131 Gift and Visitors

Some days later his confirmation gift for Mable was finally completed. He impatiently sent Harriett to her room to tell her that he was ready to present his gift.

It was a rather stressful moment. Even though he expected everything to go well since he saw those girls almost every day, it was still a very important task to accomplish. He waited in his room restlessly for Harriett to come back, pacing around the table. He thought the temperature was particularly hot today and his fast beating heart didn't make him feel better at all.

Since he had done it once already, he thought that it would be easier this time but he had been wrong, he was just as nervous as the first time. Even worse in fact since he didn't know how well his gift would be received. He started second guessing himself.

He was really proud of the large pendant he made for her and thought it was a good match with her but, was it enough to give to a noble girl like her? What if she thought it wasn't good enough? Aglaya knew he was a Muracier too, would she just tell him that he could have made something better because of who he was and disapprove of the gift to her friend? Maybe he should have shown it to Blackbull first to receive her opinion on it.

Celtine interrupted his pacing by grabbing onto his sleeve. She showed him a confident smile, fearless and encouraging and raised her writing tablet beside her.

"Thanks Celtine for trying to cheer me up but I don't think I'll feel better until this is done. What is taking Harriett so long?"

Celtine wasn't disturbed and wrote an answer calmly.

That would make a lot of sense, Mable did say she would have Nessa and Aglaya as witness. It would be awkward if he came first and waited for them with Mable. The other way around was definitely better even though it had him pacing alone in his room.

He nodded for Celtine and tried to start moving again. Waiting motionless was a lot harder than it seemed. Partly because he really felt like he was wasting time he could use for something else and partly because he was eager to get it done. Even if she was holding his sleeve, he didn't feel like waiting in that one spot for much longer.

Celtine saw that and didn't leave him a chance to do laps around the table anymore. She reached her two arms high above herself and wrapped them around him in a tight hug. She was doing her best to make him feel less nervous and he felt her good feelings flowing into him from the hug.

It did help him a lot and he also placed his hands at the small of her back to hug her in return. He took a deep breath to calm himself and let Celtine rub his back to appease him further. It was slightly amusing because of their size difference since it looked like he was comforting her more than the opposite but it was still effective.

He waited like that for what he felt like a long time still until Harriett reappeared with the news he was waiting for.

"Master, they're ready to receive you now. Sorry it took so long but we had to wait for miss Hasting and miss Pierail to join miss Mable. She was pacing around in her room the whole time, she is very nervous about this master."

Emp almost laughed thinking about her doing the exact same thing as him.

"Alright, thank you Harriett, we're all going now."

He only had to shift his hands slightly to grad Celtine's waist and lift her over his head and onto his shoulders. She seemed disappointed that the hug ended so abruptly but they had been there for a while, she should have had enough. Anyway, wasn't the hug meant to comfort him rather than her?

With Celtine at her usual spot and Harriett following right on his heels, he made his way to Mable's room.

He was let in right after he knocked at the door and saw that the girls inside had moved the table out of the way to make some space in front of the small row of chair they sat on. It was a very similar scene to the one he had experienced in the Champom house except there was only three chairs here. Their six servants stood behind their respective mistress and everyone awaited him with impatience.

Of course, Mable was the worst of them and kept fidgeting on her chair. This might just be one of the most important and stressful moments of her life, it was a perfectly normal reaction.

"Emp, finally you're here! You took so long to make it I was getting nervous." She told him with a face plainly showing she was eager to see what he made her.

"The other day, she even asked me if I thought you forgot about the confirmation." Aglaya revealed.

"Don't say it out loud, it's embarrassing." Mable complained while Aglaya laughed.

The two were acting just as usual except from how tense Mable was. Clearly, Aglaya didn't speak about his name and let nothing show on her face. She was apparently ridiculously good at keeping secrets.

Of the three girls, Nessa was the most unconvinced about what they were doing here. She expressed her doubts about this whole thing while Emp removed Celtine from his shoulders and placed her beside Harriett behind him.

"Are we really doing this thing out of order? Is it really a good idea? Won't Mable's dad and mom be furious if we do this without them? I'm sure mine would be furious. I've never heard of anyone doing this before, we're not even in Mable's family, I'm not sure this is right."

"Isn't it too late to complain now? Mable already had him make the confirmation gift and he's about to say the words. You should have said this at the beginning." Aglaya told her.

"I'm not really saying we shouldn't do this, I'm asking Mable if she's really sure she wants to go through with this. You might have to do this all over again if your family thinks that this confirmation isn't a legitimate one later. After all, it's out of order and you only have two witness, one being a lady-in-waiting, and I don't mean to offend you Algaya."

