It hasn't been easy adjusting to her new life. Pherae is kind and welcoming, Lord Eliwood tells the people she's the daughter of a lost noble family so as not to invite the disparaging remarks he fears she would recieve as a commoner. And it is somewhat true; Nergal was hardly a noble but he was quite the powerful sorcerer.
But people still see her pale hair and red eyes, and it doesn't sit well with them. She looks fragile, they say, will she be strong enough to bear Lord Eliwood a child? And of course, there are the few bad apples who sneer over her family's fate; gold-diggers, traitors, tyrants, war mongers, they say.
Ninian does her best not to let it bother her. She'd anticipated much worse, after all, and at least the public seems to approve of her engagement to Lord Eliwood. But sometimes their questions about her past and her family are just too much, and she's barely able to manage a polite I'd rather not talk about it before the tears flow or she becomes angry.
Today Lord Eliwood is in a meeting, and Ninian sits in her favorite spot. It's a small pond in Pherae's gardens, being beside the cool, clear water makes her feel more at ease. Suddenly, she sees his reflection in the pond and looks up. The meeting's over already? It seems like just an hour ago she came out here.
But he's holding a bouquet of white flowers, and as he sits down beside her and presses it into her hands, she realizes what he's done.
"I left early," he says, "I feel like we don't get to spend enough time together lately."
Ninian smiles as she leans against him. Now more than ever she knows she made the right choice by staying in Elibe.