Thethia: Royal Palace, Study

• The Queen of Thethia, Elizabeth •

"Your Majesty, here's an invitation from Iftia to an official banquet," Finneas, the Royal Secretariat presented the letter in front of her.

"Another one?" Elizabeth lifted her gaze to look towards Finneas before heaving a tired sigh. "Please get someone to represent me." 

"This is important," Finneas mentioned.

"Finneas, you played the same trick for the past two invitations you presented me and let me remind you that it's not going to work for me this time," she gave a short, humourless laugh and lowered her gaze to go through the official documents in her hand. 

"Your Majesty, this is the annual banquet to celebrate the Trilateral Peace Treaties formed between the three Kingdoms." 

Elizabeth dropped the pen in her hand and the ink spilled over the papers on her desk. She gave a quiet grumble as she glared towards Finneas, a cuss word formed at the tip of her tongue but she looked around her room and noticed the presence of her knights. Swallowing the frustration back, she reluctantly reached her hand out and demanded for the letter. Her eyes did a fast scan at the content and she unhappily signed at the bottom in agreement of her attendance.

A small smirk formed from the corner of Finneas' lips in an expression to gloat over his victory and she stretched her leg out and kicked him on his shin. Finneas scrunched his face in grimace as he crouched a little wanting to reach for his shin but well-aware enough to maintain his composure. On the other hand, Elizabeth swayed her shoulders in a small dance before smiling warmly as she passed the letter back and she warned in a sweet voice, "No more banquets after this one, Finneas. Or I'll make serious consideration to crown you the King of Thethia." 

"Please do not scare you loyal aide like that, Your Majesty," Finneas talked in his slightly strained voice as he bowed politely towards her. 

"Oh, Finneas," Elizabeth smiled cunningly. "I am simply a signature, a vow and a celebratory banquet away." 

"I am reminded of the pile of work left on my desk. May Your Majesty have a pleasant day ahead," Finneas smiled in return and retreated out of the hearing room, leaving Elizabeth in the study to proceed with her next meeting with the knights and entering officials. 

"I'm a ruler of a Kingdom for Goddess' sake, do they think I live lavishly, attending banquets and waste my life away?" She pinched on the bridge of her nose and continued sighing, "Tavion, I shall appoint the next noble who enter through the door as my banquet goer. What do you say?" 

"Your Majesty, that's abuse of authority," Tavion, her First Knight, reminded. 

"All of you are abusing me instead," Elizabeth complained unhappily. 

━━━━━━━━━━

Rivia: Ajayib, Town of Central Rivia, Elianna's Residence

• Rowan •

After breakfast, Elianna had suggested to take a walk across the courtyard and Rowan agreed to it immediately. Honestly, he would do anything she suggests as long as he's allowed to spend more time with her. 

Five years apart, there was so much time that he lost in between that he never had a chance to hear her say about it. The night before was filled with too much unsaid emotions between them and now would be the time that he would love to hear her talk about the days that he had missed. As they walked, she spoke about every joyful things concerning Arell and his heart warmed at her motherly talk. Just in this brief moment, she had reminded him of his own mother and how she had always talked about him in the same way Elianna had described their son. Wordlessly, he couldn't be more thankful for her. 

He settled the both of them on a seat in the mid of the courtyard and watched as she held her palms out in the air. Curious, he asked, "What are you doing, love?" 

"Feeling the sun," she smiled happily. "It's nice and warm." 

A small sigh formed but he held it in, knowing that she wouldn't enjoy it if he sighed. Reaching for the back of her hands, he rested her hands on his but he remained her palms up, still allowing her to feel the warmth of the rays. He asked softly, "Was it difficult?" 

"At first, it was," she admitted. "But just like any other thing, it got better with time." 

"It's weird to say this," he said silently. "Even without memories of you, your absence hadn't gotten better with time for me." 

