A Special Mage (Ike x OC)

Chapter 21 - Tying Knots

Summarizing the Recovery

After that unforgettable night, I became an official a member of the Greil Mercenaries. Ike revealed this, as well as our engagement, to his team the following morning. Most of them seemed happy to have me join, but even more surprised than anything. Soren was still an odd one. Although he didn't seem to mind my presence too much, I could still sense some lingering tension between us that was never present with anyone else, and I could never figure out why.

To everyone outside of his small group of mercenaries, things were kept under wraps. I quickly learned that it was because Ike didn't want our relationship to "become the new teatime gossip of the place" as he put it. He told me it was nobody's business what we were up to, aside from his family and closest friends. So, as disappointing as it was to not even be able to act like partners outside of closed doors (at least while we were at the castle), it was in our best interest to avoid unnecessary drama and attention. For all we knew, any one of the nobles around us would be eager to publicize the identity of who the legendary general intended to marry.

There wasn't even much time to focus on the relationship to begin with. The war had left Crimea and its people in shambles, and it was up to all of us to help fix everything. As you would expect, rebuilding an entire country was tough work. Even though I wasn't responsible for the difficult stuff like politics or the incredibly detailed recovery plans, I still had my work cut out for me since I was tasked with restoring the damaged land across all of Crimea. And let me tell you, it was mind numbing. Not because I had to exert my magical abilities; my powers were actually stronger than they had ever been. But there was just so much damage and so much land to cover that I had to go on lengthy field missions pretty much daily until we were sure everything was patched up.

Just between you and me, I would occasionally sneak into nearby towns during missions when I wasn't supposed to, just so I could break the monotony. During one of my escapades, I unknowingly stumbled across a town that was famous for its lavish fashion. I figured I would take advantage of this accident and secretly find some wedding attire that would blow my husband-to-be away. It took longer than I expected (and I almost got in trouble for returning late that day), but I managed to spot a wedding dress with beauty that could rival that of a goddess. Obviously, the dress was expensive as all hell, but I had saved up more than enough gold to afford it. To think, I had originally intended to save that money for my eventual departure from everyone—funny how plans change.

Anyway, progress was slow overall, and many many months passed. I lost track. But with the combined efforts of Ike, the Greil Mercenaries, Elincia, her followers, and me, the country was on a steady path to recovery, marking the beginning of a new era in its history. The hatred between Beorc and Laguz also seemed to lessen, which was apparently something that Ike had always dreamed of happening. As for the attitudes toward branded people, I wasn't able to observe any difference, mainly because there were very few of us, and we were rarely, if ever, discussed. I hoped that things had changed for the better, though.

Toward the tail end of our service, we received word of the exact date we would be dismissed from the castle, so with whatever time Ike and I could spare, we planned our wedding for the day after our departure. We took some time to write our vows together, but I played almost no part in the event planning because Ike wanted much of it to be a surprise for me. The main thing he asked me was whether I wanted to invite the Masters. For practical reasons, I declined inviting them. I wanted to learn the traditions of Tellius along with Ike's comrades first, and perhaps hold a separate ceremony on the island with the Masters sometime in the future.

As the grand finale of our time at the castle, I got to witness the coronation of Princess Elincia—ahem, now Queen Elincia. The event itself was quite remarkable, partly because there were so many people from all over the country, from commonfolk to nobles, all radiating the same hopeful energy as they listened to their newly-crowned leader speak. I was normally not a fan of long, drawn out speeches like that, but hers captured my attention this time.