"No offence taken, you have some valid concerns."

Emp kept silent while they talked because as he remembered it, the first thing he said last time was the vows. He had forgotten if he had to say that first or if he could just say it anytime, he'd rather not take any chances with this. Instead, he just observed their last minute argument nervously. For him, it didn't matter if they ended up deciding to wait but he found it difficult to just stand there waiting at this important moment.

Mable felt jumpy too and kept rocking herself left and right on her chair as if it would make this whole thing proceed faster.

"I want to do this now." She said impatiently. "I was the one that asked him to do it this way and I think that it's amazing he's willing to do the confirmation before even receiving the offering. I'll feel much better after it's finally done and at worse, he will have to say the vows again in front of my father. If he believes them then it won't be too much of a problem, the gift as already been made too, there's no way they will have him do it a second time over, what would I do with two confirmations? Today is just for me, not for my dad. I only need your two opinions on this, no one else's matter."

"Alright then." Nessa and Aglaya nodded, satisfied with Mable's resolution.

"Emp, sorry to have you wait, you can do the thing now." Aglaya invited him to step forward with a gesture of her hand.

Mable rose to her feet and stepped forward to meet him halfway in the room. Unlike for Calla, he wasn't afraid she might collapse in the middle of it, maybe this was how it usually went rather than staying on a chair the whole time.

He joined up with her and got down on one knee as he removed his gift from his bag. From were he was, inches from her, he could hear her heart beating like crazy just like his own and it made him feel a lot better. He looked up to her, staring into the sapphires that served as her eyes and lifted the result of his efforts up in between them. He held it there on top of his two joined palms and observed her reaction to it with nervosity.

She made a marveled face and her eyes shined like tiny stars so he believed she had a good first impression of his gift and it was encouraging. She kept her two hands locked together in front of her while she waited for him to say the words. He remembered them very well and wasn't afraid to say them to her.

"Mable, I swear on all that I know, and all that I don't, to keep you safe until my last breath.

If you accept me as husband, my love for you will last until I feed the trees with my bones.

May this gift be proof of my commitment for it is my best and I am offering it to you."

"It's so cute!" She said excitedly.

She was almost jumping on the spot, bouncing happily by lifting her heels from the ground repeatedly like a bunny which made him smile brightly.

Aglaya thought Emp did pretty well and tried to keep her serious but Mable's reaction made it very hard and a wide smile floated up her face. Nessa placed a hand in front of her own face to hide her own amusement and their six servants turned their heads away with the same goal.

Only Harriett and Celtine were displeased by how Mable reacted because they felt it was disrespectful towards the vows their master was taking.

Mable saw it right away and tried to catch herself. She stopped her childish display and apologized.

"Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean to make fun of your vows, it made my heart jump. It's just that the gift is way too pretty, can I?"

She approached her hand from the gift.

"Of course you can, it's yours."

She reached down for what Emp believed would be the gift but she grabbed his arm instead and pulled on him to get him closer to the her two friends.

"Look at what Emp's giving me." She told the two.

She leaned onto him heavily and held his arm warmly while she had him show the gift to the other two.

"You are right, it's rather pretty." Nessa commented. "Will you tell us what it is? Is there something special to it?"

Aglaya nodded in ascent as she had the same question. It was a confirmation gift after all, if it was just a sun sculpted in gold, it wasn't that impressive.

Emp presented his gift to the three in details to prove his worth. As it was right now, it was a big sun with wild rays of gold and a big gem as its center. Tiny runes were carved around the rays and precious stones dangled from strings of silk all around it. Many delicate details were carved into the sun and its many rays so that it wouldn't look like a big lifeless piece but an intricate web of flames instead.

"It's a pendant that is also a net of hairpins. Each of the sun rays can be detached like this from the sun's core and serve as hairpins still linked to the rest by a string of silk and stones."

Emp demonstrated it and the others thought it was very interesting.

"I can see how this would be very useful for her." Aglaya nodded as she saw just how many pins the whole thing contained.

"All of it is made of silver and pale gold so that it will remain visible even if Mable place it in her hair. If she doesn't want to use it as a hair ornament, all the pins can be combined back into sun-rays and the string of stones becomes a necklace.

The pieces don't have to all be detached at the same time so you have a lot of options on how to use it and the whole thing can be pinned into a piece of clothing instead like a brooch.

