The marriage peace treaty

Chapter 9 The Afterparty ( Part 2)

Seeing them all being so quieter Lucius clears his throat and then glares at his friends. Seeing Luciuses death glare they cover and feel wronged. What did they do? But finally one of them gets the memo.

Calvest: " Greetings, I hope that we can achieve a peaceful coexistence together." He says and holds out his hand for a handshake. Hearing this Luciuses glare becomes even more powerful but Maryden is oblivious. Instead, she accepts the handshake not feeling offended at all. 

Maryden: " I hope so as well. " She says softly like a gentle breeze. Seeing her response Lucius stops glaring at him and even smiles happily. Making Simone, Duke, and Zevry terrified. Is that really their general, no he must be a fake! Calvest did not see this though instead he is focused on Marydem.

Calvest: Is this person really the feared lone general, she speaks so gently. If he did not know better he would think that she was just a normal woman who did not massacre many soldiers by herself. Like they are just breakable dolls.

Calvest: " That is rea... (Lucius clears his throat) ...good to hear."

Maryden: " No, problem."

Lucius: " I can see the queen beckoning us so we must go." Hearing this Maryden look over to where her sister is and just as he said she is waiting for them. 

Calvest: " Goodbye, general."

Lucius: " I believe that I will soon lose that title so dont use it anymore." Hearing this the 4 of them gets upset but there is nothing they can do. It is all the King and queen's fault this happened. Why should Lucius greet the queen who asked their king to sell Lucius to her sister? As they think this the couple leaves to greet the queen.

The Queen: " I give my blessings to the couple." She says with elegance.

Lucius: " It is my honor to receive a blessing from the queen of Avilen." 

The Queen: " Oh, don't be so formal you are my brother-in-law now. So you are a part of the royal family now." Hearing this Maryden freezes a little but before anybody notices she returns to normal.

Maryde: Sister, it is not good to lie like that. Even if we are hiding my origin you did not need to mention this.

Lucius: " I am honored that you think that but as per your request I and my wife will move to the Harsh lands and as per the agreement won't both of us become stateless."

The Queen: " No, you will just create your own." Hearing this Lucius gets a little surprised, she does not fear any uprising power. Unlike the king of his kingdom, he thought that evry ruler of a nation would be a control freak. Or is it because I am marrying her sister and she trusts her sister so much that if I try she will stop me?

The Queen: " Now, now this is not why I wanted to speak with you. In fact, my goal is to give you my wedding gift."

Lucius: " Wedding gift?" Saying so she claps her hands and a servant appears with a Jar of what looks like red-colored pills. Then there is another servant that brings over a document. The servants give the pills to Maryden and the document to Lucius.

Lucius: " What is this?"

The Queen: " This is the newly created land deed of the Harsh lands and it also included the land deed for some farms and a magical stone vein just outside the Harsh lands. With this no one else can claim the Harsh lands as their own in the future as there is an approval seal of not only Dyrk and Avilen but also from 4 other neighboring countries."

Lucius: "... Then what of the pills?"

The Queen: " Oh, let's just say it will be useful to your wife when the night comes."  Hearing this even Maryden starts to blush. Even though she knows now what it is and it is not what Lucius thinks it is. It is still something she needs to use at that time. She did not want anything to reveal itself before she dares to tell him.

Lucius: " Then tell someone to put this in our room for now."

The Queen: " Sure, at this moment there is no way that anyone would want this anyway so we dont need to be so careful. Anyway, that is all, as the host I dont have any more free time than this. Also, be ready for the opening dance that is coming soon."

Lucius and Maryden: " Alright, your highness." After that, both of them stand still for a while completely quiet until Lucius starts to speak: "Don't you have anyone here that you what me to greet? Like friends and other family members?"

Maryden: " No, none of them are allowed to attend."

Lucius: " I see, but dont you have family from your mother's side?"

Maryden: " Yes... but we have never met before. During the years I lived in the palace they could not leave their territory since there is not only a plague in the south but also a famine that they needed to take care of. I heard it was solved during my military service but now instead I heard that they are in the morning. So why would they come for a wedding of a relative they dont know and besides I heard that they were furious with my mother for eloping." To her, this is very normal so she talks about it calmly as she is talking about the weather but to Lucius who is used to having a very close knitted family his heart pains for her. She is so lonely that she does not know that she is lonely. With this attitude, he can tell that even if she has some people that care for her it is not enough for her to not be isolated. Haa, he hopes that he will be able to fill up her lonely heart.

Now it is finally time for the opening dance. Instead of an orchestra, they use magic stones that can record melodies, and all the gemstones are engraved into the walls and roof. Making this ballroom very extravagant. This place is indeed the royal palace, it simply reeks of money. A servant turns on the music and Lucius and Maryden walk towards the dance floor with Lucius holding her wrist. Seeing that she looks a little apprehensive he fears that she does not want to dance with him.

Lucius: " What is it, could it be that you dislike dancing with me?" He says as he looks a little dejected like an abandoned puppy.

Maryden: " Ah, no, I... I am just very bad at dancing." She says bluntly. Hearing this he is relieved and a little happy. She is so cute when she has no embarrassment when she admits her flaws. So unlike the other women, he has met before. This is probably not unique to her but it is to him.

Lucius: "That's good, dont worry I will take the lead and help you. We can do a simpler dance." He says reassuringly.

Maryden: "Thank you."

So when they are in the middle of the dance floor he takes her left and puts it on his shoulder. Then he puts his left hand on her waist and his free hand is holding her free hand. He starts to do his steps and twirls and guides her perfectly. So perfectly that she had not even once stepped on his feet. Although she is so focused on the dance that it is like he doesn't exist he is also too focused but not with the dance but with her and his raising heartbeat. They are so close that he can feel her smell of roses. Making him wonder what her real smell is like. He can feel her thin get muscular waist and see her lovely lips up close. He owns so much, what does she look like? Will she be as pretty as he imagines or maybe she is hiding her face because of an ugly scar or rash? She does not seem like a person who would do that, but maybe she was ordered to since she is the queen's sister. But as he thinks about it, it did not really matter to him if she was ugly or not. He is sure that no matter what she will look pretty in his eyes. After all, is that not what love does? Making the receiving person look like a goddess in their eyes no matter what. He is sure that it will be so after all there is no way that he is a shallow person. If he was wouldn't he already have someone by his side? After all, there are a lot of attractive back home that were vying for his love. But he will not rush her to reveal her face to him after all only a bastard would force a woman to do so. 

Once the opening dance is done, then everyone stepped into the dance floor and Lucius even convinced Maryden to dance a few more songs with her. After the dance, the banquet started, and they ate and excepted all of the wedding gifts the nobles gave them. From painting to swords and even some medical herbs, they needed to accept them all while being very polite. It was very tiring for both of them and once they entered their bedroom for the night both of them let out a big sigh.