Vol.5 Ch.100 - ‘Til death do us part

Whoa. Whoa whoa whoa whoa! What just happened?! Wait, let’s review:Adam suddenly came by to our house and said Marina was pregnant. That’shuge news, I mean, who the hell starts a conversation like that?! Thankfullyhe didn’t even recognize me at all, neither Lune nor Sol, but come on at leastease into it, man!Alright, what happened next…? Oh right, even Marina was shocked about thenews. How the hell is that even possible? Did Adam not inform her, and ifso, then how did he know to begin with?! This asshole, just popping upunannounced and handing a tired looking Marina to me after saying such athing… He didn’t even have any spare time to sit down and explain thesituation with us, just gave me a cold and empty stare before going You betterhost a wedding soon, you don’t want your child to be born a bastard… Andthen he just up and left! The nerve….!“M-Marina?” I shakily sat down by the bed she was snuggled up in, “Youdoing okay?”“I’m fine, Lune.” She chuckled, “It’s not like I’m going into labor right now,y’know? That comes later.”“Yeah, but… I guess. And did you know about this?”Marina’s eyes deviated to the upper right corners as she tried so desperatelyto recall the days prior to this, “Well, looking back it was really obvious. Tothe point where everyone in the castle knew but me.”“Obvious?”“Yeah, things like late periods, nausea, and abrupt moments of bodilyweakness. As someone who’s from the Dola family, I really should’ve puttwo and two together, heh.”She finally came to the same question I had thought the entire time. The Dolasare a world-renowned family of doctors, and Marina was nothing if not aprodigy in the medical arts, so why would she not tell anyone about hersymptoms, much less notice them herself?“If you’re wondering why,” She suddenly opened up, “It’s because I wasscared.”“Scared?”“Well, we’ll be going home soon, right? If your wife saw me in my pregnantstate, she’d be devastated.”That was your worry? Good lord woman, you really don’t know a thingabout Cecily! When Carter died, she was the first to stand up and face thetruth and move on instead of moping around like the rest of us. There wasnever a single problem that she wouldn’t face head on, and neither was therea problem that she couldn’t solve! I’m sure she’d probably be a bit upset,especially after we tell her our plans for the future, but she’ll at most justgive me a slap on the face and then agree to it.“Not only that, though.” Marina added, “Pregnancy is… a scary thing. It’s anew feeling, the feeling of no longer having to only worry about yourself, butabout another young and frail being as well. I’ve seen many pregnant womencome into my father’s office when I was a child, and the screams they’d letout during childbirth, the many times they would throw up during the actualpregnancy period, it was all just too much… I don’t know if I can handle it,and the fact that neither of us are even of legal drinking age just makes thewhole thing feel like we’re going way too fast for our own good.”After staying silent and listening to her tell me her truest of feelings regardingthis, I couldn’t take hearing any of this anymore. I got close to her, and gaveher a tight hug without so much as speaking a single word. The Marina Iknow is chipper and happy, and honestly I was half expecting her to bemaking light of this situation way more than anyone else would, spoutingthings like Good going, champ! and Hope the kid isn’t as much of ablockhead as you are! But seeing her so worried about this is kind of unrealin a way.After getting hugged, she immediately broke down crying as she returned thegest. She didn’t know what to say, I didn’t know what to say, it was all justtoo much of a mess right now. The whole thing, it’s just as she said. We weremoving way too fast, and out of order to boot. Adam told me to hurry it upwith the wedding, so as not to have our child be born without his parentsever having married, but getting married at seventeen sounds way tooimmature, no?I mean, how old was my dad when he had me? Let’s see, he was around fortywhen I left home, meaning he’s around… Forty five now?! Geez, that’salmost half a century of Lock Grimheart… Wait no! I’m going off track, Ishould be going back in time! Hmm, let’s see… He was twenty eight when Iwas born!? That’s like ten years after I’m supposed to have my kid! Oh God,that really puts things into perspective…But if there’s anything I won’t be doing, it’s worrying! I’m Lune Grimheart. Atraveler and inventor, the General of ARA, the benefactor of the Gryses (andalso their burglar…) I’ve already been a parent once with Nelly, and Cecilyand I had a ton of fun taking care of her! Now she’ll just have a little brotheror sister to play with is all! That’s magnificent news, and we should mostdefinitely be happy about it!“Marina?” I whispered, “Will you marry me?”She continued to sob, without even answering the question verbally even.Well, in her tears, she made sure to nod happily, and soon I noticed herembrace got tighter. She was afraid, obviously, but it’s not like she’ll bealone through this. I’ll be with her, every step of the way.***Fast forward to three weeks later. Today’s the day, our happy little weddingday! I mean, it’s quite rushed, and the only guests that were actually calledwere the friends of the bride. The groom’s a filthy hermit with like a total ofthree friends, and all three of them are out of the country or couldn’t becalled because of the groom’s stupid circumstances. That being said, a lot ofthe maids were being really kind towards Marina, lightening up the mood andtalking about all sorts of happy things to look forward too. Some of the oldermaids who are actually mothers would even give some advice to Marina,which is honestly really nice of them.Looks like she was in safe hands with these maids, so I don’t have anythingbad to say about them. Who I do have a problem with though, is the guy whotold us about the pregnancy in the first place. Yep, everyone’s favorite KingAdam!