Messiah 3 : Premarital_Arguments

K : "I'm... 13 already?!"
Ro : "He's 13 already?"

The two gawked at the astounding fact.

Ri : "Yes, you are. Do you not believe me?"

K : "I... The... This... This is so sudden, I- I'm 13 years old already?"
Ro : "Are you telling me that he had been lying to me this whole time, about him being underage for marriage?!"

Roberia withdrew the wooden dagger from Katachi's waist, and pointed it at him.

Ro : (To think I trusted this boy so blindly!) "You are a deceiver and a liar, Kotsuba Katachi!"

K : "What!?- I didn't- I can't lie about something even I don't have certainty over!"
Ri : "Calm down, miss! There is no need to point weapons!" (Is that... Made of wood?)

Ro : "Then why has she claimed that you are already 13?! Answer me, follower of Segus, Rinne-!!"

Roberia held back her anger for a slight moment.

Ro : (Not good! I almost called her Rinnesfeld!)

Mother Rinnesfeld caught hold of Roberia's wavering from her eye's sudden rapid movement.

Ri : (Ah, she almost called out my name just now. That would have been bad, since Katachi hasn't told her my full name yet.) "I understand why the two of you are frustrated, so please calm down and listen."

Mother Rinnesfeld, with a witty, amicable turnover, calmed the young couple quickly.

Ri : "The truth is, I checked Katachi's age without his knowledge of it."

K : "You did?"
Ro : "Is that so?"

A grin formed on her face, and Mother Rinnesfeld signaled the two into the Caterer's room to their right.

Ri : "Follow me. This way."

*** ***

Ri : "Now, Katachi, I want you to dip your finger into this small bowl of water."

The three stood before a small pedestal-shaped artifact, with a few suspending wooden rings and numbers on them.

Ro : "What is this?"
K : "The Origin Clock?"

Katachi silently obeyed Mother Rinnesfeld, while Roberia observed them from a distance, awed by the amount of objects and artifacts prepared for many, many situations of diverse origins.

Ro : (Goodness... There are shelves with bottles probably for herbs, a mortar and pestle set, a sort of charm-making device, a confession box, a model of Pierre's Dice, a Ringmaker, they even have their own greenhouse for growing plants. Talk about being over-prepared...)

The finger dipped into the wooden bowl , and the wooden rings started moving. Slowly, they turn and turn and turn, before finally resting at certain numbers.

Ri : "Katachi, why don't you try reading the result yourself?"

K : "O.... Okay. 1 decade, 3 years- !... 1 month, 0 weeks, 2 days, 4 hours, 33 minutes and 14- 15 seconds."

Ro : (1 decade and 3 years? That's 13!) " ... So, you checked his age using this artifact, without his knowledge nor consent?"

Mother Rinnesfeld smiled, and nodded at the two.

Ri : "Yes. I did."

Roberia returned the wooden dagger to Katachi.

Ro : "... I'm sorry. I owe you an apology for accusing you on a baseless conjecture."

K : "Ahh, it's... It's alright." (Geh... This feels uncomfortable, a girl's actually apologizing to me...)

The looks on their faces changed, and were far less tense than before. Katachi withdrew the blade, and Roberia stared at his face intently.

Ro : (Let's try this again.) "Kotsuba Katachi."

K : "Yes?"

Ro : "This would mean that you have nary an excuse to marry me."

The cold sweat poured from his pores like a waterfall.

Ri : "? You're sweating, Katachi. Would you like to take a bath first?"

*Cozy's Notes : Please. Please. PLEASE. Say the Dinner, Bath or Me quote for super-cute Japanese wives. PLEASE, I BEG OF YOU - I WOULD HAVE YOU FOR DINNER IN THE BATH*

K : (Not good, not good! She's persistent! I need to get away from her first!) "Uhm, I'll just-"

Ro : "Don't try to dodge me! I will not let you out of my sight!" ( I won't let him get away!)

K : (I can't just avoid her, huh. I guess I'd have to come clean.) "... Roberia, I... I have to come clean on this."

Ro : "What?"

K : "Your obsession with marrying me is a bit overboard. Maybe you should try and defeat me instead, and be on your own journey without being tied down to me."

Ro : (He's starting to catch on? No! I have to put pressure on him! I'll use his position against him!) "I would if I didn't have any other choice!"

K : "Any other choice? What do you mean?"

Ro : "You're taking it easy on me, aren't you?"

K : "I'm not-"
Ro : "You're belittling me, aren't you?!"

K : "I'm not, I-"
Ro : "Why can't you see how humiliating it is for me to lose to you, even once?!"

K : "How is it embarrassing?"

