Toris

Two days had passed since Edelstein and Roberts had been taken into custody. The injured were treated in hospitals while the death soldiers were interred. Fortunately enough, the numbers of the Borussian victims were not as high as those of the enemies. Still, Gilbert had ordered a minute of silence to honour those who had lost their life in the war. I was still lying in my bed in the hospital; Sakura had been stayed in my room as well and had only woken up some hours ago. We had exchanged some words, but she was still too weak to respond properly. Arthur and Natalya had stayed days and nights by our side before they were thrown out by the doctors and guards. Despite Natalya's disapproving look, she had not protested – I was healthy enough – but Kirkland was exclaiming his frustration to the guards. Sakura was still sleeping and worrying to the point where he had almost hit one of the soldiers who were responsible for the security of the hospital. It was now in the midst of the day and soon the two of them would be allowed to enter our room again.

"Do you think the others will visit us too?" Sakura asked softly, steadying herself on her elbows. She wanted to sit up and not lay down. After being in that position for days, I sympathised with her. Sitting was still a more agreeable position to talk to someone than lying.

"Maybe, I could –"

The door burst open and a sprinting Kirkland entered the chamber. His face was red form running, his breath short from panting. "You woke up!" he affirmed and rushed to Sakura's bed to take her face in his hands, caressing her cheeks with his thumbs. "You finally woke up," he whispered again.

"I hope you've got a good rest."

Upon hearing Feliks' voice, I looked at the door. Natalya, Elizabeta, Gilbert (in company of Gilbird), Antonio and Raivis had joined him in visiting us.

"Yes," I grinned and reminded myself that I had never thought that I would consider all of them my friends and allies. Natalya silently approached me and shot me a light smile – which she had done often lately – before the rest of the party came into the room. She quickly grabbed my hand as one of the nurses – who had often taken care of me – entered the chamber as well to examine me and Sakura. The petite woman wanted to start with me but retreated immediately after she saw that Natalya was eyeing her critically. She had done this for days; every time someone wanted to approach me, she would warn them with her looks: Just like a lion protecting its children. I recognised it as a sign of admiration and respect. Natalya had finally admitted with those actions that she felt something towards me and it filled my heart with happiness. To say that I did not enjoy her attention was an understatement.

After Kirkland had finally let go of Sakura, she pulled her upper body up to have a proper view of the guests, but was stopped by the blonde admiral who behaved worse than a nurse.

"You should not exhaust yourself."

"Kirkland, she is only sitting, she won't be hurt," Elizabeta commented, receiving a glare from the former pirate captain.

"Miss Sakura," Raivis uttered shyly, "I brought you and Mr General flowers."

I chuckled, seeing that the nervous boy had indeed brought a bouquet for the two of us. It was cute of him to think of me as well. His hands shook as he gave me the gift and I thanked him gently. He was a sweet little boy that had experienced anger, violence and exploitation. Upon hearing my appreciative words, he blushed but stayed next to me.

"I am glad you are all right," Gilbert confessed with a light smile, "I mean of course you are all under the order of the awesome Borussian army – "

"Be quiet," Elizabeta intervened while elbowing him in the ribs. "He wants to say that he is thankful that you have not gotten deadly injured," she finished his sentence with more objective words than the Prince could have ever chosen.

"Is the rest of the crew faring well?" Sakura asked, receiving a nod as an answer.

"They are, well Noah has a hard time trying to convince his brother from punching Antonio," Elizabeta replied with her hand on her cheek – while the other held Gilbert's. Now everyone in the room stared at the new admiral. And I had no clear idea why there would be any disharmony. "Why?"

"Because that fool is trying to woo his half-sister Lady Van Haegen," Arthur muttered before smirking at his rival. A small laugh escaped Arthur's mouth as he was probably thinking of the scene of Antonio and his future – if luck was on Antonio's side – brother in law.

The addressed man's face was flustered. "And now what? I will try to convince him."

The present in the room started join Arthur's laughter at this plan. This would be a real challenge for him if he wanted to succeed.

As the time passed, the visit told us what else had happened over the last days. Edelstein's family had to sign a new treaty with the countries and to give up most of their military. The countries who were in possession of the amulets of the dragon would decide what would happen with the politics in that country would. The Borussian King had agreed to dissolve the treaties with pirate groups in order for peace. The goal was to prevent crimes and not supporting them. Criminals had their reasons to take the wrong path and he wanted to avoid this; with the help of the former pirates that were now in the Borussian army. Aside from those aspects, Elizabeta told us about her meeting with her grandparents.

"They were completely surprised about my existence and happy to see me," she told us, "but they were shocked when they saw that Gilbert and I had showed up together at their front door."

Yes, the whole Kingdom was aware of their relation. After everyone had been told of the real story of the appearance of the dragon, they were fascinated by the pair. Some were still unhappy about Elizabeta's past as a pirate but most of the population adored her. She was a strong woman who had the prince under control – who for most villagers was sometimes a little too exhausting for their nerves. So, most appreciated her position along the next future King. And I had the feeling that we would not have to wait too long before an engagement would be declared to the officials. Just like I . . . I was thinking of doing the same; of settling down and finding a wife. My eyes wandered around the room until they found the blue-violet ones that were gazing back at mine.

[A/N: I was in the mood to update today; I will probably post the epilogue tomorrow :3 . Liet is enjoying Nat's glaring at other persons xD That little shit :D but I just imagine those two being like this. He would never look at another woman and she would warn everyone who would dare to hurt or approach him – except for those she knows. Iggy being worse than a nurse (and overprotective, as always :'D). ]