She smiled. Indeed, they had been working hard for the past few months, on top of doing their best to raise a newborn. They even had to remind each other to carry Neridie from one place to another.

She let out a faint sigh, thinking about all the past months. Strangely, even if the days had been busy and often tiring, she felt like they had gone by in a flash. They had constantly worked hard, knowing there would be easier days to follow, that the Kingdom would heal by itself once they laid the foundations of its recovery. Even now, the reconstruction of the castle was still ongoing, but visible on each floor. No more wind running through the castle, and every bit that had been broken was now replaced by an even more beautiful piece. Some windows had been enlarged, and some walls torn down to make even bigger rooms. Every day, this castle resembled less and less the once corny building she had first walked into, and was turning more and more into a refined, welcoming building. Cessilia had more plans for this castle, like growing more plants and enlarging some of the balconies, but those could wait for later days...

“...We should plan to go to the island again,” he suddenly said.

She turned her head back to her fiancé, surprised.

“We haven’t been in a while,” he sighed. “I miss our time together a bit... and I feel like a bad future husband too. I’m sorry we haven’t been able to hold our ceremony yet. I don’t want you to think I’m...”

“Neglecting me?” Cessilia chuckled. “Pushing back? Stalling? Ashen, we’ve both been very busy. We even had a child, and it’s just been a year since I first came to this Kingdom... I miss our alone time too, but I don’t believe for a single second it’s your fault. You’re busy, we both are. And from what I have seen, you’re a very caring dad and a loving fiancé. I have no doubt it will go on even after we’re married. Also, we both agreed to have our ceremony once we’re ready for it.”

Ashen sighed and stopped walking, holding her hand. He looked a bit worried this time, making Cessilia frown.

“That’s the thing,” he muttered. “I’m ready. I’ve been ready to marry you since the first kiss we shared. I feel bad that I can’t give you the ceremony you deserve yet. If I had agreed to have it in the Empire, it would already be done, but I...”

Cessilia grabbed his cheeks, amused.

“Ashen. Ashen, look at me. We both wanted to have our ceremony here, remember? I want to marry my future husband in the country he’s the King of. Don’t let my aunt’s words get to you, please. I don’t need all the gold and jewels and never-ending banquets. I know what you’re thinking, but no. You don’t need to rival my family’s riches. Please... I want our ceremony to be just like us. Nothing showy. I don’t even need many people to attend; as far as I’m concerned, our family and friends would be enough. I’m pretty sure most of the Kingdom thinks we’re married already, and they are definitely aware we already had a few first nights in the same bed too.”

He laughed. Indeed, with the months their citizens had all spent witnessing the Princess’ pregnancy for themselves and congratulating her, no one in the Kingdom was unaware of their daughter’s existence. Cessilia smiled, and quickly kissed his lips.

“We are already married in my mind,” she said. “We’ve literally done everything but the ceremony, and we even have a beautiful daughter together. In fact, I’m happy we will have our little girl witnessing our wedding someday!”

Ashen brushed his hair back, a small smile gracing his lips. His hair had grown out a little, but he didn’t seem to care, allowing his future wife to manage the length. Smiling, he wrapped his arms around her waist and leaned in for a long, gentle kiss. Cessilia gladly returned his kiss, caressing his cheek, her other hand moving toward his torso. He was wearing a thin shirt, which she hoped to take off soon... Indeed, they had such little time for just the two of them together. They kissed until her back leaned against the wall, unable to stop, their lips caught in a delicious spell between them. Ashen gently caressed her waist, hugging her along with that kiss, as if he was trying to hold all of her in his arms.

After a few more seconds, Cessilia reluctantly turned her head, leaving his lips on her cheek, to end their kiss.

“Ashen... we really should go. Tessa is going to make fun of us to no end if we’re really late.”

He groaned at the mention of her cousin, knowing this was definitely true. Cessilia chuckled at his grouchy face. Now that was something everyone was more used to, the dark and broody King. She put a quick last kiss on his lips.

“Come on, Your Majesty,” she said, pulling his hand. “The sooner we can finish that meeting, the longer we will have to ourselves...”

Ashen’s faint smile reappeared, and he obediently followed his future Queen.

They had stopped very close to their destination, just a couple of corridors away. In fact, it was surprising that no one had seen the two of them kissing. Luckily, only they used the corridor they had come from, the one that led to their apartments. All of the other guests had come from outside the castle, and thus, from the main entrance. As soon as they stepped in, Naptunie jumped in front of Cessilia, smiling from one ear to the other, Darsan right behind her.

“How is she?” she asked right away.

“She’s sleeping,” Cessilia chuckled, “and she’ll probably sleep for a few more hours.”

“Is it alright to leave her by herself?” she asked, worried.

“Didi is sleeping with her, she’ll find us right away if there’s an issue.”

“My dragon used to chew our dad’s toes every time I was hungry!” laughed Darsan.

Next to him, Tessandra stepped forward, grimacing.

