Chapter 104: Wedding Ceremony (2)
"Who knows. What was I talking about, hmm?" I smirked, but actually regretted it a little bit. "I would have been able to hold it in normally." I guess...the aftereffects from opening the door still lingered. Then again, it would be even stranger for no aftereffects to occur when I became a G.o.d for a short moment.
"Dae-ha-nim."
"Don"t pretend to be close to me, and just do your job."
"Dae-ha-nim. You got me wrong."
I laughed upon the sight of Diana, who looked rather desperate. She was detestable too. Getting irritated again, I simply said, "What did I misunderstand? I"ll repeat myself once again. Just do what you have to do instead of spouting nonsense. I know you have a close relationship with Cel, but… You all keep overstepping your boundaries."
My irritation stemmed from the fact that there was no reason for me to be subjected to their resentment in the first place. It would be the same, even if Celestia and I actually got married because we loved each other, much less the contractual relationship we had right now.
Moreover, apart from all that, they were in no position to recklessly say their piece towards me. I was someone who would soon become the husband of Celestia, the Imperial Princess, while they were nothing more than her managers and attendants. I wondered if they were openly provoking me because they felt that I was clearly lacking as compared to Celestia. "These low… These lowly peasants?"
Thud, thud! My eyes flashed for a moment before I turned in surprise, noticing that Dong-min was holding the Vajra Scepter. He said firmly, "That"s cruel. I understand how you feel, but calm down."
"Ahhh... Mmm. Thank you." I instantly calmed down and nodded.
Before I knew it, Bo-ram stood next to Dong-min. She already manifested the Golden Princess. "Hey sunbae, are you all right?"
"Oh, of course I"m fine." Rather than being just fine, I was in perfectly good condition. My whole body was filled with power and a mere glance allowed me to perceive everything around me.
"I beg your forgiveness..."
"I beg your forgiveness..."
All the coordinators, including Diana, kneeled down and apologized. Their complexion was so pale that they appeared to be wearing white masks. Tears gathered in their eyes, while their lips trembled. It was needless to say that they did not look pleased at all.
"…Tchhh." I clicked my tongue. This was a sight that made me uncomfortable, but this was also a scene that I had induced. I thought, "The aftereffects are greater...than what I thought."
The initial anger of those managers and attendants, which raged like a wildfire, vanished. My irritation also went away, since I have never been one to rage and take it out on others in the first place. Recognizing that this situation was not a good sign, I stood up from my seat and asked, "...What"s the schedule like?"
Diana was wary of me. She answered carefully, "We have to move immediately. Erm, and..."
"That"s enough. I don"t want to argue any further, so just wrap it up."
"Understood." The coordinators hurriedly made some finishing touches, such as straightening my clothes. Even Remy, who pretty much triggered this incident, somehow moved the comb and scissors to trim and tidy up my hair. She looked like a fragile ceramic piece that was about to fall to the floor and break, but she made no mistakes. That sight of her made me feel sorry for her again, which was my real personality.
"At what time will the ceremony start?"
"There"s less than 30 minutes left. I actually tried to wake you up in the morning, but the Imperial Princess-nim told me to not bother you until you got up naturally…"
"I guess I"ll have to hurry up. Lead the way."
"Understood."
I left the rest of the coordinators in the room and followed behind Diana, who was leading the way and walking down the hallway of Starlight. Bo-ram and Dong-min naturally slowed down and walked beside me.
"Come to think of it, the two of you are all dressed up too." Although I wasn"t initially aware of it, both Bo-ram and Dong-min were flawlessly dressed in formal attires of wonderful designs. I wondered if it was due to their good body proportions. Dong-min, who was slightly shorter than 190 centimeters tall, and Bo-ram, who was about 30 centimeters shorter, looked like they had just walked out of a pictorial.
"Well, we don"t have a choice since it"s a formal event," Bo-ram shrugged her shoulders. "I heard the master craftsman of the Taldan tribe made these clothes with their hearts and souls, st.i.tch by st.i.tch."
Noticing that Dong-min looked equally satisfied, I was slightly bewildered and I asked, "...Do you like luxury goods?"
"n.o.body in the world hates luxury goods."
Both of them were so proud of it that I had nothing to say, so I remained silent. I thought, "Dong-min has always been quiet and in a solemn mood back when he was in school. It feels like he is slowly revealing his true personality, little by little, after coming out into the universe."
"It"s this way." Diana, who was walking in front, entered a large room that was situated at the end of the hallway. It seemed rather unusual, since it had an entrance dock and not an elevator. There sat a much larger airship than the one I had ridden with Celestia upon coming to Starlight.
"What the, are we leaving here?" I lightly referred to it as a building, but Starlight, which was Celestia"s domain, truly had an enormous scale. Each floor was similar to the size of a decently-sized city. Since there were about 200 floors right here, I was naturally shocked that we were leaving.
This was not an exaggeration, because the combined area within this building was even bigger than the territory of a small country. There were a lot of residents residing within this large area, so it was almost necessary for a wedding hall to exist inside Starlight. Therefore, I had a.s.sumed that the wedding ceremony between Celestia and I would definitely be held right here. I was truly perplexed by the huge airship in front of us.
However, Diana had an expression that seemed to indicate that this was expected. She said, "Yes. The wedding ceremony will be held at Ra"s Dwelling."
