The Engagement Ceremony and the Scoundrel's Truth
"Gaga, wake up."
"Uuugh... just a little longer..."
"No!"
It was early morning. Soye shook me out of a deep sleep while sunlight poured through the window we had left open for air, doing its thorough job of ruining what remained of it. Judging that words alone would never rouse me, she sighed.
"Honestly..."
Deciding speech was a lost cause, she pressed her lips to mine in a soft peck and drew back. Against that affectionate assault, I finally surrendered sleep and sat up.
"Haaahm~. Morning, Soye."
"You're awake?"
A month had passed since the duel with Tang Pung. After I woke from the coma, I had slowly dragged my body back into shape under Soye's relentless watch, and only last week had I finally been set free.
"Gaga, honestly! You haven't forgotten what today is, have you?"
"As if I could. I've been waiting for this day."
I had been thinking that once I recovered, Soye and I might go traveling together. Instead, through no intention of mine, the Tang Clan had found its feet tied. The reason was simple.
"Even so, I never thought they'd push it through this fast."
"I know. I told you to make the wish on its own, and that I would take the engagement slowly. Didn't I?"
That was exactly how it had gone. When I woke from the coma, the Tang Clan Lord told me to name a wish, and I asked him for an official engagement to Soye—and for it to be announced to the world. Up to that point, it had been fine. Up to that point...
The moment he heard it, the Clan Lord slammed his foot down. He drove our engagement forward without a single hitch, and in less than three weeks he had set the date for the ceremony. For a direct descendant of one of the Five Great Clans, an engagement usually took half a year at the shortest and two or three years at the longest. By that measure, the speed of it was absurd.
"Even so, I don't regret it. If anything, I wish the ceremony would start even sooner."
"That... I feel the same."
Whatever else we said, both of us wanted the engagement sealed as soon as possible. Soye smiled playfully, looped her arms around my neck, and asked,
"Hehe~ I can look forward to today, can't I?"
"I have no idea what you mean."
"Playing innocent won't save you. Did you really think I wouldn't notice you spent a whole week ransacking every gold-and-silver shop in Sichuan?"
"That's a little terrifying."
"Hmph. So have you come to dislike me?"
"No. If anything, I like you more."
I had never been able to understand people who hated being clung to by the one they loved. Of course, some simply weren't made for it, and others drew the line once it went too far—but I still couldn't make sense of it. Not when she was this cute.
I wanted to tease her a little longer, but a voice from outside the bedroom cut the attempt short.
"Young Miss! You really must go now!"
"Mm~. Looks like it's already time. I'll go get ready first, then."
"All right. I should get moving too."
"I'll be looking forward to the ring."
She slipped from my arms with a foxlike smile. I caught her before she could leave and pressed a brief kiss to her lips.
"I'll be looking forward to it."
"Me too."
And so Soye headed for the bride's waiting room, and I for the groom's, each of us on our own path.
Though... is it even right to say bride and groom at an engagement?
Having finished my bath in broad daylight, I went to the groom's waiting room and began putting the clothes on piece by piece. There were so many layers that even with dozens of maids swarming over the work of dressing me, it took a little over half an hour to be fully outfitted. Only after the costume was complete, and a light touch of makeup besides, was I finally free.
Or rather, it was hard to call it freedom.
I'm already worn out. I'll have to go through this nonsense all over again when we actually marry, won't I? Maybe then we should just keep it small, with no one else there.
I was fretting over that distant future—the day Soye and I would marry—when a servant approached.
"I will escort you to the banquet hall."
"Ah, right. Please."
I followed him, and before I knew it I stood in the hall where the engagement would be held. The space was more familiar than I had expected. As at a modern wedding, a path for the groom and bride ran down the center, ringed by round tables. If I had to add anything else, it was that the ceremony was outdoors.
Still smaller than I thought, though.
