-1 On their way in, they had the unfortunate circumstance of meeting Gwendal in the hall way. Said man managed to seem even more intimidating despite his hair sticking up everywhere. "Where are you going?" 8(
"Erm..." Yuuri sweatdropped, not having expected to run into the entire cast and crew this morning.
"We're... doing fiancé like things," Wolfram answered with choice words, almost faltering but managing to say it without too much suspicion.
"..." Gwendal looked down at them, eyebrow twitching, before he suddenly stated in a very calm voice. "Where ever you're running off to, I'm coming along. No arguments."
"W-what? ... Er, no! We don't want you watching!" _
"... Eh?" O_O
Gwendal narrowed his eyes, baring down on Wolfram. "I am NOT spending another MINUTE in this castle. I'M. GOING." 8(
"Of course you can come along," Conrad spoke up, smiling peacefully at the three of them. If he couldn't have Yuuri alone, he wasn't going to let Wolfram be alone with him either.
"Lord Weller!" Wolfram glared at his half-brother, obviously not amused with this decision.
Yuuri sighed and hung his head, giving up all hope on getting any one on one time with Conrad. Before he knew it, he guessed that somehow Gunter would want to come along too... _
"Heika...would you like any snacks or refreshments prepared for our journey?" Conrad turned to ask Yuuri, ignoring Wolfram's protesting.
Gwendal seemed appeased and went to prepare for the trip he didn't know anything about.
Just as Yuuri was about to open his mouth for a reply, Gunter came wheeling around the corner and spotted him at long last. It didn't take long for him to completely latch onto the young demon king, "Oh Your Majesty, how I feared you had been eaten by the monsters! You simply vanished from the palace without a trace, no clues to show where you'd gone, no hints to set my poor weary mind at ease!"
"A-ack, Gunter! S-stop, you're going to suffocate me!" _
"You nasty little...! Yuuri, I can't believe you're tolerating that from HIM! I'm your fiancé, you cheating jerk!" Wolfram looked to be in tears.
_''
Conrad sighed to himself and left to gather up the horses and men.
Gwendal was busy trying to de-static his hair, but managed somehow and then met up with Conrad at the stables.
And before Yuuri knew it, Gunter had somehow decided to come along, which all in all meant he was not going to have a typical vacation...
Conrad calmed down the horses as the few bodyguards he'd picked gathered supplies and things outside in the castle courtyard.
Gwendal strode towards them, much much much less frizzy then earlier. He still looked ready to kick something, but that's what he normally looked like.
Conrad smiled at him, then looked around. He wondered where Yozak was? He'd sent a summons, needing to ask the red-head a favor.
Yuuri eventually wound up outside with the rest of them and shouldered a pack that he had to wrestle away from Wolfram in attempts to prove that he could indeed carry something. Walking over to Conrad, the demon king looked over the horses, "So are we going to go through the dragon territory again, Conrad?"
"Of course, heika. I was hoping we'd...have a smaller entourage so as not to upset the dragons, but..." Conrad turned to look over the group they'd gathered up and sighed, shaking his head with a rueful smile. "Well...at least your safety won't be any concern." ^^
"I guess so..." sighed the demon king as he looked over his shoulder, watching as Wolfram approached with the rest of the packs.
"I've managed to locate everything we'll be needing for this journey," Wolfram announced, though it wasn't really directed to anyone. "Gunter wanted to bring one of Anissina's contraptions, but I told him that was out of the question."
Conrad kept his mouth shut, always able to sense the storm before it arrived.
"Absolutely not!" Gwendal scowled at them all but Conrad, who had sufficiently placed himself out of range. "If Gunter wants to bring any of her damned inventions, I'll tie him to it and he can stay here with it." 8(
"Um..." Yuuri held up his hands, but not really getting anywhere because no one ever paid any attention to him when people started to fight. _
"I didn't say we were bringing any, Lord von Voltaire! I just told you that I told him NO," Wolfram glared back, being the stubborn brat he was.
"And I'm confirming that order a second time. No!"
"Now, now..." Conrad spoke up, making an easing motion with his hands towards his two half-brothers. "Let's not forget this is a mission of discovery for our maoh. There's really no need to continue with this negative energy." ^^
Gwendal turned to stare at the ever smiling Conrad, a trait that unnerved him at times like this. Sometimes it was hard to tell what the man was thinking. Then again, Gwendal knew his artifacts, so he knew this wasn't a real mission. He'd probably just plotted this to get Yuuri alone from their annoying younger brother for a bit, which had obviously backfired.
Conrad noticed Gwendal's look and sweatdropped. Damn, his lie had been called out already.
"Then let's stop loitering about and get a move on... I'd preferably like to leave Gunter behind if we can," Wolfram snorted and turned to leave.
"But Gunter is the one who knows all the traps there down t an art... he put them there," Yuuri objected with a frown, folding his arms across his chest. "We'll need Gunter if we're going to travel into the dragon territory."
Wolfram huffed, "We've been there before, we can get rid of them without his help."
"What? Without who's help?" Gunter popped out from literally nowhere and blinked.
