(A/N Notes: I blame all of this sudden dramatic development on the game devs, who surely didn't think through when coming up with the game story, aside from the part about getting husbandos part. Yes, it's all the devs' fault, and definitely not from the author)
It was another normal day in the Harding territory, the sky was clear, the weather was cool, and in front of Edward and Nanako stood the burned and charred remnants of the old wooden church, that Nanako was once under the care of.
As for why they were there, that was because last night, Edward and his father had both been awakened in the middle of their sleep, by the report from one of their servants, of a rather large fire that had begun in the slum area of the city. And knowing the potential risks that the fire could cause, they both got themselves up to help coordinate the firefighting efforts with the fire brigades.
And those fire brigades, on the other hand, were something that Oliver had implemented after listening to another one of Edward's desperate explanations to justify his occasional slip of words. And just like the other times with Edward's rather unorthodox and unique ideas, they would show their effectiveness in due time.
And so for the entire night, the two, alongside all of those who directly served both them and all of the city's inhabitants, worked tirelessly to take out the flames and prevent the fire from spreading further beyond the city. And by dawn, all of the flames would die down and be limited to the poor area of the city. Yet now, they would have to start working to rescue any survivors from the fire, who may be buried under the charred remnants of what once were buildings.
But the necessity of also managing the day-to-day affairs of his territory would force Oliver to return to the manor, leaving only Edward as the highest ranking person to coordinate the efforts, with Nanako staying by his side to take care of his necessities or requests. So with his usual diligence in doing the tasks assigned to him by his father, he would organize the entire search, and at times even help directly in the search efforts.
As he and Nanako walked around the devastated streets to assess the situation, they would eventually arrive at a familiar, and relatively intact but scarred building. The old church that once served as an orphanage for the poor area, the place where Edward and Nanako had their first meeting.
"..."
"..."
The two looked at the remnants of the church in silence, and for Nanako, her silence was more from just surprise, but it was also from sadness. When she looked at the burned wooden planks and wood, she couldn't help but feel tears forming in her eyes, even though it had already passed nearly five years since she moved out of the church, the region, and especially this building in particular still held an important part of her memories as the place she once called home for most of her childhood alongside her foster siblings.
This was the place she grew up in, was taken care of, and it was the place she formed a family with her foster siblings. Her time there had its ups and downs, but she couldn't remember any moment where she felt truly sad or desperate. And the most important for her to this day, was the place where she met Edward, and where he gave her and her siblings a life they couldn't ever imagine before then.
"... *Hic*... *Trembling*... *Hic*"
"..."
Edward who easily noticed Nanako trying to hold back her tears as she began looking down, could only remain silent. After all, he couldn't feel the same as Nanako, because he only visited this church once, however, he still felt obliged to do something to help Nanako.
"..." *Pats Nanako's head and then hugs her*
"!..."
"Nanako, it's okay for you to let it out. I'll stay by your side like this for as long as you need"
"... *Sniff*... *Hic*... UWWWWAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH"
Those words from Edward were all it took to cause Nanako to start screaming as she cried her heart out. She kept on crying on Edward's chest for a long time, and as Edward continued to pat her head and hug her, she could not help but cry even more as she became more emotional.
.
.
.
"..."
"... Nanako?"
It had been quite some time since Nanako started crying, and by now, she had returned to being silent as she kept leaning on Edward. But when he noticed that, she wasn't showing any reaction when he gently shook her side to side, Edward noticed that Nanako had fallen asleep due to her exhaustion and lack of sleep.
Seeing Nanako soundly asleep in his arms, Edward gently picked Nanako up in a princess carry to not wake her up and continued walking his way around the burned areas.
.
.
.
"... So that's what we know..."
"... Very well, I'll check..."
"... We found more people..."
"... Send them to the church, we'll..."
"Mmmm... Nn?..."
"Ah! Sorry, Nanako. Did I wake you up?"
"... Edward-sama?... ... ...?... ... ... !?"
When Nanako opened her eyes, she was greeted by the sight of Edward looking at her with a slightly concerned face, initially, she felt confused at why he was looking down at her, but as she slowly came back to her senses, she realized what was going on.
"E-E-Edward-sama!? I-I-I'll get up right now! !?"
Realizing that she was using Edward's lap as a pillow, Nanako tried to get up in one go, but before she could even lift her head, Edward gently stopped her from doing so as he began to pat her hair.
"It's fine, Nanako. Besides you deserve this little reward, since you didn't have time to sleep last night, and you're also passing through a lot right now"
"..." *Looks away*
Hearing such words from Edward was enough to make Nanako's initial tenseness and worry subside somewhat, after all, he was right in everything that he had just said. Seeing the streets she once roamed around from dawn to sunset and the familiar buildings she once visited, all turned to rubbles and ash, had been taking a toll on her mind as she did her best to endure her boiling feelings to not worry Edward.
However seeing that it was all for naught, Nanako couldn't do anything else but let herself be pampered by Edward, as he continued to help everyone else by coordinating them on what to do next. Then as she was starting to feel comfortable again on Edward's lap...
