3: An Unconventional Happy Ending.

Chapter 3: Welcome home.

Eleanora walks in to the dining room first where Joseph is sitting reading a book with with a bowl of soup. She exclaims as Alexander goes to sit down, her sense of smell is incredibly sensitive at the moment.
"Just WHAT is that... Strange smell, Pa?!"
Joseph is sarcastic.
"And a good afternoon to you too Eleanora...."
She smiles apologetically.
"Hah, sorry Pa... Good afternoon."
He chuckles.
"Heheh, it's alright I was just messing around... What smell? You mean, the soup?"
She shakes her head an wrinkles her nose again.
"No, I love the smell of vegetable soup... There's something-"

She's cut off by another male voice shouting to her from the kitchen.
"ELLIE, IS THAT YOU?"
She raises an eyebrow.
"... Yes! Who wants to know?"
He calls back in a dramatic tone.
"Take a wild guess!"
She sits and thinks to herself for a moment.
'... I recognise that voice...'
She doesn't get to finish that chain of thought as Seb pokes his head out of the kitchen, with a cheeky grin and sticks his tongue out at her. He then waltzes through in his usual dramatic fashion.
She gets up and runs over to hug him tightly.
"Seb! I'm so happy to see you, Gods I've missed you!"
She then takes a step back as her nose catches up with her actions.
"You look... So uhh... Rugged... And damn... That smell... It's you! You smell like a bloody stable that needs mucked out..."

Seb, post holiday.

He looks quite scruffy, his clothes are a bit dirty, his hair a couple of inches longer and even messier than usual and he has almost two weeks worth of beard growth as he didn't bother shaving on his way home.
"Well... That's what happens when you sleep in barns and stables Ellie, you start to smell like it."
She lectures him.
"Wait, did you not pack a tent?"
He rubs the back of his neck sheepishly.
"I did, but stupidly... I didn't pack my waterproof waxed tent, so whenever it rained, I had to sleep somewhere else..."
She shakes her head with a silly grin.
"You dope... Where the hell did you go?"
She sits down but listens intently, he stays standing for now.
"Well... I loaded up Tiberius with camping gear and... So you remember that pilgrimage trip we took almost seven years ago?"
She leans on the table with a nostalgic glaze over her eyes.
"How could I forget?! So many wonderful and equally terrifying memories..."
He sits down next to her.
"Exactly... Well, I repeated that route and stayed at various inns and taverns when I was in a city or a village and I camped under the stars when I wasn't. I even went hunting in the woods, several times per week, it was great... Oh and I even ventured into Andosa... Beautiful, beautiful country... And the women too... Am I right Alex?"
He reaches out to Alexander for a high five, he had just been listening quietly, Alexander gives him one and exclaims.
"You know it!"

Eleanora rolls her eyes.
"Ugh, men... Well, you got quite far didn't you? Did you have a good time at least?"
He feigns a smile, even though it didn't really make much of a difference, he still loves her. It's mostly just an act.
"Oh definitely, it was quite like a holiday because there was no schedule, I could do anything I wanted... Or anyone for that matter... I tell you, those rural town taverns and their women were... Something else... Oh and I even went to Ardbastionne..."
Ardbastionne is the home of the  royal palace and Capital city of Southern Idralla.
"Really? What's it like? I've heard it's spectacular! Did you get to see the palace?"
He nods smugly.
"Yes I did, absolutely amazing... I even got a personal tour of the private gardens and entire interior of it, white and gilded golden walls and a ballroom full of mirrors... What a view... Although I didn't get as much of a chance to explore as I would have liked... And I didn't get to meet the king or queen as they are out of state right now."
She thinks on that.
"Aw... Still though... Wait, who gave you a personal tour? Usually they don't allow visitors into the Royal palace..."
He gets even more smug.
"Well... I had a week long affair there with- Fuck... You probably wouldn't believe me if I told you..."
She rolls her eyes but Alexander is curious.
"Probably not... Who?"
His smirk grows.
"Well, you will have heard of our good Queen Mathilde?"
Her eyes open wide.
"The fucking Queen?! No I don't believe you..."
He facepalms.
"No... Obviously not her but remember I said she was away?"
She shakes her head and facepalms herself.
"Oh yes, sorry... Baby brain..."
He rolls his eyes.
"Yes, blame the baby... Fairly close though... Her absolutely stunning mother... Celéne."