Chapter 8:

In the royal castle, Eléonore was waiting for the arrival of her fiancé, it had been more than a month since she last saw him so she was a little nervous, to make matters worse his mother was coming with him, she heard that her future mother in law was obsessed with having more grandchildren, so she may have a problem with Al marrying an older woman.

"Excuse me… Eléonore san?"

Eléonore turned around to find who had called her, and found that it was none other than the queen of Tristain herself who was addressing her.

"Your highness…"

As she prepared to begin with formalities Henrietta stopped her.

"There's no need for that now, I just want to ask you something…"

"What is it you highness? I'll answer to the best of my knowledge"

"Where are Saito san and Louise Françoise? I've thought they were coming with you"

"Ah… they stayed at home, there were still some preparations for their wedding left"

"I see…" Eléonore noticed the queen looked really sad when she said this, however that sadness soon leaved her face, replaced with a fake smile that tried to hide it.

After that Eléonore and her parents were guided to the place her future husband and mother in law where waiting, once they arrived she saw Al for the first time in a month, he still looked as handsome as ever but his prince outfit looked to big on him, when Karin saw him, she whispered into her daughter's ear.

"He really is a kid… a pretty good looking kid thou."

After all the formal introductions were done, the queen of Germania went to check her son's future wife, she stared at Eléonore during a while, as you can imagine this made her really nervous.

"She does look pretty sturdy, the chest is a little small, but it should be able to breastfeed properly… what about here…"

Then she moved her hands all the way through Eléonore's hips.

"Yup… they are as strong as they look, this girl won't be having any trouble going through labor"

Eléonore became angry but managed to hold it back… seriously was the whole grabbing people in delicate places a family thing?

"Mother please, stop that, you're being rude" Truth be told, Al knew her mother was seconds away of getting the wrong end of Eléonore's whip… not that he could blame her for that.

The queen of Germania moved back as if she was being scolded.

"Ah come on Alphonse, you mother was just checking your future wife constitution, I was worried since she is nearing her thirties, there could be some problems… but she passed the test with flying colors."

After that little incident (where the Germanian queen proved to be every bit as annoying as her son described her to be), the 'negotiations' started, soon it became obvious that her presence wasn't needed in that place so Eléonore went to take a little break on one of the castle balconies.

"It's been a while Elle chan"

It seemed that Al had noticed her leaving and followed after her, to be honest she wanted to talk to him in private, but was afraid it may be inappropriate.

"Sorry I hid the whole prince thing, I just didn't want to call any unwanted attention and I thought you wouldn't believe me anyway" He made a little bow.

"Don't worry about that, I understand why you did it."

After she said that, Al closed the distance between them.

"You still look as beautiful as ever, no… I think maybe even more"

Eléonore blushed and could only mutter a little "shut up", a gesture he had seen so many times.

"So… how about me, how do I look? It's the first time you see me in formal clothes so I want to know your opinion."

"You look like a kid that stole something out of his father closet…"

After that little exchange, they began catching up with each other's life, it appeared he had some trouble convincing his mother to marry someone older than he was, but eventually just told her he would marry whoever he wanted… Eléonore realized something, she missed talking with Al, their conversations were just extremely enjoyable… even when both of them were completely sober.

Just as the 'negotiations' were reaching their end, Eléonore made the question she had been meaning to ask for a while.

"… So tell me, why was a Germanian prince in that bar?"

"Well, you see I was in Tristain for a secret meeting with our ambassador here, and after it was over I just wanted a drink…"

She looked at him with suspicion as she thought there was another reason for him to be in that place… but… oh well… she had already considered the possibility that he may be experienced with women… after all he was a prince, that title alone was enough to get a few girls… and if he couldn't use it, it also provided enough money to pay for them.

As Eléonore was wondering whether or not she was ok with that (She did NOT like it, but as long as he was faithful to her for now on, she could live with it), Al took the chance to sneak his arms across her waist and hold her in a tight embrace just like the day he proposed to her.

"I missed you Elle chan… I missed you a lot… this past month all I could think about was seeing you again and holding you like this"

Eléonore blushed a little…

"I missed you too… how could you make me wait for so long… I even thought you'd tricked me..."

Al let go his arms a little so he could face her.

"I could never do that… because Elle chan what I said back then it's true… I love you…"

Eléonore felt guilty, she still wasn't sure of her feelings and while she didn't wanted to, she had to tell him how she felt.

"Al… I love being with you, I can be myself and you'd still accept me… and when I thought you had tricked me I got really sad… but I don't know if I love you… I never loved anyone before so I don't know if these feelings I have for you are love… but… I want to find out…"

Eléonore took a little pause to clean her eyes as they were full of tears.

"…Tell me, knowing this… would you still want me as your wife…"

She looked at him nervously as she awaited his answer.

"Of course… now more than ever I'm sure that you are the only one for me, don't worry I'll make you realize those feelings are love, and even if they aren't I'll just have to make you fall in love with me"

After those words had been said, both of them just couldn't hold anymore and shared another kiss, this one was long and peaceful, not as passionate as their first one… but they just needed to feel each other warmth, when it was over, they just remained in each other's arms, and stayed like that until they heard their parents looking for them.