"Lady Maribelle." The servant said as he opened the door to Maribelle's coach, letting her out so she could make her way to the palace.

"Thank you sir." Maribelle said, nodding her head at the man.

"My pleasure Milady. Shall I escort you to the ballroom?" He asked.

Maribelle shook her head. "Thank you sir but no. I am already expecting an escort to be waiting for me at the palace entrance."

The servant nodded. "Very well Milady. You of course know the way?" he asked.

Maribelle nodded. "Quite. Thank you sir for your hard work."

With that Maribelle left the servant, heading towards the palace. Today had been the day of Chrom and Olivia's wedding, and the wonderful service was to conclude with a dance. While most of the Shepherds already had dates or other persons of interest attending with them, Maribelle had no such person to attend with her, and had instead agreed to go with the Shepherd's tactician Sekai at the insistence of Lissa. Truth be told, Maribelle was...apprehensive about the idea. Not that she had anything against the Plegian man in particular, but none could deny that while Maribelle strived to be the epitome of grace and nobility, Sekai was of a more...uncouth persuasion. The two got along well enough, but if Lissa was hoping for more (which she probably was knowing her), Maribelle feared her friend would be greatly disappointed.

Oh yes, Maribelle know of Lissa's subtle attempts to get the two together, though why the two of them she had no idea. Sending her to chat with Sekai on numerous occasions, or inviting him for tea only to "forget". And the absolute worst part of it all was how if it was obvious to her, than it might as well have been announced through all the land for Sekai. The talks the two held were always curt, and Sekai would barely be seated at tea for more than a few minutes before departing rather suddenly. It was infuriating in a way, just how quickly he dismissed spending any amount of time with her, though if Maribelle were to be honest it was also rather unsurprising. Sekai never held back on how little he got along with the nobility of Ylisse, and she fell under that category.

That of course though begged the question as to WHY Sekai had agreed to be her escort? She didn't know how, only that Lissa had somehow gotten him to agree, and that the two were supposed to meet at the palace entrance. Normally Maribelle wouldn't agreed to such a thing, but she knew that going to an event of this magnitude without an escort would only invite several kinds of unwanted advances from the various nobles who would also be in attendance. Once again Maribelle found herself feeling grateful that her Father allowed her the freedom of choice in her future, rather than marrying her off to strengthen ties with another house. At least with Sekai there would be some kind of deterrent.

Making her way to the palace entrance, Maribelle looked around, trying to catch sight of the tactician but finding little luck. She was kind of surprised at this, figuring the Plegian man would have stuck out like a patch of mud on a white sheet. Instead she saw numerous groups milling about, several faces recognized from either the Shepherds or some noble houses. Looking around a bit more, Maribelle found her eyes drawn to a large group of noble women engaging in conversation with a man Maribelle couldn't recall seeing.

The man held himself straight and dignified, an air of confidence that she could feel even from this distance. His hair was slicked back so that it ran along the back of his head all the way to his shoulders save for a bang that dangled down the center of his forehead. His black hair contrasted with his pale skin, and only accentuated the sharp features of the man's face, a face that Maribelle quickly recognized as being Sekai's. She was almost taken aback at the noble look of the tactician as he stood in his suit, black with a purple trimming and a golden tie peppered in marks of the Exalt. The tie had to have been the work of either Chrom or Lissa since it went perfectly with her own golden dress, though at the moment that was not the thought that went through Maribelle's head.

Instead she found herself thinking that Sekai cleaned up quite nicely.

Shaking that thought out of her head, Maribelle instead pondered in the sudden shift in attitude of Sekai. The man smiling in front of her was not the man she'd known during the war with Plegia, because that man seemed to have a permanent glare attached to his face. And while the Sekai she knew was curt and sarcastic, she could hear the banter and pleasantries this man stated to the gathered entourage. Was this how Sekai really acted? Lissa had always told her that buried deep down in Sekai rested a good natured man, and Maribelle had just assumed the only reason she'd never seen it was because of Sekai's distaste for her noble status. Did he actually just have a distaste for her?

And why did that thought hurt her chest so?

While chuckling at something said, Sekai saw Maribelle and his eyes widened in recognition. Taking the hand of a lady and kissing it, Sekai bid his farewells and quickly began moving towards Maibelle, seemingly unaware of the fawning the noble woman who's hand he had just kissed or of the forlorn look the others gave him.

"Lady Maribelle, you look quite astounding." He said as he walked up to her.

Unwilling to show any of her inner thoughts, Maribelle merely smiled and bowed her head in return. "And you look quite dashing yourself Lord Sekai."

Sekai chuckled. "Please, none of that Lord business. I am merely a common nomad invited to this event."

