Chương 18: I pronounce you...and all that

and all that Scarlett stared at the man's face. She was pretty certain she recognized him. What was it? Leon Desmon? Delmon? She'd written it down somewhere. Anyhow, he was a rather prominent figure in certain parts of the game and was the vice-captain of the Imperial Solar Knights, which said a lot considering they were the strongest knight order in the empire.

She hadn't interacted with him as much as she could've because she never reached the capital in her third playthrough, which was supposed to be her knight playthrough.

As such, most of her knowledge of him was from late-game events. But he was still memorable enough of a character, despite her not expecting to meet him here like this. She looked at the hand that was on her shoulder.

"What was that?" she found herself asking sharply. He kept scowling at her as he removed his hand.

"What are you doing here, Scarlett?" She eyed him. While the hostility wasn't odd considering Scarlett's background, she had no idea what exactly it was for. And honestly, she didn't appreciate it. She wasn't sure if it was the Scarlett part or the Amy part of her, but she found herself growing more annoyed by the second.

"Is there a reason I cannot be here?"

"We'll leave you young people alone for now," she heard from behind her and turned to see Viscount Clapham lock arms with his wife.

"We can speak more at a later time." His wife smiled at her.

"It was a pleasure finally meeting you Baroness Hartford. I hope we can have a conversation over tea some time."

"Yes. Excuse me," Scarlett said as to the couple as they walked away. Then she spun around to look at Leon again.

"What do you want to accomplish by coming here?" he questioned. She raised an eyebrow at him.

"I am not quite sure what it is you are asking. I believe I received an invitation to attend this wedding." He scoffed.

"You're saying you're just here to attend as a normal guest?"

"I do not see what else I could be here for."

"We both know that's a lie." Scarlett glanced around their surroundings. There were quite a number of eyes aimed at them." You seem to be rather certain of it, yes. That does not constitute us 'both'." She gestured around them.

"Now, is that all you had to say? Or did you choose to cause a disturbance for another reason?" He looked around the garden at the people close to them for a second before letting out a sigh.

"Fine. But don't expect me to escort you. And if you try anything to disrupt Tilda's marriage, know that I won't stand still."

"I neither had such expectations nor thoughts to begin with," she said. He stared quietly at her for a moment. She met his eyes with her own annoyed gaze. Eventually he shook his head and left towards a group of people some distance away that wore similar uniforms as he. She watched him walk away. That had been a short, but rather intensive exchange. She wondered what kind of relationship he and the original Scarlett had had. It clearly wasn't a normal one, at least. And she certainly hadn't helped that any now.

But what was she supposed to do when he approached her in such a rude manner? Apologize for whatever she had done and try to appease him? Just the thought made her feel like retching. No matter what the original had done, she wasn't quite willing to go to those lengths for a stranger. She'd been pushing it even with Evelyne. Scarlett didn't get much more time to analyze the matter in her head before something else forced her to pay attention to her surroundings.

A young blonde woman in a wide yellow dress approached her with hesitant steps, shying away slightly when Scarlett shifted her gaze towards her. She looked to be a few years younger than Scarlett. Maybe somewhere in her early twenties.

"Yes?" Scarlett asked, not bothering to hide all of the annoyance that was still present in her voice. The woman spun her head towards a group of ladies next to a nearby table, then back to Scarlett.

"Ehm, are you the Baroness Hartford?" she asked.

"I am." The woman almost looked startled by the brusque answer, taking a second to regain her reason and grab the edges of her dress in some kind of curtsy greeting.

"I am Salvina Stansfield. I've heard much about the baroness."

"I'm sure you have." Scarlett looked the woman over.

"Was there something you needed?" Salvina's eyes widened.

"Ah, um... I wanted to ask if you wished to join us in our discussions. We noticed you were alone." Scarlett had barely been left by herself for more than ten seconds, but apparently that constituted 'alone' to them. She observed the group of women that were glancing at the two of them for a moment. Of course, none of them were someone she recognized. And from the way Salvina greeted her it didn't seem as if any of them knew her personally. She considered it for a second, then nodded her head.

"As you expended the effort to extend the offer, I will accept." She didn't know what else to do here anyway, and it would be easier to interact with people who didn't have any relations with the original Scarlett. Salvina looked somewhat surprised by the answer, but the younger woman quickly changed into a smile and led Scarlett towards her companions. The group of women introduced themselves as they approached and Scarlett nodded along with their words. She doubted she would remember any of them later on.

"So," one of the women, a tall brunette in a red dress not too dissimilar to Scarlett's, said.

"We were just discussing the soon-to-be newlyweds."

"Is that so." Scarlett turned her attention to the woman.