"Ra"s Dwelling?"
As I expressed doubt at the unfamiliar word, Diana nodded. "It"s at the top of Golden Rose. It"s a place that only opens up for the Emperor"s coronation ceremony, but... The Shadow Household has expressed their opinions on this matter and the three Dukes approved of holding the wedding there."
Diana"s words reminded me of the woman who introduced herself as Jeong Yu-ri. Then, to celebrate you being part of the Starlight camp, I will prepare a wedding ceremony for you at our household. I promise you the most spectacular and dazzling wedding.
"Is this what she meant by the most spectacular and dazzling wedding?" I mumbled and boarded the airship. Unlike the anti-gravity vehicle that I rode on with Celestia, this airship was designed only for flying. It would go much faster and, upon closer inspection, I noticed it also seemed to have combat functions.
Whoooosh---! The entrance dock opened and the airship flew through the air. I sat on a fluffy seat and looked out the window.
"It"s complicated huh." It was a complete mess because everything was intertwined. Under the contract with Celestia, we were supposed to get married without any huge commotion. We were to pa.s.s our time quietly before I was supposed to return to Earth without a hitch. However, that was a mere dream now.
The situation had gotten out of hand. I, who simply should have buried it under, had imprinted a very clear image of myself on the n.o.bles of the Leonhardt Empire. I overwhelmed more than 1,000 n.o.bles of the Leonhardt Empire. Among them were even Dukes who were said to be the pillars who led the Empire. No matter what I do now, this matter wouldn"t be overlooked and I couldn"t pretend that it didn"t happen. "Of all things..." I murmured to myself.
I knew the schemes of the Dukes, who had submitted to me, had back then. They were determined to abolish the absolute monarchy system. It was not necessary to entirely eliminate the royals, but they were going to eradicate their authority and only leave their honor alone.
In other words, there was about to be a civil war between the Emperor Faction and the n.o.bles Faction. In the midst of all that, the Emperor Faction used Celestia as bait, since she was extremely different from the other royals of her kind. This was then used as an excuse by the n.o.bles Faction to change the public opinion.
Then, in the middle of all that, I shattered all their schemes and turned the tables. My unexpected appearance gave the Dukes an image of absolute power, reminding them of the Emperor who had led them in the past. I was like a G.o.dly being who could single-handedly wield power equivalent to his own Empire… They all then yielded to me, just like that.
The Emperor Faction were perplexed by the sudden change, but stopped their preparations for war. It was a situation that made them wary, since I had pretty much prevented a civil war from happening. It was a result that could be considered a heroic feat.
"d.a.m.n it, what a great heroic feat..." I groaned. Thanks to that heroic feat, it totally became my weakness. A divorce after causing such a situation would put me in a spot with the Emperor Faction and the n.o.bles Faction. There was no way they would simply laugh it all off and say, "Ah, I see! That"s something that sometimes happens between men and women. Hahaha!" I couldn"t even imagine how the future would turn out, because I couldn"t even predict it upon opening the door. I could only see a few branches of the future, but I couldn"t possibly be sure of any. After all, there was now a variable called me.
"...Ermmm Sunbae? What have you been mumbling about since just now?" Bo-ram asked. Perhaps she was fl.u.s.tered by the sight of me oozing out a dark Aura. Before I could even try responding…
Waaaaaaahhhhhhhhh-----!! A huge roar resonated throughout the whole world, turning it upside down.
"Uwaaackkkk?! What is that?"
"It"s the guests."
"…That"s incredible." Even Dong-min looked out the window with a look of surprise. It was crowded with thousands, tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of people. All of them were clearly visible under the golden sun in the sky. He was surprised that the huge hall was even capable of accommodating the entire crowd.
In the center of the hall was a huge structure that looked like an altar. If one were to walk up the stairs, they would be able to reach the golden sun floating in the sky. At that moment, I knew the ident.i.ty of the floating sun on top of the altar. It was not supposed to be visible, but I could see the huge Gigas holed up inside the sun with a moment of concentration. "The Sun G.o.d, Ra."
It was the Gigas that the First Emperor piloted, and was also the only G.o.d-rank Gigas that the Leonhardt Empire possessed. Among the many Numberings that existed in the universe, it was ranked Number 92 within the 100 strongest Transcendence Weapons. Even when Ra was in a dormant state, he became an artificial sun that lit up the entire area of Golden Rose, which was befitting of a G.o.dly Artifact.
Don"t get distracted. I ignored the sulky voice that I could hear inside my head and mumbled, "That"s impressive."
"Nearly 100 years... No, this will be the best wedding in 300 years. All the four Dukes, as well as three of the five Great Generals, are attending the ceremony. A large number of n.o.bles and leaders from other countries are also present, and if you are to look at the line-up..." Diana began calmly explaining about all sorts of things. Perhaps she was sorry for failing to stop the earlier actions of Remy. However, I couldn"t hear her well enough.
Waaaaaaahhhhhhhhh-----!! The 100,000 people who were cheering at the airship I was on... No, I was staring at a crowd that easily overnumbered that initial estimation. I could tell just how loved Celestia was, just by experiencing the wild and exciting cheers from that crowd of people… Unfortunately, this very scene made me increasingly depressed.
"Life is…" Regardless of whether I was going to sigh or not, it was time for the wedding to begin.