Honkai: Man(Sludge) From Future

Otto found that things were getting a little absurd.

How did he, a Overseer (Bishop), end up doing the work of a church priest?

While it was a good thing for His Majesty the Emperor's wedding to be a simple affair, why did this particular good thing have to fall on his shoulders?

Otto felt a chill run down his spine. Quite a few people in the crowd below were staring daggers at him, as if they were just waiting for him to misspeak so they could all surge forward and tear him limb from limb.

In reality, no one was going to "battle" him under these circumstances. The lone Miss Pufferfish who might have caused a scene had already been suppressed.

"Calm down, Sirin! Calm down! If you make a move now, you lose!"

"Your Majesty, don't be rash!"

"Quick, get a couple of people to restrain her!"

And so, several people swarmed forward and subdued Sirin with a pair of small, SELENE-style handcuffs right in the middle of Dr. Tesla's wedding.

The wedding, of course, proceeded as planned. Otto, enduring several murderous glares, began to read from the officiant's script in his hands.

The preliminary parts of the ceremony were already over.

Dr. Tesla hadn't invited many guests, as she didn't want too many people to know her thoughts. Whether others would gossip was another matter, but she didn't quite dare to stage a full-blown empress coronation ceremony.

"Mr. Noldrei, do you take Miss Frederica Nikola Tesla to be your lawfully wedded wife, to be her husband and promise to love her, protect her, and encourage her forever, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, to be faithful to her and share in her sorrows, to spend the rest of your lives together? Do you so promise?"

Although Noldrei already knew this line of questioning was coming, he was beginning to understand what it felt like for the people of his future to have their power controlled by their partners.

Even as a simulation, this experience gave him some insight into why the people of this primitive era held such a strong aversion to marriage.

After he said, "I do," it was Tesla's turn.

Otto fought the urge to wipe the cold sweat from his brow and continued, "Miss Tesla, do you take Mr. Noldrei to be your lawfully wedded husband, to be his wife and promise to love him, support him, and understand him forever, in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer, to be faithful to him and share in his sorrows, to spend the rest of your lives together? Do you so promise?"

Tesla, on the other hand, was delighted. She answered much faster than Noldrei, nearly blurting out her "I do" before Otto had even finished speaking.

What about protecting me? What about encouraging me?

Noldrei complained inwardly about how unfair this marriage was. Only he had to protect Tesla; there was no mention of Tesla protecting him.

This is even worse than how we get married in the future! At least when we get married, it's a true union of life and death, with shared desires and goals.

Noldrei mused that if one party in a society truly held all the power and wealth while the other was a propertyless commoner, wouldn't that just mean a one-sided responsibility?

As expected of a primitive marital relationship. Not even a basic concept of equality. It just looks like a bunch of formalism to fool people.

His Majesty the Emperor was slightly taken aback.

He was getting a firsthand taste of the joys of marriage under an ancient feudal system. With his supreme power, couldn't he have as many concubines as he wanted?

And those women would have to thank him for bestowing such benefits upon them; they'd probably still be counting the money for him after he'd sold them.

No wonder so many of those colonialist types want to travel to the past. All they think about is how to quickly use power to breed more power.

Noldrei was a man of ideals. Of course, he wasn't looking down on Tesla.

He just felt that since Tesla was so willing to debase herself by enjoying this kind of primitive marriage, she would surely be unable to carry the anti-colonialist banner for the scientific community in the future.

After officiating the ceremony, Otto wanted to bolt, but there was still the bouquet toss to get through.

Sharing a bed but dreaming different dreams! They're in the same bed, but they dream of different things!

A wave of grief washed over Overseer Otto, taking him back to the pain he felt when Kallen had refused his help.

He, too, had been abandoned by the idealistic Kallen. He was intimately familiar with the feeling of being in the "same bed with different dreams."

But Tesla was luckier. For one, she was the opposite gender, the era was different, and her partner was different.

Kallen could not remarry, but Noldrei clearly could take a second wife.

So, Otto had deliberately omitted the word "loyalty" from the wedding vows.

He had no intention of making this "newlywed" couple be faithful to each other. The Overseer was eagerly awaiting the day Mr. Noldrei's great Nagazora Empire would collapse due to chaos in the imperial harem.

---||---

Bronya felt the world was too chaotic. She had originally thought Noldrei would treat Kiana better.

But after Kiana said what she said that day, Noldrei gave her a harsh beating in front of the entire family.

Afterward, Kiana became as docile as a bullied young wife.

If you didn't know better, you might think Noldrei had been possessed by some kind of macho Chinese stereotype. Fortunately, his "Far East benefactor" persona was more prominent, which kept his character from becoming strangely twisted.

Ana Schariac, watching Bronya down one drink after another from behind, asked Mahiru curiously, "What's wrong with Bronya? Why does it seem like none of the guests at this wedding are very happy? Was the food that bad?"

Mahiru stared at Ana in shock, unsure if her friend was being genuinely naive or just pretending.

"Ana, I think... maybe... they might be having... some emotional problems? Look, Seele has tried to talk to Bronya several times, but she won't listen. I think Seele's about to realize something's wrong."

"What? What's wrong?"

A look of confusion crossed Ana's face. She hadn't paid much attention to the atmosphere at home. Everyone was always so happy and playful; how could she have known that Bronya was hiding two Seeles in her heart?

Mahiru didn't know what to say. She felt she shouldn't be gossiping behind people's backs, but she was also worried Ana might say the wrong thing out of ignorance.

"Ana, haven't you seen it? Whenever Bronya is troubled after work, she always puts on a happy and persistent front for Seele, to show her that her big sister is strong and capable. Then, the moment she turns around, she goes into Noldrei's room with a worried look on her face. When she comes out, she's full of energy and spirit again."

"Bronya is like a car. On one hand, she's taking Seele for a joyride, and on the other, she's going to Mr. Noldrei's to refuel."

Ana was even more shocked. The two of them were practically inseparable, so how could she not have known about something so intense?

"Mahiru, how do you know so much?" Ana felt a mix of emotions. They were practically one and the same, so why was she so out of the loop?

"I'm always observing what's going on at home. And I'm always discussing these things with Mei. Haven't you noticed?" Mahiru explained, "Mr. Noldrei is a crucial foundation for our home. All these 'fatherless and motherless' girls were kindly taken in by him."

Ana broke into a nervous sweat. She and Mahiru both had parents. And could you really call what Noldrei did "kindly taking them in"?