"What on earth is that?"
Weston and Yuri approached the table, and looking closely, discovered that what lay upon it was a pile of books regarding wedding dress styles, along with a stack of hand-drawn design sketches.
"Isn't this the vault where you keep your money? Why would these things be in here?"
"I don't know; I haven't come in here for a while. But since they've appeared here, they could only have been brought in by Mavis or Zera..."
As Weston spoke, he began flipping through the sketches.
There were over a dozen sheets, all of them wedding dress designs in different styles. There were elegant traditional cuts, avant-garde designs full of modern flair, minimalist styles, and even magical styles. Furthermore, each one was meticulously annotated with details—ranging from length and size to color, texture, and matching jewelry—each one exquisite beyond compare.
"Ah! This one..."
Suddenly, Weston picked up one of the sketches and pointed at the wedding dress style while looking at Yuri beside him: "I remember, when you got married previously, the one Rita wore seemed to be exactly like this one, right?"
"Is that so?"
Yuri's eyes widened, and he examined it seriously for several seconds: "Although the details are slightly different, the overall look is indeed the same."
"Wait! Why do these things look so familiar..."
"Ah!! I remember now!!"
"Aren't these the books that Rita specifically collected as references back when she was designing her wedding dress?!"
The more Weston heard, the stranger he felt it was: "Are you sure?"
"Of course!"
Yuri nodded with certainty. To prove his words, he specifically picked up one of the books, flipped it open, and pointed at a corner: "Look here, there's even the mark of my drool!"
How disgusting...
Weston took a step back, dodging the book page Yuri was thrusting toward him—the one bearing his saliva traces—and retorted: "Why would you drool on a wedding dress book?! Just what were you doing with this book, kid?!"
"...Stop thinking nonsense!"
"It was just that Rita said she wanted to design her own wedding dress by hand back then. I stayed up all night by her side, and I accidentally got it on there while I was dozing off!"
Weston squinted his eyes, casting a skeptical gaze: "Really? I find that very suspicious..."
Yuri's face was covered in black lines at the sight: "It's absolutely true!"
"Isn't it perfectly normal for a girl to want to wear a wedding dress she designed herself when she gets married?!"
"Thinking back, after Rita finished the wedding dress design, these things disappeared. I thought she had recycled them; I never expected they would turn up here..."
"Exactly! Why would things from your house appear in my vault?"
Hearing this, Yuri's expression suddenly became peculiar: "Are you serious when you say that?"
"...What do you mean?"
"You just said it yourself: besides you, only Mavis and Zera can get in here, right? So the situation is obvious: these reference books were brought in by one of them, or both of them together! As for the reason, I shouldn't need to say more, right?"
"Eh?!!"
Reminded by Yuri, Weston finally realized that something was indeed "wrong."
Connecting all the information together, a shocking answer naturally emerged.
"You... you mean to say, th-this is... Mavis and Zera... designing their future... wed... wedding... dresses...?"
Weston's hand shook, and he almost failed to hold onto the sketch in his hand.
"B-but if they didn't want me to know, why would they leave them here?"
"Well... didn't you say just now that you hadn't been here in a long time? Perhaps it's precisely because of that that they felt this was the safest place, so they chose to do the designing here!"
That makes sense!
"I didn't expect that after getting married, your IQ and EQ would increase this much!"
Yuri couldn't help but roll his eyes: "Thanks a lot, though I don't feel any joy at being praised at all!"
"Whatever you like!"
Weston waved his hand dismissively and began flipping through the sketches on the table once more: "Hiss... this one is quite bold! The back is actually a deep V-design!! And this one..."
Is it?
Is it really like that?
Mavis and Zera are already starting to design their wedding dresses...
It makes sense; everyone isn't small anymore. Especially Mavis and Zera, in another year, they'll reach the legal marriage age allowed by the Kingdom of Fiore. So, it's only natural for them to consider marriage issues in advance, such as the style of the wedding dress!
But for such a major event, how could the two of them do it secretly behind his back?
They should have let him participate too; everyone should design it together!
"Hey, hey, hey..."
"You can appreciate that stuff anytime later. Can you settle my business first?!"
Yuri pushed Weston's shoulder dissatisfactorily.
Unfortunately, Weston was currently completely immersed in the excitement and surprise of discovering the secret, and had long since forgotten about Yuri's matter.
"The door is over there, see yourself out. I'll host you next time..."
"Huh?!"
Yuri pressed both hands forcefully onto Weston's shoulders and began shaking him frantically, saying through gritted teeth: "Di-dn't-you-say-you-we-re-go-ing-to-le-nd-me-mo-ney!!"
Ah, right!
"Sorry, sorry, I just got excited and forgot..."
Weston grinned foolishly as he put the wedding dress books and sketches back on the table, turned around to open his safe, and tossed a small stack of bills over.
"300,000J?!"
Yuri took a look at what he'd received and sucked in a breath of cold air in shock.
Just casually tossing over such a small handful, not even a drop in the bucket compared to the total assets in the safe, and it was actually 300,000J?!
One must know that 300,000J was enough to buy two storefronts in today's Magnolia.
Just how much money does this guy Weston have?!
Exactly how much money Weston had was not information Yuri could know, but thanks to Weston's generous sponsorship, he could properly enjoy his honeymoon trip this time!!
...
Several days later, Yuri and Rita officially set off on their journey.
That same afternoon, a letter was delivered to Fairy Tail, specifically naming Weston to receive it personally.
"A letter for me?"
"It seems to have been sent from Crocus, and it looks quite serious. You'd better read it carefully!!"
With a hint of confusion, Weston took the envelope from the companion who helped collect the mail and opened it to check.
"How is it? Who sent it?"
"It's... it's Queen Lily!"
Looking at the contents of the letter, Weston's brow furrowed.
"She says she's run into a trouble that only I can solve, and she wants me to go over and take a look at the situation."