Wedding Day

As Ana remained in bed rest, Haruno & Emila were spending their time helping restore the destroyed plaza and treating the injured people. 

At first, the injured people didn't want any contact with Emila, but after seeing Emila's skillful treatment of their injuries, they began to trust her.

Haruno, on the other hand, was completely shunned by the people as they were afraid of disrespecting the future King. Haruno immediately apologized for her actions and informed them that she had no plans of ruling over them. The Holy Sword that belongs to the First King was placed into the Treasury Vault until the next proper wielder can hold it. After multiple attempts, Haruno was finally able to regain the trust of the people after saving a small child from some improperly placed scaffolding as it came crashing down. 

"Mother, how are you feeling?" Haruno asked, walking into her room, all exhausted, falling face forward into Ana's bed. 

"I'm getting there," Ana replied, gently stroking Haruno's long brown hair. "Emila is truly gifted when it comes to treatment," she complimented, "These types of injuries usually would lead to high fevers, but for some reason, I feel fine. I heard the medical team is taking lessons from her regarding basic treatment care," she chuckled. 

"Well, a part of it is her Unique Skill, Shroud of Nightingale, which creates an antiseptic field during treatment," Haruno muttered, "The biggest fear all doctors & surgeons have after any open wound treatment is Sepsis. " 

Sepsis occurs when the body's immune system starts to work overtime trying to fight off an infection that might have entered the bloodstream during treatment.

To prevent this, most operation requires a sterile environment to prevent bacteria from entering during treatment. 

"Haruno, are you awake?" Ana mutters softly, "You should go take a bath before getting ready for the Wedding start." 

"Yes, Ma'am," Haruno muttered, swaying side to side, and headed to the bathing area. 

Ana proceeded to stand up and began to brush her long blond hair. She proceeded to remove her pajamas, revealing her white underwear and her hourglass figure. Ana began to rub a scar below her belly button, roughly where her uterus was located. 

"You look sexy as always," a male voice stated, with Ana quickly looking around the room. 

"I must be losing my mind," Ana thought to herself. "It must be the wedding after all," she muttered, and proceeded to slip into a special light green dress and into light green heels, exiting out the door. 

The wedding venue was located outside in the castle courtyard, where the World Tree acted as the backdrop for the Groom & Bride. On the center stage, the Groom & Bride will complete their vows, swearing their entire life with each other as the World Tree as witness. 

"Why is she here?" a voice whispered. 
"She is here to ruin the wedding," a voice stated
"She must be jealous," a voice laughed 

"Maybe I shouldn't be here after all," Ana muttered, placing her wine glass onto the table and proceeding to exit before bumping into someone. "I'm so sorry," she apologized, rubbing her forehead. 

"You'd better be sorry!" a female voice stated, "You are trying to leave my wedding earlier, Big Sister!" she added, followed by a big embrace by a tall, brown-haired elf. 

The tall, brown-haired elf was in a white trumpet wedding dress embellished with gold, pink, and green flowers starting from the waistline down to the skirt with strappy heels.

"Aeris!!" Ana exclaimed, "It's so good to see you after all this time!" she greeted. 

"You say that now, but you were trying to leave," Aeris complained, noticing Ana's intent to leave. "I honestly couldn't care less about what others are saying about you. I want you to stay here," she held Ana's hand tightly. 

"Are you sure?" Ana asked, "This is your big day, I don't want to ruin it!" she stated. 

"If you are leaving, I'm canceling this whole thing," Aeris firmly stated, " I want you here."

"What's this about canceling the wedding?" Lawrence questioned, overhearing the conversation, "Don't tell me you are trying to leave me already? After the past one hundred and thirty-two years?" he jokingly asked. 

Lawrence was wearing a navy blue blazer with a gold chain extending from across his chest, with white pants and brown dress shoes. 

"Big sister is trying to leave earlier on this day, again," Aeris replied, "I'm trying to convince her to stay." 

"Why are you trying to leave when your daughters are having the time of their lives over there?" Lawrence points toward the buffet area where a large crowd was forming. 

The group slowly moved over to two people sitting at a table, eating a large amount of meat, with people placing bets nearby. 

Haruno was in the middle of an eating contest against the Royal Knight Commander, Lars, while Emila refereed. The current score was tied, twenty-six plates, with another plate being placed on Haruno's table as she finished her plate. 

"Is this okay?" Ana worried, "Wouldn't father or mother be upset?" she asked. 

"Who do you think is taking the bets?" Lawrence pointed to the betting table.

The Queen was busy taking bets, and the King was acting like the commentator, announcing the ongoing contest. 

"Haruno is up on her twenty-seven plate, while Lars is just finishing up his twenty-sixth plate. Will he catch up?" King Eldrin announced, followed by the crowd's cheers. 

