Lily Bai hung up the Messenger Charm and was about to head back to the wedding banquet hall when Empress Clarissa Summers intercepted her.
"Mother Empress!" Lily called out.
"Lily, you two should come home!" Clarissa said. "I've already picked the date!"
"What date did you pick?" Lily asked, puzzled.
"Your grand wedding with Little Five!" Mother Empress replied. "The best date is in five days—it's a bit rushed, but out of the next three months, that's the luckiest day, so I've set it!"
"Oh my god! No, Mother..." Lily groaned, clutching her forehead. "That won't work!"
Mother Empress: "Why not? Aren't you two at the Sigil Sect? Five days is plenty to get home, right? You made it in two or three days last time."
Lily: "It's not about whether we can make it home in time..."
"Then what's the problem?"
"Uh... We can't get married yet! Let's talk about it later..."
Even though Sean Shaw had already cleared his name of the city massacre, he was still officially wanted for attacking the Celestial Empress. That needed to be sorted out first!
Otherwise... the Celestial Empress would definitely use it as an excuse to target the White Clan again.
"Later? How much later—after your belly gets big or after the baby is born?" Mother Empress snapped.
"I'm not pregnant!"
"Little Five is absolutely convinced you are!"
"Do you trust him or me? I swear I'm not pregnant! Wouldn't I know if I was?"
Mother Empress paused for a moment. "Even if you're not pregnant, have you... you know... with him?"
"Pack up, we're heading back to Eastern Luo," Lily said as she walked in.
"Exactly! So you need to come home and get married ASAP! Who knows when you'll actually get pregnant!" Mother Empress insisted.
"It's really not urgent," Lily said. "We can wait—"
"I've already matched you two up, and most of the family knows!" Mother Empress interrupted her. "I've told everyone who asked!"
"Mother, why didn't you even discuss it with me?" Lily groaned, on the verge of a breakdown.
"Wasn't that what last time was for? You didn't object then, did you?"
"I didn't realize it'd be so soon!" Lily protested. "A wedding should take a year or two to plan, right? Who knew you'd set it for five days from now?"
Mother Empress was getting annoyed. "Enough nonsense! You have to come home! Otherwise, your aunts and cousins—especially Serena Summers—will all make fun of me!"
Lily thought about it. With Brandon Xiao in charge now, maybe a small-scale wedding that didn't alert the Divine Realm could work...
"How about this, Mother? We can go home, but you have to promise me one thing," Lily said.
"What is it?"
"Only our immediate family will attend. No big guest list! Especially not the Divine Realm."
"Why? You're the only princess of the Eastern Luo Empire! How could we do it so quietly? No way!"
Driven half-crazy, Lily blurted out, "Getting pregnant before marriage isn't exactly something to brag about!"
Clarissa yelled, "Lily Bai! And you still claim you're not pregnant!"
Lily clapped a hand over her mouth.
What was she even saying?!
After all that back and forth, mother and daughter finally compromised: the wedding would go on, but everything would be kept simple.
...
Back at the Sigil Sect, Sean had finally gotten out of bed and was sitting by the fire, watching Chacha brew tea.
"Pack up, we're heading back to Eastern Luo," Lily said as she walked in.
"Why are we going back?" Sean asked.
Lily sent Chacha out first, then, a bit helpless, she answered, "To get married."