There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)
Chapter 290 - 282. A Certain Special Day

Chapter 290: Chapter 282. A Certain Special Day

It was great that Abel chose a venue with a basement parking lot because Bassena and Zein could come inside the building fairly undetected. Abel even sent one of the wedding organizer staff to fetch them, so they could come through the more discreet hallways.

Just like their inn, the venue had a polished old aesthetic to it. The hall where the ceremony and the reception would be held looked like an ancient palace, and even the staff wore a somewhat traditional-looking garb.

Zein used to think a wedding reception was just another kind of party, but that was obviously because he had never gone to one. In the red-zone, people didn’t really care whether you were married or not, but you could register your relationship with the Landlord. Rarely, there would be a wedding ceremony, but the ’reception’ was usually a simple banquet—and by ’banquet’, it meant the one who held it would provide the guest with a single meal of bread, soup, and meat.

Still fairly nice, the kids loved them wedding banquet.

But he had learned that wedding in the higher zone was a serious business.

"I heard there’s something special about the date," Zein muttered while they walked through a corridor overlooking a beautifully kept garden. It was the kind with stones and water, and had this tranquil vibe about it.

Bassena looked at his commlink to check. "Ah, today?"

"Yeah," Zein had overheard it from the guides who were talking about it while giggling. "You know what it is?"

"...ah, so you don’t know," Bassena looked at Zein, once again being reminded that Zein was blind about the custom of the higher zone. "Well, it’s something from the Old Era. Apparently, they celebrated something called Valentine’s Day?"

That sounded foreign to Zein—but then again, almost everything sounded foreign to him. "What kind of day was that?"

"It seems like a day when people professed their love with gifts, typically chocolate or flowers, if I’m not mistaken," Bassena said, and it gave Zein an explanation of why there was a spike of chocolate pieces in the guide’s pantry, and why there was a lot of chocolate variation drinks in the coffee house downstairs. "You have to ask Reina for that, I’m not really sure."

Bassena Vaski, a popular esper who had never cared about love before he met his guide, did not really care about that kind of custom. And there was also no leeway for him to enjoy that kind of event with his violent upbringing. He only knew enough because Han Shin and Reina would act all sappy during this day.

"Hmm...So it’s like a lover’s day or something?" Zein nodded. Actually, now that he thought about it, he saw banners for that kind of event on their way to the venue.

"Perhaps?" Bassena shrugged.

Zein raised his brow and looked at the esper in surprise. He thought Bassena would care more about this kind of day, with how he always acted around Zein.

Bassena chuckled and muttered an explanation for his confused guide. "I mean...why do we need to wait for a special day to profess our love, anyway? I personally think it should be the other way around."

"What do you mean?"

"That a ’day’ is special because we profess our love," Bassena smiled, looking at the guide with a warm pair of ambers. "Just like how every wedding day is special, no?"

"If you say it like that..."

Zein chuckled; well, Bassena was indeed someone who would randomly bring him to an artisan to commission a bracelet and say it was a gift even though it was not Zein’s birthday. And honestly, Zein preferred the esper’s way of thinking—not that he ever professed his ’love’ explicitly.

But to the ignorant couple, the staff who guided them through the building gave an additional explanation. "It’s because of the legend behind that day."

"Oh?"

The staff smiled and continued like a tour guide. "It’s said that there was an era when an emperor banned marriage so men would be more willing to go to war," she explained. "Valentine is the name of a Saint who kept on marrying people in secret during that era and was executed because of it."

Bassena winced. "Ouch?"

"Well, we don’t really know since the legend has been buried for so long," the staff laughed softly. "But Saint Valentine was declared a martyr and there’s a belief that lovers would be blessed during this day."

Ah—Zein felt like he understood more now. Whether or not the legend was true, it was based on a bittersweet story about an era where people could not love openly. Or even if they could, there was no way to bind them in a sacred matrimony. So the Saint’s sacrifice was celebrated as the proof of how people would not gave up for their love.

Zein glanced at Bassena, wondering what the esper would do if they lived in a place with that kind of rule. He felt like the esper would probably start a revolution or something, march to the palace, and behead the emperor just to absolve the ridiculous rule—ending the tyranny was just a bonus.

How dumb. People perform better if they have something they want to protect back home, because they wouldn’t want the enemy to reach their loved ones, even if they had to sacrifice themselves for that objective. Besides, having a family back home would deter soldiers from deserting, because they wouldn’t want the Emperor to punish their family in their stead.

Not a very clever Emperor, Zein thought.

"Why chocolate, though?"

"Because it tastes good and makes you happy?" Bassena shrugged. He didn’t know about anyone else, but Zein did look happy when he ate some chocolate, so...

