Yozak was reporting to Gwendal when Wolfram and Yuuri barged in to Gwendal's office. He wasn't sure what having the Maou and his betrothed interrupt the nominal regent of the country before breakfast meant, but he didn't want to hang around to find out.
"I'll just be–"
"We're ending the engagement."
Yozak froze in the middle of leaving, staring at Wolfram. He had that stubborn set to his jaw that meant that this was happening. If Yozak had been betting on this, he'd have said that Yuuri would have been the one most likely to end things between them. But he looked nervous and ashamed, his eyes puffy and red-rimmed. It really did look like the brat prince was the one breaking it off.
When Gwendal stood, to better loom over them, the spy decided to stay and watch the proverbial fireworks.
"Wolfram, everything's already being planned. The invitations…"
"Have been printed but not sent," Wolfram interrupted. "It's not too late. There have been no official announcements, just rumours." He looked away, bitter. "That's all there ever were."
Gwendal looked to Yuuri. "Heika? You agree with this?"
Yuuri nodded, silent and miserable.
From what Yozak could tell, Gwendal really wanted to argue. Logistics aside, such a final decision out of apparently nowhere, opposing the plans that were being made as of yesterday… well, it just stank in Yozak's opinion. Clearly Gwendal agreed. But there were no grounds to refuse, as both were in agreement, and asking for a reason would be out of line…
Gwendal looked resigned. "We'll send out notices to the ten aristocrats tomorrow, to meet in a month. They'll assume this will be regarding the wedding, you realize."
Wolfram nodded. "I won't tell my uncle anything."
"What…" Yuuri almost asked.
"This won't be announced before it's official for obvious reasons," Gwendal explained. Yuuri looked lost, but nodded. "I assume you both understand the implications of that."
"Of course," Wolfram snapped before Yuuri could ask for clarification.
Gwendal didn't even seem to notice his confusion. "Then I'll arrange everything."
Wolfram nodded and turned, leaving with his back straight and his head up. Yuuri dashed after him, and Yozak followed, ready to get help if needed.
"Wolf, wait… where are you going?" He sounded so pitiful… how could anyone resist that?
"I'm going to explain everything to Greta before someone else tells her." Wolfram looked up at Yuuri. "Unless you'd like to come too?"
Yuuri shook his head. "I'm not sure I even know what's going on." Wolfram rolled his eyes and stomped away.
Yozak couldn't just leave Yuuri like that. "What's really wrong, kiddo? Didn't you want to end the engagement?"
"I…" Yuuri shook his head. "I do. I mean… I do, but I don't know if it's for the best. And Wolfram won't talk about it any further, and Conrad won't talk about it at all because he's still mad, and…"
"You think the Captain's mad at you?"
"Well… yeah." Yuuri hesitated. "Can you keep a secret?"
Yozak nodded. "Sure." …if it wasn't against the country's best interests.
"I kind of kissed him a few weeks ago. And since then he's been all awkward and avoiding me, and he never wants to talk about my relationship with Wolfram…"
Yozak raised an eyebrow. "You kissed him." Yuuri nodded. "And since then he's been awkward around you." Another nod. "And you think that's 'cause he didn't like it." Nod nod. Yozak sighed. "Did you ever think that maybe he was avoiding you because he liked it too much and you're engaged to his baby brother. Well. Were engaged."
Yuuri blinked slowly. "That means…" He looked up at Yozak, his eyes wide and mouth open. "That means…"
Without another word, he raced out of the room. Yozak shrugged. At least he looked less depressed.
Yozak basically put it out of his mind until he caught Wolfram standing outside the closed door of the armoury later that day, his normally expressive face disturbingly blank.
Any hope that this was just the normal reaction from the breakup disappeared with the sound of a loud crash from inside, and a deep groan that Yozak was in the rare position to recognize.
For a fleeting moment, Yozak tried to believe it was Conrad and someone (anyone) else in there.
And then Yuuri's voice came through the door.
"Please, Conrad… harder…"
Wolfram never flinched, not even as the rhythmic thumping sped up and the wordless cries became more desperate and passionate.
Yozak wished he could have retreated. But this was, in part, his fault, and he always tried to clean up his own messes.
"He never…" Wolfram trailed off, staring at nothing as the noises peaked and then stopped.
The sudden silence echoed. "He never what?" Yozak asked, despite suspecting he didn't want to hear the answer.
"All the months we were together, he never… he never let me…" Wolfram's eyes finally focused on Yozak's. "But Conrad. The very first time with Conrad, he…" Wolfram snorted. "Of course he did."
Yozak was fresh out of platitudes or advice that position didn't always matter. It probably did in this case anyway. "I'm sure he never meant to hurt you. I know the Captain didn't."
Wolfram shook his head. "It doesn't matter. This just proves that… it never did."
OoO-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-OoO
Cheri's fondest wish was for her sons' happiness.