I had assumed an engagement of the Five Great Clans would be held on a scale worthy of the name, but once I actually looked, there weren't all that many people. I didn't feel particularly slighted. From the start this had been an engagement forced through in three weeks, and gathering a proper guest list in that span had been close to impossible. Most of those who came were of the Tang Clan, or from Sichuan.
I should at least go greet them.
There was still a fair while before Soye arrived, so I wandered the hall, speaking with the guests who had come for the ceremony. I was hardly used to this sort of thing, but for the sake of a successful engagement I talked myself into it, offering conversation and thanks as I went. By the time I had greeted nearly everyone present, the servant waiting at the entrance announced,
"The Lord of the Tang Clan and the Sect Leader of the Thunder Power Sect are entering."
At his words, the Tang Clan Lord and Jin Yeoheun appeared in the doorway. The two men entered with imposing dignity, and for a moment the hall fell silent. They were masters who had once dominated their age. Some watched them with open admiration, others with envy thick enough to taste, but the pair ignored every gaze and took their seats.
Their arrival chilled the air, yet the heaviness didn't last long. The servant at the entrance raised his voice once more.
"Lady Tang Soye will now enter."
He had barely finished before every eye turned toward the entrance. Then Soye appeared, in a white dress nothing like what she usually wore.
"Oh...!"
"A celestial maiden couldn't compare."
"So the title Number One Beauty of Sichuan isn't empty after all."
The hall stirred at her entrance, and no wonder. The Soye who had just stepped into view was beautiful enough to steal the breath from a person's lungs. I forgot the moment entirely and simply stared at her without a word.
A person can be that beautiful... And a person like that is going to be my wife.
I was sunk in the feeling, lost to those thoughts, when Soye—who had come up to me at some point—spoke.
"Gaga!"
"Huh? Yeah! What is it?"
"Nothing. You were just standing there in a daze."
"Ah. Our Soye was so pretty I lost myself staring."
"What kind of line is that? Gaga, you really haven't changed a bit—not from six years ago, and not now."
"That's right. Then and now, I still love you."
A short, transmitted cough broke in. Ahem. Without realizing it, I had fallen into a world that held only the two of us, and the Tang Clan Lord had sent his voice straight to my ear. Once that transmission confirmed I had come back to my senses, the master of ceremonies spoke.
"Then we shall now begin the engagement ceremony. Groom and bride, please walk the path together."
As soon as he finished, Soye came to my side and linked her arm through mine. Then, in a whisper too small for anyone else to catch, she said,
"Gaga looks truly handsome today, too."
"Thank you."
And so, for the sake of an official engagement, we walked slowly down the length of the hall.
The long day came to an end. Perhaps because it was only an engagement, the rite itself had not been long. It finished so hollowly that I almost regretted the days of trouble spent preparing for something so brief. The banquet hadn't stretched on either. The guests had been gathered in a rush, and the mood never quite settled into one of sitting together over wine.
Only after everyone who had attended had taken their leave could we finally return to our quarters and rest.
"You worked hard, Gaga."
"Hardly... You're the one who did most of it."
I was sprawled like a starfish across the bed when Soye gathered me into a gentle embrace. Her small arms were warm and snug, and at the same time a different unease swept over me.
I don't want to hide the truth from you anymore, Soye.
I sat on the edge of the bed and settled her onto my lap. At the sudden seriousness of my face, she looked uncertain.
"Gaga?"
"Soye. There's something I have to tell you."
"What is it?"
Where was I supposed to begin? With the fact that I had read all of this as a novel? Or with the moment I came to possess this body? While those thoughts turned my head inside out, Soye spoke first.
"If it's hard, you don't have to say it."
"No. I was just sorting out how to explain."
"Gaga..."
After that, I told her everything. That this world was the world inside a novel. The very moment I had come to possess this body. I left nothing out.
When I finished, Soye said nothing. She only stared into my eyes, her face blank. I had spilled it all in a surge of feeling, but the moment the words were out, fear struck me. I was terrified that she would come to hate me. That she would resent me. That she would stop loving me.
And then she spoke.
The cold in her voice only drove my unease deeper.