It was an ordinary day at Covenant Castle. The maids were doing their duties, Greta was in the gardens with Wolfram attending to the flowers and Yuri was in his office signing documents with Gwendal, Gunter and Conrad close by his side when the famous Bad Omen bird flies past with its usual cry…..
"BAD OMEN, BAD OMEN"
"Conrad, it's a nice day today isn't it?" Yuri asked as he was just finishing the last of his papers.
"Yes it is, isn't it Your Majesty" Conrad answered his Godson with a beaming smile on his face.
"It's YURI! Godfather not Your Majesty please remembers that, I'm fed of having to keep telling you" Yuri corrected as his smile turned into a frown with frustration as it was probably the thousandth time he corrected him again.
"Sorry Yuri, I will try and remember that in the mere future" Conrad answered as he obeyed his young Godson.
"Anyways beside from that, I was wondering if you wanted to have a few rounds of catch outside after this as I am almost done" Yuri asked with gorgeous sparkly puppy eyes with the hope that he would say yes. Everyone just looked at their young king in awe, whereas Gwendal only blushed when he saw Yuri's cuteness.
"It would be my honour Your- Yuri" Conrad corrected himself as he held his hand over his heart and did a slight bow in the sign of respect to his young King.
"Great, so Gwendal can I go with Conrad to have a few rounds of catch?" He asked with another adorable look on his face that Gwendal just could not say no to.
"Is all of your work finished and signed?" Gwendal asked with a stern look upon his face as he tried his best to hide the redness that was filling up on his cheeks.
"Yep, and I'm putting it into a nice neat pile for you" Yuri announced as he arranged the papers on his desk into two neat piles to the right of him.
"Well then you may go and do as you wish" Gwendal replied with a sigh as he took a couple of steps back to let the young King ascend from his chair.
"WAHOO! Time for some fun and fresh air" cheered Yuri as he jumped out of his chair and ran towards the door to his office, whilst calling "you coming Conrad".
"Yes I'm coming Your Majesty" answered Conrad as he slowly made his way to young King's office door whilst hearing his Godson reply back to him from the other end of the hallway…
"IT'S YURI!" he shouted from the other end of the hallway as Conrad was exiting the king's study, softly closing the door behind him.
"OH his Majesty's enthusiasm for fresh air and exercise just makes want to kiss the ground he walks on!" Gunter announced with unshed tears in his eyes and clasping his hands together.
"He is still a young child that doesn't really consider his duties to be more important than his own entertainment" Gwendal mumbled under his breath so the lilac subordinate couldn't hear, but he didn't say it quietly enough, as the mighty king worshiper replied to him, being on the defensive to his beloved king…..
"His Majesty considers all of his duties to be important even the ones that doesn't concern him and anyone who thinks otherwise should keep their thoughts and comments to themselves!" a serious mixed with angry look emerged upon Gunter's face whilst saying those words as if he wanted them to make the tall grey haired man regret what he had said about his beloved king.
Gwendal just gave a death glare at Gunter not caring what he had said. Also not caring that Gunter's comment was directly targeted at him, he just gave him a simple, calm answer "well then I will make sure that you are not in the room when I think and speak my own opinion, does that suit you better Lord Von Christ?" his question made Gunter even more infuriated. He just stormed out of the king's study before saying his own opinion which he knew that if he had said what he truly felt, then he would regret it.
Meanwhile in the gardens, Greta and Wolfram were attending to the flowers and welcoming the feel of the peaceful, cool breeze of the morning. Wolfram was sitting on the bench whilst watching his daughter make flower crowns that she enjoyed doing so much. This made her happy, and always caused a bright, warm smile to spread across her face. Seeing his daughter happy made him happy. It made him smile to think…
"She is so sweet and innocent but strong at the same time, she is defiantly the king's daughter"
He was then drawn out of his thoughts to the sound of his name being called. He came back into focus to see Greta running over to him with two flower crowns in her small hands whilst calling his name…..
"Wolfram, Wolfram, look at what I've got" Greta announced as she reached her father's, side holding the two flower crowns in her right hand
"What is it Greta?" Wolfram asked softly with a warm smile
"It's a flower crown" Greta explained whilst climbing onto the bench that her father sat on, to stand beside him. She slid one of the flower crowns down her arm and held the other one in both of her hands. With the flower crown she was holding, Greta slowly and carefully placed it on top of Wolfram's golden sunshine head of hair. "This is for you, Wolfram" Greta said excitedly as she lowered herself from the bench to stand in front of him.
"Thank you Greta, It's beautiful" Wolfram replied softly then grew curious to the other flower crown that she was holding, "Greta, Who did you make that flower crown for?" he asked this because it was made with the same two flowers that were in the flower crown that she gave him, which happen to be: 'Beautiful Wolframs and Yuri's Naiveté'
Greta looked at the flower crown in her hands and her smile grew deeper with happiness "This one is for Yuri, but I don't think he'll like it" Greta's smile then turned into a saddened frown, she looked down at the flower crown in her hands.
