Final Chapter: A New Beginning

The next time I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was a grid of tiles patterned with pale green trees. After I’d spent a few, long moments staring up in a daze, I finally realized it was some kind of ceiling.

“It’s a ceiling... or is it?”

My throat was so raw that my voice cracked as I spoke. I needed to drink some water.

For the moment, I closed my mouth and glanced around. I soon discovered that it was the canopy of a bed I had been gazing up at, the sheer curtains drawn around me.

It looked like a pretty expensive place to sleep. The bedding was soft, too. It was airy but still plenty warm—not to mention ten times fluffier than the straw-filled mattresses I always slept on during our travels.

“Is this down?”

Why was I sleeping on such a luxurious bed? Thinking back on the events soon led me to the answer.

“Oh, right. This is the royal palace.”

Whether we were on the heels of a war, or whether enemy soldiers had occupied the estate, there was bound to be a bed set or two left behind, and the beds themselves obviously wouldn’t be going anywhere. We must have commandeered one of them after I passed out. The room was quiet, and through the curtains, I could see there was a jug of water and a glass left out nearby.

That meant all the fighting had come to an end. Only after we had driven all the enemy soldiers out of the castle and removed the Llewynians from the royal capital would it have been safe to leave me alone like this.

I sat up, planning to help myself to some water before worrying about anything else. My voice was way too hoarse to call for anyone at the moment.

I felt a tiny pang in my chest as I pulled myself upright. Just as the Thorn Princess had warned me, I hadn’t made a full recovery yet. She had advised me to heal the rest of it myself, so that was probably the best plan of action.

I gathered up the veil and pulled it off to the side. When I reached out to grab the jug on the nightstand beside the bed, I finally noticed what else was sitting there.

Next to the clay body of Master Horace was another small, ocher figurine with a featureless face and a simple design. Its right hand was positioned near its head, while its left hand hung by its waist. There was no mistaking it: it was a Kofun-style clay figurine.

Hm.

Putting that aside, I grabbed the glass, poured myself some water from the jug, and drained the cup. When I set the glass back down with a big, refreshed sigh, someone spoke up.

“So you’re finally awake. I’ve been waiting for this moment, Kiara.” That stock villain line had come from the ocher figurine. Vibrating in indignation, it shouted, “Why did you bring me back after everything was finally over?! It would be one thing if you’d revived me in my original body—but what is THIS?! What were you thinking, sticking me inside such an outlandish doll?! Kiaraaaaa!”

I was so relieved to hear the Thorn Princess alive and well that I couldn’t help breaking into a smile. “Oh, good. You’re nowhere near as angry as I expected.”

“Excuse me?! How, pray tell, do I not sound angry to you?! Don’t tell me you’re still dreaming!” huffed the clay Thorn Princess, flapping her limbs about as she did.

The final spell I had cast was to imprison her soul in a clay figurine, just like I had with Master Horace. There was no getting back her body now that it had crumbled to nothing, but I’d thought this would be an acceptable alternative.

For the record, the reason I’d gone with this particular design was because, well... nothing better had popped to mind when I tried to envision “an earthen doll.” All I really wanted was for her to have a chat with Reggie anyway, so I figured this form would do in the interim. And hey, it made her a matching set with Master Horace, too.

I was glad to see I had pulled it off without a hitch. Besides, no matter how loudly she screamed at me, it didn’t seem like the Thorn Princess was genuinely angry with me.

“If you were really that mad, I figure you would have just slapped me awake. And you definitely wouldn’t have waited for me to finish drinking my water.”

That comment got the Thorn Princess’s ocher figurine to slump forward, pressing both of her hands on the table. “My lord, it’s like talking to a wall...”

Next came Master Horace’s cackle. “After waiting three whole days to air your grievances, it’s no wonder a reaction like that would get you down! Eeeheehee!”

Apparently, three days had gone by since I passed out.

“Wh-What an infuriating person you are! The disciple took after the master, I see!”

“You’re better off just letting it go. Being stuck in a body like this doesn’t change much. All I wanted was to live a quiet life, and you had already renounced the world. You might as well take the opportunity to watch over your kid’s future, sticking your nose in his business enough to make up for all the fussing you haven’t been able to do.”

“Ugh...” The Thorn Princess swallowed the complaint on the tip of her tongue.

“Something tells me that deep down, you were glad for the chance to sit down and talk with the prince. How about it? Eh?”

