Chapter 316
Red Sands Desert, Archduchy of Rebirth
City of Rebirth
Allya had faced a dragon, a sand demon, an army of mechanical horrors of the Old World, and waves upon waves of invaders, most of them intent upon her death or worse.
And yet she'd never been so scared in her entire life.
The doors opened, revealing the nave of the city's temple, flanked by pews packed with people and interlinked ranks of temple and city guards. And beyond them all, the altar, and the priest standing before it.
The archduchess' legs turned to jelly, but she took a deep breath, and began walking, Alexandra following a step behind her as her maid of honor. One step after another, just like when she was being presented to the Empress, all those years ago.
That comparison didn't really help.
She didn't even realize she had made it to the altar, only stopped from colliding with the priest by Alexandra gently grabbing her arm, the hologram glitching as the cold metal of the golem touched her.
Allya looked up and smiled sheepishly at the priest, who simply grinned and winked. Seemed he'd come prepared. Probably instructed Alexandra as well.
A second after she came to a halt, another set of doors opened, and Allya turned to look down the temple's nave.
Her heart nearly stopped beating as she saw Pyn walk onto the glittering red and orange carpet. Seeing her in a wedding dress...
They'd deliberately not shown each other their wedding gowns. Pyn's was a pure white, accentuated with emeralds forming the flag of her homeland, the elven confederacy of Eleria, while hers was crisscrossed with various colored lines, each representing an aspect of her domain, such as gold for Alexandra's dungeon golden cog, and inlaid with amethysts, forming house Nouvelle-Aurore's heraldry.
Allya released the breath she'd barely realized she'd been holding, as Emilia escorted the elf over to the altar.
Pyn came to a halt next to her, on the other side of the priest, and the man spoke up.
"Good morning everyone." His voice carried effortlessly throughout the temple, packed with people. "We have come together today, under the gaze of the Gods, to bear witness and celebrate the union of Allya Nouvelle-Aurore, and Pyn Windwrath. That any who opposes themselves to this union speak up now, or stay forever silent, by Divine Will and the edicts of the Church." He paused, and turned towards the brides. "Pyn Windwrath, Allya Nouvelle-Aurore, you have chosen to come together in this union, of your own free will and for the glory of the Gods and humanity. We are all honored to stand witness of your love and commitment to each other. Please, face each other and join hands."
They both nodded, and Allya smiled hesitantly as she grabbed her bride's hand, Pyn returning one beaming with happiness, and the archduchess' heart melted at the sight.
"Allya Nouvelle-Aurore, Archduchess of Rebirth, Protector of the Southern Realm, Bulwark of the Wasteland and Knight-Valiant of the Eris Empire, do you take Pyn Windwrath to be your lawfully wedded wife from this day forward, pledging your love, life and loyalty until the end of your days?"
"I do." Said Allya, her voice unwavering.
"Pyn Windwrath, Knight of the Asarian Kingdom, do you take Allya Nouvelle-Aurore to be your lawfully wedded wife from this day forward, pledging your love, life and loyalty until your last breath?"
"I do."
"Allya Nouvelle-Aurore and Pyn Windwrath, please place a ring on your wife's finger and repeat after me together: with this ring, I marry you in the name of love, loyalty and commitment."
Allya smiled as she slipped the ring onto Pyn's finger.
"With this ring, I marry you in the name of love, loyalty and commitment."
Pyn's own smile threatened to split her own face as she did likewise for Allya.
"With this ring, I marry you in the name of love, loyalty and commitment."
The priest took a deep breath.
"By the powers vested in me by the Church, the God of Fire and the Pantheon, I now pronounce you married spouses, Allya and Pyn Nouvelle-Aurore, and archduchesses of house Nouvelle-Aurore. You may now kiss."
The entire temple shook under thunderous applause as their lips met.
They separated after a very thorough kiss, and Allya looked to the side, and winked at Alexandra.
The dungeon core nodded...and everyone looked up through the temple's glass ceiling as the world shook.
in the air above, hundreds, thousands of firework rockets rose into the skies.
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And exploded, in a perfect sequence, forming their names, and both the heraldry of Rebirth and that of house Nouvelle-Aurore into the skies in incandescent fire and glittering sparks.
*****
Allya smiled as she went through the crowd of guests. Normally at those events, at least for the nobility, both spouses were expected to stay together, though that wasn't always the case, but honestly someone would have to use a crowbar, and probably a small army, to separate them.
Everyone who was anyone was present. Every dignitary or merchant factor in Rebirth who had the influence to get an invitation, and a wide variety of representatives, who had been sent through the teleporter network after the declaration of the archduchy, as most nations had smelled what was on the wind. Alexandra's victory against the UDC had only amplified that.
The only people missing were representatives of Sunrise, its various vassals, and the Republic. Though Amelia had sent one of her aides to represent the New Republic, looking about the special kind of awkward only a soldier shoved into formal civilian clothing could hope to replicate.
