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"taiyou wo miagetara" sou to iwareta
I said "Look up at the sun."
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Late April
"I want you to end our engagement."
This was a new conversation starter. Yuuri stared at his fiancé of almost two years and said the first thing that came to his mind.
"Okay. Why?"
Wolfram shrugged. "It's for the best, don't you think?"
To be honest, Yuuri had to agree. It wasn't as if he hated being engaged to Wolfram, or anything. Usually he didn't even really notice, which had caused some friction in the past. But there hadn't been any recent problems; either with Wolfram's unreasonable demands or Yuuri's supposed 'cheating', no trigger that Yuuri could think of. However, if Wolfram had spontaneously come to his senses, that was fine with Yuuri too. Even so…
"This is kinda unexpected, though." Yuuri smiled. "I mean it's not like you just suddenly fell in love or anything, is it?"
"Not exactly," Wolfram answered, avoiding Yuuri's eyes. "I just want to marry someone else."
"What?" Yuuri wondered when his thoughts had become audible. And in Gunter's voice no less. Unless that was just his adviser saying aloud what was on everyone's mind. He turned to Gunter who had fallen in a chair in shock and was fanning himself, probably also in shock. Over the extremely shocked man's shoulder, Yuuri could see Gwendal frowning as usual. He felt immensely relieved that he'd have these two men at his back during this conversation.
Wolfram, however, seemed less than pleased at the large audience, which was rather unfair since he'd been the one to ask for their presence to 'facilitate the discussion'. He completely ignored Gunter's question, looking at anything but the three men in the room with him.
Gwendal sighed impatiently. "This is, of course, between yourself and His Majesty, Wolfram. But if you could take a moment to explain the situation, it would be very useful."
For the first time since he'd dragged Yuuri into Gwendal's study, claiming that they 'needed to talk', Wolfram looked up, meeting his older brother's eyes with his own determined but somewhat nervous gaze. "It's Lieven."
"Von Grantz?" Gunter asked seriously, recovering quickly from his shock. "But I fail to see how… unless… in that case… of course!" He slapped a fist into his palm. "The mines!"
Yuuri was glad that someone seemed to understand what was going on, but he still felt completely lost. He grasped onto the one thing that he understood. "Von Grantz? Isn't that Adelbert's name?"
"Yes, he's Adelbert's nephew." Wolfram frowned. "After Adelbert deserted Shin Makoku, the head of the Von Grantz family became a recluse. Lieven's father is Adelbert's younger brother and has been unofficially representing Grantz's economic and political interests since then."
"Ah! I knew that!" Yuuri declared. Six eyes narrowed disbelievingly at him. "Aha, well… I knew that Adelbert's father wasn't leaving Grantz anymore. I don't know anything about this Lieven person."
"In any case," Wolfram continued, clearly impatient that this was taking so long, "with the recent peace and stability since the reign of our 27th Maou," he nodded perfunctorily to Yuuri, "Grantz has fallen into financial… difficulties."
Gunter snorted elegantly. "You mean now that there is longer demand for weapons and armour, loyal businessmen of Shin Makoku have stopped purchasing ore from that treacherous family."
"Just because Adelbert-" Wolfram cut himself off, thankfully before his volume reached its peak. He kept glaring at Gunter, however, as he resumed his explanation. "It's not like there's no demand, people still need metal for non-military purposes. And Karbelnikoff is having trouble filling orders; they've even been substituting higher quality materials to compensate for late and smaller deliveries. If certain patriots," he nearly spat the word, "would get over a defection nearly 20 years old from a war that's also been over for years, there wouldn't be a problem."
Before Gunter could continue the argument, Yuuri interrupted. "I still don't get why you have to marry this guy." As Wolfram transferred his ill-tempered glare to him, Yuuri added. "No-not that I have a problem with it or anything…"
If anything, Wolfram's glare sharpened. Then he sighed and relaxed somewhat, nearly slumping out of his normal military posture. "Bielefeld is full of artisans and artists. We used to be one of Grantz's main trading partners. Then the war happened and priorities changed." No one noticed Gwendal's pursed lips at Wolfram's claim to be of Bielefeld. "Now everything's back to the way it was before, but no one's resuming trade with Grantz because of the scandal. An alliance with a noble family of unblemished record would fix that. That's where I come in."
