"C'mon, out with it." Nat ordered me as I looked at myself in the mirror.

"Huh? We already paid up front, though." I grimaced, "Don't make me call Adam on your ass."

"I wasn't talkin' about no money, ya' simple dimple!" She yelled, "I'm talkin' about praise! My outfit made you look 110 times better, but I ain't heard a single song of praise from ya'."

"Well, I gotta admit, you did an awesome job with it." I chuckled as I turned around and looked at the back, "It fits perfectly, it's got the slimness down to accentuate my natural body shape, and you followed my instructions and even made it better with your own expert twist on it."

"Fufu... Wait, how come yer' suddenly so willin' to praise!?" She stood wary of me, "Tryna' get a last minute discount, are ya'? Well, that don't work on me!"

"I already paid you, so how could that even work?" I asked, "Besides, handing out well-deserved praise doesn't cost me anything, and I'm genuinely speaking from the heart when I say the suit's amazing."

"Yep yep! I'm sure yer' wife's gonna be ecstatic when she sees ya'." Nat nodded.

Oddly enough due to the circumstances, it seems Cecily and I have kind of swapped the traditional roles. As far as I'm aware at least, it's usually the bride that hides her appearance in the wedding dress from the groom, but given last time's predicament, she felt a bit too embarrassed to see Nat's face again and told me to go pick up my tux on my own. I guess that's just an added bonus, since now there's an extra layer of excitement when I finally get to witness her reaction. I just hope I didn't make it too flashy with all my additions and changes to the design...

"So, when's the weddin'? Ya' gonna invite me?" She suddenly asked.

"Huh? Oh, well, I guess we've got some seats left to spare..." I thought about my parents, Nelly and Meil seemingly declining the invitation, "If you've got time, we decided it'd be on the fifteenth."

"That's in a week!" She shouted, "Man, you folks are cuttin' it close. How the hell would you've made it in time if it weren't for good ol' Adam?"

"Hehe, we'd probably push it back a couple months." I chuckled, "In truth, this is kind of a formality, in a way. Cecily and I are already every bit of a married couple, we just didn't officially take all the usual steps required to be considered as such."

"Mhm, how sweet." She gave a dry reply, "My, you two are just sooo charmin' like that. Makes a poor single maiden like me wanna go jump off a bridge."

"Maybe try acting a bit more ladylike?" I suggested, "You've got the talent to make any guy fall for you, but at the very least try and talk a bit more politely."

"I'll pass." She looked down with a warm smirk, "If I gotta act like a completely different person just to nab me a man, then that man ain't the one fer' me. I'd rather wait fer' someone who likes me the way I am. On the inside, y'know?"

Yeah, I expected her to say something like that. Such a way of thinking isn't at all bad, and if anything I can say with certainty that I respect her for remaining true to herself all this time. Still, if you're so eager to find a man, then I think you should start thinking about making baby steps towards compromising on your end. Otherwise you'll keep dreaming and dreaming about that one perfect prince that's never gonna come. Well, I say that, but in reality I lucked out immensely with Cecily, so maybe I don't have as much skin in the game.

"In that case, I wish you the best of luck in finding such a man." I honestly replied, "Who knows what life has in store for us, so the best advice I can give you is to continue down the path you're headed just as steadfastly as you are now."

"Cool, but I didn't ask fer' yer' advice, pal." She grinned.

"Can't help it." I teased back, mimicking her speech pattern as a joke, "Us men see a problem and can't help but wanna fix it. It's a blessin' n' a curse."

Laughing away as we continue tossing and receiving light jabs from each other that actually started to hurt quite a bit as they eventually escalated, I finally had enough and changed back into my regular clothes, putting the tuxedo she had made for me in the bag I brought with me in advance. With that, all the preparations were made. Adam prepared for us the venue, we contacted the local church, all the guests have decided on whether or not they'll be attending (for better or for worse), we got the rings and the attire made, and the only thing left is for the food we ordered to be made and sent to the venue, but that'll come on the day of, so no worries on that front. Surprisingly enough, we made it just in time! Though I do wish those guys made a last minute change of heart and came to the wedding anyways...

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***

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"Morn-!" I woke up stoked on my wedding day, only to see an empty spot on the bed where Cecily was supposed to be, "Damn, don't tell me she got last minute cold feet. Pff, yeah right."

Getting up and putting on the tuxedo I had tucked away in the back of the closet, I once again couldn't help but admire Nat's incredible handiwork. Praising her in my head as I posed on for couple more minutes in front of the mirror, I finally felt I had my fill and went to share this spectacle with the world. Leaving my room, the first person to greet me was, in fact, my best man.

"Good morning, Lune." Adam nodded, "Looking good. I see Nat still hasn't lost her edge."

"That compliment doesn't do her justice." I chuckled, "More like she cut through it like a hot knife through butter!"

"Quite the analogy." He smirked, "Come on, we're all waiting for you downstairs."

"Hm?" I tilted my head, "Who is?"

"We are!" Ed and Issei, clad in quite the snazzy tuxedos themselves announced, "Damn, Grim! Even on your wedding day, you can't help but be extra."

"Yeah, that outfit feels straight out of DMC." Issei mentioned something foreign to me, "The collar, cuffs, the layers... Yeah, all you're missing is the signature White hair."

"No, I don't think it'd look good on me." I joked, "Besides, Meil would have me beat in that department regardless, so I'll stick to Brown for now."

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"Yeah, good idea." Ed smiled before leading us all downstairs, "Now come on, Adam's prepared a special surprise for you."

