As everything went well, Emperor Kalos Francia was very quick to talk to the Duke of Manea who was delighted by the news. The talk went very well and even the date for the wedding was set right away. Considering Arin and Iria's situation, they decided for the wedding to be held a week later.
It wasn't easy for the King and Queen to travel too much and even when they travel, they cannot stay too long. So, both Orius and Valerie agreed to have the wedding early.
"I thought that I'm here for uncle's birthday party but it turns out that it's also for the wedding of my twin brother," Iria said to Arin with a smile on her face.
After spending half a day exploring the capital, the couple were now resting on the farm which belonged to the imperial family. They were in the orchard sitting under the tree and shielded from the strong sun by the shadow.
Arin was lying on the ground with his head on Iria's thighs. When he saw her expression, he smiled. "Shouldn't you be very happy about that?" he asked. "You always worried thinking that Orius might be too lonely without you."
Iria nodded with a little smile. "That's right but... it reminds me of just how uncertain life is. We never know what will happen."
He knew how much she hated uncertainty, especially after Rion's death. Maybe that instilled a fear in her heart that still lived with her.
It's understandable. She first lost her best friend and then a loyal companion with whom she grew up. Though she went to this empire and stayed for 8 months, he visited her often and he saw with his own eyes just how hard it was for her to get back on her feet.
Apart from anything else, Rion's death was the incident that broke her and knocked her down completely.
He holds her hand that she placed on his head and kissed it. "You work hard in the past year. I'm sure that everything will be fine," he said in an assuring voice.
His response drew a smile from her lips. "I don't know what I will do without you," she muttered. If she was to be honest, she didn't think she will be able to stay sane when she went through all those things if it wasn't for him.
Will she still be even alive without him?
"You don't have to think about that," Arin said to her. "I will make sure that you don't have to do anything alone. I'll always be with you."
"You already do that," Iria replied with a chuckle. "You always help me in everything." She made a deliberate paused and said, "Once everything is over, let's work together on fulfilling your dream. You once told me your dream."
Arin Helev raised a brow. He got up and sat beside her. "You still remember that?" he inquired. He didn't expect that.
"Why won't I remember? I never heard a dream as great as yours," Iria simply said. "You can keep on dreaming that and my dream will be to fulfil it with you. Let's work for the people and create a better place to live."
Arin observed her for a while before he finally flashed a smile. "You won't stop surprising me," he pointed out. "You were so aloof when you came for the alliance marriage and I never thought that you will be paying attention to what I do or said during those times."
His words made Iria sighed. "If I don't pay attention back then, we will never be together here today."
The Qalagon King thought about it and nodded. "You're right." With a chuckle, he added, "Good thing that I manage to tie you down."
Iria blinked at his choice of words. Tie her down? In her opinion, she was the one who did that.
Refusing to comment, she glanced around and as they were in an orchard, they were surrounded by many types of fruits. Then she shifted her back to him who was staring at her with a confused face.
"There are many fruits," she said. "Let's get some and make me a fruit tart again."
Thinking of the last time he made a tart for her, the King chuckled. "How can you ask a King to bake for you?" he jokingly asked.
He was glad that she still remembered. He put in quite an effort to bake a tart for her that day!
"Because I'm the Queen," she simply replied with a menacing smile.
Arin stared at her before he sighed in defeat. Then he stood up and offered his hand to her. "Come. Let's get some fruits."
An exciting smile appeared on Iria's face and she quickly hold Arin who pulled her up. Then they worked on plucking some fruits for the tart.
*
When they got enough fruits, the couple walked inside the house which was in the middle of the farm. Iria visited the farm a lot before she get married and she was very familiar with the workers there. So, this farm was one of her most favorite places in Cedore.
A year had passed but her skills in this field were still worse. As such, she can only help Arin in washing the fruits while the latter did all the other work. After around two hours, everything was done and they enjoyed the tart.
"Is it that good?" Arin asked his wife who seemed to enjoy the tart much more than last time. He sat beside her and propping his elbow on the table, he rested his cheek on his palm.
The scene of her enjoying the tart he made was so fascinating that he didn't even bother to eat. All he did was staring at her with an amusing smile.
"Yes," she said and gave him a piece. "You should eat too."
Arin took the piece of tart but he was still too busy to eat. He was busy staring at her.
"If I know you like it that much, I should have made it for you often," he remarked and laughed.
"Don't bother," Iria promptly said. "It's too much of a work and you have many things to do."
Arin gave a quick thought and said, "But I would have done anything to see this scene often. So, once we return, I will make it for you from time to time."
"If people in the palace see their King in the kitchen, it will only be a hassle," Iria Helev remarked and chuckled.
It would be quite a fascinating scene for them, right?
"Not a hassle," Arin argued. "I bet they won't be able to stop talking about how much their King loves their Queen," he added with a proud smile......
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