Looking towards her beautiful face, he moved a hand up to tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear. Her eyes remained closed, a habit that she had gotten used to and he had only come to realise how much he had missed seeing the brilliance and clarity of her amber-coloured eyes. His thumb brushed across her eyebrows and he noticed the visible weariness in her expression. Those faint lines formed from all the years that she had to struggle by herself as she took care of this family and the townspeople who required her aid. Yet, despite all the years that had worn her down, she remained brave and magnificent as ever. As they sat together, with sunlight streaming down her face, he could only think about how he loved her even more. 

"Eli," he called her softly. 

"What is it?" She lolled her head to the side, facing him with an expression filled with attentiveness and interest. 

"Would you please come back to Iftia with me?" 

A silent pause fell in between them. She turned her head back and dropped it low. Her soft brown hair fell over her shoulder and curtained over her face, shielding her expression from him, making him ponder over her thoughts when he had asked such a difficult question. 

"It's different now, Rowan." When she finally spoke, he could feel all the hesitation in her tone. "I'm not alone now and I can't risk Arell by bringing him to Iftia with me. I'm only a Royal Doctor—"

"I'm hoping you'd return as my wife," he explained. 

"I-I'm sorry," she stammered. "What did you say?"

"I'm asking for your hand in marriage, love," he repeated nervously and her head whipped around to face him again. In these rare moments, she opened her eyes wide with surprise dancing in the gold of her eyes. Her gaze remained bleary but those orbs still shone vividly and in resplendence. Her lips parted slightly that held onto an almost promise of the words he would love to hear. But when she realised it, her expression fell ever so slightly and a sad smile formed on her lips. 

"Rowan, I'm unable to offer you anything," she replied wistfully. "I'm a commoner, without a powerful family and political alliances." 

"Have I ever cared about those?"

"There are many eyes staring at you, watching every move you take, my dear," she sighed. "Please do not let me be a liability to you."

Her words felt like knives carving against his heart and a heavyweight pushing against his chest. He knew that conferring her as his wife is a bold, and rather rash move. But he had requested of her with the determination that even if he had to bring the whole entire realm down to ruins, he would still protect her and their child, making sure that no harm could be in their way. Yet, her worry was none of the harm that she may be faced with. 

Instead, she told him that she wasn't enough to stand by his side, holding onto a title and wearing a crown too heavy for an insignificant person like her. And it pained him because she had never realised that she was the exact opposite to inadequate. To him, she's enough. 

Oh, darned that. 

She was so much more than enough and what he felt for her doesn't even have a name. She was neither just the pink of the roses that grew in his mother's beautiful garden nor an illuminated star cradled by soft moonlight against the night. She's the plenitude of his world — holding all the radiance in his life in her eyes, captivating his beating heart with her hands and breathing all the air he needed for sustenance against her lips. He could only wonder what gave her the idea that she wasn't good enough when she was so much more than what he could ever wish for. 

"We're always going to say goodbye, aren't we?" he said in an undertone.

"Rowan, I love you and please understand why I had chosen that for us." Her hands reached to clutch onto the soft material of his sleeves, he felt how those hands had trembled as she held back the hurt against her lips. 

He wanted so desperately to just whisk her away, throw all her worries aside and let their love grow in the manner it deserved. At the same time, he also understood her and her decisions. If anything, he respected this woman enough to want to stand by her decisions. Giving himself one last chance, he bit back on the painful clench of his heart as he told himself that he had to try once more. 

"If you let me go, I'll never come back again, love," he whispered softly, though his words were merciless. He must let her know that if he couldn't keep her by his side and protect her from close proximity, he would have to make sure that no one would ever learn about her and their child. A man like him should never take the risk to even visit her in secret because a single fault in his step could result in a devastating turn of events. Closing his eyes, he asked her in an almost pleading tone, "Are you really going to let me go?"

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 please don't be angry at me.
(i'll drop an update tomorrow okay? pinky promise, no murdering of author. *teary eyes*)

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