Edward stood nervously, fiddling with his shirt collar. “Are you ready?” Leyla asked mischievously hugging him from behind. She was sublime, her brown hair weaved in a long ponytail behind her head with a diadem adorning her forehead. She wore a flared red dress for her legs while her arms and stomach stayed uncovered. Starting from her hands all the way to her elbows her skin was covered in black tattoos that she had designed herself. One could see a glimpse of light crossing through the tattoos’ lines from time to time. Parts of the tattoos were just for decorations but others contained temporary runes. Right now, they were quite mundane only enhancing her beauty but Leyla was already contemplating other usages.

Edward chuckled. He was wearing two layers of clothes, a white jacket with a tight shirt under it that stuck out at the bottom, with assorted trousers and shoes. “I must say I’m a bit nervous. Somehow fighting monsters doesn’t seem that stressful anymore.”

“You jest,” Leyla retorted sticking out her tongue. “You would prefer spending time with ugly monsters rather than with your beautiful wife in the making?”

Edward burst out laughing, before smiling brightly. “You are so charming that you are literally glowing.”

They were currently both inside their own mansion in Gobéliard. Things had calmed down after the surge but it still had taken several months before everything came in order. It was only then that they were able to begin the preparations for their marriage celebration. Both Leyla and Edward were legends within Gobéliard, and even beyond for Edward. The marriage ceremony was the biggest event of the year and was everybody’s talk. Even the emperor would come and this would be his first visit to Gobéliard, only underlining the importance that was attached to the event.

He wouldn’t be the only one coming, with Adotinus joining him as well as other nobles. Even Strobilus had shamelessly decided to come, not wanting to miss such a big social event. Naturally, the whole of Gobéliard wanted to attend the ceremony as well, alongside Agripin’s population.

Edward didn’t have any family in this world but he could count on his friends. From Agripin Balin, Caspian, and even Ishad the bartender, were coming. The old Greta who had taught him the few runes she knew alongside her daughter Sheyla would be there as well.

Naturally from Gobéliard their adventurers’ friends, Aquamarine, Brian, Norte, and Charles couldn’t miss the party. Cornelius was here as well, not as a simple guest but as the master of ceremony, this was the least Edward could do after having dumped so much paperwork on him.

Edward felt a light push on his leg as the Quokka-like mammal they had adopted was asking for attention. They were so cute they couldn’t resist getting one. Edward could teleport to them whenever he wanted, but it was more difficult for Leyla and she didn’t always have the time to go all the way to their territory to play with them.

“What’s up Scritchy?” Edward asked him while scratching his head as the small pet made squeaking noises of delight. “You want to come too?” Scritchy once more headbutted Edward’s leg. “All right, here you go!” With one thought Edward teleported the critter on his shoulder.

“I’m good to go,” Edward told his sweetheart.

“Then let’s not make them wait any longer,” Leyla giggled.

As soon as they opened the door they heard the hubbub of conversation, a crowd was clustered in their best attire from both sides of the road. It was the tradition to accompany and follow the groom and the bride to the marriage ceremony. The whole town was there, the guests were throwing flower petals as the future newlyweds advanced and the crowd joined together after their passage. The streets themselves had been decorated with various garlands, some were made with flowers while others were colorful pieces of fabric tied together.

Edward and Leyla reached the main plaza which had been adjusted for the occasion, a podium had been built at one side while numerous benches had been installed in front of it. Above the plaza garlands had been hung from one side to the other. There were far too many people for the celebration to happen in a building as it would be too small. Even in such a big place, there weren’t enough benches for everyone and many were attending while standing. The emperor himself didn’t have any special accommodation and was sitting on a bench in the front row with the rest of Edward and Leyla’s friends.

Additionally, while people did believe in numerous gods, churches were small spaces for personal contemplation and weren’t suited for such big ceremonies. That didn’t prevent numerous small effigies and depictions of Aroha, the goddess of love, from being scattered here and there.

Cornelius was already on the stage and invited Edward and Leyla to come over. Before climbing on the podium Edward lent Scratchy to Aquamarine who took him happily, the critter was very cute but Edward didn’t want him to attempt climbing on Cornelius while the latter was making his speech.

Once Edward and Leyla were on the stage, Cornelius began his speech. “We are gathered here today to celebrate the wedding of Gobéliard two greatest heroes!” A wave of applause and raucous shouts erupted from the assembly. Once it became quiet again Cornelius continued. “Without them, Gobéliard wouldn’t be standing right now, and it is my greatest honor to be the one to marry them. May our heroes find joy together, and may they have the rest and happiness they deserve after having worked so much!”

“Edward, do you agree to take Leyla as your beloved wife and to accompany her through joys and hardships both?”

“I do.”

