She had grown up quite a lot herself in the intervening years. Her black hair was as neat and pretty as always. Today, she wore part of it as a braid and let the rest of it hang free. Instead of the one-piece dress she wore when they met in Egorova, she was donning a form-fitting dress for adult women, complete with a vivid embroidered pattern. The way the pattern ran from her nape to her hips was vaguely reminiscent of a kimono, although the shape of the dress was different. The right sleeve billowed out, while the left sleeve only ran up to her elbow. The accessories were what really made her outfit stand out as a foreign dress, with their subtle gold and faint red colors paired with a beautiful, intricate design.
“It is unseemly of you to engage in illicit relations,” she went on, addressing her brother.
“That’s rich coming from you. You used to be so zealous about Ist, but now Sigma is all you talk about whenever you come home,” Lars shot back teasingly.
“Hey!” Lufina turned bright red.
“What?” Next to her, Sigma went wide-eyed and blushed.
It seemed like there was something going on between them.
“Oh yes, that reminds me, how is Ist?” asked Seiichirou.
“Well, uh!” said Sigma, still sounding flustered. “After he got the results of the latest summoning, he holed himself up in the lab to start a new research project!”
As hardworking as he was, Ist wasn’t suited for these kinds of social situations, so his absence was actually something of a relief.
“Don’t be so sulky, Aresh.”
Seiichirou and Aresh were alone. Aresh’s displeasure remained so pronounced even after Lars and the others left that people went out of their way to avoid them. It was as if they had a barrier.
“They were all being much too chummy,” said Aresh.
“It’s good to network. Oh, look, Aresh, it’s your favorite wine.”
“Are you treating me like a child?”
“What kind of adult would push wine onto a child? Now cheer up. I’ll go get you some.”
“Like I said…”
As Seiichirou attempted to distract Aresh by approaching the wine on the table, a familiar blue cloak appeared before him.
“Oh, Prime Minister Camile.”
Aresh stomped his way between Seiichirou and Camile before Seiichirou had even finished saying the man’s name. Apparently, he’d held himself back somewhat around Lars because of his foreign prince privilege.
“Care to explain your guard dog’s hostility on this auspicious occasion, Seiichirou?”
“Who knows? Don’t ask me.”
Aresh glared at Seiichirou as he stared off vacantly, prompting Camile to produce his distinctive dry chuckle.
He was wearing suitable clothes for the occasion along with his usual cloak to signal his administrative position.
“In any case, today has brought you one step closer to your goal,” Camile said.
“The Romany Kingdom’s goal, not my goal, I would say.”
“Indeed. This is a day for the history books.” When a maid astutely brought over some wine for the group, Camile took a glass and drained it. “Won’t you take me with you when you visit your world? I’ll pay the expense out of pocket, of course.”
“I’m not sure about that…” Seiichirou glanced over his shoulder to see Aresh scowling mid-sip. He turned back to Camile with a smile. “I’ll have to ask you to refrain from joining our honeymoon.”
“Oh, there you are, Aresh! Get your behind over here already! It’s starting!” Erene barked at Aresh when she spotted them in the garden after they left the hall.
She was wearing a gorgeous dark blue dress that matched her eyes. Standing next to her was Qusta, whose suit looked downright shabby next to hers. There was an affable smile on his face.
“You’re late.”
Orjef was there in his suit, too. Erene had probably chased him down as well.
The palace’s orchestra was arranged in two rows, their instruments creating notes that drifted away into the blue sky. At the same time, something resembling pink flower petals danced in the air.
Past the orchestra, one could see Yurius and Yua in their resplendent white wedding outfits, peering down at the garden from the balcony.
Their wedding ceremony had only just concluded.
Yua kept her promise. Two years after she returned to Earth, a descendant of the previous Holy Maiden received a divine revelation from the Abran god. Yua responded to the summoning spell, gracing this world once more with her presence. At twenty years of age, she had matured since her last stay, and yet she dove right into the twenty-four-year-old Yurius’s arms.
And so at last the Romany Kingdom saw the marriage between its prince and the Holy Maiden.
“Shiraishi’s very pretty,” Seiichirou muttered, dazzled by the sight of Yurius and Yua waving from the balcony.
Clad in the white wedding dress of the royal family, the nervousness was now gone from Yua’s demeanor—she was the very image of a happy bride. The couple wore matching rings on their left hands, which made for a deeply stirring sight. Although Romany had no tradition for engagement or wedding rings, the royal couple had them made after they saw Seiichirou and Aresh’s pair.
Despite having no blood connection whatsoever to Yua, Seiichirou felt moved at the sight of Yua in a wedding dress. Her family would have loved to see this, he was convinced.
“There’s that magic tool which preserves images as portraits, right?” he said to Aresh.
“Yes, their image will be recorded.”
“I wonder if they’ll give us a copy if we ask.”
“And what would you do with that?”
“It’s not for me. I’d want to give it to her family.” Like how she had delivered Seiichirou’s letter two years ago.
“If you’d like to have a ceremony, too…”
“No, I’m good. A part of me does like the idea of leaving a record, but…I can’t say this sort of thing is up my alley.”
Aresh couldn’t help wanting to shelter and provide for Seiichirou. He never changed, it seemed. But that was who Aresh was, and Seiichirou had no desire to criticize that.