The morning was bright. Unique birds of various colors were chirping merrily, giving a pleasant sound to wake up to for anybody nearby to hear it.
Many male knights and couple of servant women were doing various jobs around the tent of their lord. The knights were feeding their horses to grow their bonds with their steeds. The servants were preparing the area to begin cooking the morning breakfast.
The lord's tent was dark brownish and had an interesting red emblem. The emblem had a triangular gold embroidery with a Phenix holding a rolled-up paper in its claws.
Inside the tent were two people embraced in each other's arms on a rather large sleeping bag. A burly male with short black hair and a long brown-haired woman.
Clothes were littered around them. A light brown dress with a red outline and having an embroidery saying "Doddery" was resting on a nearby chair. Light gray armor pieces were scattered around the tent. Chestplate at the bottom of the couple's feet, gauntlets on top of the woman's dress, the Red's family emblem wearable flag on the floor, and many other parts scattered about.
The woman hugging the man was the noble Doddery's third daughter, Dayla. The man being embraced by Dayla was Ritzy's knight Junger.
Junger was waking up at the current moment. Sitting upright and stretching his arms in the air while he yawned. Dayla sleeping on him, woke up from Junger's sudden movements.
Dayla happily smiled while looking at the knight she spent an unforgettable night with. Looking at him a couple of seconds later, she jolted out of the sleeping bag they were sharing.
When Junger noticed that she jumped off the bed he got spooked. As he was about to ask what wrong, Dayla said in a whispered but panicking voice,
"Sir Junger, you can't be here!".
Junger was confused at Dalya's sudden reaction. Just last night they were fawning over each other and treated each other as they were the last people on earth. Her unexpected response greatly confused him.
Junger,
"Is there something wrong Dayla. Also, I thought we agreed we would lose all honorifics and call each other by our names".
Dayla,
"You can't be here! Last night was wonderful and I'll cherish it forever but now it's different".
Junger,
"What do you mean? We still love each other and the family I serve is a Marquess family. I think my ranking is high enough for there to be no problems in our relationship".
Nobility marriages are made mostly for profit. Every marriage should have an exchange of benefits or it would never occur. It could either be for economic purposes, reputation, or a certain thing that can be used to benefit themselves.
It's considered extraordinarily rare for a noble to marry a non-noble. The most common occurrence for a noble to marry a non-noble is if a noble family has many children and the noble family decides to marry their child to a figure in a higher ranking noble family. This is done to create a source of connection between the nobles.
Junger would be considered a figure of a noble family since he is a official knight of the Reds. Dayla is from an Earl rank family which is two ranks lower than Marquess. Their marriage would not only be considered appropriate, but extremely beneficial for an Earl.
Dayla,
"Let me explain. I am from a family two ranks lower than your noble family but I'm engaged. Not to any normal noble but the first son of a Margrave".
Junger,
"Oh, this does complicate things".
A Margrave was only one rank lower than a Marquess so her being married to the successor of a Margrave can bring great fortune and power to her family. Much more than what a figure of a Marquess family can.
There was also the problem that if the Margrave family hears that she slept with someone else, not only would the marriage be annulled. But it would also not only sully the reputation of the Doddery family, but also the Reds family.
If their reputation was ruined by this act, all other nobles would steer away from the Doddery and Reds. Junger and Dayla would also be severely punished.
Best case scenario, the two would be punished with Dayla being tattooed the words whore on her breast, and Junger's manhood would be severed. Worst case scenario, the two would be offered to the Margrave family as an apology and be tortured till death.
Junger,
"Why didn't you tell me this, and why did nobody stop me when I approached you?!? Wait, why are you even here!?!".
Typically an engaged woman of her status would be heavily guarded. She would never have been left alone, and especially be allowed here. She already had her future set with being a Margrave's Successor's Fiancee so she would have never be seen near a battlefield.
Dayla,
"The reason I'm here even though I'm a fiancee is because I have mastered basic life magic. Anybody who can even control somewhat life magic has been forced to participate in this war. Especially someone of my skill who is qualified to be the vice-captain".
"The reason why we were alone was because I went with my fiancee to the banquet. Since I was escorted, we only needed to bring one knight with us".
"At the party, my fiancee began mingling with the higher noble's daughters. Angered, I ditched the party. The only reason the knight didn't follow me was because the knight is aligned to the Margrave family and not mine".
"Alone outside, I bumped into you. Seeing you, I forgot all my troubles and as we talked. I completely forgot any responsibilities about my status. All I wanted was to be with you. I hope you're not mad".
Junger had nothing to say. He was panicking because he slept with the fiance of a Margave's successor but also happy that he found love and it was being returned. He wanted to suggest that they should run away but he was scared that Dalya would reject the idea. He was scared that he would discover that Dayla wasn't as in love as him. That she isn't willing to leave everything behind like him.
Not knowing what to say, he said in a depressed voice,
"Okay".
Dayla seeing that Junger understood their predicament, she went to get herself dressed.
Junger seeing Dayla getting dressed made him more depressed but he didn't have the courage to ask her to run away with him. He then followed as well and got dressed.
As they were putting their clothes on piece by piece, they swapped glances. Their faces showed a sense of longing. That they wanted something badly but it was just out of arms reach.
Finished getting dress, they stood in front of each other. Motionless and holding back their words. They both raised their hand a couple time and even took a step forward, trying to give a hug but they stopped themselves last second.
Dayla then broked the silence,
"You gotta go. I will go outside and distract them. You will go out the back, and make sure that no one sees you".
Dayla then walked past Junger and approached the exit. Right before she moved the flaps of the tent so she can get out, she turned behind her. In the middle of the tent was Junger staring at her.
He had a face of pain but when he noticed that she turned around, his face showed joy. As Junger was about to call her out, thinking that Dayla didn't want to go with the plan of leaving each other, Dayla left.
Seeing that Dayla left, he wanted to break down and cry. He knew he couldn't make a single noise or people would suspect that someone was still inside her tent even though Dayla had left the tent. Holding back his feelings, he started walking to the back wall of the tent. Just before he was gonna lift up the cloth of the tent to get out, he saw an open box that had a set of hairpins.
The hairpins were of different lengths and shades of red or yellow. The colors were similar to the Pheonix Kingdoms flag. Each hairpin had a disk at the end of it that had the Doddery family emblem engraved.
Junger feeling a connection to Dayla from the engraved hairpins, he decided to take the shortest one. He picked up the hairpin and examined it happily. As he was about to resume leaving again, he decided to leave something so she could remember him by.
Junger decided to take out his private lucky charm. He reached into his chest plate's opening for the head and took out a string necklace with a wooden ring attached. The wooden ring had nothing special on it but when Junger looked at it, he showed a face of someone remembering a fond memory.
Junger then neatly placed the necklace where the hairpin he took used to be and then left.