The day of the coronation ceremony began early for the soon to be King and Queen of Nohr, Xander had already gotten out of bed by the time Selena had awakened. Xander got fitted in his royal gear, the same he had worn for the main duration of the war, now repaired and free from any battle damage, he spent the remainder of his free time memorizing the speech he had worked so hard on. Selena, unlike Xander, was given completely new garments for the coronation. She received a hand woven dress befitting a true queen, black with yellow and containing traditional Nohrian symbols. Once she was dressed she couldn't keep herself from twirling around in the mirror with an almost childlike glee, her excitement of really being a queen almost made her forget what needed to happen that night.
As the ceremony was preparing to begin, all of Nohr was gathering in attendance, many of the soldiers from the war begun to reunite. Prince Leo, alongside his retainers, was accompanied by the King of Valla, Corrin.
"To Nohr, let the proud new king rule with grace befitting the heavens themselves!" Odin proclaimed, cheering his drink with Corrin, Leo, and Niles.
"I just hope he doesn't mess up his speech, we spent the last few days constantly trying to perfect it, it was exhausting," Leo muttered.
"I'm sure Xander's going to be just fine up there, he's been nothing but confident since the war ended, and all the people in Nohr believe in him," Corrin said.
"Lord Leo, if you don't mind me asking, is it actually okay that someone not from Nohr is becoming queen?" Odin asks from seemingly out of nowhere.
"Hmm? It isn't like that is some sort of requirement, Lady Arete wasn't from Nohr but Father still married her and made her queen," Leo explained.
"Dearest Odin, if a royal is to fall in love with a non-royal, why question it? An undomestic non-royal only makes it all the more riveting," Niles interjected, "Speaking of which, Lord Corrin, how come your wife isn't with you?"
"I'm pretty sure she's with Camilla, they both were spending some time with Selena helping her prepare for the ceremony, this isn't the type of thing she likes, but Selena is her friend after all," Corrin explained.
"Her friend huh," Odin muttered under his breath, his odd behavior getting the attention of the others, but not enough to bring up.
Soon enough Elise would join them, along with the Hoshidan royal family including the new King and Queen. The group enjoyed a bit of reconnecting, sharing good tidings now that they were free from war for the time being. Eventually they, along with the entirety of Nohr, finally were greeted with the appearance of Xander and Selena.
Gunter provided the opening lines, Nohrian servants bringing him the casing which held the crowns, as he continued speaking to the people of Nohr, Xander leaned over to whisper to his wife, "You look very beautiful in that dress Selena."
Blushing bright as ever, Selena whispered back, "What are you stupid, you're gonna make me red in front of all these people."
"I was simply checking to see if you were feeling better after last night, I was getting worried you'd be too nervous," Xander said.
"Me? Too nervous? Please. I'm gonna be the best queen you've ever seen."
"Now that's more of the Selena I know, and with you alongside me, I know we'll usher in a new era for Nohr."
Gunter finished his speech, then asking Xander and Selena to step forward and take a knee, "I present to you, Queen Selena!" He said before placing the crown on the head of Selena. "And King Xander!" He said before doing the same to Xander, resulting in thunderous roars of applause from the people of Nohr, as well as immense shouts of excitement from Corrin and Elise.
Xander kissed the hand of his wife before beginning his speech to the people of Nohr. As the product of many hours of preparation, Xander spoke with the regal all of Nohr expected from him, with every spectator hanging on every word. Without a single misstep throughout, Xander ended his speech, "And with my beautiful queen by my side, we will bring a future of peace and prosperity to all of Nohr!"
All of Nohr erupted into cheers hailing the new king and queen, as the festivities finally began, the newly crowned couple finally made it down to greet their family and friends.
"Big Brother! You were incredible up there, you're just like the king I always imagined you'd be!" Elise greeted Xander, jumping toward him and forcing a massive hug onto the King.
"You've made us all very proud Xander," Camilla said as she greeted her brother. "And you my darling Selena, when I selected you as one of my head retainers I never expected this to happen, perhaps I need to start protecting you?" Camilla said with an innocent laugh.
"C'mon you know me Lady Camilla, I can protect myself," Selena responded with a grin.
