“Now, I don’t know wedding traditions of this world however I shall-” Utarou began as he paced around his study.
“We’re not getting married!” Henrek exclaimed exasperatedly, sitting on a couch opposite of Hope.
“We’re not?” Hope asked sadly as she sat by herself, with Utarou pacing around on the carpet between them.
“We met a month ago! That’s way too quick between meeting and marriage!” Henrek explained exasperatedly as he face palmed.
Hope pouted, crossed her arms and looked away angrily from Henrek.
“So you don’t want to get married to Henrek? Hope; Which man would you like to be married to instead, take your pick of any man in this castle!” Utarou begged in a panic.
“Hmpth.” Hope scoffed, glaring at Henrek who gesticulated fruitlessly as Utarou slid in.
“Henrek, my friend, my amigo, my pall, my buddy, my nakema. I need you to realize she’s throwing herself at you and is pretty clearly only interested in you right now. You gotta understand the evolution of her Legacy Skill is critical to my plans.” Utarou explained in hushed tones, Hope still glaring at the two men.
“My Liege, I’m not going to exploit a young woman who collapsed at our gate.” Henrek explained.
“Am I just not pretty enough for you then?” Hope asked with a glare.
“N-No you are very pretty and-”
“See you think she’s pretty! No problems, I’ll get the ceremony started.” Utarou decided as he left the pair in his study.
Henrek groaned as he felt a headache start to throb.
A heavy silence fell upon the room for a long minute, eventually broken by Hope sighing.
“I’m not a kid you know.” Hope said softly as she grabbed her knee, her long white hair and pale yellow eyes clashing with the dark red sofa she sat on.
“I didn’t think you were.” Henrek replied, shoulders finally relaxing as Utarou’s loud presence was finally gone.
“So what, is something wrong with me then? Am I just not good enough for you?” Hope asked anxiously, looking up with her large eyes.
“No! No for gods sake but… I’m worried you’re just trying to survive.” Henrek explained. Hope cocked her head.
“Is there something wrong with that?”
“No but-”
Hope didn’t let Henrek finish before walking over and sitting next to him.
“You’re a good man, I never thought I’d ever have the chance to be married…” Hope explained, a sad memory crossing her eyes.
“There are many good men out there.” Henrek sighed.
“I haven’t met them.” Hope countered.
“But you can! Gareth will be coming to collect Mountain Keep’s tax money once the winter passes, you can leave with him then.”
Hope pondered, blushing slightly as she looked down.
“I think I’d rather stay with you.”
Henrek sighed.
“Are you saying that because you like me or because I’m the first good man you’ve met?” Henrek asked seriously.
“Why wouldn’t I like the first good man I meet?” Hope asked with a small laugh, hiding the hurt.
“See! That’s what I’m saying, I don’t want you to attach yourself to me out of fear for the future.” Henrek exclaimed.
“So you don’t want me then is that it?” Hope sneered.
“I-I’m not talking about what I want, I’m just thinking about what will be best for you. I keep telling you I’m barely even a knight, I'm just a peasant who happened to be good with a sword, I have no noble house, I have no lands, I am going to spend the rest of my life in this frozen fortress filled with degenerates and you don’t deserve that.” Henrek explained seriously, placing his hands on Hope’s shoulders.
“But what do you want?” Hope asked sincerely. Henrek found himself staring into her big yellow eyes before looking away.
“I-I want to do the right thing.” Henrek stuttered, pushing himself away from Hope.
“Is it right to stay here the rest of your life?” Hope asked, cocking her head. Henrek took a deep breath before looking down at the ground.
“The money I get from this job is supporting my village Dryholm. So yeah, it is right for me to stay here until I die, I still have a lot of people relying on me.” Henrek explained somberly, Hope going in to hug the man but stopping.
“Why? Why are they all relying on you?” Hope questioned bitterly.
“Dryholm hasn’t had a successful harvest in nearly six years, it’s in an unimportant province that King Oldsman doesn’t even remember exists, it’s surrounded by mountains so the journey to the next village is too deadly for the elderly and sick to make… Like my mother and sister.” Henrek explained seriously.
Hope stood up, fists clenched.
“Then I’ll go with you! We’ll go to Dryholm together and… I don’t know we’ll do something!” Hope declared.
“What?! That doesn’t fix anything!”
“Nuh uh! If I decide I don’t like you anymore, I can just leave, right~?” Hope smirked playfully.
“I-I guess but what about money?! I still need to pay for food until at the very least the next harvest!” Henrek countered, standing up with Hope.
Right on que, Utarou returned with a pair of wedding rings.
“I found these on the floor of the vault, they probably fit right?” Utarou asked as Hope pointed towards Utarou.
“You can’t be serious.” Henrek gawked.
“Heyyy~ Utarou, me and Henrek hashed it out but we need to get married in his hometown, do you mind p-” Hope began before being interrupted by Utarou.
“Of course! This is no place to begin the Monster Girl Evolution plan. Henrek, where do you live?” Utarou interrupted, not giving Hope a chance to finish.
“Uh, Dryholm. It’s a 16 day journey south from here, near the border.” Henrek explained diligently, despite the complete shift in personality in the last month, Utarou was still his lord, technically.
“Climate and population?”
“Warmer than here and barely anyone who still lives there.”
“Perfect. How long would a detour through Richerson take us?”
“Just an extra day.”
“Excellent, I’ll ask King Oldsman to give it to me then!” Utarou declared naively.
“W-what?!” Hope exclaimed disappointedly. She was hoping to elope in peace with Henrek.
“Oh god what did you do?” Henrek groaned as Utarou began shouting orders to prepare for a journey from the mountains.
“At least it’ll be warmer?” Hope winced.