Eve looked down at the glittering ring on her hand as she stood beside Dimitri in the Reception Hall accepting everyone's congratulations. The intricately carved metal housed a gorgeous sapphire that was no doubt priceless; in short, it was stunningly beautiful. But the slightly too big band was a bitter reminder that the ring was not hers—at least not originally.
"Your Highness, my boy!" Rodrigue exclaimed as he approached the couple and Eve's head snapped up to look at the Fraldarius lord.
"Rodrigue, I'm so glad you could make it." Dimitri smiled warmly with a bow. "And thank you for bringing my mother's ring."
"Lambert always wanted you to have it." Rodrigue said with a wistful smile. "Lady Rhea wanted to provide a ring as a gift from the Church, but I insisted that you use this one."
"It's beautiful." Eve piped up. "Thank you, Lord Rodrigue."
"Please, you have no need for honorifics with me." Rodrigue winked at her. "You'll soon be the Queen of Faerghus."
"It's still so hard to believe." Eve said honestly, chancing a glance over at Dimitri.
"I do have to keep reminding myself that we just left our wedding ceremony." Dimitri offered with a laugh. "It all feels so surreal."
"Well, I'll let you kids enjoy the rest of your party." Rodrigue bowed his head lightly as he stepped back.
"We'll have the blacksmith adjust it for you." Dimitri said gently as Eve once again looked down at her ring, anxiously twisting it around her finger.
"Hm?" She looked up at him, her distracted mind not processing what he had said.
"The ring." He nodded towards her hand. "You keep fidgeting with it as if you're afraid it'll fall off. I could feel it was a little big when I put it on you, so I was saying we can take it to the blacksmith to get it adjusted."
"Right, yeah." Eve nodded. "I would hate to lose a priceless heirloom like this."
"I wish my father could have met you." Dimitri looked out over the crowd of people milling about the hall as he spoke.
"If it makes you feel better… he did." Eve mumbled, surprised by her own candour.
"I mean properly." Dimitri shook his head. "I figured with how close he and Lord Rodrigue are that there would have been a time you met him. But as much as I hate to admit it, nobility don't treat servants the way they treat other people."
"I know." Eve laughed bitterly.
"I just wish he could've met you like this." Dimitri turned to look over at her. "I think he would have been impressed by you."
"You think so?" Eve smiled.
"I wish they both could've been here." Dimitri muttered softly, turning to look back out at the crowd.
Eve looked at him and softened as she saw the way his eyes glimmered. He was just a boy. Though he was getting taller and she was starting to have to look up at him, he was nothing but a child still. Despite the way he spoke and held himself and the wisdom that he had, she had to reminder herself that he was just a boy who missed his family.
Gingerly she reached out and took his hand in hers, interlacing their fingers together. She felt him flinch at first, surprised by the contact, but then quickly he squeezed her hand.
"You and I… we may have no family left." Eve began slowly, trying to figure out what it was she was trying to say. "But we are each other's family now. I… will give you a family."
Dimitri sputtered, his grip tightening on her hand as he tried to clear his throat and regain his composure at the implication of what Eve said.
"Not just an heir." Eve said, looking directly at Dimitri. "If you want a big family, I'll give that to you. I will build you the family you want."
"You don't… ahem." Dimitri coughed, his face a vibrant shade of pink now. "You don't have to do that."
"I know I don't, but I want to." Eve said with meaning. "I can't give back the family that was taken from you, but I can give you a new one."
"Eve," Dimitri turned to face her, reaching out to cup her cheek gingerly in his hand, "even if you were the only family I had for the rest of my life that would be enough."
Eve opened her mouth to reply but was cut off by Sylvain's jovial laugh.
"Look at the happy couple!" Sylvain said as he approached the two of them. "Congratulations you two."
"Thank you, Sylvain." Dimitri smiled politely.
"Nice dress by the way, kitten." Sylvain winked at Eve with a small smirk.
"Thank you. I made it myself." Eve nodded.
"The back is certainly something." Sylvain noted. Eve could tell he was trying to say more without letting Dimitri pick up on it.
"I wanted a simple gown, but I also wanted to make a statement." Eve replied.
"That you did." Sylvain smiled with a knowing look in his eyes.
She wondered what Sylvain thought her statement had been. Eve had deliberately exposed her most jarring scar in an effort to tell the Archbishop that she could not be silenced. That while she would appear to be an upstanding wife and queen, she would not cover the parts of herself that were not to the Church's liking.
