"Well they're all in there," Catherine said gesturing towards the door leading into the meeting room "now all we have to do is break the news. You ready for this?"
Byleth breathed out, this was their one chance to break the news to his former class and colleagues. With many having to return to their respective territories after his coronation next week, this would be one of the last chances they would get to announce their engagement.
"As ready as I'll ever be" Byleth replied, tenderly gripping her hand.
"Don't worry, I'm sure that at least a few of them have already put two and two together. I haven't exactly been hiding this" she said as she gestured towards the ring that adorned her finger.
Byleth stared at the ring for a moment. His mothers ring, and now his fiance's ring, it was perfect on her, he couldn't imagine anyone in the world wearing it.
"I think we've kept them waiting long enough" the Knight said pulling her hand out of his "you go in first and I'll follow"
Byleth opened the door into the sounds of a dozen simultaneous conversations. The room was absolutely packed, there were only three empty seats in the entire room, his, Catherine's, and Claude's. Byleth only wished Claude could've been convinced to stay behind long enough for him to be here. As he made his way to the head of the table he couldn't help but overhear snippets of conversations.
"-ink this is about Claude?"
"-ou can provide a steady supply we'd apprecia-"
"-army remnants are still unaccounted fo-"
"Wait, I think we're about to start"
As the future ruler of Fodlan took his spot the room quickly fell silent and those who were sitting stood up again. "Everyone, please sit" the former professor said, he watched as his friends took their seats, he checked to his side and saw his fiance, she shot him a wink before he began his announcement. "Thank you all for coming today, since many of you will be leaving for home in the upcoming weeks Catherine and I have chosen to make our announcement. We've both decided to spend the rest of our lives together"
"What we're trying to say is that we're officially engaged!" Catherine exclaimed as she proudly presented the ring she bore on her finger.
A brief moment of silence filled the chamber before it was instantly shattered by the congratulations of dozens of voices. After the congratulations had run their course, Annette was the first to ask a question to the couple.
"When did you two get engaged?"
"Last week" Catherine answered, "a few days after the battle with Nemesis."
"Yes!" Sylvain said, pumping his fist.
"Sylvain, what was that?" Byleth asked.
"Oh," Sylvain replied, "it's just that a few of the others and I put together a betting pool on when you two would finally tie the knot."
"Sylvain!" Ingrid yelled "You actually went through with that? I thought that was just a joke."
"Wait just a moment" Catherine said touching her hand to her forehead "was it really so apparent to all of you?"
Most of the room murmured for a moment, seemingly backing up Sylvains claim.
"If you were paying attention the signs were there" Leonie stated "between the weekly tea sessions and the special attention during training it was kinda obvious"
"That's not even mentioning how you two fought together" Balthus said, closing his hand into a fist "when you two were together it was a sight to behold".
"I'm not even sure if this was on purpose but I did notice that in battle you two never strayed too far from one another" Ferdinand added.
"I suppose when you put it like that" Byleth sighed "my intentions were somewhat obvious"
"It wasn't just you, Cathy also had some tells" Shamir stepped forward "like her spying sessions"
Catherine's smile grew a little nervous "What but how did you know?"
"You hid yourself pretty well but someone was bound to notice you disappearing for hours at a time" Shamir chuckled.
Byleth looked to his betrothed, her face was flushed red.
"If it makes you two feel any better I couldn't tell" Raphael yelled from the back of the table.
The mood in the room instantly lightened, and a few chuckles could be heard. You could always rely on Raphael to, intentionally or not, lift everyone's spirits.
"So…" Mercedes began, "when are you two planning on having your wedding?"
"We're planning on Garland Moon next year" Byleth replied "other than that you'll have to wait for the RSVPs"
The questions continued for over an hour before the former classmates had all excused themselves. Every last detail of their engagement and their planned wedding had been revealed in exhaustive detail. As the doors closed the couple sat down into their chairs and breathed a collective sigh of relief.
"Who knew little Annette could keep going for so long?" Catherine asked brushing a hand through her hair.
"You must have remembered the lectures" Byleth answered reclining into his seat "she probably only stopped when she realized she was the last one left in the room."
Catherine chuckled, "It's good to know that no matter what happens some things will always stay the same. Especially with all of the changes we'll be going through in the future"
Byleth took his fiance's hand into his own and let silence hang in the room for just a moment. He stared into her bright blue eyes and smiled. After a moment Catherine broke the silence.