“Gggh...” Despite her mortified groaning, she gave a reluctant nod of her head. “Of course I was... I was never able to say a proper goodbye to him. I had so many things to tell him.”

Judging by that reply, the Thorn Princess had already had an opportunity to talk to Reggie.

“Thanks for sitting down and talking with Reggie. He thought you had abandoned him for so long. I bet it took a load off his mind to know that you’d been watching over him and working to save him this whole time.”

“Nnngh...” She went back to whimpering. “Like mentor, like disciple—you both know just what to say to make a woman feel guilty. A truly loathsome pair.”

“Erm, if you really hate it that much, I can dispel the magic whenever you like. Just ask me and I’ll do it.”

It sounded like she’d already spoken to Reggie, and she seemed satisfied with how the conversation had gone, so maybe she really was ready to go. Thus, I offered her an out in case she wanted to pass on rather than hang on to life as a clay doll.

That’d be fair. It’s a funny look, but I don’t know if I’d call it “cute” at first glance. It’s probably better if the vessel matches the tastes of the one inside it, anyway.

“I’m... fine for now,” came the Thorn Princess’s mumbled response.

I couldn’t stop myself from cracking a grin. That could only mean that she wanted to stay by Reggie’s side a little bit longer.

With a delighted cackle, Master Horace rang a bell sitting atop the nightstand. Following that relatively loud clang, a woman came in from just outside the door. Judging by her dark livery, she must have been one of the servants left behind in the royal palace.

Though she seemed somewhat daunted by the two clay figurines, she heard out Master Horace’s request and left the room to prepare me a meal.

Well, I say “meal,” but considering I’d been asleep for three days, she didn’t bring anything too extravagant. I ate some soup and a soft piece of bread. Once I’d had some time to digest, a handful of people entered the room.

“How are you holding up, Kiara?!”

“Are you feeling alright?”

Gina and Girsch burst in, followed by Cain. The three frostfoxes trailed in after them, too.

Oh, Lila shrank back to normal! That’s great. Now you don’t have to worry about getting kicked out of the house, huh? I’m sure she can handle the cold of the winter just fine, but it would’ve been sad if she had to be the odd one out.

Reynard was giving off vibes of I just got dragged along for the ride, seemingly more interested in the room than in me. Panting excitedly all the while, he went around sniffing at the walls and the legs of the chairs. Sara trailed after him with an air of nonchalance.

Sitting up in my bed, I told my visitors, “My chest hurts a little, but I’m fine otherwise.”

My mana had settled down, too, so I was sure I was going to be fine.

When he heard that, Cain looked immensely relieved. “Please don’t try anything like that again; it was terrible for my heart. I realize you didn’t have much of a choice, but I was horribly worried for you.” He came to my bedside and gave me a pat on the head. “If you were to die, I’d have to take responsibility as your bodyguard and follow after you. Remember that.”

That was some awfully heavy rationale he’d slipped into his scolding.

“Uh... Right. It won’t happen again.”

I was about to add, As long as it’s not a life-or-death situation, but I rethought that one and simply nodded instead.

“Aw, but every girl has those moments where she wants to do something a little crazy,” Girsch chimed in, offering a peculiar sort of understanding. I couldn’t help giggling.

“By the way, would you mind telling me what happened while I was out cold?”

We had spent so much time talking about the Thorn Princess’s clay doll situation that I still had no clue what else was going on.

Girsch was happy to oblige my request. According to the mercenary, we had cleared the castle of all enemies. All our foes in the royal capital had either been apprehended or slain.

“I’m betting it will take another week or so before things settle down in the capital. The Salekhardian troops are supposed to stick around for a little longer after that, too.”

“Oh! Did Isaac and his men make it out okay?”

“Please, that king is perfectly capable of fending for himself! It helps that he doesn’t have a reason to die anymore, either,” said Girsch, dropping that blithely cruel comment with a laugh. Gina giggled at the joke herself, so I figured this was just the poor guy’s lot in life.

“How much damage did the Farzian troops take?”

“They had a tough time after you left to infiltrate the palace,” Gina answered. “The monster didn’t show its face again, but there were a lot of defective spellcasters. We opted to surround them rather than run at them blindly, so it took a while to wrap things up.”

One more person entered the room in the middle of our conversation.

“How are you feeling, Kiara?”

It was Reggie. Just seeing his face put me at ease.

Though he was back home in the royal palace, he was still dressed for war. His armor was the only part of his uniform he had removed, and he still had his sword hanging from his waist.

