Yuuri stretched, and to his joyful surprise his limbs did not brush against another body that morning. Maybe the idea that Yuuri did not want to marry Wolfram was finally pounding itself into the blonde's thick head. "It's wonderful to wake up in my bed, alone," sighed Yuuri contently.

For at least twenty minutes, Yuuri remained lying on his comfortable bed, listening to the scuffle of shoes and boots outside his room. One or two people seemed to repeatedly pace the entire length of the hallway. After a while, irritated that he was unable to drift back to sleep, Yuuri got up from the bed and dressed himself in his black school uniform.

With a gargantuas yawn, Yuuri shuffled to his bedroom door and heaved it open, peering cautiously around the doorframe. He cast his gaze left and right, and saw only Gisela hurrying down the hall. "Hey!" Yuuri shouted, waving his arm in the air in hopes of gaining her attention, "Gisela! What's up?"

But Gisela merely gave an annoyed sound and continued on her way. "I wonder what's gotten her so worked up…" He cast a look up and down the hallway again, stroking his chin thoughtfully. Suddenly, Gwendal rounded the corner, wearing that awfully upset look on his face. "Hey, G-Gwendal…?"

Gwendal slowed and glared down at Yuuri. Apparently, now was not the time for questions.

"…Is something wrong?"

With a heavy sigh, Gwendal ran his hands through his hair. "I'm not sure, Your Majesty. I'm almost ashamed to tell you this. Normally, one of my brothers wouldn't be so clumsy."

"Something's wrong with Conrad? Or is it Wolfram?" Yuuri felt his hands clench themselves into tight fists. "What is it? Tell me, Gwendal."

Gwendal crossed his arms and closed his eyes. "Well you see, last night, Wolfram left the castle quite upset. Not that it isn't unusual; he's always upset about something, though it usually pertains to yourself, Your Majesty… At any rate, Wolfram allegedly left on horseback. However, this morning, Conrad noticed that Wolfram's horse had returned, and that Wolfram wasn't in the castle."

"Wh-What?!" Yuuri felt a bit guilty. He had gone to bed very early the previous evening, and now it seemed to rapidly be approaching noon. During that time, Wolfram had gone off… and had some how gotten himself lost, or maybe even hurt? "…Did you find him?"

Gwendal nodded solemnly. "Yes, we found him. We've been unable to determine what exactly happened to Wolfram, but he seems to have been attacked by something. When he wakes up, maybe he can tell us. I hope it isn't another human attack. Even then… This is Shin Makoku. Humans wouldn't have a way to harm a demon in the demon's city itself." With a simple, uncertain shake of his head, Gwendal began walking down the hallway after Gisela. "We've put him in his room, for now; if you'd like to visit."

Yuuri nodded to Gwendal's departing back, and ran down the hall and towards Wolfram's room. Again, the guilt crept through him like liquid fire. Was it something Yuuri had said to Wolfram? Was it another thing that Yuuri was oblivious to and that Wolfram was so passionate about? He threw the grand double doors open. "Wolf! Are you okay?!"

"Your Majesty, please keep your voice down!" Gisela glared at him angrily, and in her hands were supplies meant for cleaning out deep and dangerous wounds.

Yuuri looked frantically around the room, his chest heaving from such a fast run. The curtains around Wolfram's bed were tightly shut, allowing only a distorted silhouette to be seen. "Gisela, is Wolfram okay?"

"I think he'll be fine. I've just got to finish redressing his wounds. Trust me; there are a lot of them."

Yuuri shifted uncomfortably where he stood and watched Gisela secretively lean in through the curtains and continue her work. When she emerged again, there were various lengths of cloth bandages in her arms, all of them heavily bathed in blood. She quickly disposed of them and fetched clean bandages.

"…Was it really the humans?"

"Possibly. However, I doubt the humans' abilities to get so far into the heart of Shin Makoku. Maybe it was someone half-demon and half-human, someone who doesn't really have a side to choose in the war." Gisela disappeared a second time behind the curtains, wrapping Wolfram's wounds in so many cloth bandages, Yuuri thought he would end up looking like a mummy when the curtains were opened.

Gwendal entered the bedroom now, still looking gruff and upset.

"Ah…" Yuuri squeaked as though carrying on the conversation, "I agree. Maybe Wolfram really did just fall off his horse."

Gwendal raised a brow at this. "If that's all that happened, then maybe Wolfram needs to rethink his position as a prince."

"W-Well… What if it was stormy last night? What if lighting sliced through the sky, freaked out the horse, and it bucked Wolfram off?"

It seemed that for a moment or two, Gwendal considered this. "Perhaps," he said simply.

"All right," Gisela said softly. She gently pulled the curtains away from Wolfram's bed, as though moving the blankets away from a slumbering newly born baby.

In all honesty, it had been a while since Yuuri had seen Wolfram without at least three layers of clothing to cover up his body. But now, without the shirt, the vest, and the jacket, Wolfram looked unnaturally thin. Sure, the muscles were there, though they were buried under an inch or two of mortal wounds. There was a large bandage taped down to Wolfram's right cheek, as well as multiple bandages covering his arms, and even another large bandage wrapped around his waist. Most ominous of all were the bandages already stained red that were wrapped around Wolfram's head.

