For the next few weeks everything had been going fine. Nothing had come up in the way of their relationship, and it seemed like things were finally at peace, meaning they could finally rest. Link carried out his duties like normal as did Zelda; the pair had met up countless times in the gardens to spend their breaks or they headed out to the Silent Princess field.

In all honesty, Link could firmly say he had never been more in love with a girl other than her. She understood him completely and could understand why he always felt like he needed to be on the move with a wolf inside. She could understand why there were fears all around him when he was crowded by hundreds of fans of the Hero of Twilight.

Zelda could say the same about Link. He understood about her fears in ruling Hyrule with Christopher constantly making her doubt her choices. He understood how she wanted to do things on her own at times, never wanting to ask for help until the very last moment and how she always went with her gut in the end. He understood everything about her and she understood everything about him.

They agreed to never say a word about their courtship until the last possible moment where they knew they would both be ready to face the demands of everyone else. Yet there was one thing Link wanted to get out there before anything else and it concerned a possible wedding.

"I want a small wedding," Link had said when they were at the field of Silent Princesses. "— I can't handle a huge wedding, I'm not comfortable with one. If we're going to be married under their demands, I want a small wedding."

Zelda had smiled softly as she ran her hand through his hair, liking the sound of a small wedding. "I like the idea," she confessed. "Perhaps we should marry in Ordon one day."

Link sat up so quickly. "Really?" he gasped. "Are you sure you'd be okay with that?"

"Yes."

That was reassuring for him to hear. They wouldn't have to deal with the large wedding if they managed to get married in Ordon. Link couldn't help but feel happy at that but knew he would make the day all about Zelda; it was going to be all about her either way.

It had to be.

For the rest of the month, no one had suspected anything between them except being good friends who spent time together. Zelda was more than thankful Christopher had kept his word and stayed out of her love life, and she could only hope it would stay that way until she was ready to say she was with Link. But it was easier to keep it hidden.

Zelda would watch Link train the guards, teaching them the hidden skills the Hero's Shade had taught him during the adventure. She smiled happily as he instructed them all like a pro; he had once expressed how he wished to be like the Hero's Shade when it came to teaching and she might not know how the Hero's Shade acted but in her eyes, Link always acted like him.

She just hoped he could see it too.

When it came to her meetings, whenever the nobles kept fighting like mere children, she'd think about Link and everything would be fine. She scolded them the best she could and they would grudgingly act like adults for a good few moments before heading back into fighting again.

However, they were only caught a few times when they were holding hands. They had been walking from the gardens when a passing noble nearly caught them; the pair quickly unlocked their hands, giving the noble a tight nod before continuing on their way. Another time had been when Christopher almost caught them when they were in Zelda's office during their break, they had been kissing when the door opened and they jumped apart.

Thankfully, Christopher had pulled a blind eye and didn't notice their slightly heavy breathing as he continued on his visit by bringing more paperwork before giving Link his own set, saying they were more requests for guards to be stationed.

Link slumped down into the chair shortly after Christopher left, running his hand through his hair. "We're going to get caught soon," he sighed heavily.

Zelda could agree despite her urge to say otherwise and she knew it. "I know," she mumbled in agreement. "I think we should tell them soon."

"You can tell them if you desire," Link said. "The guards figured us out and swore to keep it to themselves. They were on our side when Prince Andrew was around."

"They'll demand us to be married," Zelda expressed, a bit stressful. "I have no desire to push you into something that you don't want."

Link shifted with a slight blush. "I wouldn't mind if we got married," he confessed.

"You wouldn't?"

"No," Link shook his head, blushing deepening. "I've been thinking about it lately. I admit at first it never crossed my mind when we first started going out; not when Prince Andrew left; but when we confronted Christopher? I started thinking and it was Jack who suggested the small Ordon wedding, I thought it could work."

Zelda held his hand tightly in her's. He looked adorable when he flushed bright red, and the way he confessed it in a small shy voice, it made her heart skip a beat a little more. Link's eyes darted around, ready to hear the negative answer but when the hand holding his squeezed to get his attention, he looked at her and noticed the small smile on her features.

"I'm not upset, Link," Zelda admitted. "But I don't want you to be forced into marriage with me— that's all. I want you to feel like it's the right moment to ask for my hand, not because everyone else demands it."

Link nodded in understanding. It wasn't a no. She didn't outright tell him no, she didn't want to marry him. "I understand," he replied. "I won't act on what they want, I promise, darlin'. I'll ask ya because I feel like it's right."

"Good," Zelda smiled. "I'm happy with that answer."

Link kissed her softly. "I love you, darlin'."

"I love you too, Link," Zelda responded, kissing him lightly again.

Link couldn't help but beam widely as his wolf purred with total happiness. He needed to pay a visit to Ordon. There was something he needed to do and Rusl could help him with it.

His eyes darted down to Zelda's ring finger and took a mental note on the size before kissing her once again. He hoped he would get this right and hoped Egil would be happy to take over the guards for a few days or so.

Egil had been more than willing to take over, appointing Jack to help him out along with Tyler as Link got onto Epona. He also ordered them to explain to Zelda how he was heading out to visit Ordon for visit. She wouldn't question it; knowing he wanted to spend time with his small family again.

