Epilogue: The Witch’s Wedding

 

 

 

Epilogue: The Witch’s Wedding

 

DING-DONG, DING-DONG…

Bells tolling good luck and prosperity rang throughout the royal capital. White doves soared through the sky, delivering messages of love and peace to all the people.

The doors to the cathedral, which reached into the heavens, opened. The invited guests turned around and applauded.

Dazzling sunlight spilled in through the wall covered from floor to ceiling in stained glass, projecting stunning patterns onto the floor and walls. The huge image illuminated within the stained glass depicted the god of love.

A man and woman dressed in their finest clothes entered through the open door and walked down the aisle decorated by the image cast by the stained glass.

The bride wore a black wedding dress, earning surprised stares from everyone gathered.

Her bell-shaped skirt was layered with many ruffles at different heights. The hem of each ruffle ended in frills, giving it a soft appearance. The shawl worn over her shoulders was wide enough to cover her entire back. Adorned with golden tassels, it looked soft enough to cuddle up with.

The thin, gauzy silk veil she wore was also black. The fabric, which shimmered dark blue depending on the amount of light that hit it, made the Witch appear even more mysterious.

With every step the Witch took, her long train drew a wave across the floor. The jewels adorning her chest and the golden beads woven throughout the dress reflected the light of the stained glass and twinkled like stars on a clear night. The dress was as gorgeous as a star-studded sky.

The groom was also wearing clothing fit for the occasion. He had dressed in his knight attire, decorated handsomely for formal events. A medal glinted on his chest. He wore a vivid blue cloak over his right shoulder and a glamorous ceremonial sword at his waist.

The bride in her black wedding dress gracefully headed for the altar led by a groom in his knightly regalia. Once the bride and groom arrived at the altar, the applause stopped. The priest waiting for them nodded after taking a good look at both of their faces.

“The groom, Harij Azm.”

The solemn ceremony began by addressing the name of the groom.

“Do you swear to God to take Rose to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?”

“I do,” Harij replied in earnest to the oath the priest said for him. His commanding voice echoed to every corner of the cathedral.

“The bride, Rose.”

Hearing her name said by the priest, the bride lifted her eyes, her vision obstructed by the veil.

“Do you swear to God to take Harij to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward…”

Knowing she would be asked the same thing as Harij, Rose stole a peek at him beside her. Harij kept his eyes trained forward. Rose had already reached the peak of happiness when she saw Harij had granted her greatest wish and wore his formal knight attire. She was so taken and moved by his handsomeness, she cried a little before entering the cathedral. When she thanked him through her sniffles, he responded with an exasperated “You wanted to see it that bad…?” Yes, yes, she did. He looked that awesome.

Harij glanced at Rose. He must’ve noticed she was charmed by his looks again. He narrowed his eyes as if to silently tell her, “Eyes forward.” Then he pressed his hands together in prayer and faced the altar again with a solemn expression.

Rose had trembled before the majestic building that was unlike anything she had heard of or seen, much less visited. So she was glad she had regained most of her composure after seeing Harij act like normal.

She followed suit and faced forward. This regal building and the ostentatious guests were little more than decorations used in the background of Harij and Rose’s marriage.

The true point of this wedding—what mattered most to Rose—was her own feelings.

I’m really going to make an eternal promise to marry this man. Rose felt overwhelmed by emotion once again. A piece of her was scared that this day had finally come—but she was filled with even greater joy.

“…in sickness and in health…”

The priest must have noticed the bride was daydreaming—he tried to draw her attention back by overemphasizing each of his words.

Rose was, in fact, lost in thought. Once he saw her focus had returned to him, the priest finished the question to receive her answer.

“…until death do you part?”

Rose was a witch. It was an unarguable fact that witches didn’t worship any god.

Rose couldn’t swear a vow to a god she didn’t revere or even believe existed. After all, Rose was a witch incapable of telling lies.

She slowly closed the mouth she had opened to answer.

Silence fell over the cathedral. Scandalous whispers spread through the guests when the bride refused to give her vow for what felt like an eternity.

Rose slowly turned her neck and looked at Harij. He stared right into her eyes.

“I do.”

Sighs of relief filled the room. Oblivious to her surroundings, Rose earnestly held Harij’s gaze and continued her vow. “I swear my life to you, Sir Harij.”

The Witch calmly swore the oath she was comfortable with. Even if she tried to imitate human tradition by swearing under their god’s name, the pledge wouldn’t come from her heart. Thus, she swore in Harij’s name to make it as binding and true as possible.

Harij, who had been scrupulously following along with ceremonial tradition, suddenly raised his hand with his fingers perfectly aligned.

“I’m sorry, could you wait a moment?”

“Of course.”

The priest generously agreed, for he knew love well. Thanking him, Harij pressed his fingers between his eyebrows as if enduring some great pain.

