Alois Trancy groaned softly as he opened his eyes to find his butler Claude at his bedside. The demon seemed upset, holding his head in his hands silently. The blonde boy thought for a moment before remembering what happened. He had been ill for several days.
Alois recalled his chest pains and weakness he felt, the painful coughing and terrible fevers, the taste of his own blood. He winced at the memories, the boy knew he was dying. Through his suffering, there had been one comfort, his butler.
"C-Claude, i-I feel so -" he had said and suddenly he would feel a cool hand stroking his hair gently.
"You need to rest quietly your highness, you're very ill." Claude reminded him. His voice was different now, filled with concern. No,that would be wishful thinking, a hallucination from a fevered mind, the boy thought.
"is this what it's like to die Claude,will it hurt terribly?" Alois asked feebly not bothering to look at Claude.
"I won't let you die, rest your highness, please." Alois let himself drift into sleep but was soon wakened by the coughing and gasps for breath. He was suddenly cold and his heart was beating wildly in his chest.
"Your highness, please, calm yourself, you need to -" he hadn't heard the rest of the sentence, he was dragged into the darkness. When he woke up, Alois was vaguely aware of the voices around him, all of which seemed to echo and were distorted.
"Do something, you're a bloody doctor aren't you?" Claude raged.
"I'm sorry, your master has contracted Tuberculosis and there's nothing to be done. He has less than a month by the looks of it. I understand this is difficult for you but all I can offer is pain medication to keep him comfortable. I'll come again in two weeks and check on him. The end isn't something he should be put through software when it comes, I'll give him a strong sedative and he wouldn't feel anything." Alois heart sank when he heard these words.
I'm really thought, He could hear crying from what sounds like a great distance away. He was slipping again,his strength draining from his body.
Someone was running their fingers through his hair, it was soothing.
"Stay here your highness, we are companions, you mustn't leave me. You are needed Alois." Surely the fever was getting to him, Claude doesn't love, he's a demon and only one thing matters to him.
"C-Claude, I want you to stay with me until I'm gone.I'm scared." Alois sobbed causing an eruption of pain to travel through his thin body.
"I'll be right here your highness, I promise, please rest. You will not die,I won't allow it." Alois looked at him through blurry eyes.
"You can't stop this from happening."
"I will find a way Alois, I will not fail."
"How can you be so sure?"
"Because I love you,your highness and I won't lose you." Another delusion.
"Claude?" Alois called weakly.
"Yes your highness?"
"I feel so tired." The ailing boy whispered.
"Then sleep master."
"I can't, I feel like if I close my eyes, I won't be able to open them again. I'm going to -" to the boy's surprise, Claude rested his palm on Alois pale cheek and pressed his lips to his master's.
"You will wake up again, this I promise. Let yourself rest." Again their lips touched, this time Claude deepened the kiss and a sense of peace came over him.
'Claude does love me.' Alois thought, now he could die happily.
Alois was brought out of the memories by the realization that he was no longer feeling ill. Some weakness remained but he no longer felt pain.
"Claude?" He called trying to sit up in bed. Claude immediately stood up and pressed a hand to Alois' chest.
"Please lie still, if you get up too soon you'll get dizzy, are you feeling better your highness?"
"mostly, what happened?" Claude sat down on the bed.
"You've been ill, but it's alright now."
"I know I was ill, how did I suddenly get so much better?"
"Do you also recall the moment I kissed you?" Alois looked at him in shock.
"That was the fever, it was just -"
"It happened. The first one to calm you and the second to show you all the affection in my heart for you. I must ask you to forgive me, in order to keep my promise to you, I had to change you."
"What do you mean?"
"You would have died, your human body was unable to handle the illness that plagued it. You are now and forever a demon.
"You made me into a demon, Claude why would you do that to me?" Alois asked with a mixture of anger and panic.
Clause leaned down and kissed him once more, this time with more passion. Alois wrapped his arms around his butler's neck, his anger and fear melting away instantly. At last the kiss was broken and Claude pressed his forehead to the boy's.
"Because your highness, I love you and the thought of losing you is more than I could stand. I want you by my side for eternity, you are the only one I have ever loved Alois and I want you to be mine." He whispered.
"You can love me always?" Alois asked.
"Every day of my life. Demons live a long time, it gets lonely without someone to share it with. I know I made the mistake of not saying it sooner, but i was afraid of what it might have led to. I didn't want to hurt you. Humans are fragile things and I could've easily harmed you. I never would have forgiven myself. Say you will always be mine." Alois smiled.
"Always." He said.
"You have made me truly happy, thank you."
"I love you Claude."
"And I love you. Rest now,you must give yourself time to adjust to this new existence, we will take it one step at a time...together."