Chapter 17 - Vol.18 Ch.400 - Lawfully wedded

Standing at the aisle, with the priest at the center and my best men behind and to the side of me, with all of our friends and family seated as guests, we awaited the bride with great excitement. Unlike my last wedding with Marina, we didn't really set up the seats in the "friends of the bride" and "friends of the groom" formation, since realistically, anyone that was a friend of mine was a friend of Cecily's as well, and vice versa. We did assign people who were close to another together of course though, and it looks like we made the right choice. Patiently waiting for her to make her grand entrance, I actually started feeling the pressure a bit as my brow started to sweat. There weren't any complications, were there? The guests are starting to speculate something's amiss as well, and even the priest is nudging me as he asks if everything is alright. Just then though, when the advent was at an all time high...

"Make way fow mommy!" Cene, dressed in a tiny little White shirt and Blue pants combo shouted as he tossed flowers down the aisle, "She's getting mawwied to papa! Wejoice, wejoice!"

Everyone found his cute little display of shouting and cheering to be heartwarming, but I couldn't help but catch that final word he kept repeating. Did he pick that up from Aru, perhaps? Looking at her with a smirk, she caught my gaze before immediately turning her head away. Yeah, she's guilty without a shadow of a doubt, but that's unimportant. No, right now, there was one other girl walking down that aisle that I just couldn't help but focus on more. Cecily, dressed in that beautiful wedding dress we had Nat tailor for her, was ushered to the altar by Anna, her face hidden away by the veil, though I could just barely catch the bright smile she had on her.

"You look..." I praised her quietly as soon as she stood in front of the altar with me and the priest, "Breathtaking."

"You're starting to run out of compliments, dear." She giggled, "Soon you're gonna have to rehash older ones."

"I'll do my best to keep the streak going for as long as I can." I smiled, "But I promise to make you smile every time I give you a compliment, whether it be a new one or one that I've already used."

"Ahem, yes." The priest cleared his throat before beginning his whole spiel, "Dear friends, we are gathered here today to celebrate a most wondrous occassion. Standing before me right now are simply but a man and a woman, but soon their unity shall be made known to all that are present, as they themselves undergo a metamorphosis. From but simply a man and a woman, they shall become one. As husband and wife, they shall begin a new chapter in their life, one in which I pray that the great God Allucius will shower them with love and care. To protect and serve one another until the rivers of the world grow still, to respect and stand up for one another until the seas dry out until there is not even a single droplet left..."

"Heh..." I noticed Aru chuckling to herself from her seat, "I forgot they still think Allucius is a guy."

Hearing this, Cene's curiosity got the better of him, and with a naive grope of her chest with seemingly zero ulterior motives, he made sure to give the stupified Aru a confident smile and a thumbs up, as if to tell her "Yeah, don't worry, you're a girl alright!" That boy... he's gonna become a sex offender.

"...and so, without further ado, there is only one question left to be answered." The priest finally finished his speech that lasted an entire 10 minutes, "Lune Grimheart, do you take Cecily Briggs to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

"I do." I replied after basking in the moment just for a bit.

"And do you, Cecily Briggs, take Lune Grimheart as your beloved husband, for now and forever?"

"I do." She looked at me and smiled under her veil.

"Wonderful." The priest nodded as he took the wedding rings we bought and handed them to us, "These wedding rings propagate the circle of life. As you grow older from now on, you will come to realize all sorts of new and incredible facts about each other, and if there ever does come a time when you are uncertain of what the next step to take is, let these rings you put on your spouse be a reminder that no matter where, no matter when, you are not alone in this world."

Nodding in kind, I took Cecily's ring from the little Red napkin he presented them to us on. As Cecily put out her right ring finger, the priest had donned a difficult face. As we all know, you usually put the rings on the left hand, so he almost went to step in and correct us, but he knew better than to ruin the moment. I'm sure he plans on telling us off later during the party when all Eyes aren't on us. Well, maybe not, because when he looked down at my left hand and saw not only that I was missing a pinky, but that my left ring finger already had Marina's wedding ring, his face contorted into a most disgusted wince, though he managed to hide it professionally soon after.

"He's still keeping that other girl's ring on?" Sigmund complained quietly to his wife, "The nerve! I can't even imagine how embarrassed poor Cecily must feel..."

"Shh, shush!" Camilla reprimanded him, "It's because Lune never divorced Marina, so he feels it'd be rude to remove it! They talked it over and Cecily agreed to have them put their rings on the right hands."

"How the hell do you know so much about this?" Sigmund looked confused more than anything.

"I like love dramas." She revealed with a smile, "Reading those types of books always got my heart racing, but I never expect to see such a story in real life. Seriously, if you're not gonna bother to read the source material, don't go criticizing the story!"

"Guys..." Eleanor had both of them shut up before anyone else heard them, "Please be quiet. I know you don't care about your reputation, but it's embarrassing for me purely because we're related."

