Manacled
Author's Note: My second attempt to write a Kyou Kara Maou fic. This is, however, a GwendalxAnissina (there, I've said it), but I hope this still catches the interest of some readers especially those who are also fond of the said pairing.
oOoOo
He can't help it. He's trapped. He heard her snicker pleasantly as he still tried to talk Gunter into stepping away from the doorway so that he could get out of the room where Anissina had taken them.
"Alright, Gunter, hand him over." She said with a singsong voice.
Gunter smiled at Gwendal von Voltaire who was already looking so desperate to get out of that room where several of Anissina's experiments are normally stored. "There, there, Gwendal. It's alright. It's just Anissina!" he said with a weak smile on his face.
Gwendal grunted, taking what Gunter had just mentioned as sarcasm, and then he faced her with an uncomfortable look on his face. "Anissina, why can't you just use Gunter this time?" he demanded.
"I thought someone with darker hair should take part in this new invention!" she answered with a cheerful smile on her face as she showed them manacles.
"I don't see why you need someone with darker hair for… those manacles?" Gwendal asked in confusion.
"Silly. These were silver when I first made them but I soaked them in a special liquid formula and surprisingly it turned into this shade of black similar to the color of your hair!" she answered.
"If you're looking for someone with dark hair, why don't you try out your new invention with his Majesty?" Gwendal asked with a sarcastic tone.
"Oh, why settle for someone unavailable when you're already here?" she asked as she approached him. "Now come on, try them on for me and then I'll handcuff you with Gunter!" she said.
Gunter's eyes widened. "Wh…what? Me too? But… I thought it's only… Gwendal?" he asked, suddenly fearing for his own life.
"I changed my mind." Anissina answered as she grabbed Gwendal's right wrist and secured the first cuff around it. "There you go. It's not so bad!" she said.
"What does this thing do anyway?" Gwendal asked, still nervous about the manacles. He already developed a notion that anything invented by Anissina would turn out to be dangerous for his own sake… and maybe even for Gunter too.
"The liquid I soaked these manacles into is very special. I mixed black dye with other ingredients I have in my storage area whose bottles are almost empty. I just want to see right now what those ingredients will do if they're mixed together in little portions and then they're going to be absorbed by steel." She said as she approached Gunter, but he instantly opened the door and darted out of the room. She pouted. "Oh, such shameful behavior! He just ran off without saying goodbye!" she said with a playful tone before dragging Gwendal with her. "Come on, Gwendal, let's go after him!" she said sweetly, but he refused to move at one point once they reached the middle of the hallway. She turned back to him with a surprised look on her face. "Gwendal! Why aren't you moving? Did you see a cute kitty somewhere and got distracted?" she asked, meaning to tease him.
He just eyed her with a grumpy look on his face. "I do not wish to participate in your experiment anymore. I need to get back to work." He said.
She just smiled at him. "What's wrong with you? You used to be so cheerful when we were children!" she said teasingly.
His frown deepened. "I was not a cheerful child. I can remember it well." He said stiffly as he swung his wrist away from Anissina's grasp and decided to walk away, but he heard a clicking sound and suddenly, he felt like he was being restrained from walking further away from her. He could not believe that she could hold him back considering that he had always thought of himself to be stronger and heavier than her. He turned back to her with an annoyed look on his face. "Anissina, let go of me now." He said through clenched teeth, but his eyes widened when he realized that she had secured the other cuff around her left wrist.
She smiled slyly at him. "Now are you willing to cooperate?" she asked.
Gwendal began to feel nervous. "You do have the key, right?" he asked.
Her smile faded but she was quiet as she continued to stare at him with a bewildered look on her face.
He felt as if the ceiling gave way and crashed onto him. He even felt the hairs from the back of his neck rising. "Anissina, why aren't you answering?" he demanded, feeling really nervous at that moment.
She took a deep breath, sighed heavily and smiled sheepishly at him. "Gee. I knew I shouldn't have stayed up late last night to soak these manacles…" she began.