Hmm, perhaps it would be nice to have some during their date later?

"I think this custom is more prevalent in the Western Republic, and you can see a lot of places making events for lovers around this day," the staff explained further.

"Huh...should we go there today?" Bassena looked at the guide. If they hopped on a plane right after the reception, there should be enough time for them to have their date on the other side of the continent—

"You said you don’t need a special day to celebrate love," Zein rolled his eyes and cut the esper’s thought.

Bassena grinned and Zein just shook his head while chuckling, tapping the esper’s cheek as the staff stopped in front of a door.

"Here’s the groom’s room, Sir," the staff knocked at the door, and it was opened by another staff, who nodded and let them in.

It was a suite meant for the groom to get ready, and Abel was in the middle of trying to wear his tie in front of a mirror. The groom, different from usual, had been groomed nicely; styled hair, and a bit of make-up just to make him look fresh.

"Looking sharp," Zein commented when they entered the room, and Abel chuckled as he turned around at Zein’s voice. He immediately froze after, however, looking at the other guide silently, lips parted in stun.

"...Zein?" Abel blinked. "You’re not...where’s your mask?"

Zein, who had taken off his mask the moment he was inside the car, shrugged. "In my ring," he said casually.

Zein was not particularly dressed to the nine, just wearing a plain shirt and a suit jacket that Reina had carefully arranged for him—unlike Bassena, who wore a three-piece. But as he looked at himself in the mirror, he thought that wearing a mask to a wedding seemed rather disrespectful, because he looked like he would jump to a dungeon gate at any time, even though it was supposed to be a nice, joyful celebration with familial bond.

"It’s your wedding, I don’t want to make your baby nephew cry," Zein added nonchalantly at the surprised guide.

Abel chuckled and shook his head. "You’re not that scary anymore."

"Shin said it might ruin the aesthetic,"

"Pfft—" Abel stifled a laugh, but immediately looked at Zein and asked in a more serious tone. "Are you alright with this?"

He had been working with Zein long enough to understand that the mask wasn’t just a work habit. It was also a tool of defense for Zein’s mental state. It was the man’s security blanket.

"It’s just a private setting, and people already see my face anyway," Zein reassured the guide, who seemed to be more concerned about this than his crooked bowtie. "Also, as I said, it’s your wedding."

Abel stared at Zein silently for a few seconds, before walking over and wrapping his arm around the man for a hug. "Thank you," he said.

Abel didn’t really mind if Zein came with his mask on, honestly, but to think that Zein would let go of his security blanket just so he wouldn’t ruin the atmosphere was...it was a lot for the man who was already emotional for having a wedding in an hour.

Zein was pretty confused at this reaction, but he just chuckled and patted Abel’s back, who peeked behind Zein’s shoulder at the boyfriend. "You don’t mind me borrowing him a bit, do you?"

"It’s a groom privilege," Bassena shrugged as he took a seat on one of the couches, and nodded his head as a greeting to the ones already sitting there.

They weren’t the only ones inside the groom’s room. There was Abel’s nervous brother-in-law who was supposed to be the best man, who had been feeling paralyzed ever since Bassena and Zein entered the room.

But apparently, not his children.

"Mister, are you really the Serpent Lord?" one of them boldly asked.

"I think so," Bassena grinned. He didn’t mind being casual with kids, since they were kind of cute—and evil, but in a cute way.

"Whoa..." one of them, a little boy that couldn’t be older than ten, looked at him without blinking. "Can I become as strong as you in the future?"

Bassena turned his head to look at Abel, since the father was still unmoving on the side. "Is he awakened?"

"Of course not," Abel, who had gone back to the mirror to fix his tie, scoffed. "But he came from a family of espers, so he might be awakened as one."

"How old are you when you awakened, Sir?" the little boy asked.

"Me? I was eight,"

Abel whistled. While it was common for espers to awaken early—unlike guides—it was still rare to see them awaken that young, before the age of ten. Not as early as those who had awakened since birth, but still pretty early. And for espers, early awakening meant everything; more training time before their first trial, and thus, a higher rate of success.

Zein, however, had his mind on something else. "What season?" he asked.

"...summer, I think?" Bassena answered with a slight confusion, because the guide suddenly looked intrigued.

"Month?"

"...July?"

"Date?"

Bassena paused as this chain of questions made something click in his mind. Instead of answering, he asked Zein instead. "What’s yours?"

"Thirteen."

Again, Bassena paused, silently looking at his guide with slightly parted lips and unblinking eyes, before muttering under his breath. "...damn."

July 13th, evidently, was the day he awakened.