"Oh pish." Camilla brushed her off, "Like you've got any reputation to protect."

Someone in the back actually cracked up from that one, but since they felt the immediate wave of fear and regret wash over them as Eleanor quickly turned around to glare at them, they quieted down to an inaudible frequency before they ever got found out. Well, I don't remember ever mentioning this to the readers before, so at least you guys now know. Be sure to thank everyone's favorite Saints for the explanation, I guess...

"R-Right. Ahem, yes!" The priest once again broke the tension in the room as he masterfully continued on with the vows, "The vows! Does the husband have anything to say?"

"Ah, I do." I nodded, lifting Cecily's veil as I looked at her face directly, "Cecily, it has been a wild ride until this point. Our first meeting was quite incredible, and if I revealed it now, half of the venue wouldn't believe me, and the other half would be left speechless."

With a short laugh track from the audience, everyone seemed to be in a good mood in spite of the previous awkward air in the room. Cecily, with a slightly bashful blush, giggled as well as she recalled our first meeting. Certainly, getting mugged on the street by her brother as kids was quite an unforgettable first meeting, and bonding over the complete domination of the Great Hiana underworld was even more unbelievable, but it did help get us closer, so I don't regret it.

"We've been through a lot, and I've caused you great pain with my selfish and downright stupid decisions in life." I continued, "A man as childish as me, getting his life blessed by someone as understanding and kind as you, well, it wouldn't be an overstatement to admit it kept me going in my darkest of times."

When Marina died, I was hopeless. Everything I had built up in such a short span of time, relatively speaking, had begun to crumble down before me, and I frankly couldn't care less. Holed up in my room for months, I only at first wanted to apologize to Cecily before offing myself after getting spit on my face and maybe a solid slap as well. Nothing could have prepared me for the possibility of Cecily and even Nelly forgiving me, despite all that I've done to them, or rather, what I haven't. That was the first domino that chained onto what would later become my path to a full recovery. The light that guided me back on track. Looking back, my time as the Famed Inventor was riddled with me rushing through things, so maybe back then, I (Sol) had actually died on that island as well, and had been reborn, free from the stress of wanting my name put down on the history books. But no matter what, I don't regret my time as him. For he is still a part of me, one which I cannot be the man I am today without.

"For now and forever, dear, please continue to support me as I strive to become a man worthy of your hand in marriage." I closed it off as I wiped the stream of tears falling down her cheeks.

"You have a beautiful way with words, sir." The priest even shed a tear, "And now, does the wife have anything she would like to say herself?"

"Y-Yes." She nodded, composing herself before looking at me with the same confident smile she had when we first met, "When I was a child, my mother would always read me bedtime stories where the princess would always end up with her prince. Such stories enamored me to no end, and I still remember you finding out my love for such fantasies after you snuck up behind me in the library."

Once again, the crowd let out a slight chuckle. Ah, so she's gonna tell that story...

"The boy that my brother and Edward constantly kept praising whenever I was around had gained my respect with his courage and merits, but nothing more at the time. It was only later that evening, when you told me from across the room that you had read the entire thing and honestly gave your thoughts on it that I had fallen so deeply in love with you as I am now."

Eh? You started catching feelings for me that early? My memory's kinda fuzzy, but I was sure it was more of a gradual build up than that. Damn, I would have confessed earlier then if I knew I had a shot...

"That boy made fumbles, mistakes, and downright offended me with all his whims." She laid it on thick in front of everyone, "But it's also those whims that brought countless other people smiles. I know you're not perfect, no one is, but I do know that you only exist to bring joy to the people around you. No matter what, I hope that you continue to be just as whimsical and kind as you always were, but I will have to ask you to put me on the forefront of that kindness for now."

Once again, the crowd clapped and laughed as she finished her vows with another lighthearted joke. Come to think of it, I've never heard her express her feelings on the matter of my mistakes in this amount of detail, so hearing this really does make my face Red. Oh? Tears? Hah, haha! Damn, I'm not supposed to be crying like this! Geez, stop it, tears! You're embarrassing us, here! Haha!

"And finally, with the vows exchanged and the rings put on, by the grace of Allucius, and the power vested in me..." The priest shouted with all his energy put into it, "I now pronounce you - man and wife! Lune Grimheart, you may now kiss the bride!"

With his roars echoing throughout the church interior, it reached the hearts of all our dear guests, prompting them to follow his lead as they all stood up to cheer as if they were watching a horse race or something. That priest really knows how to hype up a crowd, huh... But with that, I once again silently prayed in my head that my breath was minty enough, leaned in, closed my Eyes, and with so much pressure and anxiety in my head that I felt it was about to burst, I felt contact. Her lips just as soft as I remember, her small hands holding unbelievable resolve and strength from within, and the bashful giggle she returned immediately after before bursting into tears of happiness and elation had once again reminded me of how perfect she truly was. With this, Cecily and I are now husband and wife, and if anyone tells you otherwise, tell them their good friend Lune called them a hack!