The Two Marriage Ceremonies (1)
Three days later, I left my hometown with Cermiane.
Cermiane had received a month’s worth of vacation as part of his reward during the conferment ceremony. He had sped his way over here, taking only seven days to reach the Caliente territory. So while it was true that there was still some time before we needed to leave, once we thought about it, we decided it would be better for us to have as many days as possible to settle into our new life at the Capital. As such, we hastily made our way to the Capital.
I had packed up the stuff in my room, but since we were going by horse to the Capital, I couldn’t bring everything. Hence, I only brought the bare minimum with me, and I would have the rest delivered to the Caliente residence in the Capital with the goods for tax payment when that time came.
Since my room was pretty small, I didn’t have a lot of stuff. More than half consisted of my hunting goods. When I saw my cleaned-out room, it forced me to acknowledge that I was truly leaving home, even if I didn’t want to. When I was sitting on my bed and looking around my room, I noticed that Mama was peeking into my room.
Mama, who had become slightly fat after turning forty, was wearing a one-piece dress with a white apron, and her chestnut brown hair was wrapped in a white scarf. No matter how many years had passed, she always wore a similar outfit. Even though she was a baroness, she dressed as a typical farmer auntie, and she also helped out nearby farmers basically every day. When I looked at her, Mama entered my room, albeit hesitantly.
I stood up and hugged Mama. Ever since my marriage had been decided, I tended to want to act spoiled around Mama and Papa. Once I wed, I will officially be considered a full-fledged adult, and I’ll most likely never be able to act spoiled again. Being aware of this made me want to act all the more spoiled. The possibility of never being able to see them again also contributed.
“What’s wrong, Ral?”
“Mm….”
Mama petted my head.
“If you act like this, you won’t be able to be a good wife or a good mother. Women must act spoiled but be the ones spoiling others.”
“Does Papa act spoiled around you, Mama?”
“Of course! Spoiling your husband is only the first step to being a good wife, you know?”
Imagining Papa hugging Mama and acting spoiled made me laugh out loud. For a precious moment, Mama and I giggled amongst ourselves.
“…Will you be okay when I’m gone?”
By now, I prided myself in significantly helping with Mama and Papa’s work. Mama and Papa didn’t have children of their own. If I’m gone, will these two, who are starting to near retirement, be able to do their jobs?
“Don’t worry, Ral. To tell you the truth, we had been reducing our amount of work to teach you various things. Darling, don’t underestimate us too much! We won’t lose to you just yet.”
That’s true. Mama and Papa were and are the only ones who could catch and slap me in order to make me listen to them. In fact, I don’t even remember how many times I’ve been hit by them. I’m so sorry for being a mischievous brat. I shouldn’t be treating Mama and Papa like the elderly, not when they were able to handle all of my troublemaking when I was younger. I relaxed my body.
“Rather, I’m more worried about you, Ral! Don’t hunt all the time when you’re in the Capital, and be sure to fulfill your duties as a wife. And be sure to fix your habit of acting before thinking!”
“I know, I know.”
When I pouted, Mama gently hugged my head.
“Be happy, Ral. I’ll be praying for your happiness every day to the Almighty.”
“Mama…”
“We were truly blessed to have a daughter like you, Ral. We give our thanks to the Marquis and to the Almighty.”
The day before our departure, a party was held. At first, it was supposed to be a small, private engagement party consisting of just Papa, Mama, Cermiane, and me. As word of it spread, people not only from the territorial capital, but also the neighboring villages came, and it became a big party.
Since Papa’s house wasn’t big enough, the venue was changed last minute to the territorial capital’s plaza, where mountains of food and wine were brought, decorations were put up, and everything turned into a full-out festival. These party-loving rascals. These rural folks who lived their lives without experiencing much change tended to immediately throw a festival for any small event.
However, in this case, my underlings from when we were young were seriously ruining our farewell. So much so that they partied with all their might in tears, in the name of it being their last gift to me. Mind you, I had around a hundred underlings. It was quite a sight.
My female friends also rued my departure all teary-eyed, and at the same time, they yelled, “We won’t forgive not being able to attend your wedding!” They somehow brought a wedding dress and forced an unwilling me into it. As a result, I was wearing a white wedding dress with lavender highlights. In the meantime, Cermiane was also forced into wearing someone’s ceremonial knight attire. In Cermiane’s case, it was slightly too small for him.
If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know or tag admin in comments so we can fix it as soon as possible.
