Wienne bestowed a warm welcome upon Roy on his return. While it warmed his heart, he was more concerned with hurrying home to the palace to see Fie.
With the rebellion suppressed, Roy now had plenty of information that pointed to the king of Divine Luciana as the one responsible for the failed insurrection. Tomas, while still unconscious, was also recovering, likely due to the influence of Fielle’s healing powers. This brought the whole incident just about to a close.
This only left the issue of Fie, otherwise known as the girl who was only wrapped up in this mess because of Roy. During his journey home, he decided that the solution to this problem would be to ensure her continued happiness by every means necessary. No matter how many times he failed in this pursuit, he vowed to never give up. His relationship with her as king and consort had failed, and his relationship with her as knight commander and squire had been built on the back of lies. However, if they were to live as ordinary husband and wife... Well, it might not have been exactly what she wanted, but he was sure that he could make her happy as her husband.
He rushed to tell her this conclusion he had come to. As he scurried along, he tried to find the right words to tell her, but nothing seemed like it would work. I’d like for you to become my first wife and queen, for I swear that I’ll make you happy... No, that’s not it. That sounded too much like he wanted her to be his wife for the kingdom’s sake. Her happiness was the top priority, not being the queen consort. However, keeping her only as a second wife felt too much like preserving the unfortunate state he placed her in, and that, he fretted, wasn’t any good either. This might have been the first time in his life he had ever worried about what to say to a girl. I’ll make you happy. I want you to let me make it up to you... In order to do that, I can’t have you stay as my second wife any longer. Of course, I don’t want to force this on you, but... No, I’m just blathering at this point.
The chamberlain led Roy, still puzzling away, to the room where Fie awaited him. Roy stopped before the door, hoping to buy himself some more time to think, but then shook his head and pushed on. If I say that, he thought, aren’t I disrespecting her? I’ll tell her that now I’m going to make her happy, and I want her to be my first wife and queen. It’s best if I say it outright and get it over with.
The door swung open, and there was Fie. A far cry from the boy he had once known as a squire, she was clothed in a dress, and looked every inch the lady like he had seen many times since.
“Good to see you again!” she cried, breaking immediately into a delighted grin the moment he walked in. No matter how down she was feeling, a visit from Roy always put a smile on her face.
Roy looked likewise pleased to see her. “Fie!”
Fie jolted in surprise upon seeing Roy’s smile and raised her hand to her mouth with sudden trepidation. Then, she steeled herself, squeezed her eyes shut, and yelled as apologetically as she could, “I’m sorry, Captain Yore! I want a divorce!”
The chamberlain and the maids, who had readied the room for a tender reunion between loving husband and wife, stood outside, blissfully unaware of this outburst. Inside the room, however, Roy was shaken to the core.
“I...see,” he said finally. “Very well... I’ll see to it that it’s done.”
“Um, Your Majesty, I do want to point out that it’s not like I dislike you or anything,” Fie clarified. She somewhat regretted yelling her demands so loudly. Objectively speaking, Fie and her husband didn’t have a fantastic marital relationship (in the romantic sense, at any rate), and she didn’t think that was something he ever wanted. Nevertheless, it was bold of her to ask him for a divorce. Yes, she did trust him, but she still worried over how he would respond. Maybe he would think her impudent for even asking, even if she had no say in being married in the first place. Additionally, a divorce could be a real hassle, what with all of the red tape and the tedious business of informing everyone else.
However, Roy agreed immediately which was, frankly, astonishing, yet relieving. He hadn’t simply granted permission; he had gone the extra mile and promised to take care of it himself. There really is no one else like Captain Yore, Fie thought. Her impression of him wasn’t wrong after all.
Still, she had broached this with a bit more force than was strictly necessary, and as a result, Roy seemed rather...well, depressed.
“Um, you see,” she explained, “back when I was a squire, I started dating a boy named Queen. Oh, that’s right; you’ve met him before. Anyway, the thing is, we’ve been going steady for about half a year now.”
There was once a time when Fie would have never even dreamed of asking for something like this. At the beginning, her relationship with Roy had been nothing more than him shutting her away, and her running off, and she had thought that was all it would ever be. Fate truly worked in mysterious ways. Despite her earlier enthusiasm, Fie now felt a kind of pain in her heart as she spoke. It compelled her to tell him the full truth.
“He was one of my best friends back when I was a squire, and he was always there for me. He says that he loves me dearly, and now he’s terribly upset that all this happened. So, if I can, I want to make him happy in return by marrying him.”
Once Roy heard the whole story, he said, “Very well. I’ll speak to my subjects and persuade them to accept your new marriage.” This, Roy thought, was at last the best way to make it up to her. Then he amended that. He still wanted dearly to make her happy; it was only that his method of doing so had changed. He wanted Fie’s happiness in whatever form it took. He swore to do whatever it took to grant her wish, even if...even if it ever so slightly broke his heart.
A single tear of emotion ran down Fie’s cheek as well. He had heard out her unreasonable request without anger and had sworn to help her. That he thought so highly of her made her truly, wonderfully happy, and her smile won out over any further tears.
“Thank you,” she said. “I’m very glad I came to Orstoll and met you, Captain Yore. No, excuse me. I’m glad I met you, King Roy.”