On the morning of the ‘big day’ Alex was surprised by the arrival of his three elder sisters. He knew, of course, they arrived with their families to witness his wedding, but he didn’t expect them to be the ‘last big hurdle’ he had to pass in this castle.
The three arrived early in the morning and, without listening to Alex’s objections, began ‘preparing’ him. This situation was used by their beloved mother, who sat in the big chair observing her daughters while quietly sobbing from time to time.
Alex knew it’ll be inconvenient to live as a female when he was born as such for the first time. Back then he even crawled off the balcony to ‘save himself’ and now he started getting the suicidal thoughts once again. He could’ve never imagined that in order to ‘properly’ wear a dress, he had to spend hours in front of the mirror.
In addition, the makeup these people used smelled overly sweet and made him sneeze repeatedly, but his sisters only found it amusing. Of course, everyone didn’t let this opportunity pass by without pointing out how wrong he was up until now and how he had to be ‘more obedient’ in the future.
With every passing second Alex became more and more allergic to the word ‘obedient’. Everyone promising him eternal happiness in case he behaved properly and listened to his future husband made him want to go on a killing spree.
The four hours he spent in his bedroom felt longer than all his previous lives combined. When he finally got out, he was still dizzy and, if he was honest with himself, he even suspected one of his sisters using some kind of drug mixed in the many perfumes they made him wear.
After having this thought, Alex began to intensely perform the familiar force of nature technique the old headmaster taught him and felt his consciousness sobering up.
‘Those b*tches!’ Alex inwardly shouted, ‘ They really drugged an underage kid! I’ll make the whole family pay for this! How in the world anyone could do this to their child!’
Luckily during the previous days he repeated the plan in his head over and over again and purely on instinct before leaving the room asked the sisters to leave him alone for a minute. Then, almost mechanically, he fished out two crudely formed satchels and strapped on on each of his legs.
Now, after sobering up a little, he gently patted each of those satchels while hiding a satisfied smile. As expected, under the puffy long dress no one, even his father who was currently holding him by hand, would not suspect Alex to hide something so incriminating.
‘Preparation is the key to success in any plan!’ Alex thought and glanced around him with a fresh perspective.
If Alex was honest with himself, he would agree that impartially looking the venue was exquisitely organized. With the castle in the background, on the green meadow right in front of the garden that was currently in full bloom, there were erected elevated spectator seats in a circular fashion around a stage towards which Alex was currently being brought.
Everything was decorated with heaps of white and red flowers none of which Alex recognized. Musicians kept playing a joyful tune somewhere in the background, but if normally Alex might even whistle along, currently he was even annoyed by it.
It was no wonder girls ‘willingly’ agreed to marriage proposals under such pressure – the breathtaking spot, the stares of hundreds of people and probably even the influence of drugs, just like in his case.
At the last thought Alex almost jolted. Right! He had to stop thinking like a person from technologically advanced world and pay more attention to his own performance! Madam Perez yesterday brought over incredibly valuable information. Experienced Qi masters could notice the tiny discrepancies in his movements, just like Cesar did in the courtyard back then. And Alex’s father definitely knew he was drugged – nothing happened in that damned castle without his knowledge!
While Alex battled within, others enjoyed the romantic sight of father proudly giving his beautiful daughter away. While everyone present knew she was barely eleven years old, no one found it odd – marriages between nobles worked this way for centuries. In addition, the bride in front of them basically looked adult – her elder sisters did an amazing job dressing her up.
While formally this was the most important part of the event, only the families of the groom and bride cared about it – the guests were more looking forward to the following banquet. The wind brought over the rich smell of a roasted deer and guests longingly threw impatient glances towards the sumptuously stacked tables nearby while salivating.
When Alex and his father reached the center of the stage, the groom arrived. The youth had not changed much in two months, except this time he wore an elegant black suit embroidered with silvery symbols on chest and back – the Perez family crests.
Bernardo came on foot with a procession of two rows of six assistants following him – each carrying a large chest. From the looks of it the luggage was heavy, but the servants pretended to not care and walked almost as proudly as their young master.
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With long strides Bernardo Perez arrived in front of the governor and fell on one knee. The elderly man, duke Juan Carlos Ortega, the governor of the Navada region, smiled as if the youth was his own grandson, nodded and gestured encouraging Bernardo to get up. The latter immediately blushed with the excitement, but noticed his own father sitting not too far and managed to keep his cool. The stare from the scary looking man sitting next to the governor chilled him quite a bit as well.
Bernardo graciously got up, bowed and then slowly walked over to the Morales father-daughter duo. This time the unruly girl looked as if she was a completely different person. Even though he knew the wig was fake, she still looked beautiful and almost sufficiently round in the proper spots.
Uncle Cesar turned out to be correct – this vixen will grow to become a real beauty! Practicing Qi does wonders after all. And the best thing was that Bernardo’s mom assured him Ramona would behave in the future, he just had to be patient and practice Qi together. It was great to get a beautiful wife so early!
