Engagement Ceremony
It was my first time seeing Lucia in a dress. Petite and adorable Lucia looked winsome in her clothing that was partially revealing and partially conservative. The elves’ fashion bore a striking resemblance to ancient Rome and Greece’s fashion. The white, ancient Rome strap sandals occasionally revealed themselves underneath her dress. Her back was on display. Lucia was definitely a long-distance archer. She had much fewer scars compared to Veirya, but her back wasn’t as weak and flat as ordinary girls. Her back had some subtly visible muscles. She was a soldier, after all.
Lucia wore a light and thin wedding veil on her head, bashfully concealing her face. She appeared to have put on a small amount of makeup, therefore enhancing her charm. Her usual messy hair had also been arranged into a small bun. She approached me with a shy smile. Her sisters were around her.
Lucia’s sisters pushed her over to me. She nervously touched her face and dryly laughed: “What do you think? This is my first time wearing this sort of clothing, so I don’t feel too confident in them…”
“Very pretty. Honest.”
I gently covered Lucia’s face with my hand. She lowered her head as if it would hide her ablaze ears. She seemed to be elated. Her sisters delightedly watched us. Only one person looked at me as though he wanted to murder me, and I knew that it was Lucia’s brother…
Lucia’s brother still didn’t trust me. I wasn’t sure if it was due to his jealousy or if he actually saw through my plans. I didn’t think he was that perceptive, though…
“Let’s go, then. We’ll have to show you two off to everyone next. Lucilia’s fiancé, everyone is looking forward to meeting you.”
Lucia and I tightly held hands. I suddenly found myself a little too shy to look at Lucia. I knew what my real feelings were. I was lying to her. My plan should’ve been sailing smoothly. Lucia didn’t seem to suspect me in any capacity. Alas, I felt guilty when I saw her bashful and cute mannerisms. I didn’t know what would happen to her after. I knew what I was doing. I was taking advantage of a girl’s feelings. There was nothing worse than taking advantage of a girl’s feelings. But nevertheless, I had no choice. If I had any other way of saving Queen Sisi, I wouldn’t ever resort to lying and taking advantage of Lucia’s feelings. I was prepared to never be able to leave the elven lands when I decided on the plan.
“Sir!” As we headed to the celebration banquet room, I had someone cheerfully run up to me with an earthen jar the size of their arms, wearing a cheerful smile.
I hadn’t known her for long at the time, but I recognised her. She wore simple cloth clothing and wore a head cloth. She had gone from a noble girl to a healthy countryside girl. She wouldn’t have been able to carry the jar the last time I saw her. That day, though, Ascillia was healthy and lively. She was no longer the cursed girl.
“Ascillia!!”
I never thought I’d see Ascillia there. After I sent her to the elven lands, I gave up any ideas of seeing her again and nearly forgot about her. It was quite a coincidence to see her there again.
Ascillia expressed, “I am truly glad to see you again. After the war broke out, I thought I might never see you again. This time, did you come here… to… to… to marry Madam Lucilia?”
I bashfully nodded. Lucia elatedly grabbed onto my arm and firmly nodded. The light in Ascillia’s eyes somewhat faded, but then she immediately regained her spirits. With a smile, she told me, “I see. I cannot help it, then, I guess. You and Madam Lucilia are a fantastic fit, after all. With that said, if you have free time, you must come and visit us. Mom and I are sincerely grateful for everything that you did for us. Without you, I would not have had my illness cured, and I would not have my current life. I must say it again: thank you very much.”
“There’s no need to thank me. You need to thank these elves. They were the ones who saved you.”
I scrubbed Ascillia’s head. Though she confessed to me last time, I only saw her as a child. She was barely older than Leah. She chuckled as she took a step back: “I shall not hold you two up any longer. I will definitely go and give my blessings at your wedding!”
“Thanks.”
While I wanted Ascillia to attend our engagement ceremony, as well, I remembered that it wasn’t a legitimate engagement ceremony. Before our engagement ceremony was the elves’ celebration banquet. The banquet was held to celebrate the elves’ victory over the humans. As a human, it was too awkward for her to participate in the banquet, which explained why she wouldn’t join the banquet.
“Let’s continue.”
We continued ahead. Lucia informed me, “That girl has been here with us for a long time now. We quite like her; she’s sensible and polite. After she recovered from her condition, she began to help her host family with chores. If all humans could be as nice and reasonable as you and her, we would be able to live in harmony. Why, though, are there always some people, especially those similar to Queen Sisi, who harbour ill-will toward us? We’ve never attacked humans before.”
One of Lucia’s sisters interjected, “Lucilia, you’re about to get engaged. Don’t bring those bitter thoughts up.”
I didn’t respond in any way as I noticed Lucia’s brother’s eyes spontaneously zoned in on me as soon as the topic came up. He was still of the belief that I wanted to trick them to rescue Queen Sisi. Hence, I couldn’t reveal any flaws. I was on an infiltration mission. Call me Agent Lin.
As soon as we entered the elven building, everyone inside rose to their feet and let out excited cries, almost bringing the roof down. The elves then sat down and slammed their table while shouting. I awkwardly watched them; I didn’t know what to say. Lucia, on the other hand, wore a smile and shyly kept her head down. Still, she clung to my arm.
Lucia’s brother walked up to the front of everyone. He stretched his hands out to indicate for everyone to quieten down, and quiet down they did.
“All right. Now, allow me to inform you that my sister, in other words, my family’s Lucilia, will be announcing her marriage with this human, Travor. I am sure you haven’t met Travor before, but I hope you won’t be confrontational or prejudice against him. He is not our enemy. During winter, we received our food to drive away the Queen. Then, he informed us humanity was coming for us. Then, he provided us with funding to buy guns and gunpowder. He has always been our friend and comrade in this war. As such, he has the right to be respected and to have Lucilia’s heart. As Lucilia’s elder brother, I won’t stop her true love because of different races. Since my beloved sister likes him, I shall agree to their marriage. If no one has anything to say on the matter, I can announce that Travor is Luciia’s fiancé. The two shall hold their wedding ceremony in one week’s time!”
“Woo!!!”
The elves cheered in unison; nobody objected. Perhaps my previous feats won their approval. The engagement was simple enough. Once Lucia’s brother wrapped up his announcement, I removed Lucia’s head veil. The two of us looped our arms and drank a green glass of wine each. We then French kissed in front of everyone, effectively confirming our relationship. Henceforth, we would be considered husband and wife.
Well, half of my plan was a success. The next step was to wait for the official wedding, which was scheduled for the next week. I needed to locate Queen Sisi while under Lucia’s brother’s surveillance within the week. I glanced over to him, and he watched me as I suspected he’d be. He went along with us, but he was actually waiting for me to expose myself before he killed me.
One thing I noticed was that the elves had distinct boundaries between them. While they were on either side of a long table, after the banquet commenced, it was evident there were two teams. I stayed by Lucia’s side the entire time, smiling as if I didn’t care about anything. In truth, my brain was in overdrive, trying to analyse. I observed my surroundings and scanned everything around. I was deep in enemy territory, so I tried to find things to exploit.
“Elves are completely united when against humans, but is it really true that their internal relationships are perfect? How many ways can I rescue Queen Sisi? How can I leave the elven lands? I need to be in and out within a week. If I end up marrying Lucia, I lose. How will I escape the elven lands after marrying Lucia? I need to hurry, and I must be alert at all times. The guy’s a damn sis-con; he’s an unpredictable threat,” I analysed.
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