In Preparation (2)

"Good morning."

After room service-- I guess it's alright to call it that because the maid quite literally brought in pulling carts filled with food, and left it there-- we headed for the plaza..

Hold up, you know what? Let's talk about breakfast a little more because Liliath ate a lot than usual. Another side effect I guess.

Breakfast consisted of your staple bread and stew, with some fruits and a side of nice meat slices. Grapes exist here apparently. Gabriel, Jennifer-chan and Miss Margrett ate their breakfast in the other guest room they shared.

Enough said.

At the plaza, there was a humongous white cloth covering the in-between of the mansion and the supposed wedding venue-- probably to hide the place beyond it.

We ducked underneath the cloth..

"Did they work overnight?" Nine asked.

"It seems to be so," Miss Margrett said.

A stage had already been set up with a solid wooden arch. White silk clothes hung from the edifices of the gazebos. Benches arranged in rows, rolled carpets from the center down, podiums with an empty vase on each of them laced in between the seats..

There was an area set up for musicians I think? I'm seeing some prearranged black music stands there.

Worse of all, there was a mini quartz statue of The Goddess of Love Aphrodite in the background scene. I question if that's really how The Goddess of Love looks in reality. What if Arphrodite's statue is just like Moirae's? To put it bluntly: illegally lollified.

"Morning to ya'all."

"M--"

By subconscious reflex I almost said good morning. I held my voice in. Pale auburn hair, deep green eyes, and long pointy ears. He wore clothes that reminded me of Vietnam or the Philippines. Elven.. in a sense.

"Morning Mister Quelch," Miss Margrett greeted

"How ya doin? Had a goodo rest? Today will be a busy day-- your helpers are they?"

"Yes, they will be assisting me in the decor."

"Splendid. I look forward to cooperating with ya'all," the elf turned to us and said with a smile.

"Will be looking forward to working with you too," Liliath said, bowing a little.

"Me too!" Jennifer-chan said.

"Miss Margrett, the base has already been set. Please fit the flowers as you see fit. Adjustments can be made later by my team in the afternoon, is that alright?"

"No problems Mister Quelch,"

"Good, good. I'll see ya in a bit, I have trust in your design sense," in a good mood, he left.

Huh, funky speech pattern for an elf. It pains me to say that elves in this world really.. I dunno if I should say that they're a disappointment but they really don't match the image of 'elegance' I had in mind. Seriously, what's up with that?

I gave the place another glance. Everything was set, nothing felt off.. but it was bland-- because the flowers weren't in yet.

"Hot,"

"Hot?" Excuse me, isn't it winter? I turned to Prune.

"That elf."

"That elf? You mean.. you're saying he's hot?"

"I'm serious!"

"..."

Was that guy hot? I didn't really pay attention to his features. Maybe he's in her strike zone-- let's not question anymore.

Crates of flowers were carried out from the storage site to the plaza. I must say, there's a lot more flowers than I anticipated. This probably included everything else Miss Margett didn't store in her shop.

White lilies, Quimrose, Leucojum, Primrose, Blue Sagritias, Pink Camellia, it's a mix of fantasy plants and ones that also exist in the modern world.

As for those paper flowers we folded last time-- I didn't notice it back then but these paper flowers were actually talismans. Some had the effects of preservation magic, others were visual magic-- which basically means impractical magic for the sake of creating effects and the likes.

"Nine, is there anything wrong?" While decorating as instructed by Miss Margrett, I heard Jennifer-chan ask.

"Hm? What do you mean?" Nine replied.

I weaved the stem of the Leucojum with another to form a sort of wreath.

"Huh? That's Nine?" Gabriel's voice sounded.

"Yeah? You didn't know?"

"W-What do y-you mean?"

"Was it because of last night?" Jennifer-chan asked again.

"Somewhat," Nine replied.

I took the wreath and combined it with another wreath, placing it on a pile.

"Hm.." Jennifer mulled. I guess she was trying to get Nine to talk.. huh. I should've asked Nine why he was a she today. Now I'm curious.

"Noel," Prune called out.

"Yea?"

"You should probably tell Liliath about it,"

"About?" Liliath raised her head and looked at me.

Prune, Liliath and I were responsible for wreathing the Leucojum flowers together. Nine, Jennifer-chan and Gabriel were wreathing White Lilies with the Quimrose. Before we can get the flowers up on stage, we first need to fold them together in a way that makes hanging them easier.

Miss Margrett herself was arranging the flowers for the few dozen vases around.

"Well.. about yesterday night.."

"Sorry," Liliath apologized, "I-I'll make sure to take care of my body well to accommodate for the day we actually.." I placed a finger on her lips to stop her.. and then she nibbled on it.

"Liliath.. really.."

"A-ah.. s-sorry.." she released my finger and looked at me, shrunken and frightened. Was the aphrodisiac laced with something else? I'm starting to worry a little.

"To the point.. there's another demon lord here."

Liliath blinked a few times, "Another demon lord?"

"Yup."

Prune swiped a panel over to Liliath's side-- Rinalanashina.

"Rinalanashina? She's.."

"She's peeking at us isn't she.." Prune said. Sorry, I think 'stalking' is a more suitable word.. fuck, why does this always happen? Is it really that fun to stalk Liliath and I?

"Are you kidding me.." I sighed.

