When Reiner let go of my hand, I immediately dropped the knife and that made me realize that my hand had been shaking like crazy. Reiner pulled me to his side just as the knife landed on the floor with a loud clang.
“Are you ok? Natalia…Natalia!” Reiner asked as he shook my body a little.
“Umm…yes…I’m so sorry…” I whispered as I snaped out of my shock.
I could feel Reiner’s eyes on my face and when I looked up into his eyes, I could sense his worry before he let out a long sigh.
“I’m sorry…” I mumbled again.
“It’s ok. I’m just glad that you’re alright. You need to be more careful,” Reiner said as he patted the top of my head with his large hand.
“Ok…” I murmured.
I saw from the corner of my eye that someone was putting the knife away. Kuman approached us as if to check that I was alright. I smiled a little at the old man and he smiled back.
“Oh…your arm…” I said in a panic when I realized that Reiner hadn’t bandaged his arm.
That was probably my fault. If I hadn’t dropped the knife…
“It’s ok. Stop overreacting,” Reiner said calmly.
“Let me help you. I guess even I can do this much…” I offered.
Reiner nodded and I was allowed to do what I wanted at last. Reiner’s wound bled a lot more than mine and I wondered if that was because my hand was shaking so badly. It probably was…
“I hope that wasn’t as bad as you had feared. Now for the last part,” Kuman said as he stood next to us.
I was quite satisfied with the outcome of my effort at bandaging up Reiner’s arm. He thanked me and I smiled up proudly at him while I prayed that we wouldn’t have to go through something like that ever again in this lifetime.
Kuman’s words caught our attention and we quickly turned to him. At the gesture of his hand, his assistant brought in a tray with flowers. After Kuman lifted the flowers off the try, I realized that the flowers had been joined together on a string.
“This is for you both. Congratulations on getting married. I wish you a life long of happiness and love. I beg you to be patient and understanding towards each other. If every you face a time of hardship, may you recall the happiness that you shared on this special day,” Kuman said formally.
Reiner bowed down a little and Kuman placed the ring of flower around his neck. Then it was my turn, I bowed down a little and the ring of flower was placed around my neck. The smell from the white flowers filled my nostril with a sweet smell that made me smile. The wound in my arm didn’t hurt and slowly, I was recovering from distress.
…
“What happens now?” I asked Reiner when we were finally alone in the car together.
After successfully completing the nightmarish task of carving the sacred symbol of love into each other’s skin, we were officially married under the customs and rules put in place by Reiner’s father. It still felt a little unreal for me that Reiner is now my husband, and I was now his wife. Nothing about the marriage ceremony was standard. Although I would say that I would have preferred for an easier and smoother journey, I didn’t regret going through all that because I now had the man that I wanted for my life partner.
After heading back to gather our things on the private beach, we were on the way back. I remembered that I was super excited on the way here because it wasn’t usual for Reiner to ask me out on a date. At that time, I never dreamt that I would be his wife by the time that he drove me back. It was a funny thought and I had to stop myself from giggling out loud.
“We’re married now so maybe it’s time that I take you home,” Reiner replied.
“As in…like…back to the mansion?” I asked to make sure that I understood him correctly.
“That’s right. You should at least tell my parents that you married their only son, right?” Reiner asked, teasingly.
Right, I guess I did have to tell them. Wait…
“I have to tell them? Me?!” I cried out in shock.
“Who else…?” Reiner replied with a chuckle with his eyes still on the road.
“You. You can tell them. They’re your parents!” I quickly argued.
I wasn’t sure if Reiner was serious about this, or he was just teasing me because he started laughing louder. While I was starting to stress out, he seemed to be having the time of his life. If I had my facts down right, King probably still thinks that Reiner is engaged to Rachael and that he’s supposed to marry her sometime soon. So, how would he react when he finds out that Reiner married me instead?
As Reiner continued to laugh in the car, a sense of unease started bubbling up inside of me. We did go through all of that according to King’s chosen custom. That man better be satisfied…
“I still think that you should tell them. Please at least do that for me…” I whispered pleadingly.
“I’ll think about it,” Reiner replied as he tried to control his laughter.
I looked out of the window as my mind busied itself with disturbing thoughts. Sure, I was over the moon happy that I was now married to Reiner. In fact, I was too busy to think things straight. Now that we had some down time in the car, my mind was reminded of the many things that we probably had to deal with now that we were married. King was probably the hardest person to deal with and I had absolutely no idea how he would react to this news.
My mind wandered next to Rachael. I glanced at Reiner who seemed super relaxed behind the wheel as I wondered if he ever got the chance to break it off completely with Rachael and then I was quite certain that he hadn’t done that yet. Great. Even more complications.
–To be continued…