Side Story: The Wedding (I)

“Hey, hey! It’s the Demonic Lord’s wedding! Why are you statues?” Angelo rapped a plank like a drum, voice ringing like a bell in fog.

“Marshal, even if you say that… we don’t know what to do,” a Demon Race officer stepped forward, respectful as a reed in wind.

“What to do? If you idiots don’t know, go grab some humans who do!” Angelo shot back, words like thrown daggers.

Truth was, she was Demon Race too. Demons didn’t marry; her head was as blank as new snow.

Their side already had a mountain of work, a tide breaking over their heads.

Still, this chaos meant a few days’ leave—a warm sunbeam through clouds.

Angelo savored the thought like sweet steam rising from a cup.

The demon generals traded helpless looks, then scattered like birds flushed from a grove.

Angelo stroked her chin, had subordinates bring coffee, and lounged on the sofa like a cat in a sun patch.

Then a thought stabbed her. She bounced up. “Crap! We still gotta drag the Demonic Lord to try wedding dresses!”

She snatched up a crystal ball, ready to holler for Reni and Era to help kidnap their boss for a field trip.

Recently, the Demon Race had coaxed a few tribes to submit, slow tide pulling pebbles into sea.

Even the rare Bloodkin and every last Fallen Angel had been taken in. The lesser vassal races were long-gone dust.

Eli stood on a cliff edge. Wind knifed by his ears like cold steel, quieting his bones.

“So it’s finally time.” He smiled, slid a visor over his left eye; sight bloomed back in both like dawn through shutters.

“So much on the road here. Guess that ties a bow on it.” He chuckled, a dry leaf skittering.

He stretched, bowed to the cliff like a pilgrim to an altar.

Then his figure thinned like mist and vanished from that space.

Elsewhere, four girls with different auras walked the street, drawing eyes like lanterns in dusk.

That was the Demon King’s entourage.

Edlyn yawned at the center, sleep heavy as a quilt. “Hey. You’ve been looking forever. Still can’t find it? Can I go nap?”

Reni frowned at the map glowing like a firefly in her hand. “That’s weird. The navigation says it’s right here.”

“The bridal shop,” Era rubbed her temples like soothing a headache. “Demonic Lord, maybe we head back? Looks like it won’t turn up fast.”

Edlyn yawned again, breath like a warm sigh. “I’m with that. But Angelo won’t let us.”

Angelo grinned, easy as sunshine. “Relax. Reni’s right. The bridal shop is here.”

“Huh? Then is this Demon King as blind as the Hero? I don’t see anything like it,” Edlyn muttered, sipping milk tea like a sulking squirrel.

“Your Majesty, don’t doubt your humble servant. C’mon. Reni, follow the route. Maps don’t lie.”

They slipped into an alley, left, right, then right again, and entered through a door dressed up like a masquerade mask.

A beat later, Edlyn processed it. Two tiny fists thumped Angelo and Reni on their heads like popped chestnuts.

“For the love of—! If you can’t lead, don’t! You made it sound mystical, like some hidden scenic spot. Turns out you just took the wrong route! We wandered to their back door! You two are killing me!”

Reni shrank behind Angelo like a trembly rabbit. “It—it’s not my system. Marshal Angelo made me look. Don’t blame me, Your Majesty.”

Angelo coughed twice, eyes sharp as a hawk’s at Reni. “Your pay’s docked.”

Reni’s face crumpled like wet paper. “Wuwu… why is it my fault again?”

Power in the Demon Race had already slid to a new generation like a river changing course, so most folks didn’t know what the Demonic Lord even looked like.

After Angelo’s group told the clerks money wasn’t a problem, staff whisked them through the high-end floor like a gust through silk banners.

Edlyn’s head spun, thoughts like fireflies. She couldn’t pick a thing. So Angelo chose a style and named Edlyn the model.

But Edlyn’s figure—curves like dunes and lines like willow—needed tailoring.

The Demonic Lord almost torched the shop in a temper, sparks in dry straw. The three hauled her to a dessert bar, iced drinks cooling a storm.

“They’ll ship it after alterations. Task done,” Angelo smiled, checking her messages like a fisherman checking nets.

“So where’re we playing now?” Edlyn tilted her head, curiosity like a cat’s ear twitch.

“Emmm, Your Majesty, we’re busy—mmph!” Reni started, but Era and Angelo each flicked the back of her head, crisp as pebbles in a pond.

“Ahem. Your Majesty, anywhere you want. Before the wedding, you’re the freest bird,” Angelo said, a light cough before a summer breeze smile.

“Oh. Before the wedding…” Edlyn’s ears warmed like sunrise, face pink as a peach.

“Uh. Regretting it?” Angelo tipped her head, eyes playful as ripples.

“No! Get lost!”

