CH 75

75  Increasing Witnesses

After we returned to the mansion, I immediately sought Father out and told him about my magical power’s avatars. However, due to my vague explanation, Father told me to speak slowly since we were not in a hurry. Thus, I began to slowly explain, getting him to understand what happened… or so I thought.

Anyway, I told him about my reunion with my magic power’s avatars and my conversation with them. Naturally, I also told him about their state, from the white one that was living inside the crystal being very lively to the fact that they were gathering mana from the surroundings to heal Muriel. Lastly, I also told him the fact that the yellow one, who resided in the chick doll, was currently suffering from stomach ache due to having a hard time digesting the unpleasant mana. Then, after informing Father about my avatars’ state, I mentioned that they were sleeping in peace after I fed them my mana.

My father was of course dumbfounded when he heard my story, but that expression immediately softened and he patted my head while saying, “That’s a good story.”

His reaction seems… normal? Although a bit puzzled with his reaction, I also felt relieved. However, before I could sort out my thoughts, Father warned me to not tell a soul about this matter. Of course, this order also encompassed Kevin and Richard who stood behind me. They also couldn’t say anything about this matter.

Still… even if I told others about this, none of them would believe me anyway. After all, even Kevin and Richard looked more dumbfounded than Father when they heard this from me before. So, why… wait, what was the meaning behind the understanding look on their face when they told me, ‘Because it’s you.’? THE HECK?!

Leaving this topic aside, Father told me that he did not understand the cat cafe’s management. Then, Kevin and Richard told Father about the matter of me shaming myself in front of Muriel when my leg gave in after being occupied by a fat cat for one hour. Although thanks to that he gave me permission to increase my training menu, and it might sound like a blessing in disguise… I honestly wanted them to at least hide that fact!!!

Anyway, aside from the increased training menu I got from Kevin, I spent my days in peace. At least until Bates crashed in and persistently asked my father about magic power’s avatars. However, Father himself couldn’t understand the matter beyond what I had explained to him, so he couldn’t give Bates a satisfactory answer.

Bates wanted me to show them to me, but… the avatars were resting right now. Furthermore, I myself had no idea how to show them to him in physical form. I mean, if even Father who stood beside me had no idea what could make that happen, then I who was even more clueless than him was in the same situation.

After such turmoil, my engagement ceremony with Murile was held.

◇

The engagement ceremony was held in the great temple. Of course, though it was held in the temple, we didn’t use the hall that was utilized for the Magic Unsealing Ceremony. No, we instead used the small temple that was located at the end of a passage that was different from the one headed toward that hall.

Although this small temple didn’t feel like a temple, but more like a compact wedding hall. Yeah, it was so compact that it’s most likely only enough to accommodate twenty people. To compare the building to, it was like the place my big sister from my previous life celebrated her marriage in. It had a similar atmosphere to this small temple.

From what was told to me, this place was built to worship the Saint and the Six Gods. So, it was slightly different from the one built for the Great God. Inside this temple, there was the relief of the Saint and the Six Gods, the Creation God, and the Mother Earth Goddess.

In the relief, there was also the Great God placed as the background character. Meanwhile, the Creation God stood in the center of the relief with Mother Earth Goddess kneeling on the side as she presented a pedestal with something on itto the Creation God. Then, the Creation God took out something similar to a holy cane and gave it to the figure of the Saint who was kneeling in front of him. The Six Gods, on the other hand, were all kneeling around the Saint in relief.

“― This place is where the exchange of oaths is going to be held. It reproduces the scene where the Saint and the Six Gods receive an oracle from the Creation God when they exchanged oath in this place,” Bishop Cobalt, who stood beside me since god knew when, explained to me who was overwhelmed by the relief. “For that reason, this place becomes a place where allegiance vow and marriage oath or engagement oath are conducted.”

Then, before I could reply, Bishop Cobalt greeted me in a hurry as if he just remembered his slip of manner. Honestly, this person truly loves to appear in the most unexpected place.