When my eyes met with his pale blue ones, the reality of the situation finally sank in. I’m really alive. And Reggie is here with me.

“Sorry for causing so much trouble. I’m all better now, though.”

“I see... That’s good to hear.”

Reggie came up beside my bed, only to give a wordless stroke of my hair. All he did was gaze silently at me, and the strangest part was that I could somehow pick up on exactly what he was trying to convey.

“We just came to see how you were doing. Looks like you have a little more color in your cheeks now. Good,” said Alan, who had come along with Reggie. He got close enough to take a quick look at my face, then backed off again.

“Thanks for taking care of the fight in the royal capital, Alan. I’d heard you took your fair share of damage, but I’m glad to see you’re doing alright.”

“It was to be expected, really. We weren’t going to get off without taking somewhat of a beating,” he responded. He then made to leave the room, having barely said anything at all. “Well, I’m satisfied to see you alive and well. I have a lot of work to do, so let’s catch up later.”

He called on Gina, Girsch, and Cain to accompany him. Gina took Master Horace and the clay version of the Thorn Princess with her as she left.

“Well then, if you’ll excuse me, Your Majesty,” said Groul, who had accompanied Reggie here. “We will be holding a meeting shortly, so I shall see you there.” He stepped out of the room as well, ushering the servant lady out as he went.

Reggie and I were the only ones left in the room. It didn’t take long for me to figure out that everyone was trying to give us some alone time.

“Kiara,” Reggie murmured softly, sitting on the edge of my bed and wrapping me up in a gentle hug.

He just stayed like that for a good, long while—almost as if he had too many things to say and he was trying to decide where to start.

Finally, he opened his mouth to speak. “I’m so glad you didn’t die. When I had to watch you stab yourself, I didn’t know what I was going to do.”

“I know. Sorry.”

I knew I had worried him, so I just kept my mouth shut and nodded. Yet Reggie only responded by pulling back and—for reasons that escaped me—reaching out to pinch my nose.

“Ngah?!”

“Don’t say things you don’t mean. I just knew you were going to do this, you know—that you’d apologize or offer some platitudes about how you wouldn’t let yourself die, only to brush it under the rug and act like it never happened.”

“Bwut I—!”

Ugh, my voice is coming out all weird now!

“I realize that you felt you had no choice, given the situation. It was the best way to stop the queen. The Thorn Princess... rather, Mother said that although she can use the magic of possession, she’s not skilled enough to exert much control over a living target, so we wouldn’t have been able to get rid of the queen without you nearly killing yourself.”

“I’b weally soww—”

Gah! I want to apologize, but I can’t even talk properly!

“I can’t tawk like dis, Reggie!” I protested, grabbing him by the wrist in the hopes that he would let go. Unfortunately, it just happened to be his right arm.

“Tch...” He grimaced, reflexively taking his hand off my nose.

Oh, crap. His right arm was injured. Even worse, I’m the one who did it to him—even if the queen was possessing me at the time.

“I can heal—”

“No. You’re banned from using magic for the foreseeable future.”

He made another grab for my nose. When I lifted my arm to shield my face, pain seared through my wound. “Ouch!”

“Are you alright?!” Reggie fretted as I clamped a hand over my lower chest.

“It just hurts a little, that’s all. Once I’ve recovered my strength, I can heal the rest myself.”

“I see. Regardless, Mother is right; you shouldn’t be using any magic until you’ve gotten some rest. Winter is coming, in any case. No one is going to keep on fighting through sleet and snow, so we won’t have to worry about getting attacked in the meantime.”

I noticed something in his words. “Oh, you’re calling the Thorn Princess ‘Mother’ now. Did you two talk a little?”

“Yes. My knights made some time for us to sit down together... right after you collapsed, actually.”

That was good to hear.

“I had no idea she was still alive, so it took me by surprise. She told me that if you hadn’t yelled out her name when you did, she was planning to fade away without uttering a word on the matter.”

“I knew it.”

I’d only said her name in the heat of the moment, but I was glad that I had. If I hadn’t turned her into a clay figurine, Reggie never would have had the chance to talk with his mother, and trying to explain everything after the fact would have left me in a very awkward position.

Reggie was clearly pleased with the outcome, too. I could see his features had softened.

“Oh, and Sir Groul called you ‘Your Majesty,’ didn’t he? Does that mean you’ve already taken the throne?”

