Chapter 2
1279 Words
"Well, unless you want to be known in the business world as a cheap stake b***h, Irene, then you will not have to do it," the emira piped in that seemed to push some right buttons precisely, "My emirate will shoulder the cost of this wedding as a sign of gratitude for the son of Asteria and daughter of Elpis for what they did for our nation. I am sure you will not moan about the wedding expenses, right?"
The richest mortal in the world remained quiet as she is seemingly thoroughly thinking of this through, and then after a few minutes, she just heaved a sigh and signed at the paper without a word and giving it to my relieved close friend.
"Well, if you signed it, then so will I, here," the president said as he also inked the dotted line and handing it over to Gala, who screamed quietly in delight, "I guess that takes care of it, right, Irene?"
"I doubt that, Atomo. It is stipulated there that we will jointly oversee the trust fund until these two graduated and financially matured enough to handle that huge amount of assets. A pity that we will see more of each other."
"Imagine that, Irene..."
The grand marshal just let out a peal of relieved laughter that embodied our reaction after that bloody negotiation barely saved by Vaski and Gala.
"I will be lying if I said that I am not at the edge of my seat the whole time, but this might be the first time in more than a decade that you agreed on something no matter how begrudgingly, Atomo and Irene. Cheers, my dear old squabbling friends! Cheer, I say!" he then took the wine bottle itself and drank from it in celebration.
My foster mother just grunted and looked at Morris and me, "Well, financially speaking, I guess I can consider this as a success and good return of investments."
"Virtually sharing control of practically everything I own, and you are still considering it at that point?"
She then looked at Kairos' guardian, who muttered under his breath and raised an eyebrow at him, "You're saying something, Atomo?"
"Me? Oh, please, nothing worth worrying about, Irene. Anyway, now that we have moved on from that. What about the rings of our kids? From my understanding, they didn't even realize that they tied a know earlier this morning."
The daughter of the goddess of rainbow blinked at his question before looking down on her finger and smiling purely at it before removing her ring and raising it, "How about this?"
"Oh, now that is a good idea," he agreed as he removed his, and at the same time, they gave it to Kairos and me, "Here, Kairos. Give this to Vivet."
"Mr Atomo..."
"That ring holds it's fair share of grudges and anger, but with it, our love and promise that stayed with us up until today. We have Eonia spruced it up a bit for us in line with your preferences but it is the very same nonetheless. Suppose you two can just finish what we started. In that case, I guess that will be the end to a convoluted chapter of our story together," my foster mother said as she took my hand and put the precious ring full of memories on my palm, "You are experiencing everything that I can only ever hope for in this crazy life of mine, Vivet. If I can request after everything has been said and done, it will be that you enjoy your married life to the fullest, and you can consider me happy."
I looked at the beautiful ring and nodded as I tried to stop the tears falling from my eyes in happiness, "I will, Ms Irene. I promise I will. Every single moment of it, I will cherish."
"Good," she said curtly before taking a deep breath and smiling to herself so true and pure that she looks like a different person altogether.
As if the burden of the past was finally lifted from her shoulders after all these years.
"Irene, I guess this is it, huh?"
"I am inclined to agree, Atomo. This is it."
The emira clapped her hands, and Seolla and Tina burst out of the kitchen, followed by several servers carrying delicious dishes of all sorts for us, "What a joyous moment this is! A generation late! I am not complaining! I can finally preside over the wedding ceremony of my friends. I have been waiting this long, might as well go all out."
"You don't say, Your Majesty," Morris said, bemusedly as he let himself be served by our lively maids with foods that we like, "Our friends are wise to send Vaski and Gala with us here. Honestly, my man, I don't know if I can do anything than watch as thing unfolds before my very eyes earlier. Way to go!"
The sheik just laughed as Gala winked at him lovingly, "Consider this as a dry run for the two of us. Besides, Kairos and Vivet will be married in my nation. I can't just sit here and do nothing. This is as much as important to me as it is for my mother."
"Thank you, Vaski..."
He looked at Kairos, who bowed his head in gratitude that made Gala smile happily at him proudly as the son of Poseidon wave his hand as if it's nothing, "Consider it as my thanks for your help defending the emirate and teaching me "the moves."
The grand marshal chuckled and stood up happily, "Moves indeed. Please, excuse me, everyone. I will just go outside and share the news with your comrades-in-arms outside. I am sure they are so anxious if there will be a wedding at all."
"Are you sure we can do this in just mere two weeks?" I asked curiously as Kairos held my hand across the table, excitedly, "Isn't it taking it too fast?"
The emira nodded and smiled at me, "Of course we can pull it off. If this is just a normal wedding, then it will be impossible, yes. But it is the Scythians who will throw the party, the beloved of the goddess of beauty herself. They are so excited about it; everyone will chip in and help with the preparation. Estelle herself put her lineage on the line to make this a great one. You have nothing to worry about."
"So with the Olympians, wind deities, Elpis' and Thanatos' immediate siblings and your friends' mortal and immortal parents with Ms Peregrine, who are we inviting for the celebration?" Jeeves asked as he and Gala are going through the list of invitees.
"Boreas and Zephyrus' son and daughters. Our attending physician and nurses back at the citadel, subject teachers, and the Muses' daughter together with the members of the orchestra," Morris answered for me as I just let him handle everything for me as he wanted before looking at Kairos, "How about your father? Any sign that he will be coming?"
Surprisingly, the foster son of Mr Atomo nodded quickly, "Yeah, he will be there. I just know it. No, I can feel it. I don't know why, but it's like it is as important to him as if it was me."
"Well, I guess any parent will feel like that..."
We all look at the open window and saw the god of messenger followed by two serene goddesses I have never seen before.
"We are sorry for gatecrashing, but the ladies behind me are insisting on having an audience with the demiurge of hope and time here as soon as possible; I was instructed by father to escort them here."
I blinked at the two smiling deities that bowed respectfully before me as I stood up and paid my respects in return together with Kairos.
- Writer
