***
I agreed to hold the wedding ceremony along with the title ceremony with my own mouth, but after a few days, I was still perplexed.
‘Two weeks later… I can’t believe I’m getting married in 10 days…’
Apart from the lack of reality, things were going steadily in the meantime.
I, in particular, was dizzyingly busy with the issue of the title ceremony. The territory to be given to the heroes, the distribution of the titles, and so on….
Fortunately, the work was easier than I had expected, given the extent to which I had laid out the big picture in advance.
I even discussed it with the expedition leaders during the final debriefing.
Normally, Meyer would have done this, but now that I had to assume the imperial throne, I had to step in and handle the matter.
While I was so busy, Meyer was taking care of all the wedding preparations. Then, sometimes, whenever he needed my opinion, he came right away and asked right away.
“Do you prefer the celebration to be held outdoors or indoors?”
“Wouldn’t it be comfortable indoors?”
“Is there anything romantic you’d like to do at the wedding? After all, I should propose to you properly, right?”
“No, it’s fine. It’s really okay. I mean it.”
I couldn’t believe he would propose to me when I was so busy. I waved my hand violently, not putting much meaning to it.
It wasn’t just the proposal. I was the one who was not romantic about weddings from the beginning.
In my original world, marriage was a distant thing, and since I came to this world, I had no room to dream about things like marriage because I was so absorbed in defeating the Demon King.
Sure enough, Meyer murmured, kicking his tongue.
“But I’m a little disappointed.”
“If you’re really sad, take care of yourself at our golden wedding anniversary.”
“How can I wait 50 years…”
Meyer pouted his lips and grumbled, and soon changed his expression as if he had a good idea.
“Okay, once you become emperor, on our wedding anniversary, let’s take care of the things we couldn’t do this time… Let’s celebrate our 10th anniversary. That’ll do.”
His words were a little strange. I don’t think I’m just going to celebrate my wedding every year…
I squinted at Meyer.
He was planning our future wedding anniversary with unprecedented enthusiasm.
I didn’t want to pour cold water on his passion, but I had to make sure that Meyer was not alone in his anniversary plans.
I asked, with a doubt.
“.. You’re not saying that you’re going to take care of it like a wedding, are you?”
“Why not? I will honor the monumental day
you marry me.”
Why is he so confident?!
I shouted, roughly putting the list of checks on the table.
“If the emperor spends their budget like that, it’s a waste of state money!”
“Don’t worry. I won’t touch the treasury. The property of Grand House Knox is enough.”
Meyer replied as he wandered around. His face looked thick as if he expected praise, as if he had no doubt I would be impressed with him if he said so.
While I was too dumbfounded to say anything, Meyer held his tongue.
“I think I was in such a hurry that I couldn’t even print the wedding anniversary commemorative coins. There’s a lot to be desired.”
“Commemorative coins, we were supposed to take a coin to commemorate the end of the Second Holy Demon War. Besides, I’m not the emperor yet. Our marriage is neither a national marriage nor an afterthought, but commemorative coins!”
“I’m sure you’ll be the next emperor, but it’s a national marriage. It was fortunate that the commemorative stamps could be issued somehow.”
“Wait. You issued commemorative stamps?”
“It was relatively easy to prepare stamps.”
“That’s not what I’m saying…”
More and more piles, I poked my forehead out and groaned.
When I handed over the full book of wedding proceedings, it seemed to have been very well spent.
But what I thought was a mountain of a pile was just the tip of the iceberg.
“I wanted to stage the great journey of you and me as a play for the grand theaters this time… It’s also a pity that it’s too much of a rush. Because I can’t do it unless it’s perfect.”
Then Meyer added with a grin.
“What do you think? Is this enough to prepare for the wedding? As the next emperor’s husband, I will continue to be frugal, so don’t worry.”
I felt like something bigger would happen if I refuted him, so I had no choice but to nod helplessly.
My future, which was dragged by the leash of a large dog running forward, was drawn in front of me.
***
A few days later, Mary arrived at the capital.
The palace also gave me a new maid, but everyone seriously looked at me because I was going to be the next emperor.
The problem was that it was extremely inconvenient.
I was afraid that they would turn pale and shiver when I left a little bit of dinner because my stomach was growling, or if I got a deep scent of flowers as soon as my head was throbbing due to continuous work and I frowned without realizing it, and being guilty of plastering…
They had to back up my work, but it was rather annoying when I had a lot of things to worry about because I was considerate of them.
So I grumbled softly to Meyer, who remembered the words and called her.
Mary greeted politely.
“I will shorten your supreme position, Lord Liteitia.”
The title “Lord Liteitia” was not familiar to me even after hearing it several times. Especially when people who used to know called me that.
However, when I thought about it, the same was true of the designation of the Vice Commander of the Black Knights. After all, I figured I would get used to it someday after listening to it often enough.
The problem is that I didn’t know when that would be.
‘When I get used to being called Lord Liteitia, I’ll probably already be referred to as Your Majesty…?’
It was a very likely story.
I answered Mary’s greeting modestly with a slight smile.
“It’s still a long way to go. It’s also a concession from His Excellency.”
“No, I think it was a foregone conclusion. If it had not been for Lord Liteitia, it would have been impossible to defeat the Demon King without so much damage. Thank you as a member of this world.”
Once again, I smiled awkwardly and waved my hands at Mary’s words of thanks, bowing politely.
“His Excellency the Grand Duke has given me the order that from now on I am to be loyal to Lord Liteitia. From now on, my master is Lord Liteitia.”
Mary knelt before me and bowed her head.
So far, she had secretly passed on my conditions and information to Meyer, but she promised not to do so in the future.
Well, I wondered if I really need to do this, but if I become an emperor in the future, Mary and I would be comfortable organizing these things neatly.
Admitting Mary’s ability, I gladly accepted her.
“All right, Mary. Then I will give the first order of business. I’m so busy preparing for the title ceremony and the wedding that I don’t want to give one iota of attention to anything else.”
“I see. I’ll work hard to create an environment where you can be completely immersed in your work.”
Mary spoke with confidence.
It was certainly reassuring to see her here.
No one, except Meyer, knew more about my preferences than she did, as I had trusted her with everything in general at Nokentoria Castle.
I could then devote myself to my work with an even more relaxed mind.
But the work was endless, so it became a situation of just doing the work with ease… Well, I still thought this was somewhere.
I feel like I need to give up and get used to a life of working this much…
Maybe I will never be able to rest for the rest of my life?
I had the feeling that what Meyer was giving me was not power and honor, but labor.
But I decided to stop thinking about it because thinking about it deeply would only deepen my discord and distrust of the groom-to-be.
I thought it would be good for me, too.
***
I had little idea how the wedding was going to flow, as I left the dress, the formal wear, and everything else entirely up to Meyer.
In fact, I didn’t even have that much time to worry about it.
Two weeks was a short time to prepare for a wedding, but it was also a short time to prepare for a title ceremony.
It seemed that Meyer didn’t sleep and was busy preparing for the wedding, but I didn’t have enough stamina, so I had no choice but to use my time sparingly by concentrating even when my eyes were open.
I blamed someone else for my own karma.
I just had to trust Meyer and leave it to him.
Still, it was certainly easier this way.
I skimmed through a few of the dresses that Meyer had carefully selected out of many dresses.
Then, in the process of temporarily sealing the dresses, I ended up trying them on a few times.