"Our Maoh has a very good point. Gunter may come, but all of Anissina's inventions stay." 8(
"What? We're going somewhere?" Gunter blinked and looked around, then noticed Yuuri standing not to far away. "... Your Highness! We've been searching the entire castle up and down for you, thank the heavens that you're safe!"
"W-wai-" Yuuri started to object, but was too late to stop himself from getting glomped to death by Gunter. Did Gunter already forget that he'd just seen him five minutes ago..?
Conrad spotted Yozak of in the corner at last and glanced at the rest of the group. Sure no one was paying him any attention, he made his way over to his friend's side with a straight expression. "Yozak...I need a favor."
Yozak continued to examine his nails for a moment until he noticed the other walk up to him. Out of all the people, besides the Maoh of course, Conrad was the one he respected the most, "Yeah, what's the problem?"
"It seems I've gotten myself into a small situation," Conrad began, taking a moment to glance at the group as Gunter let out a yell and proceeded to smother Yuuri. "See...I made a little white lie about an artifact beyond the dragon territory. It was clearly meant to give Yuuri some relaxation time. And it now seems I've recruited my family and half the castle." _
"... So you just got yourself into a whole mess, huh? Oh boy," Yozak sighed and shook his head. "Let me guess... you want me to go find something and stick it there?"
Conrad gave Yozak his best smile and sweatdrop. "If you would, please. I would REALLY appreciate it..." ^^'
Yozak heaved a sigh, "Alright, alright... I'll see what I can dig up... but you owe me a round of drinks for this, Conrad." _
"Of course," Conrad smiled in delight, having not feared in the least that Yozak would let him down.
And thus poor Yozak turned and wandered off towards the gates of the city, mentally preparing himself for the task of finding any clues of where an artifact may be.
"Yuuri, here," Wolfram was still pestering Yuuri, though he held out a wrapped out sword to his fiancé.
"Oh... thanks," the Maoh accepted it and blinked, then made a face as he heard something moan from within the wraps. "... Do I have to bring Morgif?"
Gunter nodded his head frantically, "But of course, your highness! He is a symbol of your mighty role as king of our demon tribe!"
._.''
Conrad sighed in relief, reminding himself to get more then just drinks for Yozak later, and walked over to rejoin the group in time to hear Yuuri whining about bringing Morgif.
By that time, Yuuri had sighed and attached Morgif to his waist, giving it a half-hearted glare as it moaned back at him, "Alright... let's go."
"You can come and ride with me today, Your Highness~" Gunter graciously offered and swooped up the young Maoh so he could go and put him up on his horse.
"G-Gunter, no! I'm his fiancé, he's riding with me!" Wolfram glared daggers at the silver-haired man.
"Last time he rode with you, your horse tried to knock him off," Gunter took the glare easily and only smiled in return while hopping up to slide behind a rather disgruntled Yuuri.
"Why you good-for-nothing...!"
Conrad looked surprised by this bold move, and also slightly unhappy. "Gunter...isn't that rather improper? I'm sure Yuuri can ride safely alone while the rest of us ride alongside." _
"I agree. His highness needs to learn how to handle himself on a horse, otherwise he'll look a fool in front of his people," Gwendal gruffly agreed and proceeded to easily drag Gunter off of the horse.
Gunter attempted to pry Gwendal off with his foot, "N-now hold on a minute, don't you think it's much safer to have him ride with me when we're traveling through that dangerous territory full of traps? He doesn't know where they're laid, and I'm the only one who does! It's safer to have him with me!"
The man then paused, looking down into Gwendal's eyes, "Or... are you just jealous because you wanted His Majesty to snuggle against you while YOU rode with him?"
Conrad and Gwendal exchanged equal looks and nods. "Gwendal...do you remember our last visit to the dragon's land?"
"In fact, I do. Every...single...trap..."
"Well then, I think we both know what that means," Conrad smiled warmly at him.
"I believe we do," Gwendal offered a smirk, then scooped up Gunter, heading off to tie the man up somewhere out of the way.
Conrad watched them go with Gunter protesting the entire time, then turned with an innocent and care-free smile to Yuuri. "Well then, heika. Let's get you safely onto your horse." ^^
However, Conrad's innocent smile was met with a cold glare from the Maoh, a faint flicker of the true Demon King's presence in his eyes, "... That wasn't necessary."
Apparently already on his horse, Yuuri then sharply pulled on the reins and steered his steed down the cobbled path.
Conrad seemed unaffected or not to have noticed, but inside he wilted a little. Did that mean Yuuri preferred Gunter's company?
Gwendal came back, noticing the slight slump in Conrad's shoulder. He frowned, thinking the same as Conrad as he guessed what had happened.
Wolfram was staring in mild shock, looking between all of them before he quickly mounted his albino horse and hurried after the Maoh, "Y-Yuuri, wait up!"
Conrad quietly got onto his horse and kicked off, hurrying to catch up and stay by Yuuri's side.
Gwendal sighed and mounted as well, motioning the soldiers along as he to caught up with them.