"Come on, Lars! How is a little girl beating you?" the crowd cried. "Aren't you the Royal Knight Commander?"

Lars quickly reached down to his waist and immediately removed his leather belt, placing it on the table. He quickly scarfed down two plates of meat as a third one was placed on his table. 

"Lars releases his seal and immediately surpasses Haruno, working on his thirtieth plate." King Eldrin announced. "Is this the end of Haruno?" 

"If you want to play like that, I can do the same, too," Haruno stated, removing the white sash tie on her dress and placing it on the table, scarfing down multiple plates. 

"Thirty seconds left!" King Eldrin announced as the crowd began to count down. "Three, Two, One, contest is over! Emila Refeere, what is our verdict?" he passed the upside-down champagne bottle to Emila. 

"The winner is Lars, at thirty-three plates!" Emila announced as the crowd cheered. 

"OBJECTION!!" Haruno yelled, standing up and lifting the white tablecloth, "Lars didn't finish all the meat!" she announced, showing one long slice of meat on the ground. 

"OOOOOOOO.....By that discovery, Lars is disqualified, and the winner is Haruno!" King Eldrin announced, with the cheers following. 

"You beat me fair & square, Haruno," Lars stated, standing up and shaking Haruno's hand. "How do you eat that much?" he questioned. 

"I've been working in construction all week," Haruno answered. "By the way, your pants are on the ground," she stated, looking down to see his drawer in the open. 

"So it seems," Lars stated, lifting his pants back up and putting his belt back on loosely. "I hope we can have another match in the future," he said as he walked away. 

"Why don't you do the same, Haruno?" Ana suggested, quickly wrapping the sash tie around Haruno and pulling it tightly. 

"MOTHER!!! I'M GOING TO THROW UP!" Haruno warns, with Ana letting go and tightening it loosely. "Where have you been, Mom?" she asked. 

"I've been with Larence & Aeris," Ana answered, gesturing towards the Groom & Bride. 

"It's nice to meet you, Aeris," Haruno greeted the bride. "My name is Haruno Sayaka, and this is my lovely assistant, Emila Watson." She gestured toward Emila as she walked over, holding a large satchel of money won from the eating contest. 

"I know this isn't much, but we want to give you something for your wedding," Emila stated, handing over the money to them. 

"Um...Emila?" Haruno questioned, unsure if that was the plan originally. "What are you doi-" she stopped after being kicked in the shin by Emila's heels. 

"T-T-Thank you," Aeris thanked, taking the satchel of money, almost dropping it with Lawrence supporting her. "These girls are a lot tougher than I expected," she whispered, noticing how heavy the bag was. 

"You have no idea," Lawrence replied. "Thank you, Haruno, Emila, for your wonderful gift," he smiled. 

"We should get the show started," King Eldrin suggested, seeing as the crowd is eager to leave after losing a lot of money just now. "Come on, you two," he waved at Aeris & Lawrence and started to walk to the center stage with the Queen awaiting them. 

"Let's also find our seats, too," Ana suggested, pointing toward the front row seat, near the center stage. 

As they began to walk, Haruno got a whiff of something unpleasant coming from bulter as he walked by. 

"What was that smell?" Haruno pondered, standing still, "I smelled it before, but from where?"

"Let's go!" Emila yelled, pushing Haruno forward, "The ceremony is about to start!" as they quickly found their seats and sat down. 

"We are gathered here to celebrate the marriage between my son, Lawrence von Titania & my future daughter-in-law, Aeris Frostwind," King Eldrin began his speech as the crowd listened, except for Haruno.

"That particular smell of eggs and metallic, what was it from?" Haruno pondered.  Suddenly, she felt pain in the side of her stomach, and she reached down to place pressure on it with her eyes opening wide. 

"If anyone believes these two should not be tied for eternity, please speak now!" King Eldrin requested. 

"NO!" Haruno yelled, standing up and shocking everyone. "T-THAT'S NOT POSSIBLE! IT CAN'T BE!" she began to tremble. 

"What's wrong, Haruno?" Ana quickly tried to calm her down. "What's going on?" she asked. 

"I told you she was going to ruin the wedding," a voice muttered, 
"Typical of her guests to be just like her," a voice whispered 
"Isn't she her daughter?" a voice muttered. 

"MOM, I-I-I...." Haruno stuttered, unable to get words out, as she was trembling with fear.

Haruno began to scan around the venue, looking for the person who smelled of gunpowder, with a small glint appearing in a distant tree. 

"EVERYONE DOWN!" Haruno yelled, "ANYONE ABLE TO PLACE A BARRIER DO IT NOW!" she instructed, but was too late. 

As soon as the word left her mouth, bullets began to rain down onto the venue.