I made it all this way because I know Mable likes to change her hair and clothes all the time. I wanted her to be able to wear it whenever she feels like it and never have to ask herself whether it would fit or not. This way she can put on any hair ornament she wants and keep it as a pendant or necklace instead or she can pin it to her clothes to tie them, there will always be a place for it if she feels like putting it on."

"So I can wear it all the time! That's amazing!" She was genuinely excited which made him proud.

"I also enchanted it so that when the word "Light" is said and magu is poured into it, it will shine brightly."

He demonstrated the effect of the magic and a warm and bright glow started emanating from the gift. The Light coming from it was strong enough to surpass a lamp when all the pieces where together. Sparks of interest reflected in the eyes of the girls.

"Because of how I made it, it also works on all the small pieces." He added

"If I put that in my hair, I'll glow like a star field. This is so special, how did you come up with that? Why the light?"

"That was the hardest part actually, finding an idea. I couldn't think of anything you might need or anything I felt that could be good enough to show just how much I liked you. Then I saw you smile, your smile is the brightest thing I know of. I wanted to catch that feeling, I wanted to show you that I love you just as strongly as the sun shine. It might not be the most original enchantment there is but hopefully, you won't ever be left in the dark again with my love for you lighting up your surroundings. If you put enough magu into it at once, it might even blind an assailant, that's the only idea I found to protect you and please you at once."

All three girls felt moved by his short story in various degrees. Aglaya was the least affected and simply smiled gently while Nessa took a breath to keep her composure. Mable felt touched and didn't know what to say.

He didn't wait for her to say anything and pointed out a few words he had engraved around the center of the amulet. Mable read them aloud, more for herself than for the others.

"For the one who brighten my way more than the sun itself.

For the sun who lighten my days, may you shine like my love for thyself."

Right after she finished reading this, she let go of his arm to hug him strongly instead. His face got covered in her hair right away and he turned blind while she rested her head on his shoulder.

"It's a great gift, thank you so much! I love it and I love you. I feel bad that I don't have anything as smart as your message to answer."

Emp laughed and ran his hand through her hair to caress it and maybe remove some of it from his face.

"It's fine because I know how you're feeling for me already."

"No you don't. Even though I love you so much, I keep asking more silly things from you and I think it's unfair. Why can't I find the right words? You're the person I want to shine for the most. I'm not asking you to give me things and hunt monsters for me because I'm feeling jealous or because I don't think you're good enough, is what I want to say."

He could feel her hands griping onto his shirt because she was putting a lot of efforts and emotion into her words but he couldn't understand what she meant. To him, it was clearer than water that she loved him. What else did she want to add on top?

He remained silent and enjoyed her contact while the others thought about how they would respond to the gift. Even though they had no real say on whether or not Mable accepted the confirmation, they were still supposed to provide her counsel and state their opinion.

Once Mable felt that she had poured enough of her love into their hug, she finally let him go and stepped back to hear what the other two had to say.

Behind him, Harriett and Celtine were emotional and helped each other stand this display of affection. Their eyes were moist and by looking at their faces, it was unclear whether it was because they found the moment emotional or because they regretted to only be standing at the back.

"So what do we think Nessa?" Aglaya Asked. "I think it's a pass."

"What! How could you deny master like that!" Harriett exploded in anger.

Aglaya made a surprised face and tried to appease Harriett with some hand gestures as she explained herself.

"Oh no, I didn't mean pass as in give him a pass. I meant it as I give him a passing grade, it's a misunderstanding."

"Oh..." Harriett felt really silly and calmed down immediately while Emp pinched his lips together to stop himself from laughing.

"It's not that special or luxurious but I think it's good enough and a heartfelt gift. I'd approve of the gift and the marriage."

"I think you're too harsh with him still." Nessa said from the other side. "I think this is incredible and well thought out. The gift my father gave my mother wasn't nearly as good as this and I feel most high nobles don't even know how to use their hands for something like this. There's no way anyone else could give her a better gift, it fits her so well too. This might even be good enough for a princess. We all know what sort of person Emp is too, I also approve."

Mable made a bright smile and clapped twice. Aglaya took a look at all six servants to see if any had some objection and none let anything show. She turned back and nodded smilingly towards Mable.

"Then it's your turn, give your answer clearly, do you accept this confirmation and do you want Emp as husband?"

"Yes of course I do!"

All the girls cheered loudly and the servants clapped, some by politeness and some joyfully. Emp got back up from his kneeling position and Mable Jumped to hang herself around his neck with laughter. Shortly after, she let him go again.

"Hey Emp, will you help me put it on?"

"Sure."