Wolfram looked at his daughter as a sign of sorrow crossed his features. He hated to see his daughter upset. He wondered to himself "why would she think that Yuri wouldn't like this? He always loves everything that she says, does and makes. He treasures her with all of his heart" he got off of the bench and kneeled to her level and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder to reassure the little princess "Greta" he called her name gently and waited patiently for her to lift her face up to look at him. When she did, he gave a warm smile and continued "Of course Yuri will like this, no he will love it. He treasures everything that you make him and he adores them, just like how he adores you. So why would you think that he wouldn't like this flower crown?" he asked with a tad of concern as his strong hand gently caressed her face and slid her tear off with a slide of his thumb.
"Yuri has been so busy lately that I've hardly had the chance to see him. I only get to see him when we go to bed and he goes to sleep before me most of the time. When I add up the time that we have spent together, it's hardly any time at all" Greta said in a sad but gentle voice as another tear rolled down her cheek.
Wolfram was surprised that she would think that Yuri wouldn't like the flower crown that she made him. He was also annoyed Yuri hadn't noticed that his own daughter was upset because she had spent hardly any time with him. She felt like she was losing the love from her father. Wolfram also felt sorry for Yuri as he knows the reason for Greta feeling this way.
He knew that Yuri wasn't spending any time with his daughter not because he didn't want to; it was because he couldn't as his eldest brother Gwendal was keeping him cooped up in his study, filling out a whole forest full of paperwork which would just drain his energy. By the time bedtime came around, Yuri would be exhausted, and it would be an ongoing cycle for him which consisted of waking up early, going for a morning jog, having breakfast, signing documents until lunch, then back to signing more documents until dinner time which would be later than usual, then going to bed. But now this was affecting his daughter and not in a good way, so he decided that he was going to do something about it.
He stood and looked down at Greta who was now looking up at him, he held out his hand for her to take and said with a comforting smile "Come on Greta, let's find Yuri and you can give him that flower crown that I know he will love" as he said that Greta's face suddenly glowed as bright as the sun as her sadness was swept away by happiness, she reached out for his hand and held it as they started to make their way back into the castle.
Back inside the castle, Yuri was with his Godfather whilst making their way to the area where they would have a few rounds of catch. Yuri had a sorrowful look upon his face whilst walking at a slow pace as he faced the ground he was walking on. He let out a huge sigh which made Conrad look down to his Godson with worry, concerned about what might be bothering the young king.
As Conrad's worry grew, he just had to ask "Is something the matter Yuri?" looking down at the young man's glossy, raven hair, waiting for him to look up at him.
"Well" Yuri started, still looking toward the ground "it's just" he stopped his words and feet as he lifted his face to look up at Conrad's with gorgeous puppy eyes "it's just that…I realised that I haven't been spending much time with Greta lately. I've been neglecting her, and because of all the work that Gwendal has been setting me this past week, I haven't even been able to spend any time with her at all."
Conrad tried to interrupt but Yuri continued before he could "and even when it's time for bed I'm so tired and exhausted that I can't even read Greta her usual bedtime story, which she loves, I just tell her that I will read it to her tomorrow, but I don't promise because I'm afraid that I'll break it" Yuri finished with unshed tears. He walked over to the steps and sat on the second to bottom step, resting his elbows on his knees and placing his head in his hands. The young king looked as if he was about to burst into tears, to the thought of him making his precious daughter sad.
Conrad walked over to where Yuri was seated and took the space next to him. He placed a reassuring hand on the boy's shoulder to see if that would make the king feel better but it made Yuri's eye release a tear. Conrad looked at his Godson, still holding his shoulder gently but strong enough so Yuri could feel that his hand was trying to comfort him.
"Why don't you ask Greta about it? I'm sure that she would understand how busy you have been" Conrad said reassuringly as he waited for a response.
Yuri jerked away from Conrad's touch slightly so that he would get the hint to let go of his shoulder. Conrad released his hand and intertwined it with his other as he placed them on his folded knee. "I don't want Greta to understand how busy I have been!" Yuri announced as he stood with a stern but a hitch of guilt look on his face, "I want Greta to feel like she can come to me and tell me about anything and everything whenever she wants to, without having the trouble of 'sorry but his majesty is busy filling a huge forest full of paperwork, and will be done at oh I don't know BEDTIME!'" Yuri mocked as that is what they might as well tell his daughter, as she wasn't allowed to see him because of the work Gwendal was making him do.
"She is only a young, innocent little girl that wants to see her father but can't…I mean she is the princess of this kingdom after all. I think she should be allowed where ever she wants at whenever she wants. Gunter at most should know how this feels, as he has a daughter of his own which I'm guessing that when she was really young, she would have wanted to spend time with her father like Greta does now. " Yuri stated the fact of how he was being forced to stay in a room nearly the entire day, signing papers after papers after papers by someone who also had a daughter.
Another tear fell from Yuri's eye as he thought of how lonely his daughter would be right now. Conrad stood and turned to face the king as he gave him a warm smile "Greta spends some of her time with Wolfram, so she isn't as alone as you think" he whispered to try and make the double black look up at him. But Yuri just continued to look to the side of him then exhaled deeply, then turned to face Conrad.