Gwendal grunted. "So this is Waltorana-kyou's plot." Wolfram looked like he wanted to argue, but Gwendal cut him off brusquely before he could even speak. "He's decided to meddle in affairs where he has no authority. Wolfram, you may be that man's nephew, but you are not his chattel to marry off as he pleases. You chose to serve Shin Makoku instead of Bielefeld, and that is where your concern should lie."
"Mother's not Maou anymore," Wolfram shot back. "And Uncle has always considered me part of his family, even when I decided to stay here with her and you and… and Conrad. This is an opportunity to finally be useful to an uncle who's supported and encouraged me all my life. And to Shin Makoku," He added crossing his arms over his chest. "My marriage to Lieven and the subsequent availability of Grantz for trade would be a good political and economical move for all the ten nobilities and the country as a whole."
"Just a sec!" Yuuri was still confused by the details, but he could see the big picture clearly enough. "This is like where a family sells off their daughter as a hostage to a rival family! No, wait… that's fosterage… never mind." He looked Wolfram in the eyes, fairly glowing with sincerity. "Wolf, do you even know this guy? Or are you being bullied into this?"
Any angry retort Wolfram could have made died in his throat as Yuuri stared him down, worried, concerned and, above all, caring. For a split second, Wolfram considered backing out and maintaining the status quo where he might not actually have Yuuri, but could cling to the hope of having him. Since the engagement, there had been occasional moments like this one – rare, precious moments when Wolfram could see the potential for Yuuri to return his feelings. They used to be enough to sustain his hopeless one-sided attachment. To be honest, they still were; the warm feeling that flowed through Wolfram like an internal hug was evidence enough of that. But after a month of gentle petitioning and persuasion from his uncle and Lieven, Wolfram knew where his duty lay.
"Of course I know Lieven," Wolfram huffed, tossing his head to the side to avoid Yuuri's gaze. "And just because my uncle supports this alliance doesn't mean he's bullying me into it."
"If that's the case, why is this the first we're hearing of it?" Gwendal challenged. "The decision to put aside your engagement to the Maou is not a small one. Apart from Waltorana-kyou, from whom have you received advice on this matter?"
"I can assure you I've received input from everyone present," Wolfram muttered under his breath, still pouting.
"Why don't we just get everyone together and talk about it?" Yuuri asked cheerfully. "I'm sure we can reach an understanding eventually!"
Wolfram smirked. "I thought you might say that." It had been a pretty safe bet – talking things over was Yuuri's default reaction to everything. "Lieven should be arriving at Covenant Castle any moment now." Gwendal's ever-present frown deepened as Wolfram turned his smug look on him. "To speak with Mother since she's officially my patron. And before you say anything, there's precedent for this – Elizabeth."
Gunter made a small strangled noise, drawing everyone's attention to him. He cleared his throat. "Ahh… technically, he's right Gwendal. We can hardly turn Lieven away after accepting Elizabeth-hime's advances and even naming her a friend to the crown." He looked hopefully at Yuuri. "Unless you have any objections, Heika…?"
"Not at all!" Yuuri grinned, missing the hint by about a mile. "I'd love to meet this Lieven guy, and maybe I can do something about the Von Grantz situation. I'd feel bad leaving them in trouble after all Adelbert has done for us."
"Ahaha…" Gunter laughed weakly, slumping back in his chair dramatically. "Well, His Majesty's understanding and diplomacy are legendary…"
"Right!" Yuuri exclaimed. "So that's settled. When he gets here-" He was interrupted by a knock on the door. If he knew his dramatic entrances (and he did know them, he was simply unable to make them) that would be the mysterious Lieven. "Ooh! I bet that's him now."
Wolfram surreptitiously wiped his damp palms on his pants. That had been one of the most difficult conversations he'd ever had. But now Lieven was here and Yuuri would see that he wasn't a bad person and he'd be okay with breaking the engagement and everything would be… over. Wolfram would leave the castle he'd grown up in and help rule a bankrupt, disgraced land. It was what he'd been trained for – even more than the army, he was born and bred to lead and rule over people. It would be fine. Everything would be fine.
Gwendal opened the doors and a grinning bespectacled face poked out around him.
"Murata?" Yuuri looked more surprised than he normally would, having expected a mini-Adelbert to reveal himself. "I thought you were at the temple."
