Chapter 331 - Weddings & Teasing

"Brother, when you sound condescending, it breaks my heart," Kazehaya Gin complained with a pout.

If Ara hadn't intervened, who knew if his twin wouldn't have bamboozled him into doing what he wanted. Sometimes, he didn't feel loved.

"Are you a child?" Alistair retorted glibly, but his amethyst orbs danced in amusement.

For outsiders, it might seem that Alistair, the older twin was always bullying his brother. However, it was far from the truth. Stribog was one of the few people Perun doted upon. It's just that he was not showy and mostly strict to his younger brother since he felt bad about others always comparing the two of them. Also, his massive power made him possess a dangerous temper as the weather followed his mood. This was the reason why Stribog was frightened of him, and the reason why Perun rarely showed his emotions.

Imagine Perun looking frosty with the clouds building up and lightning suddenly striking when he's in a bad mood!

"Of course not! I'm getting married tomorrow, am I not?" Gin sulked.

"Well, congratulations, then," Alistair said with a genuine smile.

"Father, tell that to him tomorrow," Ara quipped. Her silver-gray orbs danced in equal amusement as her father's that made Gin feel that he'd be bullied again.

He was right.

"Or not," Ara added as she raised a brow at Gin. "I told uncle last time that if he bullies Emi again I'd introduce her to you. You look better and more mȧturė, she'd be happier with you."

Of course, everybody knew she was just jesting including her poor uncle, but it still didn't make him happy.

"YA! You stay away from my bride!" Gin made a shooing gesture towards his twin who still looked at him in amusement before turning his attention back to his erring niece. "Also, you can't give anyone to your father. It will be very pitiful even if he accepted them as brides."

"Huh? Why?"Ara was curious.

Why would the women be pitiful with her father as a husband? Shouldn't they be lucky instead? After all, he's handsome and held the title of King, both in Ged and in the Celestial Plane.

It was Ivan who answered her question. "It's because Ritz only ever loved one woman: Your mama. He didn't want to marry anyone else but her."

Ara's eyes widened as she turned to Alistair who had a suspiciously red face. He remained quiet, however, not refuting what was being said, and so, it definitely meant that it was the truth.

Perun had married his first wife, Fanya because the council in the Celestial Plane begged him to find a bride and have children. The first one had been a cold, loveless marriage which resulted in part of the chaos that led to Alencica's cursed existence. It was Fanya's revenge. Even after death, her soul lingered for hundreds of years to punish whoever Perun would love to hurt him.

Perun found the love of his life, Shitara, and after her death, he never married again. He only focused his energy on raising his daughter.

Ara thought that the reason why her father never remarried was because he was busy with her, and because they were dealing with the curse. She never thought it was because he still yearned for her mother.

"Really?"

"Really." Gin's voice was flat, his expression bleak as if exasperated. "I tried sending Brother with women over the years since you were young. He kept insisting he won't have anyone else other than Shitara."

Ah…

"The 'nannies',"Ara suddenly said, remembering the parade of nannies she had a long, long time ago. She had always wondered why she kept changing nannies and the new ones more and more beautiful than the previous ones. She now realized they were her new mama candidates. But they were all rejected.

"Enough," Alistair suddenly interrupted. "There's no point in discussing this. I will never marry again unless it's your mother again," he told Ara who tried hard not to grin.

The others smiled secretly too – except Ivan who was used to hearing this thing. They all had secret smiles, surprised at how sentimental and romantic the King of Heaven really was in spite of the stoic face.

"My mom, huh?"

Ara smiled, but it was a sad type of smile. Even if reincarnation was possible, for Shitara who had hosted a piece of Czernobog's soul and gave birth to the harbinger of doom, it would be tricky. It was not her fault. She was innocent as she had no idea of what happened. But she was still used to harm mankind which was a taboo.  Because of this, she was punished.

In the thousands of years since Shitara had died, she had never reincarnated – at least, not that they knew about. Part of her penance was for her soul to be cut off from her past lives. She would never recover her memories in her previous existence. Souls who had no traces of their past lives were almost impossible to find.

"How come there's no preparation for your wedding tomorrow?" Alistair asked with a frown.

He was confused since normally, in both Ged and the Celestial Plane, weddings were a big deal. Even his wedding to Shitara, even if her family were simple farmers, they still had a big wedding. However, he didn't notice any urgency in the air in this place. "Are you getting married somewhere else then?"

Gin shook his head. "No. Weddings here are different, brother. We will register our marriage tomorrow, but the ceremony for that will be a lot later."

"They will have the marriage ceremony with us, father," Ara said.

"We are?" Gin was surprised. He didn't know about it.

"I asked Emi earlier if she wants to hold a double wedding celebration with us, she said to ask you," Ara informed with a mischievous grin making her uncle frown again.

"You brat. You didn't ask me."

"Why? Are you going to say no?" Alistair asked his one brow arched.

"Of course, not."

"Then why bother asking you then?" Alistair teased again, making the younger twin look frustrated.

"Brother, you're bullying me again…"