Because there was no place to open the necklace part, it had to be lowered from over her head which meant that her hair got in the way. Emp hadn't thought of that at all. He placed the pendant around her neck and held it there while she dragged all her hair through the hoop and back. It took a surprising amount of efforts due to the sheer quantity of hair but once it was over, everyone was able to admire the large sun pendant over her bust.

She said the magic word and the small sun illuminated the room. The light was quickly followed by a great smile from her. That was exactly the sort of smile that had inspired him and just like he thought, even though it was meant to show how much he loved her, the light paled in comparison to her smile. Not because he lacked love but simply because her expression was simply too resplendent.

He stared in wonder at the girl until she placed a burning kiss on his cheek and noticed he had again forgot to breathe.

"Thank you so much Emp. I really love you so hurry up and beat up those scary crabs for me."

Emp nodded absentmindedly while Mable told the others how she couldn't wait to show off that gift to the rest of the class.

He couldn't be happier with the way it all went.

*-*-*-*

Later on, after everyone but Mable and Aglaya had left, the smiling girl was spinning and jumping about to express her almost infinite joy. The sun hanging from her neck blazing stronger than the fire in the hearth.

"You'll exhaust your magic powers if you let it shine all the time like that for no reason." Aglaya told her.

"There "is" a reason! I couldn't be happier."

"I'm sure you could, for example, you'd have been happier if you had shared your name with him like I advised you to."

Mable frowned and stopped spinning to shoot a complaining look at her friend.

"There's no way I can do that, dad would be way too angry."

"You think he won't be angry about what we just did now?"

"He will but he'll understand when he meets Emp I'm sure." Mable said with confidence. "Anyway, he hasn't even told me his name either!"

Her friend released an exasperated sigh.

"You two are just as bad as one another. You truly are a perfect match. I told you that he'd give you his own once you said yours right?"

"But you also said that he didn't care about whatever name I had so it doesn't matter. Blah!" She threw her tongue out towards Aglaya to show how confident she was in her statement.

The other exhaled again and shook her head to try and hide her amused smile.

"So Mable, will you tell me what were the crabs about?"

"The crabs?"

"Yeah, you said; (Beat up those scary crabs for me.), you never told me anything about crabs."

"I was talking about the river-snatchers, I'm having a good time now, I don't want to talk about it."

Aglaya showed her a reproachful frown.

"Mable, what did you ask him to do?"

"I told him to kill all the river-snatchers, that's it."

"But why? What does it have to do with marrying you or not?"

"I really don't want to talk about it." Mable said with a small bit of frustration pointing in her voice.

Aglaya pouted and grabbed her friend to bring her into her arms. She tortured her with hugs and logical arguments until Mable confessed.

"You know how many wives my dad has?"

"Five."

"Do you know how many he had when I was born?"

Aglaya was unsure.

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"Six?"

"Twenty." Mable corrected with a gloomy face.

She told the rest with tears rolling down her cheeks.

"I had a whole lot of sisters too. They said the river was safe but it wasn't. They all died because of those huge scissors and it was all because the Muraciers didn't take care of the monsters properly."

*-*-*-*

Some days later, the duke Jazay received an expected visit. He was relaxing in his office when a servant came to announce he had a visitor.

"The gate is closed there be no visitors allowed."

"But my lord, it's someone important."

"What sort?"

"It's lord Graube Muracier sir."

The duke was about to tell the servant that he didn't want to see the man but didn't get the time.

Graube pushed the servant to the side and slipped inside the office without shame. Graube had the typical features of a Muracier, he was tall, muscular and had a mane of light brown hair. Like one would expect of a Muracier, he wore his armor inside, it was a gaudy thing but despite it, he did have the strength to show off in it. Him wearing it inside might be usual but unlike the rest of his family, he had a sly air to him instead of the stone cold face or the bored neutral tone.

His dark brown eyes tore holes into the duke behind his desk.

"Old man, what's the meaning of this! What did you do?"

The duke was wholly unimpressed and spoke casually even though his annoyance was heard on each of his words.

"What's that question be about? I be havin no clue of what ye be meaning."

"Stop talking like an idiot and tell me about the guy who showed up in Red-water!"

"I can harley stop talkin and be talkin at the same time too."

"You know what I mean! Can't you speak properly?"

"This be my usual peach though."

The servant behind him didn't correct his words this time. She understood that Graube and the Duke didn't get along well and unquestionably sided for her own master.

Graube growled and hammered down his question one more time.

"Stop playing the fool now and tell me about the young one who's pretending to be a Muracier! Something needs to be done about him."