It was why she'd rejoiced in Wolfram's engagement, and then worked hard to soften the inevitable blow of Yuuri's rejection. Wolfram had never really understood the philosophy of free love that Cheri had tried to teach him, constantly filing people into categories; promiscuous if they loved widely and never settled down, cheaters if they were in a relationship and continued to love others, loyal if they closed their eyes to anyone who wasn't the person they were pledged to.
The engagement, while politically beneficial and aesthetically gorgeous, could have turned out to be what Cheri had dreaded for Wolfram since he was a child – a political alliance forced on him against his will. But Yuuri had been kind and patient and had never taken advantage of Wolfram despite his rank and power. Even so, it hadn't taken long for Cheri to realize that Yuuri never truly felt committed. Not the way Wolfram did.
It was hardly the end of the world. Engagements, despite Wolfram's protestations of dishonour and shame, existed to provide a socially acceptable chance to be together without the legal weight of a wedding. They were designed to be trials, and broken more easily than marriages.
So the news that Wolfram and Yuuri's engagement was over wasn't heartbreaking to Cheri. She'd seen it coming and knew full well (and demonstrated it ably with Elizabeth) that Wolfram had other options, and the idea of two separate weddings rather than one was quite appealing. There would be some awkwardness with the Ten Aristocrats once the annulment was announced, but that would be manageable enough.
Her wish for her Wolfram's happiness kept her supportive after the engagement was broken. Her wish for Conrad's kept her impartial after it became too obvious to ignore that Yuuri had chosen Conrad instead, and her wish for Gwendal's kept her working tirelessly with the maids and Anissina to keep the all-too-common trysts secret.
As the nobles from the Ten Aristocrats started arriving at the castle, this entailed running interference, creating distractions, and creative lies to explain why The Maou and the captain of his guard were constantly together, often flushed and sweaty and beaming in oblivious joy.
When Waltorana von Bielefeld asked why Wolfram was never around his supposed fiancé, however, Cheri was unable to formulate an appropriate excuse. Waltorana knew his nephew well enough and had already been suspicious, and that had been enough to validate his concerns. He'd spent the rest of his time with Wolfram, probably trying to woo him back to Bielefeld.
Well… if that was what made Wolfram happy…
The ceremony took place a few days after the last noble arrived. It was more formal than the engagement, requiring witnesses and scribes taking down precise notes detailing everything that took place.
Yuuri sat on his throne, adorned with his cape and sceptre. Gunter and Gwendal stood on either side of him, both solemn and protective, their presence enough to still the talkative, gossipy aristocrats as they waited on Wolfram. Cheri, standing in the front row with Greta cuddled silently to her side, subtly reached over to squeeze Conrad's hand, glad to feel her son gripping her back. This would be difficult for him as well, given how prone he was to guilt.
And then Wolfram entered, wearing the colours of Bielefeld, his head held high, his face blank. He strode steadily towards Yuuri, until he stood in front of the throne and knelt to The Maou, formally, for the first time.
Even with Gwendal and Gunter glaring over the crowd, the audience started muttering uneasily. Yuuri stood and gently bent to touch Wolfram's hair, a gentle caress that indicated that Wolfram could rise. Once he was standing, Yuuri lightly touched Wolfram's face, an unscripted gesture of genuine caring. "I'm sorry Wolfram. This isn't… I never meant…"
"Do you want my forgiveness, Your Majesty?" Wolfram asked softly, too low for the scribes to overhear. Even Cheri had to strain. "I can't give it to you." Yuuri's face fell, and Wolfram reached up, mirroring the soft touch of fingers to cheek. "Because you haven't done anything wrong, Yuuri. Not really."
"Still, I wish…" Yuuri smiled weakly. "If there were two of me, the other one would have tried to make it work, Wolfram."
They should have talked this over days ago; the nobles were getting restless. Cheri's grip on Conrad's hand tightened with anxiety and she felt his thumb rubbing soothingly over her knuckles. It was just like him to offer comfort when he was in pain as well.
Wolfram's hand dropped from Yuuri's face. "Then I'm glad there aren't two of you, Yuuri. Because I don't think I could stand that."
The words visibly made Yuuri him flinch, as if from a blow. His eyes widened, then softened in a more mature understanding than Cheri had ever seen from him. He leaned forward without another word, and gave the appropriate gesture to end their engagement, a kiss to the top of Wolfram's head.
Wolfram stepped back from Yuuri once it was done, his footfall on the soft carpet the only sound in the entire room. Then he reached up and kissed Yuuri full on the lips, a kiss surely as full of passion and desire as any they'd shared, and turned away from a rather stunned Yuuri, marching up to Conrad and pulling him down to plant another kiss on his lips.
It took a few seconds for that to sink in before everyone started talking or yelling, Greta demanding to know what just happened.
While Cheri knew the answer, she didn't know what to say.
Wolfram had just formally given Yuuri over to Conrad.