"What?" the Knight asked as her lips formed into a smile "I didn't say something wrong did I?"
Byleth didn't answer, he simply leaned in and pressed his lips against hers. They both let the kiss sit for a few short moments.
The future king broke the kiss and spoke as he stood up, "We've still got to prepare for the coronation. Although afterwards I think we'll get to visit one last friend to tell her the good news."
Catherine's smile instantly widened, "Come on then! Let's make sure that next week goes as smoothly as possible".
The first coronation in a kingdom's history sets a precedent for the future. Byleth was unfamiliar with the coronation customs of any of the three nations and knew that blending them alone would be a near impossible task. So he allowed his students to give input on the process, Ferdinand and Lorenz were more than willing to divulge the peculiarities of Adrestian and Leicester ceremonies. Annette and Mercedes took a personal hand in assisting the planning, making sure to balance the aspects of the three nations.
Catherine mostly sat out planning the coronation, she had never been one for ceremonies. Even still she had requested to be placed in charge of security. While the war was over vengeful imperial and agarthan remnants were known to still be operating from the shadows. All of Byleth's former students and colleagues were invited in addition to every noble house left standing after the war. A crowd had been expected and not an entirely friendly one, even if the Leicester Alliance were the victor of the war that didn't mean that those of the former Empire and Kingdom were happy about it. Wider Fodlan was still unaware of the pair's engagement so appearing side by side was deemed as inappropriate. Still, Catherine had vowed to protect her betrothed and she wasn't going to allow anyone or anything to interfere.
It was decided that Garreg Mach would host the event. The centralized location was intended to convey unity across Fodlan while also maintaining the church's importance. Luckily the repairs for the Cathedral had been finished just in time for the ceremony. The interior had of course been decorated, in spite of what some of his former students had suggested Byleth had requested that nothing be too extravagant.
The plans of the coronation were running through his head as he was being dressed. The robes he wore had been specially designed by a handful of fashion designers suggested to him by Hilda. The robes had been designed in a similar style to the Enlightened One outfit that Rhea had ended up gifting him after his transformation. After looking at himself in the mirror Byleth still thought he looked ridiculous but when he asked those around him whether it would be acceptable to wear his normal garb he was met unanimously with no.
*Knock Knock*
"Hey, it's me" came Catherine's voice from outside. "Are you almost ready there?"
Byleth gestured to the servants who had been helping him with his outfit and whispered "Thank you, you can go now".
They both silently bowed and left the room, Byleth wasn't sure he'd ever get used to having others bow to him. Catherine stepped in as they left and shut the door behind her. Catherine had been allowed to keep her normal attire due to her being in charge of the coronation's security. Still her armor had been polished to a mirror sheen, Byleth could even make out a warped image of himself in her breastplate. She took a moment to look over her fiance and smiled.
"So," Byleth asked "how do I look?"
"You look fantastic" she said with a smile "then again I'd say you look great in anything."
"Is everything ready out there?" Byleth asked,trying to hide the nervousness in his voice.
"Everyone who said they were coming is accounted for" Catherine said "now they're all just waiting on you."
Byleth stood silent for a moment just thinking. Thinking about how far he had come, from a simple mercenary to the king of all Fodlan. Thinking about how up until a few weeks ago he didn't have a drop of royal blood in him (goddess blood maybe but few know about that even now). It was important that the coronation go well but other than a few pointers Ferdinand and Lorenz had given him in the leadup to the event he was unprepared.
"You okay?" Catherine said, breaking his train of thought. "You went a little quiet there."
Byleth took a deep breath and focused himself.
"Just nerves," the future king responded, "nothing to worry about".
"Just nerves?" his future wife replied "When we fought Nemesis you had less worry on your face. Compared to that, this should be a walk in the park."
Byleth let out a weary sigh and said "That's not entirely true, when Claude and I had made the plans to defeat Nemesis we had prepared thoroughly. Every trick and strategy was considered and applied, and I knew I could rely on the strength of those around me. Now, it's all on me not to mess this up."
Catherine lightly punched his shoulder before speaking. "Hey, remember our friends will be in the crowd and I'll be close by. Plus if worst comes to worst I'm fairly confident we could fight our way out of there."
Byleth chuckled and he couldn't help but feel a smile creep on his face. Byleth held her hand for a brief moment, as he held her hand he felt all his worries quickly wash away. When he was with her life was simpler.
