The white outfit they put me in felt like someone took a school uniform and bleached it pure white.
It kind of looked like a suit, but if I had to compare, it was closer to those military uniforms you see in movies.
Uniforms and military uniforms do have similar shapes, I guess.
Right now, I was sitting in the waiting area, shaking my leg like crazy.
Nerves and all sorts of emotions were swirling inside me. Not just my knees, my whole body wouldn’t stop trembling.
I ended up accepting it anyway, but getting married means climbing the stairs to adulthood.
First comes today’s vow kiss. Then the wedding night…
「Noooooooo!」
「Argusta-sama! Please get a hold of yourself!」
The waiting maids looked at me in agony like I was some pitiful creature.
A guy like me who never even had a girlfriend in his whole life suddenly getting married? Impossible from the start.
This is doomed from the start. It won’t even last three days.
While I groaned and suffered, one of the maids who had been whispering among themselves came over as their representative.
「Argusta-sama. Please forgive my impertinence」
「What is it?」
She started speaking with a serious expression.
「Yes. Noie-sama is… well, people say she’s a little? Quite? Actually very terrifying, but from our point of view, she isn’t that bad of a person」
Okay, that’s nice to hear. But that’s not what I’m worried about.
「Sometimes she tries to squash a black scurrying bug and punches right through the floor, or sneezes once and punches through a wall, or starts arguing in her sleep and punches through everything in the room… but even so, she definitely isn’t a terrifying person」
Everything involves punching through something.
Is this maid secretly venting her grudges for stress relief?
「Please don’t fear death. Accept her head-on. But if you actually try that for real, you’ll really die, so just in spirit, just in feeling, please」
What am I supposed to say after hearing that?
「Thanks for the advice」
「Not at all. We overstepped」
The only thing the maids overstepped on was that little story about Noie-san’s destructive power.
I’ll deal with that somehow later… For now, there’s just one problem.
「I have one question」
「What might that be, Argusta-sama?」
「…Does my breath smell bad?」
「Huh?」
It’s a serious issue, so why are you looking at me like that?
「Kissing with bad breath would be rude, right? Isn’t there something to fix mouth odor?」
「Mouth odor? In that case, rinsing your mouth with a drink should help」
「Bring it」
「Right away」
-0-
The ceremony seems to be starting without any delays.
I can really feel the king’s desperation.
A maid leads me to where the bride is waiting.
From here, I take her hand, we walk side by side, and head to the venue.
In other words, the moment this door opens, it begins.
「Then, Argusta-sama」
「Wait just a bit more」
I take deep breaths over and over, trying to calm my pounding heart.
This is bad. The thumping won’t stop.
「Then, Argusta-sama」
「Just a little longer. A bit more」
My breath is fine now. I’ll trust the maids about body odor too.
I’ve got the ceremony steps perfectly memorized.
All that’s left is…
「Yeah, impossible. I’m going home」
「Someone, please calm Argusta-sama down」
「No way, no way, no way. I can’t do it」
「It’ll be okay, Argusta-sama. You won’t necessarily die today or tomorrow」
「I’m gonna die, I’m gonna die. Even now my heart is going crazy」
「…Here goes」
The maid opened the door.
Demon! Do you want this marriage that badly!?
The room on the other side wasn’t very large. It was more like a waiting area.
In the center stood the bride, fully prepared in a pure white dress.
She’s basically a woman of white tones, but today she really looks like nothing but pure white.
The moment I saw her, my wildly pounding heart gave one huge thump.
Her face was still expressionless like the other day, but now it had a light touch of makeup. Her beautiful long silver-white hair reached her waist and swayed softly. The somewhat bold cut of the dress at the chest revealed white twin peaks peeking out, and I was surprised at how slim her waist actually was.
Above all, she was unbelievably beautiful. Really… gorgeous.
The undeniable dragon slayer Noie-san was standing there in the perfectly ordinary, stunning attire of a bride.
「Argusta-sama. Please」
「Eh, ah. Got it」
She approached without making a single footstep sound and gently held out one hand.
『Take the bride’s hand and escort her』
That one line somehow floated up in my completely blank mind.
With my trembling hand, I grasped hers.
Through the white glove, her fingers felt incredibly slender.
Hard to believe these were the same hands that tore apart a dragon’s head and body.
「Argusta-sama. Noie-sama. This way, please」
「Ah」
「……」
I slowly walked down the corridor with her beside me, looking like she felt nothing at all.
White-armored soldiers stood at every corner of the passage, so there was no chance of getting lost. Not that we could, with the maid bustling ahead to guide us.
I somehow moved my shaking legs and stole a glance at her profile next to me.
Her complexion hadn’t changed at all. That beautiful face stayed completely expressionless, her gaze fixed straight ahead without even twitching.
Looking closely, it almost seemed like she wasn’t even blinking.
She wasn’t nervous at all.
Strangely, that made her look cool and dependable.
「When the doors open, please enter together」
We stopped in front of the largest doors and waited for the inside to be ready.
Normally you’d think they’d wait for us, but… the people inside were mostly royals, important figures, and ambassadors from other countries, so they probably weren’t easy to organize.
The king mentioned something like that yesterday too.
Once we pass through these doors and finish everything, it’s over.
It’ll be okay. Right beside me is the incredibly reliable Noie-san…
「Argusta-sama」
「What?」
「What comes next?」
「Huh?」
She had been silent for a long time, but when she finally opened her mouth, those were the words that came out.
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