𝓢𝔀𝓮𝓮𝓽 𝓫𝓾𝓽 𝓟𝓼𝔂𝓬𝓱𝓸

𝓒𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓕𝓲𝓯𝓽𝓮𝓮𝓷

𝓛𝓾𝓬𝓪 𝓟𝓞𝓥

𝓝𝓲𝓷𝓮 𝓶𝓸𝓷𝓽𝓱𝓼 𝓵𝓪𝓽𝓮𝓻

I stood in front of the mirror, nervously brushing my hair. However, there was one curl that kept on falling in my face, no matter how many times I smoothed it back, so I eventually gave up. Then, someone came up behind me and expertly smoothed the hair back into place with a single stroke of the hair brush.

"You look amazing," Aria said. 

I turned and smiled at her. "Thank you," I said. She giggled. "No, thank you. This is a huge day, and I'm really glad you asked me to be a part of it," she said. I nodded. "But of course," I said.

It had taken a long time, but Aria had slowly recovered from her assault by Signore Benedetti. She eventually began accompanying me during my daily routine, getting a job at the geletaria due to her refusal to set foot back in the Visconti base. Because of this, she ended up coming with me during my daily visits to the Marcovaldo household.

She was wary around the Marcovaldos at first, but Giulia had quickly gotten her to open up. The two had hit it off quick, and it wasn't hard to see that Giulia had fallen hard for the pink reef siren. It was an unspoken agreement between me and Alberto that my sweet siren friend would be a bridesmaid on this special day.

Our wedding day.

Alberto had proposed to me three months ago, on my birthday. My obvious answer was yes, and I'm quite sure that I'm still half-deaf from the cheers that exploded throughout the house. 

A knock came from the door, and Giulia walked in before I could answer. She froze when she saw me. "Wow, you guys look really good," she said, her eyes wide. I grinned nervously and turned back to the mirror. 

I was wearing the dress I had worn for the masquerade, the long, silky green piece- a sort of mockery to Ercole, plus I really loved the dress. Peridot earrings and a necklace adorned my ears and neck, and Aria had carefully applied a handsome wing of eyeliner to my face. I smiled at my reflection, but Giulia stepped in front of me. 

"Oh, no you don't. Your outfit isn't complete. Hold still. And close your eyes," she demanded.

I obeyed, bracing for whatever she would do. I heard a rustling noise, and then something lightweight was set on my head. I felt something brushing at my back, and Giulia was grumbling under her breath for a few seconds before she said, "Perfect."

I opened my eyes as she stepped back from the mirror and gasped. A small circlet of diamond flowers connected with silver wire rested on top of my curls, and a long sea foam green veil reached down to my ankles. I traced the veil as if my very touch would cause the delicate lace to disappear. 

"Did you guys make this?" I asked softly. Aria hugged me. "Of course we did. Everyone needs a veil on their wedding day. Besides, green is your color," she said sweetly. Giulia came on my other side and playfully shoved my shoulder. "You ready to go blow the audience away?" she asked.

I nervously looked at the door. "What if he didn't show up? What if the whole thing fails? What if I trip and fall and knock everyone over? What if-" Giulia cut me off. 

"Now, now, Lu, your fiance isn't going to get cold feet on you. He's in his dressing room, and trust me, he's ten times as nervous as you," she said. I let out a shaky breath. "Are you sure?" I said timidly, hating how scared I sounded. 

She nodded. "Yup. Guido and Ciccio are busy telling him to man up. I mean, it's only an hour and then you two are together," she said. I looked back at my reflection in the mirror, staring into my reflection's eyes. I felt searing determination well up inside of me, and my eyes glowed for a brief second.