What’s his deal? Here I mustered all my courage to swear to him while hiding that I’m so nervous I might start shaking. Dismayed, Rose shot Harij a questioning look.

Unlike Rose, who didn’t have a clue what was going on, the priest seemed to fully understand the situation.

Meanwhile, she heard an odd wet sniffling coming from the guest seats. Curious what it was, she glanced over her shoulder. Her eyes widened in surprise under her veil.

Of all things, she found Tien there, crying his eyes out in formal wear rather than his usual over-the-top clothes. He accepted a handkerchief hesitantly held out by the person sitting beside him and blew his nose while mumbling, “Sowwyy.”

Rose felt something like a hot lump form in the back of her throat. She had never seen Tien cry before. She never expected the man who was always smiling and aloof from the world to cry from seeing her as a bride.

The memories he had shared with her the other day came rushing to the forefront of her mind. Sure, he made her cry a lot, but thinking back on it, she had caused him a lot of worry and trouble. She wondered who, other than Tien, would have stuck around so long being such a good friend to a witch?

Why is it Tien who’s making me feel like crying at my own wedding? Rose pressed her lips tightly together. If she didn’t do that, she feared tears would spill from the corners of her eyes and ruin the makeup Mona had spent so much time doing for her.

“Ahem.” The priest cleared his throat.

Maybe there really is a god, Rose thought, grateful for that distraction that let her get away with a single sniffle and no tears.

But her moment of relief ended there.

“You may kiss the bride.”

What did he just say? Rose’s eyes bulged as she stared at Priest Ahem.

Harij stepped up to her while she was busy glaring down at the priest. Startled, she swung her restless gaze to Harij. In that time, he had brought his body within intimate distance from hers, his expression cooler than the surface of the lake.

Then he lifted the black veil off her face, exposing her misty eyes.

Here Rose thought Harij had prepared the veil to conceal her expressions since he knew the witches’ greatest secret, so when he pulled it off himself, she didn’t know how to react.

Her brain was in a state of pandemonium, but her face was so trained to remain expressionless, Harij didn’t notice. He cupped her slightly taut cheek in his palm. Apparently, he took the tightness to mean she was nervous.

He stroked her cheek with his thumb to help ease her nerves in a way no one else could see.

No, no, no. You don’t get it! Rose pointed out in her heart.

Harij was the primary cause of her consternation.

She didn’t know what was about to happen—no, she consciously diverted her mind away from what she’d rather not know, but she couldn’t escape it any longer. He lifted her chin and leaned in. As clichéd as it may be, Rose thrust out her hand.

The air instantly became electrified. Harij grabbed her slender wrist and moved her hand away from his lips.

“…Rose.”

His voice rumbled like hell’s gatekeeper rather than a man speaking at his wedding. Rose was also starting to comprehend that wedding ceremonies were supposed to proceed with more solemnity and grace, but she couldn’t help herself. There are some things you just can’t yield to.

“Th-This isn’t what we discussed!”

“And who do you think is going back on what we discussed?”

Rose had certainly conceded to kissing during the ceremony. She promised she would. But the situation at hand exceeded what she had imagined!

“P-People are watching!”

She was only expressing the modesty any being that spoke and walked on two legs should have, and yet it earned her the most pitying look yet from Harij.

“I guess I forgot to tell you. The kiss you share at a wedding is normally done in front of people.”

“Why is that necessary? It’s outright shameful!”

“Rose, I said you didn’t have to. But then you gave your consent. It became a done deal at that point.”

Rose couldn’t believe her ears. When she’d heard this kiss was a necessary part of the ceremony, she was under the impression they would move somewhere else for it. Never in her wildest dreams did she think they wanted her to kiss in front of not only people but also the god they worshipped.

“…A-Are you sane?”

“As sane as can be.”

She thought she was going to faint. If she could have, she would have swooned on the spot.

Rose was a witch. Witches honored promises.

And Rose had made a promise to Harij. The exchange was kissing during the wedding ceremony in return for Harij dancing with Yašm in her stead at the ball. This was a pit she had dug herself.

“But this, this is just…”

She looked to the priest for salvation and then to the guests, but aside from Tien, who was clutching his head, everyone looked at her funny. This look was different from the one usually filled with contempt for the witch.

Their gazes were tender, as if they were stopping themselves from laughing at the innocent girl with bright-red cheeks.

“Eyes! No eyes!” Rose swiveled back toward Harij. “Everyone, please close your eyes!”

Everyone in attendance showed their respect to the adorably shy bride by covering their eyes. Even the priest closed his. Rose’s legs were shaking so bad, she was close to falling over. Her face was so hot she could almost feel steam coming off it. Harij patiently waited for his new wife to be ready without making a single upset face over her delay. Wanting to reward him, she tightly shut her eyes and lifted her chin.

Harij caressed her cheek in one hand and wrapped his other arm around her waist. And then, at last—

The End