"You know when I first came here and accidently proposed to Wolfram I regretted slapping his left cheek, but now I don't because if it wasn't for him then Greta would only have one parent to love and protect her, and that would be the cooped-up-inside-busy-bee-working me. But Wolfram treats her like his own flesh and blood like I try to. I hate to think that someday if this locked-away-from-dusk-till-dawn-business keeps up, Greta will think that I don't love her anymore and that I have neglected her. So if Wolfram wasn't engaged to me then Greta would be even more lonely and depressed, that's a terrible thing for such a young child to feel" Yuri took in another deep breath before finishing "So I guess I owe them both" with that Yuri wiped away his tears and smiled up at Conrad who was smiling back.
"I believe that Wolfram and Greta are in the gardens at this very moment attending to the flowers. If you want to see them, then there would be the best place to look" saying these words made Yuri's smile grow into a glowing one that spread across his face, with a warm, happy feeling filling up inside his heart. Yuri looked at Conrad before turning round to walk towards the instructed destination, he turned back to him and mouthed 'thanks' which Conrad lip read and acknowledged with a nod.
Yuri turned to face the direction of his destination. He took a few steps when he stopped to see a little girl with maroon eyes and hair running up to him with her arms wide open and holding a round object in her right hand. Not so far behind her was a golden sunshine haired young man with emerald green eyes who was wearing a blue military uniform. Yuri's face lit up brighter than the sun when he saw the two people he was just about to search for approaching him. Yuri fell to one knee with his arms wide open ready to catch the little maroon seven year old that was calling his name.
"Yuri, Yuri" the little girl jumped into the arms of the double black as he wrapped his arms around her, lifting her off the floor and swinging her around. "I missed you so much Yuri" she cried with joy and a tad of sadness as she was being swung around by her father. Yuri stopped swinging his daughter and placed her gently on the ground, keeling to her level. He gently kissed her on her forehead as he let the little girl regain her balance.
"I missed you too Greta, I was actually going to look for you and Wolfram because I missed spending time with my family" Yuri said in a gentle voice which made his daughter's smile grow a little bigger.
"Wolfram and I were coming back from the gardens to find you, hoping that you weren't still working on your papers" Greta whispered in a saddened voice. Then her face started to glow again as she remembered what she was holding. She jolted her face up to look at the double black and held out her hand which held the flower crown that she had made earlier. "I made this for you, I hope you like it" Greta softly said as she held the flower crown closer to him.
"Oh Greta" Yuri's heart melted to the sweetness his precious daughter was projecting. He looked down to the ground and gave a slight chuckle, then looked back up to face her with tears gently falling down his cheeks and a huge happy smile curving his lips. He placed both of his hands on the little girl's shoulders "No Greta, I don't like it" he paused for a short moment before saying "I LOVE IT!"
As he said this, Greta's face lit up with a warm smile making her jump in the air like a rabbit filled with excitement. Yuri gave Greta a soft kiss on her forehead then bent his head down so that she could only see the top of his raven coloured hair. Understanding the hint of his position, Greta gently placed the flower crown on his head. Yuri lifted his head and pulled Greta in to his arms just holding her there, she automatically returned her father's embrace with unshed tears poking the corners of her eyes as a sweet little smile caressed her features.
Greta inhaled deeply then breathed out gently, trying to build the courage to express her feelings to her dark haired father that held her how he didn't know that she never got to see him "Yuri do you-" she was cut off by her father.
"I'm so sorry Greta, I know that I haven't been spending anytime you for the past week, and although you are too young to understand the work that I have to do, I do know that you are smart enough to realise the time that we have been spending together recently and it isn't a lot. I have noticed that you haven't been your energetic, cheerful self lately and that's because I have neglected you, I am so sorry, but" Yuri paused as he pulled away from his little girl to look her in the eyes that had tears falling from them "that is going to change, and we can actually do things together as a family, I will read you a bedtime story every night, we will have lunch together, and I will definitely make sure that you are able to come and see me whenever you feel like it, if I am busy or not no matter what anyone says" he lifted his hands to Greta's cheeks so he could gently stroke away her tears that were falling down her sun-kissed cheeks then continued "I will be a better father to you and that's a promise".
Yuri open his arms for another hug, Greta just fell into him as he wrapped his arms around her securely while her sobs were muffled as she buried her head into Yuri's shoulder and her tears staining the material of his black jacket making it a darker black from the rest of it but Yuri didn't care one bit, he just held her and stroked her maroon wavy locks. Greta lifted her head and whispered into Yuri's ear "I love you Yuri".
"I love you too Greta, I love you so much" Yuri whispered to her as a tear fell from his eye and landed on her maroon waves making it look like a raindrop.
"She really has missed you, Yuri" Wolfram said as he admired the scene in front of him of his beloved daughter and fiancé.