Silence.
"Oh. Let me guess. You were already too sleepy but you still insisted on finishing the soaking of these manacles that you forgot to make the key?" he asked miserably with a glum look on his face.
She just giggled. "I have the key, silly! But oh well, we can just saw through the chains—just in case I can't find it in my lab; and then we're free to go." She said as she dragged him with her back to her laboratory.
"Hey, hey! Slow down!" he said.
"Relax, Gwendal. I, Anissina von Karbelnikoff shall destroy the chain that holds us together!" she said with a proud tone before laughing victoriously.
"Now I'm really nervous…" he muttered.
The two reached her laboratory and she began to search for a saw. When she finally found one, she immediately dragged him to a table and then began to grind the saw through the chain.
7 minutes later, the chain was still intact without any trace of breakage.
"It's not working." Gwendal said.
"Try it out." She said, handing the saw to him.
Gwendal immediately started to saw the chain, but he only broke the saw. "Aw, crap!" he snapped impatiently before eyeing her, his left eye twitching. "Anissina!!!" he cried out.
She just smiled at him. "Oh come on, don't give up! We can use my other inventions to cut through the chains!" she said brightly.
He felt the blood draining from his face. "Other inventions?" he echoed. "Is this your new way of making me participate in your experiments?" he demanded.
"Of course not! How could you say such a thing?" she retaliated, "I let you participate because I know you want to." She said proudly as she crossed her arms, eventually pulling him closer to her because of the manacles binding them together.
"Well what can I do? You always seem to catch me…" he muttered miserably as he struggled to uncross her arms so that he could stay as far away from her as possible. The length of the chains was only 12 inches anyway, quite shorter than the usual manacles available for prisoners.
The door burst open and there was Wolfram with an angry look on his face. "Where is Yuuri?" he demanded, but his mood changed when he saw the current state of his older brother and Lady Anissina.
"There you are! Wolfram! Would you be a darling and help separate me and your brother?" Anissina asked sweetly.
Wolfram shuddered. He would not want to touch any of her inventions. "…Like… how?" he asked, crossing his arms uncomfortably.
"You can start by fetching Ultra-Mega-Deluxe-Cutter over there!" she said, pointing towards a purple-colored device that looks like a chainsaw, only 3 times its normal size.
Wolfram breathed in as he stared strangely at the device. "It looks heavy." He said. "Don't you have the key to that manacle?" he asked.
"Oh, thanks for reminding me!" Anissina said pleasantly as she dragged Gwendal towards her desk and began to search through her pile of blueprints and her drawers. "Darn. I swear I hid it somewhere here in my desk!" she said, feeling frustrated.
"Anissina…" Gwendal began through clenched teeth. He was beginning to get impatient.
Meanwhile, Wolfram was eyeing Gwendal's cat that just entered and was heading towards the big chainsaw… and then saw the cat sniffing the area. "Hey, maybe your cat can help you find the key, Gwendal," he suggested with a frown.
Gwendal turned his attention towards his kitty cat and he somewhat calmed down. "She's here?" he asked before dragging Anissina away from her desk. "Hey, what are you sniffing there?" he asked the cat.
"Hey, hold up! I'm not yet through searching for the key!!!" she told him in protest.
Gwendal's eyes widened as he stopped talking, causing Anissina to bump against him, when he saw the cat pawing a small golden key. "No! No! No!!! Bad kitty!!!" he cried out in panic.
But the cat did not listen. It ate the key.
Anissina gasped. "Oh there it is! But your kitty cat ate it! Nice going, Gwendal!" she said in exasperation.
Wolfram laughed at them.
"Wolfram, don't just stand there, do something!" Gwendal told his youngest brother rather demandingly.
Wolfram just shook his head and turned away. "No. You did this to yourself, big brother. Deal with it." He said with a mean smile on his face before running out of the laboratory.
Gwendal grunted impatiently as he dragged Anissina with him to pick up his cat that was already licking itself clean and ready to sleep after its "meal". "Okay, kitty cat. Barf it out." He said while stroking its belly.
