Unedited
52 A Quiet Marriage Ceremony
“Look forward to your reward, okay?”, the demon said after cleaning me up and dove into the darkness.
Yeah, I can only have a bad feeling about it. What are you going to do about it?
I put on some clothes and Ragna gets up with a refreshed face.
[Oh, that"s right. There was that.]
As if he remembered something, he searched through the cabinet installed in the room.
[Rei, accept this.]
Dropped on the palm of my hand is a bracelet with vertical width the same as the bangle Dy resides on a larger size.
Delicate carvings are decorated on the golden hoop, isn"t this pretty valuable?
[This is a memento my Basama* distributed to me, it"s a matrimonial bracelet prepared for when my bride arrives. If it"s not in the way, can you put it on your?](TN: Grandmother)
There"s no way I can not put it on after being told something like that. I planned to put the bracelet on the opposite arm that Dy"s bangle is stuck.
[…It"s a bit too big, though.]
Ragna"s obasan* probably had not a.s.sumed that the bride will be from the human race, it"s too big that it slides right off. It looks to perfectly fit for Sati, though.
When I tried putting it on my ankle, it somehow managed to stay without falling. Since Dy"s bangle is also gold in color, there"s a sense of unity which feels good.
[Is it alright even in the ankle?]
[I don"t fuss about the small details. Because the Dragonians" marriage is established by having his gift worn by the bride, it means that with this you are officially my wife.]
[Even though you said there were countless women, you still haven"t married?]
[Hahhahha, isn"t it the feeling that"s important?]
Well, that might be true, but still. Ragna laughed cheerfully afterwards, he leaned his forehead close and stuck it to me.
The sunset-like red hair hanged on the back of my neck and it slightly tickles.
[How do you humans hold your wedding ceremony? My side is already finished, let"s also do your hometown"s tradition.]
[The marriage ceremony in my place? Let"s see, there are various ways it"s done. Generally, family members and friends are invited, and then announce that we"re getting married. And then, there"s a feast, a dress and a tuxedo, exchanging of the rings, and the congratulatory speech.]
[What, so aren"t we almost done?]
[… Maybe?]
On top of the ceremony not being given, it"s not a ring but an anklet instead, I did wear a white dress but Ragna didn"t wear a tuxedo, a lot of the details are wrong.
[We haven"t done that wedding proclamation, yet, what do we do?]
[We swear to G.o.d. “In sickness and in health, we promise to support each other”, or something like that.]
I think I"d heard on TV that non-religious ceremonies were becoming mainstream, but I didn"t know much about it, so tried a more familiar way of expressing vows.
[Umu, let"s swear. Let us support each other and live.]
[Un, I"ll be in your care.]
Ragna"s amber eyes powerfully declares. His unclouded strong gaze brings about a sense of security.
I became so happy that I personally gave him a kiss.
[What is it, are you still drunk?]
[That"s not it. This is a kiss of promise. We swear to G.o.d like this.]
[I see, then I will also give it to you.]
I respond to the peck-like kiss unaccompanied by l.u.s.t. Somehow, being like this sure is blissful.
After that, I stayed in Ragna"s house for a while.
Sati Eroica who made me wear a female"s clothing game me male clothes as a token of apology.
The clothes have a lot of frills on the neck that look like a n.o.ble"s. When am I going to wear something like this?
It"s also bad to return it so I just dumped it inside the dark s.p.a.ce, but I feel like it will come to use.
Haru Ahanna seemed to be satisfied with the one day sister play, she started treating me like a normal elder brother. I was healed.
As for the reckless Dragonian Lloyd,
[I somehow encouraged you to have sake even though you can"t drink. I don"t really remember it, but I"m sorry!]
So he said and went away like a storm, he applied to have a rematch with Ragna.
In the close to two weeks of being in their care, he"s been competing with prey-hunting without missing a single day. He sure is lively.
And Ragna who accompanies him every time is such a good brother. Thanks to them dinner is always a feast.
Jii-san said that he will accompany me with my training as an apology for recommending the sake to me, but I politely declined.
Don"t look down on the human race"s weakness, my bones will shatter if I get punched with a fist with such unseeable speed.