"Yes. Master Corbyn opened a business in the capital just last year and has been frequenting it often. A line of boutiques. It has been going rather well. My husband even invested in it recently."

"Supposedly it was through this business that he met Dame Trista," another woman cut in.

"Love at first sight, I heard."

"Oh how nice that must be," a woman that looked slightly older than the rest said and waved her hand in front of her.

"My own husband can't tell a boutique from a saloon. It would all have been so much easier if I could just have fallen madly in love when I first saw him." The women laughed at her words and Scarlett watched on with the closest she could to a fake smile, though it might honestly have been more like a sneer. She wasn't sure she could laugh, even if she wanted to.

"Ah, but I heard Dame Trista doesn't enjoy visiting boutiques often, so how did she and Master Corbyn end up meeting?" Salvina asked.

"I have never met the bride myself, so I wouldn't know."

"Neither have I."

"What about you, Baroness Hartford?" The brunette looked at Scarlett with an expression that Scarlett found distinctly irritating.

"You have had quite the number of run-ins with the bride, have you not?" Scarlett had no idea what kind of run-ins that was, but from the woman's tone, she could guess they weren't especially cordial. Which would also explain Leon's earlier behavior. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"I have also had many 'run-ins' with the guards at my estate. That does not mean that I know what they enjoy as their pastime," she said. It was essentially a wager what to answer here, anyway.

"I ask that you do not confuse acquaintance with familiarity." The woman flinched momentarily but quickly regained her composure.

"You misunderstand. I just meant that you might have heard something. Isn't Dame Trista a colleague of your fiancé? He might have mentioned something." Scarlett had a fiancé? And they were also an Imperial Knight? This was the first she heard of it. It couldn't be...

"Although judging from the display earlier, perhaps Sir Leon doesn't have the kind of relationship where he would share such matters with the Baroness." Scarlett shifted her gaze towards where Leon was conversing with the group of uniformed people. That man was her fiancé? She wouldn't have thought so from their earlier interaction. Now she almost felt a little bit bad for the way she acted. Well, that wasn't entirely true. But she thought it would be logical to feel bad about it, at least.

She held back a sigh as she turned back to the woman. How bothersome.

"I do not believe my relationship with Sir Leon is any of your concern, Lady Ayla. You may blather of whatever you wish when by yourself, but do not try to interpose yourself into my matters." The brunette froze at her words as the other ladies awkwardly looked around. Scarlett didn't bother saying anything more. She'd obviously botched this interaction.

"Ahem," Salvina eventually spoke.

"A-Anyway. Baroness, I recently read that you fought an organization of criminals."

"Oh! I also heard about that."

"How impressive."

"I don't think I would have the courage to do something dangerous like that." Scarlett held back a scowl as several of the women chimed in with their thoughts. At the rate this news was spreading the whole empire would know about it soon enough. She could just hope it didn't get out of hand and instead got forgotten in another week or so, as most news tended to do.

"To think you did something like that," Salvina continued in an astonished voice.

"I had heard the Hartfords were a family of skillful magicians, but that you could take on a large gang of criminals like that." It was neither particularly impressive, nor did Scarlett personally do that much. They were a relatively low-level gang, and the original Scarlett was even half-responsible for those crimes. She really had to read this article as soon as she returned.

"It makes one wonder how skilled you are," the brunette uttered.

"Maybe you're even a match for your fiancé?"

"Oh my, could that be true?"

"As strong as the vice-captain of the Solar Knights?!" She wanted to scoff as all the women's attention gathered on her. Leon Delmon was level 75 towards the end of the game. That was only five levels lower than the player at max level. Meanwhile, she would be lucky if she was even considered level 20 right now. Comparing the two of them was ridiculous.

Of course, none of these women would know anything about levels and all that, but surely they should at least know the difference between one of the strongest knights in the empire and some small-time villainess? Well, that wasn't her problem. Not like telling them otherwise would do much. She let them think what they wanted and said no more on the matter. Soon enough the discussion changed to another subject the women had an interest in.

Scarlett didn't particularly enjoy or participate in the conversations much, but she was unsure what else to do until the ceremony started so she stayed put, much to the dismay of at least a couple of the women it seemed, although they didn't show it too much more. Eventually, people started moving about in the garden and it looked as if things were starting to happen.

She found herself wishing she had a watch to check the time as she joined the throng of people that were starting to gather close to the statue at the central part of the garden. Soon enough, a man and a woman walked out from one of the surrounding buildings. The woman had long copper-blonde hair that was tied behind her shoulders and wore a bright white dress with golden tracery down its sides. While she could certainly be described as beautiful, the woman had a very hard appearance, Scarlett mused.

