Knight and Wand

Chapter 243 Marriage
Lying on his side, his right arm was resting on Olivia's neck, and Leon's left arm was wrapped around the girl, resting relaxedly in front of her.

His left hand, which had not yet regained control, allowed her to caress it lovingly.

Leon leaned sideways and smelled the fragrance of Olivia's hair, then looked at the moonlight outside the window.

He debated in his mind whether he should proceed to the final step of the proposal and decide on a date for the wedding.

But before Leon sought his lover's advice, Olivia spoke first.

".Leon."

"Ok?"

"Will you allow me to be more willful to you in the future?"

The girl gently held her lover's recovered arm, and her slender fingers carefully stroked the healed skin marks.

Leon tightened his left arm around his lover's soft body and almost laughed out loud.

"You are so well-behaved that it makes me feel distressed. When have you ever been willful to me? It is better to say that I have always been willful to you. I have always hoped that you can act more like a spoiled child to me."

Olivia sighed: "You still keep bullying me, you bad guy."

She turned around, curled up in her lover's broad arms, and looked at each other face to face.

"But that's not what I'm talking about. I regret listening to you this time." She put her arms around Leon's neck and said, "Look at the danger you're in. I shouldn't have stayed in Avalon.

I want to protect you. No matter whether you are going to meet the great nobles of the kingdom in the future, promise me that you will at least let me stay near you and rush to your side at any time, okay? I promise to hide my identity, and let me be willful for a while."

Looking at his lover's persistent eyes, Leon thought about it carefully.

Olivia was already able to change the characteristics of her eye color. Moreover, unlike her past identity as a country girl with an abrupt origin, she now had the cover of her distant relative of the Villanian royal family designed by herself and others. She had a plausible origin. If she was often present with Corvis, their blonde hair and golden eyes, and their disguised identity as cousins ​​of the Villanian Arundel family, would be very convincing.

Not to be associated with the Drakmar family.

Compared to her, Corvis, the extraordinary prince of Vilania from the East Continent, would probably attract more attention from the nobles.

As long as he avoided sensitive meeting occasions, there was really no need to be so timid. Olivia was so outstanding, and if she kept hiding things like this, it would only arouse suspicion. He could not lock her up in a small dark room. He had prepared so many means to cover up her background, and if she showed up openly, it would create the effect of hiding the truth under the lamp.

"I promise you, I really can't predict when I will encounter such a crisis again. It would be irresponsible for me to take risks alone. But how can I be willful and need permission? Is this still called willful?" Leon lowered his head and rubbed her little face.

"Ugh, I'm used to it." Olivia muttered with red cheeks.

In the intimacy, Leon continued to express his previous thoughts: "I actually need your advice on something."

Olivia kissed her lover's increasingly handsome face and listened, "Well, you say."

"Why don't we find a date to hold the wedding as soon as possible?"

Leon explained: "If something unexpected happens to me this time, if you have become my legal wife, then everything in the barony can at least be left to you as an inheritance. This way, a lot of troubles and hidden dangers can be avoided for you, Uncle Brian, and everyone else."

Leon expressed his concerns, but saw Olivia's brows slightly frowned.

Hearing her lover's concerns about her own death, Olivia thought about it and nodded, "Okay, I'll listen to you."

Leon saw the hesitation in the girl's eyes.

"Why? Do you think it's too hasty?"

"No." The girl shook her head gently and pressed against the other's chest: "It's just that I feel that all of this is as if it was done with your death as the premise, which makes me feel uncomfortable."

Leon smiled and couldn't help but hug her tighter.

Olivia raised her head and looked directly into the other person's eyes.

".Miss Margarina said that she wants to be with Lord Larian forever until death, but I am more greedy. Even if it is death, I don't want to be separated from you."

The girl closed her eyes, lowered her head and leaned forward, her voice gradually becoming inaudible. This confession made Leon feel heavy in his heart.

If I really get hurt accidentally, this little girl won’t do anything stupid, right?

But he really couldn't avoid the danger he was about to face. How could he guarantee that he would be lucky every time? This gave Leon a headache.

