The only two whose smiles remained just as radiant throughout were Maery and Levi.

Levi had no intention to hide his good mood, and after a week-long practice, he had already learned the proper method to deal with facial cramps. Thus, he kept happily showing off his little “wife” to everyone for the entire day and night, clearly proclaiming his ownership for all eyes to see. And, of course, he also took a few nibbles of his baby’s tofu here and there for good measure. And to help him endure ‘til the full course meal… o(≧▽≦)o

And there were even a few legit couple activities scheduled where he could righteously smother his baby! Such as cutting the cake together. (Heh heh, his little kitty had such soft little paws! (⁄ ⁄>⁄ ▽ ⁄

Maery, too, was almost as ecstatic as Levi. On the one hand, she couldn’t be happier that this wedding wasn’t hers and Levi’s, especially after seeing how happy the two of her favorite boys were together. And on the other hand… heh heh, she couldn’t help but direct her signature “aunty” smile towards the two love birds. Unlike the rest of the guests that were choking on dog food, the thought that was running through her mind was, ‘Let the tempest–ahem, PDA, come strike harder!’ (*ಠ‿ಠ*)

After the clock struck 3 AM, the two grooms finally waved goodbye to the remaining guests. After wishing their guest an enjoyable remainder of the festivities, they gracefully retired for the night.

With that, Trey was released from his bodyguard duty, and he could finally join Case and Fynn at the “single dogs drinking away the woes” table. Ah, nothing spelled misery more clearly than the countless empty liquor bottles in the middle of the table! Except, you know, the bunch of dead-drunk men competing over who got the shortest end of the stick. ╮(╯▽╰)╭

Dead-drunk #1, a.k.a. Case, wailed with his blonde hair all over the place, “How did this happen?! I chased him so many years, yet he didn’t even notice!! I thought he was straight!!!”

“How? That’s a good question.” Yet-to-be-dead-drunk #3, a.k.a. Trey, downed a glass full of heavy liquor in his earnest efforts to join the dead-drunk group asap, “I’ve been here from start to end, saw it all happen. And I still have no idea how the two of them got together!”

Dead-drunk #2, a.k.a. Fynn, who had only briefly handled the arrest of the councilor before returning to the party, nearly choked on his drink. ‘I hope no one finds out I am indirectly responsible for this… ಥ‿ಥ …Quick, change the topic!’ Fynn hurriedly raised his glass, “Here is a goodbye to the last three years I spent crushing on Aris.”

“Heh. Six years. I win.” Case raised his own glass in response before Fynn was even done downing his. An admirable feat, considering the fact that Fynn’s glass was empty; as the man himself realized after several failed attempts of guzzling down air.

Trey looked at his “one week” and felt too embarrassed to join in.

Case “sovereignty” over his peers lasted exactly 10 seconds before the crown of greatest misery was snatched away by a newcomer.

“Seven years.”

The three men turned to face the familiar face of the newcomer, and then they collectively spat out their drinks. “You chased Aris since he was 11?!? Weren’t you 19 then?!?” ( ꒪Д꒪) ‘Uh-oh! Pedo-alert!!!!’

Trey’s facial expression turned wooden, “I know my young master is attractive, but…” ‘Fiend! I misjudged you!!’

Case smacked his own chest heavily in attempts to dislodge the liquor from his windpipe, “D-dude! You–cough– look so–cough, cough– gentlemanly! Who knew…” ‘…you were a pedophile in disguise!’

Fynn opened up voice recording on his communicator with a straight face, “Come, come. Tell me more about this… preference of yours. How many little boys have you had your eyes on in recent times?”

The still-sober newcomer, a.k.a. Shaw, gave the other three an incredulous look, his glasses nearly slipping off his nose, “No! Not Aris! His sister! I pursued his sister for 7 years!” His wide forest-green eyes screamed ‘What’s wrong with you people?!’

“… … Oh!” The trio let out a breath of relief and then shoot Shaw apologetic looks. “Sorry, man.”

Fynn gave his glass a stink-eye. Maybe he had too much to drink? Otherwise, how could he have forgotten that he had never felt any inappropriate intents from Shaw towards Aris? Still, Fynn’s regretful questioning of his own drinking choices lasted only a moment before his blurred eyes narrowed in suspicion, “But wait… if you are not into Aris, what are you doing here drinking with us then?”