Reggie nodded. “I made the proclamation as soon as the battle came to an end. My coronation will have to be on the smaller side, but I plan to get it over with next week. Seeing as these were far from the typical circumstances for a king’s demise, there won’t be anyone to keep the country running otherwise.”

If the king had passed away normally, the people serving under him could have governed until a new ruler was crowned. Unfortunately, the vassals of the royal family had largely been killed or sent away themselves, and few to none remained in the royal palace.

Reggie had to take up the reins of Farzia as soon as possible. We still had to reward all the territories who had joined the war effort, not to mention send aid to the regions that had suffered damage. First and foremost, however, we had to reconstruct the royal capital. Reggie barely had a spare moment to breathe.

I was worried about how he was going to handle all that, considering he was still injured, but he claimed he would be fine. “I know which vassals have fled to the nearby provinces and how long it would take them to rush over here. I’ve moved Aunt Beatrice out from Sestina as well, so she should be here to help us for a while. I have plenty of options.”

From the sound of it, the king had entrusted Reggie with quite a bit of work in the past, so it wasn’t as though he was going to have to learn everything from scratch. Above all else, if Reggie believed he could pull it off, I knew he was going to be just fine.

While relief washed over me, he went on, “That said, I plan to hold a much grander ceremony in the spring.”

“In the spring? What, are you going to summon a bunch more people and hold a second coronation?”

Does he have to hold it twice for some political reason? I wondered, giving a puzzled tilt of my head.

Reggie laughed. “I don’t mean a coronation, Kiara.” He grabbed me gently by the wrist, pulling me closer. Then, he clarified, “I want to marry you.”

That was the last thing I expected to hear, and I let out a surprised gasp.

I knew our feelings were mutual, and he’d implied things to that effect before. Still, I hadn’t expected him to actually pop the question until things had calmed down a little. Were things ever truly going to “calm down,” though?

Nevertheless, I was ecstatic. With each passing second, more and more joy welled up within me.

“It does mean I’ll be burdening you with the title of ‘queen’... but even so, I want you to stay with me forever. I want you to be mine. Is that alright?”

As self-conscious as it made me to be asked that question point-blank, I nodded. “Erm, but I’m not sure if I’ll make a very good queen. I’m also worried about whether my status will be an issue.”

Legally, I was the daughter of a relative of Évrard’s margrave. Hardly a proper aristocrat. I’d expressed this concern to other people before, but I wanted to hear some assurance from the man himself.

Evidently, he didn’t see it as an issue at all. “If you’re that worried, we can ask Aunt Beatrice to adopt you. That said, you’re the spellcaster who led our troops to victory. Seeing as your credentials go far beyond a mere title, I doubt anyone would claim you aren’t fit to be queen.”

He reached out to brush his fingers against my cheek. “I’m not about to tell you that it won’t be a heavy responsibility. If you bring Mother along with you, however, she’ll tell you everything you need to know about how to conduct yourself. For anything else that troubles you, you can simply shut them up with your title of spellcaster and a show of power to back it up.”

With that radical declaration of his, Reggie brought his face close to mine. He softly kissed my cheek, then whispered in my ear, “Well, what’s your answer?”

“Yes. I want to stay by your side... forever.”

No sooner had I answered than Reggie sealed my mouth with his. His lips felt cool against mine as I took in the warm sigh of his breath. The first time we’d kissed, embarrassment had been the strongest thing I felt, but after doing it so many times now, it had gradually come to feel completely natural to me.

It was just like holding hands. The first time we’d done it, I thought my head was going to explode, but it was amazing what sort of things you could get used to. By the time my mind had started wandering to the very first time we’d entwined our hands together, Reggie pulled his face away from mine.

“I’m glad you didn’t turn me down.”

“Why, were you worried? It wasn’t the first time you’ve brought it up.”

Reggie had made all sorts of comments that could only work under the assumption that we were going to be married one day. I was pretty sure the only reason he hadn’t straight-up proposed earlier was because he hadn’t known what would happen in the battle against the queen. There had always been a chance one of us might die and leave the other behind.

“Nobles are supposed to stay engaged for a full year, right? I was afraid you might think spring was too early.”

“That was what you were worried about?!”

“That was, in fact, what I was worried about,” came his nonchalant reply. “But if we’re married, you see, I can bring you to whatever functions or meetings I have to attend.”

Was he really so loath to be apart, even for such short occasions? The thought was enough to make me downright bashful.

