✦ ✦ ✦
“You’ve really become beautiful, Tomoe,” said her adoptive mother, Elisha.
“Ho ho ho, she has indeed,” her adoptive father, Albert, agreed. “So this is what it feels like to give your daughter away as a bride.”
“Um, excuse me?” Liscia interjected, sounding a little offended. “Your other daughter—the one who’s already married—is standing right here, you know?”
The former royal couple chuckled.
“In your case, your husband married into the family. You’re still living in the castle too, so it didn’t feel like we were giving you away.”
“Hee hee, whereas with Tomoe, we can’t help but see it as a royal marriage. But since she’s our adopted daughter, we can send her off without those considerations.”
“I don’t know that I like this...” Liscia muttered, shooting her parents a cold look. But they only laughed it off.
Meanwhile, Tomoe and Ichiha were surrounded by their usual gang of Yuriga, Lucy, and Velza.
“Much as it frustrates me to admit it, that outfit looks good on you,” Yuriga said.
“Hee hee, thanks, Yuriga.”
“What’s this now? Yurie actually gave Tomie a straight up compliment? Is the sky about to fall? Wait, no, that’s bad! If it rains, it’ll ruin the setup! Yurie, quick—go back to bein’ prickly!”
“What are you even saying?!”
Yuriga promptly pinched Lucy’s cheeks.
It was the same playful back-and-forth they’d had since childhood, and I couldn’t help but smile. Ichiha and Velza were smiling at their antics too.
“Oh, that’s right,” Ichiha said, clapping his hands as if he’d just remembered something.
He glanced over at Carla, one of the castle maids helping with the ceremony, and called out to her.
“Carla, could you bring the thing I talked to you about earlier?”
“Oh, yes. Certainly.”
Carla hurried off, returning a moment later with a bouquet in her hands.
A bouquet...of white flowers? But those aren’t normally used in Japanese-style wedding ceremonies... As I puzzled over it, Tomoe accepted the bouquet from Carla and turned, offering it to Velza.
“I want you to have this.”
“Huh? Me?” Velza blinked, caught off guard.
Tomoe smiled warmly at her bewildered friend.
“Yep. Since we’re holding the ceremony Nine-Headed Dragon Archipelago-style, there won’t be a bouquet toss today. But when we attended Kuu’s wedding, Taru and Leporina gave us a bouquet, saying it was for the future bride. You’re going to be marrying Hal soon, right? That’s why I want to give this one to you.”
“Tomoe...” Velza’s eyes brimmed with tears as she clutched the flowers to her chest. “Thank you. This makes me so happy!”
“Hey, that’s the bride’s line! You’re not the one gettin’ married today, Velie!” Lucy quipped, punctuating it with a playful smack to Velza’s head.
“Ah ha ha... You’ve got a point,” Ichiha added with a rueful smile.
Tomoe was wearing the same wry smile as Ichiha when Yuriga asked, “Are you okay with her saying that? You’re supposed to be the center of attention today.”
“I like how Vel’s a bit of an airhead sometimes.”
“But won’t people get confused and think Velza’s the one marrying Ichiha...?”
“Ichiha’s my groom, okay?” Tomoe declared with a dazzling, yet oddly intimidating, smile.
“Whoa, don’t get all scary on me! That dark aura’s terrifying!”
Tomoe’s really grown up...in more ways than one, I thought, gazing at her with a far-off look in my eyes.
After that bit of their usual banter, Tomoe and Ichiha’s wedding proceeded without issue.
Among the Kingdom’s upper class who watched the broadcast, interest grew in holding weddings abroad, sparking a brief boom in Nine-Headed Dragon Archipelago-style ceremonies. (Though, since traveling there was difficult, most couples simply held similar-style ceremonies at home.) That trend, however, would be completely overshadowed once Velza’s wedding came around.
✦ ✦ ✦
So, that’s what a Nine-Headed Dragon Archipelago-style ceremony is like. What do you think?
You can choose between a pure white kimono or a colored one for the bride, either of which would look lovely on you. And since your husband is much more well-built than Ichiha, the haori will suit him even better, don’t you agree?
Mm-hmm... Not into anythin’ that extravagant? You’d prefer somethin’ simpler?
I see. So the bride would rather wear a weddin’ dress, then.
In that case, let me suggest this plan: the “Let’s Have Our Weddin’ in a Historic Temple in the Republic of Turgis” Plan. My friend actually got married this way just recently, you see...