Chapter 35 - Blessings
11.1.1205
Towa did her best to hide her nervousness as she led her family to the Schwarzer's residency. After her tour around Erebonia ended last week, she and Rean scheduled a meeting between their families along with a representative of House Rogner to see if they could get their blessings and officially start the courting process. She had just arrived in Ymir that morning with her aunt and uncle, and after dropping off their things in their room inside the Phoenix Wing they asked her to lead the way to the Schwarzer's residency.
Towa had managed to tell them the basic rundown about her relationship with Rean. They tried teasing her about how they thought they were already dating back when they first met him, but she reminded them that they were still just friends at that point. For whatever reason she could sense that they didn't believe her about them "just being friends" at that point.
Rean watched as Towa and her family walked closer to his house from the front window. Even though he already explained their relationship with his parents, he was still nervous. A noble courting a commoner while not uncommon, was still rather difficult. Usually one family's demands were outrageous, or another noble family would try to step in, or simply one of the Four Great Houses would take issue with the relationship and stop it from progressing.
While he doubted any other noble families would care about what happened to him, or that his or Towa's families would make absurd demands. He was worried that Marquis Rogner would use this as his opportunity for payback considering they were involved with taking down the Noble Alliance and arresting him.
"Here's hoping the representative he sent over is willing to hear our case." Rean thought to himself.
Rean and Towa had even prepared speeches to break out in case a member of their families started to show signs of not allowing their relationship during the meeting.
Rean's train of thought was suddenly interrupted when he heard a knock on the door.
"Coming!" Lady Schwarzer yelled as she made her way to open the front door.
"Good afternoon!" Martha said loudly as she entered the Schwarzer residency.
"Excuse us for the intrusion." Fred said as he followed his wife inside.
"Nonsense, the pleasure is ours." Baron Schwarzer said as he made his way downstairs.
"G-Good afternoon Baron Schwarzer and Lady Schwarzer." Towa nervously greeted as she joined her family inside.
"Good afternoon dear. It's been awhile since you've last visited. I do hope you don't plan on taking Rean out to the forest again." Lady Schwarzer teased.
Towa could feel her face get red upon hearing Lady Schwarzer's questionable description of her last visit there.
"Towa did what? Well I guess I can't say I hadn't done similar things when I first met Fred here." Martha responded while giggling.
"Mom, please don't tease Towa like that." Rean said as he joined everyone by the entrance. Much like Towa, Rean's face couldn't help but turn a matching shade of red. Much to Lady Schwarzer and Martha's amusement.
Rean and Towa weren't sure how this could get any more embarrassing.
Then suddenly they all heard a knock on the door.
"Oh that must be the representative Marquis Rogner sent over." Baron Schwarzer said as he opened up the door.
"Good afternoon everyone!" Angelica greeted as she made her way inside.
"Angelica!?" Rean questioned.
"Angie what are you doing here!? I thought that you were touring around Western Zemuria!?" Towa asked.
"Well, I was. I actually just got back from Liberl. I was going to go to Calvard today, but my dear ol' dad decided that it would be best for me to start doing more noble work. So here I am." Angelica explained.
Rean and Towa turned to each other and without even speaking a word, agreed that this was Marquis Rogner's payback for what happened during the Civil War.
The seven of them soon made their way to Baron Schwarzer's office.
Rean sat beside his parents behind Baron Schwarzer's desk, and Towa sat beside her aunt and uncle in front of the desk. Meanwhile Angelica purposefully took a seat beside the desk so she could get a good view of the chaos that was about to unfold in front of her.
Rean and Towa nervously looked at each other as they saw Baron Schwarzer and Fred exchanged two envelopes with all the demands they had in order for both families to give their relationship their blessings.
"Hmm… Not sure about that." Baron Schwarzer mumbled to himself as read through the letter inside the envelope Fred gave him. Rean tried to get a peak at Towa's family's demands, but his father made it rather difficult to see anything besides the backside of the paper.
"Seriously?" Fred mumbled to himself as he read through the letter inside the envelope Baron Schwarzer handed him. Towa tried to get a peak at what Rean's family was demanding, but her uncle was holding the paper in such a way that she couldn't read.
While all that was happening Lady Schwarzer, Martha, and Angelica saw how nervous Rean and Towa were gettin and did a horrible job of hiding their amusement.
"Hmm." Baron Schwarzer and Fred mumbled loudly again.
"Just say something already!" Rean and Towa yelled at the same time.
"Haha. Sorry, we just thought it would be funny to see how long it would take before one of you said anything." Baron Schwarzer responded.
"Wait what?" Rean and Towa responded as everyone in the room started laughing.
"Take a look at each of our demands." Fred said as he handed Towa the paper inside the envelope Baron Schwarzer gave him.
"It might surprise you." Baron Schwarzer said as he handed Rean the paper inside the envelope Fred gave him.
The two quickly skimmed through the papers only to discover that both papers were completely blank.
"I'm not going blind am I?" Towa asked.
"Yeah, there's nothing here." Rean commented.
"That's because we don't have any demands." Lady Schwarzer revealed.
"Huh?" Rean responded.
"Rean, we already told you a year ago that you're free to pursue a relationship with anyone." Baron Schwarzer reminded Rean.
"Towa, did you really think that we'd try to use you for our own gain? You're 20 years old for crying out loud, you can make your own decisions." Martha responded.
"I uh..." Towa responded.
