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The war was finally over. Claude had a lot of work ahead of him but he could find some time to relax now. He went for a walk in the woods and sat under the tree where he'd run into Petra so many times. It was a nice spot, and running into Petra wasn’t unpleasant either. He called out her name and asked if she was there, just in case she was planning on jumping out of the tree and ambushing him, but there was no response. He thought about leaving. Did he come here to relax or hoping to run into her? Maybe it was both? It wasn't like a relationship with her could go terribly far anyway. They both had to consider the political ramifications of who they chose to marry. Claude had already decided it would benefit everyone most if he married someone from Fodlan. It would make sense for Almyra and Fodlan to be united through marriage. Even Petra had said it would be best for Brigid if she married someone from Fodlan. At least they could stay friends. He still needed to figure out what he wanted to do. Stay in Fodlan? Go back to Almyra and designate someone else to manage Fodlan? After sitting with his thoughts for a while he noticed Petra in the distance walking towards the same tree he was under.
"You beat me here this time!! I was hoping I'd run into you here!" she said happily and sat down next to him.
"It’s good to see you too Petra." he smiled back at her, "I wanted to see you again before you go back to Brigid."
"I did too." She began fishing around in her bag for something, "I have a question of great importance I need to be asking you."
"Great importance?-" he had his suspicions about where this might be going.
Before Claude could complete his thought, Petra took a small box out of her purse and opened it to reveal a ring, "Will you marry me?"
"Wow…" Claude was genuinely surprised, "I'm flattered… but…"
Petra said nothing, just stared at him as he struggled to reject her. He had to reject her. He had obligations now.
"I thought your grandfather wanted you to marry someone from Fodlan."
"It would bring him great joy for me to marry an Almyran too!"
"I see…" Claude nervously averted his gaze, "but I'm sorry." He frowned, "I really am honored, but I don't think marriage would be the best political move for either of us. I have to say no." He tried to push the ring back towards Petra, but she wouldn’t budge.
"How can you be saying something like this now? Were you not just recently saying, 'the lucky man will be accepting his fate one way or another' and 'I am doubting any man would reject a proposal from a catch like you.' ?"
Claude blushed. It was true. He has said all of that to her. But he didn't think she'd choose him. "Yes.. but. Um… well-"
Petra stared him down like any hunter does their prey, then smiled, "I understand perfectly. You are refusing because you are wanting me to tie you up and drag you home!" she beamed.
Claude blushed even harder as he lost his composure, "I remember what you said but I assure you, as lovely as the thought of being tied up by you is, I have to say no because of my political obligations-"
Petra laughed. "I see I will be tying you up then. It is cute how you are playing hard to get."
"I beg your pardon?" Hard to get? It really was what he thought would be the best political move. If he wasn't a noble he would have loved to say yes, but that wasn’t a thought he believed he could even entertain.
Claude noticed Petra had removed a bundle of rope from her bag.
"Will you be tied willingly?" Petra looked at Claude like he was her prey again, "Or do you need to be hunted and subdued?"
Claude blushed and laughed nervously as his mind went blank. The thought of being hunted and subdued by Petra did things to him that he couldn’t ignore. When he came too he realized Petra had already begun tying his wrists. "Petra, you're really not joking about this?" he said with a nervous smile as he half heartedly tried to pull away, "I told you I have to refuse."
"I would never tell jokes about tying up my perfection- my perfect husband and bringing him home. It would not be good for prey with such poor survival instinct to be left in the wild. I am thinking this one will enjoy captivity."
Before Claude knew it, Petra had completely tied him up and securely tied him down onto the back of her wyvern and slipped the engagement ring she brought for him onto his finger.
"I'm pretty sure this has to be some form of treason," Claude joked, "You really want to be with me this much?"
Petra looked back at Claude and smiled as her wyvern took off, "Yes. I am thinking our marriage will bring much happiness to all of Brigid, Almyra, and Foldlan. You really were wanting me to tie you up if that was your excuse for giving refusal."