Standing up from my seat and glancing over the people around me, I walked towards mom.
She was smiling while Rein was confused by the sudden thing that was happening.
She didn't know anything about this announcement stuff. Not at least my announcement.
She was confused. But only she was the confused one among the people in this room.
As she looked around, she found most of them smiling. Especially Anna, who was sitting beside her.
She was the easiest to read, so she grasped that something special related to her was going to happen.
Something special. Something related to her. On my birthday when I 'officially' became an adult. And she was dressed too well today…
She was smart, so she didn't need more to grasp what this announcement might be, and if it was something that she was thinking it was, then…
[[ "Oyy! Bastard! Why now and here!? Everyone is watching!" ]] She shouted through our Celes private connection line and I gazed back at her with a smile as I stood before everyone.
[[ "Isn't it good this way?" ]]
Her calm face distorted in a cute way as her lips fluttered with astonishment.
Her dad playing the giant piano had stopped since mom stood up and now that he was looking at her, the smile on his face and the joy in his eyes was clear for us to see.
Her mom was sitting with grandmother and the other ladies as she, too, smiled excitedly with them, even holding their hands as she looked at Rein and then towards me.
They always wished good for her, for her happiness.
She was always happy when she was around me. Sad that she can't have everything she wanted, but she sure was far more different from how she might have been before meeting me.
And she was now a grown-up too. So this event, something all of them had looked forward to for a long time, was now before them.
Mom was excited and smiling. And others were the same.
Some people down there had looked as if they caught onto something fishy so they were chaotic.
The imperial family had caught onto what was happening, so they had interested smiles too.
They had known about the two of us for a long time, so they also knew this day would come. Just that they all were surprised to witness it like this, too.
Carla and Alf were clapping from our right side at the food tables while princess Isabella looked at them with confusion.
Still, the most astonished one was my Rein.
She had spent the whole day ignoring me and in genuine sweet anger, only now coming back and having a proper word but all of a sudden; I was here, standing before literally most of the high society of the empire, ready to propose to her while everyone was watching.
She had lived for hundreds of years, but still, this was her first time witnessing something like this.
'But that shocked, messy face is cute.'
It was fun to see her like that but today was a special day so I didn't wait for long.
Looking over the people below us, gathering some Mana to strengthen my voice, I spoke in a voice clearly audible to all the people present.
"Thank you all for coming to this humble celebration.
Today is a special day and I know the elders know better how it feels to be an adult.
Age is a number and nothing else. I believe most, if not all, people would agree with me.
It is a number that can't actually define if a person is an adult or not. One can reach the age of adulthood and still be an immature kid from the inside.
But still, it is this unique number that restrains those like me, those who willingly or unwillingly mature earlier than their age.
The circumstances, the difficulties life presents before us individuals, and the decisions we make help us understand the surroundings, the world, society, and nature.
The fall helps us, people close to us support us, we see the highs and lows of our life, and only then do we truly become mature enough to make some important decisions in our lives.
But what happens when you are ready and capable enough to make those decisions earlier than the set age that society accepts you as a qualified person?
Well, it sure is up to us if we want to accept our own happiness or see what society thinks of us.
Regardless of what others might think, I believe one should be free enough to chase their own happiness.
But doing so while having their own beliefs isn't wrong either, right?
So…
I have beliefs too, and a happiness I want to have for a long time now.
Talking in general terms, I have had this 'happiness' for a while now. Long enough to know I want a greater one than the one I possess.
You know, sometimes you want more than what you have, but there are barriers blocking you from achieving them.
Barriers of class, barriers of feelings, barriers of society, barriers of law, barriers of nationality or race, barriers of nature, or barriers of personal beliefs?
I also had some of my own beliefs, my restrictions, my foolishness, and because of them, my happiness had to go through a lot of undesirable inner conflicts.
But today… as I am free from those wretched shackles of self-restraint, in the presence of the great people of this nation, I would like to ask my happiness, my joy, and life, for the thing we have waited for a time which has felt like several eternities."