"This meeting was rather unnecessary in the grand scheme of things, but I guess having confirmation from your folks makes you two feel better?" Angelica teased.
"W-Well we figured it would be best if we did things this way to be on the safe side." Rean explained.
"Y-Yeah, the last thing we'd want is to cause issues for our families." Towa added on.
Angelica smirked as she stood up to announce something while she folded a paper in her pocket.
"I Angelica Rogner, as the representative of House Rogner, give Rean Schwarzer and Towa Herschel approval to start courting." Angelica announced as she handed Rean and Towa a document certifying that their relationship was approved.
With that, the meeting ended far sooner than either Rean and Towa had planned.
"So what now?" Towa asked.
"Oh I know, why don't you all stay for lunch?" Lady Schwarzer asked.
"What an excellent idea!" Martha said.
"It's not a problem is it?" Fred asked Baron Schwarzer.
"Not at all." Baron Schwarzer assured him.
Soon Rean, Towa, and Angelica were roped into helping prepare lunch with Lady Schwarzer and Martha while Baron Schwarzer and Fred went to one of the local shops to buy some beers to celebrate the occasion.
Towa did her best to focus on the cooking, although Martha and Lady Schwarzer soon bombarded her with questions about her relationship with Rean.
"Who confessed to who first?" Lady Schwarzer asked.
"Don't tell me the reason why he went to our store during the summer festival was because you gave him your home address?" Martha asked.
Towa wasn't sure how to respond as their questions kept on piling up on her. She was starting to worry that she'd say too much. All she could really do was blush over all the little details her aunt and Lady Schwarzer wanted to know.
Rean and Angelica could only watch from afar as Towa's embarrassment only grew.
"Well?" Angelica asked.
"Well what?" Rean responded.
"Aren't you going to go in and save your girlfriend from the embarrassing situation she's in?" Angelica teased.
"You say that as if I wouldn't just make things worse." Rean joked.
"I suppose. Although if you don't mind me asking, how's it been being in a relationship with Towa?" Angelica asked.
"Huh? Didn't expect that type of question from you." Rean commented.
"Oh? I'm just curious. Don't tell me that you expected a more adult question from me? I suppose you two are both at that age. Tell me, which one of you is the t-" Angelica asked before getting interrupted by a blushing Rean.
"T-That's not what I meant." Rean nervously responded.
"Alright then, I'll ask Towa about that later. Answer my original question then." Angelica teased.
"Well, to be honest it still feels surreal. I'd be lying if I said I didn't look forward to every message she sent me while she was away." Rean admitted.
"Oh that's right, Towa went on her tour right as you started your second year at Thors. I'm sure your relationship turning into a long distance relationship caused some hurdles." Angelica commented.
"You can say that again. I can't say it was easy trying to figure out when our schedules lined up. Right when her breaks started I was usually still in class, and by the time classes ended for the day she was usually too tired to pick up her Arcus. Still, I wouldn't change it for the world. Her tour is finally over so she'll be back in Heimdallr with her family, so I might be able to take her out on a date during my next Free Day." Rean admitted.
"Haha. Already got something up your sleeve don't you Romeo?" Angelica teased.
"Maybe." Rean replied.
Lunch for the most part when smoothly. Even if Rean and Towa continued to face more embarrassing questions from their families and Angelica.
Despite all the teasing, Rean and Towa found themselves right at home.
Everything was going well, but before long everyone heard a knock on the front door.
"That's strange, we weren't expecting any more visitors." Lady Schwarzer commented.
"Coming!" Baron Schwarzer yelled as he quickly got up and made his way to the front door.
After introducing himself to Baron Schwarzer the unexpected guest made their way to the kitchen. They were there to meet with Rean.
"It's been a while Schwarzer, I do hope you excuse my intrusion." Lechter greeted.
"Captain Lechter? What are you doing here?" Rean asked.
"I was asked to deliver you a message." Lechter revealed.
Lechter soon cleared his throat before taking out a document and reading it aloud.
"Dear Rean Schwarzer, it is done with a heavy heart to notify you that you've been called upon to assist in the Empire's upcoming war with North Ambria. It is clear with everything that you've done during the Civil War and in assisting with the occupation of Crossbell, that you'd be a valuable asset in making sure this war is brought to an end sooner rather than later. You are ordered to return to Heimdallr effective immediately. Signed: Chancellor Giliath Osborne." Lechter announced.
It didn't register for Rean that he was being drafted until he suddenly felt Towa hugging him with all her might. It was then when Rean realized that right when things were finally lining up for them they were getting separated once again. He couldn't help but begin to hug her back as they both began to cry.
"Wait a war with North Ambria!? I know things are bad, but full blown war seems preposterous!" Baron Schwarzer argued.
"Don't blame me. It was the Chancellor's decision. If you really want to fight Osborne on his decision, I could schedule a meeting between you two." Lechter informed him.
Baron Schwarzer curled his fists knowing full well there was no way he could speak with Osborne again after so many years.
"You have ten minutes to pack up some clothes. I'll be waiting outside." Lechter told Rean before excusing himself.
Everyone sat in silence as Rean and Towa continued crying as what seemed like the beginning of more peaceful days was taken from them yet again.
Author's Note
Man those two can't catch a break. I'm sure once the Norther War ends, everything will be all sunshine and rainbows for Rean and Towa.
Preview - "Alright, a five letter word for a sword from the east? Oh simple, tachi." Towa said to herself as she continued her crossword puzzle inside her family's store.