Yuri looked up from where he was crouching and smiled to his fiancé. Then an idea clicked into his head, he withdrew from Greta and kissed on the forehead then stood up holding his hand out to Greta "come on Greta we're going to do something as a family" Greta's face automatically brightened up as she jumped up and placed her hand in his and tightened her hand around the double black's.
They walked into Wolfram's direction, Yuri lifted his hand and took Wolfram's into his then gently pulled him along with them, Yuri pulled Wolfram to his side and whispered in his ear "I will make up it to you and Greta, that's a promise. I owe you both so much" he gave Wolfram a soft gentle peck on the cheek; Wolfram just gave a sweet smile as he tried to hide his blush. He was happy and also surprised at the Yuri's gesture, happy because Yuri might be forgetting the prejudice between same sex couples and accepting Wolfram as his fiancé but he was surprised because Yuri had never shown him this type of affection before.
Conrad watched as his godson, baby brother and great-goddaughter walked away from him and gave a sweet smile. "You didn't need to look for them after all" he thought to himself whilst walking away with a smile.
Meanwhile in the temple of the Great One, everything was as calm as it was in Covenant Castle. The priestesses were going about their daily routines and duties like they didn't have a care in the world. The Great One and the Great wise man were doing their own thing, where ever they were. Ulrike was in the undergrounds of the temple where the remaining three forbidden boxes were kept.
Ulrike sometimes would come down to where the soul of the Great One was usually held until he decided to take his afterlife to the next level by walking around as if he still owned the place. She was in front of her crystal ball with two other priestesses behind her, one on each side. All three ladies were kneeling before the dark crystal ball, hands clasped together as they admired the peace and quiet in the temple besides from the sound of a trickling waterfall on the wall from the pond above them.
The peaceful silence was then disruptively broken by the sound of Ulrike giving a horrified gasp. She was now standing before the crystal ball with eyes filled with concern.
Both priestesses, who were still kneeling, looked at each other with a surprised expression then turned they're gaze back their High Priestess. Again there was silence for a few moments. The silence was broken again by the priestess to Ulrike's right. She had coral hair with forest green eyes, plucked up the courage to ask "Lady Ulrike is there something the matter?"
Ulrike didn't move from her spot. She reached her hands to the crystal which showed something that the two priestesses behind her couldn't see. She answered with her voice full of worry "someone…someone is here"
Both priestesses looked at Ulrike with confusion. Whenever someone had arrived at the Great Demon Kingdom of course she would sense their presence from miles away and she would always be her usual calm collective self. But this was different. This presence that Ulrike could sense sent physical shock through her being, which caused her hands to tremble at the reach of the crystal ball before her. The priestess to Ulrike's left who had chocolate coloured hair and sky blue eyes asked with concern and a tinge of worry in her own voice "who is here, Lady Ulrike?"
Ulrike again didn't budge a single move from where she stood and replied with her previous tone of voice "someone, not from this time. Someone from another time is here, in this very kingdom." She paused for a minute before continuing "but how can this be?"
The coral haired priestess was the first to answer "Lady Ulrike, are you saying that someone from another time has come to the Great Demon Kingdom?"
The priestess jumped up with disbelief, looking at her high priestess "that is impossible, no one can travel through time and if we could, we would know of its existence" she finished with a doubtful look in her eyes as if she didn't even believe what she said was true.
Ulrike quickly turned to both of the priestesses that were behind her, her eyes looked sincere and sharp with no signs of what she was actually feeling as she ordered them "Inform Covenant Castle of this immediately".
Both priestesses were shocked to the instant change in Ulrike of both her emotion and behaviour. "Yes my Lady" without another word, they ran towards the doors of the underground temple to exit and give out their order.
Ulrike turned and looked at the crystal again, she stared at it for a moment then whispered "oh you poor soul. How did you end up here?"
At the same time of the discovery of this unexpected visitor that Ulrike had sensed, something was happening on the hills that overlooked the Great Demon kingdom. A light had formed out of thin air and grew brighter and bigger, then the light disbursed back into nothing. All that was left from the strange, expanding light was a young girl.
She had both maroon eyes and hair. Her maroon hair had natural curls to them which ended about ten inches past her shoulders, her eyes were the same maroon as her beautiful hair that sparkled in the sunlight. She was wearing a powder blue long sleeved turtleneck with a white line going from the neck all the way down her arm to end at her wrist. She wore black bottoms with an embroidery pattern on her belt. Her shoes were brown knee high boots which at the top had a snip taken off for the design to look like the letter V which sat perfectly under her knee joint. Over her clothes she had a cream robe which was attached by an emerald pin in the centre. The young girl looked at her surroundings in confusion as she could only see the clear blue sky, grass and trees at the edge of the hill.
"Where am I?" she thought to herself as she looked to her left. When she saw the view of what was below her, her face lit up with a happy gleaming smile. The young girl stood up to see more of the country that she was above of, not even bothering to brush herself off from laying on the grass. She took a step closer to the edge of the hill as she inhaled the fresh air around her and exhaling in relief as she thought aloud "I'm home."