"Oh you can drop the 'Lady' title Selena, we are sisters now after all darling," Camilla responded.
"Yeah Queenie! You're our sister, part of the family!" Elise said, putting wide smiles on Selena and Xander.
"I hope I'm not too late to say congratulations?" Laslow appearing to give well wishes to his liege.
"Laslow there you are, I was beginning to think we wouldn't find you," Xander said, happy to see his friend and trusty retainer.
"Surely you jest milord, it's not every day I get to witness two of my best friends be crowned king and queen, I couldn't live with myself if I didn't give you my congratulations," Laslow said, smiles all around. However as he spoke, he very quickly shot a glance at Selena, not quick enough for anyone to notice, but long enough for Selena to know exactly what he was eluding too, her happy night wasn't going to last, and she knew that.
Before Xander could respond a glob of blue hair and pink tips wrapped their arms around Laslow, "Lord Xander! Or should I say King Xander, you were incredible up there!"
Xander smiled, "Thank you Peri, and while you're both here I'll just say thank you. I wouldn't have come as far as I have without you and Laslow beside me."
"No no Xander, it's me that should thank you! If you hadn't picked me to be your retainer, I would have never had the opportunity to slay so many of our enemies! More importantly, I would have never met my amazing husband!" Peri said before giving Laslow a huge smooch on his cheek.
"Peri please, I'm going to turn red when you say things like that," Laslow replied.
"Laslow there's this booth giving out fish, and they swim around in this container and they let us stab them to choose our meal, c'mon lets go get some!"
"Your wish is my command," Laslow said.
Before Laslow and Peri walked off arm in arm, Selena got a good look at his eyes. While he was all smiles as usual, she could detect the sadness he was hiding behind it, he was thinking the same thing she was.
Xander turned to her, "Well my queen, are you ready to enjoy the festival?"
"Y-Yeah! Let's do it," Selena uttered, caught off guard as all she could think about was that night.
The two enjoyed the festival and had a wonderful time along with all of Nohr celebrating their coronation. While visibly Selena appeared to be enjoying herself, all that was on her mind was that night. Eventually nightfall would be upon them, and the festivities had ended, both Xander and Selena returned to their bed chambers, preparing to sleep.
"Tell me, how are you feeling Queen Selena?" Xander asked.
"Are you going to keep calling me that Xander?" Selena replied.
"Well you wanted me to have a little more humor didn't you?"
"And have you forgotten what happened when you tried telling a joke to your siblings?"
"Yes but with you I can blame you if a joke fails."
"I see all that practice I put you through is really starting to pay off, besides, if you wanted to keep calling me Queen Selena I wouldn't necessarily stop you. It has a nice ring to it wouldn't you agree?"
"Absolutely."
"So, how do you plan to spend your first day as King?" Selena asks.
"Well there's a lot of places for me to start, I'm gonna meet with some advisors of mine to go over some things tomorrow, but at the moment, I'm just trying enjoy my first night as king, beside my lovely queen," Xander said, before lightly grasping Selena by the chin and giving her a long kiss.
"H-How many times do I need to tell you not to do that when I'm not expecting it!?" Selena muttered once their lips parted, acting as if her heart wasn't soaring every time he kissed her.
Xander gave a small laugh, "I love you Selena, to a bright future! For Nohr, and for us," Xander said before turning on his side to sleep.
"Yeah, to us," Selena slowly whispered to herself, knowing that wasn't going to happen.
The couple remained together deep into the night, yet only one of them slept. Outside the castle the mage and the swordsman stood, awaiting Selena's arrival. Neither said a word to the other, while somewhat excited to return home and see their families and home again, they were equally saddened about leaving their new home without giving word to anyone. While Xander was in a deep sleep, Selena had gathered as much of her stuff that she could carry, however leaving her crown behind. She made her way to the door, tears streaming down her face, no matter how hard she tried to fight them, she couldn't fight back the sadness of having to leave. Before walking out the door she turned back one last time, looking at her fast asleep husband, tears running down her face, her twin tails hanging low in sadness Selena mouthed the words,
"I'm so sorry."