19 - Derbie's Letter

                                        

                                              
Derbie knew he loved Ban long before the Polumenta Opera Event; he'd joked to himself about starting to fall in love with her their Debut night, he'd enjoyed the friendship their letters provided, and he'd begun to cherish every outing and opportunity to be with her. By the end of the Opera Event, Derbie knew he loved her wholly; his heart quickened for her. She was who he thought of first thing in the morning, the last person on his mind at night, and he was gladly tormented by dreams of the life they might one day live together, all night while he slept. 
She had a quiet sense of humour; he loved to catch little references to the books they'd shared with each other. Ban didn't discuss her family much, Derbie wondered if the five year age difference between her and Aoki Ruma made it harder to bond. Alaric was only a year younger than Aoki, but she was already married and producing her own Heirs while Derbie's brother seemed to have forgotten that he was supposed to be finding someone to Court for himself. It probably wasn't fair to compare siblings, but given that he had seven, Derbie felt it was almost inevitable. 
Alaric cared about all of the Briggs siblings, and he showed that care with equal parts stress and patience. Blair pretended she didn't care about reputations and social posturing, but then she'd show up for you anyways. Calvin acted like he was invisible but then he'd appear with exactly the bit of news or gossip you needed to hear. All of his adult siblings showed their love by being actively present in his life and that of the younger Briggs' too. Aoki Ruma had been enduring a difficult pregnancy, and couldn't come out to any of the Events, her parents were on the Queen's Expedition to the Cador Kingdom and hadn't returned from that yet. Ban's brother-in-law had been acting as her chaperone until his injury, and then Alaric stepped in to help alleviate the issue, since Derbie was determined to Court, betroth, and marry Ban the right way. 
And still it was terribly hard for Derbie to not blurt out a hasty, ill prepared but heartfelt proposal to her during the Polumenta Opera. They'd been able to coordinate couples' attire; her gown a beautiful mix of Ruma indigo and Briggs scarlet, and she'd worn ruby jewellery to add to the statement. As she was the daughter of a Marquisate she out ranked his family, so Derbie had donned the Ruma indigo as the main colour of his jacket, the scarlet of his vest under it a bright contrast flashing at all. He had indigo embroidery copying the roses on Ban's gown, and together they were a clearly matched set. It felt so right to be enjoying the Even with her beside him, and he knew he wanted to share every Event with her for the rest of his life. But that also meant he wanted to propose the right way. After a formal Letter of Proposal was written to a family and accepted, it was customary for a face to face proposal to occur from Suitor to betrothed. Some wanted publicly displayed proposals, staged events where the Suitor 'surprises' the partner with as spectacle of a proposal. There could be flowers, music, or jewellery involved, and they all seemed to include family members watching from the collected witnesses. 
Derbie knew Ban didn't want one of those type of proposals; she disliked being singled out and having all the attention on her. For those who wanted less public proposals, it was a private matter between the couple. And for some arranged marriages, it was left at a Letter of Proposal being accepted with a Letter of Betrothal and then their marriage. 
Since their friendship and eventual Courtship had started with letters, he liked the full circle of writing Ban a personal Letter of Proposal because she'd have that memento to look back on for the entirety of their married lives. And he planned to cherish the letter she'd send back after accepting. He had kept all her letters to him, safe in a box like treasured jewels, and just as precious to him. On days he missed her smiles he pulled them out to reread them, finding lovely depths to her words and the delicate calligraphy of her writing. And with each letter she'd sent to him, she'd included a pressed, dried flower.