“And here I was thinking there weren’t many people I’d give permission to punch me,” I mused out loud.
“And I’m saying I don’t want to punch you in the first place! Figure it out already!”
I see. Ahh, I see, that really works, huh.
“I’ve got it, Tom. Yep, I do. I’ll make sure to be someone who won’t trouble the both of you.”
That was probably the only way I could repay the two of them for supporting Nia: by being a proper, reasonable master. By being a hero who wouldn’t embarrass the Saintess as her husband. It was horribly draining to put into words, but I was the one who chose this path, so I couldn’t just throw it away.
“Let’s go, Nia. Everyone is waiting.”
I straightened my back and schooled my face into a hero’s look, one of exalted, loving kindness and repose. Then, I held my hand out towards Nia.
“Yes, let’s go... Ark.”
Aaaaand that face was almost instantly shattered. I mean, wait, seriously, taking my hand while saying that was just unfair! I mean, yeah, we’d discussed this beforehand, but...!
In the end, I was the Saintess’s spouse, akin to a slightly elevated follower. So officially, Nia was above me in rank, which was why we’d decided that she’d act that way in official settings. I had accepted that. But dropping the “Lord” at this timing was just bad!
But even though I thought that, I didn’t let it show on my face. My pride was on the line here.
“I had thought that this would be an extravagant celebration, but I hadn’t thought it would be this large-scale,” I remarked.
“Hee hee. Let’s just be thankful that it was publicly funded,” Nia said, giggling. “Things are going to get even more expensive from now on.”
“Just what I would expect from House McGuine’s brains. You’ve got the strings on our wallet pulled tight.”
The reason why we were able to have this little conversation as we walked out of the venue must have been because I was getting used to acting like a proper noble.
We were in the plaza of a huge church in Sylvario’s royal capital. The plaza was normally used as a space for worshippers to listen to sermons and the like, but it was currently filled with excitement by all the people who’d pushed their way inside.
Yeah. The place was just stuffed with people. Is the entire population of the capital here? I almost burst out in laughter at the thought.
“I feel like I’m gonna laugh,” I said, thoughts coming out of my mouth. Seriously, though, it was all I could do in this situation.
“Is there something funny?”
“Kind of funny. More like exhilarating,” I responded, looking over the crowd of spectators again.
It was a massive group of people, tens of thousands in number. My battlefield experience lent me a knack for estimating crowd sizes, and with a population of roughly one million, it seemed like half the capital had shown up here.
“We’re going to be able to declare, in front of this many people, that you’re mine and I’m yours. Could anything be more exciting than this?” I said.
“Um, that’s...”
When I said it, a bit overwhelmed by the situation, Nia started mumbling. Cute. No, Ark.
But despite me saying that, she didn’t immediately shoot it down. That made me almost unbearably happy. I thought I couldn’t be any happier. But then, it happened.
“...Ark.”
“Yes?”
“Will you make me yours?”
Am I about to die here? Really, I would’ve been satisfied dying from that in front of all of these people. But I couldn’t die. Unlike fairy tales, reality didn’t just end with a “and they lived happily ever after.” Life would go on after this.
“Of course.”
So.
Life—my life with Nia—was going to continue after this. Couldn’t I be a little selfish here, then?
“Nia, you are mine. And I’ll never let you go.”
And with that declaration, I embraced her.
Ahh. I once again realized how delicate Nia was. With her slender frame, she’d fought as hard as she could to get to this point. When I thought about how she’d fought, something hot bubbled up within my chest.
“Don’t ever let me go. I won’t let you go either,” Nia said. “Make me yours.”
I was impressed with my sense of reason for surviving that. If we hadn’t been in front of people, then I might’ve ended up letting my passion take hold of my body. It was getting really, really dangerous.
“Of course. It’s absolute. It’s eternal,” I said, a vow from the bottom of our heart. And forgetting all procedure, we joined our lips in a kiss.
Apparently, the crowd went wild with glee, but at the moment I couldn’t hear any of it.
I was going to live with Nia. I was sure that in the future I would be asked to do even more unreasonable things. There were probably relentless battles ahead of us too. But so what?! I wouldn’t lose. There was no reason I would ever lose.
“I love you, Nia. From the bottom of my heart, only you.”
After all, how could I lose? The woman I loved most was here in my arms.
“Yes. I love you too, Ark.”
And so, the legend of the Saintess ended with a happily ever after, before beginning all over again. I’m sure that one day this story will be told—the one of the Saintess who involved an entire continent in her affairs. But that day wasn’t today. I wanted a break from that right now. At this moment, right now, I just wanted to feel our happiness. And for just a moment my meager wish was granted.