Was this what they meant by being so busy you can’t even open your eyes?
That’s how hectic these past days had been.
Now I understood why people started planning their weddings months in advance.
I’d naively decided to have one without a second thought, and look where that got me—every kind of hardship imaginable.
Fortunately, thanks to the help of those around me, everything had come together properly in the end.
"…There. All done."
"Hmm, you look beautiful. At this rate, that guy might not even recognize you."
"Stop joking around."
"I’m serious! You have no idea how pretty you look."
Dorothy and Amelia’s exaggerated reactions made me smile bitterly.
There was no way that was true.
They were laying it on a bit thick.
"You don’t believe me? Fine. If Siwoo passes out later, don’t blame us."
"Y-yeah, yeah."
"…How do you feel, Arte?"
Amelia, who had been adjusting the veil on my head, suddenly hit me with the question.
How did I feel?
"I’m not sure. What kind of feeling is this supposed to be?"
Honestly, I hadn’t thought a wedding held any particular significance.
Siwoo and I were already living together, practically married in all but name.
So why go through the trouble of a ceremony? The reason was simple.
It was symbolic.
If two people were going to spend their lives together, it just seemed right to have a wedding.
Beyond that, I hadn’t given it much thought.
Naturally, I’d assumed there’d be no reason to be nervous.
…But the reflection staring back at me in the mirror told a different story.
A woman in a pure white dress, her expression still tinged with disbelief. The bouquet in her hands trembled slightly—was that from nerves?
"I thought weddings didn’t mean much to me."
"Are you nervous?"
"…Yeah."
My emotions were a tangled mess.
Anticipation for what was to come, a fluttering heart, joy—countless feelings swirled inside me.
I’d thought of it as just another event, something people did because everyone else did.
Never in a million years did I expect to be this nervous over a wedding I’d agreed to so lightly.
"It’s only natural to be nervous."
"…Is it?"
"Of course. Today’s the day you declare to the whole world, *This man is mine.*"
"…"
The day I’d tell the entire world that Siwoo was my man.
Somehow, that thought lightened my mood a little.
After all, it was only natural that Siwoo was mine.
"Aauu, uuu… Uuuuuuh…!"
"Ah, hold on. …What’s wrong, baby? Need the bathroom? Hungry?"
In the middle of getting ready, the child suddenly started fussing, so I quickly set down the bouquet and scooped her into my arms.
Not the bathroom… maybe food?
It was about that time she’d start getting hungry.
Babies needed to eat more often than you’d think.
I loosened my top slightly and brought Irene’s mouth to my breast.
Her fussing quieted, and for a while, the only sound was the soft noise of her nursing.
How much time had passed?
Irene finally pulled away and started smacking her lips.
"All done? Good girl, such a sweetie."
Before I knew it, she’d finished eating. I patted her back, and once her belly was full, sleepiness took over. I laid her down in the cradle.
Maybe because she was still so young, Irene drifted off to sleep almost as soon as she was in the cradle.
…So cute.
I boasted to the two of them, who had approached my side and were blankly staring at my daughter.
"What do you think? Isn’t she adorable?"
"…Y-yeah, she’s really cute."
"She gets cuter every time I see her. Maybe she takes after her mom."
Tch, there they go again with that nonsense.
Before the conversation could veer into weird territory, I quickly shifted Irene—who was still asleep—to the side, wiped away the leaked breastmilk, and put my dress back on.
"…You’re pretty used to this, huh?"
"Well, yeah. It’s been months already."
Of course, I hadn’t been this skilled from the start.
For months, I’d been sleep-deprived, wide-eyed all night because of the crying baby, going through endless trial and error.
But now, after all that, I could confidently say I’d grown somewhat accustomed to being a mother.
Unlike before, when I’d panic at the slightest whimper, now I could tell what she wanted just from a little fussing.
Was this what it meant to grow as a mother?
My shoulders puffed up with pride.
So, what do you think? I’m pretty good at this, right?
But Amelia and Dorothee didn’t praise me—instead, they just kept staring at me and Irene with strange expressions.
"Honestly, isn’t the order usually the other way around?"
"The other way?"
"You don’t usually soothe a baby at a wedding, do you?"
"…Let’s not talk about that."
Even I had to admit, it was a little odd.
A mother bringing a baby to her own wedding?
It was a bit much, even if I was the one doing it.
But the two of them ignored my plea to stop and started chatting between themselves.
