10-08: Wedding Day

Veronica paced the floor, silently thinking to herself. Today was the day, and she hasn't seen Celia in a week. Thankfully, the other girls were helping Veronica try to prepare.

"You look great, Ver. Just remember, all you have to do is smile and wave, kiss Celia, and then your married. Simple as that."

"I know, I know. But, it's still... odd. I can't wrap my head around this, like it's all just a weird dream."

"Veronica, are you ready?" Eleanora asked, outside of the door.

"Y-Yes!"

"It's time, so get out here."

"Good luck, Veroninca. We'll see you at the banquet." Aviris said, waving Veronica off."

Veronica nodded and took a deep breath, then she opened the door and followed Eleanora.

"Remember, this starts off with a parade, which will last about two or so hours. No need for a speech or anything like that. Just smile and wave when you can. Then, there's the ceremony, where only a handful of people will be there. Specifically Mother, a priest and a small jury of nobles to serve as a witness."

"Yeah yeah, then there's the banquet a few hours after, where Celia and I have the first dance."

"Indeed. And then, you'll just need to marry the rest of us."

"R-Right... which means morr parades..."

"No, they'll all be silent marriages. People would start suspecting something is up if you marry the entire royal family within a week, as well as taking multiple non-human concubines."

"I see..." Veronica muttered with a sigh of relief.

"We'll still want out dances, of course."

"Well, as long as it's not as public as this, I'm always willing to dance."

"I'll hold you to the promise. All right, this is the last set of doors. This is your final chance to run away."

"And make Celia and Priscilla look bad? Pfft, nah. Let's do this."

Eleanora nodded and knocked on the door, signaling to the guards on the other side to open the door. On the other side, it was bright, too bright. It was before noon, the sun was bright, and not a single cloud in sight.

"I'm gonna burn to death before we get there..."

Celia, dressed up in a long, flowing wedding dress waited by the carriage in the shade. Veronica had to restart her brain multiple times to get her feet to move forward, but eventually, she held out her hand, waiting for Celia to take it.

"Princess Celia, shall we take a jaunt?"

"I suppose we shall, Margravine Dornan." Celia said, stifling a laugh.

Thankfully, the two were able to sit down in the carriage, and all they had to do was look good.

"That's...a lot more guards than I expected." Veronica whispered, nervously waiving to the crowd, half cheering and half questioning the event.

"Well, they are trying to protect the both of us while putting on a show. So, of course most of the royal guard is going to be with us." Celia replied quietly, waiving with her gentle and innocent demeanor.

"And we have to suffer this heat for two hours?"

"Maybe more. Would've been better if we could've done this earlier, but someone didn't come to the castle soon enough."

"You can blame Elly for that one. She never invited me to come by until we had to settle the Elf stuff."

"I know, I'm just teasing you."

"Hey, are they driving this carriage as slow as possible just to make us look good?"

"Possibly. I'd need to ask Mother, she decided to leave some details... vague."

Veronica laughed weakly as she tried to keep her composure for the next two hours.

Thankfully, neither of the two girls were swearing when they finally reached the ceremony location, a church, dedicated to... Amaranth of course.

"In her church, huh. Would this be heresy against her, or against me?"

"Margravine Dornan, on this day, you are to be we'd to the first princess, Celia Priscilla dey Montague, making you her Queen Consort. Under the name of Amaranth, do you swear fealty to the Kaleigh Kingdom, it's counties, and it's allies, as well as defending the Kaleigh Kindom from all threats, foreign and domestic as the spouse to the upcoming Queen?" The priest spoke with practice words, hiding his distaste of the marriage quite well.

"I swear under the name of Amaranth to uphold fealty to the kingdom, it's counties and allies, as well as defending it from all threats, foreign and domestic."

"Then, on this joyus day, I pronounce Celia Priscilla dey Montague and Veronica dey Dornan as a lawfully wedded couple, may you two bring peace and happiness to this kingdom."

With all that said, Celia and Veronica shared a kiss, long and gentle, Veronica taking over every part of Celia's mouth. When they separated, Celia was all smiles, leaving one last occasion for the day.

The banquet was going to be quite... interesting, all things considered.

It started with waiting for all the guests coming in and filling up the ballroom. Wine, small snack foods, and many, many nobles.

Veronica was thankful that almost all the girls showed up, with the only exceptions being Lyra and Hekna. Granted, Lilith did turn a few heads, considering she didn't hide her demonic attributes.

It took over two hours for all the guests to arrive and start mingling, and the moon had already been out for slightly longer.  But, finally, it was time for the main event.

Priscilla gathered as much attention as she could, clanking her glass to make enough noise.

"Everyone, welcome and thank you for coming. On this day, we celebrate my eldest daughter's marriage. My dear Celia Priscilla dey Montague and her loving and strong spouse, Veronica dey Dornan." She spoke loud and with a smile, stepping off to the side.

With Priscilla off to the side, Celia and Veronica, hand-in-hand, slowly walked down the stairs until the landing. They were both nervous, but it seemed as though Celia practiced this a lot more than Veronica thought, as Celia looked rather steady with just a very minor shake.

The guests parted ways, leaving room for the main couple. So, walking down the stairs, the two ensured they would stay as the main attraction.

They started slow and simple enough to keep up with the music, but not so much to be extravagant. Not until Veronica started to pick up the pace, adding in all the extra twirls that seemed redundant. Celia easily kept up with Veronica's less than perfect, and janky dancing, but it was acceptable.

Some scoffed, some stiffled a laugh, and a few obvious ones were really wanting to go next.

Dancing for hours was definitely not Veronica strong suit, but it was worth it in the end. Every girls she danced woth after Celia was in pure happiness, especially Cassidy, who whispered a few simple words.

"We're dancing again when we get married, okay?"

The happiest day of one's life. Though, it also typically led into the happiest night of another's life~