Maybe if they had a child quickly, it would help prevent this little girl from doing stupid things in the future?

This thought came into his mind, and he couldn't help but slide his left arm, with the back of his hand falling on Olivia's lower abdomen.

If she and her children were there, even if the worst happened, Olivia would definitely cheer up for their children.

The girl's face turned red from the warmth of Leon's hand on her belly, and her cheeks turned red as if she had a fever.

She seemed to have misunderstood and said shyly, "Besides, I don't know how it is in your hometown, but in Orland, we have lived together like this for so long. Even if we haven't had a wedding yet, I have already been your wife."

Olivia raised her head, staring at her beloved lover with bright eyes: "If you want, you can have me anytime."

When Leon heard this, his heart was like a boiling volcano, and desire and love rushed to his mind.

But his calm mind quickly suppressed the impulse and he shook his head: "Right now is not a good time."

Of course, the more crucial reason is that he did not make any preparations. Apart from other things, although the idea of ​​giving a girl a child is safe, it is definitely not a wise choice to let Olivia get pregnant now.

In the current natural disaster crisis, every bit of strength needs to be used to fight against it. At this juncture, Olivia has to give birth to offspring, which is undoubtedly a heavy burden and drag on her.

Leon sighed in relief, thinking carefully, he felt that he still underestimated the girl. With her strength, she should not be so fragile, not to mention Uncle Brian. Olivia is so sensible, she will definitely not abandon her old father.
"You're right. It's better to hold our wedding after we've resolved the dispute. You didn't think about our future, but instead thought that I would definitely die in battle. Holding the ceremony with this mentality is not perfect.
But, you just said that in Orland, even without a wedding, we are already considered husband and wife?" Leon didn't know whether this was Olivia's love words or another custom of the Northern Kingdom that he didn't understand.

Olivia gently squeezed Leon's hand, and heard his patience, feeling a little disappointed for some reason.

She put aside her strange mood and explained, "If I must say, I have lived with you for so long. If we were commoners, we only needed to notify the lord and record it, and we would be a recognized family. Now that we are nobles, there is one more step than commoner marriages. We need to submit our marriage contract to the feudal lord. There are two types, one is the 'full husband's power contract' and the other is the 'non-husband's power contract'. Of course, the wedding is also very important, but as long as the documents are submitted, we are actually a legally recognized husband and wife relationship."

Ever since she established a relationship with her beloved, she has been very careful to ask her old father for details about major life events.

Leon raised his eyebrows. Is it so simple? How come it’s like registering at the Civil Affairs Bureau in the previous life.

From what the original owner remembered, at least in the Serian Kingdom, a marriage between two people must go through a wedding ceremony, and only after being presided over and blessed by the priests of the Holy Sun Church can it be legally recognized.
Thinking of this, Leon suddenly realized that the Kingdom of Orlando did not believe in the Holy Sun, so naturally there was no church to witness this event. In the Northern Kingdom, weddings probably symbolized more of a traditional custom celebration. Although it was equally indispensable, it did not seem to be the decisive procedure for determining whether a marriage was recognized.

"Then in Orland, we can either hold the wedding first and then submit the contract documents, or submit the contract documents first and then hold the wedding, is that all fine?" Leon asked quickly.

Olivia nodded: "That should be the case."

The problem of hesitation is solved.

Leon still wanted to give his lover a perfect wedding, a grand ceremony with everyone's blessings.

But before that, it seems that the procedures for the noble marriage can be completed in advance with Earl Elliver.

The next morning, Leon specifically found Filippo and several other knights who were doing morning exercises in the barracks.

He learned from these knights, who came from various local families, about the traditions and norms of marriage among the Orlando nobles.

It was indeed similar to what Olivia had said. Of course, a wedding was necessary for nobles to get married, but the real factor that determined whether it was recognized by the laws of the kingdom was still the contract documents kept by the wedding parties and the lord.

The two types of marriage documents also created two forms of marriage.

The so-called "full patriarchal contract" was relatively rare in aristocratic marriages and more common among the wealthy commoners in the kingdom.

