A month and a half later, and a week and a half after the Second Prince’s birthday, Markus experienced the third wedding of his life, from a rather different perspective. It was just as long as the first, but it was nervousness rather than boredom that had him fiddling with the cuffs of his light blue jacket. Alexis had insisted that he wear blue, and had even gone to the trouble of sending servants to find a colour as close to the dress Markus had worn as possible. Alexis was wearing a white jacket with pale gold adornments. Isabelle, sitting in the front row of benches beside Alphonse, was wearing the slender purple dress that she had worn at that first ball, a little over a year and a half ago.

Markus found he did not enjoy standing in front of so many people. He had rarely been in a room with so many people at once, and he had always been a part of the crowd, never standing on a raised stage like this. Alexis, who was surely used to having people’s attention, seemed perfectly at ease there. Markus’ thoughts began to wander further and further from the wedding, and before he realised it, he and Alexis were married.

Then there was a banquet, with more kinds of food than he had ever seen. He was sitting between Alexis and Isabelle and opposite the Crown Prince, and he was glad of the familiar faces, but it didn’t stop a stream of lords and ladies drifting over to talk to him. Some offered snide remarks, others encouragement, and others seemed merely curious. One even discretely asked if his sister had a husband yet, and was rather crestfallen to find out that she did.

After what seemed no time at all, they hastened back to the ballroom, and a long evening of dancing began. Markus danced with his family, both the old and the new: with Isabelle, Princess Daisy, the Queen, and even Prince Thomas. Most of his time was, of course, spent dancing with Alexis. The only non-family member he danced with was Madeline, who showed up with a green dress and a delighted grin. They talked a little, and Markus thanked her for her help, without which the wedding would never have come to be.

“Who was that?” Alexis asked as Markus rejoined him.

“That was Madeline, my fairy god-sister.” He looked back and could no longer see the girl. “But she seems to have disappeared. I wonder if I’ll ever see her again?”

Isabelle, watching the two of them, smiled. Her brother was finally as happy as he deserved to be. She herself had danced with Alphonse, of course, and also various noblemen. Some of the noblemen had barely said a word, while others had talked almost incessantly. Most of them seemed to feel the need to share their opinions on the wedding.

Many of the palace servants came to offer her congratulations on her brother’s marriage. A few did this grudgingly, as if they’d rather be putting a curse on her, and some simply turned their noses up and said nothing. One person who would stick out in her memories of that day was the short young man who had been an apprentice with Markus. He seemed almost jubilant when he talked to her. At first she thought this was because he was pleased for his friend, but later she noticed him dancing with a young nobleman who looked equally ecstatic and guessed that that was the real reason for his rejoicing.

The ex-apprentice was not the only one. Isabelle saw a few men dancing with men, and women dancing with women. It was not uncommon for girls to dance together if they could not find partners, but this seemed rather different to that. There were going to be changes in this kingdom from now on.

When the wedding was over, Isabelle and Alphonse returned to their house, and Markus and Alexis withdrew to the prince’s private rooms, where, although both were extremely tired from too much dancing, they continued to talk for a long while.

“I’ve been wondering about something,” Markus said at one point. “If marrying a prince made Daisy a princess, then what do I count as?”

“Men who marry princesses aren’t usually considered ‘princes’. Since this is a first, perhaps we can decide ourselves. Do you fancy being a ‘princess’, like Daisy?”

They did not get around to determining exactly what Markus counted as, but that night – or rather, that morning – they slept in each other’s arms, for the first of many times.

And so they were married, and they did indeed live happily ever after, but to call it ‘the end’ would be far from the mark.

Markus was never given a title, but the palace staff decided to call him ‘my lord’ from then on. He continued to work as a gardener in the mornings, when Prince Alexis had lessons, but in the afternoons they took walks in the gardens, or Markus helped him with any royal business he had to attend to. When the people came to the palace for advice or a trial, Markus and Daisy were often directed to help them, as both had been born and lived much of their lives as commoners.

The Crown Prince and his wife had one child, a girl by the name of Alice. Markus was very fond of the girl, and she loved spending time with her uncle, as did Isabelle’s two sons, Lucas and Edward. Alexis often asked Daisy to find books of stories that he could read to Markus, and after a while he appointed a tutor to teach Markus how to read and write. Thomas frequently challenged Markus to games of chess. Neither of them were any good at using tactics, but both enjoyed the game all the same.

As for the King’s predictions, he was partially right. Out of the five neighbouring kingdoms, three increased the border taxes that merchants and traders were required to pay to enter the kingdom. As for the other two, one of the heirs to the throne renounced his title and handed his crown to his sister to marry the Crown Prince of the other kingdom. When the Crown Prince and Crown Princess came into power, each agreed to sign a treaty ensuring no tax would be paid, going either way, on either border. The three kingdoms eventually became united as one, but that is another story. Suffice to say that the royal family, now rather extended, was very happy for a very long time.