Some time had passed since then, and now it was the pair’s wedding day...
“Hey, Souma? I don’t know how to put this, but...they’re almost too perfect a couple.” Liscia sighed.
“Yeah. I think you’re right,” I agreed with a nod.
We were watching Tomoe and Ichiha in their wedding attire. Rather than the Western-style dress and tuxedo common in the Kingdom of Friedonia, they wore traditional Japanese garments: Tomoe a white kimono called a shiromuku with a headdress known as a tsunokakushi, and Ichiha a family-crested haori coat with hakama pants.
“Thank you, Big Brother, Big Sister.”
“Th-Thank you.”
Tomoe beamed, while Ichiha stood stiffly, his shoulders tense.
Incidentally, these were outfits reserved for people of high status to wear at their weddings in the Nine-Headed Dragon Archipelago Kingdom. I’d always thought their culture blended elements of Tang China and Edo-period Japan, and seeing this confirmed it, at least where weddings were concerned.
Liscia’s eyes lingered on Tomoe’s kimono. “You two wear this kind of clothing regularly. No wonder it suits you so well.”
“To be fair, Tomoe’s outfits when she was younger were just ones I made to suit my taste,” I said.
When I’d first met her, she was dressed no differently than the other refugees, in a tattered old tunic. After she was adopted as Liscia’s sister, I made her a number of Japanese-style outfits. Having grown used to them, she later continued ordering similarly designed clothes from The Silver Deer as she got older. As for Ichiha, he came from a country where Asian-style clothing had always been the norm, so the haori and hakama fit him perfectly. Hakuya and Excel also regularly wore garments with an Asian flair. In hindsight, it was probably proof that fashions from my world had managed to withstand the test of time.
As I was thinking that...
“My, you two look wonderful.”
“Yes, truly the most ravishing couple in all the islands.”
Shabon and Kishun had come to greet them. Trailing behind was Prince Sharon, pulling Princess Sharan gently by the hand. The young princess followed timidly, half hiding in her parents’ shadows.
Tomoe’s face lit up when she spotted Shabon.
“Ms. Shabon! Thank you so much for lending us these beautiful outfits!”
“Hee hee! I am so glad you like them. That kimono has been passed down through the Nine-Headed Dragon Royal House, and I wore it myself at my own wedding.”
“Huh?! Was it really okay for me to borrow something so important?!” Tomoe gasped, eyes wide with shock.
Yeah, I was floored too. I mean, I was grateful she’d lent it to us, but wasn’t this basically a national treasure?
Despite our dumbstruck reactions, Shabon only smiled warmly.
“It is no matter. Women of the royal family wear that outfit but once in their lives. The next time it will be needed is on Sharan’s wedding day. If it were just to be stored away until then, surely it is better to use it now to help promote weddings in our country.” Her tone was light, almost carefree.
She wasn’t wrong. As part of the wedding-planning business Roroa was building with Lucy, today’s ceremony was being broadcast not only in our kingdom and the Nine-Headed Dragon Archipelago, but also in places like the Republic of Turgis and the Euphoria Kingdom, where companies wanted to get in on the action. If the young, unwed women watching this broadcast began to long for the Nine-Headed Dragon style of wedding dress and ceremony, it would mean real national benefit for their kingdom. Shabon just kept proving herself stronger and more reliable as a ruler.
“Big Sister Tomoe...you’re so pretty,” Princess Sharan whispered, eyes sparkling.
Tomoe, delighted but a little shy, spread her arms to let the girl see her kimono better.
“You’ll wear this someday, Lady Sharan. I’m only borrowing it.”
“I’ll get to wear it too?”
“Yes. Someday for sure.”
Tomoe was so little when I first met her, and now she’s acting like a big sister to a girl about the same age she was back then... I could feel my eyes starting to water.
“Tomoe’s grown up so much,” I murmured.
“Inugami was just saying the same thing earlier,” Liscia remarked, having overheard me. Her tone carried a hint of exasperation.
Tomoe’s family had already seen her in her wedding outfit before we did. Inugami, dressed formally from the neck down but still wearing his wolf mask, had been so overwhelmed with emotion that he’d cried until the mask was soaked through. Her mother, Tomoko, had only smiled gently as she comforted her somewhat troublesome husband.
Yeah... Remembering Inugami bawling like that helped me keep myself together. Knowing someone else had completely lost control of their emotions made it much easier to calm mine.
“Still though... Tomoe Chima, huh?” I said. “I guess they’ll be moving out of the castle.”
“I’d feel sorry for them, trying to live in the castle as newlyweds,” Liscia replied. “Though since Tomoe’s our chamberlain, and Ichiha’s the prime minister, they’ll still be coming in every day. Honestly, I doubt much will change. It sounds like Inugami and Tomoko will be managing the domain granted to House Chima.”
“Rou’s getting bigger too. I wonder if Bel will end up being raised at the domain.”
Rou was Tomoe’s younger brother, while Bel was the little girl born to Inugami and Tomoko. Rou was about middle-school age now, training under Inugami and even attending the Officers’ Academy. Bel, meanwhile, was like a miniature Tomoe. Her name apparently came from her father, but...there was no way to get Bel out of Inugami. Funny how that worked.
As I was mulling that over, Lucy, the master of ceremonies, came into the room.
“C’mon, c’mon, you two. It’s about time to get this show on the road. You’re keepin’ everyone waitin’.”
““Right,”” we both answered in unison.
When we moved on to the next location, my family, Tomoe’s family, and all their school friends were already there waiting.
Because Ichiha’s family, Yomi, Sami, and Nike, were all VIPs in other nations, they had been unable to attend due to security concerns and scheduling conflicts. Still, they had sent gifts from their respective countries, along with heartfelt messages over the broadcast.
Everyone was ooh-ing and aah-ing over the couple in their wedding best.