[Good End] Eternal Bond

There were a few hours before the wedding ceremony was set to start, and guests were sporadically arriving. The weather was warm and sunny, perfect for friends and family to gather and celebrate the union of two lifelong friends and lovers. For such an occasion, there was no better stage than their hometown, Nabu village, where the families of the bride and groom lived.

Outside of family, plenty of friends and other guests were also invited, in fact pretty much everyone in the village was. It was a small and quiet place, so everybody knew everybody else. A few close friends that Earnest and Rosalind had made in the 7th squad also traveled to attend, not to mention Coltia and Alesia as well.

Guests were mingling around outside the Nabu church, introducing themselves to anyone they didn’t know and talking about how they knew the bride and groom. It was a cheerful atmosphere, no doubt helped by the food and drink being served. Earnest and Rosalind were among their guests, going around and greeting anyone that they hadn’t already, often catching up with friends that they hadn’t seen in a long time. As soon as they finished talking to someone, a new guest would arrive and need their attention.

A couple of hours before the ceremony was scheduled to start, Alesia arrived. Rosalind hadn’t seen her since they parted in Lindow, but Earnest had worked at Alesia’s store just a few months ago. After Earnest told his commander about his deal with Alesia, Roland begrudgingly allowed it, and told him to get it out of the way sooner rather than later. He gave him three weeks, a generous amount that was only so high because of Earnest’s performance in the exhibition. Even though Roland would never say it aloud, he did think that Earnest deserved a reward, and a decent rest as well.

Earnest left the capital after his fiance Rosalind had gotten familiar with the 7th squad members, and integrated well into the mix. He wasn’t all that concerned about Rosalind fitting in, but was more concerned that a fight would break out if two strong personalities clashed. Well, fights did happen, but more often than not Rosalind and whoever quarreled with were on better terms afterwards.

When he arrived back in Lindow, he told Alesia the news of his engagement. She seemed quite flustered by the announcement, but eventually managed to give a congratulations. She seemed a little down after hearing the news, but Earnest knew that she needed to hear it.

During his work period, he stayed in Alesia’s guest room and worked as her assistant. He would be tasked with miscellaneous tasks that ranged from cooking to delivering potions to moving heavy crates. When these tasks were done for the day, Alesia taught him a little bit about potion brewing. He learned about the ingredients that were used, and the process of refining and combining them. He certainly didn’t become an expert in that short time, but he at least gained a better understanding of the art.

Still though, Earnest was a bit wary of Alesia. She did… do… stuff while she was in control of Earnest’s body after all. But as Earnest worked with and watched her, he found her to be quite harmless. She would often crack a dirty joke or awkwardly attempt some flirting, but she never went past that. Well, at least not in front of Earnest she didn’t. Once, while he was checking on his laundry and looking for a missing piece of clothing, he happened to see Alesia through a window to the backroom. She had her legs spread with one hand vigorously going to work between them, and the other holding Earnest’s dirty shirt to her face. She seemed to be sniffing and smelling the “borrowed” article of clothing while she pleasured herself. Earnest didn’t stick around to watch, and didn’t speak a word about it to Alesia nor Rosalind.

Earnest couldn’t help but recall the scene of Alesia pleasuring herself, as he greeted her as a guest at his wedding. Who could guess that such an unassuming, polite lady could be such a hedonistic animal in private. Well, thinking about it, Rosalind wasn’t that dissimilar in that regard. She was a proper and upstanding knight in the public, and a passionate lover behind closed doors.

Earnest and Rosalind made polite conversation with Alesia, catching up with her until more newly arrived guests needed their attention. A little while later, their other companion Coltia arrived, accompanied by a woman wearing a maid dress. Earnest and Rosalind went up to greet Coltia and meet this new guest.

“Hello Coltia, I’m so glad that you could join us for our wedding. I hope you didn’t have to travel too far, I know Nabu is a bit out-of-the-way.”

“Oh, I would never miss such a big day for my favorite couple~ Besides, I did ask for an invitation after all~ I’m so glad you didn’t forget about me~”

Earnest then addressed the maid that Coltia brought with her.

