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“So, darling—what are your plans for when this whole nasty war is over?”
Olivia considered the question carefully, staring into her tea. It wasn’t that difficult a question—but at the same time, she’d only really discussed it with Robin before, and it was hard to find a way to put it into words without sounding ridiculous…
“W-well… I want to keep dancing, of course,” she began, figuring that would be the safest option. “I think everything I’ve learned here will really help me improve. And all of those confidence lessons you gave me…”
She laughed at the memories. Gods, it had been so embarrassing at the time, but now it was nothing short of hilarious. That she wasn’t dying of shame just showed how much Maribelle’s confidence lessons had really helped her, even if they turned out to be complete nonsense in the end.
“Well, of course. That goes without saying. You could hardly deny the world that beautiful gift of yours.” Though she couldn’t say those lessons had exactly cured her of her shyness—Olivia couldn’t help but blush at the way compliments fell from Maribelle’s mouth so easily. What was it with nobles and flattery? “But you must have more concrete plans than just that. Will you return to the Feroxi court? The Khan would welcome you back with open arms, I’m sure.”
“They’ve certainly been nothing but kind to me… but I’d like to get out and explore the world a bit more. I’ve never liked the cold very much anyway…” She laughed nervously. “And I don’t think it would be a very good place for—well. Never mind.”
“Oh, you simply won’t get away with a cryptic comment like that. Clearly you have some sort of plan.” Maribelle sipped her tea and stared at her expectantly, and Olivia blushed even harder.
“I-I suppose I do… but it’s a little embarrassing, to be honest,” she admitted, since it was obvious Maribelle wasn’t going to simply let the topic drop like she’d been hoping. “I haven’t really told many people about it… I guess I’m still waiting to see if it’s something I think I can really do.”
“I have no doubt you can do absolutely anything you put your mind to,” Maribelle said immediately. “And you know you can tell me absolutely anything. But if it would put your mind at ease, perhaps you’d like to hear about my own aspirations?”
“O-oh! I’d love that,” Olivia replied, leaning forward and sipping at her tea. Maribelle giggled, and she realized she was staring very intently at her.
“It’s nothing to be quite that excited about,” she said, folding her hands together on top of the table. “I’ve been studying law for quite some time, in hopes of becoming a magistrate in the Ylissean court. I aim to fight for the equality of all people, from the most lowborn peasant to the most affluent noble.”
“Really?! That… sounds like such a lovely dream. But isn’t something like that going to be incredibly difficult?” She couldn’t help it; she leaned even further across the table, like Maribelle was telling her some kind of incredible story. And in a way, she was—she had never thought of a noble woman like Maribelle serving in a court of law, but the more she thought about it, the easier it was to imagine.
“Of course. People with money, power, and prestige rarely want to give up anything in the name of something like equality, but I don’t want to do it because it’s easy—I want to do it because it’s the right thing to do.” Maribelle practically seemed to glow as she explained her dream. “Not to mention the difficulty of a noblewoman like myself getting into that position in the first place. But no matter how hard the journey is, I know it will be worth it in the end. …Olivia? Are you… crying?”
“N-No!” Olivia sniffled as she rubbed the tears from her eyes. “Not… not all that much, anyway. It’s just… your dream is so noble, and beautiful, and I can’t help it!”
“Oh dear…” Maribelle sighed, but her expression was soft—fond even. “I’m certain your dream is just as lovely, Olivia. Won’t you tell me about it?”
“How could I possibly…? It couldn’t even start to compare to something like that,” she said, sticking her face in her teacup again. “B-but… since you were nice enough to tell me about your dream, it wouldn’t be kind of me not to return the favor…”
“You needn’t think of it like that, darling. If you don’t want to talk about it, I certainly wouldn’t want to force you into anything that makes you uncomfortable,” Maribelle assured her, but Olivia couldn’t help but feel like she owed her something after she’d told her something so personal.
“It’s nothing as noble as your dream, I’m afraid…” In fact, after hearing Maribelle’s dream, she only felt more awkward about sharing hers. “Most days I’m not even sure if I’ll ever be able to achieve it. But one day… well, one day I’d like to open my own theatre. With a proper stage and comfortable seats and all the trimmings—trap doors and flying wires and a beautiful velvet curtain! That way everyone will be able to see the true beauty of dancing.”
Her spirits felt lifted just by speaking about it; she could just see it now! Imagining herself dancing on that stage practically brought a tear to her eye.
“Oh, Olivia, that sounds like a beautiful dream.” It was only when Maribelle spoke that Olivia remembered where she was, and instantly felt a little embarrassed by how much she had been gushing. Though Maribelle sounded a little choked up herself, so at least she wasn’t alone. “Dancing like yours certainly deserves to be shared with the world. But pray tell, how do you plan to finance such an undertaking on a soldier’s salary?”
“That’s… the hard part,” she admitted. “I’ve been saving every bit of coin I can, but at this rate I’ll be old and gray before I can even start the work… Robin said she would help me to build it, but even if we knew how to build a theater, the cost of land and materials would still be overwhelming.”