The maroon girl had reached her destination which seemed to be Covenant Castle. She was on the border of the castle and was right in front of the gates that led to the front of it. Although for some reason she decided to go a different route which included scaling against a rocky barrier that surrounded the castle and climbing over a pebble indented wall. She landed on the other side of the wall thinking "I think that was easier the last time I did it, for some reason that wall feels different. Well at least I got out and back this time without being caught. Maybe I'll be able to sneak into the castle before someone notices me. I know I'll just act casual as if I've been here all day" she walked towards the steps that led to the front of the castle with a smile on her face as if to know that her plan would work.
As she came out of the bushes and into the open, she could hear a rustling sound of multiple footprints from behind her. She turned her head a little just enough for her left eye to see a group of soldiers running in her direction. "I thought they would all be on patrol" she thought to herself as she sped up her own pace as she advanced nearer to the stairs. She turned her gaze away from the soldiers behind to look in front of her. The young girl was shocked when she suddenly found herself surrounded by another group of soldiers.
They stood with their swords pointing at her. Fear crossed her heart as she felt it beat faster and faster but decided to think nothing of their actions and with a gulp she continued to past them. She was then stopped by a tall man wearing a dark green military uniform standing in front of her. He had dark grey hair at medium length which was tied in a low ponytail. The tall man had his deep blue eyes looking down at her with a threatening death glare.
The young girl's maroon eyes glistened in the sunlight with fear. She looked at the tall man in front of her with confusion as she thought "why is he standing there whilst letting these guards point their swords at me? He's acting as if he doesn't even know me." She took in a quiet breath then opened her mouth to speak when she was cut off before any words could come out.
"Who are you? And how did you enter the castle grounds without being caught by the guards?" the tall man's glare looked even more dangerous as he was waiting impatiently for the intruder to speak. His inpatients grew when he shouted "ANSWER ME!"
The young girl didn't know what to say. She was afraid that her answer would just infuriate the green man even more than he already was. She finally gathered the tiniest bit of courage that was left in her to say in a quiet voice, almost a whisper "Gwendal, you know who I am". Surprisingly enough he heard her almost whisper and his inner fury grew.
"Gwendal" Gwendal was about to shout even louder at the intruder when he was interrupted by the shout of his name. He turned to his right to find that it was the voice of his younger brother Conrad running towards them with his youngest brother Wolfram, Gunter and the young double black king not far behind them. When they reached Gwendal, everyone turned their focus to the young maroon girl before him. Conrad was the first to speak "Gwendal, is this the intruder?" Gwendal just nodded stiffly then turned to look back at the young girl.
Her eyes were scanning through the people to who had just arrived at Gwendal's side. Her face lit up when she noticed the blond and the double black standing behind the three taller men. A huge smile grew on her face when she noticed them and her eyes filled with unshed tears. She said in a voice full of relief "Yuri, Wolfram you recognise me don't you?" she ran towards the pair with hopeful eyes.
Before she could reach them, Gwendal gave a strong hit to the back of her neck and watched as she fell to the floor unconscious. He gave a huff of relief before saying "that was a very close call". He turned to look at his youngest brother and the young king standing behind Conrad and Gunter to notice that the expressions that crossed their faces were filled with shock.
Conrad crouched down next to the unconscious girl to look at her face which was facing down to the ground. He gently rolled her on to her back by her shoulder which made her arm fold to sit on her chest. He thought to himself as he felt a stroke of sympathy for the young girl who lay before him "she's so young. But why does she look so familiar?"
"Who is she?" Gunter asked looking at Gwendal with confusion.
Gwendal turned and looked at the lilac haired supervisor "I have no idea who she is, or how she got into the castle grounds without being caught." He turned to look at the unconscious girl before finishing "but she is not to be trusted as she is an intruder."
Conrad looked up from where he was crouched on the ground to face his elder brother, "what do you suppose we do with her?" he asked in a stern but sympathetic voice.
"Put her in the dungeons. When she has awoken we will question her" Gwendal answered as he turned to look back at Gunter "for now we shall return to my office and discuss her punishment."
Gunter nodded and turned his attention to the two young men behind him. He noticed that their eyes hadn't left the young girl. Their eyes were filled with worry and sorrow "Your Majesty, shall we go inside?" he asked hoping it would take the king out of his non-stop gaze of the young girl.
Yuri didn't move, his eyes were glistening tears now but the look of worry and sorrow was still there. He opened his mouth to whisper "but what about-"
"There is nothing to worry about your Majesty, Conrart will take the intruder to the dungeons and when she has awoken we will question her" Gunter quickly cut into what Yuri was saying, with the hope of stopping Yuri from worrying about an intruder that could be really dangerous. He turned his attention to the same expressed Wolfram who was also frozen as he stared at the young girl.
Both Yuri and Wolfram watched as Conrad lifted the young girl off of the ground and into his arms. Her hair fell from its place on her chest and landed behind her shoulders. Her head rested on Conrad's right shoulder, her left arm was now folded over her lap as her right arm was drooped to her side. The two young men watched as Conrad took the intruder away to the dungeons; the breeze was gentle but strong enough to blow a wave of air through the young girl's maroon curls.
