"I'm sure he is." I said, placing my arm through his. "I have mastered these events, don't worry, I'll take care of the nobles, just stay with me, and you'll be fine."
Arthur didn't try to pull away from me, and he responded. "Thank you, Tess." The two of us started to walk around together.
I noticed that his face was a little red, mine was as well. To most, it may look like we are a couple, but we weren't, although, I hope one day we are.
"Arthur, did you know Sylvie had a human form?" I asked as the nobles around us stared at the two of us. "And for some reason, I feel like Veer and her are bonding slightly."
"First, I did not know she had a human form, and second, Sylvie nor he say that they came to this together, but I can feel it, I think my bond has a crush on my brother." As Arthur spoke, and we looked over at Sylvie, Claire, and Veer, the two of them were still intertwined like Arthur and I were at this moment.
"Honestly, they are kind of adorable together." They were, I could not deny it.
"If Sylvie and Veer had to be with someone, I would actually prefer them to be together." Arthur stopped for a second and looked at the two as they laughed. "But I don't know what is going on in Veer's head half the time, so it's hard to predict what he will do."
"Let's let them have hang together, I'm sure Sylvie will watch him." Arthur and I found a table by ourselves, and stood there together, side by side, arms still intertwined, I didn't know if I should pull my arm away or not, so I stayed. "I know when a noble came over, Veer told him that he would speak with him later, and then proceeded to call him something I don't want to say."
"Ha, that seems like him." Arthur said, smiling down at me as I looked up at him. "Tess, I am happy you came today, seeing you, and being able to spend this time with you, it means a lot, and I know I just saw you, but I don't know."
"I've always enjoyed spending time with you, Art." I said, and that is when he pulled his arm away from me.
"Tess, you know I am not good with emotions and communicating, but there is something I would like to talk to you about." My face got redder as I thought about what he just said, was he going to confess finally? During the war? That would be something he would do. "Not now, but after the party, if that is okay with you, of course."
"It's fine, do you want to meet on the balcony near your rooms? I'll be there as soon as the party is over, or we can walk there together." I told him, trying to calm myself, not wanting to show that I was blushing.
"It doesn't matter to me, it's important, so I want it to be only us two." Arthur said as a man and his wife came up to us.
"Lance Arthur, Princess Tessia, it is an honor to be here in your presence." The man said as the two bowed to us. "I am Tibias Vinsoler the third." He was a human, so he was unfamiliar to me.
"Hi, it is nice to meet you." I said, speaking for Arthur. "How are you doing today? Enjoying yourself?"
"I am, Princess, thank you for asking." He then looked at Arthur. "I hear a lot about your success in the battlefield, I just want to extend my thanks to you, I am currently stationed at the wall, defending it from mana beast, if you ever find yourself there, please come and find me."
Arthur spoke up this time as I stood next to him. "I will make sure to watch out for you there if I ever end up there." As he spoke, Arthur looked down at the table like he was thinking of something bad.
"This is my wife, Vanessa." Tibias said, motioning to his wife by his side who was wearing a slim red dress.
"Nice to meet you, Princess, Lance Arthur." She bowed once again. "You two seem like a very cute couple, I can see it in your eyes, the care each of you have for one another."
I was about to panic, trying to come up with a response, but Arthur spoke. "Well, thank you, that means a lot to hear." I was the one supposed to be good at these things, and yet he handled that so well, wait, he just told them we were a couple.
"We won't bother you anymore." Tibias said. "I hope we meet again, Lance, Princess." Then they walked away from us, leaving just Arthur and me here alone again.
"I'm sorry, I didn't want to correct her about assuming we were a couple, I felt like it was easier to just say that we were." Arthur told me, looking down into my eyes with, I don't know, I sensed passion.
"I-it's fine." I stuttered slightly but went on. "Are we just going to stand here and talk, while we wait for nobles to come up to us, or do you want to go somewhere?"
"I have an idea." Arthur grabbed my hand. "Come dance with me, Princess." He pulled me into the group of people slowly dancing with one another, and then placed his hands around my hips, causing my heartbeat to quicken.
I placed my arms around his neck, and we began to sway. "What's gotten into you? I feel like you would have never done this with me a year or two ago." I spoke honestly to him as we stared each other in the eyes.
"Tess, you already know I care for you, and enjoy being with you." He was speaking, the people around us now felt like no more than regular citizens. I didn't care what this looked like to them, all I wanted, was to enjoy this moment. "I just want to spend as much time as I can with you."
"You're speaking as if we won't have time after the war." I could see something change in Arthur's eyes as he heard me say that. "What? Did I say something wrong?" The two of us continued to sway.
