#460 The Wedding Ceremony’s Grand Finale

My wedding with Platy has been lively so far from the various programs we’ve had.

“This festival is so fun!”

“The cake is dewicious!”

The earth spirits are pretty delighted.

“Woof!”

“Meow!”

And so are Pochi and the Professor.

Platy attracts the attendees' attention with her dress change, too.

“Wait. What happened to the Darkness, Void, and Araya-shiki dresses we thought of together, Batemy?”

“I thought about it again and decided that none of them made any sense, so I discarded them.”

However, all festivities eventually come to an end.

As reluctant as we may be, the wedding ceremony is approaching its final stage.

***

“Thank you all for coming today.”

I, the groom, give the closing speech.

Everyone looks at me.

Since ancient times, it has been said that marriage requires a person to prepare four types of rings. The first is...ah yes, the engagement ring.”

“Dear, do you need to talk about that now?’

Platy interrupted what was about to be a lengthy speech.

“To put it bluntly, the wedding will soon be coming to an end. With that, we’ll wrap things up with one last entertainment.”

The crowd cheers.

“What will Lord Saint surprise us with this time?”

“Well, if we had a giant cake earlier, it might be an extra-large sweet red bean soup next!”

Our wedding has become some sort of all-you-can-eat sweets con among the ladies.

Alas, it is not.

“What we’re going to do next is... the bouquet toss!”

Platy steps forward in her wedding dress for the last time.

In her hand is a bright and voluminous bouquet.

“?”

“‘Bukey toss’?”

Everyone seems bewildered, not understanding the meaning of a bouquet toss.

I guess this is what happens when you introduce customs from a different world.

“Mwehehe... It seems you’re all confused about what the bouquet toss is. Allow me to explain!”

Platy, who already knows the gist, holds up the bouquet with a smug look on her face.

“I, the bride, will carry this bunch of flowers with me for the whole day, and it will be filled with the happiness of marriage!”

“?!” “O-Okay...?”

The attendees are overwhelmed.

“The bouquet toss is a way of sharing that happiness with others! Whoever catches it first becomes the new bouquet holder!”

“???”

“That means they will be the next to get married!”

“?!?”

Um, Platy?

You don’t have to say it in such a decisive tone; it’s just a superstitious belief.

I don’t want people complaining they couldn’t get married even though they got the bouquet.

“No way...”

“It’s like some kind of prediction, no? We have such a custom in my hometown, too.”

Good. The cool-headed ladies are aware that this little event is just a gimmick.

“But Lord Saint did introduce this...”

“Maybe it’s more of a fortune then...!”

But now they’re gradually taking it at face value!

“It’s finally time to get serious...!”

Among them, someone is in super-serious mode, with a dense aura emanating from her body—Eryngear.

As someone who’s in a relationship, the word “marriage” is even more familiar to her.

She’s still at schooling age, though.

Of course, those who are married remain unfazed.

“If it had been me a couple of months ago, I would have killed everyone in my way to get the bouquet,” mutters Puffer, also a newlywed.

The voltage soars mainly among the maidens.

“That bouquet is mine!”

“Lord Saint’s blessings are sure to be rich!”

“I’m the one who’ll following Lady Platy!”

“I want to get married! I want to get married! I want to get married!!!”

They’re starting to bare their fangs.

This isn’t the climax of a wedding ceremony. It’s more like the scene of carnage.

“I’m tossing it now! Go wild and fight for this bouquet!”

Platy shows off her graceful pitching form.

By the way, the bouquet toss is usually held right after the vow ceremony, but we’re doing it at the end of the reception to add to the event’s excitement.

I wasn’t expecting it to be this exciting...

“Here goes!”

The bouquet Platy tossed flies higher and farther than expected.

“YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!”

The bachelorettes rush toward the bouquet, letting out a barbaric roar.

I’m scared.

They look more like a swarm of piranhas rushing toward fresh meat.

The bouquet is still in the air, but as long as it is still an object, gravity will pull it down to the ground, where it will meet its “demise.”

But...

It didn’t happen.

The bouquet flew up in altitude.

“What?!”

How did that happen?!

Something gave the bouquet new momentum that made it fly through the air like a cascade rocket!

But how?!

The bouquet didn’t fall to the ground but soared higher and higher, seemingly taunting the maidens below it.

“Looks like the propeller potion worked,” mutters Platy next to me.

You did this?!

“Don’t you want to end our wedding on an exciting note?”

“But why did you have to do this?”

“I won’t let anyone easily complete an event I start. I made things difficult my own way!”

But that’s just uncalled-for!

The bouquet is flying in the air in a very confusing trajectory, turning right, then left, and then suddenly dropping altitude!

Is this the effect of Platy’s potion?

“Don’t think this is enough to make me quit! Hyaaaaaaah!”

Eryngear refuses to concede!

She steps on the heads of her rivals and makes a giant leap!

“H-How dare you use me as a stepping stone!”

“Soar the skies, Flying Black Beauty!”

She must’ve used an alchemic spell to fly.

She, too, is talented, as she is a candidate selected to be one of our students. Having studied here, she can read the bouquet’s complex orbit perfectly and steadily close in on it.

“I got you!”

I thought so too.

But just when the bouquet was within Eryngear’s reach...

“I won’t let you!”

“What?!”

The bouquet itself rejects Eryngear!

It uses its ivy-like arms to swat her hand away!

“What in the world?!”

“Way to go, Eryngear! You actually managed to make the bouquet show its true colors!” shouts Platy beside me.

Again?!

“I gave the bouquet consciousness as its last defense mechanism in case something like this happened!”

“How is that possible?!”

“I just transferred the spirit that lives in Veil’s mountain. It’s the same plant, so it wasn’t that difficult.”

But that doesn’t mean you can do it!

Oh, I guess she can. I mean, she already did.

She’s not called the Crowned Witch for nothing!

“Hahaha! Under Lady Platy’s orders, this willful bouquet will not let itself get caught! I am free! Bound by no one! I will soar the sky as I pleaseeeeeeeeeee!”

The conscious bouquet maintains full speed and finally shakes off Eryngear and disappears into the sky, leaving behind a sparkle of light.

“The bouquet... escaped?!”

What is even going on here...

The bouquet toss’ has lost its original significance!

If no one could catch the bouquet, no one’s getting married next!

What are you going to do about this, Platy?!

“Whoops... Guess I got too carried away, hehe. Sowwy!”

Platy laughs embarrassedly and sticks out her tongue.

Do you think you can get away with just that? Actually, yeah. She can.

I’ve been thinking about this for a long time... but whenever I put her in charge of an event, high chances are that she will fail to regulate its difficulty.