Feeling his heartbeat accelerating again, Bernardo took a deep breath to calm himself down. Then, after five more steps he arrived. Men in the guest seats sighed in relief – the formal part was almost over, while dames held their breaths – this was the most important moment! Bernardo would now say his speech and afterwards ask for Ramona’s consent. Everyone knew how it would end, but the proper protocol was important.
Baron Alvaro Morales glanced at his daughter and, seeing her apathetic eyes, inwardly grinned. This was going well.
“Ramona Esmeralda Angelina Valentina Cassandra Morales! Before meeting you, I never believed I could find the true love! Our encounter was predestined by fate and from the moment I saw you my heart belonged to you!” Bernardo began his speech.
Meanwhile Alex felt nauseated. These people treated women like pets or furniture, but still dared to speak hypocritical words so openly. The most confusing thing was how the dames in the guest seats reacted – full of passion and tears in their eyes. It just didn’t make any sense.
Alex secretly threw another glance towards the governor, calculating his next move for the tenth time again, but then he caught the penetrating stare from a man next to the duke. Alex didn’t recognize him, but he didn’t know most of the guests anyway so it was no big deal. Be as it may, the next five minutes would decide his fate for the rest of this incarnation.
“… and I promise – from now on you will never have to be alone, not anymore! When we are together, it is as if both of us are one and my greatest wish is for it to stay like that forever! Ramona, would you become my wife?” While Alex was doing his calculations, Bernardo finally finished.
Immediately a disturbingly loud wave of applause washed over the venue. The speech was not too short, nor too long. Bernardo didn’t make any mistakes and was passionate enough, but at the same time didn’t overdo it. Even Alvaro let go of Alex’s hand and passionately clapped, but before he could answer in the Alex’s stead and affectionately hug his new son in law, the whole crowd fell silent.
Noticing everyone focusing on the groom, Alex circulated the Qi in his feet and performed the dash his previous elder brother taught him. He practiced it few months in his last life and almost ten years in this one, and while he wasn’t even close to reaching the pope’s speed or even the speed of the present Qi masters, he arrived in front of the governor in an instant. Even Alvaro who stood next to him was caught by surprise and didn’t manage to react – the thought of his daughter being capable of crossing the distance of twenty meters in a lightning speed never crossed his mind.
“Your honor!” Alex used the moment of silence and loudly addressed the governor so that everyone present could clearly hear him.
Normally nobles, even higher ones like dukes, addressed each other with different pleasantries, like ‘my lord’ or ‘your excellency’. When there was someone directly representing the palace, like the governor here – they would be addressed ‘your highness’, even if they were a duke. But ‘your honor’ was used only in cases when the governor had to fulfill the duty of the judge in a dispute between nobles or was representing the palace in an investigation of a crime against the kingdom.
Thus it was apparent that Alex was currently speaking to the governor in an official manner formally addressing him as the judge.
The next part was also important, therefore without letting anyone to react, Alex continued, “The two noble families, Morales and Perez, are conspiring against the Hallancia kingdom in order to perform a crime.”
“You wile spawn!” Alex heard his grandfather shouting somewhere from the guests seats and relaxed in case the old man would jump over to cut off his head. Someone killing him was kind of a ‘plan b’ at this moment.
And Esteban Morales would’ve successfully done that, but a split second before he arrived near Alex, the man who up until now sat besides the governor, stood in front of him expressionlessly. Even with his sword drawn Esteban found it impossible to even move a muscle – the stature of the man felt like an unsurpassable mountain.
The crowd already loudly discussed the unexpected turn of events, when the governor sighed and asked Alex, “And what crime it would be?”
“Rape!” Alex immediately answered.
The whole crowd fell silent for a moment only to burst in to loud laughter a second later. What most people found funny was how for the whole morning Mia Perez bragged how she ‘tamed’ the unruly child from the Morales family. Of course, many felt schadenfreude for both – Morales and Perez.
Crowd laughed and even Esteban, who clearly intended to kill his own granddaughter, began to loudly laugh. Earlier he thought this incident was initiated by the people who stole the documents from the castle’s library, but turns out it was a complete nonsense.
The man who stopped him softly sighed and shook his head, but in the next instant he already sat next to the governor. This time Alex recognized the speed he once saw the pope had, but it was not the right time to admire it.
“I’m sorry, your excellency!” Blushed with anger, but pretending to laugh, Alvaro Morales walked towards the governor, “This one has always been an unruly vixen, and now …”
Alex already expected someone play him as a rebellious kid, therefore he shouted, “Under the Law of nobles issued by the king Alejandro Domingo Bautista I, Ramona Esmeralda Angelina Valentina Cassandra, baroness from Morales family, request immediate summon of the Court of Nobles of the Navada region. Since the Morales family is the accused party, their representative can’t be among the judges!”