“I shall do my best today as the presider of your engagement ceremony. It’s a pleasure to work with me.”

“It’s a pleasure to work with you too.”

“My deepest gratitude for sparing some of your time amidst your busy schedule to attend my son’s ceremony,” Father greeted.

Right. Even though our request was for a priest to become the presider of my engagement ceremony, I never once imagined nor expected that this person would be the one doing it. Why?

“Please don’t mind it. This is an important ceremony for my school friend after all. Not to mention that he’s also the friend of that stupid son of mine. It’s only natural for me to preside over his ceremony.”

“Well, I can’t thank you enough for that. Though I can’t help but worry about your situation since, a while ago, when I greeted the priest that was supposed to preside over this ceremony, I overheard that you have postponed today’s scheduled inspection of the barrier stone. Anyhow, this ceremony is supposed to be limited to our family after all.”

“Hahaha, don’t worry about that. Your worry is unnecessary. The original schedule for that is supposed to be tomorrow after all. Well, if we don’t take other family’s situations that is. Anyway, since I am already in this place to preside over the ceremony, you can cease your worries.”

“Well, if you say so. I can only express my deepest gratitude. Don’t expect fancy food though. We had planned this to be a modest one from the very beginning after all.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll leave that matter in your hand. I’ll do my best for the child who has overcome his trial and created a miracle.”

WHY?!!! For some reason, I got a feeling that this conversation between Bishop Cobalt and my father was a quarrel between old friends. Furthermore, perhaps due to the scary air drifting between the two, Chester and Wendy, who was walking by my mother’s side, were clutching her skirt. Well, not that I blamed them, I’m honestly scared of them too.

Fortunately, Father noticed the situation quickly and patted our head as he said, “Sorry for scaring you kids.”

“Theodore! Congratulations on your engagement!” At this moment, the insensitive Bates came and greeted me with a beaming smile on his face. And for some reason, he came with Oriana’s and Luke’s father. All of them were wearing their usual formal attire.

“How? There should be no invitation, right?!”

Today’s event was supposed to be attended by our relatives only. It was just an engagement ceremony after all, nothing like a grand wedding or big ceremony. According to my father, it was supposed to be a simple ceremony in which we signed a written pledge before the gods.

That’s why we only planned for a modest ceremony between our families. To begin with, Muriel’s father and I were not gaudy people. Furthermore, there was another reason why the Marquis House, in other words, my family didn’t send a notice to other noble families. And, no, it was not to humiliate Muriel. On the other hand, we simply didn’t want to place more burden on her after the previous incident. Hence why, we decided to hold a modest ceremony that was only attended by relatives of two families.

And yet, why do we get ‘unexpected guests’???

“Well, we’re buddies, right? I come to celebrate my buddy’s first step toward starting a new life. Hahaha.”

Stop reading my mind. Did they mistake this for a marriage ceremony, huh? I mean, just look at Bates’ gaudy attire. The clothes he is wearing right now are perfectly suitable for attending a marriage ceremony!

“Bates-dono seems to have some misunderstanding, but what about Count Greenwell and Count Sphene?”

Judging from my father’s stiff voice, even he never expected this situation to happen. I knew because even though he had his usual smile on, it was just a business smile.

“Well, I did tell him to act more reserved….”

“My apologies, Goldberg-dono. We ended up bringing such unneeded flashy THING. We’ll take him out immediately.”

Count Greenwell spoke evasively while Count Sphene apologized in earnest. Then, before I could react, they turned toward me.

“― Congratulations for your engagement, Theodore-dono. I hope your days with your fiance are happy now and in the future too. And I’ll be happy if you can get along with Oriana too.”

“Thank you Count Sphene.”

“What are you talking about, brother? You said that you wanted to see the miracle yourself, right? Didn’t you tell me that you may get a chance to witness the miracle if you come to Theodore’s engagement ceremony?”