Ro : (This is it! I'll tie him in!) "... You're a follower of Segus. Of all the Gods out there, SEGUS. The crazy legend that talks about peace, and discourages violence. The one God I cannot stand at all, for his lack of a well-defined goal. The one God, who shouldn't have followers that are more powerful than followers of Ilpoh, or Dardicel or Vithrolu, or any other God for that matter. Do you have any idea how humiliating it is, to lose to you even ONCE?!"

K : (That's why she wanted to marry me that desperately?)"..."
Ro : "I have no other choice. Even if I do beat you, it's most probably going to be laughed at, for naught. You're a simple traveller, as far as I can tell, without so much as a name, or a title for knighthood. There is no way to redeem myself, not unless we marry and treat it as friendly sparring. Even if you were to marry one of my cousins and be associated with nobility or whatever, that just won't work, because it does not shrug off your Segus backgr-"

K : "Alright! I get it! I'll marry you, so spare me the guilt!!"

A burst of frustration erupted from Katachi.

Ri : "... Katachi, that's quite a rash decision of you."

K : "Mother Rin, I can't possibly say no when I've brought upon her so much shame and agony. It's wrong of me to cause upon her any more harm than I ought not to. I won't live it down until I see to it that this is set right."

Ri : "I understand. Do as you see fit then. I trust your judgement."

K : "... I'll keep my promise with you. Let's..." (I can't believe I'm saying this...) "Let us marry."

Ro : (Success!) "... Let us make haste, then."

*Cozy's Notes : And then, make babies. XD I couldn't resist.
... No, they're not really going to make babies, or have sex.*

*not unless they're in Endus Reignum.*

Ri : "... Well, I have the bath prepared, in any case. Which of you is going to bathe first?"

K : "Roberia can have it first-"
Ro : "We go together!"

K : "To- To- Together?!"
Ri : "Together?"

Ro : (His modesty... It's a nice change of pace.) "If you are to wed me, and bear a clean conscience, you would not fear my presence in the bath! Or have you planned on betraying your promise in the first place?"

K : "Okay, I get it! Let's.... Bathe together..." *blush*

*** ***

The bathroom was draped with a strange atmosphere.

Ro : "Make sure to wash behind your ears! Rub it clean and thoroughly!"

K : "O... Okay..."

Roberia stood behind Katachi, seated on the stool, and she supervised his scrubbing. Scooping up a small bucket of water, she poured it over his head and shoulders bit by bit, the herbal aroma seeping through the air.

Ro : "The dead skin's gone. Let me get a sponge. I need to wash your back-"

K : "It's fine, I-... Th- There's no need for you to do that! I can manage myself!"

Ro : "No. No can do. I'll be able to see which parts are left unclean, and scrub them extensively. And, just barring the fact that you can wash your own back does not mean everyone is able to follow suit. I'm counting on you when it's your turn to wash mine."

K : *gulp* "... I would really prefer not to wash your back."

Ro : "Why not? There is nothing to be embarrassed about. Or is that to say you wish for my back to remain filthy?"

K : (How is she not embarrassed by that?!) "It's not that... But, to bare one's body in front of another before marriage is a bit too-"

Ro : "It matters not. Surely you have seen that nun's bare body before."

K : "That- That's different! She's my... She... She's a mother to me!"

Ro : (His reactions are really fun.) "And we are spouses, so that should not be an issue if you can bathe with your parent."

K : "..." (She's so difficult to handle. I can't just walk away from her, unlike Bael... Maybe it would have been a better idea to stay with Bael more, and gain experience in dealing with situations like these?)

Katachi kept trying to seclude himself, while Roberia continued the spouse bonding session.

*** ***

By the time their 3-hour bath of Katachi's reluctance and Roberia's insistence had finally finished, it was already close to sunset. Rinnesfeld cut the vegetables, and prepared the spices.

Ro : "If you didn't kept running from me like that, it wouldn't have had to take this long!"

K : "I can't possibly approach you when you keep opening your legs so wide- Ahh! Mother Rin!!"

Ri : "? Yes?"
K : "You forgot to start the fire again!!"

Katachi quickly rushed to the fire pit in the corner, and started setting up the straws and charcoal.

Ri : "Ah! You're right! We won't make it then-"

K : "We'll make it! I have an idea!"

Katachi swiped his finger with a bit of saliva, and drew on a piece of charcoal carefully. On the charcoal itself formed a rune of a beautiful, deep orange, and Katachi placed it inside. He removed the wok at the top, and in a couple of seconds, a small crackling sound was heard, and a fire had started in the pit.

*Cozy's Notes : It's a Kaba rune he drew. Have you read Deku Up! 3 yet? Be sure to. The Deku Up! series is special in that it explains some (and eventually all) of the magics and phenomena featured in the story.*

Ri : "!" (Katachi did learn something useful, then. I'd need to sit down with him and have a nice, long chat.)
Ro : "!" (He could do that?... No, wait, he did mention that he came from the Sage Raufid Magus Academy...)

