"I, Daryl Hamish Farron take you, Marlena Aveline Rosencrantz, to be my lawfully wedded wife. I promise to love you in the good times and in the bad times, to cherish you in poverty and in richness, and to take no other by my side until death do us part."

"I, Marlena Aveline Rosencrantz, take you, Daryl Hamish Farron, to be my lawfully wedded husband. I promise to love you in the good times and in the bad times, to cherish you in poverty and in richness, and to take no other by my side until death do us part."

"With that, I now proclaim you man and wife. Now, you may kiss the bride."

The wedding kiss was met with an applause from the audience as the bell was rung to mark the occasion.

Rather unusually, Rex decided to pick a quieter corner of the party while reading the letter he had in his hand. The delicate penmanship never failed to impress him, although he could not deny the disappointment in the content of the letter:

Rex,

While I am touched to receive the invitation to your cousin's wedding, I hardly think it is wise for me to attend as your date. With Klaus attending as Raelyn's date, I worry that my unannounced arrival would be an unnecessary distraction.

That being said, do give my best wishes to the bride and the groom, as well as my regards to your family. I hope you understand where I am coming from. I will be waiting for your letter.

Iris.

What a considerate woman, Rex thought.

It was then he made his decision; his choice.

Raelyn beamed up when she noticed the bride made her way towards her and decided to meet her midway. "Ana!"

"Lynn!"

"You're so beautiful, Ana. I could hardly recognize you!"

The new Mrs Farron blushed a little. "Thanks, Lynn."

"What happened to your hair?" Raelyn asked. Ana, like many females from their family, sported rose-colored hair—at least that was how she remembered her cousin.

Ana took a small lock of her hair, "Oh, this? I decided to try it out. Daryl said blonde looks good on me. My father said the same thing as well."

"It does, actually," she agreed.

Raelyn felt a hand on her back and she glanced aside; it was Klaus. "Oh, hey."

"Hey," Klaus greeted back before facing the bride. "Congratulations for your marriage. I hope you have a lasting, blissful one."

"Oh, you must be Klaus! I'm Ana, Lynn's cousin. She told me about you."

"Pleased to be your acquaintance," Klaus replied as he bowed slightly. "It's lovely to meet Raelyn's family."

"I hope Uncle Neil didn't give you a hard time."

Klaus chuckled wryly. "He is happy enough to have a pair of extra hands on the farm."

"He did?" Ana laughed. "I guess you should be familiar with farm work, anyway. Our family is like… deep-rooted in it."

"I can see that."

"Marlena," a deep voice called. Raelyn turned towards the source of the voice and found Ana's husband making his way to them. "I've been looking for you."

"Daryl, please meet my cousin—the farmer one."

"Oh," Daryl turned to Raelyn and shook hands with her, then Klaus. "Nice to meet you, I'm Daryl."

"Raelyn."

"Klaus."

Daryl looked at Raelyn, then Klaus, then Ana. "So, your cousin is…"

Ana couldn't hide her amusement and she giggled. "Of course the one with the pink hair, you silly!"

"Right, of course, I should've known. But someone like her, managing a farm?"

"Pardon?" Raelyn asked, slightly confused as to what to make of his skepticism.

"Don't take me wrong. I think farming is a noble profession and I have the highest opinion on farmers. It's just that I have a hard time believing a woman of your… stature would be able to handle the stress."

"She's much stronger than she looks," Klaus said coldly, clearly taking offense at Daryl's initial assessment of her.

Sensing the tension, Raelyn decided to step in. "Klaus, would you mind fetching me a glass of… something cold? Doesn't have to be liquor."

"Sure, I'll be back soon."

Ana also quickly dismissed Daryl 'to greet other guests', tactfully directing him to the opposite direction, and promising to catch up with him soon. "I hope you're not offended. He doesn't mean to be degrading."

"It's okay, really. I'll talk to Klaus later."

"It's very gentlemanly of him to immediately defend you like that, though. I like him."

Raelyn couldn't hide her proud smile. "Yes, I love that part about him."

Ana inched closer towards Raelyn and asked with a lower voice. "So, is it true that he's… an ex-gangster? Like Aunt Reine?"

"Yeah."

"Oh, wow. Didn't expect that. I was so shocked when my mom told me. You're so cool about it, too."

Raelyn shrugged. "I don't know. I grew up with one, I don't see what's so surprising about it. Besides, his tattoos are cool."

"Wait—what? I don't see any ta… oh!" Ana's eyes glinted with realization. "Don't tell me you and him…"

Raelyn held her breath when she realized what she had just let out, but the cat was already out from the bag. "You naughty girl," Ana teased playfully. "Who would've thought, the shy Lynn? Your brothers will be onto him like hounds to a prey if they find out. And Uncle Neil. He's so dead."

"They won't," Raelyn said curtly while shooting Ana her sharpest glare.

"Tell me the deets and we're even."

"What? That's—!"

Ana noticed that Klaus came back, bringing two glasses of drinks. She gave a quick peck on Raelyn's cheek and left to join Daryl but not before she stressed: "The deets," to the pinkette.

Goodness…

Seems like Klaus is blending in well into Raelyn's family now...

Stay tuned for the next chapter!

Thanks for reading, please rate and review!

A/N: For those of you who have played Trio of Towns, you might notice some familiar names... that's right! Daryl and Marlena, the parents' of Trio of Towns' MC are here. ^^ In this universe (non-canon, of course) Marlena is Allen and Gwen's daughter and Raelyn's cousin. As explained, her blonde hair is a result of her dying her hair (thanks to her oh-so-amazing dad/hairstylist). Consider this as a teaser for the next story on Trio of Towns' universe! I hope you're excited about it! ^^