“Can you blame me? Men seem to take a liking to you quite easily. Even keeping you close by, there was still the constant risk of Wentworth stealing you away, and the moment I took my eyes off you, you got quite familiar with King Isaac, too,” he murmured, his lips hovering just next to my ear. “I can never be too careful with you, can I?”

“Hold it, I didn’t go around seducing them or anything! Besides, Sir Cain misread his own feelings in the first place, and he knows how I feel about you!”

“Sure, let’s leave it at that. Either way, your willingness to be wed with such haste is quite the relief for me,” he said with a laugh.

◇◇◇

Ultimately, it took a full month before I could use enough magic to heal myself. That was still a month sooner than the Thorn Princess had predicted, however.

“Your mana levels simply aren’t right, my child. And that’s to say nothing of how resilient you are,” she had commented.

“This disciple of mine’s always been a weird one,” had been Master Horace’s rude reply.

Hey, what’s so bad about being a little abnormal?! It just means I healed even faster!

Meanwhile, the nobility who had sided with Llewyne had made a show of their newfound allegiance by surrendering. In the face of their pleas for mercy, Reggie had confiscated their territories and thrown the lot of them in prison. Of course, it wasn’t like he had much of a choice. If he had let them run free, there was no telling which country they might have teamed up with to betray him next.

Now that those provinces had lost their rulers, they had been temporarily absorbed into the royal domain. Later on, they were to be divvied up among the various heroes of the war effort.

Another month later, Isaac, Gina, and Girsch all returned home to Salekhard. They had to make it back before the snow started coming down in earnest.

I said my goodbyes to Isaac, who had been staying at the royal palace in the interim, the day before he set out.

“I must admit I have my concerns about how you’ll manage as a queen, but I’m glad you got your wish. Hang in there.”

His pat on the head and words of encouragement were enough to make me blush.

Back in Trisphede, he had given up on me when he realized I was in love with Reggie. Considering he had been forced to watch his brother and Gina’s relationship fall apart once before, he probably didn’t want to see anything of the sort happen ever again.

“Thanks, Isaac. Take care of yourself.”

We shook hands with a smile.

Unsurprisingly, Isaac wasn’t going to be able to pop down to attend our springtime wedding. Salekhard was in fairly dire straits at the moment. The only reason he had stayed in Farzia as long as he had was to work out the details of our postwar agreement.

“She’s a little on the smaller side, but I’m happy to see you found yourself a new mama, Kiara. If I ever have the chance, I’ll zip down to say hi,” Girsch said, giving me a pat on the head.

I couldn’t thank Girsch enough for being such a wonderful mother figure to me. I doubted it was going to be that easy to come down and visit, though. Girsch was planning to go back into the mercenary business, so the only real opportunity to leave Salekhard would be for wars or conflicts. Still, I was no less pleased to hear those words.

“Thank you so much for everything. I hope with all my heart that we can meet again someday.”

The mercenary gave several enthusiastic nods in response.

When it was my and Gina’s turn to say goodbye, she wrapped me up in a big bear hug. “Thank you, Kiara. It’s all thanks to you that I didn’t have to give up on my love, and while you were at it, you even saved this idiot king of ours. I don’t even know what to say, really—but no matter what happens, I’ll always be on your side!”

At the declaration that another country’s queen-to-be would always come first in her eyes, Isaac gave a dry little laugh in the background. Gina was a woman of her word, so there was a good chance she meant every bit of it. I could already imagine her taking Isaac head-on, sword in hand and her frostfoxes at her side.

Of course, the man Gina held dear was a prince of Salekhard. Some situations were bound to come up where she couldn’t put me first. I was pretty sure she had said it knowing that, however.

“Thank you. I appreciate the sentiment, really.”

“I know. I’m going to come see you as soon as possible! There’s a certain someone I need to introduce to you, too.”

Based on that remark, I might be meeting her loved one sooner rather than later.

“Please do. I’ll be waiting.”

◇◇◇

Once those goodbyes had been exchanged, the preparations for our rush-order wedding began.

By this point, Reggie’s attendant, Mabel, had returned from her safe haven of Tarinahaea, so she was the one who ended up taking the reins on the project.

When she’d heard about Linesse the Clay Doll, she had gasped, wept, and—after a heart-to-heart about everything that had happened up until now—gone to work with such vigor that you would never have guessed her actual age.

