Hitomi held her breath as she stared at the bustling crowd forming in the banquet hall – tables arranged all over the vast hall, people intricately dressed and chatting with fellow guests, and servants gracefully walking to and from the kitchen placing scrumptious breakfast plates and drinks for each person.

It was the first time she saw the new banquet hall of Fanelia and she had to admit Van did quite a job at making a spacious castle. In her conversations with the servants who helped her dress up, she learned that the kingdom had made a huge leap economic-wise. The former farming nation had ventured into agricultural advancements, capitalized on education, and started earning from tourism.

The dragon preservation and education efforts had particularly earned them huge profits from guests wanting to know more and experience the massive creatures' existence. Fanelia had also been recognized as a nation that opened its arms to a variety of races – beastmen in particular – with Merle being Van's constant companion. Clans alienated and displaced before and after the war journeyed to Fanelia and built their homes there, co-existing with its human inhabitants. Vestris, Hitomi learned, was one of them. The new citizens brought with them new ways of farming and processing harvests; manpower that sped up construction work; and knowledge that helped improve the ancient Fanelian laws. The beastmen clans proved helpful to not only helping Fanelia regain its former glory, but also in raising it to greater heights showing nations the importance of respecting differences and that a conglomerate of races working for a common goal was possible.

People's newfound interests in Draconians and myths also urged Fanelia to create programs and facilities dedicated to sharing what they knew about them, ramping up tourist earnings from traveling historians, academics, and curious guests. And with Van's heroic exploits in the war and active participation in forging the new alliance, Fanelia had gone from a farming nation to a fast-developing center for culture and sustainable technology.

Van felt Hitomi stiffen beside him as they stood on the doorway of the banquet hall. He glanced at her and smirked, seeing how anxious she was as her green eyes watched people she did not know chatter in their tables.

"Relax," he whispered, placing his left hand on her right; the one that grasped his arm tightly.

Hitomi looked up at him – eyes wary. "Sh—Should I really be here?" she whispered. She hadn't been part of the alliance after all. It was like she as crashing the party. Come to think of it, wasn't that what Van did the night before in Yukari and Amano's wedding reception?

Was this payback or karma?

Van chuckled. "You're my future queen," he said. "If there's anyone who has all the right to be here, it's you."

Hitomi blushed and buried her face against his sleeve; a small smile on her lips. Suddenly being called "future queen" made her heart flutter.

"HITOMI!" Merle's voice echoed in the hall, silencing the chatter.

Van scanned the hall, scarlet eyes narrowed. He expected Hitomi's presence to make a commotion but he didn't want it to be scandalous. Thanks to Merle, his guests would stare at his future bride and intimidate her more than she already was. Van found the troublemaker standing on a chair on the side of the long dining table where diplomats of Asturia and Freid were seated; Vestris standing next to her, his feet planted on the floor and face palming himself in shame; Millerna and Dryden chucking at Merle's childishness; Allen, Selena, Gaddess, Chid and his adviser, smiling at him.

Van sighed and greeted everyone who looked at them as he led Hitomi to the table.

Hitomi felt hundreds of eyes curiously stare at her, whispers starting here and there as if she was a new girl walking down the hallway of a foreign high school.

"Hitomi? The Hitomi Kanzaki?" she heard some ask in hushed tones to the people next to them. Despite the exchange of pleasantries with Van, none of them directly asked him who she was: just stared at her hoping Van would do the honors and confirm their suspicions. She especially felt the cold stares from the young women in the hall, probably some of those who aspired to be Van's bride.

"The necklace! That's King Van's, is it not?" she heard someone say from a table they passed. "Does this mean he has chosen her as his bride?"

Hitomi blinked, glancing at the pink pendant dangling against her chest. He then glanced up at Van who was exchanging quick greetings with old people in one of the tables they were walking past. Was that why he returned the pendant? To tell everyone that she was his chosen bride?

Van felt her gaze and looked at her with brows raised. "What is it?"

Hitomi turned quickly away, cheeks flushed. She shouldn't overthink things. "N—Nothing."

