“Do you, Ekatarina Byron, swear under the holy bond that is marriage to take Kevin Withers as your husband, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health? Do you swear to stay by his side in good times and in bad? Do you swear to love, cherish, and be faithful to him until death do you part?” Ana asked Lady Ekatarina, stiff as a board.
As a saint, Ana was more than qualified to officiate a wedding, though it was her first time doing so. I was in attendance too, albeit as a guest.
“I do,” Lady Ekatarina said, her serene voice echoing across the great cathedral of the royal capital. Her expression was much more composed than Ana’s, despite this being her wedding day.
Their marriage should have happened sooner, but Kevin had disobeyed his father’s orders and snuck out to join our defense against the former country of Thorsdale, resulting in his father flying into a rage and locking him in the house for a time.
But the silver lining was that thanks to the ceremony being delayed, Ana was able to officiate their wedding. Having your wedding performed by a saint was a great honor that would be spoken about for generations to come. You really never know when fortune will find you in life.
Now that I think about it, I think Lady Janail said something similar. Despite having her engagement ended and being thrown into the clutches of misfortune, she was able to achieve a much greater happiness now that she was engaged to Anthony. As a result, she considered her canceled engagement a stroke of good fortune. Ana was also scheduled to officiate their wedding.
When the choir began singing, Ana started to chant her blessing magic, and when it was complete, a shower of light began falling from the sky like snow through the ceiling of the church. At that moment, the church bells rang and Lady Ekatarina and Kevin were bathed in a pillar of rainbow light.
Lady Ekatarina had personally requested that her best friend, Ana, perform her wedding, and Ana had asked in return if she could cast the blessing magic as the officiator. Her blessing magic was on a completely different level from what was possible for anyone else, easily able to cover the entire country, and she’d wanted the greatest blessing possible for her best friend’s wedding.
“In the name of the gods, I, Saint Anastasia Sevensworth, as officiant, hereby declare the birth of a new married union.”
With Ana’s declaration, the bells that signified the formation of a new married couple sounded. Usually this was where the ceremony would end, but Ana spread her six wings of light and began floating about fifty celchimetres into the air. This part was Ana’s surprise present.
“Seriously? She’s really a child of the gods?!”
“I...can’t believe my eyes.”
“Whoa! Lady Anastasia, you’re so amazing!”
Justin, Anthony, and Lady Janail exclaimed one after another from their seats nearby. A sphere of light appeared between Ana’s palms as she held her hands in front of her chest. This spell used a high-level three-dimensional magic circuit that was still impossible for her to create since her understanding of magic was still only equivalent to an elementary schooler’s from my past life, but with my help, she could use it.
Ana was able to freely manipulate chi and mana, so as long as she had the completed magic circuits, she could activate high-level magic, though in this case she still needed her wings of light for assistance. That was just how powerful the magic was.
When she was finished, a countless number of holy spirits appeared in the air, smiling as they flew around and sang. These spirits were small like faeries, but instead of having insect wings, their wings were feathered like birds.
“Ekatarina Byron and Kevin Withers will be together for as long as the foundation of their love remains unshakable, and they have the blessings of the gods,” they sang.
“Wow... What a miracle...”
“The gods themselves are blessing this marriage?!”
“Dear gods, thank you!”
Exclamations of surprise could be heard from all over the great cathedral, including from the priests, and everyone knelt in the face of this miracle. Tears poured from their eyes as they offered prayers of thanks to the gods.
Lady—or rather, Madam—Ekatarina’s mouth was wide open as she gazed at the flying holy spirits. She was just as surprised and moved to tears as the rest of the audience. Their singing, accompanied by the illusionary snowfall of light, was projected across the entire country, and I had no doubt that those in the Byron territory were especially surprised. People unconditionally supported those who were blessed by the gods, so this blessing would be useful with whatever policies they wanted to pass.
When they finished singing, the holy spirits vanished, and Madam Ekatarina thanked Ana in tears. The two of them had revived a legendary embroidery technique together and cemented their place as the nation’s foremost embroidery authorities. Their fame swept across the globe and there were a lot of people, both domestically and internationally, who traveled in hopes of being their student.
After this achievement, the two of them became even closer, which also meant they’d begun to argue every now and then. Their latest argument was over whose name to put first for their double-sided embroidery piece. Ultimately, Madam Ekatarina relented and allowed herself to be put first and Ana second.
I’d never argued with Ana before, but Madam Ekatarina was closer to her than me, her own husband, to the point where they could have friendly arguments together. Apparently, when they’d finished the embroidery, they were so happy that they hugged in tears. I couldn’t help but wonder if Ana could have called me over to celebrate as well. I wanted to be a part of the amount of joy in that moment that had pushed Ana to tears.
Ana was currently crying while patting Madam Ekatarina’s head, which was also something they’d never done before. Their relationship had grown even deeper. But I wanted Ana to pat me on the head too! While I couldn’t be happier that she had such a close friend, I couldn’t help being a little bit jealous.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Congratulations. You’re with child,” Doctor Susanna said with a bright smile.
I was so surprised, I lost all my words. I’m...going to be a mother? This doesn’t feel real.
“Madam! Congratulations!” Bridgette said, pure joy in her voice.
Though I wanted to go tell Sir Gino immediately, he was currently in the Simon territory now that everything had calmed down with the former country of Thorsdale. He wouldn’t be back for a little bit.
Since House Byron had fulfilled their promise to aid in the war, Sir Gino was making good on his end of the bargain by increasing production of the magic tools sent to their territory. Though I’d wanted to accompany him, I hadn’t felt well, so he asked for me to stay home. Now, after undergoing an examination, I’d found out I was pregnant.
“Oh, how exciting! I can’t wait to hold my grandchild,” my mother said after I told her.
She was in a great mood after hearing the news. Ultimately, I decided to wait until Sir Gino returned instead of sending a letter to inform him. This was very big news, so I wanted to tell him in person.
“Um, would you mind keeping this a secret from father for a little bit?”
“Oh? Why’s that?”
“I-It’s embarrassing...”
“Well, if that’s what you want, then I’ll do as you say. He’ll probably cry after he hears you hid it from him, though,” mother said, giggling.
It was still quite early in the pregnancy, so I needed to wait a little longer to be confident in its success anyway. I’d keep it a secret from father until then.
I began to get more and more worried as I read books about birth and childcare. I was so inexperienced. Could I really raise a child? One book said that sometimes fathers had even more worries about the pregnancy and birth than the women did. The men this happened to were usually those who were very serious, had strong senses of responsibility, and who weren’t good at consulting others for help. It’s as if they’re precisely describing Sir Gino... Will he really be happy with this news? Knowing him, I doubt he’ll say anything harsh, but internally, he might think of this as a burden. Maybe it’s better not to tell him at all.
“You have nothing to worry about. Sir Ginorious will absolutely jump for joy,” Bridgette said with full confidence.
“Do you really think so?”
“Of course! That being said, it’s normal for you to be worried. When you’re pregnant, even the most trivial things can seem like the biggest problems. You’re not alone in this, so please rest assured.”
In one of the books I read, it said emotions could become unstable during pregnancy. Am I just acting this way because I’m pregnant?
“All right, madam. You’re just going to rot away if you stay cooped up in your room all day. Let’s take a stroll around the garden. I’m sure the nice weather will help clear your head.”