"Ye be thinkin he's a fake?"

"Fake or not, he's not from the main house and shouldn't introduce himself as one of us. It's my duty to/"

"Ye be havin no such duty. Yer not the head, yer cousin Chinui be the head."

"I don't know if you've noticed but he hasn't been here for years. Did you start forgetting things in your old age gramps Jazay? Someone has to do the work whether my annoying cousin is there or not."

"That someone be yer uncle the ex great general, not ye. Ye should stay put and stop botherin me."

Graube scowled and slammed in hands onto the desk, leaning towards the old man. The duke didn't back down either and putting his weight on his armrests, leaned forward too, glaring just as hard as his visitor.

"Look old man, the title is all but mine, there's nothing you can do about it. It's really stupid to mess around with the next head like that so tell me now! Where are you hiding him?"

"What makes ye think I'm hiding him?"

"There's too many knights here for just a school! They must be here for him."

"They aren't, all these knights be here to protect the princess."

Graube glared some more but didn't catch a lie in the duke's words. He exhaled some hot air towards the ancient and straightened himself.

"Then I have nothing to do here, I'm leaving."

"Ye think ye can just push yer way in me officer and leave without answering any of me questions? Graube, what was yer cousin Chijou doin in that rock maze that day?"

Graube dismissed the question with a wave of his hand.

"You know exactly why. You ask me that every time we meet and that's why I hate seeing your face. You were there when the truth was said, it was the emperor's order."

"Ye never answered properly either. Why would the emperor order that? A half truth is no truth at all."

Graube just ignored him and walked back towards the door.

"This be why you're not fit to be the head! Take responsibility for yer stupid mistake! Ye might not lie but ye do not speak truths either."

"Don't push your luck old man. I'm not scared of your weak old bones. Don't get in my way and focus on your school."

The duke gritted his teeth in anger and clenched his fists while he watched the back of Graube turning the corner after passing the door. He seemed powerless against the Muracier cousin.

However, shortly after Graube got out of his sight, the ragefull expression turned into a triumphant look, the gritted teeth turning into a wide smile.

The duke Jazay chuckled to himself.

"This straightforward youngun is still too confident. Doesn't even know how to ask questions properly. Nhye hehehehe. He be thinkin he's the only one who knows how to escape questions or what? Jeje, gimme a drink! I don't be feelin like workin anymore."

The servant behind him bowed and set off to accomplish the ask he had just given her.

The duke, buried himself in the depths of his seat and stared at the door for a while.

"Hopefully, he won't be back just yet."

He might not be this idiotic next time.

Emp might be young and inexperienced but the duke truly believed that with just a bit more efforts and practice, he'd make for a good great general. Graube on the other end was just an ambitious and mildly dishonest man. He didn't have true talent either.

Like often, the duke wished that the younger generation wasn't so hotblooded, they might think about who should be the head properly then instead of blindly following the simple and hard-cut decisions of Graube.

*-*-*-*

A few weeks after, far away in Highsteel, home of the protectors of Steelwood since its foundation, a letter finally made it's way into the hands of an old tired man. He was sprawled heavily on a wide throne, his brows heavy with age but his eyes as sharp as in his youth. His hair died white by time and his body sagging on his esteemed seat. Anyone looking would think he was too feeble to do much by himself but his hands held the letter without shaking a hair.

In the letter, the duke of the eastern grove, Jorman Jazay, requested an official seal to be sent his way for an important matter. Since the duke was an old friend, he had no doubt that the request must have had some importance so he wouldn't have hesitated to allow it. In fact, the letter shouldn't even have reached his hand because it was just a simple matter. However, it came along with some interesting news.

An unknown Muracier appeared in Red-water and brought justice to a corrupt noble. That is how the news was reported to him by one of his trusted agents a week after they received the letter.

The old man was handed the letter at that point and he read through it carefully. The more he read and the more he heard about the events in Red-water, the more the smile creeping up his face expended.

"That old mud-trap, you won't keep me out of this." He mumbled to himself in a barely audible tone.

He rose up from his seat slowly, gathering the gaze of dozens of guards and servants. They all wandered what the old man wanted, what could possibly make him stand up. He stretched his back with many loud cracking noises and ended up standing as straight as a spear. He stretched all his limbs in the same way to bring back some life to his old body and soon after, his voice thundered in the great hall, booming in the hearts of everyone present and letting itself heard across most of the fortress.

"Have them prepare my horse, I'll deliver that seal myself. I have some young blood to meet!"

There was no trace of old age and tiredness left in him except for wrinkles and white hair.