The Dutiful Kid Who Saved the Villainous Family - Chapter 220

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Side Story — Episode 20

Jackvell Marquess was playfully wrinkling his nose, and Berry was laughing with delight.
It was then that Airi thought of the empty Groom’s Seat and the person who hadn’t been able to attend the wedding.
Airi went blank for a moment, but soon collected herself.
But that was precisely when it happened.
A short gasp erupted from the scattered groups of guests.
“Huh?”
The guests murmured and looked around. An elderly woman with hair white as snow glanced up at the sky and whispered softly.
“It’s snowing.”
“What? Snow in midsummer?”
Their wedding was taking place in the Northern Region.
Though the North was always thought to be cold and snow-covered, summer did come there too. The season now was decidedly warm summer.
But…….
“The snow is so warm.”
“Really, it’s almost as if… one’s heart feels at ease.”
Everyone’s eyes widened at those words.
And Airi, who had been walking down the Wedding Aisle, paused. She squeezed Berry’s hand more firmly and looked up at him.
“Berry, this snow. It feels just like… Isadel Marquess is sending it down, doesn’t it?”
“……Mother?”
“Yes.”
At Airi’s firm affirmation, Berry’s eyes widened visibly.
In Airi’s eyes, this snow was like the beautiful Snowy Plains where Jackvell Marquess and Isadel Milang had first met.
No one truly knows whether she is here.
It’s only that snow is falling, after all.
But if, despite that, this intuition is correct…….
Airi gazed quietly into empty air and bowed her head gently, with proper courtesy.
“I humbly beg your blessing!”
Soft snow descended gently onto Airi’s hair.
As if someone were blessing their marriage for a very long time.

* * *

If one were to name the most entertaining moment at the wedding and reception, it would surely be…….
‘Watching Serafin’s embarrassed face?’
Still single, Serafin was being bombarded with questions about when he’d marry, looking dazed.
As Airi had grown into an adult, he too had matured considerably. Yet he still seemed far removed from matters of romance and marriage.
He rested his chin in his hand and opened his mouth.
“I have no intention of marrying.”
“Then who will be the heir to the North…….”
Many guests looked at Serafin with worried expressions.
Serafin wore the expression of someone being pelted with difficult questions like artillery fire.
Yes, at times like these, Serafin’s ‘captain’ comes to his rescue!
“But marriage isn’t the whole of life, either.”
Airi nodded.
Of course, Serafin bore the heavy crown of being the heir to the North.
Unless something extraordinary happened, he would likely inherit the title of Lord Ortejo. But even so…….
Airi spoke seriously.
“Marriage is not a requirement but a choice, Serafin.”
“……Huh?”
Serafin opened his eyes wide. He seemed genuinely taken aback.
‘Honestly, this is hardly what a freshly married bride should be saying.’
Airi went a step further in her thinking.
‘Serafin is the heir to the great house, but even so…….’
It shouldn’t matter regardless, should it? Because…….
“Serafin, wouldn’t you be perfectly fine on your own?”
She remembered a conversation she’d had with Serafin not long ago.
He’d said he wanted to grow old a bachelor for many years.
That rather than romantic love, he simply wanted to be with family.
That’s fine. Such lives exist, and such people exist.
You marry if you meet someone you want to be with, and if not, then you don’t.
As she watched Serafin while keeping those thoughts to herself.
Serafin quietly opened his mouth.
“……Yes. And I’m not alone. I have family with me.”
Hearing those words, Airi broke into a bright smile. Then she waved her hand lightly a couple of times toward the guests surrounding Serafin, as if telling them to stop.
“Did you hear what Serafin said? So everyone, enough of that.”
The atmosphere among the guests settled at Airi’s words.
Soon Serafin whispered softly to Airi, who was dressed in a bridal gown.
His characteristic playful expression was there as well.
“Fine. I’ll always be here, as a bachelor.”
“Don’t make a vow, Serafin.”
“I’m not making a vow. Right now I’m feeling the feelings of a handsome single man.”
……She wanted to tell him to drop the ‘handsome’ part, but held her tongue.
Because…….
She understood the weight of what Serafin meant by ‘always, at this place.’
Serafin intended to stand beside Airi like a great tree, steadily protecting her.
Even if Airi married and built a new home, still as family.
Airi’s eyes gleamed at Serafin’s words.
Just then, Berry, who had been quietly standing beside them watching the beautiful affection between the two, checked his watch.
He took Airi’s hand firmly in his.
He moved his lips as if he had something to say, then finally spoke.
“It seems the time has come.”
“Ah!”
At his vague words, Airi blinked, then went still.
“Ah, the reception is ending……?”
“……Yes, and.”
Berry’s face flushed slightly. He leaned in close to Airi’s ear and whispered quietly.
“It’s time for the honeymoon. I’ve had the carriage prepared.”
Airi’s eyes went wide.
Of course, the honeymoon had already been planned. They’d prepared carefully. They’d decided to honeymoon by the Southern Seaside. But…….
Now that the moment to leave for the honeymoon was truly approaching, everything suddenly felt unfamiliar.
As she stood there with her mouth slightly open, blinking, Berry winked at her.
“……Yes, let’s go together.”
It felt like opening a new page in life.
What would the honeymoon feel like?
Airi gripped Berry’s hand tightly.
And she realized.
That the honeymoon was another name for the Wedding Night.
Airi Ortejo was no longer a child.
She was an adult who loved Berry, had gotten married, and therefore…….
“Ah…….”
In an instant, Airi’s face turned as red as a tomato.
As if she were imagining some future to come.

* * *

By the Southern Seaside, at a place called Small Star, their honeymoon for two began.
At first it was simply like a familiar dating routine.
But gradually, as darkness began to creep in from the distance.
Airi held her breath and looked around.
“You know, Berry…….”
As Airi worked her lips, Berry took her hand again. With a firm expression, as if he would never let go again.
Only after confirming that very attitude did Airi carefully open her mouth.
“……Something seems different, doesn’t it?”
“What is?”
Berry’s grip on Airi’s hand tightened even more.
A grip stronger than usual, just slightly more forceful.
As if to say he would absolutely never let go.
“No, just… we really did get married…….”
Airi gazed at Berry obediently. He would probably understand the sentence she left unfinished.
“And something feels different, somehow. Between us.”
It wasn’t the soft, carefree time when they’d simply dated. Now it was a bond interwoven with duty and responsibility toward each other.
A bond where they’d stood before so many people and sworn: we are married.
So surely, things between us have changed.
Then…….
Airi swallowed.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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