Wolfram stayed just behind Yuuri, careful as to allow the Maoh some room to himself since apparently he wasn't quite feeling social... which was odd, especially for their King. It wasn't often that Yuuri was so... anti-social.
Conrad and Gwendal were both quiet and obviously annoyed, though it was more obviously shown on Gwendal's face then Conrad's. Both men were growing spiteful towards Gunter now.
"... So, any idea what it is we're looking for?" Wolfram cautiously asked after a few hours of riding with no conversation whatsoever. The eerie silence was starting to bother him, which was rare for the blonde prince.
Yuuri kept his eyes on the path, but replied, "No, not really..."
Conrad kept quiet, his eyes ahead and his attention alert for bandits or attackers if there would be any.
"Honestly, I'm not sure what we're doing," Gwendal spoke up. He'd been in such a hurry to escape Anissina's clutches, he'd been willing to hope on whatever crazy joy ride their Maoh had thought up next.
"So more or less, we're just walking blindly into some half-assed plan to find an artifact that may or may not really exist? Pathetic..." scoffed the blonde, glaring up the path with crude jade eyes.
"What are you after this time, anyway?" Gwendal spoke up finally, needing to figure out just what he'd gotten himself into.
Conrad didn't reply to either of them. He still seemed more serious then usual. His plan had been to spend some time alone with Yuuri. He'd wanted to make the boy smile and laugh like he always would when he was relaxed and enjoying himself. Now Yuuri wasn't expressing either emotions. He was being rather cold. And it was somehow tied to Gunter, since that's when the attitude started. And this knowledge was like a cold knife that suddenly stabbed into Conrad's chest.
"..." Conrad stopped his horse and closed his eyes, swallowing a lump in his throat and gathering himself together before he let anything escape free. After all, he was known for his calculated self-control. "I'm going ahead to scout the path."
With that, he kicked his horse into a gallop and broke from the group, going on ahead.
Gwendal frowned at the other's retreating back. It wasn't normal for Conrad to leave Yuuri's side...ever. And now he only had his brat of a brother and the twerp king to answer his question. So understandably, he looked to them expectantly.
"..." Yuuri's scowl worsened as he watched Conrad take off, but he made no other motion other than that.
"... I have no idea what the hell is going on! If I had known we were just walking like a bunch of dodo birds on a blind quest, I would have stayed at home!" Wolfram was getting more and more fed up by the minute, and he was known to have very low tolerance. "And what the hell is wrong with you, Yuuri? You haven't said a word for the last three hours other than 'No, not really'!"
"..."
"Damnit, don't just ignore me when I'm talking to you! I'm your fiancé, and I demand to know what the hell is going on!"
"I could take a guess. Apparently, Gunter and the maoh are closer then we thought and not bringing him has put Yuuri in a fowl mood. Honestly, if you'd rather go on this trip with that idiot, let's turn back for the castle now. You've done enough to upset Conrad as it is," Gwendal snapped at Yuuri, taking his irritation out on them.
Around this time Conrad had escaped the sight of the others and slowed his horse down, finally allowing himself to let out a restrained breath. Why did something so silly hurt this way? He'd only felt this once before...when Julia had died. And yet, all Yuuri had done was give him the silent treatment. For the first time... -_-
There was a pause before Yuuri turned around, dark eyes flaring to life, "Well I can tell you one thing about your theory is WRONG, and that's the fact that there is absolutely nothing between Gunter and I! Yeah he's a great guy, but you're wrong! I just don't see why you had to get rid of him when we all had just agreed we needed him because of the traps! What if he set new traps that you don't know about?"
"Well I don't see what the problem is, your highness," Gwendal drew himself up and stared Yuuri back down, his tone taking on the disdain it had once had before the events in Simaron's desert. "There are countless times in which you've left Gunter behind for reasons stupider then ours. Gunter will catch up, as he always does. On the other hand, you've taken it upon yourself to treat this procession with less regard and concern for their feelings then the previous maohs. I kindly ask you to return to your castle and your lessons, and leave the rest to people who have lived longer and know this world better then some outside child like you. People who can't just up and leave the kingdom when it fancies them."
And with that, Gwendal kicked his horse hard to get it to gallop, taking off after Conrad's trail.
"... They forget that Gunter can't find his way out of a paper bag," Wolfram sighed irritably before taking one more look at their king, then with a torn expression, turned to follow both his elder brothers.
Which left Yuuri alone with the mass of soldiers...
"Oowwoooahh..."
"Shut up, Morgif!" 8( ... and Morgif.
The soldiers left with Yuuri all looked very nervous, as their best sword masters and mages had just left them. . .
After a while of wondering what on earth he was going to do, Yuuri sighed heavily and turned to head down an alternate path, though it wasn't pointed back towards the castle. He had decided that if he was ever going to prove that he could be king, he was going to just have to find this artifact on his own, meaning he would have to rely on his information gathering skills as well as his own judgment.
"Oooooooo..." Morgif groaned, making a face.
"Shhhhhh," Yuuri put a hand over it to try and make it quiet down. ._.