Volume 2 - CH 86

Today, ten days have passed since the truce with Campbellina’s shop was decided.

Alme and Falk were enjoying chatting as they headed towards a certain place.

“Thank you for helping me with the load. It was a big help.”

“Don’t worry about it. Thank you for inviting me to a fun party.”

Falk is pushing the rattling cart. What it carries is ice cream containers and ingredients, as well as tableware and tools.

People are gathering at today’s destination, a small church in the East District. What begins in this lively gathering is a garden party.

Today is the long-awaited wedding party of Ena and Aiden.

Competing shops, her own future and goals for the shop. There are many other things to think about. But for today, she’s going to forget about it all.

On the day of a party, people put aside their worries, enjoy and celebrate with a light heart and with all their might. That is the manner of this cheerful city of Luorio.

When they entered the garden of the church that was rented out, the people who had gathered were already excited.

Toasts should not have been made yet, but liquor is quicker in a lighthearted party and the smell permeated the air.

Instruments were strumming and someone was singing an out-of-tune song in good spirits.

Gathered here are Ena and Aiden’s families and close friends. Everyone is dressed casually in their usual attire and it was a low key event.

As soon as they entered the gathering, Ena and Aiden approached them.

“Alme, Mr. Falk! Thanks for coming!”

“Hey! Thanks for getting the ice cream ready! It’s so hot, I can’t wait to eat it!”

“Congratulations again, Ena and Aiden! Ice cream will be served after the toast.”

“Congratulations on your marriage, both of you. Thank you for inviting me to your wonderful party.”

After a quick exchange of greetings, Ena and Aiden were quickly pulled away to another relative. With them being in the leading roles today, they seemed to be quite busy.

Alme hoped to have a long and relaxed chat with them later.

Alme and Falk borrow one of the tables and unload.

As they were doing so, two silver-haired people peeked out from the entrance of the garden. One has a long ponytail and the other has short hair. Jayla and Charikot.

The siblings, in unison, walked over to Alme with long strides.

“Yessssss! Ice cream!”

“Thank you!”

“Hi Jayla and Mr. Charikot. Congratulations on your discharge from the hospital, Mr. Charikot. Are you feeling better now?”

“Yeah, it’s perfect. I’m grateful to that bastard Shirotaka~”

Seeing Charikot laughing, Alme was dumbfounded. That ‘Shirotaka’ he speaks of is now standing next to Alme…but apparently he doesn’t notice.

Falk looked at Charikot and had a surprised look on his face. Alme thought she would introduce him to Charikot, but looking at Falk, he seemed to be acquainted with him.

Falk had now changed his appearance with metamorphosis magic. Alme opened her mouth to tell Charikot who he really was, but before she could do so, Charikot started talking.

“Oh yeah, hey, listen to me, Alme-chan! I had a kiss with Shirotaka on the battlefield the other day.”

“What!?”

“I don’t remember it, but Aiden told me that white falcon guy gave me a lot of passionate kisses while I was sleeping and unprotected. I think the women in the city are going to hate me for this! You can be jealous of me too, Alme-chan~! Ah-ha!”

Charikot laughed jokingly, but Alme was stunned. She looked at Falk’s face, but he was frozen in place with a terrible look on his face, even more astonished than Alme.

But he quickly regained his composure. Falk approached Charikot, who continued to blabber on and on.

“Hey, ……! Saying that is misleading! Shut up! Shirotaka is not that type of a flagrant kisser!”

“Oh? No, Aiden just said that. Who are you? What are you mad about? It’s none of your business…”

Seeing Falk’s face up close, Charikot stopped speaking. From the blank expression, wrinkles gradually came to his eyebrows.

When his face turned completely grim, he let out a groan.

“… eh… you… no way…”

“I’ve changed my appearance, but I’m Shirotaka…!”

“… Ugh… you’ve got to be kidding me! You came here incognito and let me brag on and on, you’re the worst!”

“That’s my line!”

The moment they recognized each other, they both made a bitter face and held their heads.

Jayla was holding her stomach and laughing, but Alme was confused.

She felt like she had heard something she shouldn’t have…about their relationship. She didn’t know how to respond, but she managed to smile nonchalantly.

“… Um, in a battlefield with only men, there are some pressing circumstances like that… Well, I swear I won’t say anything about it.”

“No! You’re wrong, Miss Alme! There’s no such circumstances…!”

“It’s okay. Don’t worry. I’ll forget what I just heard.”

“It’s wrong…! Ah… God… please help me…”

Falk collapsed to the ground at the same time that Alme averted her eyes.

For some time afterward, Falk and Charikot continued to bicker in a whisper.

It’s one thing to have a fight at a party, but they seemed to be getting along somehow, so Alme let it slide.

It’s a secret that she was a little relieved when she heard the details of that situation from Aiden later.

While they were chatting and preparing for the party, the party guests arrived.

Looking around the garden, which had become more crowded, Aiden let out a loud voice.

“Well then, let’s get started!”

After saying that, he stepped out in front of everyone along with Ena. It’s like the party has already started, but once again, it looks like an event is about to start.

She thought so. Before the toast, they had a little ceremony.

Aiden suddenly got down on one knee and held out his hand to Ena. In a cheery voice, he made his vow.

“Ena. Join me on the endless journey of the soul between the earth and sky.”

“Yes, Aiden. I’ll go with you.”

Ena replied and took Aiden’s hand.

This exchange is a marriage ceremony that is widely popular among the public.

In this world, it is believed that when life on earth ends, the soul ascends to heaven.

After spending some time in the land of the sky, the soul returns to earth and the person is reborn. Then, at the end of one’s life, one ascends to the heavens and is reborn on earth again… and so on, the soul repeatedly travels between the earth and the sky.

The vow that Aiden and Ena have now exchanged is that they would travel together on that soul journey.

In essence, it is a ceremony of promise, ‘No matter how many times we are reborn, we will always be together’.

For a wedding ceremony, it feels a bit grandiose. However, it is an exchange that has been handed down from generation to generation.

Even if they don’t believe that deeply in the ritual, almost everyone in this world performs it.

Even the nobility, who may marry more than one person, prefer to do so. In this case, it’s a bit funny, though, because the soul’s journey is a much bigger group.

But Alme thought it was a lovely, romantic vow.

Seeing the exchange between the two, even Alme’s maidenly heart was fluttering.

As Aiden and Ena exchanged vows, there were cheers and applause from all around.

Aiden hugged Ena and exchanged kisses, Ena’s embarrassed face was adorable.

Incidentally, in this world, the treatment of family names after marriage is much more liberal than in Alme’s previous life.

It can be either the husband or wife’s surname, or attach both together to create a new one.

Aiden and Ena decided to put their family name’s together.

Aiden Maloney and Ena Cole, now became Cole-Maloney.

They leaned close together and looked around the garden. Aiden picked up a glass and raised it to the sky.

Aiden laughed merrily and unleashed a loud voice.

“Blessings to me and Ena! Have fun today, everyone!”

“Hey, Aiden, don’t say it yourself, it’s embarrassing…well, everyone, drink and eat freely and have fun!”

Alme raised her glass while laughing at Aiden, who had congratulated himself.

Under the clear sky, a carefree garden party had begun.