“While it’s true I said that, a certain idiot actually charged straight to the venue! ― I’ve nothing but apologies for this.” Count Sphene apologized once more as he pressed Bates’ head down. What a disaster.

“It seems that everyone has a misunderstanding. We are only doing an engagement ceremony today. You won’t see something like a miracle today, so please take your leave if that’s what you want to see.”

“Nevertheless, it’s a good thing to witness too. I mean, the more people witnessing the ceremony, the higher the blessing, no? That’s why I think it’ll be much better with Count Sphene and Count Greenwell’s addition as witnesses. Not to mention that both of them have already come to this place too.” Bishop Cobalt spoke for the two, clearly missing Bates’ name on purpose.

“… Please do tell this to Miss Muriel, Theodore, and Viscount Amber yourself. I can’t help you in this matter.”

Uwo~, Father didn’t hesitate to kick their asses before he held Chester in his arms, and patted Wendy’s head while speaking to my mother. Mother linked her arms with my father, which I guessed was her attempt to console him. I rarely saw Father this angry before.

“… We went too far this time, huh. Well, Owen is a short-tempered man after all.”

If you know that, then you should have stopped doing so before you truly angered Papa. Wait, rather than that, my father is actually a short-tempered person, eh?

“Theodore-sama~!” Muriel’s voice came to my ear and I turned. She had finally arrived. She was wearing a bright green dress and was smiling her bright smile. Coming alongside her was Viscount Amber, his wife, and my future big brother-in-law, Zachariah-san.

Soon, Muriel came to my side and greeted me, “Good morning, Theodore-sama. Please take care of me today.”

“Likewise, Muriel.”

Now that she was near, I could see that she was wearing the bracelet I made on her right wrist, while wearing a pea-green lace bracelet on her left. The accessories combined with her vivid green dress made her look even more adorable than usual. Moreover, there was also a lace ribbon weaved on her fluffy blonde hair.

“Is that… the ribbon I gave you during our first meeting?”

“Yes! Even though you gave me more ribbons after that, this ribbon remain special for me,” Muriel said as she touched the ribbon with a slightly flushed face. Then, she smiled oh so very sweetly.

“Thank you. There might be a lot of audience today, but please just ignore them for the time being. If you’re very anxious though, I’m sure we can go back early.”

“Eh… Bates-sensei?”

Seeing Muriel’s bewilderment, I began to explain, “This person is Luke-dono’s father, Count Greenwell. The other person is Miss Oriana’s father, Count Sphene. Coincidentally, Count Sphene is Bates-sensei’s big brother. Furthermore, there’s also the presider of our engagement ceremony, Simeon-dono’s father, Bishop Cobalt. Though I think you already know him since he’s the one who give the speech during our Magic Unsealing Ceremony.”

“I see. I’ve always been indebted to Luke-sama, Oriana-sama, and Simeon-sama. My big brother is also indebted to Count Greenwell,” Muriel murmured before she curtsied. “Thank you very much for coming to our engagement ceremony.”

“Thank you for the warm welcome as well, and our deepest apologies for intruding into your ceremony. That’s why, will you allow us to give you our blessing?”

“Eh? I don’t really mind, but….” Muriel looked toward me when she heard Count Greenwell’s remark, silently asking my opinion.

“I don’t mind as well. Not that they will go back even if we told them to go back,” I replied to her while looking at Bates. That fu*cker was looking at me with a smug look on his face. Don’t give me your fu*cking thumbs up!

“What about you, Viscount Amber, Lady Amber?”

“We don’t really mind, but… I still don’t understand why everyone insists on attending this small ceremony,” Viscount Amber asked while the rest of Muriel’s family also sported a bewildered expression on their face.

“What is the Chief and Director doing here…?” My big brother-in-law, Zachariah-san, also asked. As puzzled as me. Yup. I’m as puzzled as you, Big Brother.

Thus, the engagement ceremony began with increasing number of witnesses for some reason.