In Gwendal's office there was him, Gunter, Conrad, Wolfram and Yuri. Gwendal was sitting at his desk with his hands clasped together and his chin resting on top of them. He opened his eyes to see the confused faces of the occupants in his study. He looked to Conrad and asked with a frustrated sigh "Conrart, was the intruder armed?"
Conrad looked up from where he sat "no, she appeared to have no weapon" his expression changed as he remembered how he felt when she lay on the ground before him. She looked so familiar, like he had seen her somewhere before. He just couldn't quite put his finger on where or why.
Gunter who was sat opposite Conrad noticed his change in expression which grew him curious "Conrart is something the matter?"
Conrad looked at Gunter not knowing how to answer his question. At this point everyone in the room was looking at him waiting patiently for an answer. Conrad looked into his hands that were placed on top of the mahogany table and exhaled air that he didn't know he was holding before giving a reply "something seems awfully strange about her." He paused to look at Gunter and Gwendal who were more focused on him before continuing "it was like I had seen her somewhere before. But also what concerns me is that she knew Yuri and Wolfram's names and looked happy to see them."
Gwendal looked at his younger brother with a slight look of confusion "well whatever she reminds you of, she is still an intruder. She must have tried a foolish attempt to attack the king but failed in the progress and-"Gwendal was cut short by his youngest brother who stood from his seat and slammed his hands onto the table's surface with brute force.
"I don't think that is it brother. That girl may have broken into the castle grounds without being caught, but I know she had no intention of hurting Yuri in any way, shape or form" Wolfram defended the girl like it was his own child that they were talking about. He sent a glare toward his eldest brother.
"And how could you have known that, did you read her mind and hear the whispers saying ''I'm not going to attack the king, I'll just sneak in and give them my personal greeting and charge at him when I see him" Gwendal replied mockingly as he gave a sinister look towards his youngest brother.
The young blond was infuriated by his brother's mockery. He walked over to stand in front of Gwendal's desk and stared at him, whilst gathering his words "no I didn't hear her whispers or know what she was thinking at the time. But when I looked into her eyes I saw no streak of violence what-so-ever and I know that is the truth."
Everyone except Yuri turned to look at the back of Wolfram's head. Gwendal became confused as to why his youngest brother had become so protective over a prisoner that he didn't even know. This confusion made him want to ask why Wolfram was feeling this way towards her, but he had to stay serious as that is his role to play. "No matter what you think Wolfram, the intruder will be punished and that is final. You do not have the authority to-".
"No" Gwendal was interrupted again but this time it was Yuri who had remained frozen and silent for the past few moments. Everyone turned their heads to look at their king who was still staring into the wood of the table before him. Yuri lifted his head to look at Gwendal before continuing "no. Wolfram is right. That girl had no intention of causing any harm to anyone."
Gunter looked at Yuri only seeing the half of his face that was facing him. "Oh, your majesty" he whispered under his breath with concern of what the young king might be thinking.
Gwendal looked with frustration and again confusion as he turned his attention to Yuri's sharp eyes. "Your majesty, whatever you might think she is still an intruder and will be punished for the crime that she has committed."
"And what is her crime exactly?" Yuri had rage growing inside of him as he too was defending the young girl with all his authority as king, like a mother would defend her child.
Gwendal gave a huff before answering, sounding fed up with arguing with the youngest people in the room "well if you want to know the crimes that you don't believe she committed I'll tell you shall I" he held his hand over the wood of the desk so he could count on his fingers "firstly for breaking into the castle grounds, secondly for refusing to tell us her name and why she was here in the first place, and thirdly attempting to attack the king."
"NO, YOU'RE WRONG!" Yuri shouted as his rage was at its best. Everyone looked at the double black and was shocked that he didn't turn into his demon form due to the anger that he was expressing. "Gwendal, I don't know how but I just do. Wolfram is right because I saw the same thing he did when I looked into that girl's eyes". Yuri looked down at the table with his eyes closed and took a deep breath. He let it out as he opened his raven eyes and looked back up to the grey haired man sitting at the desk before continuing "I can't put my finger on it but it's as if I know who she is and that I've seen her before but I haven't."
"I think I can explain."
Everyone turned to the door, that they didn't hear open, to see the great wise man walking into the office whilst closing the door behind him.
Gunter was the first to speak "your eminence?" Gunter looked with surprise at the young boy standing by the door and watched as he slowly walked towards the wooden eight-seated table set in the centre of the room.
"Murata" Yuri looked towards his best friend with worry. His worry grew to make him think of a reason of why the great wise man would be here "oh god, please don't tell us anymore bad news".
"I heard about your unexpected guest" Murata looked like his usual calm and confident self. He turned to give everyone a look of reassurance before turning to continue his look at Gwendal.
"Your eminence, we haven't informed anyone of this information. Were you witness to the intruder's actions and how she entered the castle grounds?" Gwendal asked with a look of defiance.
"No"
Yuri turned away from Gwendal to look at his friend again as he was confused of how Murata would know about this without being informed by anyone from the castle "so how do you know about her?"
