Zelda had been content, lying her head against his shoulder; she flickered back to alertness at Alfred's comment. "When it takes too long," she said, after a beat. That was an option; her family was trying to wait her out, and she knew it. But if they did, if they kept on delaying, they had to know what would happen.

"If it does take too long, we'll give them a push," she agreed. She leaned upwards to press her lips to the underside of Alfred's jaw. If her family hated him forever, then she would marry him anyways - because of the secret truth she kept in her chest, and because she had given him her virtue.

"Can I tell you something?" Zelda asked.

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