The cat just purred as it snuggled against his chest.
"You're not gonna make it barf that way. Let's just wait until it poops!" Anissina told him.
Gwendal thought for a while before nodding. "Alright." He said.
"…But on my Kitty-Kitty-Bang-Bang Litter Box!" Anissina said proudly as she ran over to another one of her inventions, dragging Gwendal along with her.
Gwendal examined the big litter box with red sand on it. "…Is this new?" he asked, wanting to be sure that his cat would step on clean ground.
"Of course it is! I haven't tried out yet though because I can't find a cat. But then your kitty cat is here, let's make him try it!" she said brightly.
"Her." He corrected.
She blinked. "Huh?"
Gwendal kept a straight face as he settled the cat gently on the litter box. "My cat is a female." He explained.
"Oh." She said softly, and then her smile widened. "Gee, I wonder how a cat and a Sand Bear's offspring would look like?" she said brightly.
Gwendal looked at her in disbelief. "Don't you even think about it!!! That's disgusting!" he said in protest, feeling his cheeks getting warmer.
She just laughed. "I was just playing with you. I knew you'd react that way," she said, slapping his back, making him cringe in pain.
The cat circled within the litter box, sniffed the unusually-red sand, and then curled up in the middle of the litterbox.
Gwendal felt devastated when the cat just decided to sleep.
"Looks like it's not yet in the mood to poop. Where do you usually let her poop?" she asked.
"…I let her out in the garden. I read that kitty poop can serve as good fertilizer." He answered while keeping his gaze on the sleeping cat.
Anissina was observing his facial expression the whole time while he was speaking to her. She felt amused at the fact that his right eye was twitching involuntarily and he was blushing slightly. She smirked. "She's a cute kitty cat, huh?" she asked teasingly as she nudged him.
Gwendal clenched his jaw as his eyes widened a little. He breathed in deeply, trying to regain his composure. "Shall we take her to the garden? Maybe she'll be motivated to crap when she sees the place." He suggested, wanting to change the subject.
She just smiled at him. "Sure. That's what I was supposed to say but I couldn't help but notice that you're suppressing something inside." She said teasingly.
He blushed slightly again. "That's none of your business." He said defensively as he picked up the cat and carried it in his arms. "Come on, kitty cat," he said to it.
Anissina rolled her eyes. "Why? Aren't we supposed to be friends? You tell me what's bothering you and I'll tell you what's bothering me!" she said.
"Nothing seems to bother you anyway so I shouldn't tell you what's bothering me so that I wouldn't bother you with my problems." He told her stiffly as he led the way to the garden, although deep inside, he was wondering if what he said made sense to her. She walked side by side with him. His steps were larger than hers but it was a surprise to him that she was able to adjust well to his speed and manner of walking.
"That mentality is bad for friendships, Gwendal. Friends turn to each other when they have problems. So what if the other is living a worry-free life? That doesn't mean that the troubled one doesn't have the right to consult the worry-free one! Of course that's figuratively speaking, I'm not saying I'm completely worry-free and that you're completely troubled…" she began to babble.
He just sighed heavily. "Alright, alright…" he muttered miserably.
As they walked to the garden, they passed by several maids and guards busy with their own duties in the castle. Those maids and guards saw their current situation: manacled. Of course they talked about it and soon enough, word reached Gunter and Yuuri who were studying in the library, and Conrad who was standing on-guard in one corner of the same room.
"Gwendal and Anissina?" Yuuri asked in amazement.
"You seem amazed, your Highness." Gunter remarked.
Yuuri smiled uneasily. "Well it's because I've always assumed that if Anissina will think of someone to chain Gwendal with, it'd be you, since you're the second most-likely-to-be-Anissina's-guinea-pig." He explained.
Gunter pouted, feeling a little offended by what he heard. "Well it just appears that way, but I don't really enjoy being a part of her experiments." He muttered.
