Wilt was anxious. He was leaving tomorrow morning and wanted to properly propose to Stella before leaving. He had an idea of something to make and had been working on it in relative secret. Well, Alice had helped him with it, and so had his mother ironically. She had given him the idea from what she had said about the letter and thought that the device would prove its value. On top of being relatively original, it would change the way the world worked. It had taken a lot of hours to get a working model, and he was a bit worried about its function. It worked during his tests thus far, but he didn’t have as much time as he would’ve liked.

His palms felt warm, and he was clutching a handkerchief to stop himself from sweating. It wasn’t particularly hot as it was the start of the wilting season. The trees had started to pick up an orange color too. It was his favorite season as he enjoyed the weather most at this time. The sun was still up, but he had planned out the day so that he could line things up with the sunset. His mother had suggested that part too, claiming that it would be a lot more romantic that way. While he didn’t get the significance, he trusted his mother’s judgment on the matter.

Looking down, he nervously adjusted his clothing. There was no need to do anything as it was completely fine. He had worn a set that Stella had helped pick out. It was a standard uniform that he was expected to wear, though it had been modified with silver embroidery. Now it looked much more fashionable, and it was by far the nicest thing he had.

He had made his way to her house and was waiting outside of its gate. Her house was large and belonged to Councilor Janette. He could tell that it had two floors and guessed that there might be a third, but he couldn’t be certain from where he stood. He hadn’t gone inside though she had come over a lot in the past three days. His family, especially his sister, were always happy to see her. Stella also seemed more than a little glad to visit and had been eager to visit regularly.

During her visits, she finished learning how to use the roller boards and they had spent some time riding them together. More than a few people had been curious about the device too, although he didn’t accept any of the requests to make them one. He might consider it after the war but didn’t want to waste too much time at the moment.

As he waited, he found his mind wandering more and more, though his focus returned as soon as he saw Stella. That always happened when he visited her, and he couldn’t help but grin a little as she approached. She was wearing a uniform as well and a male one at that. They both had identical embroidery on them, and he didn’t mind in the slightest. She looked amazing at always, and he felt that she wore the uniform better than he did.

“Hi, you look nice.”

He found himself waving a little as he spoke, despite knowing that the gesture wasn’t very noble. She didn’t seem to care and waved back easily. It felt like she was being influenced by spending so much time with his family. Rather than awkwardly half-shout as he had, she only spoke once she got closer.

“Hi, you look good too. Even if we are required to wear a uniform, it doesn’t mean that we can’t be fashionable as well.”

Wilt nodded along easily agreeing with her. She was the expert, and he would defer to her wisdom on matters of fashion. That plus he was struggling to come up with a great response. Instead, he began giving her an almost automatic recounting of his plans for the day. Normally she came up with the majority of the plans, though he did pick out a few things. It was really crazy. Despite only being out of school for a few days, they had done a lot together. It felt a little like they were stuffing their time together since they knew he would be gone for a while. Maybe the war, in general, was making them feel like they needed to rush.

“So, I was thinking we go to the theatre today. I heard there was something Ein related today, and it sounded interesting. Plus, I found this place to eat that sounds pretty good. After that, I will give you your prop-“

The words came out quickly as he explained the schedule excitedly. Too fast to even catch himself. He abruptly shut up, realizing far too late that he was explaining far more than what was needed. His whole body felt like it froze too, and he felt his entire body turn with his head. Having explained his plan to his mother several times, he began repeating what he had said to his mother. That turned out to be a double-edged sword as he didn’t stop himself from doing something stupid.

Trying desperately to read Stella’s face, he felt some relief as he saw her smiling at him. She looked like she wanted to laugh but was sparing him the embarrassment. He was grateful for that, and the fact that no one was nearby when he had put his foot in his mouth.

“Finally, honestly, I expected you to at least mention it before now. You know most nobles never even meet their partners till after the engagement.”

She sounded genuinely happy, though he didn’t know how to take that responsibility. Both because he didn’t know that nobles were so distant from their partners and since he didn’t feel like she had responded to him. Although, he guessed that he didn’t actually propose. Feeling like it couldn’t get much worse, he decided to do it properly.

“Will you accept my proposal?”

