Chapter 4:

HERE

Gunter's POV

Gunter stood at the door to the king's bedroom with Archibald at his side, fearing the sight of a brokenhearted majesty but unable to leave it. Archibald had to stand by the young master's side and only Gunter was capable of making him see that. Or, so he thought...

As a drop of sweat quickly rolled down his temple and to his chin, he slowly raised a fist and lightly knocked on the door. Before he could get to the third knock, he heard a furious and anguished voice screaming, "Go away!"

"Your majesty...", the adviser begged. "Please..."

"Leave me alone!"

Gunter slumped and watched Archibald out of the corner of his eye, who looked at the pale-haired man with a slight turn of the head. It was unspoken but Gunter knew exactly what he wanted to ask: "What are you going to do, now?"

Gunter hesitated for a moment, wondering if his majesty would forgive him for barging in, before finally standing tall and grabbing the handle of the door with confidence. Whether or not the king would forgive him, this was for his sake and his subjects had to put their master first, rather than themselves.

He turned the handle and opened the door, saying "I'm coming in", while doing so. Just as the door was opened enough to see into it, Archibald grabbed both handles, covering Gunter's hands with them, and pulled the door shut slightly, giving them only a slim line to peer through. Gunter was just about to turn to the man and ask what exactly he thought he was doing when he heard the crash of a glass on the other side of the door. They had just narrowly missed having a glass break upon one of their heads.

Once the danger was passed, Archibald let go and Gunter fretfully finished opening the door, peering into the nearly pitch black room, lit only by the moonlight coming through the window. It was so dark that they could only hear sobs and see the shadow of a boy hunched over himself, on the windowsill. He was curled up with his arms folded over themselves, his head on his arms, and his shoulders shook, proving to them that the figure was the one sobbing. Their king was sobbing; heartbroken by the news of his guard's death and again by the news of his guard's replacement.

Just when Gunter stepped forward and was about to kneel down in a bow, requesting he receive some form of punishment for breaking his highness' heart, Archibald placed a hand on his shoulder in silent protest before stepping further, himself, into the room. "Your highness, may I ask what anguishes you", the guard asked.

"No! Get out!"

"Highness... why are you so torn over the death of a servant? Surely a replacement is no different."

Gunter tensed behind him. The king may have always been lenient but this... He is different from the king they knew. Their former master would have welcomed criticism but he is a king to be feared; one that may very well take action at being questioned or commanded. Gunter was well on his way to apologizing for the man's disrespect, when, once again, he was interrupted.

"What do you know", the king yelled, raising his head and voice as he continued. "Conrad wasn't just any guard! Conrad was... there was... I..."

The king broke into a fit of sobs and Gunter's heart broke. "Highness..." he lovingly and sympathetically breathed out.

"I love him! I loved him... but now... he's..."

Archibald stepped forward entirely, standing directly beside the king and wrapping his arms around his small frame, causing a gasp to escape his majesty's mouth. "He's dead, right?" The guard's voice was different, this time, and nothing but silence followed his question.

That is, until a nervous majesty spoke up. "C-Conrad...?"

"Your majesty..." Conrad sounded entirely sorrowful and full of love as he rubbed his chin upon his master's head, ruffling his hair with his affection. "Please forgive me, your majesty..."

"It's Yuuri... call me Yuuri... I... I thought you were dead... everyone told me... and the funeral..."

"Forgive me, Yuuri, but this was all apart of his Eminence's plan. I just... couldn't stand the sound of you crying... long enough to follow through with it... Yuuri, please don't cry, especially not over me..."

"Conrad...", his highness sobbed.

"I'm here, Yuuri... and I love you..."

"I love you too..."

Just as Yuuri finished speaking, tiny flames flew around the room, lighting the wicks to every candle in it. Within seconds, the room was lit so well that Gunter could easily see the two which held each other so lovingly and tight. It was then that he noticed two things: Conrad had been crying and a blonde head of hair was standing directly just in front of the door.

(Thanks for the comments and feedback! I will continue to write this story as long as I can. I've already got a plot for about 4-5 more chapters, thought up! c: Also, sorry for the late upload. I was planning on uploading it at about 5 PM EST but fell asleep. So, 4 hours later, here it is!