"Kitten, do you mind if I borrow your husband for a second?" Sylvain asked. "I wanna give His Highness a little talk—man to man—on how to treat a lady. He's still green when it comes to relationships, you know."
Sylvain winked and laughed and though his tone was light, Eve could tell he was offering her an out. He could tell she was getting exhausted at playing the part in front of all of these people and needed a moment to herself.
"He's all yours." Eve laughed, releasing her hold on Dimitri's hand to motion in offer. "Just don't say anything too weird or you'll embarrass him."
"I'll be good." Sylvain winked back at her as he led a slightly confused Dimitri away by the elbow.
Eve smiled and offered a sympathetic wave to the prince as he looked back at her before looking around the hall. Most people seemed to be involved in their own conversations by now or enjoying the provided food and wine. She couldn't see any obvious pairs of eyes on her and used that opening to sneak out the back door to the bridge that connected the Reception Hall and the Cathedral.
"The fresh air is nice, isn't it?" A voice asked her almost immediately after she cleared the threshold of the door.
"Rodrigue!" Eve whirled around in shock, putting a hand over her heart as she recognised her Lord leaning against the brick wall.
"You make a beautiful bride, Eve." He said as he pushed himself off the wall to walk towards the bridge, motioning with his head for Eve to join him.
"Thank you." She dipped her head in appreciation as she fell into step behind her Lord as she was so accustomed to doing. "It means a lot to me that you were here."
"I'm grateful I was able to see you off into marriage." Rodrigue smiled. "How many Fraldarius have you stood beside at their own weddings? It was about time one of us returned the favour."
"Do you remember?" Eve asked as they came to a halt, holding her hand out before them to admire the ring on it. "Lambert scared you half to death with his letter; he said there was an emergency and he needed you in Fhirdiad immediately. But the emergency was he didn't know which ring to pick."
"Oh, I remember." Rodrigue chuckled. "All those craftsmen who presented their rings hoping he'd pick theirs to give to his Queen."
"It feels so wrong." Eve put her hand back down, wringing it in her other one. "We were there at their wedding and now… Should I really be the one wearing this?"
"I knew Lambert better than I've known anyone else in my life." Rodrigue said gently, reaching out to take Eve's hand. "He would have been thrilled to know that his son would be king with a woman like you by his side."
"I've been meaning to ask," Eve took her hand back and turned to look him in the eye, "how did you get the Archbishop to agree to all this? I mean, how did you even come up with the idea?"
"Well, it may have started with a lie." Rodrigue admitted, glancing around as if worried someone might overhear.
"What?" Eve's brow furrowed.
"When Lady Rhea sent her envoy after finding out about you, I told them a lie that I knew would buy me some room to negotiate." Rodrigue finally met her gaze. "I told them that the night everything happened I went to your quarters and found you packing."
"Because Rhea couldn't risk losing me." Eve muttered in wonder.
"I knew from what you had told me that Lady Rhea's biggest fear was that you would disappear." Rodrigue nodded. "I lied to make it seem like that's what you were planning to do. And then I told the envoy that the only way I made you stay was that I promised I would find a compromise where you wouldn't have to serve the Church."
"By why Dimitri?" Eve asked, shaking her head.
"I originally thought of marrying you off to my Felix." Rodrigue smiled sheepishly.
"What?" Eve's voice came out shriller than she intended, caught off guard by the confession.
"But I realised that keeping you in the Fraldarius family meant you got more than you gave." Rodrigue continued. "I had to make an offer that made it look like you were giving something up to meet the Church halfway."
"And the Crown is much more explicitly affiliated with the Church of Seiros than House Fraldarius is." Eve nodded in understanding.
"I felt it was the way everyone could get what they wanted." Rodrigue said with a small smile. "Lady Rhea had her eyes on you, you didn't have to serve the Church, and I got to fulfil my rather selfish desire to see to it that Lambert's son had a good wife."
"Everyone wins." Eve mumbled, looking out at the chasm beyond the bridge as she thought about the surviving Fraldarius son. "Can you cover for me, Rodrigue?"
"Pardon?" His brow furrowed at her sudden request.
"I just need some time to myself, but I don't want people getting worried." Eve told half the truth with a smile. "Just tell them I was feeling a little faint and went to my quarters to collect myself."
"Take all the time you need." Rodrigue nodded and smiled as he turned to go back into the hall.
Eve let out a sigh as the door opened and shut behind him, letting out a burst of light and noise from the festivities. She had been so caught up in the day's activities that she hadn't realised there was one person she hadn't seen all day. Of course, he had to have been at the ceremony, but Eve had been so focused on Dimitri then that she hadn't even processed anyone else in the crowd.
