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Watching Marianne pray could turn anyone into a believer of the Goddess, Edelgard decided. Hands clasped, head bowed, dress draped perfectly over her knees– Marianne would fit among even the most carefully crafted of saint statues.
Edelgard stood back between the pews. With more important parts of Garreg Mach still in poor condition from the attack five years ago, it was hardly sensible to put the collapsed roof of the church at the top of the list. It probably wasn’t on the list at all. Their defenses had to be seen to first, nevermind the fact that a vaulted ceiling was never an easy thing to patch.
But watching Marianne before the altar, hunched slightly from the cold leaking inside, Edelgard was tempted to forgo good sense and demand the roof be seen to at once.
The impulse was squashed when Marianne finally got to her feet and turned around. Her eyes widened upon seeing Edelgard. Edelgard didn’t blame her– the harsh reds of her emperor attire didn’t fit in with the cool grey stones of the church. She was probably a startling sight even to someone who hadn’t been lost in their prayers.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to keep you waiting,” Marianne said, her voice too soft to echo.
“That’s alright.” Edelgard stretched out her hand. Perhaps it was superstition, but it felt wrong to approach the altar of Seiros after such earnest praying. An imposition. Marianne didn’t make her, moving forward to take Edelgard’s hand and offering a small smile.
Once, shortly before their official courtship, Marianne had told Edelgard, “I feel like I can breathe better with you around,” which had stunned Edelgard into silence. The sentiment still mystified her. How could someone so devoted to the Goddess find Edelgard– the one who had driven the archbishop herself from her own home– to be such a comforting presence? How could Marianne seek out the solitude of prayer but still stand firm by Edelgard’s side?
It was a subject Edelgard would have to bring up someday. But not today. Today Marianne’s hand was solid and warm, her eyes bright as they made their way toward the dining hall, her laugh music when Edelgard made a sarcastic comment about that day’s meetings.
Today, Marianne was Edelgard’s, and Edelgard was Marianne’s. And if Edelgard needed to occasionally share with the Goddess, it was a price she would pay gladly.