"At least this is something new. Anissina and Gwendal are chained together and the cat apparently ate the key." Conrad said.
Yuuri was already getting bored with studying since he has been seated in that library ever since early that morning and it was already late in the afternoon, so he thought of a plan to get out: "Hey, I've got an idea! Why don't we help them?" he asked.
Wolfram entered the library with a frown on his face. "There you are!" he said, pointing at him.
"You shouldn't point at his Highness like that, Wolfram!" Gunter said with a disapproving tone.
Wolfram just rolled his eyes, ignoring him. "And who are you planning to help? Is it a girl whom you're planning to flirt with?" he demanded from Yuuri.
Yuuri's eyes widened. "No, of course not! I'm planning to help Gwendal and Anissina since they're… what do you call those ancient handcuffs?" he turned to Conrad.
"Manacles." Conrad pointed out.
Yuuri blinked. "So I'd have to say that Gwendal and Anissina are manacled." He said, feeling proud of himself before turning to Wolfram who was already laughing. "What's so funny?" he asked, thinking if he said something stupid which made Wolfram laugh.
"It's just that, what you're planning to do is useless. Anissina's manacles can't even get damaged by a saw so I guess it's right to assume that even maryoku cannot separate them. Those manacles can only be unlocked with the designated key for them." Wolfram explained.
"What? Is there even a key?" Conrad asked.
"Yes, but Gwendal's cat ate it." Wolfram said with a mean smile on his face.
Gunter dramatically clasped his hands together and raised them to the heavens. "Oh I'm so grateful that I was able to escape! If not, I could have been the one chained to Gwendal!" he prayed happily.
"Hmf. What are you happy about? I'm really hoping that you'd be the one chained to Gwendal so that you'd leave Yuuri alone to me and you'd eventually stop bombarding him with those boring lessons!" Wolfram said airily.
Gunter eyed him with an offended look on his face before smiling proudly. "Well, unfortunately for you, Wolfram…" he began, but was interrupted when he realized that Yuuri and Conrad had already left the room. "Highness!" he exclaimed.
Wolfram was also surprised that the two had just walked past them and they did not even notice. "Argh! Lord Weller has done it again!!!" he wailed in annoyance before dashing out of the room. "Yuuri! Where are you?" he called out angrily.
Gunter ran after him. "Highness! Your Highness!" he called out with a worried tone.
oOoOo
Gwendal stared at his cat in disappointment when it just slept quietly on the grass. "Oh no…" he muttered.
"Looks like we'll have to feed him some of my concocted laxatives…" Anissina began with an amused look on her face.
"No, you're not going to poison my kitty cat!" he said sternly.
She pouted. "How dare you accuse me of such a thing! Of course I'm not going to poison your cat!" she said defensively.
"You're just looking for a reason to have a dead animal in your examination table to dissect…" he muttered.
She cringed. "Gwendal von Voltaire, I'm very certain you know me very well and I'm sure you know that I'm not that heartless and that I haven't experimented on animals before and I never will!" she said, feeling very insulted by his accusation.
Gwendal grunted. "Can we at least sit down for a while until she wakes up and decides to poop?" he asked as he bent his knees a little. He could feel the tension building on his legs and knees since he had been standing for a long time already.
"Oh. Alright. Let's go back to my lab." She said.
"No, let's go to my office instead. I need to work. I have to write a report about the surveillance I did this morning." He said.
"Well I need to work on a laxative for your cat!" she said.
"Do that later. My work is more important!" he said before dragging her with him back inside the castle. On his way to his office, he saw a few guards patrolling around and called their attention. "My cat is in the garden and sleeping. Alert me when she wakes up to do the number two, understood?" he asked sternly.
"Yes, sir!" the guards saluted and made a run to the garden.
Anissina looked at Gwendal with a smile on her face. "You don't seem to enjoy having me around, huh?" she asked teasingly as they continued to walk.
He just frowned. "We can't stay together this way. These manacles are getting in the way of our work! What if a war broke out? I can't just take you with me to the battlefield!" he told her.
