The silence stretched longer than Julius expected.

He had just declared—boldly, confidently—that there would be a wedding.

A national one.

A coronation through union.

Yet instead of relief or joy, he saw hesitation.

Serena’s fingers tightened slightly at her sides.

Yuri’s eyes shimmered—not with happiness, but with something far heavier.

"...What?" Julius asked, glancing between them. "That was not the reaction I anticipated."

Serena and Yuri exchanged a look.

Then, almost in unison—

"You don’t have to."

Julius blinked.

"I beg your pardon?"

Serena straightened, her voice composed but quieter now. "You do not have to marry us simply because that is what we want to happen."

Yuri nodded quickly. "Or because you feel obligated."

"Obligated?" Julius repeated, incredulous.

Yuri swallowed. "Roserun is gone. Francia is conquered. We bring you no alliances. No armies. No dowries of consequence."

"And," Serena added softly, "I have already been married once."

The words landed with surprising weight.

Julius stared at her.

Serena held his gaze steadily, though her jaw tightened faintly. "Though it was never... consummated. The contract existed. I shared his household. His bed, even if nothing came of it."

She exhaled slowly.

"For an Emperor establishing a dynasty, such matters are... well unseemly."

Julius’ expression did not change.

Yuri stepped forward slightly, her voice trembling now.

"And Joan..." she whispered. "If the Francian people learn she married the man who conquered them..."

The air shifted.

A faint hardening entered her posture.

Joan surfaced.

"They will call me a traitor," she said evenly. "Or martyr. Neither serves you."

Serena nodded. "We would not have your reign undermined because of us."

Julius looked between the three expressions sharing that single face.

Fear.

Pride.

Sacrifice.

And beneath it all—

Love.

Slowly, deliberately, he began to laugh.

Not mockingly.

Not dismissively.

But genuinely.

The sound startled them.

"I see," he said at last, wiping at his eye. "So this ambush was not to secure my hand."

He shook his head.

"It was to give me a way out."

Neither woman spoke.

"You truly believe," Julius continued, amusement still lacing his tone, "that I require a pristine political bride to validate my throne?"

Serena frowned slightly. "That is typically how dynasties operate."

"And you," he said, pointing lightly at Yuri, "think Roserun’s fall makes you lesser?"

She lowered her gaze.

"And you," he looked deeper into the girls eyes speaking to Joan, "fear being seen as a traitor by the very people who were manipulated into fighting me."

Joan did not flinch. "It is a reasonable concern."

Julius stepped closer.

"Then allow me," he said dryly, "to present the greatest argument against my own marriage prospects."

They blinked at him.

"I," he declared dramatically, placing a hand over his chest, "was a frontier lordling of no remarkable standing."

Serena’s brows knit.

"And not merely a lordling," he continued, pacing slightly now. "A vile one."

Yuri’s eyes widened faintly.

"Oh yes," Julius went on, warming to the tale. "Petty. Arrogant. Known for harsh taxation. Ruthless suppression. A small tyrant ruling over a miserable border province. One who was almost assassinated for his numerous wrongdoings by one of you here today with me now."

Serena stared at him having only ever heard stories of Julius’s past.

"...That was an act," Yuri said slowly. "You were baiting people who had manipulated your family. Drawing out corrupt officials. Testing loyalties within the territorial army."

Julius stopped pacing and looked at them flatly.

"Even if that was the intent, it doestn stop the fact that for years i believed myself to be greater than the gods themselves, free from the consequences of my actions, and if my ’plan’ had gone on any longer... my life would have been reaped making me as far as history would care to remember as nothing but the vile lordling i was.

Serena stared shocked to find out this hidden tidbit of information.

"You mean..." Yuri began slowly, "you truly were that insufferable?"

"Oh, undoubtedly, even if it was an act the act had to be convincing. Enough such that even you fell for the rumors based off of my actual actions."

There was a beat of silence.

Then Serena burst into laughter.

Not polite laughter.

Not restrained courtly amusement.

Genuine, helpless laughter.

Yuri followed seconds later, her giggles bubbling up uncontrollably.

"You—" Serena gasped between laughs, "you terrorized your own province out of irritation?"

"I was young," Julius defended. "And resentful, my father had afterall been assassinated after years of trying to change things for the better."

"And the reforms? And all your greatness?" Joan pressed, though her tone had softened.

"Came after," he admitted. "Once I realized how broken everything actually was, i first needed to clean house and the best way i could as just a powerless child was to make them see me just as that, a powerless child one who would never make any moves against them all while identifying those that were acting against the territory."

Yuri wiped at her eyes.

"To think we thought you had been merely acting and getting your retainers to spread the false rumors only to find out you really were just as bad as i’d heard... Perhaps i really should have run you through when i had the chance."

"And im thankful regardless that you didnt," Julius said dryly. "But no. my personal reform only occured just shortly before we met, when i finally reached adulthood and could properly take over true power in the territory and eliminate those who harmed my reign."

Serena leaned against the wall, still smiling widely.

"You mean we fell in love with an irritable, petty border noble?"

"Apparently."

Yuri jokingly shook her head slowly, though a faint smile lingered. "Unbelievable."

Julius spread his hands.

"And now you stand here worried about being unsuitable for me?"

He stepped closer again, expression softening.

"You speak of fallen kingdoms. Of past marriages. Of conquered lands."

His voice steadied.

"I began as a small-minded provincial tyrant."

He met Serena’s gaze.

"You endured political marriage and still chose to stand beside me."

He turned to Yuri.

"You lost your homeland and yet continued to fight for your people."

His eyes shifted slightly, acknowledging Joan.

"And you rose from manipulation to defend a nation that was already collapsing."

He exhaled.

"If anyone is an improper candidate here," he said lightly, "it is me."

Silence followed.

But this time, it was warm.

Serena stepped forward first.

"You are many things," she said gently. "But unworthy is not one of them."

Yuri nodded firmly. "Nor are we."

Joan regarded him steadily.

"You may have begun as a petty lord," she said, "but you chose to become more, and rise before all who came before you."

Julius smiled faintly.

"As did you."

The tension that had shadowed the conversation dissolved completely.

Serena reached for his hand.

"So," she said softly, a playful glint returning to her eyes, "shall we proceed with this grand wedding of yours, former tyrant?"

Yuri giggled again.

"And perhaps," she added, "include a small footnote in the ceremony about the Emperor’s humble... unpleasant beginnings?"

Julius groaned.

"I regret telling you all of that."

Joan’s voice surfaced one last time, calm and amused.

"Too late."

And for the first time since leaving the war council chamber, the four of them—Emperor, noblewoman, princess, and saint—stood together not as rulers or strategists...

But as people laughing at a past none of them had truly understood.

The empire could wait a few moments longer.

After all—

Even vile frontier lordling deserved happiness.