"I was," Murata answered agreeably. "Then I felt a disturbance in the force, as it were, and thought I'd drop by." Gwendal stepped aside and revealed the laid-back sage with his hands in his pockets standing beside another person Yuuri had never seen before. "I made a new friend today," Murata continued, "Shibuya Yuuri, Maou-heika, may I introduce Lieven Von Grantz-kaka. As I understand it, he's here for Wolfram."
The stranger winced at this introduction. The wince was pure Adelbert. Yuuri'd had the dubious honour of seeing the older Von Grantz wince on numerous occasions, and that was his wince alright, no doubt about it. Which was fortunate, since other than that he bore about as much resemblance to Adelbert as Wolfram did to Gwendal.
Where Adelbert was, well, a freaking giant, Lieven stood barely taller than Murata; it would be a toss-up who was taller, him or Wolfram. His hair was blond, but far paler than either Wolfram's golden locks, or Adelbert's flaxen ones and was tied back in a straight ponytail, much like Gwendal's. His eyes were a dark brown, almost black, that Yuuri found quite plain and boring but were probably a mark of beauty in this world. His features were less harsh and more youthful than Adelbert's and he looked about the same age as Yuuri. He recovered from the embarrassing introduction and bowed formally to Yuuri. "It's a pleasure to meet you Maou-heika. Wolfram's told me so much about you."
"Heh, I wish I could say the same about you," Yuuri joked, "but Wolfram's just mentioned you to me for the first time today. Oh, and just 'Yuuri' is fine."
"Alright, then. Yuuri-heika." Lieven smiled charmingly. "May I be frank?"
Yuuri nodded. That was what he wanted, a frank, honest discussion that would resolve everyone's problems and make everyone happy.
Lieven moved over to stand with Wolfram, placing an arm possessively around the other's waist, ignoring Gwendal's patented glare-'o-doom. "Thank you." He nodded his head gratefully at the young king. "Yuuri-heika, I have to say, Wolfram was right. You are adorable!" His charming smile morphed into a shit-eating grin.
It took a moment for Yuuri to process that. Then the blush started. Wolfram was a little more direct, punching Lieven in the shoulder and yelling, "I never said that! Dammit, Lieven, could you please try not to embarrass me any more than you have to?"
"Ow." Lieven rubbed his arm, still grinning. "Sorry, it's just so oppressive in here." He turned his smile on Gwendal. "I would think that someone's unhappy to see me, Gwendal-onii-san?"
Gwendal's glare-'o-doom was fast turning into his die-in-a-fire glower. Unfortunately, his main fire wielder was currently trying to unwrap the glower's target's arm from his waist.
Murata watched the proceedings with his usual mild amusement. As Wolfram untangled himself and everyone started to calm down, he leaned casually against the doorframe and asked, rhetorically, "Does anyone pray anymore?"
Clueless silence was the only answer to his question, so he continued. "I mean, is it uncool now to ask for guidance from higher powers? Is it so hard to put your hands together and ask, 'Shinou, am I doing the right thing?'"
"What are you getting at?" Wolfram grumbled, still put out by Lieven's attitude.
"What I'm getting at, Von Bielefeld-kaka, is that your decision to annul your engagement and leave Covenant Castle has far-reaching consequences." All traces of amusement left Murata's face. "You should have considered that something this important would merit the attention of Shinou-heika."
This was the second time Wolfram had been scolded for making a personal choice without consultation. He was getting rather impatient with people thinking they had more say in his life than he did. Where were they when Yuuri refused to acknowledge the engagement? When Yuuri hid from his own fiancé as if he was Gunter or something? When Yuuri flirted with cute girls and boys and… and livestock?
To be fair, they were usually there as it was happening. And laughing. So it seemed that while it was fine that Yuuri didn't take the engagement seriously, clearly Wolfram was supposed to. The injustice of the situation would have weighed more on Wolfram's mind if he'd ever bothered expecting fairness. As it was, he was mostly irritated with people criticizing his solution. After all, Yuuri – the only other person with a direct interest in this – didn't seem to have any issues with it. Why would he; Wolfram was fixing a problem they'd both ignored for years. Even so, Wolfram was getting tired of defending himself.
