The next five months passed by extremely uneventfully, and the people eventually found out about Alex's pregnancy.
At first, troublemakers tried to shame the couple, claiming that they had a child out of wedlock because Alex was already six months pregnant by the time everyone finally confirmed she was pregnant. The timing did not align, as when they tried to backtrack it meant that Nile should have still been engaged to Lily, the deceased female protagonist. Also, the two hadn't even bothered to come out about their marriage yet and it was only a speculation that Alex and Nile had hooked up.
After all, wouldn't people with such high status have a grand wedding for the entire galaxy to witness?
But Nile and Alex didn't do that even after returning from the starship so nobody confirmed their status at all.
Add to the fact that Alex was obviously from the Betelgeuse's nemesis family, the sun spots decided to strike the couple denouncing them as having illicit relations as Nile had seemingly impregnated Alex before formally annulling his engagement with Lily.
Of course that wasn't really the case, but Nile and Alex wanted the face-slapping to be hardest so they waited until the accusations worsened before finally holding a press conference to show off their marriage certificate as well as the annulment documents. In this way, those who had tried their best to drag the couple's names through the mud were too embarrassed and ashamed to speak out ever again.
And, riding on the hype that the reveal had caused, the two decided to host a large-scale wedding that would be broadcasted throughout the colonies. After all, it was definitely not okay for Nile as the future Marshal of the colonies to neglect the people by not having a wedding befitting his status.
Their excuse for having hosted their wedding nine months late was due to their circumstances--the starship incident had interrupted the intended date that the original Nile had planned for and thus he had to plan for another six months after returning from the suicide mission so that the wedding would not be disappointing.
Sure enough, it was hosted in the most beautiful site on Mars, the Ice Garden that only those from the upper upper echelons could reserve for only a few minutes, much less the entire three-quarters of a day as Nile had done.
As its name suggested, it was a garden filled with a variety of iced flowers, trees, and recreational decorations perfectly carved by the Martian founders and predecessors. Although Mars was known as the red planet, there were ice mines littered all about, and only the Ice Garden was "naturally" beautiful with the contrasting ice garden and red sky. Oftentimes when military officials held their weddings, it would be hosted on a large ship. But that was because they weren't as wealthy or had as much power as the Betelgeuse family as the renowned family of Marshals.
Then again, even Nile's father, the current Marshal hadn't hosted such an extravagant wedding for his wife. It wasn't his fault, since Nile was simply richer than he was after decimating the Rigel household and making more of a name for himself ever since returning from Starship 549.
They invited as many people as they could, from all walks of life, as well as many reporters and news stations. Nile had even made Zero put his video skills to use by making him record the entire wedding to broadcast similar to the previous porno. Thus he was able to earn extra income through Zero's video production as "Zero" became a largely sought after film director especially when it was revealed that not only was the wedding one of his repertoire but also the previous porno of Lily and her gangbang.
Well, even if the content wasn't appropriate, the retired veterans and current masters of the field had to admit that the camera-job was extremely well-done.
Even with her six-months bulging stomach, Alex still rocked the white wedding dress as she was accompanied down the aisle with Nile's father as her own was locked in prison. As she was marrying the next Marshal, her dress was long and draped across the floor, embellished with subtle gold threads that accentuated her curves. Unlike the dress in her first world that showed too much, this dress was sleeveless but undoubtedly more modest in that her cleavage was well-hidden, and translucent white gloves covered up to the middle of her upper-arms.
Speaking of their enemies who had lost the battle, Lily's younger sister whose name was conveniently forgotten by everyone (A/N: Isabelle! Hah! I didn't forget!), ended up killing herself after Nile's soldiers caused her to miscarry her own child in her womb.
It might've seem excessively cruel, but nobody said that Alex and Nile were good people and it's not like the mission worlds were actually "real" to them either. To the couple, the only things that they considered real were each other, their child, other hosts, and the Void Competition and world, as well as their original world that they came from. One could say that their systems were also real, but at the same time they were simply extremely intelligent AIs.
The Aldebaran family of three had no hope of ever leaving the prisons they were each held in--which were all different as there were separate ones for each gender and age. All of them were forced to watch the wedding of their former family member with a myriad of negative emotions; some of which were envy, regret, anger, and despair.
Back to the wedding, Nile had chosen Duke as his best man since they were long-standing best friends, while his two other groomsmen were Faust and Tyler as Alex's best friends. Even though he hated how the two looked at his wife, he knew that Alex felt nothing other than appreciation for them so he felt it was actually much better to have them possess leading roles for the wedding between the woman they loved the most and her husband that wasn't them.
As for Alex, who had virtually no friends whatsoever, didn't really care for who her bridesmaids would be. In the end, though, they chose three random women who were part of the suicide mission aboard Starship 549 as they knew Alex more than anyone else their age. To be more precise, Alex and Nile had left the decision up to the three groomsmen. So basically, those three women were personally chosen by Duke, Tyler, and Faust as they would be walking down the aisle with them.
Contrary to what Nile expected, Tyler and Faust may have loved Alex more than friends should have but they truly valued her and wholeheartedly wished for her happiness. Thus they did not feel sad during her wedding but happy. Of course, it still hurt to see her being happy with someone else, but it couldn't be denied that they felt she deserved the best. And Nile was honestly the best man in the galaxy in every aspect of the word.
