"Pants."

"Dress!"

"Pants!"

"Dress!!"

"_"

Time froze as everyone focused on the long line of vehicles.

First, they watched Lucy, Lucia, and the rest step out. All the ladies either wearing peach or light blue Lucy and Lucia were the only ones wearing light blue and were the chief bridesmaids on this occasion.

The other girls were just newly married to Gary, Josh and the rest, so they couldn't be bridesmaids anymore.

Of course, there were also flower girls and other regular bridesmaids in the bridal train, but they were mostly relatives, like Santa's sisters' children.

The music played by the outdoor band and the hundreds of different coloured birds released also added to make the moment very magical.

The flower girls were already in position, and everybody else stretched their necks to see the bride.

And the moment Penelope's right leg was revealed, many people laughed and jumped happily, while others felt sad about the money they just gambled away.

Pants!

She was wearing white tight-fitted pants.

Those who thought it would be a dress smiled bitterly.

But before they could wallow in sadness, Penelope completely stepped out of the car, making them jump up in glee.

"I knew my Queen wouldn't leave me hanging."

"Hahahahhahahahha!

I didn't lose any money!

It turns out that we all won.

Hahahhahahabhahahhaha!"

Everyone smiled while looking at their exquisite queen.

But what exactly was this situation?

Well, Penelope was wearing a cross of both.

.

From the back, it did look like a wedding dress.

The dress had a tight top, lace long-sleeved arms, and a puffy bottom like any other wedding gown would, with a ridiculously long train that trailed along the ground.

Well, that was the back view.

But at the front, there was a massive slit from her waist to the floor that revealed tight-fitted pants underneath.

And as she walked, the rest of the gown flew backwards in the win, revealing the sleek white pants.

In fact, they wouldn't be surprised if she pocketed her hands in her white shorts and walked in like a boss.

But the thing that killed them the most was that dangling around the waist of her white pants was also a white sword sheath.

Everyone didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Was the woman going in to kill her soon-to-be husband or get married?

Lucy and Lucia, who were tasked with holding her dress train, heard the explanations from the crowd and felt helpless.

What would people say if they knew that hidden within the buffy gowns were secret compartments that held her daggers?

Even when it came to the matter of holding a bouquet, Penelope refused to hold one.

Why?

Because she said it was inconvenient and heavy.

Lucy felt like it was ridiculous.

So she didn't mind the heavy swords and daggers, but she minded a bouquet?

.

It was really through the grace of the heavens that Lucy and the rest could keep sanity over these last few days.

In the end, Penelope settled for a bouquet consisting of a single flower.

And rather than holding it, she snipped its long stem and placed it in her hair.

Yup!

When the time to throw the bouquet would come, she would remove it and do so.

Some people may ask, wouldn't that be more of a conference since she's wearing a veil?

Well, they would be right on that one.

But wouldn't you know, she refused to wear a veil.

Why? Because she said it obscured her vision.

Sigh... When it came to Penelope, they had given up.

Nonetheless, they couldn't help but agree that the outfit and everything else was very much her style.

The only things that she made no fuss about were the many bangles on her hand.

The only important marriage culture in Carona was the blessing and absorption of the bangles during the ceremony.

They believed that once they placed the bangles under the goddess of Fertility's statue and prayed, the goddess would bless them through it.

And later on, they were to melt the bangles during the ceremony while praying. This was the absorption phase where the goddess would take away any future incidents that could lead to a breakup.

They never took the melted liquids away from the temple because they believed it contained some, if not all of the bad luck that was meant to come their way in the future.

That was their practice.

They never cared about the ceremony.

.

For the Caronians, provided the bangles were melted, then that was good.

For centuries now, they had done many and added many practices due to the influence of famous nobles; just the bangle practices always remained the same.

There was even a point in Carona's history where the groom and bride had to fart and do other things because of a very trendy king.

And there was another time where they slapped each other as well during the ceremony.

What about the time that both couples had to shave during the ceremony to prove that even if they turned ugly, they would always have each other?

The practices had always changed from the early man till now.

But of recent, in particular, over the past few years, the people had taken a great liking to how the Baymardians married and decided to add the practices to their own too.

After knowing the significance of the practices, they found it more romantic than slapping each other or having an eating contest to show love.

It just felt more meaningful.

And that was how the marriage ceremony fever circulated across the empire.

More still, who didn't want to wear those beautiful dresses and get treated like a princess?

Please, Baymardian wedding trends were in Vogue!

.

Penelope stepped out of the vehicle and smiled.

Don't mind her usual calm nature.

Deep down, she was somewhat nervous and excited too.

It's just that she felt the whole thing long and a hassle.

If not for the excitement she saw in Santa's eyes when talking about the wedding ceremony, she wouldn't even compromise this much.

Who asked her to love the fool?

She took out the flower from her hair in one hand and placed another hand in her left pant pocket.

"Alright. Let's get this over with."

With that, she marched right in like the CEO of a company.

"_"

Lucy and Lucia, who were holding her dress train, felt like crying.

Sister, I think you keep forgetting that this is a wedding. So can you behave?

(:T0T:)