"A surprise?" I followed them outside the house with a smirk, "What? You got like a game prepared or like maybe a-EH!?"

"Surprise!" Everyone suddenly shouted at us from inside the caravan of transport wagons waiting for the main man to join them.

"W-What is this!?" I shouted at Adam.

"Don't you know? It's a new tradition, after all, dear Lune." Adam proudly smirked, "In Cardina, when a wedding occurs, all the guests get a little drive through town, honking their horns and parading as they loudly celebrate and shout to the world who's getting married."

"Doesn't that bother the townspeople?" I asked.

"Yes, very much..." Ed groaned as he recalled a previous incident he had with one such occurrence, "I once got tinnitus during a grocery run from all the wagon horns honking near me. But hey, now we get to have our revenge!"

"C'mon, let's continue this talk inside." Issei hurried us into the wagon at the front, "By the way, the girls are in the wagon right behind us, so don't expect the grand reveal of your beloved in a bridal outfit before we get to the church."

"Sorry, I kinda already got a preview weeks ago." I recalled the incident with it completely dropping to the floor on account of the size being way too big, "But yeah, I'm excited nonetheless."

As the lads boarded the transport wagon, each driver honked to one another in a ripple effect as if to signal that they were ready before taking off. I was pretty jumpy and nervous at the start, since I expected us to just speed straight to the church, but I soon realized what Adam meant when he said we were gonna parade around town. The caravan slowed down significantly as soon as we reached the main street, and as we rode through it one by one, each wagon honking repeatedly as the guests inside waved the national Cardina flag from the windows, I finally felt a sense of elation and the feeling of me getting married to Cecily had never been more real. So this is how they do weddings in Cardina? What a wonderful tradition...

"Hm?" We noticed the driver stop the wagon, "What's wrong?"

"Damned kids..." He rolled down the window as we saw a few tykes holding up a rope to block our path, asking for small change in order for us to continue our drive, "There ya' go, take some shils, now beat it!"

"Aww, come on, old man!" One of the kids wasn't happy with just that much it seemed, "We didn't even get to see the bride and groom yet!"

"Yeah, at least let us see who's getting married!" Another boy shouted.

"Yo." I popped my head out to call out to them, waving some shils I took out from my wallet to get their attention, "Ain't gonna let us pass until we pay you, eh? Crafty kids..."

"You the groom, mister?" The first kid asked, "Whoa, your Eyes look crazy..."

"They get like this when I'm happy." I smiled back, "Here. Crafty kids deserve some praise for their funny little ideas. Go buy yourself some ice cream with that."

"Yeah, no." The kids took the money, but declined the notion of spending it, "We're saving up for our retirement funds. In this economy, ice cream just isn't worth it."

Lowering the rope and letting our stunned and speechless asses through as they raised it back up for the next wagon where the girls were, the boys had continued on with their money making schemes without even batting an Eye. Kids these days... Retirement funds? Really? I don't mean to sound old, but back in my day books were the end all be all, and that's coming from a village kid who didn't even know what the hell ice cream was at their age. Geez...

"W-Well, ahem..." Ed regained his composure as he went to ask me, "But what was that about your Eyes going Rainbow when you're happy? That doesn't really seem like a plausible theory to say so confidently. Did Aru give any details away?"

"No, nothing like that." I laughed, "I just noticed something, that's all."

"Care to share with the class?" Issei reclined.

"Ever since I broke out of that stone coffin in Lichtenstelle, ever since I saw Cene and Cecily again, ever since I got to build the house with Ed and Issei, ever since I got to meet all sorts of wonderful people in preparation for this whole wedding thanks to Adam, and of course, ever since I proposed to Cecily - I was happy. In each and every second since that day I revived, this whole period of my life just felt like a dream, and I constantly have to keep reminding myself that it isn't. I don't know how or why I revived, and I know even less about my Eyes, but for all I care, I'll go with that theory - I know that this happy, perfect dream started the moment my Eyes turned Rainbow, so I'm sticking with that."

".........Lune...." The guys looked on.

"Grim..." Ed, ever the crybaby, started tearing up before smirking, "Tch, look at you! Dishing out such a speech before we even made it to the church! Cecily would be so jealous if she knew what she was missing out on..."

"I've got more left in the chamber." I chuckled as the wagon slowly came to a halt yet again, "Hm? More crafty kids?"

"I'm afraid not, mister Grimheart!" The wagon driver smiled as the doors opened, "We've reached our destination! Congratulations on the wedding!"

"Oh, thank you!" I smiled as I jumped out the wagon, "Then, where's my wife to... be."

Stunned, speechless, in sheer awe of her beauty and grace, beyond ecstatic, hyped up beyond understanding, in disbelief...! I saw her there, walking out of the wagon before spotting me and waving in her cutesy, adorable style. Anna was helping her down the steps of the wagon, Othelia was holding the back of her veil from dragging on the ground, and Elaine was bawling her Eyes out as if she was the one getting married, not me.

"Oi, come on, now!" The guys stopped me from approaching her, instead dragging me down the aisle and onto the altar where the priest awaited with a gentle smile, "Don't go spoiling the surprise, bud! Y'know the rules - The bride's veil is only removed when the couple exchange vows and kiss!"

Oh right, I almost forgot... Damn, should I have taken more mint candies this morning just in case? I've rigorously been brushing my teeth ever since I rose from the dead, but still... O-One more candy just in case! Y'know, for good measure!