Betrothed to My Sister's Ex

The next day.

When we went down to the hotel lounge for breakfast, ms. kaede and Mr. Angelo were nowhere to be seen.

I asked Lord Cyrus if he knew anything about it, but he just shook his head silently. That must mean they left during the night... no, that’s probably not it—they must have departed quite early in the morning.

Ms. Kaede had been groaning about a hangover and saying she had many places she wanted to visit. Once the dizziness wore off, she probably headed straight out into town.

“That sounds just like ms. kaede,” I said with a smile.

Lord Cyrus gave a kind of wry smile in response.

After that, my father and I had breakfast together and waited by the fireplace in the hotel lobby for the 'messenger.'

We had agreed to meet the local guide to the wedding venue here.

The Ips air was sharply cold enough to hurt my ears, but gradually it softened... just as the Tattered Red Cat yawned widely on my father’s head, we heard the distant whinnying of horses.

Lord Cyrus and I jumped up as if startled. My father tried to get up too, but the cat seeking the warmth of the fireplace resisted, so he was a step behind.

Outside the inn—on the cobblestone main street—a modest carriage stopped. From the open door, a man and a woman stepped down. They were probably a married couple: a slender, petite elderly gentleman and a plump, well-rounded lady. Both were Ipsandros people with dark, wavy hair, brown skin, and green eyes.

“Are they the ‘messengers’... the ones who will guide us to the wedding venue?” I asked Lord Cyrus.

For some reason, he didn’t reply. He looked puzzled and froze in front of the elderly couple. In contrast, the lady’s face suddenly lit up.

“Oh my goodness...!”

She hurried over with a cute, pitter-patter gait and grabbed my hand tightly. Her voice trembled, eyes moist as she looked up at me.

“You really, really came. All the way out here, thank you! There’s no day happier than this!”

“Uh, um...?”

Caught off guard by her high spirits, I took a step back. Before I could retreat fully, the lady hugged me—well, actually, since she was much shorter than me, she ended up hanging from my neck.

O-oh! That’s heavy...!

“Oh, oh, I’m so happy, so happy! You’ve grown so much, I can hardly believe it. It feels like a dream... is this a dream?”

“Ah, um. Yes, I’m happy to meet you too. I’ll be in your care for a while. My name is Marie...”

“Oh no, no need to be so formal. You can be casual—just call me Granny Bell!”

“G-Granny Bell?”

“Grandma is fine too! You’re my grandchild, after all!”

“Grandchild!?”

Grandchild...? My paternal grandparents had passed away long ago, and I had no contact with my maternal relatives and had never met them. Either way, there was no way I’d be having a ‘long-awaited reunion’ here in Ipsandros.

W-what’s going on? Who exactly are these people?!

Panicking, I looked back at Lord Cyrus. He seemed just as confused and troubled. Trying to help, he reached out to pull Granny Bell away, but pulled back before making contact. He truly didn’t know what to do.

“Stop it, Bell.”

The elderly gentleman accompanying her stepped in to help. Without hesitation, he lifted Granny Bell by the side and set her down next to him. Then he spoke sharply.

“Bell, our grandchild is the young man behind you. The child Ryuu gave birth to was a boy, wasn’t he?”

“—Huh?”

“Oh dear, did I forget? My apologies, I must have absentmindedly forgotten our grandchild’s gender!”

“Eh? W-what?”

“Then, this young lady is our grandchild’s sister?”

“Eh!?”

“No. She is our grandchild’s fiancée, ms. Marie. We were called here for their wedding. ...We confirmed this before leaving home last night.”

“Oh yes, yes, that’s right!”

“By the way, if there is a woman who is our grandchild’s sister, then she is our grandchild after all.”

“Oh my, that’s true!”

Even when her husband reproached her sternly, the lady just laughed brightly.

Uh... um.

I was thrown off by this storm of revelations right from the start.