In addition to preparing the cloth and gathering the seamstresses, we even called on expert designers, and soon the tailoring of the perfect dress to match Reggie’s wedding regalia was underway. I was only shown the design and asked for my approval, making the whole ordeal a pretty laid-back experience for me.

From the very bottom of my heart, I was glad I had kept Linesse’s soul in this world, even if it was only as a clay figurine. Thank God she’s here. I haven’t the slightest clue what preparing for a wedding takes!

In the meantime, I went to work repairing the walls around the royal capital. The citizens of the capital, including those who had just returned home after evacuating for the war, watched as I put their city back together, deeply touched by my handiwork.

During the snowy season, I helped sew the outfits. While I was checking other minor tasks off the list, I tried my hand at playing carpenter, too. Any parts of the royal palace that needed to be repaired or refurbished, I could fix up in the blink of an eye with my magic. The place was almost entirely made of stone, after all.

Aside from that, I took care of the various things I was told I should do before becoming queen: relearning the names of Farzia’s nobility, reviewing proper etiquette, and so on.

At long last, spring rolled around.

◇◇◇

Our wedding ceremony was held in a cathedral near the royal palace. It was a beautifully sunny day, so we rode in an open carriage.

I didn’t feel the slightest bit nervous, mysteriously enough. The reason for that likely came down to the steed drawing our carriage: a certain giant goat I’d become very familiar with.

Obviously, that goat belonged to Lord Enister, who had come running as soon as he’d heard about our wedding. He had absolutely insisted on playing the role of usher, and he wouldn’t take no for an answer.

“Hardly any time has passed since we retook the royal capital,” he had said. “I have no desire to just sit back and watch from the safety of the cathedral. I wish to protect His Majesty alongside my trusty steed.”

Even his goat was dressed for the occasion, with a wreath of colorful flowers adorning its neck. For the record, Lord Enister was also wearing a garland on his head, which was so cute and surreal that it brought a smile to my face. It was very nice of him to wear it for us.

Each time I locked eyes with Reggie, I burst out giggling.

This was a king’s wedding and all, so I’d always known that we couldn’t just make it a laid-back ceremony for our closest friends. Seeing as I had feared this was going to be a much more formal, stuffy affair, I was very grateful for Lord Enister adding a dash of humor to the proceedings.

Reggie’s royal guard was following behind our carriage. Groul and Felix trotted along on their horses, clad in dark military uniforms with their blue capes fluttering in the wind.

There were even more people lining the road of the royal capital than I had expected. Not everyone who had evacuated during the war had come home yet, but the city still looked bursting with life, all manner of people and things gathered for the occasion.

Before long, we arrived at the cathedral.

As I was about to step down from the carriage, Reggie—who had been the first to alight—said, “Come here, Kiara.” Rather than simply offering me a hand, Reggie wrapped his arms around my waist and lifted me down to the ground.

He gave me a squeeze around the hips, the train of my white dress dancing in the wind. This dress was what we had sewn during the winter. It was a gorgeous gown; layers of delicate lace ran from the chest to the waistline, with a myriad of pearls sewn into the fabric. A tiara made of silver and diamonds completed the look, along with a veil long enough to cover the hem of my dress.

I was glad that wearing a veil was a part of Farzian tradition, too. Though I’d been informed it was a little old-fashioned, it was something I had always dreamed of wearing in my past life, so I had asked the seamstresses to make me one. Luckily enough, we had managed to get our hands on translucent and intricately patterned fabric of white lace.

More than anything, I was grateful to Reggie for encouraging me to go all out. Seeing as I would only be wearing this once in my entire life, he wanted to make sure I would have no regrets and thus had assured me I would be able to put everything I could possibly want in it.

I was also fortunate that the previous king of Farzia had been a bit of a cheapskate. He had hardly used up any of his fortune, and as soon as he had gone missing, his lords-in-waiting had taken it upon themselves to hide away some of his treasure. According to Reggie, it was all thanks to their quick thinking that the royal family hadn’t ended up in any financial trouble. It helped that Queen Marianne hadn’t been a particularly indulgent woman either, so she hadn’t spent much of our funds prior to the war.

From the sound of it, Queen Marianne had never been very concerned with luxury. The only outfits she had ever worn were dark, modest, Llewynian-style dresses. The former king, who had died at her hands, had appreciated that quality of hers—simply because it meant she wouldn’t waste money on frivolous accessories. It was a little depressing to think about.

