Chapter 15

Elara twitches heavily, gets up and I can tell she's flustered.

{Elara}: „Uwaa this is a bit sudden. Ah I don't know what to say."

{Leo}: „Take your time."

{Elara}: „Yes! Of course! You better not take that back."

{Leo}: „Who do you take me for? haha this is so like you."

{Elara}: „Wh-What do you mean by that…"

{Leo}: „So I guess we're engaged now. I'm pretty happy to be able to say that, you know?"

{Elara}: „I bet! Hahaha"

{Leo}: „You sure don't lack self confidence."

She lied back down and I noticed how she was trying to sleep but was too excited to. In the end I fell asleep before her and we were back at the palace in no time.

It was still a long time for Adelinde and Leopold to return from their excursion, so the palace should be pretty quiet right now. That's what I hope at least.

By the time we arrived, the sun was already way past the horizon and there were barely any employees working the garden, leaving it silent and creepily empty.

Then came the time to meet the king and report back.

{The King}: „Are there any news? Anything you'd like to report?"

{Leo}: „It seems we became quite the celebrity in the time we were there. The nobles all already knew who we are. There were also a few conspiracies floating around, but they were able to be managed."

{The King}: „Is that all?"

{Elara}: „Well also… We are now engaged. We also rekindled our relations to Lysander and Aldric."

{The King}: „So marriage, huh? Just hold an informal one and I won't be against it."

{Elara}: „Excuse me?! How can the highest nobles in the land hold an informal wedding? What is the meaning of this, father?"

{The King}: „Don't forget your manners, Elara. As my child, you are expected to endure, what has to be endured."

{Elara}: „You didn't even ask of Aldric's condition… You didn't care, did you? You abandoned him and left him in deep depression. When we met him, he was on the brink of suicide."

{The King}: „Escort them out. There is nothing left of worth anymore. Elara, I have much to do, so please stay pleased with this amount of attention."

*outside*

{Elara}: „I'm sorry… I shouldn't have brought up Aldric. Now we have to hold an informal wedding because of me."

{Leo}: „Don't beat yourself up over it. It's not like having an informal wedding is the end of the world. Let's just invite some friends and celebrate with only a few people."

{Elara}: „Sure. I'm guessing the talk of war will have to wait until Leopold returns. He will surely go to war too after all, so we'll have some free time."

{Leo}: „Sure."

Elara grabs my hands and I lead her to her room.

*In the distance I hear maids chatting*

„ Look, I guess it really is true. They look so cute together."

„ It's a shame not everyone can see this. This is a must see."

„ You think they did it already? I fear for the Lady sometimes. Someone like Leo is surely rough."

You know I can hear you, right? And what do you mean by that, dirty minded little girl? I'll have you know, that I am in fact not the rough one in this relationship.

{Elara}: „Gosh they are so clueless haha."

{Leo}: „Exactly what I was thinking."

I try to enjoy myself, considering the fact, that I am engaged right now, but the imminent war is eating away at my nerves. I honestly don't think going to war would be the worst option. If I just participate for a year, the war would be over anyways. I'm honestly kind of scared of myself with actual weapons, without being arrogant of course. Again, I don't want to sound full of myself but with me at the frontlines, the morale would increase drastically and the war would be a done deal. I don't see myself dying to some eastern-kingdom scrubs.

Luckily, medicine and hygiene isn't as advanced yet, so our numbers to use in wars are sparse, which applies to all kingdoms. This means, that the skill of a single soldier is brought forth more and has more of an impact. That is also why Leopold is sent to war even though he is a primary branch noble, he's just that big of an asset.

I should honestly use this time to train and to get used to wearing armor and weapons made for war. It would boost my survivability rate by a huge margin. I should talk to Elara about it.

Well… it can wait. I don't think the bedroom is the right place to bring up talks of war.

Elara has become more active recently and I think it's an emotional response to the possibility of me being gone. This night again, she showed signs of seeking closeness. The worst I could do to the current Elara is leave for a long time. I have to absolutely not make her feel abandoned by me. It could easily turn toxic that way. When I mentioned training, she also insisted on being near me while I trained.

It was to the point I genuinely started worrying for her. I also heard from her maids, that she'd become more self conscious of her body and obviously more insecure. The most obvious sign of that was… The coverage of her eyes, that she was known to prefer over showing an infected, bloodshot eye. While in bed, she tended to just close her eyes completely, as to cover her eyes. It's sad to see her in this state so I got distracted from training. I just had to have a talk with her.

{Leo}: „Elara, I wanted to talk to you. Like seriously."

{Elara}: „Sure, what is it?"

{Leo}: „Are you scared of me leaving you? You know I would never do that to you."

{Elara}: „What brought this about?"

