Everyone held their breath and waited in the pitch-black hall, then the sound of a horn could be heard followed by a series of harp tones that gave the hall an ethereal feel.
Many small flames suddenly lit around the hall, illuminating it with a very dim gray light while leaving the stage in total darkness…. That was until a bright spotlight suddenly shone there and the brides entered walking in line… Something was different this time though. It took the attendees a few minutes to make it out due to the illumination.
The eight brides who were in different long dresses and unique masks were all chained in a long delicate golden chain that hung between anthems and went from their wrists to their ankles. They were being dragged by a bald man wearing black garb and a wooden mask on his face that made him look domineering… It was as if he was an executioner.
It was as if the girls were some war trophies being brought to be married against their will.
The attendees gasped. Especially Theodore and his family. They had no idea what Victor was doing.
“Grandfather…. Will Elise be ok?” April asked nervously. She really liked the little girl. And didn’t like this roleplay Victor was making at all. It was a little humiliating.
“Yes… Yes….” Harvey said absentmindedly as he watched with a frown.
“What’s wrong, grandfather?” Gary asked, his grandfather would only make that expression if he found something interesting.
“... I don’t understand it… This doesn’t add up! Why is he doing this?” Harvey said.
“Doing what?”
“This ceremony… It is as if he is trying to fool someone… No wonder the spies reports said it was the back dragon mountain ceremony and not the eight kingdoms… But still… Something is hidden…!” Harvey suddenly squinted his eyes and began to look around inspecting the attendees for the second time.
“What do you mean?” Gary asked. "Can't you appraise everything with your glasses?"
"No… that fox is using an appraisal blocking talisman… about 1000 of them… the paper flowers all over the hall and in the middle of the tables are talismans! He must have paid a fortune to hide his tail!"
"Oh… then is Victor using some kind of an illusion and doesn't want anyone to discover it?” Gary said carefully inspecting the carefully folded paper flower hidden between the real ones on the table. He really didn’t notice it!
“That’s impossible… He is attempting to do a system-binding wedding, any sort of illusions on stage would render it void…” Harvey explained.
“System binding wedding?”
“Yes… Look at the symbols around the stage… the signs, the orientations… he hid it well, but he can’t fool my old eyes!”
“What does a system-binding wedding do?” April asked.
“Well, we don’t fully know, it is an old tradition… As its name indicates, it’s a marriage that will give you a system status… Oh, and it is very hard to annul!”
“And?”
“We don’t know… Some players used to do it in the past, and some claimed it has something to do with the ceremony. Others said that it made them feel connected all the time… But other than that it didn’t seem to have any benefits. So it went out of fashion… Who would like to feel connected to his wife while cheating on her or murdering her mother?“
“Oh… So why is Victor doing this?”
“I can’t tell yet… But I will definitely be able to figure it out before this fiasco is over….”
Gary frowned, not understanding his grandfather’s point. He just looked back at the stage and carefully watched Elise. Why was she smiling as if she was having fun? Was she into bondage cosplay? Did she even understand what this meant?
On the other side of the hall, Master Amon was silently cursing. With all of those talismans around the hall, he couldn't see a thing. He was curious about what Victor was hiding.
No… he quickly focused on the stage…. He almost gasped!
I see… No wonder, no wonder… He was just a pervert after all!
Amon Relaxed, believing he uncovered Victor’s secret.
…
Victor who was carefully inspecting everyone's eyes didn't care about Amon or Harvey at this time, he was focused on Mirage, the fate sect’s elder who seemingly began to read the fates of everyone not caring for the high cost. He could tell as he could see that her order points were dwindling fast.
Earlier, he kept delaying the wedding until she finished reading the priest's fate… As Harvey said, he couldn't use his disguise skill after the ceremony officially began.
He was not afraid of Mirage reading his fate again during the ceremony, as she already knew that he had the fate of the harem king. And would not waste her points reading someone twice!
As for her reading the girls' fates…. It was a risk he was willing to take. It was very hard for him to disguise others' fate unless they were his blood slaves after all.
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
He just sighed and gave a signal to Ruby to continue.
“Sorry about that… The young master was worried that one of the brides might escape again so he had to chain them. According to him, he didn’t have that many spares!” the priestess said awkwardly.
The attendees looked at each other but said nothing as the girls who wore colorful masks that didn’t really disguise their identities slowly stood next to each other feeling a little shy. Especially Aria. Elise who was wondering how she ended up here was being pushed by Margret who grilled her earlier.
“NOW… HERE COMES THE HERO!” the priestess announced, as a more dramatic song began to play from the back. Few could tell that it was being played by the Wiren principality’s national orchestra which was hiding in the back of the stage… The musicians didn’t complain though, they were paid handsomely.
The stage went dark again as the groom walked into the spotlight. He was wearing a different hero mask this time, this one covered his face and had one long horn to its side.
He looked at the brides and then bowed to them. They bowed back.
“Stupid, you bow too… You are in the frame!” one of the girls who was taking photos to the side scolded the bald man who was still holding the chain.
The man nodded awkwardly and then bowed.
The hero quickly stood up elegantly, turned to the ‘dragon’, and bowed.
The dragon priest snored.
The priestess quickly ran to his side and poked him a few times, making him wake up.
“Who? What?” he asked in a rough voice.
“The ceremony continues!” she said as she threw a paper in his hand. “READ!”
“Oh… Well…”
“...”
“... Can I have some light here?”
A light suddenly shone on top of the priest's head.