He spoke while pulling the box out of his pocket and holding it in front of her. This time she actually laughed, and he felt his shoulders relax when she grabbed the box. Stifling her laughs she managed to formulate a response, though he could tell she was having some difficulty.

“I accept. Also, I’m sorry about that, it was just so different from my other proposals.”

Hearing the first two words, he felt himself sigh in relief. He almost fell to the ground but settled for relaxing on the balls of his feet. When he saw her opening the box, he felt a need to explain what the object was.

“They are earrings. One for you and the other for me.”

He lifted his hair up to show that he had pierced his ear near the top. It was the obvious location for the device, and she raised an eyebrow at that.

“Earrings aren’t very manly. And I feel like there is more to this than just matching earrings. I can guess some of the wards, but something feels off about them.”

As her face looked at the earrings with confusion, Wilt found himself grinning at the situation. He had made something that had stumped her, and that alone was impressive. The enchantments were only a part of it though.

“I made this from scratch. It's entirely made of Ein. It was like solidifying my will, and I was able to make it do something interesting. The wards are only there to maintain it and prevent damage. I couldn’t actually make wards on something so small, so I just added them when I created the crystal.”

He could tell he had her attention as she stared at the earring meant for her with serious attention. She brought close to her eyes examining the detail carefully. She was obviously trying to figure out the effect, and he believed that she would get it if he left it to her. It was a temptation as she would certainly find the challenge fun.

However, his good sense told him that it would be better if she just knew what it did. To that end, he grabbed his earring from the box and pushed a small amount of raw Ein into it. The one she held began to glow slightly, a bluish light emanating from its center. He spoke as the light became visible.

“Push a little of your Ein into it.”

She did so without even the slightest bit of hesitation. As he felt the connection form, he knew that it was working. He spoke softly too quiet for her to hear physically. The earrings worked though, and the sound was passed to her, replicated by the earring in her hand. Her face shifted phases as she understood what the item did. Ultimately, her expression settled on her simply staring with her mouth open. The frozen image lasted a while before she practically screamed her next words.

“This is incredible. Beyond a simple gift, something like this would be priceless. This could easily buy you a city if you wanted. This is far too much for me to accept, you need to…”

She kept going, but Wilt cut her off. He wasn’t dumb and knew that the object would have an incredible value. The pair though was meant to let them communicate even when he was out on a mission. If anyone deserved to carry that one it was Stella, and he made sure that she understood that.

“I know what it's worth, but that one is meant for you. Or rather these were made specifically for us. We can worry about the rest later.”

She looked like she wanted to say more to protest or something, but she didn’t do any of that. Instead, she pulled him in for a tight hug. In shock Wilt leaned into the hug for a second, then remembered what he was doing. He felt his body heat up and tried to focus solely on the joy he felt at the moment. It was impossible to completely ignore her as she squeezed into him. After letting the embrace consume him, she separated smiling like usually did.

“Well, let’s get going, otherwise we are going to end up being late.”

The way she hid her emotions to speak, caused Wilt to feel a little jealous. However, he had been around her enough to notice the slight embarrassment on her face. He didn’t protest though, and they strolled towards the theater. While they walked, they talked about what they should do about keeping in touch while he was away.

Ultimately, they decided that they would contact each other every night and talk about their days and anything else they wanted. Honestly, he was relieved to be able to keep in contact with her. The fear of going off to war lingered with him, and he was more than a little bothered by the fact that she wouldn’t be there. She had helped him more than anyone else, and he had come to rely on her for some things.

Finally, he requested that she check on his family and make sure that they were fine. He did that for her too. From his time spent with Stella, he knew that she got lonely. His sister was no different either and he hoped that they could spend more time together. There was a temptation to ask her to take care of his sister, but that would be too awkward in his mind. After all, his parents were still there, and his mother would not like to hear the request. He settled on a milder request, asking her to just visit his family and let him know how they were doing. Hopefully, that would be enough to help them both.

That was a worry for another time though. Much of the anxiety of the night was gone now, and he could just enjoy the rest of the time. He would fill his night as much as possible since he wouldn’t be able to see her for some time yet. Pushing out all of his worries for the future, he focused solely on Stella.