Just as Luo Shu was mentally tense and visibly uncomfortable...
"Many, many brides?" Utaha Kasumigaoka murmured softly, saying nothing more but letting out a deeply resigned sigh.
On the other side, Kisara also seemed distracted upon hearing this, muttering under her breath about how she still couldn't prevent it. Yet, like Utaha, she did nothing further.
Seeing their silence, Luo Shu, who had been on edge, carefully observed them before finally relaxing. With a strained smile, he turned to Aya Natsume:
"Aya, don't talk nonsense."
"What the Dragon Eye sees isn't necessarily destined to happen."
'Though I appreciate your enthusiasm, don't drag me down with you... If I die, you'll end up a widow, you know?'
Aya Natsume seemed to catch on quickly and nodded:
"I understand. So the 'many, many brides' must have been a mistake on my part."
'The subtext being that there's only one bride, right?'
Luo Shu's face twisted, but he couldn't correct her. Dwelling on this any further would surely land him in trouble:
"Aside from that, did you see anything else?"
"Anything else?" Aya Natsume paused, then glanced hesitantly at Maya Natsume, as if hesitating to speak.
Noticing her expression, Luo Shu immediately wanted to urge Aya to spill whatever secret she was holding onto, diverting attention.
But before he could speak, Toyomi Fujiwara chimed in with a cheerful smile:
"Little Aya, could you tell me... was I among those brides?"
Hearing this, Luo Shu's face darkened as he turned to glare at Toyomi, who had just thrown herself into the fray, his expression utterly exasperated.
'Seriously? Stabbing me in the back at the critical moment?'
'You stayed quiet all this time, only to deliver the killing blow now?'
'Is this how black-hearted the Fujiwara family is?'
Meanwhile, faced with Toyomi's question, Aya Natsume hesitated before whispering:
"I... did see you there."
"No way?!"
Chika Fujiwara, who had been hiding behind Eriri, suddenly popped her head out, staring at Luo Shu in shock:
"Luo Shu, are you out of your mind?"
Toyomi turned her head at the sound, smiling gently at her sister. A single glance was enough to make Chika's face pale instantly.
"Um... I didn't say anything just now... Right, absolutely nothing..."
Chika Fujiwara drew an imaginary X over her mouth, denying her previous words.
At that moment, Aya Natsume turned to glance at Chika and said puzzledly, "I think I saw you there too."
"Me?!"
Chika froze, then naturally slumped down with a look of despair:
"You're lying, right? Does this mean I'll have to live under the same roof with Toyomi-nee for the rest of my life?"
"Nooo, I don't want that~~"
Seeing Chika's devastated expression, Eriri took an uneasy step back and hesitantly said:
"Is it really that exaggerated?"
As she spoke, Eriri glanced at Utaha Kasumigaoka and Kisara, whose expressions weren't great but weren't overly agitated either, then quietly moved closer to Megumi Kato and whispered:
"Speaking of which, why aren't those two reacting?"
"Could this be the calm before the storm?"
Megumi looked slightly troubled upon hearing this: "Even if you ask me, I can't see the future like Aya-san can."
Just then, Aya turned towards them, as if to spread the attention equally, and said to Megumi and Eriri:
"I also saw you two in wedding dresses. Especially the blonde girl. Your appearance hasn't changed at all."
"What?" Eriri's face instantly filled with shock as she pointed at herself, then at Luo Shu: "Me and him?"
"Are you sure you didn't see wrong?"
At that moment, Utaha Kasumigaoka nearby let out a cold laugh and reminded:
"Isn't the key point that your appearance hasn't changed at all?"
As if retaliating for Eriri's earlier whispering, Utaha said calmly yet with a hint of disdain:
"It seems you haven't grown at all in the coming years, Sawamura."
"Nonsense, how could I not have grown?!"
Eriri's face turned red as she immediately retorted, then, upon remembering she'd apparently have a wedding with Luo Shu, quickly denied:
"Fake, it's all fake!"
"This so-called Dragon Eye, this future-seeing thing, it's all fake, just some scam!"
"Even if it's not a scam, there must be some misunderstanding."
"Like some commission requiring help trying on wedding dresses? Or some Abyss Artefact that forcibly turns clothes into wedding gowns?"
Hearing this suggestion, Eriri nodded repeatedly:
"Yes, that must be it. It's definitely because of something like that we'd have to wear wedding dresses... Wait, whose voice was that?"
Eriri turned to look at Luo Shu, who was pretending he hadn't spoken, her lips twitching.
As the person involved and the only guy present, giving such an explanation leaves no room for excuses at all!
And seriously, what kind of commission requires trying on wedding dresses? What kind of Abyss Artefact turns regular clothes into wedding gowns?
Both scenarios are utterly ridiculous!!
Just as Eriri was glaring intensely at Luo Shu while grinding her teeth...
A call came from not far away.
"Sawamura-san, so this is where you were. I've been looking everywhere for you..."
Eriri turned to see a young monk—someone who should be considered her younger cousin—quickly approaching, saying:
"The ceremony is about to begin. Auntie—I mean, Benefactor Sawamura asked me to bring you over."
Watching the monk who instantly changed his tune and began chanting Buddhist scriptures, Eriri finally remembered that today was her father's funeral.
'But with the current situation... how am I supposed to cry later...'
The corner of Eriri's mouth contorted several times before she sighed and said:
"I understand. I'll go over now."
As she spoke, Eriri turned and stepped down from the pavilion, then walked briskly towards the funeral venue.
The monk who had come to fetch her immediately prepared to leave as well, though before departing, he addressed Luo Shu and the others:
"Esteemed guests, please proceed to the ceremony venue in 15 minutes. This humble monk has matters to attend to and must take his leave first."
Watching the extremely busy monk hurry away, Luo Shu turned his head and exchanged glances with the numerous girls present, then collectively fell into silence.
The atmosphere instantly became somewhat delicate, especially knowing that in the future, he would become someone's husband while having a joint wedding with so many girls - it made one's mood even more complicated.
Finally, to avoid awkwardness, Luo Shu chose to speak up:
"No one can predict the future. Maybe it's just a misunderstanding like Eriri said earlier."
"Anyway, let's prepare to attend the funeral first. Most attendees should be arriving soon."
Hearing this, the girls exchanged glances before awkwardly responding:
"That's true."
"It's probably just a misunderstanding."
"The future we saw might not be real."
Watching the girls open up conversation while making denials, Aya Natsume whispered:
"That's exactly why I deliberately stopped my sister to prevent that future from happening!!"
"Exactly!" Maya Natsume nodded, then suddenly felt something was off.
'Wait, so you've been stopping me because you wanted him all to yourself?'
Just as Maya was shocked by this realisation, Toyomi Fujiwara said with a smile:
"That's right. With Little Aya's intervention, the future might indeed have changed~"
"Yes, yes!!"
Utaha Kasumigaoka, Kisara and Chika Fujiwara all chimed in unnaturally in unison.
The future changed?
Luo Shu ending up with only Aya Natsume as his wife?
The three girls thought about the Familia contracts they'd signed and couldn't help but have doubts.
How reliable could that possibly be!
With all sorts of emotions swirling within them, the group endured about ten minutes of awkward coexistence before each heading towards the funeral venue.