“That explains the bad breath,” she grumbled. “Dran should really stop eating everything...”

“He’s made progress,” frowned Naptunie. “At least now he’s fishing and hunting for himself, and only twice a day too!”

“Twice a day?” Cessilia repeated, surprised.

“W-well, he was getting a bit too heavy and all the hunting scared the cattle and fish away, so now I make sure he is more reasonable...”

“...A dragon on a diet,” Tessandra rolled her eyes. “She managed to put dumb Dran on a damn diet, and Darsan the Destroyer is now building houses and furniture... Nana, your taming talents will never cease to amaze me!”

“I already told you, he’s really not dumb! He’s just... very stubborn...”

Behind them, a lot of the people present were waiting to greet Cessilia, so she quickly left Tessandra and Naptunie to argue as always, walking away to greet their guests. Everyone invited to this council had a huge part to play in the future of the Kingdom. There were over a dozen representatives from various clans and tribes, as well as scholars, architects, doctors, guild leaders, and merchants from all corners of the Kingdom. The room itself had only a few seats for the elders who needed it, but the main feature was the gigantic table at its center. On that table, all sorts of maps, plans, detailed accounts, and other reports could be spread out and shown to the others. It had been one of Cessilia and Ashen’s wishes: an open council room, not restricted to a handful of people anymore, but open to literally anyone who had something to say. Aside from the fact that only adults were allowed in after a quick security check upon entry, any citizen of the Kingdom could come and partake in this council. After the first few councils where only a dozen people had shown up, they had waves of curious citizens who had come to see if the rumor about the councils being entirely open was true, sometimes completely filling the large room, but now they only had the most interested ones. There had been a few arguments, but Ashen didn’t need a throne to impose his authority. Just him standing at one end of the table was usually all they needed for everyone present to be on their best behavior with their neighbors.

Right now, though, the whole Council was already busy chatting, some arguing over a plan, or re-reading some accounts, but the King himself didn’t have eyes on the table. When Cessilia spotted him, he was standing a couple of steps behind his usual spot and chatting with Sabael. She stared, but the two men seemed to be speaking in a low voice, so she couldn’t hear them. Ashen suddenly felt her eyes on him, and they exchanged a glance over the table.

“...What’s he talking with Sab about?” Tessandra asked.

“Who knows,” Cessilia shrugged. “They have gotten closer.”

“Yeah,” Tessandra groaned, putting an arm on her cousin’s shoulder, “but look at their attitude... Why are they acting so sneaky? Sab definitely avoided my eyes just now!”

Cessilia glanced again toward her fiancé and Sabael. After staring for a bit longer, she had to agree with her cousin. What were those two chatting about...?

“What was that earlier?”

He froze, trying hard not to look up. If his eyes met hers, he knew she would never stop interrogating him until she got to the bottom of it. He cleared his throat and continued to look down on the blade he had been polishing. Of course, it wouldn’t be so easy.

“What are you talking about?” he asked calmly.

“You speaking with His Majesty earlier. You were both acting sneaky, Sab. What did he want to discuss with you? He obviously didn’t want Cessi to listen to it.”

He sighed. She was always so perceptive, it was hard to keep secrets from her. He finally glanced up. Tessandra was still staring at him, with that usual little frown between her eyebrows, her lips in a little pout and her arms crossed. She abandoned the piece of fish she had been attempting to prepare for their dinner, leaving the dirty knife planted on the chopping board. The kitchen counter was an impressive mess, as usual... He smiled. He was starting to really know her expressions by heart, even how she tilted her head like that when she was a bit nervous.

“He had something to ask me,” he simply said. “We were sneaky because he didn’t want your cousin to hear about it, as you already guessed. Why so curious?”

“Because you’re not telling me what it was about although I already asked twice,” she retorted. “What is it about Cessilia that you can’t tell me?”

“His Majesty asked me to keep it a secret, Tessa.”

“From me too?” She raised an eyebrow.

He sighed and put his sword aside.

“She’s your cousin, and you two are close. Plus, can’t we have some secrets between men?”

Tessandra pouted a bit more, obviously not convinced. She hated secrets, even more so when they were kept from her. Sabael decided to stand up and walk up to the kitchen counter instead. They had officially begun living together just a few months ago, and for some reason, Tessandra was extremely stubborn about learning how to cook. He had rarely seen her be so bad at something, but she really had no talent for cooking, despite each of her attempts being the most serious. He was even aware of her secretly taking lessons from his sisters, without much success. Sadly, he had actually found out by catching his siblings joking about it.

Today, like every time before, there was an impressive layout of ingredients, everything still raw and at best, poorly chopped. Tessandra’s talent with a sword did not translate well into her wielding of kitchen knives... She had left the fish meant to be their dinner in a poor state too after her first attempts to skin them. There was an impressive amount of skin left, considering how much flesh was gone, although the goal had obviously been the opposite. Embarrassed about her failure, Tessandra grabbed all the ingredients and tossed them into a large pot before she slammed it on the counter. Sabael grimaced.