Preparations for the Fowl Knight Festival were moving along nicely as well. Coco finished her beautiful sign, and the residents loved it. It was going to be displayed at the village entrance during the festival.
“My parents will be happy to see it too,” Coco said, unusually giddy.
The fowl knights were going to hold duck races as an attraction. They had remodeled the open space where the ducks exercised on sunny days into a racetrack, and the plan was to allow others to spectate.
When Gabriel heard about the races, he first showed concern about the gambling aspect. However, the prize for winning was going to be an assortment of new sweets from the Lakeside Duck Bakery, so people of all ages would be able to enjoy the event. Upon hearing that, Gabriel gave his approval without further question.
Alexandrine was going to be participating in the races too. I was told that she was sprinting down the track on a daily basis. The exercise meant that she was eating more, and she had gained quite a lot of muscle mass. Carrying her, I realized she was heavier, and her body was firmer than before.
When Nico would try to pick her up with the intent of bringing her to a place where she could sunbathe, Alexandrine would dash away like the wind. With those fast feet of hers, I couldn’t help but wonder if there was a single duck in Triste that could compete with her.
We also received a request to participate in the Fowl Knight Festival from an unexpected person: the siren duke. Apparently, she wanted to set up a booth to present the Bureau of Magical Research’s findings and recruit new members. Gabriel replied to her letter, asking what exactly she wanted to present, and her answer was “homemade zombies produced by magic.” Gabriel politely declined her application.
We received requests from other monster dukes too. The treant duke wanted to set up a donation booth for the Church, the fenrir duke wanted to hold an autograph session for his fan club, and the harpy duke offered to patrol the festival for heretics. Gabriel turned down all of them.
The monster dukes really are a colorful bunch.
As for the dragon duke, Prince Axel, he expressed interest in being the head of security for our wedding. It was a great honor, but at the same time, I couldn’t help but wonder if it was acceptable to have the future king do so much for us. After discussing it with the family, I decided to accept his offer.
Incidentally, if word got out that Prince Axel was attending our wedding, we would be flooded with young noble ladies from all over the country seeking to court him. As such, his attendance was going to remain under wraps until the day of the ceremony.
My wedding had grown so unexpectedly large in scale. I could only pray that no major issues would crop up during the event.
Replies to our wedding invitations were steadily coming in. I was concerned about the potential reunion between my father and my mother and sister. My mother probably wouldn’t be outright angry with him for the trouble he’d caused, but the atmosphere was bound to be tense. I’d considered not inviting him for that reason, but when I’d consulted with Gabriel, he’d advised me that I should still give him the opportunity to see me on my special day. Hearing that made me feel guilty. Gabriel’s father was still in the wind—no one knew where he was, so it was impossible to send him an invitation. At the very least, Gabriel probably wished he could know that his father was alive and well, perhaps living a quiet life in the capital.
I decided to invite my father. It just meant that I would have to devote myself to acting as a buffer between him and my mother and sister. I told myself that André, the attendant my mother had sent to keep an eye on my father, would be present too, so I wouldn’t need to worry too much.
I wondered if there was anything that could be done about Gabriel’s father. It was going to be a grand wedding, with many people gathering from outside Triste. If he was alive, I wanted to show him that his son was doing an amazing job as the slime duke. However, it was possible that Gabriel and his mother would feel uncomfortable seeing him again after so long, and just for the wedding at that. It wouldn’t be right of me to search for him and invite him without their permission.
I timidly asked my mother-in-law about it before doing anything, and her response surprised me.
“Allow my husband to attend Gabriel’s wedding? Absolutely not! He doesn’t deserve to...or at least, that’s what I would have said in the past.”
“Your stance has changed?” I asked.
“Yes...I suppose it has. Unlike before, Triste is undergoing positive growth. I no longer envy the people who abandoned this land. I’ve heard that we can’t accept all the people wishing to migrate here—not even those who left and want to return. It’s a fortunate problem to have. Just as Triste has changed, so has my heart. I even feel as though I can forgive my husband who left. Well, so long as he stayed out of my sight, I’d allow him to attend the wedding.”
From the sound of it, she didn’t want to talk to him, but she didn’t mind letting him see Gabriel on his big day.
“My husband is an incredibly cowardly man, so he’ll probably regret abandoning his role as a father for the rest of his life,” she continued. “Perhaps he’ll feel a bit better if he sees Gabriel getting married.”
To me, it seemed like my mother-in-law was showing love in her own way. The more I heard, the more I wanted to make it a reality. Perhaps it was none of my business, but if there was anything I could do, I wanted to explore the possibility.
I brought it up with Gabriel too, as casually as I could.
“My father? Well, if he wants to attend, I won’t mind. But if he gets in a fight with my mother, I’m not confident that I’ll be able to stop them. For the record, my father would definitely lose.”
At any rate, neither Gabriel nor his mother seemed completely against the idea of seeing him again. Though apparently, they had never asked the knights or a detective to search for him. Perhaps he would actually be quite easy to find.
I immediately hired a detective to look for Gabriel’s father. I didn’t know if there was enough time before the wedding, but I had a sliver of hope that he would be found.