

Charlotte didn’t seem to know what was happening either. The rest of the people were also confused.

Senia, who had just entered, was just covering her mouth, so it was impossible to tell what had happened inside.

What more was there to think about? Without even time to appreciate the dress, Junon immediately carried Renias to Professor Dalia.

But then…

“…What? W-what did you say? I think I misheard…”

He heard something that made him doubt his ears.

“Yes. I’ll tell you again. She’s four weeks pregnant! You two made a mistake! The nausea is morning sickness, and the dizziness is because she’s pregnant!”

Professor Dalia raised a vein on her forehead and delivered a fierce spike to his back.

“No matter how much you love each other, how could you violate the speed limit before marriage?!”