Max had been meticulously planning the perfect wedding, and it had been taxing on him as hell.
He wanted the event to be special, and the ceremony itself to be very thoughtful as he hired professional wedding planners that cost a ridiculous fee of millions of gold coins to help him weave together elements of surprise, enchantment, and deep personal meaning into the wedding.
The setting he chose was nothing short of magical: the Mystic Glade. This wasn't just any forest clearing; it was a sanctuary where time seemed to stand still, bathed in the soft glow of luminescent moonflowers.
Floating will-o'-the-wisps danced in the air like fireflies caught in an eternal ballet, their lights reflected in the serene pond at the center of the clearing. Giant ancient trees with their gnarled branches seemed to stand as guardians of love, their leaves whispering secrets carried by the wind.
It was located on a planet controlled by the Velter clan and held cultural significance to the Nightblade clan as according to ancient texts, this was precisely the location where their progenitor Luna had her wedding.
The location was not only scenic, but Max felt like Asiva would appreciate its historical significance as well.
For the invites, Max decided on something extraordinary. They were scrolls made from the delicate wings of Silverthorn butterflies, enchanted to appear within a puff of lavender-scented mist in the hands of the recipients.
Upon coming in contact with the heat of the recipient's hands these scrolls were designed to unroll themselves, and the invite words would be spoken by a tiny illusionary figure resembling Max, asking for their presence at what would be the most magical day of his life.
The wedding plan itself was twofold. First, Max would lead Asiva to believe they were attending a rare celestial event celebrated once every century in the Mystic Glade and ask her to dress up for a private date.
Upon nearing the location, they would suddenly meet Sebastian and Anna who were the best man and woman in the wedding and those two would seperate Max and Asiva in a jolly yet confusing fashion.
The second part of the plan was even more intricate as once they arrived at the actual location, the glade would transform before their eyes.
The moonflowers would bloom to form a floral archway, and ethereal music would fill the air as the true purpose of the gathering revealed itself— their wedding.
To ensure everything went smoothly, Max had placed even his private palace staff on wedding duty and assigned them to the wedding planners as extra manpower as he truly wanted his first wedding to be the most special day of Asiva's life.
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( The wedding day )
" Why are we visiting the mystic glades all of a sudden? I'd very much like to stay within my room and have s** if you have a day off- " Asiva said with a pout on her face as she did not enjoy the fact that Max was forcefully dragging her on a date.
Asiva did enjoy nature, however, she enjoyed Max's bedding skills even more.
Lately, he had been too busy with work to pay proper attention to her so she wanted to stay indoors if he had time, but Max was oddly insistent on the date.
It felt very suspicious to Asiva that he asked him to dress well as usually Max never cared about how she dressed, however, she went along with his wishes as she could see the desperation in his eyes.
At this point she knew that something was definitely up, however, she played along acting dumb as she did not want to ruin whatever surprise Max had planned for her.
If there was one inherent flaw in men, it was their inability to plan proper secrets, as women's senses were way more acute than their own.
Subtle hints like wearing perfume, combing hair and adjusting one's robes so that they appear straight could give-away one's true intentions, as Asiva who knew that Max would generally never bother with such stuff, understood that something big was most definitely up.
Thankfully, it only added to Max's charm as the anticipation of something big happening instantly put Asiva in a better mood as she began acting all coy and bashful.
If a surprise was directly sprang upon her she would have felt uncomfortable, however, now that she had time to mentally prepare, it felt magical.
Max tried to behave cool, once they landed on the planet he held her hand and tried to make it believable that this was just another normal date by talking about nothing in particular.
Asiva too teased him by purposefully going off the trail he wanted to lead her on and laughed at his cute reaction when he realized that his plan was being messed up but could not explicitly say anything about it.
To her, just watching his panicked and cute reactions were enough for this to become the best date ever, but thankfully for Max as they reached the first rendezvous point, Sebastian and Anna appeared out of nowhere.
" Oh my god what a pleasant surprise, are you guys here on a date too? " Sebastian said with an obvious fake shock accent as Asiva burst out laughing at his antics.
" Yes, isn't it a beautiful place? Max? Come I'll show you a big stick, it's an awesome stick " Sebastian suggested as he tugged into Max's arm and forcefully dragged him away with what could only be considered the worst excuse ever as Anna rolled her eyes apologetically and gave Asiva a big smile.
" Boys…. "
Both of them said simultaneously as they giggled and Anna offered Asiva her own arm leading her the other way.
By now Asiva had a precise idea about what was going on and her face became all red and her heart began beating uncontrollably.
" Is it really?... " she asked Anna, unsure if this was a dream or was it really going to go down.
" You are a very lucky girl… " Anna replied with a half happy, half jealous tone which made Asiva immediately break out into a big smile.
" Took you long enough, Max, you dummy, " Asiva said, barely preventing her voice from cracking as she confidently walked into the area where everyone was waiting to surprise her.