Since not everyone needed to get an additional brooch, with Eric's lead, every guest entered the barrier. Past the barrier, every single one of them had their mouth agape at the scene. They could hardly believe how such a surreal place emerged from this small town.
The dash of pinkish gradient lighting from the rose barrier to the venue made it even more breathtaking. Every woman in the crowd wished they had or would have their wedding at such an exceptional place.
The smile on Eric's face couldn't frown even for a second. He was so pleased with the reaction of everyone and grateful for his quick-wittedness.
When Mike entered the place, his eyes couldn't help but move around and savor the beautiful surroundings. It was just that jaw-dropping that he couldn't close his mouth. With the right timing, despite the distance, Mike's eyes fell unto Eric's; eye to eye.
As if mocking him, Eric's lips lifted to a smirk, flaunting his grand wedding. Due to long-time rivalry, Mike couldn't just swallow and nod at Eric. He immediately grabbed Liliana's hand and said.
"Lily, we'll have another wedding soon. Don't worry. We'll make it much grander than--"
Liliana hastily covered Mike's mouth and said in embarrassment.
"That's enough, Mike. We'll talk about that later. Let's just enjoy this event, for now, okay?"
She managed to smile but not a smile that could reach her eyes. Mike could tell how furious his wife was at the moment and nodded without a word.
"Good."
Christina who was watching behind them was relieved. Mike found a perfect partner for himself.
Although they weren't the main leads nor host of the event, the royals were the first to take their seats. It was in the very front seats making the seating arrangement be based on titles. The family of the bride and other dukedoms were next to them.
As a pseudo parent of Eric, Christina was seated in the second row on the other side near the center aisle. His parents and main family were seated in the front row. Mike's family were beside Christina as close friends.
Most of their side was related to the groom and the other side was mostly on the side of the bride. This peculiar seating picked the interest of the many, especially the royal family.
With everyone in their seats, the priest had also arrived. Signaling the start of the ceremony, everyone seated.
Ding-Dong!
Since it wasn't particularly used in this kind of event, the oddly pleasant sound of magic church bells attracted the attention of many. But one person had his eyebrows furrowed deep, it was the king.
'...this sounds familiar'
As per Christina's instructions and arrangements, the sounds of the harp, flute, violin, and piano were heard after the church bells. It was Air From Water Music by Handel, played in the fantasy or mystical version of the one recorded in the memory of Christina.
Back in modern times, she used to dream about marrying and having children of her own which include planning a grand wedding for herself. She didn't wish for that grand of a wedding but was satisfied if she could march to the aisle with this song playing in the background.
But for the sake of her disciple and for the fact that Elysia would be the flower girl, Christina decided to make her dream come true. Not for her but the others. She wasn't even sure if she would be able to marry in this lifetime or if she would need to just wait in her next life for a chance to marry.
With the start of the melody, the children, toddlers to teenagers, separated by gender walked down the aisle one by one to their seats. The girls had mini flower bouquets and the boys had flowers on their wrists.
After the long wait, the children's number dropped down to two. Leaving the crown prince, Helios as the ring bearer, and Elysia, the flower girl. Helios did his part exuding the pride and arrogance that a member of royalty should have. While Elysia gave her best and sweetest smile while spreading petals on the ground as she walked down the aisle.
Since Christina couldn't bring her camera, she used mana to capture the moment and saved every second in her brain. With this, she could extract it at the highest possible quality.
With all of her focus directed to Elysia, she didn't notice the unstable mana that she used to avoid unnecessary attention. Christina didn't imagine that her negligence made a person notice her. What's even worse was that it was the person she definitely didn't want to be noticed by.
'Who...? I don't think I've seen that lady there before.'
But with Elysia passing through the aisle, the King snapped out of it and focused on the event. It was at that moment, the bride started to walk on the red carpet. She was wearing an embroidered conservative wedding dress. With the embroidered top, be a lacy long sleeves with a Chinese base design.
As per the written ceremony of Christina, the groom escorted the bride to the altar. Now, the priest started to say his piece.
Although the ceremony was solemn and dreamy, one person wasn't paying any attention to it. It was the King... again. His eyebrows were crumpled together as if he was thinking about something.
The Queen beside him seemed to notice his unusual behavior. She discreetly leaned over to the King's side to ask.
"What's wrong?" The Queen whispered.
Simultaneously, the priest asked the bride and groom, "Please state your vows."
As if on cue, the King suddenly remembered why this was all familiar to him.
"The Eternal Vow."
The King almost inaudibly uttered. The Queen managed to hear it clearly and remember it too. Her eyes went wide but controlled it to an extent that no one would be able to point out something was wrong.
"But that's impossible." The Queen was taken aback.
"It should be. But..."
The Eternal Vow was a ceremony where couples said their vows in the name of the God of Elkid, Eloa. This was irreversible and highly prone to heavy divine punishment if broken. That's why this was only passed down to royalties and was only performed behind doors of the palace.
Now that it was being performed right before their eyes made no sense to the King and Queen. Although they didn't worry about the possible separation of the couple before them, its vow was notorious for its blending of natural mana and mortal mana.
While thinking so, mana began to waver around the venue. Everyone was alarmed but they didn't want to disturb the ceremony as the King and Queen themselves didn't react aggressively about the matter.
Uncomfortable, the guests remained in their seats and watched the ceremony unfold. The exchange of rings sealed their vows and the mana around surrounded the couple. As if mischievously enhancing their special moment, the mana became orbs.
Without paying attention to anything but what's in front of him, Eric unveiled the bride. Finally, he saw the face of his beloved bride, Juliana. She had this sweet smile while looking into his eyes. As if they owned that moment, that time and place, they marked their new beginning with a kiss.
With that, the orbs of mana rise from the ground and transformed into rose petals made of mana. Ending their kiss, the couple was amazed at the showering petals. Though confused at first, the guests gave them their heartfelt blessing as they stood and clapped.
The King and Queen brushed off this issue in the meantime as this wasn't the right place and joined everyone as they celebrated this event.