…

“Hurry up. She’s waiting.” Abyss stepped out, gaze like night water, to where Eli lingered at the chapel door.

“I—I suddenly feel panicky. What do I do, Father-in-law?” Eli clawed his hair like a mad gull.

“How would I know? My daughter’s inside! Get in there!” Abyss arched a brow, grabbed Eli by the collar like a kitten, and hoisted him.

“Ah. How’d you marry Mother-in-law?” Eli’s eyes narrowed like a snake’s slit, pinning Abyss.

Abyss froze, turned his head. “Heh… o—of course I stormed the gates.”

“Tsk. Edward, you’re a lousy man.”

“Hell! Mind your own business! Get inside! Standing in the cold like a scarecrow!” Abyss’s old face flushed like wine, voice booming.

“Ah… By the way. My wife’s the Demon King. My father-in-law is the Lord of Darkness, Abyss. And we’re in a chapel. Isn’t that… off?” Eli looked ash-grey, ash on winter snow.

“Cold feet?” Abyss lifted a brow. “A chapel’s just a shell. Who’s on the altar changes. Most normal ones honor your mother-in-law. Special ones mostly honor me. Why overthink?”

“Ah… Marriage feels… complicated. Aren’t you two supposed to be worlds apart? Is it okay to be this casual?”

“Kid, let me ask you. Are you backing out?” Abyss’s smile faded like a lamp snuffed.

Eli’s face tightened, a knot in wood. “No way. I just… ha… Sorry. I shouldn’t hesitate.”

Abyss’s smile returned like a lantern relit. “Don’t keep a girl waiting.”

He chuckled and went back into the hall like a tide retreating.

Eli drew a long breath. He touched his still-blind right eye under the patch, a wry smile like a cut moon. “A blind groom with an eyepatch. First in the world? …Whatever.”

He laughed low, wind under grass. “What am I afraid of?”

He straightened, smoothed his clothes like a calm lake, and walked forward.

He inhaled, pushed open the chapel doors. Music flowed out like a river of light.

Inside, guests turned at the creak, their gazes thudding like soft arrows on his chest.

He exhaled slow, looked at familiar faces like old stars. Calm seeped back like warm tea.

For those left from the age of magic, this was a rare festival, a hearth in winter.

He raised his head. The bride, in pure white, stood before the cross like a lily before dawn, not turning yet.

Eli drew a bouquet of roses and two precious rings from the air, the metal glinting like starlight. He walked to Edlyn’s back.

Edlyn turned, blush petal-soft on her cheeks.

Eli smiled. What was he afraid of? Losing to Zero? That this was illusion?

Idiot.

He cursed himself in his heart, then drank in the bride’s beauty like clear spring water.

He dropped to one knee, head bowed. His eyes flicked to her small feet in white silk stockings and white heels, then up again, offering flowers. “Edlyn. I’m here.”

Edlyn took the bouquet, eyes skittering away like startled fish. “Mm. I—I know.”

He rose and took her hand, warm as a bird in his palm.

After Father Waynes’s blessing rolled over them like incense,

Eli looked down at Edlyn. Edlyn looked up at Eli. Two stars finding each other.

They exchanged rings, circles like silver moons joining.

Eli smiled, dipped, and kissed her. A heartbeat later, lips parted. “Edlyn, I love you.”

“Mm… I love you too, Eli.” Her face reddened like an apple, words stumbling like a fawn.

Eli’s grin split wide as sunrise. “Alright, everyone! Ceremony’s over! Party as you like! I’ve got things to do! See ya!”

He scooped Edlyn up, arms sure as a tide, and bolted like a thief of joy.

Abyss lifted a brow. “Hey! You two! Don’t be back too late! We still have cake!”

“Hahaha!” Laughter rang in the chapel like bells.

…

By the sea, on a sun-warmed rock,

Eli held Edlyn, breath ragged like surf, smiling. “Ahem. Ai-chan~”

Edlyn turned her face away, shy as a tide-pink shell.

Eli’s gaze roamed her, love swelling like a spring flood, almost spilling the banks.

She felt it, turned back, looped her arms around his neck with a smile like moonlight. “Do you like it?”

He swallowed, throat dry as sand. “I—I do.”

“Pretty?”

“S—so pretty.”

“Eheh.” Edlyn, a Succubus in bloom, pinched his chin, smile wicked-sweet as dark honey.

Eli’s heart kicked like a drum.

She laughed low. “You’re not doing it out here, are you~?”

“Uh… mm… But, Edlyn, something’s off. Are you—”

Edlyn yanked his tie and straddled him, motion smooth as a wave. “Mm~ Today’s tribute day. Don’t forget—I’m a Succubus.”

“Ahhh—! Easy!”

“Pfft—hahaha!”