In a full patriarchal contract, the wife's status is completely subordinate to that of the husband. To put it nicely, she is almost the husband's "daughter." To put it bluntly, the husband has complete and total parental power.

Of course, among ordinary people at the lower level of society, although there are few real contract documents, after all, not many people at the lower level can read, but in real life, most people maintain this form of marriage in disguise. The lower status of women is an objective reality of this era.

However, most of the marriages among the Aland nobles adopted the "non-husband-right contract".

In this type of contract, although the husband still has higher power, the couple has clear negotiation items in the document regarding property distribution, inheritance rights, post-marital conditions, etc.

The reason for doing so is not because the nobles have a higher sense of morality, but is also based on practical factors.

Aristocratic marriage often represents the union of two families. The wife symbolizes the political and military power of the family behind her. Naturally, the husband must give his wife corresponding status and respect.

In most cases in the Northern Kingdom, the lord's wife is also his ally. The specific status of the ally depends on the strength of the family behind the wife.
After learning about the marriage traditions of the Orland nobles with great interest, Leon thanked the sons of the nobles, then took Olivia and hurried to the study, intending to immediately try to draft a contract document to establish a marriage relationship.

According to Filippo, this step in aristocratic marriage is no less solemn than the wedding.

It usually takes place after the engagement ceremony, and family members and parents of both parties need to sit together to negotiate and discuss.

But Leon's own blood relatives are all on Earth, the original owner's parents had died long ago, and Olivia only has Brian as a "relative", so this makes things much simpler.

The two of them confirmed it and asked Brian to take a look. If there was no problem, they could write a letter and send it to Earl Elliver for registration.

Leon and Olivia had no experience in writing this kind of thing. Fortunately, for them, it was more of a symbol. After all, they did not need the items in it to stabilize their feelings for each other, so it didn't matter even if there were some omissions.

Besides, what Leon really needs is only the legal effect of one of the clauses, which is to designate his wife Olivia as the heir to his title, territory, and property.
As for the rest, it will be fine as long as it is consistent with the customs of the kingdom.

Olivia sat on the left, helping Leon press the paper.

But when she saw the entries left by the other party's feather pen on the manuscript paper, the more she wrote, the more it sounded like a love poem. She blushed and raised her hand to poke Leon's lower back.

"This contract document may need to be reviewed by Earl Elliver."

"So what? There's no rule on how it should be written, right?"

Leon paused with his pen tip, looked up at the girl blankly, then looked down again. Well, it was a bit corny, but there was no strict template anyway. Moreover, it was a token of witnessing their marriage, so how could he not pour his love into it?

Seeing Leon starting to write poetry on paper again, Olivia quickly snatched the pen and ink.

"No, I can't write so many embarrassing words. I'm afraid Lord Elliver will laugh to death if he sees them. I'd better let me do it."

Seeing the girl rewriting it seriously and methodically, Leon shrugged and let her go.

Suddenly, the door of the study was pushed open and Azerien walked in.

Leon looked at him, but before he could speak, he heard Azerien speak first: "Raya and I have discussed that we want to hold the wedding in advance and not wait for the Ascension Day. If it is convenient, I plan to start preparing in the next few days."

Olivia raised her head and looked over with slight surprise.

Leon sighed, they are really brothers. They just returned to Avalon one night, and the thing they discussed with their wives when they went home was actually this.

"I have no objection. I also think Avalon needs a celebration." Leon nodded.

Whether considering the end of the southern expedition or before other turmoil comes, now is the best time to relax your tense nerves.

As for the fact that the other party and Miss Raya made different decisions from himself and Olivia, Leon could probably guess the reason.

After all, the weak Miss Raya could not follow her lover to the battlefield like Olivia did.

And waiting anxiously in the rear for news from his lover after he went to war, this feeling was unbearable even for a strong Knight of the Golden Lion, let alone the painter lady.

Azerien knew the inside story of the disaster in the east, and no one could guarantee what kind of turmoil and changes the situation on the continent would experience after waiting for more than a month.

It is conceivable that the two were eager to complete the wedding.

(End of this chapter)