Richard wanted a quiet little wedding. He was an old man, and human customs became even weirder with him as the groom. As such, he kept the invitees to the minimum. Him being house Alexandria’s patriarch, that list included twenty-five hundred outsiders plus his relatives.

Frida, however, invited four guests. Wolf, Anna, Mandy, and Wolf’s and Mandy’s unborn child. She disliked Anna, but not inviting her meant stirring a riot in her master’s tiny household.

The ceremony took place at the square in which Headmaster Smith held Wolf’s trial, at the center of Silver City’s Mage Academy. The one presiding over the event wasn’t an abbot of one of ten temples, nor was it Duke Silverhound. Instead, the person stating the lengthy and rather boring legal implications of becoming a marchioness was Daniel Smith in person.

The pair just finished saying ‘I do’, and the wedding officiant burned with the desire to say ‘You may Dick the bride.’

Daniel gave Richard a warm, loving look, while the elderly secretary glared at him. ‘Don’t you dare say it, you old bastard,’ his terrified gaze screamed.

“You may… kiss the bride.” The square thundered with over three thousand pairs of hands clapping.

Richard exhaled in relief, and while he and Frida kissed, Wolf found himself disappointed. In the end, he didn’t dare say.

Headmaster Smith teased Richard with his joke thrice in Wolf’s presence, and gods know how many times in private. “I’ll never speak with you again,” Richard threatened, while old Smith winked and roared in laughter.

After the official ceremony ended, Richard and Frida left, leaving Daniel Smith in charge, since everyone in Richard’s household was his junior.

“Congratulations on marrying off Richard.” Wolf laughed, shaking Headmaster Smith’s hand as the crowd scattered around them. Since they were more or less equal in terms of status, power and mental faculties, Wolf could finally relax near Smith.

“He’ll be back tomorrow. Even with Endurance, he can’t last two days. Unlike a certain someone.” Daniel Smith winked at Wolf, whose face twisted.

The old loon was the only one who still dared bring up the Perverted Mage around Wolf. After Wolf became a Second Order True-Namer, even Duke Silverhound treated him with politeness and sent a congratulatory estate for his unborn baby.

“Don’t look at me like that. Do you know what headache you caused Richard for seating arrangements? Everyone wants to sit with you, yet nobody wants to sit with you. You’re bringing your mistress out—”

“Mandy isn’t my mistress.” Wolf interrupted Smith, but the old man shook his head.

“Your wedding with Anna is next week, and you’re inviting more guests than Richard. How many will attend your wedding with Ms. McCoy in two weeks? Twenty? Thirty?”

“That’s her choice.” Wolf rolled his eyes. “She doesn’t want to rub salt into Anna’s wounds. I don’t think walking on eggshells around Anna is good. I’ve signed a contract, witnessed by Duke Silverhound, stating Anna’s firstborn will be my legal heir.”

“Ms. McCoy is a wise woman.” Headmaster Smith wanted to pat Wolf’s shoulder, but settled for the upper arm. “You could learn some common sense from her.”

Wolf snorted, but in private he spent an hour every day asking Mandy about various theoretical situations and how he should react to them. He appreciated her opinion, even if her stance often skewed towards timidity and flexibility. Which were great traits when dealing with children.

The reason Wolf inquired about such things was the baby heading their way, as well as his future position as the Mage Academy’s Headmaster. Other than improving his social acuity, Wolf read books on rulership, finances, agriculture, strategy, tactics, and many more. He wanted to be the perfect father, like Archibald, and teach his son whatever the boy wished to know.

The only thing still frustrating Wolf was Mandy preventing him from divining their child’s gender. Divining the future was forbidden and impossible. Even divining the present or the past was only somewhat accurate, with many superstitions existing around the topic, superstitions which frightened Mandy.

After chatting some more with Headmaster Smith, Wolf went to his table. There, Mandy sat in silence while Anna talked and laughed with Matilda. Richard eventually seated them with the Thonburis and the Skias, the latter being the Marquess household the Didot family served.

