There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)-Chapter 792: Side Story 4. Endless Journey - 73

"So...they’ll go to space?" Nari asked while stirring her iced coffee--even though it was still rather chilly outside.

"Eventually," Lucy nodded. "For now, the spaceship has to go through launch test first--uhh...kind of like a test drive?--before the real exploration mission starts."

While the whole ship had been assembled and the people involved in the project were confident, Radia wanted to be certain that the ship could handle the pressure up there before sending a full mission with a lot of people. He wanted two ’test drives’ with people who could survive even if the spaceship exploded before sending his godson inside.

"For now, they had to exercise and train their body for the mission," Lucy continued.

"Good thing to keep them in shape before the wedding," Nari laughed. "Oh--is that mean their honeymoon will be in outer space?"

"They’ll go on a cruise after the wedding, but..." Lucy shrugged. "Let’s pretend it’s not the real honeymoon."

They giggled and clanked their glass together. Nari leaned closer and whispered. "Tell them to not make a baby until they’re in space. I want a space nephew."

"Niece."

"...both?"

"Both," Lucy nodded. "Who knows? I heard twins are genetic--oh!"

While they were busy chatting, the employees courteously opened the curtain in front of them, and the manager of the atelier carefully led the bride out to a stage-like platform.

With a straight, proper form like a lady of old age, the high collar and long sleeve truly amplified her dignified look. A long, sweeping tail was not possible for an outdoor wedding, but the wide long skirt with intricate silver embroidery was beautiful nonetheless, especially under the sunlight.

Nervously, shyly, Julia looked up at the two audience. "Umm...how do you--"

Lucy immediately jumped and clapped her hands excitedly. "Aaaack! It’s so pretty! You look like a princess!"

"A queen," Nari corrected.

"A queen!" Lucy hugged Julia in agreement. "You’re so beautiful, Ju!"

Julia, who came there without fixing her hair and only wearing thin makeup, sighed. "Hearing that from you is..."

"Oh, look at this embroidery! Wait--where’s the veil?" Nari looked at the manager--after all, no bride would be complete without the veil.

"Right, right--the veil! Quick!"

With a soft chuckle, the manager carefully took a silk veil with flower lace from the velvet box that one of the employees held and personally put it on Julia. An epitome of an innocent bride, the blooming blush across her cheeks veiled by the thin silk was undoubtedly stunning.

The girls immediately let out a boisterous scream and shriek while taking countless pictures with their commlink. Of course, they reminded each other that Asa should never see it, saving the pictures inside a locked folder just in case.

"And for the reception..." the manager smiled at the nice reaction, taking off the veil and the sparkling skirt. Hidden beneath, connected to the top, was a plain mermaid skirt that made the girls scream again.

It was even fitting to say that Lucy and Nari looked more excited about the wedding dress than the bride herself. Julia did say she was fine with anything since she never really cared much about fashion. Besides, she just thought they would rent the dress, just like her teacher in the past.

But one day, Lucy came to the research center with a pile of binders and more digital catalogs of wedding dresses, fabrics, and even lace patterns. She even brought a holographic projection to see which type of dress looked better for her body type. The next time Julia and Asa visited Lucre, she was brought to the atelier, and the next thing she knew, she was already on her last fitting.

When her father gave her the task of taking care of the wedding dress, Lucy took it seriously.

And Julia could feel that Lucy didn’t just do it for the sake of fulfilling a task. The girl was truly happy having a sister joining her family, which was full of men. Even since she got Julia’s number, Lucy had been flooding her with text--even more than Asa--and loved hugging her so much that Julia got used to it even though she wasn’t much of a physical person.

Nari was busier than Lucy, but she also contacted Julia a lot. They had a group chat together and although Julia spent more time as a silent reader, she enjoyed the interaction more than she initially thought.

Honestly, she had been worrying about whether or not she could fit herself inside Asa’s tight-knit circle, but...

Would it be fine for her to say that she really felt like she gained real sisters?

"Oh, let’s look for a going-away outfit too!" Lucy clasped her hands, just as the exhausted Julia finished changing back to her regular clothes.

"...now?"

* * *

It wasn’t just Lucy who took her part seriously.

"This is the sample I made for the cake base," Kar placed a tray with a dozen cake slices in front of the engaged couple. Each slice had a different flavor and color, and there were even creams and sauces on the side to be paired with the cakes. "Choose one or three--I’d like to make more variations, but I have a raid tomorrow."

