I was currently in a room in Trycen Castle, making final checks for the wedding. Of course, I was with Shutola, my partner for this event. Just a little earlier, Azgrad...
No! Tomorrow he’ll be my brother-in-law. Hm...but I’m really not used to the thought... Oh well.
At any rate, he’d been here earlier but the captain of the Magic Knight Order had found him and taken him somewhere. Had he made a mistake at work or something? Royalty being carried off by dragons happened a lot in stories, but I hadn’t thought it would happen before my very eyes. Then again, the genders were reversed in this particular instance.
“It’s pretty busy here, considering what my esteemed brother Azgrad is like,” said Shutola.
“Thought so...”
The military nation of Trycen’s former king, Zel Trycen, had turned into a Demon Lord and brainwashed almost all his citizens, turning them into his puppets. As it was one of the major countries in the east, the other three nations and a bunch of adventurers had to come together to defeat the Demon Lord, and now his threat had completely disappeared. However, afterward, the kingdom’s strength had dropped considerably. They had been the source of a Demon Lord incident, so criticism from the rest of the world was especially harsh.
That was why reforms were ongoing in Trycen. Under the leadership of Shutola and Azgrad, stricter policies against racial prejudice were being implemented to try to stop the prevalent human supremacist ideology that had taken hold. They were also establishing more detailed laws regarding the ownership of slaves and their treatment to try to fix the tendency of slave owners not to think of their slaves’ lives as real. None of this would have an effect right away, especially when it came to how people thought. Even so, each step heralded change over time, at least in my opinion.
As a silver lining, the more extremist of Trycen’s nobles had all died in the war. They’d been discovered in a brutal state in a party venue in the castle. So essentially, there was no one left to harm or impede these changes. The fact that the other three major nations offered help spoke volumes about what they thought of this progress. I was sure there were some backroom dealings between countries in places I had no way of knowing about, but...anyway, surprisingly, Trycen was proceeding in a good direction.
Only...there was something that bothered me. It was nothing serious like all that stuff about their policies, though it was serious to me. Rather, I still couldn’t quite believe it...
Yeah, it’s gotta be some mistake, right? I should check with Shutola, just in case.
“Is this really necessary, Shutola?”
“Yes, absolutely necessary,” Shutola replied. “All of Trycen’s past royalty have done this without exception.”
“Seriously? Erm, but I do think that customs that don’t match the times should be changed by the current generation.”
“I agree wholeheartedly and have made that my creed this past year as I’ve worked. But this is a proper custom that doesn’t fit into that category.”
“I... Is that so?”
I shared my doubts with her, but Shutola shut me down with a serious face. If she was going to go that far, then this probably was truly necessary. At the very least, it was common practice in Trycen. They say, “You must howl with the wolves,” so I decided to do what she said...
“No, wait. I really do have doubts about this. You told me that it’s tradition when having a wedding to have a parade around the capital on the day of. I get that. I think every country’s royalty does something similar when they get married. But...seriously? The newlyweds have to continue kissing the entire time? That means we’ll be doing it in front of everyone, won’t we? Is this some new kind of shame kink?”
“No, it’s an ancient custom of Trycen,” said Shutola. “If I had to say, it would be an old kind of shame kink.”
Oh no, what do I do? Shutola’s acting kind of weird today. She looks and sounds as calm and collected as usual, but it feels like she’s going wild somehow.
“Erm, Shutola? If this really is a traditional ceremony, taking part in such a thing, even as a joke, would be...”
“It is not a joke. The essence of this custom is a trial for the new leaders of the country. It shows the people that the couple’s love is true, and it allows the couple to surpass feelings of shame and fear by exposing them to those feelings for a protracted period of time. All of Trycen’s previous rulers have overcome this trial. Even my father was no exception.”
“King Zel? Really?”
Wait just a second. I heard that King Zel had a solid, trustworthy personality before becoming a Demon Lord. And yet he actually went through with this? He kissed all throughout a parade around the entire capital?
“Sorry,” I said after a noticeable pause. “I have to ask this just in case. Sorry if I’m wrong, but let me confirm: Did King Zel really do this?”
“Yes. My father succeeded at his trial. It was a story from before I was born, but it remains vividly painted in the people’s memories. The details have been written down in books,” said Shutola.
Ugh, I don’t want to leave any of this in history, either in memories or records. Also, it actually feels like I’m more afraid of King Zel now than I was when he was a Demon Lord. What do I do? He went in front of the people with a serious face and gave a speech after doing this, didn’t he? There’s no way someone sane would do that. It’s crazy!
“Also, my father had a harem, so he would do it every time he welcomed a new wife. He went through it a total of five times, sometimes in successive months, I heard,” said Shutola.
King Zel?! You did this five whole times?!
“This is the greatest of Trycen’s celebrations, so it’s subject to intense scrutiny from the people. And for tourists, the parade is actually what they come for rather than the wedding itself—” Shutola started.
“Okay, right, I get it,” I cut her off. “I understand painfully well how much willpower is needed to go through with this. Please, spare me...”
“Really? Too bad,” said Shutola.
Really! Actually...Shutola-san? Is it just me or did you start to enjoy my reactions midway through? I can see a little bit of pleasure mixed into your usual expression...I think. No, that can’t be true. There’s no way she would do that. After all, she’s directly involved in this.
Speaking in extremes, it didn’t matter what happened to me. I could throw away my shame and go through with the custom; it wasn’t like I would die. But it wasn’t so simple for Shutola. Put bluntly, though I’d gone as far as to hold hands with her, we hadn’t kissed yet. We’d refrained due to a combination of her morals and Trycen’s customs (I think?) until today, which meant this parade would be our first kiss. As a girl, would she really be okay with that?
After observing me for a while, Shutola said, “Please don’t make that face, Kelvin-san. I know exactly what you’re thinking.”
“Huh?”
“But thank you for worrying about me.”
How can this be? First Mel, and now Shutola can read my mind? I don’t think I’m the type to show everything on my face that clearly, but...could this be a feat of love or something? No, sorry, ignore that. That was just embarrassing.
“I’m fine,” said Shutola. “I’d be lying if I said I’m not embarrassed, but the favor I’ll be gaining is worth it. I cannot allow such benefits to slip away.”
“Benefits?”
“Yes. Major benefits. I was late to the starting line, but this parade will shift the battle. After all, we will be in the public eye, demonstrating our love for hours. This, combined with the fact that our ceremony is first, will tell the people and all our guests who is the most in love, regardless of how far any of us have gone. In other words, we will be forging a fait accompli— No, it will not be a forgery if we simply make it all true on the day of our wedding.”
“Uh, erm...Shutola-san...”
“Hee hee! I’m looking forward to it!”
That’s weird. I was shoring up my resolve for Shutola’s sake, but now I’m feeling kind of scared of our wedding day...