Van smiled. "I'm sorry if I'm yet to introduce you," he said. "I'll be delivering a quick speech later and I'll introduce you then. It's easier to tell everyone about you that way than do so from one table to another and create inaccurate rumors."

Hitomi nodded at him, understanding what he meant. "I don't really mind," she said.

"Is that why he disappeared last night? To get her?" she heard another muted conversation from a group in the crowd. She blinked, realizing that Van really had run away from an important diplomatic affair just to be with her just as she told Aki.

Did that give him and Fanelia a bad reputation?

Van gave her hand as squeeze before walking to the table where Merle was waving impatiently at them, Vestris thankfully successful at getting her off the chair and standing on the banquet floor.

"What took you two so long?" Merle complained, frowning at Van – her hands on her hips.

"Merle, there are guests," Vestris hissed, anxiously eyeing the childish lady cat. "Please behave." He turned to Van and Hitomi, and bowed lowly. "I'm very sorry I couldn't stop her, Lord Van, Lady Hitomi. I'll make sure this doesn't happen again."

Dryden laughed. "I don't think it's Merle's behavior that the guests will remember," he said smiling wryly at the Fanelian king and his new guest. "Welcome back, Lady Hitomi Kanzaki of the Mystic Moon!" he announced, earning gasps from the rest of the guests and inciting more curious chatter.

"And you just made it worse," Gaddess commented, snickering.

Dryden winked playfully at him in reply.

Van sighed. "I'll be introducing her to everyone later anyway," he said. With that, a round of friendly greetings and welcoming pleasantries began from the rest of the group. Millerna even stood up and gave Hitomi a hug. Decorum be damned, the Asturian princess mused. Hitomi was her friend. Make it known that Asturia supported the obvious match the Fanelian king had chosen for himself!

"Oh Hitomi, it's been so long!" she said as Hitomi hugged her back. "I missed you."

"I missed you too, Millerna," Hitomi said before turning to everyone in the table. "All of you! Oh dear, Prince Chid? Is that really you?" she asked, eyeing the young man with blonde hair looking happily at her. She noticed how long his limbs have grown, how handsome his features had become, and how much charm he had inherited from his biological father Allen Schezar. "You're all grown up!"

The prince blushed. "Thank you, Hitomi," he said, his voice deep and no longer the squeaky childish one. "You've become quite a lady yourself."

It was Hitomi's turn to blush.

Gaddess loudly cleared his throat and playfully nudged Van. "Careful, Prince Chid here has broken quiet a lot of maiden hearts," he teased.

"I have done no such thing," Prince Chid defended, cheeks scarlet.

Everyone in the group laughed, his adviser sighing. "Prince Chid has dismissed quite a number of marriage proposals," he explained to Hitomi.

"I see, quite the lady killer too huh," Hitomi said, glancing at Allen who smiled apologetically at her.

"Van's broken his fair share of hearts too!" Selena interjected smiling at Hitomi.

Hitomi blinked. Van? Well…Selena and Van were friends so Hitomi supposed it was a given that she addressed him by name, but somehow, she felt uneasy about it. Was it because of how lady-like she was since the last time she saw her? Selena had grown her blond hair long, and kept it held by a purple bow in a ponytail. She wore a beautiful pink dress that emphasized the curve of her waist. And Hitomi bitterly realized the charms Allen had was also inherited by his sister. Looking at Selena now, no one would guess she was once the blood thirsty Delandau.

"Oh I'm sorry," Selena said. "It's Lord Van, isn't it?" she corrected, blue eyes without a hint of mischief.

Gaddess turned to Hitomi. "She's been used to addressing Lord Van informally since they spar every month," he explained.

Hitomi stiffened. "Every month?"

"Yes!" Selena excitedly answered, like a child admitting she loved a favorite toy. Hitomi realized that despite looking so lady-like, she still had a hint of genuine innocence, like she was just going though puberty or starting adolescence. "I like sword fighting with Lord Van."

Hitomi blinked. On second thought, you would still think she was once the blood-thirsty Delandau who was obsessed with fighting Van in a sword battle. Something clicked then and she immediately turned to Merle who was cheekily looking away as if her little prank had been discovered. "That was Selena, wasn't it?" she snapped at her.