Ah, this inspector, even when drunk, knew how to ask all the right questions!

“Weren’t you all smiles the entire night? Walking around hand-in-hand with your date?” Trey immediately echoed Fynn’s suspicion.

Case slammed his empty glass on the table, “That’s right! This is the heartbroken club! Our crush just got married, but yours just got OUT of marriage!! What are you doing here?! Came over to gloat?!”

“No, of course not.” Doctor Shaw elegantly poured himself a cup and sighed sadly, “When I heard that Maery and Levi broke off their engagement, I was thrilled. I hid these feelings in my heart for seven years. And now, finally, I could let them out and openly pursue her.”

“And now you even took her to the wedding as her date. Good for you.” Trey couldn’t disguise a tinge of sourness from leaking into his tone.

“Indeed, I was so happy when Maery asked me to accompany her to the wedding as her date…” Shaw smiled wryly, “I always thought she had feelings for me too. After all, why else would she treat me so intimately and often ask me out to lunch?”

“And?” Fynn’s professional curiosity was stoked, “Could it be that she doesn’t like you?”

Shaw took off his thin glasses and then shook his head with clear fatigue. “Not exactly… she said she liked me very much…”

“So, then… you got friend-zoned?” The champion of friend-zone Case immediately guessed. He laid his entire torso on top of the table and perked up his ears to listen to this juicy gossip.

Shaw continued shaking his head. “Not exactly…”

“Don’t keep us in suspense! What happened?” Fynn urged. “Did you two have a fight or something?”

Shaw shook his head again, letting out another heavy sigh, “No. Tonight was going so well...” Shaw raised his long, elegant fingers to rub his aching temples, “…until Maery apologized for dragging me here as her date and swore she’d find me a great match…”

A moment of silence passed…

“Oooh!” The trio shot Shaw identical looks of sympathy reserved for a comrade in arms. “Indeed. The Cordia siblings are made out of the same mold.”

Trey patted the elegant doctor on his back, his heavy pats nearly causing Shaw to spill his drink all over himself. “It’s still not too late for you. You should just say it outright while she is still single–”

“I already did.” Shaw interrupted, staring at the trio with dead-fish eyes.

“It… might not be as bad as you think.” After an awkward cough, the ever-rational Fynn comforted. “What exactly did she say?”

“I quote…” Shaw downed his glass before speaking out Maery’s exact words. “‘Ah, Shaw, you are really very good! As soon as I saw you all those years back, I instantly liked you! Handsome, intelligent, refined, thoughtful, gentle! The type that would definitely pamper his wife! Simply an ideal husband!’”

The more Shaw spoke, the stranger the looks around him became. “From the look on your face, I thought she rejected your confession? That doesn’t sound like a rejection, ah!”

Shaw motioned with his hand as if to say “wait for it” and continued quoting Maery, “‘Actually, you are exactly the man I’ve been looking for! My ideal, my perfect”– Shaw swallowed hard several times before managing to squeeze out the remainder of the sentence –“brother-in-law!”

The suspenseful silence was broken by a collective sharp intake of breath.

“That’s right! Not only did she shoot me down, but”– whether it was due to agitation or the alcohol, Shaw’s pale cheeks flushed – “It turned out that, all this time, she had been asking me out for lunch because she was trying to set me up with her little brother!!! Her brother!!!”

- Author Note -

That’s right! Shaw was the only one out of the four who actually treated Aris like a little brother!

I’m pleased to see that many of you caught on to that before this reveal. Good job! It makes me happy when my little clues are caught. ╰(*°▽°*)╯

Though most of you figured it out when Shaw covered Maery with a blanket, some of you, like Keisotsuna from CG, figured it out WAY back in chapter 58 when Shaw didn't seem to like Levi after figuring out he was Maery’s fiancé. Well done! Your eyes are so sharp~ ♥

If you are among the darlings who did not manage to figure it out beforehand, don’t beat yourself over it. Since everyone around Aris had a crush on him, when you saw Shaw treat him intimately, you naturally thought that he too liked Aris. No shame in that. ╮(╯▽╰)╭

This author both likes to dig pits for you guys to fall into and giving you subtle clues to the greater truth. Heh heh, many arcs later when certain truths are revealed, if you go and reread earlier arcs, you'll catch on to many of the things you previously missed.

P.S. Next chapter, we’ll finally get to our much-anticipated wedding night. o((>ω