A quick check on the map will show her marker behind one of the gazebos. And there's also her stalker-partner-in-crime. I think she's that maid Nine had trouble with yesterday night.

"Just ignore her," I said.

"Noel, if she's a demon lord doesn't that mean.." Liliath's words slowed.

"Mean what?"

"Later. We'll talk about it later, if the time allows," Liliath said, turning back to her work.

"Harem," Prune drawled.

"You sure are reading a lot lately. I wonder who thought Liliath the word 'hubby'," I retorted

"Shut up," Prune frowned.

Ping. An enemy is in the vicinity.. huh? An enemy? Who set her marker as 'caution'?

"Excuse me, have you seen Nine?" It was a noble girl I saw talking to Nine last night. She's.. Elaine Daisy it seems. Right, that viscount's daughter. Why was she here?

"Ah.. Nine, it's.."

"Shush.." Nine covered Gabirel's mouth. Jennifer-chan tilted her head in response.

Greeting us and Miss Margrett with a curtsy, she headed to Nine's side. I think everyone stopped their work to see the show.

"My apologies for dropping by, have you seen Nine?" Elaine asked.

"Nine huh.. maybe he left for the adventurer's guild?" Nine said. Huh.. the fuck is this development?

"Had he specified which branch?"

"Which guild does he work in again?"

"Guild? Isn't Nine.. Ow, what's that for?! Didn't you say Nine.. akkwh.. " and Gabriel was kicked in the shin by Jennifer-chan, and then triangle-choked.

Elaine narrowed her eyes.. or at least that was what I thought she was doing from this angle.

"Sea Gold Guild.. I think," Nine said. Sea Gold, if anyone forgot, was the name of the guild we were affiliated with. There are many different guilds out there, some private, some partially owned by the kingdom, Sea Gold is the latter.

"Please answer this question of mine honestly, is he avoiding me?"

"Maybe," Nine shrugged with a cute wink. Hey.. that's suspicious as hell.

"I understand," In a bitter voice, Elaine said, "Thank you for your time," and bowed again before taking off.

Her marker slowly disappeared.. not without hitting the stalker pair's marker-- there was a short pause, but she crossed them and headed into the mansion.

They've been spotted, mission failed. What a suspicious pair.

"Hey Nine, what's up with that?"

"I don't want to talk about it," she replied with a smile.

"Well.. if you're in any need of an ear, just remember that we're here alright?"

"I know that. Thanks," Nine returned to wreathing flowers. Jennifer-chan and Gabriel-- espeiclay Gabriel who's expression was the perfect representation of 'yo, fuck what?'-- followed suit.

Jennifer-chan probably told her to keep Nine's ability a secret. What a considerate person.

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Afternoon came, the flowers were up. The place looked ready to go.

You'd be surprised how Miss Margrett used levitation magic to hoist some of the wreaths into position. With a little MP cheat, she practically felt no fatigue…

The 'hot' elf came and did the final touches. Then evening came, the sky was turning red, sun at the horizon.

"Would our wedding be this wonderful.." Liliath who leaned against my shoulders asked.

"T-That's.. something 3 years down the road you know.."

"I thought two?"

'Ding.'

'Liliath's Special Quest Complete.'

Huh.. let me guess, leaning against me is her special quest?

"One year of courting and dating.. " I can't imagine getting married the day I reach 18. That sounds way too ridiculous. Where have you heard people marrying at the tender age of 18? I mean in the modern world, fantasy is out. Let's be realistic here..

"I thought there's a custom in your world which forbids copulation until both parties are married.." Liliath said.. and that's when it hit me.

That promise I made to her..

I buried my face into my hands.

The fuck is this.

What did I drag myself into?

I can't believe I promised Liliath to do 'that' when we come of age.. we need to get married before we can even do 'that'. I've got it all wrong.. you've got to be kidding me. I got stuck in her trap again? No.. I can't. I have to negotiate my way out of this crap.

"Sorry Liliath."

"You can't mean.."

"Yeah. Just.. it'll not be so soon.."

No reply.

I took a peek at Liliath-- there was a shadow over her face.

"Liliath..?"

She rose from the bench, "Nothing," and walked away.

Hah..

This sucks. Damn it.

What should I do about this-- I should calm down first. These sorts of things will happen indefinitely. It's a misunderstanding. I just need to navigate my way through it.. right..

Maybe Liliath is just frustrated.. yup. Our values on this issue just don't mesh.

It's annoying really..

And it hurts.

I watched as Liliath entered the mansion's back gate.

If you're wondering what the bride and groom were doing the whole morning while we were decorating the place? They were receiving their blessings at the church.

I know this sounds weird. If there's a huge cathedral in the earldom, why don't they just get married over there? Why would they want to get married here?

It's very typical that marriages are portrayed in churches, very much so for isekai.

Though, I do have a hypothesis as to why they would hold their wedding here.

I imagined the mix of white-warm glow in the evening darkness, the glittering effects of the flowers, the sparkle of the stars, the reflection of the moon on the lake..

The view of the lake is gorgeous-- which maybe was the reason?

But I couldn't feel it anymore-- I'm dead.

Sorry Liliath.

I should've thought about it a little more..

I should avoid making promises next time, lest I want this to happen again.. actually. It isn't about that at all. Problems would crop up inevitably, I just need to get better at dancing with it. Yeah.. Liliath and I just got together a few weeks ago, there's still a lot to learn about each other..

Yeah..