"If Shinou-heika had a problem, he could have made it known anytime over the last month." Normally, even upset, Wolfram would try to be more polite to Murata – after all the man was The Legendary Great Sage, as important a figure as Shinou-heika himself. But right now, he'd had enough. "As for everyone else, the only people I needed to talk to were Yuuri and my mother. And even getting Mother's approval isn't really necessary." It would be if he wanted to stay on good terms with the maternal side of his family, but he could, theoretically, cut all ties to his mother and brothers and marry on his own. Provided that Yuuri agreed to end their engagement. The point was, it was really none of their business.
Yuuri laughed nervously. He'd had more than enough experience with a thoroughly annoyed Wolfram to know that it was in everyone's best interests to calm and placate his fiancé. Scrambling for something to distract everyone, he turned to Lieven and asked, "Um, is this your first time at Covenant Castle?"
Lieven's grin had long ago turned into a worried frown, but he forced a polite smile as he addressed Yuuri's question. "No, Heika, I've actually spent several summers here growing up." His polite smile grew fond as he remembered. "There weren't many noble children Wolfram's age as he was growing up, so Cheri-sama had us imported so her son could have friends to play with. Isn't that sweet?"
"How old are you, exactly?" Yuuri felt sure he could keep up polite inanities until Wolfram calmed down. It was fortunate that Lieven was easy to talk to.
"Eighty-six," Lieven answered easily, catching on to Yuuri's plan. "Two years older than Wolfram. And you, Heika?"
"I'm seventeen. Almost eighteen," Yuuri added at Lieven's surprised look. Lieven's expression didn't change. Yuuri changed the subject. "Have things changed since your last visit?"
"Well, there's this cute new Maou in charge." Yuuri blushed again. "And I noticed the painting of Shinou and Daikenja was… different."
Yozak had sliced the picture in pieces due to the whole Shinou-is-evil-and-probably-Murata-is-too incident, and then taped it back up when it turned out that they… weren't. There had been some talk about replacing it, but Shinou vetoed that, saying that it showed that sometimes rebelling against authority is the appropriate path. Yuuri had been thrilled with the both the message and Shinou's forgiving attitude, Gwendal had argued that it was tantamount to inciting riots, and Murata thought it actually looked better this way. That had been a fun afternoon. In the end, as always, Shinou got his way and the painting was re-hung, tape and all. Yuuri was about to explain all this when Wolfram cleared his throat loudly.
"If you two are done flirting, I'd really like to finish this before supper." Wolfram didn't sound nearly as annoyed as he usually got when he accused Yuuri of flirting. Mostly he just sounded tired. But at least he wasn't angry anymore.
"Mmm, me too," Lieven agreed cheerfully. "It's been a long day traveling and this place always has the nicest spread." He bowed again to Yuuri. "Yuuri-heika, I've come to petition you to release Wolfram Von Bielefeld from your engagement with the intention of marrying him."
"Okay. I don't really have a problem with that," Yuuri agreed, tentatively. "But there are other people here who did…" He looked at Gwendal and Gunter.
Gwendal sighed, managing to sound both aggrieved and resigned. "If Wolfram is intent on this course of action, there's nothing I can do to stop him." Gunter nodded in agreement.
Yuuri shrugged. "Well then, I guess that-"
"Wait."
"Murata?" Even though Murata had seemed annoyed that Wolfram had made this decision unilaterally, Yuuri hadn't expected him to actually protest. "Wait for what?"
"One year."
"One… year?" Yuuri was confused. Again.
Murata nodded firmly. "Keep the engagement for one more year. Then feel free to do whatever you want." He smiled beatifically. "With my full support and backing, of course."
"We don't need your – what?" Wolfram started angrily, only to be hushed gently by Lieven.
Lieven turned to Murata with a little bow. "Daikenja-sama. As I explained to you before, this alliance is necessary for my economy. With all due respect, we can't wait a year."
Murata waved that off. "Don't give me that – this is hardly a state of emergency. No one's starving. A year here or there is nothing to Mazoku."
"Again, with all due respect," Lieven reiterated, "there's no one starving because it's spring. When winter comes and we can't buy food, that's another matter. A year may be nothing, but a winter without food lasts a very long time."
"We wouldn't let you starve!" Yuuri objected, horrified.
Lieven smiled. "Thank you, Heika. But living off charity would be the next worst thing. I truly hope it doesn't come down to that."
