Bog was bored and, even if he wouldn't ever admit it out loud, a bit scared under the powerful glares and curious glances of the fairy folk in the room.

Marianne was right - there was no other creature but fairies in this room. He tried to blend into the shadows, but the hall was so bright it even hurt his eyes. Was this what Marianne had to deal with on a daily basis?

And as he ignored yet more murmurs and sideways glances, Bog tapped his foot softly against the rock flooring of the hall, trying to stop his hands from tapping on the staff. He had been allowed to bring it, as it was a symbol of his power like the Fairy King's crown -

"Or… someone even better," he heard a voice rumble across the whole room and every conversation stopped at once.

The goblin looked up to find Marianne walking into the room with her father, but that's not who had spoken, no. It has been a blond man kneeling on the floor with the brightest armor he had ever seen in his life. What was with fairies and bright colors?

He didn't know who this man was, but Marianne's face told him what he needed to know: the fairy that was shamelessly asking for forgiveness was his friend's ex-fiancé.

"You cheated on me, remember?" she spat to the fairy.

"You left me at the altar, remember?" he looked around, fake whispering so everyone could hear him. The blond man stepped back and got into position with a line of fairies waiting in the background. "Here I am, on my knees again… I'll do anything just to make it right…." he started to sing. Oh no, not a song!

Marianne seemed to be thinking something along those lines, because as he sang pathetically to her, she frowned and crossed her arms in a way he knew too well. She was more than angry as she listened to him sing about asking for forgiveness. It was stupid, admitting his wrongdoing this way in front of everyone. But no one seemed to notice it. In fact, they were taking his side and they even wanted Marianne to forgive him? After all he did? Did they really expect her to act as if her tears of humiliation and all the time she spent figuratively hitting herself for believing in this man didn't happen?

"C'mon. It was only one little mistake."

"Little?" her voice brought him out of his musings. "You've got a lot of nerve walking here!"

And she started to shine.

As she sang back to him how she was over all that happened and that she was not going back to him, Marianne did the most beautiful show of power he had even seen in his life. The idiot tried to get back the attention of the people around them, but she smirked at him with the knowledge that he was only making himself look like the coward he was. He ran in circles and hid behind people, he looked everywhere for anyone willing to help him. No one stepped in.

Finally, she made him retreat to the door and slammed her hands on the surface, and for one moment she was bigger and taller than her ex - she was stronger. The Marianne that swept the floor with that fairy's body was different from the crying mess that stumbled into his kingdom not long ago. This was a woman he could respect and admire, a woman he really enjoyed spending time with. Her strength went further than the physical one, as he had watched her pick herself from the floor and grow into her own person.

Marianne was -

"Now that was fun!" she turned with a big smile, clearly having enjoyed her little display. He had never seen her so happy, but he wanted to see her like that everyday. He wanted to make her smile like that, to see her grow even stronger by his side. He wanted -

He wanted her.

In the awkward silence that followed the slammed door, Bog felt his heart beat at the speed of a hummingbird's wings. He recognized the feeling, and it was one he didn't want to have again.

The Goblin King had fallen in love with the fairy.