Everyone on the table looked curiously at Hitomi.

"What do you mean?" Van asked, puzzled at the outburst.

"Merle said you consistently entertained one lady here in the castle – monthly entertained her to be exact – while I was in the Mystic Moon," Hitomi explained.

Van blinked, not quite understanding why the statement had to be taken seriously. "Yes, Selena's a frequent guest. She studies different sword techniques here and spars with me regularly," he replied.

Merle gave Hitomi a cheeky grin, making the rest of the people in the table snicker and Hitomi furiously glare at her. Vestris himself had his eyes narrowed at the lady cat beside him. Only Van and Selena stared innocently at the scene.

"Now this brings back memories," Millerna commented before taking her seat next to Dryden.

"You're lucky there are guests here, Merle," Hitomi warned, frowning at the lady cat.

"But Hitomi, I only said the truth," Merle said, feigning innocence and hiding behind Vestris.

"I'm not protecting you on this one, Merle," Vestris said, crossing his arms over his furry white chest.

Merle frowned at him. "I thought you loved me!" she complained.

Vestris froze, his face and ears turning red and the rest of the group curiously started at them.

Hitomi blinked as the others burst into laughter, Van included. "So you two are together," she said, confirming her suspicions out loud. "I mean, I've been meaning to ask but we hadn't really had time to talk that much. Congratulations, you two!"

"Thank you!" Merle said just as Vestris shyly said "No, my lady."

Merle stepped away and stared aghast at Vestris. "You're denying me?!"

Vestris was scarlet and panicking, hands raised in defense. "That—That's not… Y—You said we're not like that yet! "

"Then what are we? Friends?" Merle snapped.

"I...I don't know! You never said you liked me back," Vestris reasoned, his ears burning and sweat making his nose grow cold.

Dryden laughed. "Now there's a scandal," he teased.

"L—Lord Van, I can explain!" Vestris said, fearing for his life turning to Van.

The Fanelian king bit his lip from snickering and loudly cleared his throat to pretend that the concern was not a laughing matter. "Explain this to me after breakfast."

"Y—yes, my lord," Vestris replied, bowing by the waist in shame before turning to Merle. "I'm not letting you take back your word, Merle," he warned, frowning at her.

"My word? You said we weren't together!" Merle complained, blushing now.

"And you said we were so we are," Vestris said, grasping her hand in his.

"Get a room!" Gaddess teased, making everyone in the group laugh except for the bickering cat caouple.

In all honesty, Van knew the ruckus was inappropriate with all the guests in the room but with Hitomi there with him, it felt more like a reunion among friends and he just couldn't stop himself from enjoying the moment. Hitomi herself had been more relaxed than when they walked inside the banquet hall.

After catching up on how the rest of the Crusade was chatting about meeting Millerna's little girl sometime soon, Van led Hitomi to their side of the long table so they could officially welcome everyone for breakfast. He took his seat at the head, offering Hitomi the seat on his right – the rightful place for a Fanelian queen – which sparked another wave of hushed conversations in the crowd of guests.

After the wines were served, Van stood up, taking the attention of everyone and began his speech thanking everyone for attending the banquet the night before and encouraging them to enjoy the various activities scheduled in the following days.

"I apologize for going away so suddenly last night, as many of you have noticed," Van continued. "It was for a matter of great importance to me," he said, turning to Hitomi who blushed. "So without further ado, I introduce everyone to the future queen of Fanelia – my fiancee – Lady Hitomi Kanzaki of the Mystic Moon."

Gasps echoed around the hall, making Hitomi wince. Van held out his hand to her, asking her to stand. She shyly took it and stood up to face everyone; her cheeks and ears flushed as she smiled at them.

The Asturian and Freid delegates enthusiastically clapped their hands, Merle urging the stunned Fanelian advisers to do the same from her seat at the long table. The applause grew to envelop the entire hall: an official acknowledgement and acceptance of their surprise engagement.

"About damn time!" Dryden teased, earning a nudge from his wife.