“Hello, I don’t believe we’ve met before. I am Earnest Pierce, knight of the 7th squad and the lucky groom today.”

Rosalind introduced herself as well, all the while the maid had quite the complex expression on her face. When it was the maid’s turn to introduce herself, Cotlia stopped her before she could start.

“Actually, you both already know my guest~ Why don’t we make this fun? Take some guesses as to who she is~ If you guess wrong, I’ll give you some hints until you get it~”

Earnest and Rosalind threw around a few guesses, but none of them were correct. According to Coltia, it was someone they had known since childhood, and even grew up with in Nabu village, but neither Earnest nor Rosalind could remember such a person.

“Well, looks like I’ll give you the biggest hint I can~ This lovely lady is… my personal chef~”

The maid had a resigned look on her face as Earnest’s eyes went wide.

“That’s… That’s… me?”

Coltia smiled.

“Correct~ Well, mostly correct, it’s not really you. As I said before, I would make some modifications~ Why don’t you introduce yourself now?”

The maid did as she was told, pulling the sides of her dress and bowing in a polite courtesy.

“Hello Earnest and Rosalind. I am Elsie, personal chef for mistress Coltia. Pleased to meet you both. Even though this is the first time I’m meeting you, I certainly know a lot about you two.”

Earnest and Rosalind were too shocked to speak. Coltia enjoyed their bewildered expressions, and began to explain how Elsie came into existence. The first step was to create a homunculus body that would house a copy of Earnest’s mind. Coltia designed her to resemble the original Earnest, except in a feminine form. Earnest looked at Elsie more closely, and indeed noticed the similarities between them. They had the same hair color and eye color, it looked like they could have been siblings.

The next step was to have the black mind slime copy Earnest’s mind into the empty body’s artificial brain, which was the easy part. Then came the hard part, as Coltia went about making modifications to the mind. She instilled an undying loyalty and obedience, while also dealing with pesky issues like the existential dread of being a copy, and having the woman that she loved be taken by her original self.

Earnest and Rosalind listened in horrified fascination while Elsie stood with her hands politely together in front of her. After Coltia finished a lengthy explanation as to why she chose that particular type of maid dress for Elsie, she excused herself to catch up with Alesia, telling Elsie to stay and get to know the bride and groom.

There was an awkward moment between them, as none of them knew what to say. Earnest was the first to speak, asking Elsie what working for Coltia was like. Elsie answered, saying that the day-to-day work wasn’t all that special, just cooking all of Coltia’s meals, going out to buy ingredients, and cleaning mainly. However, as Earnest and Rosalind could guess, Elsie was often subject to Coltia’s whims. Coltia would frequently experiment with spells, casually blasting Elsie with untested magic, subjecting her to a myriad of intended and unintended effects.

So far, Elsie had her personality changed multiple times, her body transformed into multitudes of creatures and abominations, and her mind removed from her body and placed into various containers and bodies. Elsie visibly shuddered when she recounted the time that she had been turned into a writhing mass of tentacles. Each time, Coltia would undo the changes, unless she found it amusing enough to keep around for a while. Though, whenever there was a mess as a result of the experiment, Elsie would always be tasked with cleaning up manually, even though Coltia could probably use a spell to fix everything instantly.

It wasn’t all bad though. On days that Elsie cooked a particularly delectable dish or days that she made a breakthrough with her research, Coltia would grant Elsie various… rewards, even sometimes taking requests if she was in a good enough mood. So far, Elsie had requested a journal to write in, a set of pajamas, and various furniture for her bedroom.

Earnest started to ask deeper questions, like how Elsie felt about her- his- their memories. How did Elsie feel about Rosalind? Elsie’s face showed a certain resolve as she began talking. She admitted that early on, she struggled with her identity, asking herself those very questions continuously. She finally arrived at an answer, that she had to become her own person. She would always be a copy of Earnest’s mind, her origins would never change, but she could grow to become more than a mere copy.