{Leo}: „It's just an observation, so don't mind if it's not accurate, but I've started to worry about your well-being. You know I find you to be the most beautiful, even without you covering your eyes."

{Elara}: „Haha, so you've noticed. If you want, I can take the coverage off."

{Leo}: „Elara, this isn't about me. It's about what you want. Just promise me, that you will live how you want and don't let me control your life."

{Elara}: „But… Do you mind controlling my life? I thought you loved me?"

Wait… This sounds a bit too crazy for my liking. Just now, all the alerts in my body went off. This is a death flag for sure, from Elara at that.

{Leo}: „The thing is… I shouldn't be controlling your life. Being in love means wanting the best for the other person. If I notice, that you start feeling something like being too self conscious, of course I'd get worried."

{Elara}: „Sure, I'll stop doing that then. I'm sorry…"

Wha… She missed the whole point of the conversation. Somethings wrong and I don't think I'm qualified to fix it. It's weird to feel this way about Elara, who I thought to be the most down to earth. This isn't enough to make me lose my feelings for her, though. It's obvious it's some deep seated struggle, that she doesn't talk about. It'd be for the best to just do my best to be a good fiancé to her and hope she finds the time to fix it herself. Without being a master at psychology like Adelinde is, I would only make it worse by trying to fix it. Just like I did right now.

After about a week from coming home, the king urged us to follow through with the informal wedding. We decided to hold a small party in the gardens with a few people we know. Lysander was also there. It was during midday and the sun shined bright that day. It was the only day, that I felt Elara losing some of her recent bad habits. I guess the day of her marriage distracted her enough, not to spiral back into old habits.

After the wedding, the Head butler of the palace, who served directly under the king wanted to have a talk with me in the kings stead. He is probably the closest to the king except for his wife. They're known to be dear friends. His name is Gareth Stone.

{Gareth}: „I heard of your wedding and intend to congratulate you. But of course, that is not all I'm here for."

{Leo}: „I am well aware. Is this concerning the governing of an area as Emperor?"

{Gareth}: „Haha, do you lack so much trust for our current emperors? Well, yes, you'd be right."

{Leo}: „Can you afford sending me away this close to war breaking out?"

{Gareth}: „The king still hasn't given up on the chance of peace. He doesn't believe war to be our biggest problem right now. There have been a lot of complains from our people and farmers living in the third area governed by Emperor Reinhardt."

I remember. That's where Eldenhoph is located. It makes sense, considering that Reinhardt has been doing a miserable job at supervising his people. That's a fact, considering the biggest city under his influence is known as a free city, ruled over by criminals.

{Leo}: „Is that where Elara and I will be stationed?"

{Gareth}: „That's how it seems. Considering Reinhardt's noble lineage has recently died out, making him practically powerless against the king, It's high time for him to retire his post to someone more capable. We at the royal palace hope, that you are that someone."

{Leo}: „I won't disappoint his majesties orders."

{Gareth}: „Great, I already talked with Elara and she told me to let you decide. Consider it an honor."

{Leo}: „I am sure, that the exact departure is still unsure? Please do inform me in a timely manner."

{Gareth}: „Haha, I'll have the details ready by the day after tomorrow. Until then, Prince Leo von Eisenhart."

Haaa~ Of course she put all the responsibility on me, it's to be expected from her recent actions. It also feels kind of weird to hear someone address me as prince. I could get used to it, though.

I spent the rest of the day training in armor and sparring with some of the guards, that came to challenge me. Of course, I never lost.

After all, my dear wife had been watching me the entire time, well… I should say hear.

{Leo}: „It's already late, why don't we proceed to dinner?"

{Elara}: „Yes, I'd love to! Have you talked to Gareth already?"

{Leo}: „Yes… I agreed to his demands."

{Elara}: „Great. Do you already have plans for our stay in the third area?"

{Leo}: „Earlier, I had requested for all the information we had on it from the maids, so I'll read through it soon."

{Elara}: „Ok. Well… you know, Leo~ tonight is our wedding night. So…"

I wonder what will expect me tonight. She has been lustful every night till now, so I'm kind of scared for what is to come on our wedding night.

Just when I began worrying, dinner was already behind us and Elara grabbed my hand with a bone-chilling expression. Somehow, she must have memorized the way to her room, because she took my hand and dragged me to it.

{Leo}: „Don't you think, y-you're being a bit too rough?"

She opened her eyes and looked right at me, while coming to an abrupt halt.

{Elara}: „I thought you liked it? If you want, I can stop…"

Crazy.

{Leo}: „Ah…no, continue please."

{Elara}: „Alright."

She went right back to practically dragging me to her room. As we were walking, the maids must have noticed and all gave us 'that' stare. A shiver went down my spine and my eyes were tingling, as my heart was heating up.

This must be the price I pay for living such a comfortable life.