"Come on then, I think we've left them waiting long enough" Byleth said, adjusting his outfit one last time before heading to the door.
Catherine opened the door for Byleth and chose to maintain an appropriate distance from him as she escorted him to the cathedral. As they approached the doors leading into the cathedral Catherine split off, it wouldn't make sense for a knight of Seiros to enter with the king, she gave him a quick thumbs up and left for one of the side entrances. The cathedral was more packed than he had ever seen before, after all almost every noble and high ranking clergyman had elected to witness this historic event.
As he entered the entire Cathedral quickly stood from their seats and all conversation instantly stopped. After a short moment the Cathedral was suddenly filled with the sound of music which meant he could begin his walk to the crown. Across the many, many times he had walked across the Cathedral this one seemed as though it went on for the longest, as he walked he kept every suggestion and lesson taught to him on walking in a noble manor. Needless to say it felt wholly unnatural.
Once he had actually made it to the table holding the crown the ceremony seemed to somehow become even slower. As he raised the crown to his head seconds felt like hours until he finally placed it and everything was right again. With the crown finally upon his head Byleth turned and faced who were now his new subjects.
With the coronation complete now came what would be the longest part of the ceremony. All in attendance would be required to swear fealty to the new king. Byleth knew this was nothing more than a formality, nobody could stand against the new kingdom and if any of the noble houses were planning something they would have to do it from the shadows. However, most had accepted the new rule in no small part because a decent chunk of the next generation of nobility had been Byleth's former students and had fought alongside him during the war.
The process of the nobles swearing fealty went mostly smoothly if not boringly. At times it got to the point where Byleth had to stop himself from falling asleep while whomever was addressing was mid speech. Byleth was sure to give any former students his well wishes before they left for their respective territories. As for the rest Byleth did his best to put their names and faces to memory but there were over 100 minor nobles houses in Fodlan and after a while many of them began to blur together.
The process continued as normal until another man approached, for some reason Byleth couldn't help but feel something different about him. His hair was silver with a well groomed beard to complement his face. His face was scarred and wrinkled from a long life on the battlefield. He moved in the way that many former Kingdom nobles did, with a stance that seemed to say that they were as ready to bow as they were to fight. He slowly lowered himself to one knee, even if this man was obviously a knight it was apparent that his age had caught up to him. When he spoke a deep and grizzled voice came from him.
"I, Count Castor Achio Charon do hereby…"
"Wait," Byleth said, suddenly snapping to complete attention, "did you say Charon?"
"Yes your majesty," he replied "the bloodline of the hero Charon, wielder of the relic Thunderbrand. If I caused any offense I apologize."
Byleth's eyes quickly darted to where he knew Catherine was standing. She was looking down as if in shame or trying to avoid eye contact with her father. Noticeably Byleth saw that she had taken Thunderbrand off her person and placed it nearly out of sight. Count Charon's head began to turn to look where Byleth had looked before the New King spoke again.
"My apologies" Byleth said as Count Charon's head snapped back to him "I thought I misheard you, please continue."
"Of course my liege…" Catherine's father continued with a relatively short declaration of loyalty before he too bowed and left.
The rest of the event continued without note and when the last member of the crowd left Byleth decided to reconvene with Catherine. It was almost sundown by the time the coronation had finished and he found Catherine beautifully illuminated by the setting sun. He approached her as she was talking with a Knight of Seiros.
"- and if we don't return by the nightfall then you may send a search team" Catherine said to her fellow knight "you're dismissed".
"Yes ma'am!" the knight said before bowing to the approaching Byleth and walking away.
"What was that?" Byleth asked, gesturing towards the exiting knight.
"Just some extra precautions" Catherine replied, "just in case something happens during our trip tomorrow."
"Something happens?" Byleth chuckled "Come on, it's a short trip and we're the two best swordsmen in all of Fodlan what's the worst that could happen?"
"Remind me, what happened the last time you decided to head to Zanado by yourself?" said Catherine with a smile.
Byleth put his hand on his fiance's shoulder and said, "Well with you by my side I'm confident we could fight our way through any number of demonic beasts. Still you're right, I suppose it is better to be safe."
"Thank you, your majesty" she said "is there anything else I can help you with this evening?"
