Returning from the salon, I was admiring the trophy.
A trophy that shone luxuriously in gold and a trophy that glimmered brilliantly like crystals.
I liked both.
Although one of the phrases was a bit embarrassing.
It was the first time I received the first prize for doing well.
‘I’ve never had such fun in Spinel…’
‘I don’t think life in Aktoum is bad either.’
In this sense, I mean. Only in this respect.
“Oh, Your Majesty… seeing you smile like that, are you thinking of Crown Prince Rixus?”
“Fufufu. It’s when lovers think about each other for a long time.”
Laura and Maribel, who were observing me, trembled with excitement.
Even if I smiled, it seemed like I couldn’t avoid being related to Rixus anymore. Turning my head, I said indifferently.
“I was just smiling at the trophy. I wasn’t thinking of Rixus.”
“Ah, you’re hard on yourself! Rixus must be thinking of Your Majesty right now!”
Seryl replied, blinking her pink eyes.
I shrugged again and brought my gaze to the trophies.
It couldn’t be just my thoughts.
“With his personality, if he wants to see me, he would have already come to me.”
“…….”
“…….”
“…….”
At the same time, the maids’ faces became bewildered at my answer.
Then Laura asked.
“Your Majesty, didn’t the Crown Prince explain it to you?”
“What…?”
“Even if the Crown Prince wanted to see you, he can’t come to see you for three days.”
……What did that mean?
“In Aktoum, after the first night of the engagement, the bride and groom must keep a distance of at least 100 steps from noon on that day for three days!”
“…We have to be at least 100 steps away from each other from noon?”
“Yes, it’s believed that this will maintain the marriage’s luck.”
It was three days from noon… Why didn’t Rixus explain it to me?
Then, a scene came to mind – he looked at his watch as he invited me to have lunch with him.
‘No wonder he asked even though it wasn’t lunchtime.’
I thought he was hungry because he asked to eat at a very early hour.
‘He was trying to match the time.’
I just thought of it, but for some reason, this seemed to make sense.
I still didn’t know why he didn’t explain it to me. If he looked at the watch at that time, it must have meant that he had not forgotten.
While I was pondering over the scene and thinking about it, Seryl said to me,
“That’s why the two of you can’t dance at the ‘First Night Celebration Banquet’ tomorrow!”
“…What kind of banquet is that?”
I thought I had heard Seryl wrong.
But Seryl swung her fluffy pink cotton candy hair, and continued in excitement.
“A banquet to celebrate the first night!”
‘……Hey, what’s there to celebrate? Why is a couple’s ‘first night’ celebrated by the whole neighborhood?’
I asked with a bewildered expression like a sea otter who mistook castanets for a scallop, and licked my lips.(TL/N: castanets is a percussion instrument.)
“What kind of banquet are you holding?!”
“Because fertility starts from that hot day!”
The reason was more ridiculous.
“……”
‘What country in the world celebrates having sex…’
‘Please, I don’t want to be congratulated by the nobles for ‘completing’ the first night.’
“It’s a festival for all the people! Tomorrow, to commemorate the first night of the engagement, everyone will hang flowers on their doorsteps.”
Correction. It seemed that I would be congratulated by all the people.
“…Is it really necessary?”
“It’s a tradition!”
As I looked at Seryl, who answered cheerfully without a single bit of embarrassment, I thought,
‘It’s a crazy country, Aktoum.’
I, who had Spinel’s scholarly temperament, was too burdened with Aktoum’s unrestrained sensuality.
Was it because of the climate? Wasn’t it said that if one gets a lot of sunlight, one will be happy?
There was too much sunlight here, so people went crazy…
“…Can I cancel it?”
Laura replied calmly.
“Absolutely not.”
I smiled brightly, but my eyes looked as if my soul had been robbed.
‘Okay… Let it be as it is.’
There was also round 1 and round 2 for the first night. This was a country that took care of such things in advance.(TL/N: referring to the ‘first night of the engagement’ and ‘first wedding night’.)
I decided to give up and humbly accept it.
The thought of receiving congratulations from all over the country tomorrow was already making me feel like I was losing my energy……
“Okay. You guys can leave now.”
I thought I should go to bed quickly for that kind of tomorrow.
I had overworked today, but it seemed like something would happen tomorrow too, so I should fill the HP gauge from now on.
“Ah! Yes, Your Majesty… Seryl stayed up too late!”
“Good night, Your Majesty.”
Seryl and Laura greeted her in turn.
Maribel was very shy, after hesitating for a while, she said,
“Your Majesty… Uh, thank you so much for your letter of recommendation today. It’s the best gift I’ve ever received in my life.”
With those words, the maids gathered around me and said words of gratitude.
They had already given me a big greeting as soon as they entered the salon earlier.
I said in a relaxed manner.
“I can do that much. Because you are my people. Feel free to tell me if you have any other requests.”
“Your Majesty…….”
Seryl was moved and hugged me with tears in her eyes. And Laura and Maribel also followed suit.
As I patted them, I thought – it was a crazy country, but there were a lot of pretty good sides. Because there were such cute people like this.
After expressing their appreciation once more, the maids hurriedly retreated to the door.
At that time, I was lying on the bed, and suddenly I raised my head.
“Laura.”
I had an impromptu question.
“That custom. No access within 100 steps for three days. What if I don’t follow it?”
“That…….”
Laura whispered quietly. It was as if she was revealing God’s plan.
“It is said that the groom will suffer as if he is about to die because of the bride.”