She didn't look like the kind of person who smiled much. Compared to her, the man was pure joviality. He had a short ginger-brown beard, as well as neatly cut hair, and wore a set of plush blue clothing. A huge smile was plastered on his face as he walked beside his fiancée and took in everyone's greetings. Scarlett didn't recognize either of their faces from the game. As she had thought, none of them were major characters.

It did surprise her slightly though that she felt a tinge of annoyance when she looked at the bride. It appeared the original Scarlett had strong feelings about Trista Denholm. Relatively strong, at least. Stronger than for her fiancé it seemed. And to some degree Garside, she suspected. It was far from being as bad as with Evelyne, however, so she managed to keep a neutral expression on her face as the couple passed through the mass of people with a short train of men and women walking arm-in-arm behind them.

Maybe those were some variety of bride's maids and best men. The bride herself seemed to have noticed her, Trista's eyes widening as she glared at Scarlett. Scarlett didn't show any reaction and watched as both the bride and groom kept moving towards the raised platform that stood at the end of the garden. Eventually Trista was forced to move her attention away from Scarlett. It didn't seem as if she had been aware Scarlett was coming either. Scarlett was starting to grow suspicious about the whole matter.

As the soon-to-be-wed couple climbed up a small set of stairs onto the platform music began ringing out across the garden. Scarlett spun her head to see a small musical quartet that she hadn't noticed before gathered to the side of the area in front of the platform where dozens of rows of chairs were lined up. All the guests started moving towards those chairs and Scarlett looked around to find where she could sit.

The rows were separated so it created a small aisle in the middle, much like what you often saw at weddings in her world, so she wondered if those related to the groom or bride should maybe sit on different sides. Unfortunately she had no idea which category she was supposed to fit into, so when she spotted Viscount Clapham and his wife sitting themselves down at the center of one of the rows she merely sat herself down further out on that same row. Then she began watching the proceedings with a calm expression.

Up till this point it hadn't looked much different from a classical wedding in her world. The bride and groom now stood at opposite ends of the platform. Soon another figure came walking down the impromptu aisle between the chairs and moved towards the platform. They wore a heavy and complicated set of gold-emblazoned red robes as well as a golden mask that was shaped like two squares interposed over each other at the front, with one square angled 45 degrees to it looked similar to an octagon.

The middle of the mask's face was completely white and had two pieces of cloth hanging down with odd symbols on them. It was one of the priests of Ittar, the god of the sun and patron deity of the Graenal Empire. The Followers of Ittar had been an oft-present faction in the game that Scarlett was very familiar with. The priest walked up the platform and moved to its center with slow steps. They then turned around to the mass of guests and threw their hands—which were hidden by a pair of white gloves—into the air.

The music stopped.

"Revered men and women." A man's voice rang out.

"Today is a day of celebration. For you, as well as the resplendent Ittar, are all here to attest to and bear witness to one of the oldest and most beautiful rites there is." Scarlett felt like rolling her eyes. Most priests in the game were like this. There wasn't necessarily anything wrong with it, but it felt horribly clichéd for a clergyman in a fantasy game. She knew that wasn't all they were about, but it was still a prevalent part of their characters.

As one might have expected, the priest soon went into a long speech about Ittar and the origins of the wedding rites. Scarlett wasn't particularly interested and only half-paid attention, wondering if they did this for all weddings. Felt like most attendants would get tired of it after visiting a wedding or two. The groom and bride stood to the side during the whole ordeal. If Scarlett was to guess this went on for at least an hour before the priest stopped talking about the importance of this act and that.

When he finally finished, the music gradually began playing again as he took several steps back on the platform and gestured towards the bride and groom who both walked to the center of the platform from opposite ends.

"As the sun rises and the sky turns, let Ittar's light shine upon those that shall share an unbreakable bond," the priest proclaimed.

"None but the glorious Ittar shall break this bond and none shall desecrate it; lest risk condemning themselves to eternity at the hands of the Viles in the Blazes." He turned towards the bride and groom both.

"Are the two of you ready, in body and in mind, to pledge to these vows?"

"Yes," both of them said at once.

"Then I declare you both united under the watch of Ittar, as husband and as wife." The two took a step forward and embraced each other with a deep kiss to the cheering of the audience. Scarlett lightly clapped her hands and inwardly let out a relieved sigh that things were starting to move forward. Hopefully there would be some banquet or the like afterward that she could attend for just a short while before leaving.

There was still something she wanted to do here in Ambercrest, and she didn't have too much time before she had to return to Freybrook. When Trista and her new husband eventually let go of each other with smiles on their faces and took a step back Scarlett thought it was almost done, but instead the man turned towards one of the people that had stood close to him on the platform and received a parchment of paper. Then he spun towards the crowd, beaming.

"If you all don't mind, I have something to say." Scarlett froze. They were holding speeches.