Outside? It was just as festive. The markets were bustling, the street singers were in full force, and the people were drinking their bellies full in broad daylight. El-Daryum's Day was, after all, also the birthday of the nation's founder, Holy Emperor Ursur.
Mafaye accompanied Nuriya all the way to Ursur's Square to wait for Prince Valri. Nuriya played with her hair, felt the drum of her heart just a little more clearly, and her fingers tensed up in anticipation.
"You need to relax, My Lady! You look great!"
Mille-Sezanse was the name of the land where the Holy Capital of Novrada sat.
Novrada was a giant city divided into fifty-five districts. The first twelve are part of the original city before it expanded to cover more ground. The first four? Are reserved for members of the imperial court.
District five is where the general market plaza lies. In its center is Ursur's Square, today full of vendors and streetplayers. Mafaye called up a snowcone cart and shared a couple of cold, honey-lemon treats. Today? They were just a couple of girls having a light snack. Friends.
Before, they could finish? There was he was.
"Ah, Highness!"
The girls waved together his way.
Prince Valri came into view dressed in a crisp, new suroza. "So that's where you two are! Sorry I kept you waiting!" He waved back
Prince Valri was tall and handsome, with a face full of dignity and grace. He was a youth of seventeen, just half a year older than Nuriya herself. The Prince had red-brown hair and kind green eyes–same as father, His Living Majesty. He wore a gilded sabre by his side.
"Lady Mafaye," Prince Valri nodded his head towards the handmaiden. "Thank you for escorting Our Lady to the city."
Mafaye blushed and waved away the compliment. "It was nothing, Your Highness. Ah, just let us finish these cones, and I'll leave Our Lady to you."
Mafaye and Nuriya hurriedly finished what was left of their treat and hugged before separating. Mafaye whispered to Nuriya before she left: "Have fun, My Lady! Again? You promised to tell me the details later."
Mafaye left afterwards and made her way back into the imperial palace.
"So…It's just the two of us now?"
"Ah!…Yes? Yes!….Your Highness."
Nuriya fidgeted and tried to hide her smile behind her fingers.
Valri walked up to them and sat by the fountain. "Were the snowcones good, Niya?" He said with a smile.
Nuriya blushed and tried her best to calm her nerves. "I-It is…Your Highness."
"Oh, come now. I told you to keep it casual with me. We're not at court. Let's just be us for now. You know? Kids in a festival."
"I know! But…It just feels wrong now," Nuriya answered. "It was one thing when we were children, but now…You know? Matters of propriety have to be kept in mind, Your Highness."
Valri softly laughed. "You haven't changed haven't you?"
"Nope! I haven't! I'm exactly who I need to be!" Nuriya puffed her chest up in a playful show of pride
"....ughh…"
….before collapsing her shoulders into herself out of embarrassment.
"Life at the Capital can be so exhausting…" Nuriya slumped her shoulders.
"It feels different from life as a magician's heir, isn't it?" Valri looked up at the sky.
"It is."
"That one involves more structure, isolation, and staying in one place?"
"Indeed."
"How is gramps, by the way? Too bad I never had much of a talent for magic. Gramps was a really good teacher."
"You did well-enough, Highness. My lord grandfather had nothing but kind words to say about you as a pupil."
"Well, you're my betrothed now, " Valri stood up from the fountain. "Sorry for uprooting you like this."
Nuriya smiled. Valri had always been a warm person, but now she could feel it especially.
Valri stretched out his hand towards Nuriya.
"Come on! Let's go
"You better look out for me in case I make a fool of myself."
"Always."
...…
Crown Prince Valri of House Ursur and Lady Nuriya of House Sasan accompanied each other through all the day's festivities. They went to the plaza square to watch a theater troupe perform a passion play for El-Daryum. They bought food and chatted idly about the day's event and each other.
Arm-in-arm they made a handsome couple. And everywhere they went they caught attention.
"Our Prince is so magnificent! The Maiden of Sasan is the perfect match for him!" some remarked.
"I heard they were friends in their childhood. How romantic!"
"A mage for an empress? My, that is something we need to see for ourselves!"
By the time the sun began to set, it had all become a bit too much for Nuriya to handle.
"Highness?" Nuriya tightened her grasp on Valri's arm. "Don't you think these stares are a little…too much?"
"They are simply at awe with you, My Lady," Valri said with an exaggerated politeness. "It's their right. One of the duties of the imperial family is to be the vessel of the people's admiration. I'd be more worried if we weren't catching attention."
'"I see…"
"Would you like to sit down instead? At least while we wait for the fireworks?"
Nuriya smiled from ear to ear and nodded in affirmation.
The couple decided to make their way near the palace apartments. There was a wall there that hid a platform they used to climb on top of it. It was built hundreds of years ago when the city was much smaller. Its role as defense had become obsolete.
Now? It found use as a way for the crown prince to view his city. He could see himself surrounded by the wonders of Novrada everywhere he looked.
And now? He decides to share this with his fiancée.
"It's beautiful, Highness…" Nuriya remarked as she watched the stretching vista of buildings and monuments be dyed red and orange by the setting sun. The sky almost looked like it was on fire. And just faintly? They could still hear music from the square.
"I know!It's a great place to eat lunch or think when you have a bad day," Valri closed his eyes and stretched his back. "I knew you'd like it."
"I do, thank you, Your Highn–" Nuriya stopped, tilted her head and indulged herself. "Thank you, Valyun."
"Can I take off my shoes here?"
"By all means!"
Nuriya took off her pearly shoes to stretch out her legs and her toes. She then lifted them to her chest and hugged her knees as she watched the sky turn purple.
For his part? Valri couldn't take his eyes off her.
"The fireworks should start any time now."
"I can't wait."
The two had a brief moment of quiet intimacy before Valri decided to break the ice by asking another question.
"I kinda wish Setzya was here with us. No doubt he'd have something interesting to say."
Nuriya kept neutral at the mention of her brother and kept her eyes on the now violet sky.
"You two are still fighting?"
"We're not fighting."
"Oh? Then why did Setzya look like he was gonna kill someone the day he came here?"
"Beats me….He wasn't rude to you, was he?"
"Him? Nah, we're friends. He's always treated me like one."
"Oh? So what does he say to you?"
Valri tugged at Nuriya's sleeve. "He said 'She's doing it again."
Nuriya's face scowled and she huffed behind her knees. "Oh, what does he know! Becoming the Maiden of Mille-Sezanse was my choice! Getting engaged to you was–"
"--His request."
Nuriya darted a look at Valri with half-tearing eyes.
"I'm sorry, Niya. But…you both mean a great deal to me. I would love to have you both as my family one day," smiled Valri. "And I'd rather not have my family be on bad terms like this."
"It's not…just that, Valyun. I just…don't understand him anymore. He's been like this for a long while now even before I came to Novrada. It may be...be my fault, but still…He was never this…cold before."
Valri nodded as he listened and leaned closer to his fiancée's ear.
"When he came to me with that plea? It made me so very happy."
Nuriya softened her shoulders and her expression.
"Yeah…It made me happy too."
"Oh! Here it is!"
The first firebloom had been shot.
And as it thundered and stretched out into a big, skyward ball of sparks. Others had been shot into the air behind it, illuminating the night sky with stars, streams, and seven-colored fire.