OoO-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-OoO
Gwendal glared at his brothers and his king, hiding in the relative peace of his office until the chaos outside those doors calmed down.
He'd warned them.
The time between ending an engagement and formally dissolving it was always sensitive; anything could happen and, legally, nothing should. They were neither engaged nor unengaged, and the way they'd been behaving – with Wolfram sulking and Yuuri and Conrad carrying on – was completely inappropriate. And now, with that last defiant gesture, acknowledging that he'd known all along, Wolfram had removed any plausible deniability.
This was a disaster. Besides the political ramifications of a von Bielefeld no longer being The Maou's fiancé, there were the more personal and ideological ramifications of a brother stealing another brother's fiancé, a half-human engaged to The Maou, and Conrad breaking their little brother's heart.
…Gwendal knew better than to address that last point, although he'd been seething over it for weeks.
His job was to minimize the fallout.
"What are your plans now?"
The question was directed to Yuuri and Conrad alone. This was easy enough to do, since Wolfram was three paces away from where Yuuri was nestled against Conrad's side, his eyes fixed on Wolfram's solitary form.
Gwendal couldn't allow the faint yearning on Yuuri's face to grow. If Wolfram weakened enough to agree to come to Yuuri's bed again, it would be disastrous. Yuuri would just have to accept that he couldn't make everyone happy.
It was clear that he'd accepted nothing when he answered Gwendal's question.
"I… I don't know." He turned to Conrad. "What do you think?"
"Whatever you want, Yuuri." Gwendal wasn't sure why he'd thought that bedding Yuuri would make Conrad any less deferential. He turned to Wolfram.
"And you? I assume your uncle wants you back in Bielefeld."
Wolfram nodded and Yuuri pushed away from Conrad, horrified. "What? No, you can't, you… what about your mom? And Greta? And…"
"Enough!" Gwendal interrupted.
"No, he's right," Wolfram said softly. "I can't. It'll look bad if I leave, like I was chased out. There's bound to be backlash."
He'd thought about it. Wolfram had thought about this in advance and had still acted as he had. That just made Gwendal angrier with him.
"So you'll stay?" Yuuri asked hopefully. "We can still be… friends?"
Wolfram looked away. "I'll stay."
Yuuri smiled in relief as if Wolfram hadn't avoided his second question. Conrad was more astute. "Are you sure?" He knew what it was like to watch someone you loved be with someone else, and Gwendal knew he wasn't sure Wolfram could stand it. Gwendal agreed.
Wolfram didn't even look at Conrad, ignoring him completely.
Great. That again. Just something else to deal with.
But later. At this point, Gwendal would deal with one thing at a time. "Fine. You're staying. We'll set something up."
"I'll need time to care for Greta."
He really had thought this through. For whatever reason, he'd decided that this was the best way to handle things. And maybe time would ease what he was going through. Maybe he'd one day be able to tolerate being in the same room as his brother and his king, without flinching every time one of them spoke or moved.
Yuuri, meanwhile, seemed oblivious to that, just happy that Wolfram was staying, keeping his family intact. Conrad seemed more nervous, but easily enough soothed by Yuuri's smile and his hand around his waist. They did, Gwendal admitted, look very good together; comfortable in a way that Wolfram and Yuuri had never been.
Perhaps Gwendal's resentment and frustration was misplaced. Maybe this had been inevitable, with the growing affection between Yuuri and Conrad and the way Wolfram had always hated lies more than he sought comfort. At least this had all come out before a wedding – what a headache it would have been to have to deal with Yuuri and Conrad pining after each other or, even worse, sneaking around while Wolfram played a role he would come to resent…
It would have been torture, for all three of them.
So perhaps it was for the best this way. Gwendal nodded decisively and stood from behind his desk.
"Very well. Wolfram, you will be made a training officer stationed here at the castle." It was something Wolfram was surprisingly good at – while he was impatient and demanding, his students always wanted to please him. "Your Majesty, do you plan to continue seeing Conrad illicitly, or will you formalize your arrangement?"
Yuuri looked nervous. "I dunno, another engagement so soon would be… is there any way we can do without one?"
"If you don't mind ruining Weller's reputation," Wolfram answered bluntly.
Yuuri scowled at Wolfram's use of Conrad's family name, only now noticing the awkwardness between the brothers. "Fine. We'll get engaged." Conrad nodded.
Gwendal was satisfied with that. "Then Conrad, you are dismissed as the captain of the guard. Once you formally become His Majesty's fiancé, you can arrange to have your own troupe."
"Understood." Conrad seemed pleased with that, although from the way he was looking at Yuuri, as if he was the center of the world, Gwendal suspected he would have accepted anything to be with him.
"Do I have to slap you?" Yuuri asked Conrad plaintively.
Conrad smiled. "You can if you want. Or you could just ask me."
Yuuri smiled back. "Conrad, will you marry me?"
"Yes."