Cinder X Bella ~ Forty-Nine!

The throne room of the Spring Palace shimmered with a thousand hues as sunlight streamed through the stained glass windows far overhead. The marble floors had colorful patterns dancing across them, meticulously arranged decorations of flowers and silks coated the room and thousands of candles sparkling throughout the area. 

Bella stood in front of the throne, heart fluttering as she tried to swallow down her nervousness. She shifted side to side, somewhat uncomfortable in the elegant dress she wore, coated with delicate lace and tiny pearls. The scholarly, powerful mage next to her looked every bit as regal as his parents… until he began fidgeting with his majestic attire.

He leaned toward Bella, rolling his eyes with annoyance as he whispered, “Flame won't harm me, yet someone figured out how to make an outfit trap heat so effectively that I'm sweating. Are we… we are doing the right thing, right?”

Oddly, his shifting and fidgeting calmed Bella down, and she reached out for his hand with a smile. “I think so. I guess we're going to have to find out together.”

A slow, crooked grin appeared on Cinder’s face, and tension noticeably left his shoulders. He let out a slow breath, “That doesn't sound so bad. I'm even kind of looking forward to it.” 

“Kind of?” she teased him, squeezing his hand when he tensed back up. “I'm joking! You'll find I do that from time to time.”

“Oh! Ha. Ha!” The awkward laugh cut off quickly after echoing around the room, and together, they turned their attention to the royals seated on their thrones. “Mother, Father. I think we are ready.”

In the throne room were the few people who needed to be there to witness the system-official marriage. King Fella, Queen Liora, Bibbidy the Fairy, Captain Williams, Paca the puppy, and about thirty-seven mice. Suzy stood at the forefront of the latter group, cheerfully leading the others in a slow waltz around the marble floor. 

King Fella raised his hand, and even the mice slowed and stopped, looking at him respectfully as a hush fell over the room. “We are gathered today, not just for the system to witness the union of two souls, but to honor the sacrifice these young people are making today. Love…” 

He paused to allow the word to echo through the room. “All we have ever wanted for our son is to be able to marry in a way we were not able. To give him the option to marry for love instead of political machinations. But, like us, he's chosen to bind himself to another for a higher purpose—the well-being of our people, the future of this land. I can only hope that we set an example you can follow, where the duty we have taken on transforms into deep respect and an even deeper love.” 

“Cinder.” The queen smoothly stepped into the silence. “You've always shown great promise as a leader. Your dedication to the kingdom, growing both your mentality and personal power to better protect the people, are qualities anyone would be proud of. But today, you have shown us that you have truly accepted what it means to be a prince.”

Turning her eyes to Bella, Liora’s gaze softened, and a gentle smile appeared on her face. “My daughter-to-be, your journey has not been easy, yet you have chosen the hardest road to continue walking. Your willingness to stand as a shield for people who have failed in their duty to shield you… I can think of nothing that would speak more toward your character and willingness to sacrifice for others. Someday, when I am no longer the queen, I know I will be able to trust you to take on the mantle.”

Bibbidy stood forward, an extremely proud expression on her face as she took Bella's right hand and Cinder’s left, looking between them as she spoke. “May your marriage be blessed with joy and the unwavering support of all those you are standing for. While circumstances may not show it, I believe the story of your eventual love will be sung for generations. May the stars of the system guide you into creating a kingdom filled with peace and prosperity.”

The king and queen stood from their thrones as Bibbidy took the hands she was holding and placed them together before moving to stand on Bella's left. Though he needed the assistance of a cane, the king stepped forward and reached his hand out for the Fairy godmother’s. His other hand took the queen’s, and she joined hands with her son. 

They held that pose for a long moment, then Bella and Cinder’s right hands were pulled up to cross over each other, creating an ‘X’ that they held in midair. 

Seeing that everyone was in position, the wounded monarch took a deep breath. “As the system-recognized king of this land, I call upon the system to make this marriage official, with the blessing of the mother and father of the groom and the blessing of the Great Fairy Bibbidy, guardian of the bride.” 

Immediately, time seemed to hold still as a wall of text appeared in Bella's mind. 

Codex Arcane Ledger is responding to your request to become married to Crown Prince Cinder Fella!

Scanning…. Assessing… you are not being coerced or forced into making this choice. 

You are not at least at the age for marriage for your kingdom. Assessing… guardian override, birthdate is within the calendar year. Stipulation: ‘legal marriage only’, to be automatically upgraded into ‘full marriage’ upon the minimum age to accept a Full Class. Override accepted.

No skills or foreign substances are impairing your choices or altering your thoughts. Even so…

Please think through this choice carefully. The effects of a system-witnessed marriage cannot be undone. Who you marry matters greatly, as your highest unlocked skill in your most potent unlocked class will be combined with theirs to make a Conjoined Skill. 

You may only ever have a single Conjoined Skill. It will increase in potency in a similar manner to your other skills, but will require the presence of your marriage partner to do so, unless they have died in a manner unrelated to you. Killing them or having them killed will forever halt the increase in skill level of your skill. 

The system cannot be deceived.

If you choose not to continue this marriage witnessing and feel you may be in danger because of it, you will be instantly transported to a different Class Shrine with your safety guaranteed by the system for 24 hours.

With this knowledge, and with a clear understanding of your own thoughts, do you wish to marry Crown Prince Cinder Fella?