Duke wanted to get a wife, soon. He had never seen Nile so bright and lively in their over twenty years of friendship.
"Do you, Nile Betelgeuse, swear to love Alex Fomalhaut now and for the entirety of your life?" The reverend asked as per expected. Alex conveniently took up her mother's maiden name for the sake of the wedding ceremony so as to avoid the awkward situation of already possessing the same surname.
"Unto death and the countless lifetimes to come, I do," Nile added as he stared intently into Alex's formerly distracted gaze, causing her to instinctively regain her focus onto him due to the gravity of his tone and expression.
He wanted her to know that he was serious about her and his promise to her; that he would love her and only her for the entirety of the one thousand years ahead of them. And, if she would let him, even beyond those years.
"And you, Alex Fomalhaut, do you swear to love Nile Betelgeuse now and for the entirety of your life?" The reverend turned to Alex, as Nile held his breath anxiously waiting for her reply.
This was different from their first world in that they married solely for the sake of their missions at that time with no feelings whatsoever on either part. Even though technically this was again for their missions, Nile had thrown in his entire heart, body, and soul into this one as opposed to the first.
It was precisely because she was aware of how much Nile had invested into this wedding that Alex took a few seconds to collect her thoughts. It had already been six months since she agreed to give him a chance, and six months since he'd given her something she never knew she'd love so much--the child in her womb. Also, she couldn't deny that Nile was perfect husband material as he never once bailed out on her despite all of her delusions that kept getting worse and worse as the months flew by. In fact, instead of feeling irritated or agitated, Nile would patiently coax and console her, reassuring her of how much he loved her and their child.
And even worse, she hated to admit that most of those delusions would bring out all of her insecurities that she had in her original world--what if he promised to love her forever but died before her leaving her alone like her parents did, or if he finally got bored of her and left her like her ex except the ex didn't get bored of her rather he just found out he was gay. But all in all, she never liked the thought of growing attached to others because she always subconsciously knew that she would end up alone.
That's why she unconditionally loved her unborn son. Because she had a higher chance of dying before him, and he could never bear to leave her if she raised him correctly.
Only after deliberating for half a minute did Alex's gaze sharpen as her slightly low timbre voice sounded through the garden, "For now and the rest of this life, I do."
Unlike Nile, she wasn't completely convicted enough for her "love" to last for the next lifetime nor the ones afterwards. Who knew what could happen?
But in this lifetime, she'd already completed all of her missions after this wedding (marrying him was actually required for the side mission) and he'd given her an unquestionable reason to love him--their son. Well, there was also how much he unconditionally loved her the past half-year, as well. And the sex. And the food.
She may have been unfeeling but it's not like she didn't have a heart. So, she would cave in to him this once.
Furthermore, while they started out as fierce competitors, after Nile had decided to help her win the competition for the sake of their future together and with their child, their relationship instantly shifted to that of allies. They already settled their scores after the second world, and apparently, even if Nile won the competition he wouldn't be able to make another wish. So, he was initially playing this competition out of boredom as she had expected. Most importantly, the thought of spending and eternity with her child was reason enough to make that wish.
Even though her vow was not as extensive as his own, Nile was brimming with happiness and his heart felt like a million deer were running and jumping all over it as it beat excitedly within his firm chest. He couldn't hold back his breathtaking smile as he let his wife's words and the meaning behind them sink in.
I will love you from this point on and for the rest of this lifetime, Nile.
After completing their vows and finishing off with the long-awaited kiss that Nile had kept surprisingly sweet instead of steamy, the audience clapped as the entourage of eight walked back down the aisle.
As it was the wedding for a military official, especially one as esteemed as Nile, the soldier bridesmaids and groomsmen instead of walking completely out of the venue, lined up at the other end of the aisle from the stage whilst raising the ornamental rifles that they had adorned at their waists like swords from the very beginning along with their white ceremonial uniforms.
Similarly, Nile had worn a white ceremonial uniform but as his position was higher and he was the groom his uniform had more embellishments and intricate golden embroidery, badges, and tassels hanging from the shoulder blades.
The groomsmen and their partners who stood across from them formed an arc with their rifles as the bride and groom left the venue under the cheers and standing ovation of their guests, followed by the first row of family members and close friends, then the next row and so on.
They had just completed the wedding ceremony which was held in the outer garden. The Ice Garden had three parts; the outer garden, the greenhouse, and the lakeview.
The lakeview was actually kind of misleading as the lake wasn't really filled with fluid liquid but frozen.
The greenhouse walls were made entirely of glass while the garden inside was all ice.
As for the temperature of the entire Ice Garden site, it was very cold to maintain the garden, yes, but the people in this time didn't get cold easily and there was an automatic internal heating and cooling system installed in the micro-chips embedded on their forearms. So, they didn't have to worry about appropriate clothing for weather or whatnot.
The guests were led to the greenhouse for the reception while Alex and Nile who were later followed by their close friends and family were taken to the lakeview to take pictures.
It was only after the day was almost over that Alex and Nile finally returned home. Sometime during the long day, Nile refused to let his wife continue standing and walking as she was pregnant and while exercise was good, too much was not. The guests hearts melted at how considerate and loving the groom was towards the bride, and how beautiful the bride was as she was being spoiled and pampered like a queen. The irony. She was a queen.