"...more?"

Julia stared at the cake slices with wide eyes. There were already twelve of them, all freshly made. She could still smell the scent of baking and see the rest of the cake on the cabinet. Twelve of them. The kitchen almost looked like a bakery.

And he said he was planning to do more?

"Start tasting," the esper said when no one moved for a minute.

"O-okay..."

Asa and Julia took the small fork immediately, almost in a trance. Everything looked and smelled good, and tasted even better. Even if Kar just gave them the first one, Julia would be more than happy about it.

But Asa examined each one with a serious expression, even muttering each flavor’s pros and cons. Habitually, Julia jotted down Asa’s review on her commlink’s notepad. Before they even went past the fourth one, however, Kar put his tablet on the table and opened his holographic sketch app.

"While you do, this is the drafts I have for the decorations," the esper said, activating yet several three-tier cakes decorated with stars. "Peruse this while tasting and tell me which direction you’d like to take."

Leaving the shining holographic cakes in front of them, the esper left to answer a call from his beloved actor. Julia stared at the beautiful and fancy-looking drafts in front of her, wondering if it was truly possible to make those kinds of cakes.

She looked at Asa inquisitively, and her fiance just shrugged with a grin. "He’s a serious type of guy."

"I can see that," she smiled helplessly. "But everything is beyond my expectations...I think I’ll be happy with whatever."

"True," Asa ate the fifth slice happily, glancing at the rest of the cakes on the cabinet with greedy eyes. "But since he’s taking this seriously, we should also choose seriously."

Julia smiled and nodded. "Yes, I agree."

With added sincerity, they tasted the cakes again. This time, to not waste the support that everyone had given them, Julia also started to give her own review. They made notes for each cake and devised several three-flavor combinations before eliminating them one by one.

When they were about to move to the most suitable sauce and cream flavor, the kitchen door opened again. They thought Kar was returning already, but it turned out to be Bassena. "Oh, you’re here."

Asa waved his fork in greeting. "Yo, Dad."

"Ah, Si--" Julia pressed her lips when Bassena narrowed his eyes, and corrected herself awkwardly. "F-father..."

It wasn’t easy to say that strange word she hadn’t used for more than two decades, but she would have to get used to it anyway. Bassena patted her head to praise her effort, and while it made Julia feel like a child, she didn’t necessarily hate it. "Is that for your wedding cake?"

"Yup," Asa nodded, tasting a red-colored sauce for the plain vanilla cake.

"Good timing," Bassena snapped his fingers. "You need to start choosing a menu too."

The couple who had been stuffing their stomach with cakes winced. "Ugh--today?"

"Do you think securing good ingredients is easy?" Bassena clicked his tongue. He tapped his commlink and sent a folder to Asa’s account. "Here--I’ve made a list, so you just have to choose."

Asa opened the folder and grimaced. "There’s like...hundreds of dishes here."

He loved to eat anything and everything, but Asa’s stomach capacity was actually not as big as Kar, who got his extensive appetite from Zein.

"That’s why you should choose," Bassena rolled his eyes.

"Uhh..." Asa shoved the screen containing the list to his fiancee. "How did you do your wedding, Dad? I know it was on the lakehouse." freewēbnoveℓ.com

"Hmm...like this, we also do family and friends only," Bassena turned his gaze toward the garden, which could be seen from the kitchen’s and dining room’s wide window. "The household members prepared the food and decorations--Senan was so excited back then, although the old elder almost got a heart attack because of us."

"Huh? Why?"

"Because you were already growing inside your father’s belly at that time."

"...whaat?!" Asa gasped while Julia widened her eyes in surprise. "I didn’t know!

Whoa, Dad--so scandalous!"

"We made you here you know," Bassena smirked, whispering in a more scandalous tone while glancing at the stone partially visible from the window. "Near that garden."

"Kyaah!" Asa clasped his cheeks and laughed. He did hear from his twin that their fathers were rather...wild, in the past, but he didn’t know too much detail about it.

Bassena chuckled and looked at his children with a soft gaze. "To sum it up, we prepared it with our family."

"Just like us," Asa grinned, stroking Julia’s hand on the table. "I love that."

Bassena patted their heads and curled his eyes menacingly. "So, make your choices quickly--also, Cohen wants your invitation list by the end of this week."

Asa groaned and slammed his head on the table. Preparing for a wedding was almost as complicated as building a spaceship, it seemed.