"No." Arthur answered. "I'm just thinking about after the war." He looked over at his brother, so I did as well. Sylvie had her head on Veer's side, and Veer had his head on her head as they spoke with Claire.
"You two." I heard the voice of my grandfather say, and we quickly turned to him, letting go of one another. "Arthur, I know you have feelings for my granddaughter, but is this the place to announce it."
"G-gramps?" Arthur gave him a puzzled look, and I shook my head, trying to hide my redness. "We were just dancing, that is all." My grandfather eyed us up, trying to decide on what to do.
"Fine, where is your brother? I feel like he needs to be supervised at all times." Arthur and I turned to Veer and Sylvie, his head still on hers as they stood around the table, no one trying to talk to him. "Is he?"
"Drunk, possibly." Arthur responded. "Sylvie is keeping an eye on him, but let him go, I think this can be good for him. He has been stressed out lately, and I think this may help."
There was a long silence, I didn't say anything, knowing it wasn't my place. "At least he doesn't care what others think about him, but I don't want the nobles and soldiers here seeing him drunk, he is only eleven."
"Okay, I'll have Sylvie handle it." Arthur told him, and we watched as Sylvie and Veer walked away from Claire, and towards us, but they stopped in the middle of the dance floor. Veer and her danced like Arthur and I did, he held her hips, and she held him, it was actually really cute.
"I wouldn't say that was what I meant, but I guess that works." My grandfather said, then went on. "You two can go back to dancing, I was just messing with you." He grinned. "Our future king can do what he wants."
Arthur shook his head as my grandfather walked away, leaving the two of us there. "Want to continue dancing?" I asked him, wanting to be with him again out there, or even here, it did not matter. I just wanted to spend some time with him, not thinking about war, just having fun.
Arthur took my hand and said. "I-I can't wait any longer, Tess." He led me to the exit, and into the hallway where the guards bowed, and allowed us to pass through them.
"Arthur? Where are we going?" I asked him, curious as we held hands, then as we got further away from the event, he released me, and continued to walk.
"To the balcony." Arthur spoke calmly. "I wanted to wait until after, but looking at you, seeing you like you are, knowing what...." He paused for a second, and then went on. "....I just want to be with you alone for a little, so I can get something off my chest."
"Why are you speaking so serious?" I asked him as we got closer. We just left the party that was celebrating his victory, he should be there right now, but for some reason, I didn't want to go back, and wanted to hear what he had to say.
"You'll see." Arthur said as the balcony came into view, no one was there, and as we entered, it was in silence. We walked up to the railings overlooking the Beast Glades, and Arthur stayed silent.
"Art?" I said, breaking the silence, feeling nervous about what was going on at the moment. What was so serious that we had to leave the party, even though we already discussed meeting her after.
"Tess." Arthur turned to me. "I want to speak, and before you answer, I want you to just listen until I am done, okay?" Arthur said, and I nodded my head, scared, yet puzzled by his suddenness. "Tess, I like you, no, that may not define how I feel, it may be more like love, but I don't know for sure." My face was as red as ever, Arthur was in the same boat I was, and I know he said to wait until he was done talking, but I couldn't.
"What?!" I exclaimed questioningly. "Did you ---"
He held up his hand, silencing me. "Please, wait." Arthur ran a hand through his long auburn hair. "I don't know what the future is going to be like, and what might happen, but I know I want to spend as much as I can of it with you." Oh my god, Arthur is confessing, was the only thought going on in my head. "Any future where you are not there, is a future, I don't want to live in."
"What are you saying exactly?" I understood that he had feelings for me now, but I didn't know where this was going, and I swear if he says something like he was joking, I am going to kill him.
"I'm saying that, when we win this war, we should start a family." My eyes widened from his words. "I lo-I love you, Tess." Arthur repeated what he said from earlier. "And all the things I have learned over the last year have been telling me to confess to you sooner, rather than later."
"A-are you being serious?" I was in shock, I've wanted to hear that so badly, but never thought I would.
"I understand if you don't feel the same for me, Tess, I do, I know it's been a while since we exchanged that..." He paused, and then said. "...that kiss, but I told you I wasn't ready then, but I am now. I know the war is going on, and you and I won't have time to spend together, but I still wanted to tell you how I felt."
"Arthur, you know my feelings for you haven't changed." I got closer to him. "And I would love to start a family with you after the war." My face was blushing as I spoke, it was hard to keep going, but he managed to confess finally, so I had to do my part. "Even now, when we are together, if you would like, we can be a couple, that is if that was what you meant."
"I-it is." Arthur grabbed me slowly and pulled me into him. "I love you, Tess, I've always had." His lips touched mine, and we kissed, Arthur was leaning down to be on my level. We separated from another, and we made eye contact. I've been waiting for this moment for so long, it was everything I wanted.
"I love you too."