I’ll Be The Warrior’s Mother

“Psh, us getting married? That’s so weird. That’d be like marrying my brother. I would have definitely been against it.”

“Why? When we were kids, we’d play house and act like we were married. You took my cheek’s virgin—”

“Hey!” Yelena shouted abruptly. She looked around hastily. Fortunately, no one was around.

Yelena sped past Aendydn and shot him a terrifying glare. Then, she gave him a warning.

“You think that playing house is real? And that was so, so long ago… Don’t you dare bring that up in front of my husband.”

“Hmm, I don’t know. That depends on how you behave.”

“What was that? You want to end this friendship?”

Aendydn laughed out loud, but Yelena was serious. She had absolutely no intention of laughing along with him. When Aendydn saw that, he raised both hands in surrender.

“I was just kidding. Why would I say that to your husband? I told you, your happiness is what’s important to me.”

“…”

“I have no intention of getting in between you and your husband. Although at first, I did think that you were forced into this marriage and came here to see if that was true…”

“…”

“You look really happy. So I would never try to break you two apart.”

“…Glad to hear that your eyesight is good.”

Yelena’s expression softened a bit. Aendydn shrugged and then spread both of his hands.

“You asked how I did that at the lake and where I was and what I was doing for the past five years, right?”

“…?”

“I’ll answer those questions,” Aendydn said, and almost simultaneously, a translucent fairy-like creature with wings appeared and started flying around.

Yelena stared at it blankly for a few moments. Then, her face filled with shock. She opened her mouth.

“…Is that a spirit?”

“It sure is.”

“Oh my gosh. Aendy, you learned animistic sorcery?”

Animistic sorcerers were incredibly rare. There was a significantly smaller number of animistic sorcerers than traditional sorcerers, who were already considered rare and prestigious.

Yelena had never seen a spirit before, but she knew what they looked like because she had read a book that had described their appearance.

“Yeah. This is a wind spirit named Sylphie. I was able to send the fireflies to the boat yesterday thanks to Sylphie’s help.”

“…Can you control other types of spirits too?”

“Water, fire, and earth, I’d say?”

That meant that he could control all the types of spirits she had read about in the book. Yelena stared blankly at Aendydn before rubbing her eyes.

“…How fascinating.”

“The spirit? Or that I learned animistic sorcery?”

“Both.”

Aendydn’s eyes crinkled as he smiled. It was the same smile from when they had first reunited.

“I’ll send Sylphie here from time to time to check on you.”

“…”

“If, in the slightest chance, you’re having a hard time, let me know. Seriously. I’m always ready to take action for you.”

The gratitude that Aendydn hadn’t repaid still existed in his heart.

“I’ll get going then. I’m all right now that I’ve confirmed that you’re happy.”

The cool breeze ruffled Aendydn’s hair and the hem of Yelena’s dress. Aendydn turned around.

Then, Yelena called out to him.

“Aendy.”

“…”

“Don’t go.”

“…”

“Catch the bouquet before you leave.”

“What?”

***

While Yelena had been preparing for the new wedding, she had learned about another country’s custom of “throwing the bouquet.” It was a tradition where at the end of the wedding, the bride would toss her bouquet and one of the guests, usually the bride’s best friend, would catch it. In the past, it was how the supreme ruler’s wife was revealed to the world for the first time or something.

The unique tradition had piqued Yelena’s interest, and so, Aendydn was now one of the guests at her wedding.

The ceremony started soon after. It was like any other wedding, until halfway through the ceremony.

“It’s been a while since I’ve put my skills to the test. Please provide me with a few helpers. I will get this done in exactly a week.”

Yelena, in her white wedding gown, beautifully crafted by Merry, stood next to Kaywhin in front of the officiator.

The long dress pooled over her shadow like a wave. Yelena’s silver hair, adorned with flowers, shone like it was sprinkled with pearl dust.

Ben’s smooth officiation speech, which he had practiced all night, went through one ear and out the other. This wasn’t her first wedding, but for some reason, she felt more nervous and excited this time around.

Ben cleared his throat after finishing his speech. Then, he spoke again.

“You may now kiss the bride.”

Words that Yelena would have otherwise ignored grabbed her attention.