Link took a deep breath as he came at the entrance to the village, before heading down to see the kids running around, playing with wooden swords. He couldn't help but chuckle as Colin saw him and smiled widely as he ran up to his older brother figure, alerting everyone else as he shouted Link's name.

The wolf jumped down from Epona, watching as Ilia ran up to check on her and he rolled his eyes. She was always the same and honestly, he wouldn't have her any other way. Rusl and Uli walked up with Lexi in Uli's arms, along with Mayor Bo and a few others to see the wolf.

"Welcome home, Link," Rusl greeted. "What brings ye here?"

Link flushed slightly. "I need help crafting," he admitted. "You worked with metal before, right?"

"Aye," Rusl nodded. "Made that sword of yours. The Ordon sword. Why?"

"I need to craft a ring," Link admitted. Everyone's eyes widened. "An engagement ring."

"Why!" laughed Sera. "I believe I know who the lucky lady is!"

Uli nodded in agreement. "How long have you been together?"

"A few months. She told me I wanted to propose when I felt like it was the right time, and I feel like it's coming up. I want to make her my wife."

Colin tugged on his pant leg. "Who's the girl you're with?"

Link smiled smugly. "Princess Zelda."

A loud gasp echoed around as Link rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment before Epona nudged him with a smug expression as he pushed her away with a chuckle, folding his arms as Rusl smacked him on the back before motioning him to follow. Mayor Bo and Jaggle tagging along to help him. Talo, Colin, and Malo quickly followed, wanting to see how to work with metal as well to help craft when they were older.

Malo, however, came along to learn so he could put more things in his shops in Castle Town and Kakariko Village.

Rusl took a silver nugget and showed Link how to melt it down before crafting it into a circle figure, making sure it could fit on the finger with a hole in the middle before asking if he knew Zelda's ring size; it was important, after all.

Link nodded, saying he took a look at her finger and determined her ring size. Jaggle helped cut out enough silver for the ring, and instructed Link to get out of his tunic for this. The hero nodded as he placed the silver in Rusl's hand before heading off to change into his old Ordon clothes (he had brought them with him, thinking he would need them ), and took a deep breath to calm his nerves.

There were going to be mess ups, and lots of them. Link could only hope he wouldn't mess it up too much because he wanted this to be perfect.

Zelda deserves only the best after all.

Talo smirked as he watched him, sitting on the porch with Malo and Colin along with Beth. Link was shaking, something they rarely seen in the man before. Ilia even came to watch her childhood friend to craft the ring.

"Who confessed to who?" Talo asked, wanting to know.

"I was going to, but she beat me to it," Link replied, breathing deeply before slowly hovering the silver over the flames. "I accidentally overheard it while I was on my way to tell her."

Beth cooed. "How romantic."

Link shrugged. "Give or take. We've been keeping it a secret due to the nobles' demands along with her adviser. The guards know and have been nice enough to keep it hidden as well," he explained. "I just hope she says yes."

"I'm sure she will!" grinned Colin.

Malo nodded. "Yes, I'm sure as well."

Ilia watched as Link drew it back, gazing over to Rusl. The older man took a look and nodded, guiding him to the metal stone so he could make the shape and whatnot. Her childhood friend was truly shaking at this point, making Mayor Bo place his hand on his shoulder, telling him to take a deep breath and calm down.

"Sorry," Link apologized. "I just want this to be perfect."

"Hahaha," Jaggle laughed. "You sound like us when we were going to propose to our wives. Spoken like a true man of Ordon."

Link shifted a little as he gazed over at Rusl. "Hey, Rusl?" he asked softly, a bit nervously. "Did… uh… did dad ever—"

"Aye," Rusl nodded, knowing what he was going to ask. "That man never ever wanted yer mother to have somethin' fancy. She wasn't like that and he knew it. He wasn't goin' to spend his life savings on a costly ring. He made it himself, and by the gods was he nervous."

"But you can see how that ended," Mayor Bo smirked. "She said yes in the very end and the two had you."

"He'd be mighty proud," Rusl added. "Mighty proud that his son is courtin' the Princess and would want only the best outcome. Mighty proud that yer craftin' the ring too."

Link smiled happily as he looked down at the ring. "Thanks."

Jaggle folded his arms. "Now, here's the real question; who did you ask for the blessing?"

He nearly dropped what he was holding when he remembered that important detail. There was no one alive for him to ask for the blessing, but there was one clear relative that meant more to Zelda than anyone else in her family; her grandmother.

Zelda's grandmother was the one person who the blessing needed to come from. She was the head of the family when alive, there was no question.

"No one from her family is alive," Link confessed. "But I know who to ask."

"Good man," Rusl nodded in pride.

I know I'm not at your grave, ma'am— but I love your granddaughter, and I promise for as long as I shall live, I will protect and make her happy. She's my everything; and I'm hers. Hers alone. She's mine alone. Ma'am, I hope I have your blessing in the very end, and I understand that we may not have a Grand Royal Wedding like the others, but our wedding will make us happy as yours did, Link thought with the hope the woman could hear him. I promise ma'am, I'll make your granddaughter happy. And to Zelda's parents— I'll be the best husband to your daughter, and I'll be the best son-in-law too! To Zelda's brother— I wish I could've met you, because I'd be over the moon to have a sibling. To her family, all of them— I hope you welcome me, the Hero of Time's descendant, into your family as you did him once upon a time. That is, if he married his Princess at the time.

He hoped he had the family's blessing.