As easy as it was to start focusing on the war, today of all days, I had to stop thinking back on the past.

I gazed over at Reggie once more. Today, he was clad in a military uniform more ornately embroidered than the one he had worn during the war. A sash hung from his shoulder, and he was wearing a long, crimson cloak that made him look the very picture of a king.

As he walked ahead, guiding me by the hand, he looked so nimble, handsome... and dependable. Honestly, he seemed so wonderful that it was enough to make me uneasy. Why would Reggie love someone like me? It was such a mystery to me.

My head filling up with worries it was far too late to be having, I finished climbing the stone steps of the cathedral. The knights of Évrard were lined up along either side of the enormous doors—big enough that I bet our whole carriage could have fit through.

As Reggie and I approached, they raised their swords overhead in unison. While we were making our way through the human tunnel, I spotted Cain toward the very back. Alan had stuck around in the royal palace to help Reggie, and Cain had been accompanying him for the duration of his stay.

After seeing through his decision to act as my older brother during the war, he had continued to treat me like his little sister for the remainder of the winter, too. Even now, the look in his eyes softened when he saw me and Reggie standing side by side, the corners of his mouth turning up into a smile.

“Congratulations,” he murmured softly when we passed in front of him. I nodded back at him with a smile.

Once we had walked through the doors, the vast interior of the cathedral spread out before us. The resplendent sanctuary was furnished with rows of pillars along the sides. Down the center ran a brilliant red carpet. Along either side of it stood those who had come to give us their blessing.

In the front row were Lord and Lady Évrard, my and Reggie’s closest living relatives. Standing beside Alan were our other companions who had fought alongside us: Jerome, Emmeline, and Edam. To top it off, Lady Évrard was cradling the Thorn Princess in her arms, while Alan held onto Master Horace.

I was truly glad that Master Horace could be here, as was I delighted to see Reggie’s mother attending her son’s wedding ceremony. Though... I did feel kind of bad for the rest of the nobility, who seemed put off by all the weird dolls hanging around. There were plenty of other nobles who had traveled from their territories to attend the king’s wedding, too.

I walked past all my friends, who were watching over me with smiles on their faces, and eventually arrived before the altar. Awaiting us there was the archbishop, an elderly man with white eyebrows, dressed in white robes and a hat embroidered with gold. The clergyman began reading off verses on marriage from the scripture. When he was done, he offered me and Reggie congratulations and prompted us to exchange our vows.

I turned to Reggie once more. He lifted the front of my veil, revealing my face underneath. Perhaps because I’d been wearing the veil this whole time, it was almost discomfiting to see him peering directly into my face. For once in my life, I was all dolled up in makeup, but that just left me to worry about whether it had started coming off over the course of the day.

“Um, Reggie...”

Do I look weird? I wanted to say, but there was no time for the words to leave my mouth.

Reggie placed a brief kiss on my lips before pulling back. It was already over by the time my eyes had gone wide, leaving it feeling almost like an anticlimax.

With a tiny laugh, he said, “You always look cute in my eyes, Kiara. There really isn’t anything for you to worry about... but I don’t want the masses to see what your face looks like when I kiss you, either.”

His explanation for why he’d gotten it over with so quickly only served to make my face heat up further. I could hardly believe I was going to spend my life with someone who loved me so much. As late in the game as it was to be thinking it, I felt truly proud that I had kept him alive to see today.

At that, the archbishop declared us husband and wife. The congratulatory shouts and applause of the audience echoed throughout the cathedral.

With that, Reggie and I began our walk to the cathedral doors. Showered in petals by the attendees as we passed them by, we stepped out under the blue sky.

◇◇◇

The day I had fully remembered my past life and made up my mind to run away, I never could have imagined that this was the future that awaited me. I had been fully prepared to live out the rest of my life in solitude.

Yet now there were so many people willing to support me and watch over me, and I had met someone with whom I could hold hands and walk side by side.

The thought made me deliriously happy. The moment we got back inside our carriage—though I kept my voice to a whisper—I couldn’t help myself from saying, “Reggie... I love you so much.”

When I looked back at Reggie, I was shocked to see him avoiding my gaze, a shy look crossing his face. He gripped me by the hand and murmured, “It’s not fair for you to say that here. Make sure you say it again later tonight, will you?”

It was so rare to see Reggie flustered that I couldn’t help but laugh.

In that moment, I hadn’t the slightest doubt in my mind that we would be smiling and laughing like this for the rest of our lives.