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Azelle could hear Tailtiu’s sigh from across the room. It stood out to him above the rancor of an entire army milling about the dining hall of Tófa castle. He decided to seek her out – there wasn’t much else to do anyway, not when Lex was busy.
“Tailtiu,” he called out.
Her face lit up when she saw her old friend. “Azelle!” She threw her arms around him in a hug – a bit startling to Azelle, but not unusual given their long-lasting friendship and, more recently, the support he gave during her struggles. “How are you doing?” she asked after they parted.
“I’m alright,” Azelle replied. “I was more concerned about you. Are you feeling down again?”
Tailtiu straightened herself up, realizing that Azelle might still be concerned about her feelings on the entire situation with her father. “Nope! I’m feeling happy as ever!”
Azelle realized then that Tailtiu was looking straight ahead at Claude – or rather, at the girl who was around Father Claude’s arm. He now realized that this was probably the source of her disappointment. “Oh, I see now…it’s about Father Claude, isn’t it?”
“What about him?”
“Aren’t you disappointed that he…you know?”
“Pfft,” Tailtiu spit as she held back laughter. “What is there to be disappointed about?”
Azelle’s face took on a more serious expression. “Tailtiu, you can be honest around me. I hope you still trust me enough.”
Tailtiu stared off again at a few of the other couples and sighed.
“Didn’t you love him?”
“Didn’t you love Lady Edain?” Tailtiu replied back.
“I…er…I did, but now she’s taken. I don’t feel that way anymore.” Azelle turned as red as a beet after saying that.
“I don’t feel that way towards Father Claude anymore either,” Tailtiu continued. “I never really loved him in the first place. I had a crush on him, sure, but I never imagined myself marrying him or anything like that. He’s too old and stuffy.”
“I really thought that you were in love with him by the way you acted,” Azelle said. “But you’re telling me that it wasn’t really true?”
“It started as a show,” Tailtiu explained. “I was a bit jealous and I wanted to get back at someone. But I was a little girl back then, before everything…you know.”
“Tailtiu,” Azelle said, “I don’t think any less of you because of it.”
A loud commotion happened somewhere else in the hall. Tailtiu then tugged on Azelle’s sleeve. “Here, let’s go into the corridor. That way there’s less people around us.”
Azelle was reminded of all the time that he spent with Tailtiu when they were younger: chasing each other through the hallways of Friege castle, pretending to play Cavalier along with Lex, and of course, their first kiss. Azelle’s thoughts had dwelled on that memory in particular as of late. Though it was originally a dare, Azelle had enjoyed it at the time and so did Tailtiu. He later dismissed it as a teenage infatuation, a product of a time when they were both dealing with those newfound feelings.
“Azelle?”
“What is it that you wanted to talk about?” he quickly responded.
“There is one person who I’ve always been in love with. You know, actual love, not just a crush.”
There was a twinge of discomfort in Azelle’s heart. “And who might that be?”
“He’s someone who I’ve known for a loooong time!” Tailtiu answered. “He’s quieter than most, but when you get to know him, you’ll know that he has a big heart.” Her pause made Azelle nervous. “Oh! And his name rhymes with gazelle.”
“Wait…are you talking about me?”
“Yes! Of course I’m talking about you!” Tailtiu was almost screaming when she responded. “How much longer will it take for you to see that I love you?!”
Azelle took Tailtiu into his arms and the two hugged for a good few moments. “I realize now that I love you too,” he softly said after they parted.
Then Tailtiu pulled him back in. She stole a kiss off his cheek before they parted again.
“How long have you felt this way?” Azelle asked.
“To be honest? The entire time,” Tailtiu replied.
“Why didn’t you say anything?” he asked. “If you said something…I realize now that all this time, I was in love with you too. Yes, I did love Lady Edain, but I was blinded to who my real partner was…you.”
“Because I was afraid. I was jealous that Lady Edain had your attention, but I was too afraid to say anything. All I did was try to make you jealous too because I’m that childish.”
He pulled her in again. “It’s ok,” he softly reassured. “Let’s make a promise today: We won’t hide our feelings from each other, okay?”
“Mm-hmm,” Tailtiu nodded.
Suddenly, Tailtiu buried her head in Azelle’s embrace. She was starting to cry.
“Hmm?”
“Thank you, Azelle. You make me feel so…”
She couldn’t complete her words. Azelle merely held onto her and continued to comfort Tailtiu – now his girlfriend, but still his longtime friend.
“Don’t worry, Tailtiu. I’ll protect you forever.”