“Ehm…. MY DEARLY BELOVED… WE ARE GATHERED HERE TODAY TO BIND THOSE BRIDES BY THE DRACONIAN MARRIAGE BOND…. LET THIS WEDDING BE AN ETERNAL CONNECTION… LET THE WORLD BE A WITNESS AS YOU GIVE YOURSELF TO YOUR NEW MASTER!” The priest read in a monotone voice.
The girls bowed.
“IF ANY OF YOU OBJECT THEN RETREAT NOW… this is really your last chance….”
No one retreated.
“Are you sure…”
“...” No one objected. One of them was tempted to curse, but she kept her silence. Another wanted to laugh, she let out a giggle, but no one cared.
“...”
“...” The priest had seemingly fallen asleep. The priestess had to kick his leg and point at the next line.
“Oh…right, right… IF ANY OF YOU OBJECT THEN RETREAT NOW ....”
“We already finished that… the next line…”
“THEN THIS SHALL BE YOUR ETERNAL CHOICE… TO LOVE AND BE LOVED BY YOUR MASTER FOR ALL ETERNITY…”
The girls bowed again, and the hero bowed back.
“IF ANY OF THE WITNESSES OBJECT TO THIS MARRIAGE SPEAK NOW… OR HOLD YOUR SILENCE FOREVER!” the priest said.
“...”
“...”
“Anyone at all?” the priest asked again. “You might not get another chance….”
“...”
“STOP THIS MADNESS…” a young man suddenly appeared from under one of the tables as if he was waiting for this moment. “MIRA IS MINE…” he didn’t continue as 10 bald burly men appeared next to him in seconds, sacking him in a plastic bag, and then they began striking him with their steel batons before dragging his lifeless corpse out.
“...”
“No one objects, you may continue…” the priestess said.
“But that guy just now…”
“He will hold his silence forever!”
“Oh… good, good, good….” the priest nodded then went silent too.
“...”
“...”
The priestess kicked the priest’s dragon chair again. The wine was really a little too strong for someone his age.
“Oh…. What? Where? Who?” He woke up.
“Continue… There were no objections!” she pointed to the next line.
“... SINCE NO ONE OBJECTS! THEN…. Then what?” the priest asked the girl.
She frowned and then quickly flipped the paper.
“Oh…. AS OF THIS BLESSED DAY, YOUR LIFE IS YOUR MASTER’S, AND HIS LIFE IS YOURS, BOW!”
The brides bowed to the hero.
The hero bowed to them then back to the priest who was asleep again by this point.
“FOR THIS DRAGON BOW!”
The Hero and the brides bowed to the dragon!
“THEN THIS MARRIAGE IS VALID AND THE ETERNAL CONTRACT SHALL BE FORGED!” he said as the entirety of the stage was lit and an old ceremonial table was brought in by two girls, one of which was Lily. On the table, a golden contract was placed.
The priestess held the contract high showing it to the audience. There were some strange symbols all over it that no one understood.
“THE HERO!” shouted the priestess, making the valiant hero approach the table then take out the ceremonial dagger on it and prick his delicate finger with it.
“Hold his hand and slide it over the contact…” the priestess told the priest.
“Oh…” the priest nodded, then took the Hero’s hand and slid it over the contract. Forming a diagonal curve.
“THE BRIDES!” the priestess shouted as the hero stepped to the side.
The girls were quickly dragged by the bald man who got them to the table where the priest followed the commands of the bossy priestess and used the ceremonial dagger to one by one prick the finger of each of the girls, then stamp it on the contract. Crossing it over the diagonal line.
They did it in turns, Lin, Mana, Mina, Aria, Margret, Mira, Monica and finally Elise who was to be helped by the bald man, making the priest mistakenly prick the man’s finger instead of Elise’s then slide it over the contract before the priestess caught and corrected him… He quickly kicked the man away in disgust and took Elise’s hand instead, finishing the ritual.
The brides quickly retreated to the center of the hall after that and bowed again as the golden chain binding broke into pieces and fell to the ground.
The priestess helped the priest stand as she whispered the words he had to say next in his ears.
“LET THE WORLD BEAR WITNESS, TO THIS DRACONIAN MARRIAGE!” he shouted, raising the contract up high for everyone to witness.
A light shone from the contract for a second. But subdued later.
For ordinary people, they thought this was some special effects, but for players, they realized what it was as a notification appeared in front of their eyes.
WEDDING CEREMONY WITNESSED
WEDDING COMPLETED!
Theodore frowned, he only realized it now, but his scheming son was doing a system Marriage.
Amon, James Martha, George, Olaf, and Mirage were amazed too, as old players they knew what it meant! They didn’t see this coming at all!
James quickly looked around the hall, then breathed in relief when he saw Lily walk from a side door and look at the stage with an envious look as if she wished she could be there too!
Please don’t do that… he wanted to tell her but couldn't.
“THE WEDDING IS COMPLETE!” The priest announced. “You may kiss the groom…” he said as the stage grew dark, then, three seconds later, a spotlight revealed Victor who slowly removed his mask walk toward the girls who slowly removed their masks one by one as Victor held them one by one and gave them a deep kiss under the envious eyes of the attendees.
For many of them, this was the first time they witnessed the real beauty of those brides. They were in shock.
Elena sighed as she watched her son kiss the girls… Her little boy had grown up.
Finishing with the kissing, the spotlight moved to the priestess again.
“Ehm… Thank you for attending this ceremony… The story goes that after the ritual, the hero and the brides lived happily ever after living under the care of the magnificent dragon!” She said awkwardly.
“Now…” she wanted to continue but was interrupted.
“Shit, get out of here you idiot! I almost mistook you for a girl and kissed you! BLAH....” there was the voice of Victor scolding someone seconds later.