Looking back at her, straight into her eyes with a warm smile, I slowly walked back and humbly asked for her hand.
[[ "You're fucking crazy, you know?" ]]
She sighed deeply as she accepted my hand with those words.
She had waited for a long time, and I know she had her own fantasies of where our first kiss might be, but… I know she wasn't expecting a crowd this big and full of shitty people to be that 'perfect' place.
Well, it was beyond her expectations, and she understood the goal behind this whole stunt, and it excited her even more.
The people down there had myriad emotions. Some were angry, some dissatisfied, but most who were finding meaning behind my earlier speech were lost in thought, unsure of what to even think.
Their reactions were funny and as the two of us stood on the edge of the balcony, holding both our hands gently, looking into each other's eyes…
"Excuse us for a moment."
Prince Claudius stood up and walked upstairs from the other side with a calm-looking face and empress Vera followed him.
The people down there couldn't see them, so the emperor suggested we continue with his eyes.
We knew something like this could happen so we went back to looking into each other's eyes, stayed there for a moment, and then… I went on my knees.
Both knees, surprisingly.
Looking up at her and taking out a small box from my white crack, I took a deep breath as she looked down at me with her emotionally gorgeous eyes, a wildly beating heart, and a smile that had waited for more than me.
Opening the box and revealing the special ring that took me months to create, a ring that appealed to all the eyes to get drawn towards it, I slowly released my breath and asked with the happiest smile on my face, "Rein. Ready to accompany this lacking one for the illusionary forever?"
We had waited. For a time that can't be explained in numbers. But we are here now, after facing many things, and our own selves, in this moment, in a far better state than years back at our first encounter.
She was healed, and was more grown up than even me.
I was ready, in a far better state than I was back then.
The moment was ours. The world was watching us.
We owned each other at this moment. And the answer to these words she had longed to hear was naturally…
"No."
Her answer created a wave of confusion and loud noises, and most of them were happy.
They couldn't see her blissful smile from below like all of us here, but they were happy that I was rejected.
'Poor people…'
They rejoiced and were too happy about this, but then, they suddenly stopped.
Rein was smiling and the negative answer was just the thing I was looking forward to.
"Axion my love…"
She also took out a small box from her storage ring and sat down on both her knees, like me.
"Why not actually be together for as long as we exist? Why limit our time to the little frame of 'eternity'?"
Holding her own ring her grandma gave her long ago for this special occasion, she looked into my eyes filled with an emotion that shattered the smiling faces of the people down there.
It was a strange tradition of witches where the person first asking had to be on their knees like this, then the other partner proposes back after rejecting them.
It was something they didn't know, not even our families, but they could see our faces and that much was enough.
The eyes said it all, and she had received my answer through these calm eyes, so she nodded at me, and I nodded back with the same smile bearing uncontainable happiness, excitement, and love.
"Yes." Holding her hand with the ring in my other hand, we just looked into each other's eyes, not saying a word, not minding the countless gazes on us, not caring about the noble traditions.
As the golden ring with a small red jewel perfectly slid down to her uniquely soft ring finger and settled down as perfectly as I made it for her, she turned my palm and put the slightly big ring on my ring finger, which magically shrunk down and became perfect to my finger.
The purple ring with three small pink jewels was gorgeous, and also an amazing divine artifact. Receiving it was an honor on its own, and far more when it was our engagement ring, one that bound the two of us together.
"It's done…" she said, looking at me with a gaze that had longed for another thing.
"Good luck to us."
I closed my eyes, she closed her eyes. I leaned closer, she was already before my face.
I felt her warm breath on my face, my heart was beating as wildly as hers.
She had waited, she had starved. I had also waited, blaming myself for letting her suffer like that.
She had endured for a long time, and I had stopped myself from crossing the line many times too.
I had held back, a lot. Still, maybe it wasn't as much as hers.
We both suffered in the tormenting eternal flow of time, but all that…
"Mmm…"
It was worth it.
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