When morning came the next day, Ellie was the first to wake this time and her head was pounding. She felt a weight on her side and a warmth next to her, and it took her a moment to realize what the source was. Her hand flew to her mouth, her eyes widened, and it took everything in her not to cry out in surprise because laying right next to her was Nozel.

'What the hell happened..?!' she thought, again and again as she tried to recall the previous night.

They had joined the elders for drinks, indulging more than they normally would so as not to be rude to their hosts, but after the fifth or sixth round of drinks, Ellie's memory was still fuzzy.

She tried to slip out of Nozel's arms, hoping not to wake him, but as she shifted her weight around the Captain of the Silver Eagles stirred from his slumber. As he sat up, Ellie took the chance to scoot as far back from him as she could- which wasn't very far considering she was between him and the wall the bed was set up against.

Nozel groaned, his hand to his head as it pounded. When he felt weight shifting next to him, he glanced over to find an unexpected surprise awaiting him.

"What... are you doing in my bed?" he asked, looking at the blushing Ellie as she pulled her part of the blanket tighter around herself.

"W-What are you doing in mine?" she retorted.

Nozel looked around, seeing that they had in fact chosen Ellie's bed last night but he had no clue as to why. He glanced down, finding that he was naked beneath the covers, and his face erupted into a bright red that mirrored Ellie's.

"W-What happened... last night?" Ellie asked.

Nozel racked his brain for answers, but most of them were fuzzy still. "All I remember is drinking with the elders..."

"And a-after the fifth or sixth drink, nothing..?"

Nozel nodded. "Did we...?"

Ellie watched him look between the two of them and considered how she felt. Aside from her throbbing headache, her loins ached as well and when she peeked under the covers- spotting blood on her leg and the bed where she had been laying, Ellie simply nodded.

Nozel sighed heavily and leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees. "Well this is a mess..."

Ellie took the opportunity to slide off the end of the bed and dive behind the partition room divider that separated the bathtub and wash bin from the rest of the room. She filled the wash bin with water, took one of the clean washcloths from the pile that had been set aside for them, and started scrubbing herself clean.

Nozel didn't blame Ellie for slipping away as soon as she could; this was a shock to them both. He sighed and leaned back against the headboard, noticing something on the bed beside him out of the corner of his eye: a spot of dried blood right where Ellie had been laying.

'Damn it...' he thought to himself. He was a virgin himself, before the previous night that is, and seeing that he and Ellie had both lost their virginity under drunker circumstances that neither of them could really remember just made him feel even worse than he already did. 'What are we going to do now..?'

Ellie wiped away her tears and grabbed a towel to wrap around herself so that she could step out to grab her pack. She didn't make eye contact with Nozel as she did and quickly slipped back behind the partition to change into something clean.

'What were we thinking..?' she wondered. 'He's a noble, I'm a commoner... drunk or not... this is not how I wanted to lose my virginity...'

Nozel waited for Ellie to get dressed, then took his turn getting washed up while she got her things packed back up and brushed her hair.

'This is not how I would have wanted things to happen... with any woman...' he thought with a sigh. 'Ellie and I aren't even that close...'

As Nozel finished washing up and got dressed, Ellie brushed out her hair and proceeded to braid it over her shoulder.

'Things are going to be so awkward between us now...' she noted. She pinned her braid up as she usually did, staring absentmindedly at her brush for a moment. 'We have to just focus on this mission... Julius trusts us to complete it...'

Nozel came out from behind the partition just as Ellie was returning her brush to her pack. "Are... you ready to leave?"

Ellie nodded and made no eye contact with him. "Y-Yeah... let's just go..."

Shouldering their packs and heading out of the building, Nozel and Ellie both came to the same conclusion: they were just going to forget about what happened, never speak of it again, and focus on the mission.

As they headed out of town to move on to the next location on their journey, someone spotted them and called out with a wave.

"Good morning to you both! How are the newlyweds feeling this fine morning?"

Nozel and Ellie stopped in their tracks, confused.

"W-What are you talking about?" Ellie asked, her blush returning.

The villager chuckled. "You were a bit drunk last night, but surely you would remember your own wedding? Just before you had turned in for the night, you went to the local chapel and were wed by the elders. It was a small ceremony, bit of a spur of the moment type, but it was beautiful and so sweet nonetheless." He beamed at them, gave them a wink, then waved. "Anywho, I best getting going before the boss gets on my case about being late. Best wishes to you both, and congratulations again!"

Ellie and Nozel were speechless as the villager left them at the edge of town. They both shared the same thought.

'We're married...?'

Ellie and Nozel walked in silence for quite some time after that, not speaking of the news they had received until they made camp later that night. They had walked for hours, Nozel definitely not up for using any mana if he could help it- at least until his hangover subsided. When they found a good place to make camp, they built a fire and sat on either side of it. It wasn't until they had eaten dinner and started settling in for the night that either of them spoke, and it was Nozel who addressed it first.

"We need to talk about what happened," he said, with an unintentionally irritated tone, but before he can go any further than that, Ellie spoke next.

"When we get to the next town... we should go to the local church and ask to have the marriage annulled..."

Nozel wasn't sure what he was expecting her to say, one way or another, but he found that he was taken a bit aback by her suggestion and how distressed by their situation she looked.

Ellie suggested the annulment because she felt as though she would bring shame to Nozel and the House Silva, being a commoner and all. She wanted to just end the discussion and buried her face in her arms as she pulled her knees to her chest.

Nozel could tell she was done discussing things for the moment and sighed, sitting back against the tree behind him. After a few moments, though, he noticed that Ellie was shivering a bit and pulled a blanket from their packs, draping it around her shoulders.

Ellie flinched with surprised for a moment, looking at Nozel as he went back to his side of the fire and settled back down. Feeling exhausted, emotionally and physically, she lay down and closed her eyes.

'Why did things have to get so complicated...?'