At Emilia-sama’s insistence that the Margrave always woke up on his own when the time came, he was left sleeping right there in the entrance hall.
After finishing breakfast, we headed to the square ahead of everyone else, accompanied by Toria-san. The rest of the Margrave’s family, just like yesterday, would be arriving later by carriage.
“Gooo… Grwooo…”
“zzZzzzz”
The square was still littered with sleeping drunkards. Apparently, the festivities had gone on until quite late the previous night, and many had simply collapsed where they were. To make sure none of the sleepers fell victim to thieves preying on the intoxicated, soldiers had been patrolling the square at regular intervals.
That said, most of the would-be robbers had already been apprehended yesterday by Sue and the garrison troops.
Incidentally, it seemed that the garrison had hardly touched any alcohol at all—their drunkenness had merely been an act. Sue, however, had somehow managed to become genuinely drunk before anyone noticed.
“Well then, I’ve got a food stall to run, but what about the wedding team? What’s your plan?”
We all gathered around the stall and began discussing the day’s schedule. As went without saying, I would be serving as the cook again today.
“Today we’ll be holding a joint wedding ceremony for five couples. I’ve heard there may possibly be one more couple joining, but even if there is, it won’t cause any problems.”
Since it was a group wedding, adding another bride and groom wouldn’t make much difference. After all, the priest acting as officiant would simply offer everyone’s vows and prayers to the gods at the same time.
“Our main role will be helping the female participants get dressed and assisting with the flow of the ceremony.”
“Emilia-sama will serve as the master of ceremonies. Apparently, it’s customary for a member of the Margrave family to host the event every year.”
Well, in a sense, it was a wedding organized by the Margrave family. And if it was Emilia-sama, she would probably handle everything flawlessly.
“And one thing we especially need to be careful about is the bouquet toss.”
“All of the brides in the joint wedding will throw their bouquets at the same time. Naturally, a great many unmarried women from the town gather for it.”
“It seems that bouquets from the Harvest Festival weddings are regarded as symbols of good fortune for women. However… last year there were quite a few injuries.”
What a dangerously intense event. I attended a friend’s wedding in my previous life, and even then, the determination of the women going after the bouquet had been terrifying. And this was going to be a full-blown battle over at least five bouquets. What’s more, everyone would be going after them in complete earnest.
Shiro and the others wore puzzled expressions, clearly not understanding the significance of it all, but trust me—this was going to be one serious event.
“If everything goes according to plan, the entire ceremony will be over by noon. Once the joint wedding concludes, the newly married couples will parade through town in open carriages.”
“I’ve heard the whole town showers them with rice.”
“And after the parade ends, everyone goes right back to celebrating the festival.”
So that was the flow of the joint wedding ceremony. It was an even bigger event than I’d imagined. No wonder people called it the biggest attraction of the Harvest Festival.
“Then Toria, Ao, and I will keep an eye on the surroundings while running the stall. Shiro and the others, you’ll have to do your best helping with the wedding.”
“““We’ll do our best!”””
It seemed Shiro and the others would be serving as the flower girls and ring bearers. In a way, they were one of the highlights of the wedding, so I’d have to count on them to give it their all.
“The manor’s attendants are scheduled to help at the stall today as well. I think we can leave the selling and keeping track of the earnings to them.”
That information from Toria was a huge relief. There was no way two people and one beast could possibly manage the stall by ourselves.
That’s probably all we needed to discuss. Now then, our first job of the day was waiting for us.
“For now, let’s wake up the people still sleeping and clean up the stage.”
Together, we looked toward the stage, where a number of people were somehow still fast asleep. The townsfolk had already begun to gather, so it is time for us to start getting everything ready.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeneijiworks.com
Previous ⚜ Table of Contents ⚜ Next
Yume Neiji's Works 