She rolled her eyes. "You're too paranoid about a lot of things! Look at you! We're almost the same age but you look much older than your real age!" she said.
"It's better to worry about the future rather than not knowing what to do when the time comes." He pointed out proudly.
"Yes, I know, but once in a while, can't you just relax?" she asked.
"Oh, there you are! Gwendal! Lady Anissina!" they stopped walking when they heard Yuuri's voice echoing across the walls from behind them. They turned around and saw Yuuri running towards them with Conrad.
Anissina used her manacled hand to wave at Yuuri—of course she did that on purpose to annoy Gwendal since his hand had to be dragged with hers. "Good afternoon, your Highness! Having fun with your studies?" she asked sweetly.
Yuuri and Conrad finally reached them. "Well… yeah… but I figured you two needed my help or something." Yuuri said kindly.
Gwendal saw that Yuuri had brought Morgif along. "Sorry to break it to you, your Highness, but not even Morgif can cut through these chains." He said.
"There's nothing wrong in trying, right? Come on, let me try!" Yuuri said.
Gwendal's jaw dropped. "N…no, no thank you, we don't need your help, your Majesty. We can manage on our own, right, Anissina?" he asked, nudging her.
She immediately got Gwendal's point on why he did not want Yuuri to attempt to cut his sword through the chains: he still hasn't worked out so much with his sword-fighting skills and his aim is still quite bad. If he attempts to cut the chains in one swift motion with the sword held above his head at first, he might miss… and the chains are not that long—it's either he'd end up cutting his or her hand instead of the chains. She smiled weakly. "Yes, Gwendal's right. We can manage!" she said sweetly.
Yuuri blinked. "Aw, man! Come on! Morgif is a very good sword! I'll bet he can cut through those chains." He said.
Gwendal was already looking at Conrad and communicating with him through his eyes, but his brother just smiled at him. "Damn it, say something to distract him!!!" Gwendal wanted to say to Conrad.
Conrad shrugged. "Like what his Highness said, there's no harm in trying." He said.
"Oh. Are you so bored that you want entertainment so badly at the expense of me and your older brother?" Anissina asked airily. She had to admit, she was getting nervous about Conrad's decision of letting Yuuri try to cut through the chains.
"Maybe." Conrad answered lightheartedly, his lips curling into a playful smile as he crossed his arms.
"Yeah, there's no harm in trying, we'll only be harmed!" Gwendal was thinking to himself as he stepped away from Anissina nervously, tugging the chains to keep it straight. He and Anissina braced themselves as Yuuri got Morgif and positioned himself in "cutting-position".
"Gwendal, don't worry, if you lose your hand, I'll replace it with a prosthetic hand I made! It's just there upstairs, modeled after your hand!" Anissina said brightly with a grin.
Gwendal was surprised at her. "You made a prosthetic hand! Since when did I let you use my hand as a model?" he demanded.
"You were asleep and I dipped your hand in a special plaster." She said proudly.
He felt violated.
She looked at his hand. "Oh dear… I made a left hand! And if his Highness cuts off your right hand… well, I guess you'll just have to get used to having two left hands! Haha!" she teased.
Yuuri smiled weakly, "I won't cut off your hands, I'll cut the chains! Now hold still," he said.
Gwendal cringed and closed his eyes as Yuuri finally moved.
Anissina clenched her fists, anticipating the pain on her left hand, but then she heard a CLANG sound.
Gwendal opened his eyes, feeling the blood draining from his face. He looked at the chains. Morgif's blade was still against it, trying to cut through it.
Yuuri felt devastated. "Oh man! It's not working!" he said.
Conrad breathed out in what sounded like a sigh of relief. Anissina, on the other hand, just stood there, stunned, while thanking the heavens that she did not lose her hand.
"Maybe we can try melting them with heat." Yuuri pointed out.
"But you might end up giving us burns. Metal is a good conductor of heat, your Highness." Anissina pointed out with a worried look on her face.