"Nanako! Is that you!"
"?! Sister!?"
Nanako heard a familiar and nostalgic voice calling her name, and when she looked at the person who had called her, she saw it was the sister who once took care of her in what remained of the burned church.
"My goodness, you really grew up nicely, didn't you, Nanako?"
"Ahahaha..."
Hearing the church's sister praising her, Nanako couldn't but embarrassingly laugh as her cheeks turned slightly red.
"Alson Nanako. I'm really happy that you found yourself a nice boyfriend"
"! I-I-It's not like-"
"Fufu! Nanako, I already heard the various gossips about how much you adore and love Lord Edward"
"!?" *Pouts*
When Nanako was told such a betrayal by the sister, she couldn't help but pout in embarrassment and turn around as she buried her face in Edward's stomach and hugged him. The sister, in return simply made a gentle smile at seeing Nanako acting selfishly for the first time in her life, then she turned to look at Edward who had remained silent in consideration of the two.
"Lord Edward, it is a pleasure to see you in good health"
"It's also nice to see you in good health, Sister"
Having greeted each other, the sister then deeply bowed to Edward without saying anything, to which Edward could only respond with a question.
"What's wrong, sister?"
"Lord Edward... I want to thank you for taking care of the children all this time, because if you hadn't taken them in... ... ... I cannot help but have nightmares of what could have happened to everyone during last night's incident"
*Shakes head* "I didn't do all that much to receive such words"
"That's not true, if it weren't for you, I'm sure Nanako wouldn't be such a happy and spoiled girl in this situation"
"..." *Ears turning red*
"I pray that you two have a happy life together, Lord Edward. Ah! And also, please hold your marriage ceremony at the church in the city's center, I want to see little Nanako finally wearing a wedding dress"
"I'll keep that in mind, and I'll make sure to have Nanako wear the most beautiful dress for our wedding. Ugh!"
When Edward responded to the sister's request, he felt quite some pain from Nanako hugging him with a lot of force both from embarrassment and a little bit of anger from him saying such things to other people.
"Fufu, then if you excuse me, Lord Edward. I'll go help in taking care of the injured people"
"Take care, sister... ... ... Nanako are you angry?"
"... ... ... Not really..."
"... *Amused sigh* Is that so?"
"..."
"Just so you know, I wasn't lying that I want you to wear a really beautiful dress for our wedding"
"I know..."
After saying that, Nanako sat up as she kept a melancholic expression, looked at Edward, and gently pulled the hem of his shirt's sleeve.
"... *Nods*"
Guessing what she wanted, Edward gently held Nanako's cheeks and kissed her on the lips.
"... Edward-sama... Thank you for everything..."
"*Whistle* You've really become a naughty girl, Nanako!"
"! Sister!"
Hearing the sister teasing her yet again, Nanako got up and ran after her with a very embarrassed and angry face, while the sister ran away as she amusedly laughed. Leaving Edward sitting with a small smile at seeing Nanako forget about her worries.
"Well, I think it's time for me to put in some effort as well"
Seeing that the two girls would be spending quite some time together, Edward went on to help with the more physically demanding tasks of the relief effort in the burned down poor district. He later would receive an earful from Nanako for doing so while she was away.
.
.
.
A few days had passed since then, and things had already returned to their usual routine in the Harding Manor, but with one small difference being that Nanako appeared to be more livelier than before, as she continued to do her duties as a (intern) maid. As she did so, one of her foster siblings called her as they carried a package for her.
"Nanako-nee! We received a package to give it to you!"
"Hm? For me?... ... ... Is it from Lysette-sama?"
"Yes!"
"I see, thank you!" <It must be the dress Lysette-sama said she would be giving it to me>
Nanako at first felt confused at the sudden package meant directly for her, but when she remembered what Lysette had promised to her some time ago when she spent her first night at the manor, Nanako correctly guessed what it was about, and accepted the package with a gentle smile.
"... ... ... What do I do now?"
Immediately after picking up the package, Nanako found herself in a pickle, she still had to finish her tasks and assignments, but she also felt a bit guilty for not checking the package sent to her by Lysette right after receiving it.
"Nanako, you can go check the package. After all, it's a present from Lysette, and you already did enough for today"
"!? C-Camilla-san!? W-Why-"
"Why am I here? That's because I was the one who had to attend the door with those two, so I just followed them here, and only waited for the right time to reveal myself"
"I-I see... ... ... Well if you say it's fine..."
"Don't worry too much about it, so go ahead and see what you got, ah! Do you also want me to call Edward-sama for you?"
"T-T-That won't be necessary!"
"Fufu, is that so? Alright then"
Then with a bow to Camilla, Nanako took her leave to the room, where she and her siblings slept, and put the package on her bed, where she began unwrapping it. Then from inside the unwrapped box, she saw the dress that Lysette had chosen for her.
"!!!"
With trembling hands, Nanako carefully lifted her dress as it unfolded more and more and she kept lifting it until it was completely out of the box and in full view of her eyes.
"... T-This..."
