“Don’t be silly. You look truly beautiful.”
Cecily thanked him with a grin.
Zeke’s eyes had been so focused on her mouth, but then in a moment he was looking off into the half distance, with his teeth biting down on his lower lip.
“Man... What am I to do, Cecily? My chest burns with pain. If I look at you any longer, I feel like I’ll die of happiness and go straight to heaven.”
“I want you to look at me, Zeke. But you’re not allowed to die,” Cecily replied, her hand on Zeke’s cheek. “The more you call me beautiful, the more beautiful I feel.”
“You’re already the most beautiful woman in the world.”
“And you’re the most dashing man in the world!”
Marjorika, who was officiating, let out a little cough.
“Would the lovely couple mind wrapping it up for now?” she said.
“Yes!” Cecily and Zeke said immediately. They had gotten so lost in each other that they had forgotten they were in the middle of the ceremony.
Marjorika was a teacher for the children of the village, in charge of heading up festivals and celebrations, and was the only ordained minister in the witch village.
In a calm voice, the old witch asked the couple to say their vows.
“Cecily and Zeke. Do you vow to take one another as wife and husband, in sickness and in health, for richer, for poorer; to love, respect, cherish, aid, and be faithful to one another?”
“I do,” the pair said at the same time.
A cascade of petals of all colors came tumbling from above their heads. A joyful applause enveloped them as they looked at one another.
“I’ll do everything in my power to make you happy, Cecily.”
“And I will too, Zeke.”
Zeke’s powerful arms drew Cecily in, and with smiles, they shared a kiss.
✧ ✧ ✧
In a small flower field...
With so few places to play in, this was a special place for the children of the witch village.
It was a place where children would meet, whether they were already friends or two who wished to know each other better. The flowers that bloomed there rose gracefully towards the heavens, quietly looking after the children that played there.
“I thought you’d be here,” Cecily said.
Cain knew it was Cecily standing a short distance away. He was lying amid the flowers, and answered in a small voice without looking her way.
“I’m sorry I didn’t go to the ceremony.”
“It’s all right.”
Cecily shook her head. She had no intention of berating him. She walked over to Cain and sat down beside him.
Cain had said he didn’t really have feelings for Cecily, but she was sure he was feeling awkward. None of the witches in the village would have cared if he’d showed up, so it was probably out of consideration to Zeke that he hadn’t attended the ceremony.
“How long have you got until you leave?”
“Um, about half an hour, maybe?”
Cecily smiled awkwardly at Cain. She had changed back into her normal clothes and had finished packing, so she had time to be here. She had told Zeke she was going to meet Cain, so she imagined Zeke was waiting somewhere impatiently. She really had been worrying him on every step of this journey back to her hometown.
“You may have forgotten, Cecily,” Cain said, choosing each word carefully, “but just before I left this village ten years ago, you and I did make a promise. We promised that, if we happened to meet one day again, you would listen to a request of mine.”
Cain’s voice was calm. Cecily answered just as calmly.
“Oh yeah... I remember you used to call me Cecy back then.”
“You remember?” Cain said, after a pause. Cecily felt him stir. He was probably looking up at her. She couldn’t help but grin broadly.
“Yeah. I mean, Zeke went straight for ‘Cecily’ when we met. It felt strange—he was so polite yet direct when we first spoke. No formalities, no nicknames—just ‘Cecily.’”
Zeke was still unaware how strong of a first impression he had made upon Cecily, and how much it had sent her heart aflutter.
Cain’s expression stiffened.
“Anyway, I wondered if I could make that request now.”
“If it’s something I can help with.”
Cain was Cecily’s friend. If his request wasn’t mean-spirited, she would gladly hear him out. That was the kind of friend she aspired to be.
Cain’s eyes were watery. He took a few shaky breaths—in then out. He must have been incredibly nervous.
Cecily waited patiently, not saying a word. A strong gust blew the petals around their heads. This beautiful scene had played out in her memories ten years ago as well. She was awestruck by its beauty, and Cain smiled at her, his eyes creasing so that only a hint of his red irises could be seen. He spoke his request.
“My request is...for you to be happy, Cecy.”
Cecily gave a big nod. It was a simple request—she had someone who had just vowed to make her happy. All the same, she was happy to hear her friend say this, after a decade-long wait.
With a happy smile, Cecily answered, just as she had done a few hours ago.
“I will. I’ll be happy with Zeke.”
✧ ✧ ✧
The witch village may not have had many attractions, but it had a large number of stores. A clothes shop, a knickknack shop, a canteen, a tavern, a florist, a beautician, and more.
On the day of the wedding, the tavern was open earlier than usual. All the same, it was still daytime, so only one seat was filled.
Another customer stepped inside and called out to the young man in that seat, who was throwing back a strong drink that he’d poured himself.
“Someone’s a bit upset, huh?”
“I can’t handle this sober,” Cain replied, clicking his tongue in frustration. He had already drunk a fair amount. When he spun around, he saw someone unexpected.
“S-Sewell.”
“Hey, kid.”
The voice had belonged to Cecily’s father, Sewell. Cain froze up, worried that this man was about to murder him on the spot. He knew he had done plenty of awful things over the past few days. He hadn’t only been riling up Zeke—he had also caused Sewell to faint by suddenly asking to marry Cecily.
Despite that, it didn’t appear that Sewell had come to end his life.
“Mind if I join you?”
“S-Sure,” Cain said, with a nervous nod. Sewell offered his thanks and sat in the chair next to Cain. It must have been rather old, for one of the legs snapped off, but fortunately the bartender quickly brought out a new one.
“May I?” Sewell said.
“S-Sure.”
Cain poured some wine into the glass Sewell had lifted in front of Cain. Sewell noticed that there were already two empty bottles nearby.
After a sip, Sewell spoke.
“You didn’t come to see them off, then?”
Cain twigged immediately that Sewell was talking about Cecily and her group.
“N-No, I didn’t.”
The party had left just before noon, so they must have reached the bottom of the mountains by now to join up with their carriages.
As Cain drank glass after glass, Cecily had gradually gone farther away—somewhere he would never be able to reach.
“I think there’s more than just a few people who wouldn’t want to see me there. Though I didn’t do anything to make myself particularly likable, so that’s fair enough, to be honest.”
Not everyone was as kind as Cecily. Cain knew what he did wasn’t something that would be so easily forgiven. He wasn’t enough of a maverick to spoil even their departure from the village.
“Is Cecy going back to the royal capital?”
Sewell nodded politely at this question, with its obvious answer.
“Yep. They said they’d send a message when the next wedding is held.”