A festive atmosphere filled the capital of the Great Savannah, Apso.
It was because today was the marriage between the children of two prestigious families, Javelin Sharpclaw, and Illina Snow.
Both the Sharpclaw and the Snow family were prestigious families with people in many important posts of the government and great influence in both politics and military, so their marriage was something that many people pay attention to.
Moreover, Javelin was most likely the next patriarch of the Sharpclaw family, making this marriage even more important.
And as Javelin's friends, Bloed and the others were more than happy to participate in the marriage.
But to Bloed's surprise, beastmen marriages were much more… violent than he expected.
To start, Javelin first needed to go to the house of the bride and fight through several layers of defenses if he wanted to marry her.
It was a beastman custom called 'Snatching the Bride'.
The defenders were the family members of the bride, mainly Illina's father and brother. However, some guests could join the fun if they wanted, as long as they controlled their punches.
In the same way, the guests could also join Javelin's side and help him to rescue the bride, making the event even more chaotic.
Of course, this event was mostly symbolic, and nobody was really going to make things difficult for the catkin young man, however, the sheer number of people participating made the situation incredibly messy.
Influenced by the celebratory mood, Bloed decided to participate in the 'snatching the bride' event as well. However, he quickly found that something about this event was really wrong.
For some reason, most of the people that attacked him were young and beautiful girls, followed by their jealous pursuers accusing him of stealing the heart of xxx girl.
At a loss, Bloed was forced to fight against wave after wave of enemies that seemed endless.
In the end, he let himself be defeated when Rana and Aya joined hands, with Aya landing the final blow with a shy and excited face (And Rana and other girls gritting her teeth in rage and leaving disappointed).
Bloed smiled wryly and shook his head, thinking inwardly that the game had been fun, even if a bit tiring, only to realize that the older beastmen ladies were looking at him and Aya with warm eyes and Aya seemed embarrassed about something.
… Only later Bloed learned that attacking and defeating someone of the opposite sex in this game was a custom used for the beastmen to express your liking to someone you wanted to have as your partner. And if you let yourself be defeated, it meant you accepted his or her proposal.
When Liu Ying and Regina learned about the true meaning of this game, they looked at Aya with speechless looks, wondering when the shy cat girl became so sly.
Anyway, after the 'snatching the bride' game, the ceremony continued toward its second part. Here, the groom and the bride expressed their vows towards each other's parents and family and then towards the goddess.
Surprisingly, Eve appeared during this part of the ceremony to hear the vows towards the goddess, surprising many of the attendees and making them wonder about the relationship between the two families and the saintess of Moonlight Glow.
Bloed was also speechless when he saw Eve putting on a dignified look and nodding slightly at Javelin and Illina's vows (Who, by the way, were flustered seeing the powerful and terrifying saintess of Moonlight Glow in their ceremony).
Unfortunately, a look at Eve's wagging tail was enough for Bloed to know that the reason Eve was here was just to join the fun.
... She probably thought it would be exciting to act as a priest after hearing Bloed mention Javelin's marriage.
Smiling wryly, Bloed decided to apologize to his friends later. After all, he knew how much they feared the fox girl.
He did not know why they feared her so much, though. He could only see Eve as an expressionless and friendly dolt who liked to experience new things.
Fortunately, neither Javelin nor Illina ever heard Bloed's description of the famous [Bloodstained Moonlight], otherwise, they would have thought he was crazy.
When Javelin and Eve finally finished giving their vows, it was time to receive the congratulations and gifts of the guest. It was the last part of the event, and after this, Javelin and Illina would go to their bedroom to enjoy their first night as newlyweds.
One by one, the guest went to congratulate Javelin and Illina.
Finally, it was Bloed and the girls' turn.
Bloed, Regina, and Liu Ying went together to congratulate the pair. When Javelin and Illina saw them, they smiled with wide smiles.
"Bloed, Regina, Liu Ying. You are here."
"Congratulations on your marriage," Bloed said with a grin, passing a small box to Javelin containing their gift.
"What is it?" Javelin and Illina looked at the box curiously.
"Open it."
Having received Bloed's permission, Javelin and Illina opened the box carefully.
Inside, they found a matching pair of rings, one with a silver jewel and one with a brown jewel, just like Illina and Javelin's hair.
"This is…"
"I call them [Lovers' Ring]. These rings allow you to feel the state of each other at any moment. Moreover, you can use them to communicate with each other as long as the distance is not beyond two thousand kilometers."
Javelin and Illina were surprised when they heard Bloed's words.
"This is…"
"So romantic…"
Looking at the shining eyes of the bride, Bloed knew that his gift had been a success.
In fact, this world did not have the custom of giving rings when marrying, so Bloed thought it was a good idea to give them a gift with a bit of the Human Confederation's flavor.
Who knows? Perhaps in a few years the tradition of giving rings would also appear in this world.
On a side note, when Regina saw the rings, she stared at Bloed fixedly for almost one minute. And although she said nothing, Bloed could see in her gaze that she was asking him about when he was going to give her a ring.
After Javelin and Illina put on their rings, they looked at Bloed, Regina, and Liu Ying with smiles in their faces.
"By the way, I heard you are leaving soon." Javelin suddenly asked.
Bloed nodded. "Tomorrow."
"Is it so? It's a shame, I think I'll miss you... Right, I know I don't need to tell you it, but please take care of my sister. She is a good girl."
Bloed was startled.
"Wait. What does your sister have to do with me leaving?"
Javelin did not explain, just smiling playfully.
It was not until the next morning that Bloed understood the meaning of his smile.
...
P4TRE0N: patr-eon.com/aidnovels