Love is Worth Waiting for

Sunny wasn't entirely pleased with how the negotiations turned out. He was quite happy with the contents of the agreement, and how it allowed him to get closer to Valor, but he wasn't too much of a fan of having to sell himself off to achieve it.

He was engaged now, so Morgan had come by soon after negotiations had ended to drop off a ring.

The ring itself wasn't fancy, it was cast with 16 karat white gold and was given the basic properties of a memory. The single enchantment it held was to fit the size of the wearer.

Sunny looked at the runes, Valor spellsmiths had no way to alter the name and description of memories so they were made by the spell.

Memory: Token of Death's Unity

Memory Type: Tool

Memory Rank: Dormant

Memory Class: I

Memory Description: [A memento of the unity of Life and Death, Life gave her daughter and Death his son.]

Memory Enchantments: [Destined Fit]

Sunny focused on the runes and soon more appeared before him.

[Destined Fit] Enchantment Description: [The ring changes size to fit the wearer.]

He had actually gotten to take a look at the runes of Morgan's ring too. They were identical, except hers was called [Token of Life's Unity].

'The spell seems to take this marriage as a divine union of the domains of the gods rather than just political assurance.' Sunny had a foreboding premonition. He was no longer connected to fate, but his instincts outside of definite fate were intact.

'The spell is always deliberate with its wording, something tells me this is going to become a lot bigger than I expected.' Sunny seemed to have found himself wrapped up in a divine level situation once again.

'Curses, I thought I'd be free from these things once I got rid of [Fated]' Sunny bitterly went to prepare the ingredients for the day. 'I'm running pretty low. It's about time for Ling's dad to come along with some supplies.

Sunny smiled at the thought. He was quite fond of Ling's dad, having watched over him when he was a sleeper and seeing him now made him feel things.

'I feel old already.' Sunny shook his head and continued working.

Soon the first customers came in for the day and he went to serve them, going about his day like usual as Master Sunless once again.

He was pleased to see some of the regulars, and soon enough he heard a familiar commotion. Sunny smiled as he walked to the door, catching everything that was said.

"NO! Little Ling! Human form!" He opened the door to see a massive wolf cub sitting and wagging his tail.

"Come on Ling, we've talked about this." Sunny spoke calmly but firmly. "You can't just randomly transform whenever you feel like it."

The wolf cub wagged his tail once more and seemed to fall apart. In its place, a four year old boy came barrelling towards Sunny.

His eyes widened as he stepped back, but Ling smashed into him and sent him back a few more. Sunny gasped for air as Ling's dad ran up and pulled him off.

"I'm really sorry about him, Master Sunless." Ling's dad apologised as Sunny gave him a smile mixed with a wince.

"It's fine, I'm always happy to see little Ling." Soon after he spoke, a familiar voice spoke.

"Where are you, my little dumpling?" Ling's expression grew excited as he jumped out of his dad's arms.

"Mum!" Effie was standing there as Ling threw himself at her. She caught him and spun him around.

"How's my little boy doing," She then turned and nodded at Sunny, "and you too, Master Sunless. You're looking as charming as ev-"

Effie cut herself off as her eyes widened. Sunny didn't think he'd ever seen her look so surprised in his life, she was usually, always i control of the situation.

She pointed at Sunny, or rather Sunny's hand with an incredulous look on her face. "You're engaged!?" She was utterly dumbfounded.

Sunny was confused at first but then raised his left hand, where [Token of Death's Unity] was resting on his ring finger. "Oh yeah, it just happened." He gave her a smile.

Effie stood there frozen in place, unable to process what she had just heard. Ling, who was in her arms, poked her face and then pouted, jumping down from her embrace.

He ran up to Sunny and talked a bit too loudly, "Where's Aiko?" Little Ling was very attached to Aiko, so Sunny used her as a scapegoat whenever he came.

Sunny smiled and pointed inside, "She's in the kitchen." Ling rushed inside without wasting any time, and he soon heard a squeal. 'Sorry Aiko, but I have to save myself somehow.'

Sunny turned back to Ling's dad and the frozen Effie. "Please come in, would you like anything to eat?" Ling's dad was surprised at his engagement too, but he shook it off.

"It's fine, we're just here to drop off supplies. Congratulations on your engagement." He handed Sunny a bag with a smile and then shouted.

"Little Ling! We're going now, come if you don't want to be left behind!" Sunny winced at the expensive noises he heard and soon Ling came running out the door. 

Ling's dad walked over to the frozen Effie and patted her on the shoulder, "Come on, let's get going." She snapped out of her frozen state and looked at him with a bit of disappointment.

"Congrats on your engagement…" She turned around and whispered under her breath, "I wasn't fast enough." Sunny shuddered at her words, feeling a bit of pity for her husband before walking back inside with the supplies they dropped off.

As Sunny walked back to the kitchen, he noticed more gazes on him than usual, specifically on his hands, and most of the discussion had turned hushed.

"He's really engaged!" The woman who spoke was one of the firekeepers, "That damn woman, how dare she have Master Sunless all to herself."

'I can hear everything you know,' Sunny sighed, he wasn't a fan of being the centre of rumours, but he somehow kept finding himself in the spotlight. 'What a mess.'