"I've checked his lower body, but there aren't any serious injuries; just a few bruises. Not a single cut!"

Yuuri glanced cautiously at Gwendal, whose expression was, for the first time in weeks, softened. The realization that something so devastating couldn't have happened because a horse decided to buck Wolfram off its back came upon both Gwendal and Yuuri. Those wounds had to have been inflicted by swords or some other kind of sharp weapon. But how did they manage to hurt Wolfram so badly?

"I thought Wolfram was supposed to be handy with a sword…" said Yuuri awkwardly.

"Well," said Gisela in a tone of voice that ended Yuuri's part in the conversation, "that's enough gawking at the prince's injuries." She hefted the heavy blankets from the corner of the room and carefully placed them over Wolfram, making sure that everything up until his chin was covered. "He needs to be warm," she stated.

"I'm going to ask Günter if there has been any reported human activity that he knows about. Afterwards, I'll send Mother a letter explaining Wolfram's injuries. Although they aren't life threatening to a demon, she'll still want to know." Gwendal turned his back to Yuuri and marched calmly out of the room.

Yuuri took a few hesitant steps towards Wolfram and stretched out a hand to touch his injured face. "And I thought I was the wimp?" He swallowed thickly. Gisela said Wolfram would be fine, but even so, he felt emotional. While he was asleep, something terrible had happened to Wolfram. "C'mon, Wolf. You've gotta wake up and call me a wimp. I'll never marry you if you don't," he added. He doubted whether or not he would marry Wolfram, even if he called Yuuri a wimp every six seconds. Still, motivation was motivation.

Wolfram's lips parted slightly, but not sound came out.

"I'm not gonna kiss you!" Yuuri said defensively. When Wolfram made no further movements, Yuuri sighed. "Still out cold…?"

"Shouting at your fiancée isn't going to make him wake up. Remember, he's not sleeping just because he's tired."

"I know, Gisela but… What am I supposed to do? I was oblivious to him being hurt until just a few minutes ago. I can't just ignore him when he's right in front of me." Yuuri knelt beside the bed, staring hard at Wolfram's comatose state.

An hour had passed, or maybe two, and just as Yuuri was feeling sleepy again, a small noise escaped Wolfram's lips. It was a strangled, miserable sound, and it snapped Yuuri's mind back to reality. Wolfram's face contorted into that of pure anguish, and his hands suddenly darted to his forehead. His body twisted sideways as another pitiful noise came from Wolfram's throat.

"W-Wolf?! What's wrong?!"Yuuri helplessly looked around the room, groaning as Gisela was gone again. "Wolfram!"

Wolfram's body became stiff and tense. Slowly, he lowered his hands from his face, most of the pain vanishing from his features, and turned to look furtively at Yuuri.

"You're awake…" Yuuri sighed, full of relief. "I thought Gisela and Gwendal lied to me. I thought you weren't ever gonna wake up."

Wolfram's eyes were tired and mystified, but even so they studied Yuuri as though he were the one that caused him so grief. "What happened…?"

Yuuri laughed, completely overjoyed to hear Wolfram's voice again. Any second now, Wolfram would be saying 'You're such a wimp!' and maybe even giving Yuuri a good thump in the head. "I'm not really sure. Gwendal said you went riding off on your horse, but this morning your horse was back, and without you. Are you okay?"

Wolfram's eyes narrowed a bit. "I'm fine."

"Geeze, you don't have to get angry so soon…"

"I'm not angry, I just…" Wolfram was interrupted by Gwendal walking into the room once more. The look on his face made Yuuri think of thousands of humans dying at Gwendal's mercy. From the looks of it, Gwendal had gotten information that it was the humans that had attacked Wolfram.

"You're awake," breathed Gwendal. Again, he seemed relieved. "Are you all right, Wolfram?"

Wolfram remained silent, staring up at Gwendal as though feeling abruptly diminutive.

"Wolfram hasn't said much, Gwendal. Maybe that hit on the head made him a bit more like you," Yuuri joked.

The stony glare from Gwendal shut Yuuri up. He advance towards Wolfram had leaned down to examine him. "You still don't look very well, Wolfram."

Wolfram looked aside. He was very uncomfortable to be around Gwendal, it seemed to Yuuri. That was awkward, since Wolfram was constantly admiring him.

"That head injury… It looks more serious than the rest of your wounds. Is your memory all right?"

Apparently, that was what had been bothering Wolfram. He turned his face towards Gwendal and stared up, his eyes wide and fearful. "I…"

Gwendal's expression softened once more. "…What color are your eyes?"

"M-My eyes…?" Wolfram looked rather uncertain, as though he wasn't quite sure what the word 'eyes' meant.

"You think those head injuries made him lose some of his memory?" said Yuuri urgently. He leaned forward, waiting to hear Wolfram's answer. Wolfram was strong! He wouldn't get a concussion just because of a little bump in the head…!

Wolfram looked from Gwendal to Yuuri, and then down at his own hands. "…I'm not sure."

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Author's Note: Hooray for my first Kyou Kara Maou fanfiction This is in celebration of Shoku-dan deciding to fansub the Kyou Kara Maou R OVA! So, hip hip, hooray!