“Leyla, do you agree to take Edward as your beloved husband and to accompany him through joys and hardships both?”

“I do”

You could hear the smile in their voice.

“I declare you from now on husband and wife, may your happiness know no bounds!”

A second wave of applause erupted from the crowd.

“You may now exchange alliances.”

Leyla had forged the rings herself, they were a mix of silver and gold plating with rose gold patterns circling a glowing blue mana stone in the center. The mana stone could be used to store a limited amount of mana, but given its size, it was more for decoration than for utilitarian usage.

After exchanging the alliances, now newlyweds, the couple exchange a kiss under a third wave of applause from the crowd.

After that, the benches were pushed aside to install long tables that went for the whole length of the plaza. There were enough seats for several hundreds of people, and once more it wasn’t enough for everyone. But this was more than enough for the ones that mattered to Edward and Leyla.

It was still morning and snacks and beverages circulated among the guests while a cooking smell spread in the air as huge cauldrons were installed to cook enough food for everyone. Eyeing one cauldron Edward told Leyla, “This thing is big enough to cook a full pig.”

“I’m fine with eating a whole pig, ever since I broke through to the predator rank, I can eat as much as I want without consequences. Honestly, it’s a lot better to be able to celebrate one day and stuff yourself as much as you want without having to worry about eating for the next four days as you conduct difficult experiments.”

“Climbing to higher ranks sure has its advantages,” Edward agreed, teleporting one snack from a plate directly to his mouth.

A few hours later when anecdotes began to be shared, Edward wasn’t this much laid back anymore.

“Yes,” Leyla giggled, “After helping Agripin’s villager to move to Gobéliard I hugged him and that oaf just blurted I think I love you.”

Aquamarine laughed while Brian complained. “No way? And this worked…This must be the worst love declaration I have ever heard.” He flinched as a pressure loomed over him as Edward stared at him. Brian coughed, “Um where were we anyway?”

By this time the food had finished being cooked and delicious plates arrived on the tables. Pieces of cheese wrapped with ham with a cherry tomato on top, onion soup, garlic bread, numerous pies, whole fish, and lobsters…There were even a few plates with snails covered in sauce.

Edward shrugged. After slaughtering those giant snails, I guess I can at least check what they would have tasted like. After eating one to check the taste he was a little disappointed, it wasn’t as bad as he had expected, but the main interest of the dish was the sauce while the snail in itself had a bland and elastic feeling.

However, he was much more interested in other plates, he tasted some kind of bread stuff with cheese and he ate several of them. Edward had joked about whole pigs being cooked, but that was indeed the case with a whole roasted boar being brought to each table. The meat was spicy and juicy. Several new spices had been imported from the empire as the trade with Gobéliard had bloomed. After that Edward tried a smooth cream called Raita that eased the spices' aftertaste. He was glad that he could eat as much as he wanted because with a normal human body he would have long been full.

There was a pause during the meal as a painter came to immortalize the moment. He didn’t ask everyone to stand for hours, but just enough time for him to make sketches. After sketching the whole assembly he did the same for the newlyweds and he stayed around for any guest who wanted to have his portrait.

The meal stretched from lunch to evening, and after everybody had eaten as much as they wanted, the tables were pushed away to free some space. A music group settled on the podium and the dances began.

At first, it was traditional dances, with groups of people dancing together in choreography with assigned roles. Edward didn’t know the moves but it wasn’t hard for him to copy others. At his level, even without using his acceleration, most people could as well be moving in slow motion.

Later on, the tempo increased and people danced either alone or in small groups. Leyla and Edward let themselves loose, taking up the dancefloor. At one point Edward was moving so fast, that people weren’t able to follow him anymore, he just seemed to pop up here and there, even without his teleportation he was just that fast, he actually had to be careful not to destroy the podium.

As night fell, candles and glowing runes were installed to illuminate the surroundings. From the predator level onward people barely needed any sleep and the celebration was still in full swing.

At this point, Edward made an announcement telling the assembly he had a surprise for them. He made everyone move to the harbor where the stars' and moons' light was reflected on the sea. He smiled mischievously before shooting “Enjoy the show!”.

He carefully controlled his aura, making it form several runes in the sky. Balls of fire manifested as he controlled them in a spectacular fiery show. He didn’t contend himself with manifesting fireballs, but he controlled them, shaping them as he wished. He didn’t have any power over fire like Ignis, and his control couldn’t compare, but he had improved his knowledge and usage of runes just for this occasion. The show ended in fireworks and a well-deserved round of applause accompanied it for several minutes.

Then the assembly slowly separated as ordinary citizens started to leave to sleep while the others continued the party. The celebration lasted through the whole night becoming a core memory for many and writing its place in history.