Murata gave a small smile of reassurance before answering his friend "because I know who she is."
Everyone's eyes widened at the sight of the great wise man with their mouth's opened with shock.
The dungeons were filled with the sound of muffled but silent sobbing that echoed through the large stone walls.
The young maroon haired and eyed girl had awoken in a cell in the dungeons only to find that she was alone. She was curled into a ball with her legs pressed up against her chest and wrapping her arms around her knees, even more so she could withstand her balance whilst sitting up and using her back that was lent against the cold stone wall for support.
She held her head in her knees, letting her tears flow down her cheeks like a stream. Her tears were falling on her long sleeves of her powder blue turtle neck making the material look darker than the rest. The young girl just sobbed as quietly as she could while so many thoughts ran through her mind. "They didn't even recognise me. Where am I? What's happening? I just wish that this was all a bad dream that I'm going to wake from".
She was drawn out of her thoughts to the sound of someone opening her cell door. The young maroon girl looked quickly to see a guard waiting with the door open. She let go her legs to let the droop over the edge of the hard bed that was supplied with the cell.
The guard outside waited until he had the prisoner's attention before speaking "his Majesty will see you now".
This message sent shivers down her spine. She collected herself and stood whilst wiping the last of her tears off of her face. The young maroon girl slowly walked towards the cell door and stepped out into the walk way, she turned to see the soldier closing the cell door to wait for him to lead.
The soldier locked the gate and began to walk up to the exit of the dungeons. He walked the young girl through all the hallways to get to the king's office. When they reached the said place, the soldier stopped and turned on the spot to face the door before knocking, the prisoner was now on his right.
The soldier lifted his hand to give a gentle knock on the door. He opened it to lean in his head before informing the people inside "I have brought the prisoner, your Majesty". The soldier nodded and stepped in the room fully holding the door open for the young girl to walk through. "You may enter" he gestured plainly.
The maroon girl had fear and terror growing inside of her as she thought the worst. She slowly walked in to see only four people in the room. Conrad and Gunter were standing either side of the far end of the room; they were only a short distance from the two young double blacks which happen to be the Great wise man and the Demon king himself who were standing next to each other in front of the desk.
Once Gunter saw that the young girl had entered fully, he ordered the guard at the door "you are excused". With that the soldier gave a bow in respect and left, closing the door behind him slowly. Everyone then turned their attention back to the young maroon girl standing before them.
The young girl's unshed tears flickered like a flame as they poked at the corners of her eyes. She looked at all the occupants in the room with fear, not knowing what to do as she knew that a punishment was coming to her. A tear slowly fell down her left cheek as she continued to stare at them. She bowed so all they could see was the top of her maroon hair and apologised for her so-called-criminal actions "your majesty. I apologise for my despicable actions, it was not my intention to cause harm to anyone, I will accept any punishment-"
"Stop" Yuri interrupted the young girl that was bowing before him. His eyes were filled with sorrow for her. "Please, there is no need to apologise".
This made the young girl freeze in her position, her fear grew from her stomach and into her heart that then spread all over her being as she didn't dare look up at the strongest and also scariest demon in the whole of the Great Demon kingdom. She heard a set of footsteps coming towards her, she watched as a pair of black trouser legs and brown shoes appear in front of her. The young girl's maroon eyes shivered as she watched the feet stop and stand in front of her, but were then welcomed to her own comfort by a soft gentle voice which appeared to be the double black king's.
"Please, stop bowing". It was Yuri's voice. Yuri watched as the young girl in front of him slowly returned to a standing position.
She didn't know what to do as she felt put-on-the-spot because everyone in the room had their eyes focused on her like she was some sort of myth that had come to life. She inhaled as much air as her lungs would allow so she could speak. "Please forgive me for my actions; I will accept any punishment that I am sentenced to your majesty."
Yuri looked at her with even more sorrow than he was showing before; he smiled a sweet reassuring smile. "I'm not going to punish you and please stop calling me your majesty."
The young girl looked at the king with confusion "but you are the king aren't you?"
"Yes, I am the king and I decide whether or not you get punished or not and it's a definite no from me" Yuri stated, still in his soft voice pointing to his chest with his thumb.
"I don't understand, your Majesty" the young girl gently said as she looked at him with more confusion written across her face.
Yuri saw the young girl's confusion and wanted to make it clear of what he was saying. He walked closer to her until he was in arms reach and placed both his hands gently onto the young maroon's shoulders. "When have you ever called me your Majesty? I'm your father just call me what you always have."
With this said, the girl's eyes opened wide and instead of confusion or fear they sparkled with pure happiness. Her mouth opened to let out a gentle gasp as she whispered "you…recognise…me?"
Yuri's smile grew even wider and unshed tears pricked at the surface of his eyes. "Yes, my sweetheart."
With this, the young girl leaped into the double black's arms wrapping her arms around his shoulders, resting her face in his uniform.
Yuri wrapped his arms around the young girl's waist "I'm so sorry I didn't recognise you before Greta"
Everyone looked at them with awe as they watched Yuri hold an older self of his young daughter in his arms.