Aleph seemed notice that Mikhail and his sword instructor are similar during their conversation and they"ve gotten along even better.
The two will spar with their swords from time to time. They showed it to me once, but it was very intense.
Ciel borrowed a room in the cave and was working hard on black magic experimentation. Because he looked like he"s really having fun with his endeavor on the experiment, I quietly left him alone.
Dy suddenly appears then disappears like usual, he was pa.s.sing time teasing me, messing with Aleph, or secretly eating Ragna"s prey.
He was discussing with Ciel about black magic, and I had a slightly better opinion about him as I thought, “This guy can also hold a proper conversation”.
At night we mutually sleep together and from time to time get eaten in a s.e.xual way, but generally time pa.s.sed by peacefully.
The family gathers during dinner time and eat. Jii-san and Dy are sometimes present, sometimes not. Only Dy is joining us today.
Time was spent without having any chance to feel homesick with all the liveliness during dinner.
[Do you think it"s about time the n.o.bles of Habartalt will forget about us?]
[I wonder, if I"m not wrong, doesn"t gossip last for 75 days among humans?]
Ragna answers my question. So there"s also that saying in this world.
[Honored Uncle"s letter also stated that they still haven"t calmed down, it seems it"s better if we wait a bit longer.]
[I see, well then we should hide for a while.]
I groaned at Aleph"s words. But you know, I feel ashamed staying here indefinitely.
[Oh my, don"t say for a while, you can stay here forever, you know?]
[I enjoy talking to Rei-niisama, please stay here tomorrow, too, okay?]
Although the sisters are saying this, I feel that should at least help with the food.
Should I partic.i.p.ate in hunting for preys?
Ciel who"s sitting on the side was saying something and closed his mouth.
[Hm? What is it, Ciel, what"s the matter?]
[No, it"s nothing.]
[Weren"t you saying something? It"s making me curious.]
While Ciel"s eyes darted left and right, he murmured in a small voice.
[That… Won"t you come to my hometown as well?]
[Ciel"s hometown?]
Aleph continued the rest.
[It seems the elven forest can"t be easily entered by other races, can we go?]
[I will open the road, so you"ll be fine as long as we go together. Well, if Rei says he doesn"t want to go the I won"t force him, though.]
Even if you tell me that it"s fine even if I don"t go while pretending to be tough, it"s very obvious that you want me to go.
[Yeah, shall we go? Is everyone okay with that?]
[If Rei says he"s he wants to go then I will follow him anywhere.]
[I am also fine with it.]
Aleph agreed with a smile.Dy who was acting as if he wasn"t listening seemed to have properly heard everything and agreed with a face in feigned ignorance.
[I see that Ciel also wants to introduce his wife, very well. Since I also had you come to my home, I"ll go with you.]
[So it"s called the introduction of the wife, I haven"t gone home lately so I simply wanted to see how they"re doing.]
Ciel glances at me with reddened ears. Yup, yup, the tsundere is going strong.
[Rei-niisama, are you leaving?]
[Yeah, although I also want to play with a Haru some more, I want to also meet Ciel"s family.]
Haru Ahanna looks over here with watery eyes, I stroke the orange-tinged red hair to appease her.
We have the same height but I"m still her older brother mental age-wise.
Ciel cleared his throat as if to keep up his appearance.
[I"m not saying that we"re leaving immediately. There are also the preparations, I also want to finalize the experiment"s result so we will be staying here for the time being.]
[Really? Ciel-niisama?]
[It"s true.]
It looks like Ciel is also weak to Haru Ahanna who straightforwardly embraced him.
[Well then, we can play with Rei-kun for a bit longer. Do you want to try wearing a dress again for the last time?]
[I humbly refuse.]
[No way, I"m just kidding. Can you not speak in such a reserved tone? Then, I"m fine even if it"s just with Ciel-kun, you know?]
[I hope you stop with such unfunny jokes.]
Ciel"s face stiffens.
[Ane-sha, Please cut Rei and Ciel some slack about wearing a dress. Now, If we"re going to depart within the next few days, I will provide a small quant.i.ty of meat for replenishment.]
[Thank you, Ragna, that"s a big help.]
With a single word from Mikhail, closure was brought in the dining table that day.