"Who are you? Excuse , sir, but if you're here for the wedding, could you please wait downstairs? The ceremony will be starting shortly."
The groom who opened the door was surprisingly good-natured, perhaps assuming Jenkins was one of the bride's relatives, so he didn't get angry at the stranger's abrupt intrusion.
"I'm not here for the wedding. I'm here to save you."
With those words, he pushed his way past the groom and into the room. The bride, who had been sitting at her vanity with an annoyed expression, imdiately shot to her feet, pulling down her veil to hide her face.
She was beautiful. Her tasteful, light makeup, paired with a white, gauzy gown and heirloom jewelry, only served to accentuate her charm on this most important day of her life.
"Sir, please leave."
The man at the door said, his voice strained with suppressed anger.
"I'm really here to save you."
Jenkins held out his right hand, and sparks danced in his palm.
"Oh, my God, a wizard!"
The bride shrieked.
"A wizard? What era is this, exactly?"
Though Jenkins was inwardly startled, his expression remained composed. He had originally planned to use intimidation anyway:
"Yes, I am a wizard, and I'm here to save you. Your marriage is dood to misfortune, but that destiny can be changed. Fate led here today and revealed your troubles to , so I believe I am ant to help you. As a wizard, I trust in fate."
He gestured for the groom to co back inside and shut the door. The man in the wedding suit hesitated for a mont, but ultimately did as instructed, closing the door behind him.
Jenkins glanced out the window. In the courtyard below, long tables were laden with food, and guests were waiting expectantly. The wedding appeared perfectly ordinary, but it concealed a dark secret.
"Excuse , wizard... you said our marriage is dood to misfortune..."
When Jenkins didn't reply, the groom finally broke the silence, his voice hesitant.
"Yes, your marriage is dood to misfortune. That is because one of you made a pact with a non-human entity, making a sacrifice in exchange for a blissful love. That is how your relationship began."
Having learned from past experiences, Jenkins wasn't certain that reality would mirror the story, so he revealed his knowledge piece by piece. But from their expressions, it was clear he was spot on.
"An act like that isn't necessarily sothing to be condemned. Whether praying to a god or petitioning so inhuman being, as long as the wish is a noble one and doesn't violate any moral code, the act itself isn't gravely wrong. But all wishes co with a price. And what's more, most beings willing to answer the prayers of mortals harbor ill intentions."
"Wizard, do you an..."
The bride's voice trembled as she asked.
"No, the person who wished for this beautiful romance was fortunate enough to make their plea to the right sort of being. However, the way they phrased the wish was flawed, causing it to be granted in an... unexpected way."
He deliberately used vague language, avoiding any gendered pronouns, to observe their reactions. The account in the *Black Town Secret Records* was accurate—their expressions were exactly as Jenkins had anticipated:
"So, which one of you made the wish? Or... did you both?"
The groom staggered back a step, his face ashen as he hit the wall behind him. The bride let out a faint cry and sank into the chair at her vanity, turning away, unable to et her husband's gaze.
"Please, bring them out. Before you exchange your wedding vows, this can all be undone. If you trust , do as I say."
He said no more, leaning against the wall and waiting. The young couple remained frozen, and the room descended into a tense stalemate.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done such a thing."
In the end, it was the groom who broke the silence. He went to his bride and knelt on one knee.
"I truly love you. Even without that pact, I would still love you with all my heart."
As he spoke, he pulled a turquoise bracelet from his jacket pocket. It looked as if it were crafted from turquoise and blue feathers joined end to end, forming a single, seamless piece as translucent as jade. Jenkins had seen sothing like it before; the object was still sitting in a corner of his room back at the church in Nolan.
"This is B-11-05-9420, the Bracelet of Reversed Blessings: Loyalty. A gift from the lovebirds."
He recognized it. His own bracelet, which he'd acquired after the Carl family incident, was B-11-05-9421, the Bracelet of Reversed Blessings: Love.
"This bracelet can indeed safeguard and nurture love, but any act of infidelity will twist that blessing into a terrible curse. And unfortunately, the very act of using this bracelet to win love is considered a form of disloyalty... Perhaps you should have wished for the Bracelet of Love instead."
Jenkins stated.
"That wizard only told to make a wish. He didn't tell anything else."
The groom remained on one knee before his bride, holding her hand as she began to sob uncontrollably.
"I'm sorry... I made a mistake, too."
She gently pulled her hand from his, opened a drawer in her vanity, and set a red-and-black bracelet on the surface. It, too, looked as if it were woven from two differently colored feathers, identical to the groom's in every way but its hue.
"B-11-05-9424, the Bracelet of Reversed Blessings: Fidelity."
Jenkins recognized it.
"I am absolutely faithful!"
The bride insisted.
"Calm down, miss, I don't doubt you. But these two bracelets should never have been brought together. This gentleman violated the blessing of loyalty, which triggered its reversal. That effect extends to similar items, causing the curses to compound... Which ans you couldn't have received these from the sa person, could you?"
In the story, Jenkins had only known that they had both received blessed artifacts, not what those artifacts were. Now, seeing the two bracelets, he understood the strange twist the tale had failed to reveal.
The bride and groom truly loved each other. Even after learning that they had both wished for this love, they had no intention of postponing or canceling their wedding.
Once everything was out in the open, the two embraced tightly and turned to Jenkins for help.
"Before the curse takes effect—before you exchange your vows—you simply have to give these bracelets to soone willing to accept them. Once you do, the blessings and the curses will no longer be tied to you."
He offered. And just like that, the two bracelets belonged to him.
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