“Well… what if I perhaps helped you? A noble house obviously has much more money than a common one. Once this whole messy affair is done with, it would be simple enough to do.”
“Oh, Maribelle…!” Olivia almost dropped her tea, she was so shocked by the suggestion. “It’s so generous of you to offer… but I couldn’t possibly! I don’t know that I’d ever have any way of paying you back!”
“Pish-posh. People would come from all over to see your dancing; you’d be rich in no time at all!” Maribelle smiled so brightly as she said it that Olivia couldn’t help but believe her, at least a little bit. “Besides, it’s not uncommon for nobles to sponsor creative works. Many performers have noble sponsors and benefactors. But… if you’ll permit me to be so bold… I was actually thinking of a different sort of arrangement.”
“Oh…? What kind of arrangement?” Olivia cocked her head at Maribelle and sipped her tea.
“I would be more than happy to lend you the money to get your theater built, but I would be even happier if that money could be yours to do whatever you please,” she replied.
“I’m… not sure I understand.”
“Maybe this will help you understand.” Maribelle reached for the bag she had sitting by her feet. Admittedly, Olivia was curious as to its contents… Maribelle didn’t usually carry a tote with her to their afternoon tea. “I picked it up in town just the other day, and I’ve been looking for the right time to give it to you… now is as good a time as any.”
The offered gift was in the form of a small velvet jewellery box. Olivia didn’t even have to open it to know that it was expensive.
“Maribelle—you shouldn’t have.” She was flattered—and a bit excited, to be perfectly honest—but she wasn’t the kind of person who found it easy to accept expensive gifts. Not that it was the first time…
“Olivia, please take a look at it before you say anything about what I should or shouldn’t do,” Maribelle replied with all due patience.
“Oh! R-right…” Well, she supposed it couldn’t hurt—she reached out for the jewellery box and cracked it open, peeking carefully inside.
She immediately flung the box back at Maribelle with a startled shout.
“Olivia!” Maribelle had caught it before it could strike her in the face, thankfully. “It’s not a plague rat, dear. There’s no need to throw things.”
“Th-that’s a ring! A wedding ring!”
“Y-yes… and a simple no would have sufficed, rather than turning it into a projectile.” Maribelle sighed as she cradled the jewellery box to her chest. “Though I suppose it was rather silly of me to spring it on you so suddenly, knowing how jumpy you can be.”
“M-Maribelle…”
“No, no. You don’t need to say anything, dear. It really was a silly idea on my part. We’ve never even spoken about romance before, after all.”
“Maribelle.”
“Gods, I probably made it sound like I was just proposing to give you a reason to take my money, didn’t I? I promise that wasn’t my intention. My timing couldn’t have been any worse—”
“MARIBELLE!”
Maribelle practically jumped out of her chair at that, and Olivia was more than a little startled herself—she hadn’t meant to be so loud, but she couldn’t think of a better way to get Maribelle to stop rambling away like that.
“Maribelle, I didn’t say no,” she said. After carefully considering whether it would help or just make things worse, Olivia reached across the table and took hold of Maribelle’s hand. “I-I’m sorry for throwing the box at your face. I was just so shocked! Like you said, we’ve never even discussed romance before this, and I never—well, I could never even begin to imagine someone like you being interested in marrying someone like me.”
“Olivia—I don’t want to hear talk like that! Anyone would be lucky to have you as their wife, regardless of class, personality—anything, really. You’re a beautiful, talented, caring woman—”
“Maribelle!” Again she felt embarrassed at the way she shouted, but it certainly did the job in getting Maribelle to stop talking. “As much as I appreciate all those compliments, please let me finish. I— I’ve never even thought about marriage until right now! Not in any serious way, at least… it’s all so sudden! But…”
“But…?” Seeing the hopeful look in Maribelle’s eyes brought a smile to Olivia’s face.
“But I do like you. A lot. As… more than just a friend,” she admitted, feeling her face burn from how hard she was blushing. “I think it’ll take a little more time for me to work my way up to marrying you… but I also think it would make me incredibly happy. So if you’re okay with being patient with me…”
“I’ll wait for you as long as it takes, Olivia. And I am sorry for springing it on you so suddenly. I suppose I just got a little overexcited…” Maribelle cleared her throat and looked more than a little embarrassed, and Olivia was glad that she wasn’t the only one. “But… it would still please me if you would wear the ring. It was never meant to be a permanent wedding band—you would be given a family crest ring for something like that—so let’s call it a promise ring. I did buy it for you, after all, and I think the accent stones bring out the color of your eyes.”
“A promise ring… I do like the sound of that.” Maribelle offered her the ring box, and this time Olivia took the ring out and slipped it on her finger. As expected, Maribelle’s taste in jewellery was exquisite—and the stones really did match her eyes. “It’s lovely, Maribelle. And I’m excited for all the things it’s promising.”
“As am I. But I want you to promise me one other thing—I don’t want to hear you putting down your dream ever again. My dream is to bring justice to the people, and yours is to bring happiness to them… I think those two things align very nicely. And I’m excited to see both come true.”
“O-oh, Maribelle… so am I!”