"Well I was considering getting something to eat but first I would like to change into something a bit less…" Byleth looked down at his robes "ornate, if you would escort me to my room."
Catherine's smile widened. "It would be my pleasure."
The resulting walk to Byleth's room was relatively quiet. All of the nobles had either left or would be spending the night in the town proper. The bustle of alliance soldiers had also quieted down since most of the alliance had returned home at the end of the war. Really all that was left was the monastery staff, Knights of Seiros, and a handful of alliance knights Catherine had hand picked to act as guards for the new king.
"Here you are, Milord," Catherine said as she opened the door to his room. "You know it's funny, during all of the time I spent observing you I've never actually been inside your room."
"Would you like to fix that?" Byleth asked her "Who knows there may be assassins hidden inside."
"Well," Catherine said, quickly glancing around for any onlookers "we can't be too careful can we?"
She pushed Byleth into the room and quickly closed the door behind her. The moment the door closed she practically pounced on her fiance and locked her lips with his. Byleth was thrown off balance by this sudden attack and nearly fell on his back. Catherine noticed and pulled back.
"Sorry," Catherine said, nuzzling her face in Byleth's shoulder "I get a little excited when we're not in public."
"It's just a few more days until we tell all of Fodlan" Byleth said "then you won't have to wait for us to be alone."
Catherine stayed still for a moment just allowing herself the simple pleasure of embracing the man she loved.
"Alright" she said as she finally broke the embrace "let me help you out of that and into something more comfortable."
As she helped him out of his coronation robes they idly chatted about the coronation and their plans for tomorrow. Catherine was talking about minor occurrences the knights reported in as she placed the last piece of his outfit in its own separate case.
"Apparently the gatekeeper had to shoo away a handful of kids from-" Catherine suddenly stopped talking.
Byleth pulled his head through a fresh shirt and looked at Catherine. "Please keep going, I was-"
"Shh" Catherine shushed the king and placed a hand on Thunderbrand's grip "Do you hear that?"
Byleth sat and listened for a moment, after a short while he was about to begin speaking again when he heard it.
A barely perceptible shuffle coming from somewhere in the room. Byleth looked to Catherine, her hands now both on Thunderbrand ready to unsheathe it at a moment's notice. Byleth looked around his room, the Sword of the creator usually never left his person but for the ceremony he had left it in a special lockbox in his room. Byleth stood when suddenly one of the panels of his shelf suddenly exploded outward and a black clothed man came tumbling out with it.
The assassin instantly leapt into action and leapt and Byleth, a wicked blade in his hand. Byleth tried to raise his arms to a fighting stance but even as he raised his fists the assassin's blow adjusted midair to completely bypass whatever resistance he put up. He watched as the blade drew closer and closer to his heart, prepared to divine pulse if the blade pierced his skin. Right before the blade struck him it was suddenly veered upwards as Thunderbrand met the blade and pushed it up.
Catherine pushed Byleth backwards and put herself between the new king and his would-be killer. Catherine had entered a battlestance and her face was twisted into an angered scowl.
"Are you hurt?" Catherine asked her fiance without taking her eyes off of her opponent.
"I'm fine" he answered.
"Good," she replied, "now I just have to deal with this rat."
Upon closer inspection both saw the assassin was clearly Agarthan and his dagger closely resembled the Athame used by Kronya. The assassin was likely thinking up his options, with Catherine ready there was little chance that he would reach his target but the two were also between him and the door. In a flash of motion the assassin threw a dagger which Catherine easily deflected. She leapt forward sword raised, just as she brought Thunderbrand down on his head the assassin suddenly disappeared in a flash of purple light.
Catherine looked around the room for a moment before quietly swearing and sheathing her sword once again. She turned around and quickly began looking over Byleth.
"Are you sure you're alright?" she said looking over his chest for any wounds "If something had happened to you…"
"I knew you had it covered" he said as he held her hands and placed his forehead against hers.
Catherine pulled back and said "Do you want to cancel our trip to see Rhea after that?"
Byleth smiled and chuckled "No, but we should probably tell the knights about what happened here".
Author's Note:
Hello all, first off I would like to say thanks for checking out my first ever published fic!
I've been working on it on and off for around the last 2 years, I'm hoping that by actually publishing it I'll get an increase in motivation to get additional chapters in the future. Since I'm new to this whole thing I don't really have an upload schedule planned but that may change in the future.
C&C is appreciated, thank you!