Yuuri blinked. "Yeah, you're right… I almost forgot about that…" he began, but he trailed off when Gwendal just fainted and when he fell to the ground, he took Anissina with him.
Conrad stared at his older brother unbelievably. "I guess you scared him too much back there, your Highness." He told Yuuri.
"Oh my goodness! Is he alive? I hope I didn't scare him to death!" Yuuri said with a worried look on his face.
Anissina checked on Gwendal's pulse after regaining her composure. "He's alive." She declared.
"Oh thank goodness." Yuuri said, breathing out a sigh of relief as he clutched his chest.
Conrad chuckled lightly. "It must've been like a near-death experience for Gwendal. Come on, let me help you with him," he told Anissina as he approached them to attempt to carry his older brother.
"Well at least I'm not alone! I saw my whole life flash before my eyes." She muttered to Conrad.
"Lemme help you guys too," Yuuri said as he approached them and helped Anissina up while Conrad lifted Gwendal carefully and draped him over his shoulder, but he ended up falling back to the ground because he could not support his older brother's weight, also taking Anissina with them.
Yuuri stared at them in disbelief. "…Are you guys alright?" he asked.
"I think I broke my wrist…" Anissina muttered as she checked her manacled left wrist.
Conrad grunted. "He's much heavier than he looks!" he remarked in disbelief.
"Unconscious people are heavier than when they're awake anyway." Yuuri said with a weak smile on his face.
"Uh… a little help, please?" Conrad asked weakly since Gwendal was lying on top of him.
Yuuri stared at their sorry state and nodded. "Hey! Some assistance, please?" he yelled.
Yozak came out from hiding behind a big armor displayed at the end of the hallway. He was laughing at them. "Finally, the day has arrived when the gallant captain has fallen!" he said teasingly.
Conrad frowned at him. "There's nothing funny about this situation, Yozak." He said sternly. "Now get Gwendal off of me and help Lady Anissina too." he commanded.
Yozak just stood before them and stared at the unconscious Gwendal. "I saw everything, are you sure he didn't suffer a heart-attack?" he asked skeptically.
"I know a heart-attack when I see one, I studied medicine. He just fainted because he got scared of getting his hand severed." Anissina said glumly.
"What about you, weren't you scared?" Yuuri asked.
Anissina smiled weakly. "…to be brutally honest with you, your Highness, I was at first, but I was relieved when I realized your aim had gotten better with the sword." She said.
Yozak lifted Gwendal off Conrad and draped him over his left shoulder while Yuuri helped Anissina up, careful with her injured left wrist. Then there was a dilemma: the manacles were on Gwendal's right wrist and Anissina's left wrist, and Gwendal's right wrist was dangling behind Yozak. Anissina had to walk backwards or sideways, but her left wrist was aching. "So what got the two of you into trouble?" Yozak asked as he began to walk. Anissina had to be careful in walking while trying to concentrate on healing herself. Conrad, on the other hand, was watching out for her while Yuuri tagged along from behind them.
"Gunter's supposed to be the one attached to him but he ran away. Gwendal also tried to run away but to avoid that, I secured the other cuff on my wrist. His cat ate the key, unfortunately." Anissina explained with a weak smile on her face.
"You'll just have to wait until the cat does the number 2 then." Yuuri said.
"But it's taking too long." Conrad realized.
"I told Gwendal I'll make his cat drink some of the laxatives I made and then he started to accuse me of trying to poison his cat. I don't want to put him under more stress than this one right now so I guess the laxatives are out of the question and I'll just have to wait until the cat does her own thing when the right time comes." She explained with a frown on her face.
"Whoa. You're still concerned about him after his accusations?" Yozak asked, surprised at her.
She just smiled weakly.
"I think that's sweet of you, Lady Anissina," Yuuri remarked with a pleased smile. "I mean, despite the fact that you use Gwendal as a guinea pig for your experiments, you're still concerned about his well-being!" he elaborated.
