It was a sudden switch, but he was back to his calm and collected self again. I heaved a sigh of relief before I turned to offer him a smile of thanks. Self-restraint was something that we had to practice a lot more when we were together. It was hard to keep his hands off me and vice versa.
The wedding was held in one of the most popular churches on the island and I was decently surprised to find that it resembled the common church weddings that I had been to with the ceremony part happening inside of the church followed by a party held in the church’s courtyard outdoors.
We headed to our seat in the church as we waited for the bride to be led in by her father. The groom was already positioned in front of the altar with the priest while he waited for the arrival of his bride. It was such a romantic scene that I couldn’t help but feel touched. The way the groom looked slightly nervous yet impatient to see his bride melted my heart. It was clear to me that he was very in love with her. It was such a stark contrast to the scene and atmosphere that I witnessed at Lucien’s wedding and many other weddings that I had been to.
Suddenly, the large double doors of the church opened, and the bride was led in by her father. Her minimal white wedding dress suited her very well and her wavy blonde hair made her look like a little fairy princess. Couple that with the beautiful white and light pink that decorated the church all around her and the scene was straight out of a sweet fairytale. The way she smiled and kept her eyes on the groom told me all that I needed to know about how she was feeling. Although I didn’t know them, I prayed so intensely for their happiness and love to last forever.
…
Reiner stood next to Natalia with her hand in his as he observed her excited reaction to the bride entering the church with her father. Probably because of their busy schedule at work, it was rare for him to see Natalia in such a bright and excited mood. While Natalia focused her attention on the wedding ceremony in the church, Reiner focused his attention on her.
“I think she looks so pretty. Don’t you think?” Natalia turned to asked him with a big smile on her face before she turned back to pay attention to the bride and groom.
“Yeah…” Reiner replied vaguely with his eyes glued to the back of Natalia’s head.
Natalia clapped and cheered along with the other in the crowd when the groom kissed the bride after exchanging their vows. The couple exchanged rings and did all the normal things that they were supposed to do while Reiner watched Natalia laugh and smile at the sight. Personally, he wasn’t a big fan of ceremonies of any sort, weddings included. That was why he didn’t mind that Natalia and himself didn’t go through a proper and standard wedding ceremony in a church like this.
However, after seeing Natalia’s recent reactions to wedding dresses and how she was reacting so excited towards what she was watching at this wedding, he was no longer sure if Natalia shared his feelings. Despite the many times that she insisted that they were already married and that she was fine with how things were, he couldn’t help but think if somewhere in her hearts of hearts she wished to have a wedding just like this. A wedding that was proper and common just like everyone else.
“There’s so much flower decoration here, I bet their wedding photos are going to turn out great!” Natalia said enthusiastically as she started clapping her hands together again.
Reiner quickly realized at her words that they didn’t have a single photo from their wedding. That wasn’t surprising considering that they went about most of the ritual in private and the tribal ceremony that followed didn’t come with a professional photographer in the package. Not to mention that Natalia never got a chance to wear a proper wedding dress. He shook his head slightly when he thought of the plain white linen dressed that Kuman gave her. That probably didn’t quite count as a proper wedding dress.
“We should try to get our photo with the couple after the ceremony, ok?” Natalia suggested after she turned to smile at him.
“We should,” Reiner readily agreed.
“Are you ok? There’re so many people in here. Is it bothering you?” Natalia as she started frowning in concern.
“Not at all,” Reiner quickly replied to ease her worries.
“Ok. Let me know if you want to step outside for some fresh air,” Natalia said before flashing him another bright smile.
He smiled a little at her before she turned back to focus on what was going on at the wedding. Reiner kept his eyes on her, but his thoughts quickly went to the conversation that he recently had with King. At first, he was hesitant but it seemed like it was probably best to follow his father orders on this one after all. It was then that he made a firm decision to talk to Natalia tonight after they got back home.
…
The groom was Reiner’s friend from his school days, and they seemed quite close when Reiner greeted him in the garden just outside the church.
“Knight! So happy that you could make it,” the groom said while smiling widely.
“Of course, I’ll be here. This is my wife, Natalia,” Reiner introduced me as he pushed me forward with his hand at the small of my back.
“Hi. Nice to meet you and congratulations to you both,” I said with a cheerful smile.
The bride turned to return my smile. I thought she looked very pretty in her minimal wedding dress paired with a matching white veil on the top of her head.
“Congratulations to you too. You got married? When?” the groom asked excitedly.
“Just a few weeks ago,” Reiner replied.
–To be continued…