"As you wish, though one could argue you are anything but common." Maribelle said.

Sekai shrugged. "That they could. Shall we Milady?" he asked, extending an elbow.

Noticing the jealous stares from Sekai's entourage, Maribelle found herself feeling a sense of pride as she looped her arm around Sekai's. "Lead the way Sir Sekai."

With a smile Sekai began walking them towards the door, soon out of sight from the nobles who had been near Sekai. the instant they were, Maribelle felt a slackening around Sekai, turning and nearly reeling back at the change Sekai had just gone through. While he still had the confidence and bearing from before, his eyes no longer held that strange charm they had possessed only moments before, instead taking on the familiar bored expression.

"By the gods you arrived just in time." Sekai said in a frank tone. "I don't know how long I could have kept that act up."

"Act?" Maribelle asked.

Sekai nodded. "Goodness, you should have heard those ladies. "Oh Lord Sekai, you look soooo dashing~" He muttered in a high tone. "Lord Sekai, I have some magical knowledge myself. Perhaps we could meet and compare our abilities~" Gods above, I don't know how all of you deal with such obvious sycophants."

Maribelle blinked. "Wait, you mean that that display I saw earlier was all just a ruse?"

Sekai nodded. "Chrom and Lissa have been getting on me about playing nice with the nobility, even though me having to pretend to be someone I'm not just to gain their approval only proves my point on how I shouldn't even bother."

"So the way you are now...is how you are normally?" Maribelle asked, more a statement to herself than a question to him. If that was his mask to nobles, than why would he act normally around her.

"Well of course." Sekai said, looking at her in confusion. "What, did you think I acted differently around you?"

Maribelle nodded. "To be fair, any time we've engaged in discussion you've kept things rather short, and you are normally quite tense around me."

Sekai raised an eyebrow. "Is that how it seemed to you? Well, I suppose I can see how one would get that idea. Just so you are aware, the only reason I ever kept things short is because I had quite a busy schedule and rarely had time to talk with you as you wished."

"As I wished?" Maribelle asked. "Whatever do you mean?"

Sekai looked at her in confusion. "You requested me several times during the war, correct? That's what Lissa told me anyways."

Maribelle blinked in confusion. "While I never was against it, I never requested your presence either." She said.

Sekai's eyes narrowed. "And you didn't request me to be your escort tonight either?" He asked.

Maribelle shook her head. "No, that was all Lissa's...doing..." Maribelle said, trailing off.

Sekai gave a low growl, even as he smiled at a noble as they walked past. "I will need to have a discussion with her than." He said.

"What did she say to you to make you think I was requesting this?" Maribelle asked before realizing what her words could mean. "Not that I'm against it per say, I'm just curious."

Sekai shrugged. "Merely that you were adamant it was me. Truth be told, I was quite curious myself as to why you would. The reason I always seemed so "tense" around you was that I was certain you suspected me of ill intentions."

Now it was Maribelle's turn to be shocked. "What!? Suspect you? If I recall, it was only after a few nights from when you saved my life that you took the life of your own father to save Lady Emmeryn."

Sekai's eyes hardened for a moment. "I took the life of a monster. Validar will never be my father."

Maribelle's eyes widened. "I apologize, I did not mean-" She began.

Sekai shook his head. "No no, I apologize. It is true that man is my progenitor, but that is all he is to me. Just an unfortunate blood connection of a series of unfortunate blood connections."

Maribelle tilted her head. "You speak of your family lineage? The Grimleal?" She asked.

Sekai remained silent for a moment. "...Yes." He finally said.

"Well, if it helps." Maribelle said. "I do not hold that to you. One's blood should not decide their fate or standing in life, but one's actions. You have proven to me many times over that you are no enemy to me or Ylisse."

Sekai scoffed as he gave a small, strangely sad seming smile. "Thank you Maribelle." He said.

Maribelle nodded. "You are most welcome."

Sekai smiled before looking up at a large door. "Oh, looks like we have arrived."

"Indeed we have." Maribelle said before looking at Sekai. "Do you perhaps wish to back out? I would understand if you did."

Sekai pursed his lips before shaking his head. "No, best to just suffer through this whole thing. Besides, it wouldn't do to leave you without an escort for the evening."

"If you are sure." Maribelle said.

Sekai looked at her and gave a smile that sent her chest into a frenzy. "Milady?" Sekai said, extending his hand.

As Maribelle gripped it, she found herself not wanting to let go.

...

So this took a week longer than expected, but life happens. Good news is my work is picking up, which means more money for me. Unfortunately that also means less time to write, but hey, that's life. Anyways, i have a day tomorrow so I'll keep this one short.

Fave, follow, review, and have a good night.