They had exchanged small talk with the representatives of their home nations. The Imperial one had expressed the Empress' blessings, though their exchange had been definitely on the chilly side. Which was unsurprising, to say the least. The elf who had come from the Confederacy had been far warmer. Especially since he had brought a pardon for Pyn alongside his letter of credence. Seems that her government had fallen all over themselves to brush off what she had done. Not that they had made more than a token effort to pursue her for her 'bank heist', given the fact that she had prevented an assassination and gotten a blackmailer into prison, but they clearly thought that having the wife of the second most powerful noble in the Asarian Kingdom, and quite possibly one of the most powerful nobles period now, be under an arrest warrant wasn't a good idea. Especially since she, and her allied dungeon, had proven more than capable to crush enemies seemingly far mightier than they to protect their loved ones.
The news they'd gotten from her home had also been quite interesting. Pyn's sister had already been pretty close to the first in line to inherit a County, thanks to refusing to assassinate him and Pyn's efforts in exposing his brother in organizing said assassination, but Pyn's new status had suddenly made her from a commoner that may be acceptable to his family after she had covered herself in glory through her magical endeavors to the single greatest marriage prospect in the entire Confederacy. Needless to say, the elf's family was suddenly much less of a problem, and other pretenders a bigger one.
Allya's smile widened as she caught a glimpse of Alexandra and Emilia through the crowd. People in general weren't aware of dungeon advisors, though the maids' arrival, and Ella's subsequent filling in various council sessions, had let everyone know there were vampires inside the dungeon. She was quite the attraction, and her clinging to Alexandra left very little doubt to their relationship. It also quite handily gathered some attention and pressure away from Allya, which was precisely why she'd insisted they both stay for the reception.
She also had to admit that they both looked resplendent, using dresses that reminded her of CQ's own, though the dungeon boss was also present through another hologram golem, similar to her mother, whose avatar was still a secret. Still, hologram or no, they were killing it, and Emilia's very much physical dress was a wonder to behold, covered in dancing runes to emphasize her magical prowess and heritage.
"My ladies!" Allya turned back, only to find herself face to face with a man wearing a suit and bow tie and tugging at both with the regularity of someone who seemed vaguely surprised by their continued existence. "Apologies for arriving so late, my ship made as good time as it could."
"It is quite alright, mister...?"
"Oh, apologies! Hexamarch Mortell, doctor of the university of New Raleigh!" He bowed deeply.
Allya's eyes widened. New Raleigh?
"Doctor, I was not made aware of your arrival."
"That is because my ship is still unloading." Allya blinked. Wait, then he couldn't have had an invitation, how was he even there? There was something more about this academic than he was letting on. "Unfortunately a particularly vicious sandstorm lead me to miss the vows, though I was able to see the fireworks. They were magnificent."
"My, thank you. So, you are in charge of opening the branch of the university in Rebirth?"
"Quite so! Though, establishing the library is first and foremost among my priorities."
Allya blinked, then smiled. Right, Rook's promised payment for their help. A full copy of the library of the university.
Which was pretty much heading straight for Alexandra.
"Excellent. Then it will be a pleasure working with you, doctor. Please, do contact my secretary, we need to have a full meeting in the coming days."
"I shall your grace, I shall. Now, I believe there is a small army of people who wish for a moment of your time, so if you will excuse me."
"Of course doctor, of course."
The academic bowed again, and vanished into the crowd without a trace, Allya frowning as she watched him go.
Yeah...academic her ass.
What the hell was Rook playing at sending another operative here?
She erased the expression from her face as more people walked up to her. This was her and Pyn's day. They could worry later.
*****
"Well. That was awesome!" Said Emilia as she flopped onto the bed.
"Besides the archduchess using us as a distraction, you mean?" Said Alexandra with a smile that belied her words. "But you're right, it was awesome, and super touching. I'm happy for them."
"So am I. They're made for each other. Plus, there was a lot of interesting food there. No offense, but..."
"My culinary skills are limited and it's not like adventurers take exotic meals into my depths."
"Yeah. It had been a while since I'd gotten to taste seafood. Must have been pretty hard to get here."
"We still have trade with Gorromar, and the Republic, despite swearing no trade caravan would deal with the New Republic, is leaking like a sieve. Otherwise someone could go through the western baronies and reach the Sapphire Kingdom if they really wanted to. But I'll definitely have to ask about absorbing some. Being able to make it fresh means sushi! And, you know, maybe populating the third floor with some decorative fishes."
"That'll terrify the adventurers. You have conditioned them to expect the worst. They'll think they're piranhas or something."
"...Not a bad idea."
Emilia chuckled.
"Of course. But yeah, it was a beautiful wedding..." Emilia fell silent, and Alexandra could feel her stare on her.
The Earth-born sighed.
"I've been thinking about it."
"But?"
"But, with current events, and your family troubles..."
"Right. Not a good time. Soon, though?"
"As soon as we can knock some sense into them."
"Good." Emilia smiled. "The first marriage of a dungeon core! That'll make the news."
"The first? What about the artificial ones?"
"They either already had a family or didn't found one afterwards."
"But I already have a family." Alexandra walked to the bed, and cupped the vampire's cheek. "I have you, and CQ. It's all I need."
Her advisor blushed, looking away, for once she was the one at a lost for words, and not the other way around.
"R-Right." She finally said, and the dungeon core smiled.
"Though, we'll have to come up with a venue."
"Temple not good enough for you?"
"My dear, I'm going to build a temple to you if I have to."
Emilia snorted.
"Of course you would."