"There are options other than charity," Gunter said. "We could loan you funds at a reasonable interest rate – or," he added hastily at Yuuri's dirty look, "no interest. Ahaha. We could forgo your taxes for this year, as your income is significantly lower than previous years, we could-"
"Do that." Wolfram ordered.
"Do what?" Gunter asked, his rhythm thrown off by Wolfram's interruption.
"No taxes for a year," Wolfram demanded smugly. "Do that and I'll agree to hold off. And I'm sure I have Daikenja's full support and backing in this matter."
"Certainly," Murata agreed calmly, as if it was his own idea.
Lieven looked nervous. "You sure about this, Wolf?"
Wolfram nodded and smiled the same grin he wore when defeating well-matched opponents. "It's perfect – even postponed, the plan is the same, and I'm sure Uncle will hold up his end of the bargain. The only difference is that this way you don't have to pay a year of taxes."
Yuuri tentatively raised his hand. "Um… do I get any say in this?"
"You didn't seem to have any problems before," Wolfram snapped. "Unless you're saying that a year of staying engaged to me is insufferable…"
"No!" Yuuri interrupted before Wolfram started ranting. "No, it's fine, I just… it… it's fine. No problem." He patted the air, trying to appease his angry fiancé. Who was, apparently, going to be his fiancé for a while longer.
Gunter still seemed somewhat taken aback by the results of the discussion. He gathered his wits and clapped his hands together. "Very well, if that's decided, we have some paperwork to fill out before supper. Heika, Lieven-kun, if you'd be so kind…"
Yuuri groaned. An inch away from freedom and now he had to do extra paperwork. Next time Wolfram wanted to talk, he could do so without Yuuri's presence.
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As Gwendal, Gunter, and Wolfram helped Yuuri and Lieven draft the necessary contracts and decrees, Murata slipped out of the room, planning to enjoy the spring air before sitting down to what promised to be an interesting meal.
He made his way to the courtyard where a squad of Conrad's soldiers were finishing drills. He sat on one of the benches and watched as they cleaned up the field, laughing and joking with each other. He was vaguely reminded of the jocks from his school (Yuuri included) with their camaraderie and cheerful teasing. Sometimes while in Shin Makoku he missed Earth, but it was difficult to do so often when both worlds held such similarities.
Of course, these men weren't eventually going to end up on a sports field with referees and boundary lines and penalties. They were destined to end up on a battlefield, surrounded by chaos and death and the smell of blood. Murata couldn't remember such things, but he could remember remembering them, and that was basically the same thing.
He hoped everyday that Yuuri would be able to maintain the peace that he had created. Everything Murata did, including the stunt he pulled today, was in service to that hope.
"My dear Daikenja. What have you done now? And in my name, no less."
Murata studiously didn't turn to face the source of the darkly amused statement. "Nothing more that what you've done a thousand times over. Manipulating people to achieve a desired outcome is a hobby we happen to share." He allowed a small smile to grace his lips. "And don't pretend you disapprove; I know you found Von Bielefeld-kyou's plan as objectionable as I did, Shinou."
"Perhaps," Shinou conceded. "But likely not for the reasons you imagine. At any rate, my concerns were selfish and I'm over them now. Wolfram's presence is no longer necessary."
"On no?" Murata asked curiously. "But he hasn't fulfilled his destiny."
"Wolfram was created for three purposes. This first, and most obvious one, was as the key to the 'Hellfire on Frozen Tundra' box, which has been opened. The second was as support and comfort to Yuuri as he adjusted to life as the Maou, which he has. And the third…" Shinou trailed off.
"The third is to guard Shibuya and protect him with his life," Murata continued. "That task hasn't finished yet. Shibuya still needs his protection."
Shinou looked at his Great Sage, shocked that his wisest advisor was so far off the mark. "No, no, my friend. His third purpose was as a vessel for my spirit just in case the whole possessing Yuuri thing didn't work out." Murata gaped at him, shocked that even with Soushu controlling his urges, Shinou had done something that self-serving. "That's why I made him in my image." Shinou laughed fondly. "And let me tell you, figuring out the genetics for that was a chore and a half." He sobered at Murata's horrified expression and his tone softened, almost apologetically. "He was a contingency plan. And, as I said before, he is no longer necessary."