When Wolf saw Matilda, he forced a smile. He tried to give her the constitution enhancing elixir and allow her to walk the path of the Sword-Sage. But a finger-thick bolt of lightning crashed down, tearing through the roof of Will’s Place, and struck the potion bottle just before he handed it to her.

Wolf was slightly shocked, but no harm came to Matilda.

It was a strange experience, after which Matilda said she wasn’t interested in Wolf’s draught. She would become a Sword-Sage on her own one day.

“Hey guys, what are you chatting about?” Wolf asked and sat between his women, his left hand moving to rub Mandy’s bulging belly.

Marquesses pretended they noticed nothing, while Anna pointedly ignored Wolf’s scandalous act.

“Your wedding,” Matilda snorted. She pretended nothing. “Wayde can’t make it, and Barbara is pregnant again, so she won’t attend either.”

“I think weddings are easy on the bride and the groom.” Wolf said, thinking how he only needed to endure the barrage from Duke Silverhound during the ceremony and then he was scot free.

At that moment, all nobles gathered around the table stared at him.

Matilda shook her head and looked at Anna. “So, you’re taking care of all the planning?”

“My parents are helping.” Anna smiled without mirth, and Matilda nodded. At least Anna didn’t have to do everything herself.

The girls then chatted about various trivial things like flowers, food, music, seating arrangements… He didn’t understand why they paid so much attention to unimportant details, but as long as Anna was satisfied, Wolf was happy.

Marquess Skia and Marquess Thonburi drew Wolf in and discussed his tolls, trading taxes and similar policies. In these four years, Wayde had done an excellent job, and turned Wolf’s misshapen realm into a trade paradise.

Merchant caravans now took his well secured, cobbled roads, paying high tariffs with a smile because of the time it saved and almost guaranteed safety. Hillman Marquisate had seven raided caravans in the two years they’ve been keeping statistics, only one of which in the past year. And bandits only stole, fearing brutal execution if they murdered caravan personnel.

“Did you really pay them back half the damage they suffered?” Marquess Skia asked.

Wolf nodded. “Based on the reports I’ve read, our treasury reimbursed them half the nominal value of their goods.”

Roger came up with a novel idea. Since toll officers made manifests of items merchants brought to calculate the levy amount, they could appease the merchants by masking it as insurance.

The first robbery was a performance. On paper, the caravan belonged to an independent merchant family, but Roger orchestrated everything. He also explained to Wolf that four robberies were conducted by their trustworthy agents, robbing smugglers, taking their goods, and then paying them back for what they listed. Only two were real highwaymen and patrolling soldiers hounded them down, got the goods back, and earned Wolf some profit.

Naturally, Wolf mentioned none of this, instead he explained the benefits both for the merchants, the soldiers on highway patrol duty and his finances. While Wolf spoke, his giant, protective hand never left Mandy’s belly.

Wolf chatted, often listening with the due politeness of a junior heeding seniors’ wisdom. He followed Mandy’s advice and left a favorable impression. His act was decent enough to confuse the two Marquesses, who started doubting rumors regarding him.

***

“You may now kiss the bride.” Duke Silverhound didn’t make the dramatic pause Headmaster Smith did when presiding over Richard’s wedding.

Wolf bent and, unlike Richard, who gingerly pecked Frida on her lips, he confidently kissed his bride. Imagine if I had to tiptoe while Anna leaned over.

Wolf had gotten married. He didn’t love Anna like a woman; she was frigid, frightened and would never give him any. However, she was his friend. His third friend ever, Silver, made certain to explain that to Wolf multiple times. They were friends long before Anna appeared in his life.

Wolf believed Anna also loved him as a friend, and not as a man. And since they were friends, he didn’t mind marrying her to ensure her safety and the safety of her mother, who flashed her boobs at him years ago.

World is strange, Wolf thought.

It is, Silver replied.

I mean, I have to marry my friend, and everyone’s fine with that. But marrying the woman who’s pregnant with my baby is taboo, and I should keep her as a mistress. Wolf’s Mental Aspect paused while his body moved away from Anna. Do you know I think I started loving Mandy? I can’t help it. The baby is a part of her, and I love that child.

I know, Master. You mumble about it every now and then, saying how strange it is.