Aymeric, for his part, had always assumed his life incompatible with love. For so many years he had focused on little else but proving himself and surviving the war, he had no time to dedicate to another person, not in that way. He'd come close, once, to thinking there may have been a chance - Estinien was even more focused than he was, but they still found time for one another, quiet moments that began as a way to pass the time on lonely nights and became something else, something more...
Or so he'd thought. Estinien cared about him, in his way, but that care had not been enough to hold him, and when the war ended and he was freed of his thirst for vengeance, what could Aymeric do but let him go?
It was easy, then, to throw himself back into his work. Rebuilding Ishgard without the Archbishop, without the war, it took so much of his time that he could remind himself, again, that love was probably better left to other people.
Maybe that's why he agreed to it. Or maybe it was just because the other Lords of the House would not shut up about it. Either way, he really could see the benefits of the proposal, and while he had received other offers they tended to come from power-hungry families looking to further their own goals, which Aymeric wouldn't countenance, or hopeless romantics with optimistic fantasies that Aymeric knew would never be a reality. Better the former be thwarted and the latter find somebody more suited to their dreamy ideals. This proposal, however, was for the good of Ishgard, and didn't Aymeric do everything he could for the good of Ishgard?
(It didn't hurt that Sae was a friend, and a friend with enough of his own life that Aymeric wouldn't feel too bad about being so caught up in his. Once the marriage was settled, he'd tell the adventurer he could go off and continue to save the world, as long as he came back regularly enough to satisfy the House, then they could both just get on with their lives)
Mostly, though, he'd agreed to it because he didn't think his agreement would actually change anything - he'd considered how it would go, the best case scenario, but ultimately he assumed it would never go ahead because Sae would never agree to it. And then he did, and Aymeric was frankly baffled who managed to talk him into it.
Suddenly Aymeric was swept up in a flurry of wedding planning and negotiations that mostly consisted of people telling him what was going to happen. It was the strangest feeling, suddenly being surrounded by people who could get things done without his every input, and yet for once he really wished they wouldn't. At one point he completely escaped and the planning continued without him, he wasn't sure they'd even noticed him gone. That was the day he'd gone wandering the Crozier and found the most beautiful ring. He'd bought it on a whim, thinking that Sae deserved some part of this to be done properly, and he could insist upon delivering it himself, and perhaps take the chance to actually talk to his betrothed about the whole thing.
Then he'd been told that a ring had already been sent, and anyway he couldn't go anywhere because there was some issue with grain delivery that he had to untangle and the ring he bought was tucked away in his desk drawer, waiting for an opportunity that still hadn't come.
The wedding was lavish and beautiful and not at all what he would have chosen for himself, and there was something inescapably awkward about it, he barely got to speak to his husband and spent most of the time politely accepting congratulations and well wishes as though either of them had really chosen this. It felt like being in a play.
He'd arranged for Sae to have his own room at the De Borel manor, this was a political match and Aymeric wouldn't force the adventurer to pretend otherwise, he thought perhaps Sae would be more comfortable having his own space. He'd had it decorated, ready to move in, but he'd been quick to tell Sae he could change anything about it if he wanted, that he should do whatever he needed to make the room, the whole manor even, feel like his home.
It's more comfortable than he thought it would be, having someone else in his house, somebody to join him for dinner and help him talk through a difficult decision or work out a problem with policy, someone to listen when he was ready to throw one of the other lords out the window. It still has its awkward moments, of course it does, even after a few months they're still working out how they fit together as a couple, or something like it, but Aymeric can't deny that it's nice, too.
He's vaguely aware of Sae's presence in the doorway, but he just needs to get one last paragraph finished and he's almost done. He does set his pen down when the tea appears in his peripheral vision, and he looks up with a grateful smile.
"It's not exciting at all." He replies dryly "Unfortunately it needs doing."
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Or so he'd thought. Estinien cared about him, in his way, but that care had not been enough to hold him, and when the war ended and he was freed of his thirst for vengeance, what could Aymeric do but let him go?
It was easy, then, to throw himself back into his work. Rebuilding Ishgard without the Archbishop, without the war, it took so much of his time that he could remind himself, again, that love was probably better left to other people.
Maybe that's why he agreed to it. Or maybe it was just because the other Lords of the House would not shut up about it. Either way, he really could see the benefits of the proposal, and while he had received other offers they tended to come from power-hungry families looking to further their own goals, which Aymeric wouldn't countenance, or hopeless romantics with optimistic fantasies that Aymeric knew would never be a reality. Better the former be thwarted and the latter find somebody more suited to their dreamy ideals. This proposal, however, was for the good of Ishgard, and didn't Aymeric do everything he could for the good of Ishgard?
(It didn't hurt that Sae was a friend, and a friend with enough of his own life that Aymeric wouldn't feel too bad about being so caught up in his. Once the marriage was settled, he'd tell the adventurer he could go off and continue to save the world, as long as he came back regularly enough to satisfy the House, then they could both just get on with their lives)
Mostly, though, he'd agreed to it because he didn't think his agreement would actually change anything - he'd considered how it would go, the best case scenario, but ultimately he assumed it would never go ahead because Sae would never agree to it. And then he did, and Aymeric was frankly baffled who managed to talk him into it.
Suddenly Aymeric was swept up in a flurry of wedding planning and negotiations that mostly consisted of people telling him what was going to happen. It was the strangest feeling, suddenly being surrounded by people who could get things done without his every input, and yet for once he really wished they wouldn't. At one point he completely escaped and the planning continued without him, he wasn't sure they'd even noticed him gone. That was the day he'd gone wandering the Crozier and found the most beautiful ring. He'd bought it on a whim, thinking that Sae deserved some part of this to be done properly, and he could insist upon delivering it himself, and perhaps take the chance to actually talk to his betrothed about the whole thing.
Then he'd been told that a ring had already been sent, and anyway he couldn't go anywhere because there was some issue with grain delivery that he had to untangle and the ring he bought was tucked away in his desk drawer, waiting for an opportunity that still hadn't come.
The wedding was lavish and beautiful and not at all what he would have chosen for himself, and there was something inescapably awkward about it, he barely got to speak to his husband and spent most of the time politely accepting congratulations and well wishes as though either of them had really chosen this. It felt like being in a play.
He'd arranged for Sae to have his own room at the De Borel manor, this was a political match and Aymeric wouldn't force the adventurer to pretend otherwise, he thought perhaps Sae would be more comfortable having his own space. He'd had it decorated, ready to move in, but he'd been quick to tell Sae he could change anything about it if he wanted, that he should do whatever he needed to make the room, the whole manor even, feel like his home.
It's more comfortable than he thought it would be, having someone else in his house, somebody to join him for dinner and help him talk through a difficult decision or work out a problem with policy, someone to listen when he was ready to throw one of the other lords out the window. It still has its awkward moments, of course it does, even after a few months they're still working out how they fit together as a couple, or something like it, but Aymeric can't deny that it's nice, too.
He's vaguely aware of Sae's presence in the doorway, but he just needs to get one last paragraph finished and he's almost done. He does set his pen down when the tea appears in his peripheral vision, and he looks up with a grateful smile.
"It's not exciting at all." He replies dryly "Unfortunately it needs doing."