Dinner in the royal hall was unfolding with a strange sense of calm.

Too calm.

The enormous tables were covered with elegant dishes, roasted meats, freshly baked bread, and crystal goblets reflecting the warm light of the chandeliers above.

Moonlight, of course, seemed completely oblivious to all the elegance surrounding her.

She was far too busy systematically destroying her plate of food.

Max was seated beside Elanor.

And he could tell perfectly well that the princess was nervous.

She kept adjusting her cutlery.

Lightly moving her fingers.

Looking at her glass of water even though she clearly wasn’t paying attention to it.

Max subtly glanced toward her.

Elanor maintained the flawless composure expected of a princess.

But by now, he knew her well enough to notice when she was unsettled.

Without saying anything, he slowly slipped one hand beneath the table.

And took hers.

Elanor startled slightly.

She turned her head toward him.

Max smiled at her.

A calm smile.

Trying to reassure her.

’I’m here.’

Elanor relaxed her shoulders a little.

And slowly intertwined her fingers with his beneath the table.

Then the king’s voice echoed from the other end.

"Well."

The man set his goblet down and looked at his daughter curiously.

"What was it that you wanted to speak to me about so badly?"

Elanor inhaled deeply.

Max felt her squeeze his hand a little tighter.

The princess lifted her gaze.

And looked directly at her father.

"I want to have my wedding with my fiancé."

Pause.

"...Max."

Silence.

Even some of the servants seemed to freeze for a few seconds.

The king stared at both of them.

Very seriously.

And suddenly the entire atmosphere became incredibly strange.

Max felt as though even he had stopped breathing for a moment.

Moonlight was the only one completely immune to the dramatic tension.

Because she was far too busy trying to shove a criminal amount of food into her mouth all at once.

The king continued staring at Elanor.

Then at Max.

Then back at Elanor again.

Finally, he picked up his wine goblet.

And drank the entire thing in one gulp.

For a second, Max thought that probably wasn’t a good sign.

Then the king burst into laughter so loud it echoed throughout the entire hall.

"HAHAHAHAHA!"

Moonlight nearly choked.

Elanor blinked in confusion.

The king kept laughing.

He wiped a tear from his eye while pointing at his daughter.

"I told you!"

He laughed again.

"I told you someday you’d want to get married!"

Elanor sank slightly into her seat.

Clearly defeated.

The king showed her absolutely no mercy.

"Your whole life you kept saying you’d never marry."

He raised one hand dramatically.

’"I don’t want weddings."’

Then another hand.

’"I don’t want marriage."’

He pointed at her again.

’"I don’t need to fall in love."’

He leaned forward, still laughing.

"So what happened now?"

Elanor partially hid her face behind one hand.

"Father..."

Her tone was filled with pure suffering.

Max was making a monumental effort not to laugh.

Eventually, the king managed to calm down a little.

Though he was still grinning enormously.

Then he looked at Max.

And his expression changed.

Not completely serious.

But much more sincere.

"Boy."

Max lifted his gaze slightly.

The king smiled with a strange mixture of pride and emotion.

"Thank you very much."

Max blinked.

"Huh?"

The king rested both arms on the table.

"I always dreamed of seeing my daughter’s wedding."

His voice softened slightly.

"Watching her walk down the aisle."

He smiled faintly.

"Honestly, just imagining it already makes me emotional."

And he genuinely looked close to tears.

A small smile appeared on Max’s face.

"You don’t have to thank me."

He shrugged lightly.

"Things just happened naturally."

The king let out a breath through his nose.

"So modest."

Elanor finally recovered some of her dignity.

Or at least tried to.

She cleared her throat and looked at her father seriously.

"Although I do need help."

The king raised an eyebrow.

"Oh?"

The princess nodded.

"I want you to help me with the preparations."

Her tone became more determined.

"And I want the wedding to happen before winter begins."

The king stopped laughing entirely.

Now he truly looked focused.

He studied his daughter for a few seconds.

Then slowly nodded.

"You’re right."

He sighed.

"Sorry for teasing you."

Though he still clearly found the entire situation extremely amusing.

He suddenly stood up.

"Then we shall begin immediately!"

The servants jumped slightly.

The king pointed dramatically forward.

"Tomorrow morning we begin organising the royal wedding!"

Elanor’s eyes widened slightly.

"Tomorrow?"

"Of course."

The king smiled broadly.

"And you may skip your politics lesson."

Max felt immediate happiness upon hearing that.

The king continued:

"You’ll come with me to review guests, decorations, musicians, menus, and locations."

Elanor smiled.

Far more relaxed than before.

"Thank you, Father."

From behind her, Sophie appeared like an extremely efficient ghost.

"If Your Highness wishes..."

Everyone turned toward her.

The catgirl was smiling excitedly.

"I can begin preparing dresses immediately."

Elanor blushed faintly.

Sophie continued in a completely professional tone.

"After all, I already have all your measurements."

Max slowly looked away.

Elanor smiled.

"I would like that."

Sophie clasped both hands together, clearly thrilled.

"You’re going to look beautiful!"

Max smiled too.

And honestly...

The idea of seeing Elanor in a wedding dress was beginning to deal critical damage to his emotional stability.

Moonlight finally lifted her head from her plate.

She looked around in confusion.

"What’s happening?"

Everyone looked at her.

The little dragon swallowed the food in her mouth.

"Why has everyone stopped eating?"

Max let out a small laugh.

"Because we’re talking about something important."

Moon tilted her head.

"What thing?"

Max smiled.

"We’re talking about our wedding."

Moon blinked.

She chewed slowly.

Then asked, completely serious:

"What’s a wedding?"

The entire hall exploded into laughter.

Even some of the guards had to look away to hide it.

Moon still looked confused.

"What?"

The king wiped away another tear of laughter.

"The entire kingdom is going to need to prepare itself to explain basic concepts to this child."

"Does the wedding have food?" Moon immediately asked.

"Yes," Max replied.

Moon nodded, satisfied.

"Then I like it."

That only made everyone laugh even harder.

Elanor gently rested her head against Max’s shoulder while still smiling.

And for a moment...

Everything felt absurdly normal.

Warm.

Happy.

Like a family sharing a peaceful dinner.