Although they shared memories up to a certain point, she decided that she was a different person as soon as they ended. Earnest’s life was his own to live, and Elsie’s life would be her own as well. Elsie admitted that she still felt love for Rosalind, but reasoned that it was Earnest’s love that she had inherited, and was not her own. She resolved to struggle and grow into her own person by making her own choices and making memories of her own.

Earnest and Rosalind were both impressed by Elsie’s conviction, and the confidence she put into her words. They felt like they were listening to a speech that deserved applause at this point. Before either Earnest or Rosalind could voice their admiration for Elsie, Coltia rejoined the group and wrapped an arm around Elsie’s back, placing a hand on her shoulder.

“Sorry I took so long~ Alesia had an interesting idea for a… collaboration of sorts~ Anyways Elsie, thank you for entertaining my friends here~ In fact, I think you deserve your usual reward~”

Elsie’s eyes opened in alarm and her mouth opened to object, but that’s all she could do in the time that it took Coltia to raise her free hand and snap her fingers. Elsie’s legs instantly buckled and she fell to the ground like a puppet that had its strings cut. Some of the guests nearby saw her drop, and looked towards them to see what was going on. She landed with her knees together and feet apart, immediately bringing her hands to her lap and pressing down with her palms. Her eyes were tightly shut as she was desperately keeping her mouth from opening and letting out an embarrassing sound. Her whole body was shivering and shaking as she was immobilized for an uncomfortably long moment.

Elsie looked like she was about to break, until she finally relaxed and released all the tension in her body, successfully withstanding the entirety of Coltia’s “reward”. Her eyes half-opened to reveal that they had glazed over, and her mouth hung open, letting her tongue flop out as she panted lightly. The handful of guests that saw what happened just stared in silence, except for one woman who asked why her husband couldn’t do that to her. Earnest and Rosalind looked to Coltia, who just smiled coyly and assured them that she would be fine soon enough. As with many things the Coltia did, Earnest and Rosalind simply accepted that they were done and moved on.

They greeted the last few guests that had arrived as the time of the ceremony grew closer. New guests gradually stopped arriving, and almost everyone invited was accounted for. Finally, it was time for the ceremony as everyone entered the small local church. As the audience took their seats, all attention focussed on Earnest, Rosalind, and the old Nabu village priest behind them.

The old priest waxed on about how he had watched the bride and groom grow up together, and how he was glad to see them grow into fine adults. Earnest and Rosalind then began exchanging vows, swearing to stay with each other no matter what challenges they faced. No matter what pains they had to endure, they would do it together. They would be an irreplaceable part of each others’ lives, and do their best to make their shared life the best that it could be.

Rosalind took out a couple of white quartz rings, fashioned from the pendant that Earnest always wore. Earnest took one and slid it onto Rosalind’s finger, then she did the same for him. The priest asked the gods to bless Earnest and Rosalind’s marriage, and to watch over them so that they would live a happy life together. The moment finally arrived, and the bride and groom kissed, sealing their promise to each other.

The audience cheered and applauded as the ceremony was complete, and two childhood friends were now united as husband and wife. Some of Earnest’s relatives began playing instruments on cue, and filled the place with music. The celebration had begun, and the eating and drinking started in Earnest as guests also took to dancing and other merrymaking. The festivities continued long into the night, only ending with people falling asleep from exhaustion, full stomachs, or too much drink.

Earnest and Rosalind’s married life started that day, and they returned to the capital to serve as some of the most proficient knights in the entire corps. They quickly became well respected and well renowned knights as news of their multitudes of achievements and successful missions spread far and wide. As for their former companions, Alesia went back to Lindow to find her own happiness and start her own family, while Coltia continued the journey that her master had sent her on, with Elsie and her delicious cooking in tow.

Earnest and Rosalind ended up adventuring to many lands and fighting countless foes together, later fighting against the greatest threat the kingdom had ever faced and pushing deep into demon territory, but that’s a story for another time. They successfully carved their name into legends, and were indeed hailed as heroes for generations to come, with many stories of their escapades being told to children and adults alike. But for now, the story of the knight that was sent to Knottori village marks its conclusion as one chapter ends and a new chapter begins.

The End.