There was but one place that he would be—the one place where they had stolen away most of their time before today. But Eve made one stop on her way there to retrieve something from her quarters, lighting a candle in there to give the illusion of occupancy if anyone wanted to check up on the lie she had Rodrigue tell.
"Felix?" She called out to the dark training hall as she pushed open the door.
"I really need to find a new place to be alone." His voice echoed from a shadowed corner.
Eve walked towards the back wall where she heard his voice, turning her head to see him sitting on the ground against a pillar with a bottle of wine that he must have swiped from the reception.
"I figured two nights of revelries in a row would be too much for you." Eve tried to laugh, offering Felix a weak smile.
"Aren't revelries supposed to be happy?" Felix asked, taking a swig from his wine.
"I suppose." Eve shrugged.
"Are you happy?" He looked up at her with such fierce eyes that she was shocked into an honest response.
"Yes." She said without thinking.
"How could you be happy?" Felix was up in a flash, tossing his now empty bottle aside.
Eve flinched at the sound it made as it shattered against the tiled floor, watching Felix with wary eyes as he stalked towards her. He was clearly furious, and she wished she could say it was because he was drunk. But Felix had never much cared for the taste of wine and judging by the amount of the bloodred liquid that was staining the sand in between the tiles, he hadn't drunk that much.
"I kept all of my promises." Eve tried to explain gently. "I kept my promise to you, to Rodrigue, to Dimitri, even to Rhea. This was the best outcome."
"The best outcome?" Felix grimaced. "You're trapped in a marriage with a man you don't love. So, again, I ask—how could you be happy?"
"Because I have to be!" Eve cried out. "I have to be happy with this outcome because it's the one I chose. What good is it for me to waste my time being angry when I can't go back and change any of this?"
Her breath caught in her throat and Eve turned her head to look away. She squeezed her eyes shut as she tried to regain her composure and level out her breathing.
"I waited for you." She said, finally.
"What?" Felix's brow was furrowed in confusion when Eve opened her eyes to look at him.
"Last night, at the Goddess Tower." She said. "I prayed for the Goddess to show me the right path—my heart or my duty; you or Dimitri. If you had shown up, I would've eloped with you. But Dimitri showed up and instead I promised to learn to love him."
"It's not too late!" Felix lurched forward. "We can elope now."
"It is too late, Felix." Eve shook her head. "I made my decision."
"You made yours, but what about mine?" Felix asked. "Don't I get a say in any of this?"
"Look, Felix, I didn't come here to fight." She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose as she clenched her eyes shut once more. "I came to give you this."
When she opened her eyes, Eve could see Felix had softened. She knew he wasn't angry with her, but just their circumstances. And she'd be lying if she said her heart didn't hurt to know Rodrigue almost had the two of them arranged to marry. But this was the path they were on. And for as long as she had any say in it, Eve was going to work to make this path a more honest one.
"Here." Eve said, holding out the bundle she had been hiding behind her back.
Felix silently reached out to grab the bundle of midnight blue silk as she handed it to him. It was easily the fanciest thing she owned, and Felix wondered what in the Goddess' name could have been wrapped in it. Slowly, he unfolded the beautiful fabric to reveal the item hidden within.
It was a small blade—ornately carved, hollow in places, and glimmering beautifully with inlaid stones that were no doubt very precious. The dagger held no purpose as a weapon with its blade that wasn't even sharpened, and yet Felix felt as if Eve had stabbed him with it rather than placed it in his hand.
"I never had the heart to give it back." Eve said meekly as he stared at the item in his hands, unable to bear his silence. "But it should stay in the Fraldarius family and I'm a Blayddid now."
Felix recoiled at her words. It was evident that even though they had both just come from her wedding, he had not yet come to terms with the fact that Eve was now Dimitri's wife. Even to her the words felt foreign. I am a Blayddid now… She should have been a Fraldarius, and the parcel that was in Felix's hands was proof of that.
"What is this?" Felix asked finally.
"You know what it is, Felix." Eve sighed.
"Why do you have this?" His voice shook with emotion as he finally met her gaze.
"If you know what it is, then you know why I have it." Eve swallowed.
She thought about the first time she had held that blade. The conversation had gone much like this one.
"What is this, Glenn?" She blinked, looking down at the dagger in her hand.
"You've served House Fraldarius for generations," Glenn said, "you know what it is."
"Why are you giving it to me?" Eve asked in return.
"If you know what it is, you know why I'm giving it to you." Glenn chuckled.