“I do,” Bella stated at the same moment as Cinder, as if the system had aligned their thoughts and movements to be perfectly synchronized. They turned and smiled at each other, only for dozens more words to scrawl across their vision.

Marriage witnessed! Congratulations on this immensely important, irreversible choice! Generating Conjoined Skill. 

System merit ‘Apex of the Generation’ has been applied. Skill modifiers modified! 

Special modifier applied: You have been granted a modifier ‘Damsel of Distress’. 

Against seemingly insurmountable odds, you transformed a set of skills or circumstances which nearly guaranteed failure or even death into a foundation for success with far-reaching and profound effects. By taking your fate into your own hands, you have broken free of the Codex Arcane Ledger’s predicted outcome. 

Effect: When in the presence of another ‘Damsel of Distress’, you will be able to recognize each other as kindred spirits and [Minimally] share the benefits of your skills, if so desired, while in range. This will increase in potency with the skill it was acquired in tandem with.

Conjoined Skill: Cinder-Bella’s Constant Companion. Level 1/10.

Having always been able to find companions when others would have been utterly alone, the system has fully recognized your deep desire for connection and community. While you have sacrificed much, you will forevermore have friendly fire by your side. 

At any time, a familiar made of system-controlled flames, up to 1 x [1] meters in size can be sung into existence. The familiar will possess [Minimal] intelligence and will always follow your orders. If it is destroyed, it will explode violently, causing fire damage in the surrounding area. While your familiar is present, you gain a [Minimal] resistance to fire, as well as the ability to [Minimally] control fire, natural or otherwise, within your line of sight. 

The form of your familiar grants an affinity to its kind, affording you [Minimal] control over any non-sentient creature of that specific type within line of sight, so long as it is smaller than the maximum size of the familiar you can create. You may change the form of your familiar by extinguishing it and singing it back into existence with a new body. Your familiar will retain its memories upon being resummoned.

When your Conjoined partner is within 1,000 meters of you, your familiar’s size may increase up to the combined total size your skills allow. The control of flame and creatures will also increase by one rank, up to Perfect.

Requirement to advance to level 2: Summon your familiar for a total of 1,000 consecutive hours.

Bella and Cinder blinked and stepped away from each other, smiles rapidly appearing on both of their faces. Cinder broke the silence first. “Did you get a flame familiar?”

“I did! Did it give you fire resistance? I thought you might already have that,” Bella excitedly replied as she stepped closer to hear the details of his new skill. 

“So there are some differences!” Cinder stepped forward, clasping her hand with his. “I didn't get fire resistance; I got an affinity with animals. That’s pretty helpful, as I can’t currently send fire blasts from horseback without terrifying my poor stallion. Maybe I’ll be able to keep him calm now… or at least calmer?”

“Nice! So that means you’ll get a whole new way to practice your skills? I can’t imagine riding and blasting will be the same as standing still and creating flames while intensely concentrating.” Bella paused for a moment as her new husband went slack-jawed, his eyes going distant for a moment before sparkling with excitement. Seeing how he was lost in thought, she took a moment to decide the form she wanted her skill to manifest into. 

With a blink, she realized the perfect design. Taking a deep breath, she sang her intent out to the system.

“With fur of flame and eyes so bright, I call upon my friend lost to the night. Mert the Third take this form. Bravest of mice, through fire reborn!”

As the last note of her short song rang out, a small explosion of flame detonated in the air above her, the quickly spreading flames pausing and yanking back in to collapse upon themselves. A moment later, a perfect replica of Mert the Third dropped to the ground, squeaking in confusion as it bounced.

“Oh, it’s a mouse.” Cinder let out an awkward chuckle as he stroked the head of a meter-long phoenix. “Turns out, you don't need to use mundane animals; it can be pretty much anything you think of. Hey… I wonder if I could make a tiny person, instead of an animal? There's so many things to test!”

King Fella cleared his throat loudly, breaking the two newlyweds out of their excited, skill-based chatter. “Welcome to the family, Princess Bella. How would you like to celebrate?”

“I've always wanted to see the world.” Bella looked over at her new husband, shyly reaching out and taking his hand. “Perhaps we could start with a very thorough tour of the kingdom? I'm sure we can find things to do as we travel.”

“Like controlling plague rats and burning them!” Cinder gasped with excitement.

Queen Liora slapped her hand to her forehead, letting out a long sigh and muttering. “I tried to tell him not to show overmuch his passion for pursuing skill gains-”

Bella didn't hear the queen, and her next words made the queen glance up in surprise, which quickly shifted to contemplation. “Think of the practice we're going to get! It'll be hard work, but at the end of the day, we'll be able to say we made a real difference. Plus, I can't think we’ll finish before reaching at least Moderate rank!”

“It's a fantastic idea, Bella!” Cinder leaned in excitedly, the widening of his eyes showing the moment he realized they were practically nose to nose. He froze, then slowly leaned forward and placed his lips upon hers. 

Their first kiss ended a moment later, and both of them smiled at each other. 

Before the silence could stretch into the realm of uncomfortable for those around them, Cinder snapped his fingers. “After this kingdom, we could go and help our allies in the surrounding nations! Nothing would solidify our alliances and trade routes like stepping in and shutting down the plague in their kingdoms. Want to go see the world with me?”

“Yes!”

“Then let's go!”