The group of us finally left the back of the church. A path was created for me to walk down into the center field. Meanwhile, seating had been hastily set up in a circle around the courtyard, where the party guests had been relocated.
“Is it not possible for Octius or you to fight for Deek?” Otto asked. “A slave is considered the weapon of their Master, right? We can use his temporary slave ability as he did once before.”
Octin shook his head. “At the moment, this is about maintaining the dignity and respect of our nation. If you or anyone else were to fight for him, it’d lose all meaning.”
“Thank you for concerning yourself with me,” I patted Otto on the back. “I’ve decided to do this on my own.”
I felt a bit touched that Otto was worrying about me so much. Eliana ran up and hugged me next. Raissa and Faeyna stood at the side. Raissa’s tail was lowered, and Faeyna also had a slouched posture. It was clear they were both worried as well. I reached out and embraced them all. This earned me a few glares and bad looks, but I didn’t care. When I turned away, I was shocked to see that on the other side of the courtyard, a similar scene was playing out with General Nova, except he was lewdly grabbing and kissing several women.
This was his wedding day, and he was marrying Alysia, but he was kissing and feeling up other women right in front of the entire wedding procession. My eyes narrowed and once again I felt anger toward this man. It really would be nice to put him in his place. He seemed to notice my eyes on him because he broke away from his kiss and then glanced in my direction. A grin formed on his face, showing far too many teeth.
I parted from my group, who went to find places to watch, as I stepped into the circle. General Nova did the same. The pair of us stopped a distance away from each other. That’s when my eyes fell on a stage that had seemingly been hauled here just for the royal family. They were above everyone else, and included soft chairs and even cover from the sun. The King walked up onto the platform, and another two Osterian women walked up behind him. When I saw them, my body froze and my mind reeled.
Alysia was there, her head lowered, a veil covering her face enough that it was impossible to see her expression. She was wearing a dress made of blue silk, and it flowed down her body quite alluringly. I had only ever seen her in her military or adventuring clothing, so this was the first time I had ever seen her dressed up. Her red curly hair flowed down her shoulders and contrasted with the darker tanned skin of an Osterian. Osterians didn’t freckle as humans did, so as she tanned, they didn’t get darker. She was shockingly beautiful even with only her eyes showing.
However, I barely glanced at her, because my eyes were on the other woman who ascended onto the platform. I recognized her as well. I had seen her features many times before in many different forms. I had seen her as a human, and I had seen her as a giant. This was the first time I saw her purely as an Osterian. It was none other than Xin!