The dress was a rather simple, but beautiful and elegant, one-piece white dress, but there was one problem, the way it looked, was clearly made to increase one's appeal, as it exposed their shoulders and clavicle, and its skirt was, could believe it? So short that it exposed everything below their shin. That dress was made to attract everyone's attention and make them forget about any other matter about whoever wore it, such as their social class.
And for Nanako, that dress given to her by Lysette was...
"This is too much, Lysette-sama!"
Too risqué, expensive, and way too beautiful for someone like her to wear.
"I think it would perfectly fit on you though"
"E-Even so! T-This exposes way too much skin!... ... ... Hm?"
When Nanako heard that comment which opposed her views on the dress, Nanako immediately responded by revealing her thoughts about it, but then she realized something about the voice, it sounded exactly like the voice of the person she loved the most, causing her to slowly and worriedly turn her head to see who it was.
"E-E-E-Edward-sama!? W-W-Why are you here!?"
"M... Camilla told me to check on you, and she said you would be here"
"I-Is that so?" <CAMILLAAAAAAAAA!!! WHY DID YOU DO THIS WHEN I TOLD YOU NOT TO!?!?!?>
Nanako did her best to keep her scream towards Camilla only for herself, as she showed a very shocked face to Edward.
"... Are you going to try it?"
"Eh!? Ah! E-Erm... ... ... Yes..."
Nanako initially wanted to say no due to the embarrassment she felt of just thinking of having Edward see that dress. Still, at the same time, she couldn't help but keep thinking of Edward indirectly praising her, by saying that the dress appeared to fit her. So in the end, her desire to be praised by Edward won over her embarrassment.
Nanako awkwardly got up and went to the dressing room meant for the girls, to start changing her clothes, so with her current momentum, she quickly took off her maid uniform, and thanks to the rather simplistic design, she also put the dress in a pretty short time, but once she looked at herself on a mirror inside the dressing room as she wore the dress... Her momentum began to stop.
"... ... ..." <This dress is way too exposing!!! How can someone ever think of completely showing their shoulders!? And even shins can be seen! This is too much! Way too much exposure!!!... ... ... But I can't keep Edward-sama waiting!!!>
As her conflict between her desires and embarrassment got more intense inside her mind, Nanako slowly stepped closer to the door as her desire to be praised by Edward was winning against her embarrassment just by a little bit, however, that advantage was getting smaller and smaller with each step closer to the door.
"Hia!" *SWings the door open*
"!?"
Nanako swung the dressing room's door open with a lot of vigor, which surprised Edward for a moment, but when he saw Nanako's figure, he couldn't help but stare at her with a very serious gaze.
"Ah..." <AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!>
Nanako on the other hand, as soon as she revealed herself to Edward, was immediately overwhelmed by embarrassment that came crashing into her like a tsunami, she had shown Edward number of embarrassing sides of her before, but she never did so while exposing this much skin. And at each second longer, Edward kept staring at her in silence, the more unbearable it became for her to continue wearing the dress.
"... ... ... E-E-E-E-EDWARD-SAMA! W-W-W-W-WHAT D-D-D-DO YOU T-T-T-THINK O-O-O-OF T-T-THE D-D-D-D-D-DRESS!!!"
Finally unable to endure his silence, Nanako shouted in embarrassment and desperation for a response from Edward.
"... I think something is missing... I know! I need a white ribbon!"
"Eh!? AH! Y-Yes!"
instinctively Nanako responded to Edward's request and she went back to the dressing room, to pick one of the ribbons used in her maid uniform, before returning to the door, and then approaching Edward to give him the ribbon.
"Here, Edward-sama"
"Thanks, now please stand still, Nanako"
"Hm?... ... ... Eh!"
When Nanako realized what she had just done, it was too late already, Edward was close to her, and he only got closer as he moved his arms around her. Not knowing what he was going to do, she closed her eyes from nervousness.
"...And done... Humu *Nods* Now, you're looking perfect Nanako"
"Eh?... Huh?"
When Nanako heard Edward praising her, she got confused at how she didn't feel anything on her, however, a few moments later, she realized what Edward had done when she touched her hair and noticed that it was now tied in a ponytail... In turn exposing the nape of her neck, which was always hidden by her long and lustrous black hair, causing her to feel even more 'exposed.'
"E-E-Edward-sama?"
"... Nanako"
"Y-Y-Yesh!"
"You're looking like the most beautiful fiancée in the entire world right now"
"!!! Ah!... Aaaaahhhhhh!... AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"
Receiving the final blow of Edward's excessive praising, Nanako was unable to hold back her scream as her entire face turned redder and redder with steam coming out of her head, and then... She fled back into the dressing room slamming the door shut, which caused Edward to knock on the door and tell her he was going to leave after some time had passed, but even then, she was unable to leave the dressing room for many hours.
Later she would profusely apologize to Edward for acting in such a rude way to him. For the next few days, Nanako did her best to get used to the dress, so she could use it during Lysette's birthday, but all she was able to do was create enough endurance for some minutes... If she was by herself or with others, mainly her siblings... If she was with Edward, Nanako was only able to endure at most 3 minutes before fleeing or passing out from embarrassment.