Katachi quickly grabbed a few more straws to feed the flame.

K : (The fire's not started normally, so the charcoals aren't hot enough yet. Until they are, I need to fuel and sustain this fire. It's a strain on the straw we have, but this would be our best bet at starting a fire now.) "The charcoal's not hot enough! Let me feed the flame for a while!"

Ro : (Charcoal? Oh, right, coal is probably a luxury in this region. I almost forgot.) "Let me help you."

K : (The pit's small, and we might get hurt squeezing with each other. That's not a good idea.)"It's fine, I can... I can handle it myself."

Ro : "Come on, don't be so cold. We're to be wed, we should rely upon each other mo- Ahhh!"

K : "Ahh! Careful, careful! Don't lean so close, your hair is going to burn!"

*Cozy's Notes : ... Sigh.*

*** ***

Ro : "It's fine, see? You don't even need to be worried for me! Just trust me."

K : "It was never an issue on trust, Roberia! The fire pit is just too small for two people!"

Ro : "But if we pull it out into an open area, it's big enough, isn't it?"

K : "We can't pull it out! It's built into the foundation of the church itself, and at the corner of this room! Pulling it out would mean tearing off a chunk of the wall itself!"

Ro : "Stop yelling at me! Geez! I get that you're angry that you got burnt, but that is no reason to be mean!" (... Even though you did get burnt to protect my hair...)

Ri : (This... Isn't very healthy for their matrimony, is it?)

K : "... Okay. I am sorry for getting angry. But that is just haphazard on your part to lean over like that!"

Ri : "... How about just having dinner? You should set up the table, Katachi."

K : "... I'll get to it now."

*** ***

They get on each others' nerves during dinner.

K : "You should eat your peas! At least try to appreciate the hard work of the farmers whom have cultivated them!"

Ro : "But they're BITTER!! It's different from the peas back home!" (I was never served peas like these during my evenings!)

K : "They're supposed to be bitter! It's good for your health!"

Ro : "No~ Eat them for me, Katachi!"

K : "It doesn't work that way!"

Ri : (... These two are really going to marry each other?... I worry for them.)

*** ***

And even in bed are they bickering away.

K : "Wha- What are you doing?!"

Ro : "What? It's not wrong for us to share a bed!"

K : "We're not even married yet! What of the rumors of us?!"

Ro : "We're getting married anyway, so what's wrong with sleeping with each other now?"

K : "I'm... I'm not prepared for this yet..."

Ro : "Oh, come on! It hasn't occurred to you that spouses get all intimate and romantic with each other before they sleep? It's bound to happen anyway, so let's just enjoy each other's company!"

K : "Aaaahh!! Don't- Don't cling to my arm like that!"

Ro : "Does the burn mark still hurt? You poor thing, let me lick the wound for you-"

K : "It's fine! You don't need to! And this is far too sudden!"

Ro : "Too sudden? Is that to suggest that you have grievances to our marriage?"

K : "... No. No grievances. Just... I just need some time to adjust to this sudden development."

Ro : "... Okay. Until then, I'll inch closer and closer to you every night, until we interlock ourselves ever so tightly..." (Just like how Father sleeps with Mother, just like how Michael sleeps with Tiffania...)

K : "..." (... My heart is beating so fast I don't think I can sleep...)

Ro : "Let's start our first night with something simple. Holding hands while sleeping. Is that fine?"

K : "... Yeah..." (Inch closer and closer to me every night?...)

Ro : (His hand is so warm.)

*** ***

Roberia is sleeping soundly.

K : (I can't sleep. I can't sleep! For some reason, I just can't sleep at all! My heart is beating so fast, and I am so nervous and tense and... Excited, or something. It's happening again. I just... I just can't sleep!)

*Cozy's Notes : Recall the scene where he can't sleep at all, from chapter 29. Katachi's not used to sleeping with someone around him, not even Mother Rinnesfeld.*

K : (... At least she's sound asleep.)

Katachi gently brushed the hair at her forehead to a side.

K : (Pretty... She's a real beauty and all, but I feel guilty. Utterly, utterly guilty that she's to wed me, and not someone whom she truly loves, or someone whom she would benefit from. I don't particularly hate her or anything, much like Bael, but... To marry me just to save her pride is a bit too much.)

He touched Roberia's forehead with the back of his fingers.

K : (If, going by her reasoning, marrying opponents she cannot defeat is a way to save her pride, then what of the many opponents to come that might be stronger than her, stronger than me?... Would that not reduce her pride, to have multiple husbands, to be polygamous?...)

Katachi continued staring at Roberia's sleeping face, and the frown on his own face only got uglier.