Greta lifted her face to rest her chin on Yuri's shoulder, she whispered in his ear with tears rolling down her face "that's ok, I'm just glad that you know who I am now" she held onto her father even tighter.
Yuri returned the tighter embrace and lifted his daughter into the air so her feet were off of the ground and whispered with a smile "Greta you've grown so tall."
Greta just gave a chuckle as her father put her gently back onto the ground so she could stand. They let go of each other to smile at one another. There was silence for a moment until the sudden sound of the office doors being kicked open was heard, nearly making everyone jump out of their skin.
Everyone turned to the now open office doors to see Wolfram and Gwendal standing there. Wolfram was holding onto Gwendal's ear with an infuriated look on his face as if he was going to set the man next to him, on fire. Gwendal looked down towards Wolfram's hand that was holding on tight to his ear with grimace pain. The reason Gwendal was feeling this intense pain was because he had just been dragged out from his own office by his youngest brother who hadn't let go of his ear since.
Wolfram walked further into the room dragging a whining Gwendal behind him to stop in front of Yuri and Greta. Wolfram let go of his eldest brother's ear and pointed to the floor, giving him the order to kneel before his king and his princess.
"Now apologise to her this instant" Wolfram growled as he gave a directed death glare towards the grey haired man in front of him.
Gwendal knelt on one knee with his head facing the floor "please forgive me my princess, I apologise for my violent actions towards you, I'm sorry for the harm that I have caused you and for mistreating you as you are our princess."
Greta let go of her father's hands to stand before Gwendal "Gwendal it's ok really, you were just following protocol and doing what you do best which is protecting the castle that the demon king lives in" she reassured softly.
Gwendal rose from his kneeling position to stand before his young niece. He gave the warmest smile that he was most capable of giving, this made Greta smile even more. Greta then looked towards the young blond haired demon next to Gwendal, as she saw that the demon was looking at her with a sweet smile, she smiled back at him.
Wolfram walked closer to stand in front of the young girl, he looked into her eyes with hope "Greta?" he said with a sign of relief.
The young girl couldn't hide her excitement anymore and just jumped into the blond haired demon's arms. Instinctively Wolfram returned the tight embrace by wrapping his arms around her. "Wolfram!" she called with happiness.
Wolfram smiled and started spinning the girl around. "I knew you were innocent Greta, both Yuri and I did. we knew you had no intention of causing harm to anyone whatsoever" he chuckled before setting her down so she could stand again. Wolfram let go of his daughter to look back into her eyes, he cupped her left cheek with his right hand "you've grown so tall" he stated in a near whisper.
Greta just looked into her other father's emerald eyes and gave another chuckle. She looked down at the ground then looked back up to her father in front of her before answering him "Yuri said the same thing". Suddenly confusion crossed her mind as she had realised that both of her fathers had said the same thing about her height. It was as if they hadn't seen her for a very long time.
She backed away from Wolfram's reach and stood in between him and Yuri. Greta turned to Yuri who had a confused look on his face as he had no idea why she had all of a sudden turned fearful. She looked back at Wolfram to see the same look on his face. The young princess took in a deep breath before saying "wait…both of you said that I have grown so tall, but I have been this tall for quite a while now. You are both acting as if you haven't seen me for years." She was desperately waiting for an answer as she thought "something is still strange about this".
The great wise man moved forward to stand beside Yuri. "Let me explain…but you might want to take a seat" he gestured a seat out from under the wooden table so that Greta could sit. She took the gesture and sat down to listen to what Murata had to say. Seeing that Greta was now comfortable, everybody took a seat at the wooden table in the centre of the room. Yuri and Wolfram took the two seats beside their daughter, for her comfort.
Murata lent against the king's desk with his arms folded and his left foot crossed over his right to keep a steady balance. Once he saw that everyone was ready to listen, he continued "Greta. I do not know how you got here, but I know that this is not the place where you belong. And that is because this is your past. Yes Shibuya and Lord von Bielefeld are your parents but in this time they have a daughter which is a 7 year old girl."
Greta gasped in shock as she stared with widened eyes at the great wise man "what?" She was the only one in shock to this information, as the others had already heard it before she was escorted here from being in the dungeons.
Murata didn't want to cause the young girl anymore confusion than he already had but she had to know the truth about where she was. He looked at her with sympathy as he continued to explain "yes, she is you from your past, you are both the same person, just in different time zones." The great wise man was the last thing Greta saw before her vision went black and her head smacked the surface of the wooden table.
"GRETA!" Yuri and Wolfram shouted as they jumped out of their seats to see to their daughter. Yuri picked her up out of her chair. He sat on his folded legs whilst holding Greta in his arms, with Wolfram beside him holding her head for support. Both of them had their faces struck with worry as they looked down to her.
Conrad ran to kneel before them. He pressed two fingers on the side of Greta's neck in search for a pulse. He exhaled with relief "she's just fainted".
"Oh thank god" sighed the two demons holding their unconscious daughter. They both admired their daughter's beauty as she peacefully slept in their arms.