Every Fraldarius was given one when they came of age—a ceremonial dagger carved with their initials and a pattern unique to them. It was used by the Fraldarius family to show intent to wed. Eve had seen so many of those blades forged and exchanged in her life.
"I want you to know I'm serious about telling my father." Glenn said. "I'll prove myself on this trip to Duscur. When I get back, we show him that I gave you this and ask his blessing."
"What if he says no?" Eve looked up at her lover, unsure she wanted to consider that option.
"We could run away together." His voice was filled with excitement, anticipation, almost as if he wanted Rodrigue to refuse their wishes. "I hear Dierdru is beautiful. We could go even further—Almyra or whatever lies beyond. We could go so far east that we get to your homeland—"
"Stop!" Eve cut him off, bile rising in the back of her throat at the mention of her home. "I'm never going back."
"Tsukiko, I…" Glenn trailed off, reaching out to cup her face in his hand and lifting it until her gaze met his.
"I don't have a homeland anymore." She said, voice gentler now. "You're my home."
She had never thought she would own a Fraldarius dagger. But rather than being a symbol of love and hope like it had been for generations before, it only served as a dark reminder of the life she could've had.
"We thought he gave it to Ingrid." Felix said, unsure of what else he could say.
"I know." Eve nodded.
"We looked everywhere on the estate for it to bury him with it." Felix shook his head in shock.
"I know." Eve said again. "I helped look."
"I should've known there was something between you and my brother." Felix scoffed, a grimace forming on his face.
"How could you have?" Eve gestured vaguely.
"My father thought you weren't close." Felix shook his head. "But you told me Glenn knew everything. If the two of you were just friends, you wouldn't have had any reason to hide it."
"What does it change if you knew?" Eve asked, trying to reach out to grab Felix's hand.
"I wouldn't have wasted my time." He spat, snatching his hand away from her.
"Wasted?" Eve recoiled, hurt by his words.
"If I'd have known you were only interested in me because of my brother I wouldn't have bothered." His upper lip curled in distaste, but Eve could see the hurt in his eyes.
"I wasn't only interested in you because of Glenn." Eve shook her head.
"You expect me to believe that?" Felix laughed humourlessly.
"Sure, when I saw you for the first time at the Academy, I was drawn to you because of my memory of him." Eve admitted. "But that was only in the beginning."
"All this talk of my father treating me like nothing but a replacement for Glenn when you were doing the exact same thing." Felix ignored her pleading words. "You pity me for feeling like I live in his shadow— is this not proof that I am?"
Felix motioned angrily with the dagger in his hands.
"You're nothing like Glenn, you were never a replacement for him." Eve stepped forward, praying that Felix would hear her words.
"How could you possibly prove that?" Felix grimaced. "What could you ever say that would prove I'm not just a replacement for him to you?"
"Because Glenn would've been enough, okay?" Eve burst out, immediately slamming a hand over her mouth in shock.
"…what?" Felix faltered, an icy chill taking over his voice.
"Just before the Heron Cup," Eve swallowed thickly, knowing there was no turning back from this now, "you said that you weren't enough to convince me not to marry Dimitri."
Perhaps this was all for the best; perhaps this was how Eve put an end to her affair with Felix. She couldn't see any possible outcome where he wouldn't hate her after all of this. And, honestly, she would've deserved his hate.
"I told you nothing would have been enough." Eve said slowly. "But that was a lie. Glenn would've been enough. It's not that nothing was enough, it's just that only Glenn would've been enough."
Eve's heart was racing as she watched Felix carefully. She expected him to burst out, to yell or throw something or even strike her—she felt she would have deserved it. But instead she watched as defeat washed over his body. All of a sudden, he looked so small in front of her.
"I should be angry." He shook his head as if he didn't understand himself. "But despite how much it hurts I'm just relieved your feelings were for me. I don't care that you loved him more, I just care that it was different from the love you had for me."
"Felix…" Eve trailed off when she realised she had nothing to say.
"It makes no sense." He laughed bitterly. "I don't think a single thing has made sense since I met you."
"I'm sorry." Eve's voice cracked as she fought to hold her composure. "I never meant to hurt you."
"And yet." Felix said.
"And I know it was cruel of me to give this dagger to you, but I made a promise to your father that I would keep Glenn's secrets." Eve's voice warbled as she spoke. "I can't let Rodrigue feel like he never knew his son."
"Why give it back at all?" Felix asked, genuinely curious.
"I can't keep it anymore." Eve shook her head. "It's not fair to him."
"The boar or Glenn?" Felix frowned.
"…I don't suppose I know."