Marriage, legally known as the establishment of matrimony.
It refers to the civil legal act by which two parties establish a spousal relationship according to legally stipulated conditions and procedures, and assume the resulting rights, obligations, and other responsibilities.
It sounds a bit cold.
So, let's put it another way.
Excluding situations like blind dates or marriages of convenience, marriage is the conclusion of a romantic relationship, signifying that from now on, the affection between lovers will be cloaked in the mantle of 'family'.
M-Marriage?!
It was as if she had heard beautiful words that should only exist in a dream. Miss Mei was stunned for a long time.
She hesitated, standing there at a complete loss.
Her cheeks were scarlet, her eyes darted around without focus, and her fingers subconsciously fidgeted with the hem of her clothes. She opened her mouth to speak but didn't know what to say.
Her lips opened and closed, yet no sound came out. She looked as amusingly tight-lipped as a goldfish, which was utterly adorable.
"Th-that..."
After a brief moment, the girl mustered her courage to speak, but her words were hesitant and stumbling. She gave up and closed her mouth again as the tips of her ears gradually turned cherry-red, and she didn't know what to do with her hands and feet.
"Zihan, did you say... marriage?" she asked, as if confirming a story that could only happen in a dream.
"Please forgive my shamelessness."
The certain someone—whose cuckolding of Mei was so extensive that Rita and the Dull Goose would kneel and declare, 'The three-year term is up! We beseech the Green Herrscher to assume the title of Overseer!'—spoke with a voice full of self-reproach and remorse.
"I, who have done so many things to wrong you, am afraid that you'll leave me after you find out."
"So, I want to use the most despicable of social contracts to keep you by my side."
N-no, it's okay.
Miss Mei, who had long known that a certain someone's relationships with Seele and Sirin were abnormally close, and that he was liked by many other girls but had chosen to turn a blind eye, felt as if her heart was about to leap out of her chest.
Although she was a little concerned about what exactly he was apologizing for...
But—
The wedding to come would be real!
Skipping the engagement and going straight to marriage, starting a family!!
I'm the true heroine of this new world!
The girl, who had always loved the boy who fought Anti-Entropy's radicals for her and turned against Otto for her sake, felt an inexplicable victor's joy rise in her heart.
Not Sirin, who clung to Zihan like his best bro and dragged him off to play games all day.
Not Seele, who was so gentle and weak that even she, a girl, felt a surge of pity and a desire to protect her.
Not Ana, who had always looked up to Zihan, seeing him as the brightest light in her life, following and adoring him.
...
The final heroine is me!!
Let's see, how many bridesmaids should I invite?
Zihan's best buddy, Sirin, is a must.
That gentle junior of mine... Seele would surely be happy to see her senior get married.
And for Ana, the marriage of the person she admires most would be a joyous occasion, too.
N-no, not just them! There's also Bronya, who's always acting as Li Zihan's secretary; Wendy, who came all the way from Oceania just to get him to watch her dance; and Luna Kindred, who's supposedly Zihan's familiar...
A gleeful smile that was completely out of character appeared on the face of Miss Mei—who was naturally precocious but acted as dense as Theresa in matters of the heart because she didn't want to know certain things.
"Are... are you willing to accept?"
A downcast, almost hesitant voice came from the other end of the line.
"If..."
"I know this is despicable, that it's bastardly, but I still want to—"
"What are you talking about, darling?"
For the first time, the girl used such an endearment, her gentle voice soothing her lover.
"No matter what mistakes my future husband makes, I will always accept you."
---o---
"So, who in the world were you just on the phone with?"
Ling, who had been temporarily bound to a certain someone as a second personality and a cleanser of negative emotions—all because he had initiated a revolution in the Type-Moon world, pushing it one step closer to a "power-wanker" universe—couldn't help but ask upon waking up.
"Just giving an explanation to a girl who's been waiting for me for a long time."
"An explanation?"
Ling, who felt that Li Zihan was incapable of giving a proper explanation to any girl he got involved with, materialized her body and rolled her eyes.
"A marriage proposal, of course."
The young man said it as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"That's it?" she asked with habitual disdain.
And then—
As if she'd choked on water, she began to cough violently, her entire face flushing red.
"You said wha-?!"
Ling, so shocked her voice cracked, stared with wide eyes.
"I plan to marry her."
The certain someone, who still possessed the sword named Plasma Kagehide, repeated himself very seriously.
"Mei is perfect wife material, isn't she?"
"Wait, didn't you say you were going to marry that Seele girl before?" Ling was dumbfounded.
"That was then, this is now. The situation has changed."
The young man, who really would have preferred to marry Seele if possible, spoke with a serious expression.
"What changed?" Ling asked.
Li Zihan let out a breath.
"Mei's dependence on me isn't nearly as deep as Sirin's or Kiana's. If she finds out about all the green hats I've made her wear, she'll definitely flip out."
"If she's not completely furious, I can still coax her back. But if she gets angry enough, she'll really break up with me."
Damn it, what a thoroughly scumbag answer, Ling thought.
"Besides," Li Zihan added, "I have no intention of backing out of my promise to Seele."
"Huh?"
As if she had encountered something utterly unbelievable, Ling froze.
He had just proposed to Mei, and now he was saying he'd fulfill his promise to Seele...
"Hey, hey, are you planning to commit bigamy?" After a long pause, Ling finally managed to squeeze out the words.
Aside from committing bigamy, she really couldn't imagine how Li Zihan could possibly appease both Seele and Mei.
The certain someone, who had been granted the identity of the Herrscher of Time during the 'First Honkai in Type-Moon', spoke very seriously.
"Right now, in my hands, I have the coordinates to two worldlines in the Type-Moon world, one in the Campione! world, and one in the Re:Creators world."
"I can hold one wedding in each world. Including this one, that's five weddings right there. If that's not enough, I can go find other worldlines or different worlds."
"..."
Ling was silent, like a veteran Dokutah.
Faced with Ling's silence, a confident smile spread across the young man's face.
"Besides time management, I'm also a professional when it comes to spatial management."