Salutations, FanFiction folk! And because I am a nice person (to that I say 'lol') and because I feel extremely guilty for being away for so long, here's a teaser excerpt for the next chapter of Envy: The Sequel!
"Merlin, how could this be?" Baltra threw his hands in the air in exasperation. "After raising her to what she is today, she goes on a journey and falls in love with such an impossibly… unattainable… urgh!"
His sentence ended with a grunt. The Camelot mage stood a little to his side, her devious smirk never leaving her face. She watched as the king paced around the throne room, his face weathered and creased at the forehead. Suddenly a part of her wished she weren't the one to inform the king of his youngest daughter's situation.
Then again, no one else would step up for the job. Having the princess fall in love with the captain of the Sins, knowing that her father would certainly take time to approve; everyone was either too afraid to do it in case of hurting each of them in turn, or all at once: Baltra, Elizabeth and Meliodas. No one wanted to be the bomb to tick that would lead to an explosion.
But Merlin, being Merlin, had to. Besides, she wasn't even of this kingdom, and she'd saved the king from succumbing to his illness before, so he surely couldn't punish her in any way. All she had to figure out now was how to break this news to the folk at the Boar Hat.
Right now, she had to focus on her task on convincing the king. Baltra was evidently worried, his withered hands clenched into fists. Merlin saw this as a danger sign, her warning light blinking on and off, and quickly racked her brain for something to say.
"It's not as bad as you assume, Your Highness. Meliodas is truly a good man." She bit her tongue, wondering if the feeble retort would work.
"But the fact that it's Meliodas we're talking about unnerves me!" She expected him to sound angrier, but his voice was tired, exhausted even. "Meliodas is good and loyal, but his antics and behavior…"
"I think you could overlook his antics as part of his behavior, Your Majesty. He's been like that to anyone he's loved." She also didn't know if he had anyone other than Liz to prove that, but she kept her fingers crossed.
The king let out a sigh. "Sir Meliodas has always been that way, and he's also stubborn as a rock, so I guess I'll just have to let that go…" Baltra's eyes averted to the window, where blinding sunlight spilled onto the white sill. "But he's stubborn… and I know he won't let Elizabeth go that easily, if he really does love her."
Oh, I am very sure of that. Merlin approached the king, her boots clacking on the tiles. "Then, Your Majesty… why not just give her to him?"
Baltra said nothing. Merlin took this as a sign to go on. "He has been cleared of all charges of murdering the Great Holy Knight Zaratras years ago. He's a noble knight, serving within the light of Your Highness' kingdom. Even Arthur wants to bag him as Great Holy Knight." She smirked.
The king smiled wearily. "Meliodas has indeed been cleared of all his crimes… except the one of destroying Danafor with a single attack. That charge is not for me to lift."
Merlin rolled her eyes internally. "Your Highness, I think you don't understand. His power had gone out of control at the time and in fact, he annihilated another demon."
"Which is just the point," Baltra set his worried gaze on the mage. "Gilthunder and Hauser, along with Griamore, stumbled across Hendrickson who was investigating the black hole. It seems it was filled with demonic energy… only the demon below seems to have been dead for a very long time."
He looked up at Merlin, eyes glistening. "So whose demonic energy is that? How can I let my own daughter fall to her doom… with a demon?"
Merlin knew in her heart that if Meliodas or Elizabeth had heard those words they would break. Placing a hand on the king's shoulders, she changed her voice to that of soothing, and spoke, "You have nothing to fear, my king. I will constantly keep his power in check from time to time, and even steal it away if it pleases Your Majesty."
Huh. Now she had two things to worry about: first breaking the news, and second getting the captain to agree to those terms. He would indeed cause a racket.
To her relief, Baltra shook his head. "There will be no need for that, as I know he will never hurt her if he truly loves her." He looked away, straightened and looked out the window again. "No matter what you say, though, Merlin, I could never say yes to this."
Merlin's heart fell, though on the outside she remained her composure. "And… why is that so, Your Majesty?"
"Because… that choice is not for me to make. It is whether Elizabeth herself will choose him as the one she will carry forever. She must consider, too, whether he will make a great king of this nation, as that comes with her duties of future queen if ever her sisters are unfit to perform their duties." The king turned from the window, and the sunlight gleamed behind him, only displaying his outline.
"I think I might need to have a little talk with the two of them. Separately."
Merlin gulped.
A lot of people have been telling me that this story has the potential to be continued, so I'm sorry to all the people who thought this was completed. I want to continue this! More like, I want to write about cute MelBeth moments when they're together, Baltra's frustrating rage as a king and a father, and the mystery of Arthur and Gwen! So yes, this will be continued... when I have the time. HAHA.
-Mint-chan.