"Well, they've been friends since childhood anyway, your Highness." Conrad pointed out.
"Whoa! You've been friends since childhood?" Yuuri asked Anissina in amazement.
She finished healing her wrist and she smiled sweetly at Yuuri. "Yes, your highness." She answered before she began to walk normally again, but her left hand was raised towards Gwendal to avoid dragging his wrist towards hers.
Yozak was hesitant at first, but he asked anyway, "I hope it's okay for me to ask this question to you, Lady Anissina, is Lord Gwendal this uptight and grumpy when you were kids?"
Anissina laughed at the question. "Yeah, he has several of those moments. He just tends to put undue stress in his life; even the littlest of things affect him." She said.
"Isn't that psychologically unhealthy?" Yuuri asked.
"That's why he knits. It's his way of relaxing." Anissina pointed out.
"I'm impressed with you. You seem to know more about Gwendal than me, his own brother." Conrad told her with a weak smile on his face.
Anissina thought for a while. "Is that something to be proud of, Lord Weller?" she asked with a smug smile on her face.
Conrad shrugged. "Maybe." He said.
Her smile faded a little and she just looked away.
Yuuri reflected on Gwendal worrying on even the littlest issues. "Must be because he's the older brother. My own brother seems to be so uptight too." he said.
"Anyway, are we taking him to his room?" Yozak asked, interrupting them.
"Yes. He needs to rest." Conrad said.
When they entered Gwendal's room and Anissina saw that the bed was against the wall, she realized that she had to be on the bed with him since her left wrist is manacled to his right. Yozak saw the uneasiness in her face. "Are you regretting something, Lady Anissina?" he asked coolly.
"Yeah, I'm starting to regret the fact that I manacled myself with him…" she was thinking to herself, but then she saw the brighter side of things. "No. This is a good way for us to bond again like we were children!" she said pleasantly as she removed her boots and got on the bed first before Yozak carefully placed Gwendal on the bed.
Conrad smiled. "Now you're literally bonded." He said, meaning to crack a joke.
Yuuri, Yozak and Anissina eyed him strangely.
Conrad's smile froze, sensing that the three were not able to appreciate the joke, clearing his throat in the process. "Well, I'm sure Gwendal would really love your company, Anissina." He said.
Yozak took a deep breath. "Well, I guess we'd better leave them now." He said.
"I think I'd like to stay here and talk more with Lady Anissina." Yuuri said.
"Are you sure, your Highness? You might disappoint Gunter." Conrad said.
"And don't forget Wolfram," Yozak reminded them with a silly smile on his face.
Yuuri frowned slightly. "Aw man. I wanted to hear stories from their childhood." He said.
Anissina smiled reassuringly at him. "There will be plenty of time for that later on after your studies are done for the day, your Highness. You can come by here later on." She said.
Yuuri smiled. "Alright. I'll see you guys later then. I hope he'll be alright though." He said, looking at Gwendal in concerned.
"He'll come around later." She said reassuringly.
"Do you want me to send Giesela over here to examine him?" Yuuri asked.
Anissina shook her head. "No. He'll be fine with me." She said brightly.
"You want anything to read? You might get bored there." Conrad asked her.
"I'll be fine. I'll just stare at something or play with his stuffed animals." She said with a silly grin.
Conrad was not sure whether she was being sarcastic or not, but he just shrugged. "Alright. Your choice." He said with a smile before leading the way out of the room.
Yozak winked at Anissina and waved at her before walking away, while Yuuri smiled at her and waved goodbye before following after Yozak.
Anissina raised an eyebrow at Yozak, wondering what the wink was for. She watched quietly as the door closed behind Yuuri. She leaned back against the headboard as she breathed in before turning her gaze towards Gwendal who was still sleeping. She sighed and then smiled softly, looking at his sleeping face. "Even when you're asleep, you look stressed," she said softly before picking up one of his knitted stuffed toys from one corner of his bed and began to examine it while thinking what kind of animal it is: a pig or a bear.
oOoOo
To be continued.