“…” I approached him without saying a word.“…What?” He answered back coldly.“Today’s a joyous occasion. Wouldn’t want anyone to be caught with a sourmood now, would we?” I said as I handed him a glass of Cardina wine.The reason he was in such a cranky mood was obvious to even a blind man.After all, before he got hitched with that childhood friend of his, he hadpreviously confessed his feelings to Marina, who almost as spectacularlyturned him down. After facing such heartbreak, he was actually quite calmabout just being a friend of hers, but obviously he’d be fuming if he had toendure witnessing the wedding of the one he turned down with some otherguy.That being said, Adam is my (Lune’s) friend, and so what if Sol is just hisshady business partner? I still want to have the King of Cardina’s blessing, ifonly for the bragging rights, honestly. He’s also become an amazing Kingever since he was crowned, and I’ve even heard talks of Cardina being at thepeak of its advancements under his rule. Well, those talks are nothing morethan rumors, but I could definitely tell the difference between ‘Pre-AdamCardina’ and ‘Post-Adam Cardina’ to say the least. I’m sure he’s made it toat least a few pages in the history books, meanwhile I’m nothing more than acommoner trying so desperately to be mentioned in the footnotes.“You better treat her right, Pandora.”“I will. But more importantly,” I began the teasing, “since we’ll be having achild, you should probably know by now just how well I’ve been treatingher.”“You…! N-No, you’re right. This is a momentous occasion for the both ofyou, nay, for the three of you. Mariabelle is a dear friend of mine, so justknow that I’ll have your head on a stick if you so much as make her weepeven a single tear!”Whoa, this guy’s good… Too good! He somehow managed to stay composedafter my distasteful remarks and then masterfully added in a hint ofthreatening to his little charade. But you can’t beat a merchant in a battle oftongues, I’m afraid!“Yeah, dear friend… Haha!” I went to get a refill after making fun of him fora bit.Soon after leaving Adam to fume to himself, I had walked up to the venueshank to open up another bottle. I noticed some of the maids staring at me as Ihaphazardly took hold of the corkscrew, so I waved at them with a happysmile. Instead of getting a wave back, I was met with disgusted gazes andwhispering amongst themselves. Well, that’s just rude! I’m the man of thehour, here!“Dear?” Marina came up to me with a pouty face, “Did you say something toThe King?”“Heh, nothing he didn’t need to hear~!”“Dear, I understand you’re still a bit mad at him for confessing to me backthen, but I already told you to drop it. He’s a good friend of mine, and he’salso a friend of yours (Lune’s), too. Please don’t be too hard on him.”I glanced back over towards Adam’s table, who was now staring daggers atme while his wife, The Queen, consoled him. I took note of how the situationlooked from an outsider’s perspective, and immediately realized why themaids were being so hostile towards me a moment ago.From their perspective, this random guy they’ve never met, who looks like arun-down piece of trash, is getting married to the fair and lovely Mariabelleand is also openly shoving it in The King’s face. Yeah, I should really go andapologize… Well, that’s for later. Right now I need to get myself hammered!“And dear?” Marina made sure to add another detail, “Remember ourpromise? After the wedding, you won’t ever touch a drop of alcohol again!”“I know…” I added, “But right now is still fair game, right? It’s supposed tobe a happy wedding after all!”Sighing, she playfully punched my arm and chuckled, “You drunkard! Heh,enjoy the moment, just make sure you’re sober enough to not embarrass usduring the ceremony.”“I will!”-DURING THE CEREMONY-“Do you, Mariabelle Pandora, take Sol… Pandora(?) as your lawfullywedded husband?”“Before anything,” Marina added, “I’d like to say that you’re being kindarude for judging us, Mr. Priest. And for your information, we just happenedto share a last name. Oh, and yes, I do.”After her little display of making fun of the priest’s judgmental tone (thatidiot thought we were siblings!), everyone in the venue started giggling andclapping for her while the priest shriveled up in embarrassment. That beingsaid, he knew how to handle these types of situations, so he immediatelydiverted his attention to the disheveled groom who was being propped up byan equally wasted Adam.“And do you, Sol Pandora, take Mariabelle as your lawfully wedded wife?”“Fuck yesh I do!” I raised a half empty glass of wine as I shouted.“Heck yeah, Sol!” Adam hyped me up, “You tell that sunovabitch priest!”If you’re wondering what exactly is going on here, I made sure to apologizeto Adam after being scolded by Marina, and after talking about some of thebooks we’ve read, we had quickly got back on the same page. Now Adamand Sol are buds, just like Adam and Lune!“A-Ah, my King, I apologize for my earlier tone.” The priest tried to weaselhis way out of being told off by the King, but Adam wasn’t having any of it.“Noh! You mesh with my bud’z wife on their wedding day, you mesh withme, y’hear!?”“Y-Yes, My King. I’m sorry…!”“Now!” Adam rallied up everyone’s attention, “Let’s have the lovebirdskish!”Needless to say, Marina wasn’t at all happy with the way I bonded withAdam. She was so embarrassed, I’m pretty sure she would’ve preferred Icontinued making fun of him. Well, either way the rest of the wedding partywent well. I made sure to compose myself during the first dance with Marina,but after Adam lifted me high up into the sky in a beautiful display, I couldn’tkeep it together anymore, and we continued laughing at the absurdity of it all.In the morning after, Marina was a bit angry with the both of us, but I wassadly the only person who had to witness her wrath. But alas, I now have topart ways with my dear alcoholic beverages… and welcome my new familyinstead! Haha! All in all, I’d call that a successful wedding! Now all that’sleft is… ugh, my head…