"I was so shocked when I heard you were pregnant again. A second child already?"
"Me too… How good must your marriage be for that to happen…"
"At least your stomach isn’t showing. Otherwise, we’d have to get you a new dress."
"G-geez, we said we weren’t talking about that! Stop—nngh…!"
"Uuu, uuuuuuh…"
At Irene’s fussing, we all froze and turned our eyes to the cradle.
…Did she wake up? Did we make too much noise?
This was bad.
Once she started crying, she wouldn’t stop easily.
We were almost ready, but… there were still a few things left to do.
The other two seemed to realize the crisis too—their faces tensed as they stared at the cradle.
Fortunately, Irene didn’t wake up. She let out a soft, even breath and sank back into sleep.
"Phew… That was a close one…"
"…Maybe we should be a little quieter?"
"Yeah, let’s do that. The wedding’s starting soon. We can’t have the baby waking up."
For a while, we quietly finished up the last preparations.
After rechecking our outfits and adjusting the decorations one last time, a few minutes passed—
Then, from outside the bride’s waiting room, the usher knocked on the door.
"We’re about to start! Are you all ready?! Amelia, please come quickly! We need to check the equipment!"
"Oh no, it’s already this late."
"We’ll head out now. Good luck!"
"Hey, don’t forget Irene!"
"Ah, right."
The two of them scrambled to their feet, dusted themselves off, and hurried out of the waiting room to their respective positions.
Dorothee went to where the guests were seated.
And Amelia headed to where the emcee was supposed to stand.
"I’m ready."
"Great. When we call for the bride outside and the doors open, just walk in slowly. Remember everything we practiced?"
"Yes."
The wedding staff disappeared for a moment, then the music started, and they began announcing the start of the ceremony.
···The tension that had eased between the two of us returned, and the bouquet in my hands kept trembling.
I’m shaking.
But this time, it wasn’t just fear.
It was joy.
The joy of creating unforgettable memories with Yu Siwoo.
That joy was what made my hands tremble.
"Now, let us cheer for the beautiful bride’s entrance!"
Where had the noisy wedding hall gone?
Before I knew it, only soft music filled the venue as I took my first step in my pure white shoes.
Tap, tap.
With every step, I could see the guests staring at me.
Dorothy, seated above with a smile, and Irene in her arms, both watching us intently.
Hayul and Claire, dressed in women’s suits, gazing fixedly at me.
Spiral, indifferent to everything as she sipped her drink at the table, and Laira scolding her.
My classmates gathered in a group on one side, and the frontline Heroes on the other.
Every connection I had ever made was gathered here, watching me.
But I couldn’t focus on them.
Because Yu Siwoo, who had been waiting for me in the groom’s room, was right in front of me.
"···You look beautiful."
As he stared at me blankly and muttered, I replied in kind.
"You look handsome too, Yu Siwoo."
All the lines I had practiced for the ceremony vanished from my mind.
They say practice is the real thing.
Liar.
Because there’s no way Yu Siwoo’s tuxedo could look this good after seeing it so many times before.
I wasn’t the only one who thought so—Yu Siwoo was staring at my dress like he was entranced.
I was supposed to say something like, *Thank you for coming, and may our love last forever.*
But I couldn’t bring myself to think of those words.
Because Yu Siwoo was just too handsome.
Maybe it was because we had been staring at each other for too long.
Amelia rushed in to salvage the situation.
"Oh dear···. It seems the bride and groom are so dazzled by each other’s beauty that they’ve lost their senses. This wasn’t part of the plan!"
Wahahaha!
Amelia’s half-serious joke sent the wedding hall into laughter.
Only then did Yu Siwoo and I snap back to reality and panic.
···We messed up.
Amelia, as if deciding that the script was useless now, tossed the paper in her hand away.
"Well, fine! Let’s ask the two of you directly!"
Thump, thump.
My heart was beating so loudly I could swear I heard it in my ears.
If the author was still inside me, they probably would’ve passed out from dizziness instead of just complaining about it.
"Do you swear eternal love to each other?"
"···Goes without saying."
"Same here."
"Then, the vow kiss."
This is a disaster.
Our plans were ruined by our own mistake, and now we were being told to kiss on the spot.
But I liked it.
I tossed the bouquet aside, stepped into Yu Siwoo’s arms, and shared the kiss.
So the whole world would know of our love.