Chapter Text
“And this is about the end of the story”, the blond girl says softly with a sweet smile. She’s sitting in front of the gravestone with arms wrapped around her own knees.
“The war is over, and the three regimes in Fódlan have become one United Holy Kingdom of Faerghus. His Highness ascended the throne smoothly half a year ago, and now we address him as ‘Your Majesty’. Don’t worry… with the professor’s help, he has returned to the person we knew, as kind and upright as the prince you defended with your life. Everyone stays by his side, including the newly titled royal knight at the latest knighting ceremony.”
Like a little girl who wishes to be praised by her big brother, Ingrid takes out a black iron spur shyly from her bag.
“Look, Glenn”, she says, “I am here today to tell you that I did it… even though it took me ten more years than you”. Her fingertips slowly stroke the inner side of the spur where her initials are engraved, “doesn’t it look exactly like yours?”
The smile on the Pegasus knight’s face stays there quietly for a moment longer, and then, a glint of moisture appears in her eyes.
“During these ten years, I have met ‘the hero of Daphnel’ already. Miss Judith really is exceptional. Next moon, I have a plan to visit Arianrhod, like we said we would in our youth. Of course, I am going with you.”
She holds out her left hand that she has been hiding behind her back, showing a ring on her finger. The sunshine is bright today, and the emerald on the ring is dazzling in the light, still as green as her eyes.
“Recently, I tried this ring on again, and it felt slightly tight. So I took it to a shop to adjust the size, and I ended up trying the inscribing service that the silversmith recommended.”
Eleven years ago, a young maiden accepted with burning cheeks a ring from her betrothed lad. Today, that beautiful blush appears again on her face. She takes off the ring carefully, and holds it closer to the gravestone like a demonstration, whispering the inscription on the inner circle of the ring in a barely audible volume.
~Glenn and Ingrid, knights with linked hearts~
He does not respond. The cemetery of House Fraldarius is huge, but Glenn who died young occupies only a small resting place. He wasn’t even of age to start his own family, so his gravestone stands right next to his parents’, encircled by clusters of his favourite primroses. It is still the end of winter, so they only have a few lovely buds.
Glenn Govan Fraldarius (1159 – 1176), knight of honour, beloved son and adored brother
Here bury only his hair, sword and armor. He didn’t even leave a portrait behind. When he was alive, he was in her every year, every moon and every day, and that’s why when death peeled him off her, every inch of her was a bloody mess.
A glistening bead of liquid falls silently and vanishes into the flower clusters. Till this day, in some corner of her heart, she is perhaps still weeping. However-
“Not sure why, but these days I have suddenly become popular. More than one person proposed to me…”, she buries her face in her arms and muses in her muffled voice, “I have not yet decided whether I will accept any of them. But anyways, the bottom line is that they must take me as the knight I am. Now I’m the one to pick and choose, wouldn't you agree?”
A few seconds of silence pass, and the beautiful young woman lets out a soft sigh. “Because of these… experiences, I have confirmed one thing. Back then… I was indeed more than willing to marry you. Glenn, our engagement was a bliss to me. I wonder whether I ever managed to convey this clearly to you at that time?”
“Therefore”, she continues as she puts that ring back on her finger, and winks with one of her pretty green eyes almost playfully, “in order to make up for your anxious and tedious wait those years, until I make my next decision, allow me to remain your fianceé for a little while longer?”
“And there is one most important thing, Glenn. Just as you promised that day in the snowy field, you really have always stayed with me to support and protect me. Never for once have you broken that vow in the past decade. I must make this very clear to you, for I know how proud a knight you were.”
Ingrid keeps her gaze on Glenn for a long time. And eventually, a small smile emerges at her lips again. The motion of her rising startles a blue bird in the cemetery, as it flaps its wings and sweeps past them with a delightful chirp.
“I will come back to see you again”, she murmurs, and casts him one last lingering glance before she turns around and walks towards the exit of the cemetery. Her childhood friends are waiting for her there.
A blue bird brings happiness and hope to people, or so the ancient folktales say. Everybody craves to own a blue bird, but the blue bird never stays for anyone. However, it is believed that occasionally, one would rest on the palms of children with innocent hearts. And those children who have seen a blue bird would bravely set out on a lifelong journey seeking a reunion. Some of them may have succeeded, but who can tell for sure whether the blue bird at second encounter is still the same one from childhood? Or maybe, they have merely sought in vain, but the happiness of yesterday and the hope for tomorrow, gifted a long time ago, forever remain among their hearts’ treasures.
Behind her, in front of his grave, the budding primroses blossom silently.