"Could you pass me the butter?"

They were having snacks in the castle's garden. Greta was happily chasing a butterfly around the rose bushes.

"Be careful, you might get pricked," Wolfram called to her.

The butterfly flied higher, out of Greta's reach. She pouted and went back to their table, grabbing a cookie. She nibbled on it then a question suddenly popped out of her mind.

"Why do roses have thorns?"

Wolfram put down her tea and thought about it for a few seconds. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, roses are pretty flowers; they come in different sizes and colors and they have sweet scents. And Yuuri personally brought it here from Earth. I'm wondering why such pretty flowers have ugly and harmful thorns," Greta explained.

Yuuri, who was silent from the start, looked quite curious himself.

"They say it's for the flowers protection," Wolfram answered.

"Because it's too pretty?"

"Yes. It's like having a defense-mechanism. But I personally believe in a different way."

"What's that?"

"That we shouldn't ask why roses have thorns. Instead, we should wonder why thorns have roses."

Greta looked confused. "I still don't understand."

"You will, when you get older."

Greta was about to ask a question again but the violet butterfly she was chasing a while ago landed on her right shoulder. She tried to touch it but it flied away again, causing her to chase after it again.

"Migikata no Chou," Yuuri suddenly said.

"Hmm?"

"It's a Japanese song meaning 'Butterfly on your right shoulder'," Yuuri replied.

"A song? What is it about?" Wolfram asked.

Yuuri raised an eyebrow at her question.

"Surely this song has a meaning behind it." She said.

"Now that you asked, it does have one. Well, the song was sung by Right and Left," Yuuri explained. He saw Wolfram's confusion at the names so he went on. "Right and Left are twins. Right being the girl, Left being the boy. The song is basically about Right's love for her twin, Left. The events happen in Right's point of view."

"But they're twins, are they not? I do not suppose that is accepted in your society," Wolfram said while raising an eyebrow.

"It isn't. But who cares, right? Besides, it's just a song. I'm not even sure if they're twins in that song."

"How can their relationship change just because of a song?"

"It's hard to explain." Yuuri scratched his head, trying to think of a way to make her understand.

"No, it's hard to understand. Let's change the topic," Wolfram suggested.

"What would you like to talk about?"

In truth, Wolfram didn't want to discuss this. But earlier that day, she received a report on a fifth attack against them. She requested that she be the one to tell Yuuri about it.

"Have you made your decision?" she asked.

Yuuri instantly understood what she meant and looked away. "I don't want to talk about this."

"Yuuri, they attacked again. This time, they attacked the village in Christ land."

"They attacked Gunter's land?!"

"If the patterns of their attacks go on, the next attack would be on Voltaire, then Bielefeld, then Spitzberg. That means there is a high possibility that they attack the mainland before the week ends. If you are not going to sign a war declaration against them, I and big brother would have to go to our respective lands."

"Why?" Yuuri demanded.

"It is our duty to protect our land. Don't worry; I'll be back just in time before they attack the town."

Yuuri looked at her as if she was talking a different language. How could she discuss this so calmly?

"What are you—" Yuuri was cut off by a scream. It was Greta.

"Greta!" Wolfram and Yuuri shouted in unison. She was sitting on the grass, holding a bleeding finger.

When they got to her, they were surprised to see that she wasn't crying. She was obviously hurt but she had a look of satisfaction on her face. Wolfram knelt down beside her and began healing the cut on her finger.

"Didn't I tell you to be careful?" she asked Greta.

"Yes, but I wanted to get this!" Greta held up a rose. What made it special was its color: purple.

Yuuri chuckled. "Purple roses are pretty rare, almost considered mystical. I wouldn't be surprised that you wanted it."

"Actually, it's like a combination of Yuuri and Wolfram! I remember when Yuuri taught me how to make new colors by combining what I have. I found out that when you mix red and blue, you get this color!" she exclaimed. "Red and blue represents your elements; red for fire and blue for water! So basically, this flower is me!"

The couple stared at her before they hugged her tightly. Greta was so young and innocent, she might not even know about the predicament they were in. She served as the connection between Yuuri and Wolfram, even though she's just an adopted child. They loved her dearly.

"HOW LOVELY!"

They turned and saw Gunter squealing like a fan girl. "Such powerful words coming from the young princess! And oh! What a lovely family indeed! A bratty but beautiful mother," Wolfram was about to protest about being called 'bratty' but Gunter went on, "nothing less than perfect of a father and a child that bears beauty, brains, and a kind heart! Oh, oh, OH!"

Gunter fainted, blood gushing out his nose. Greta was laughing and Yuuri was shaking his head. Wolfram hmphed before patting Greta on the head and giving Yuuri a meaningful look. Yuuri sighed before scooping Greta into his arms. The three of them left Gunter on the ground, still blushing with blood still dripping from his nose.


"Have you made a decision?" Gwendal asked Yuuri.

"Please don't rush me. It's only been a day. You can't expect me to make my mind in a matter of hours, especially not about such a serious matter."

"Exactly. It's a serious matter; we have to make our move. And we have to move fast," Murata answered for Gwendal.

"Do you want me to make a drastic decision?"

"You won't make a drastic decision if you just sign the declaration," Gwendal stated.

"I already told you to give me some time!"

"We did!"

"STOP IT!" Wolfram shouted. "Don't put him under pressure! He's right. It's only been a day since we made him decide, give him more time to think!"

"It's an urgent thing! We need to do what we have to do; protect our people, protect Shin Makoku. Our king values it too much; he shouldn't be taking too much time deciding if it should fall or if we should prevent that!"

"I know that! What I am saying here is that we should give him more time! I can't see any of you deciding about such a serious matter in a matter of hours! We haven't even explained the plan to him!"

"Plan? What plan?" Yuuri was bewildered. They made a plan without him knowing?

Gwendal cleared his throat, indicating that he would be the one to explain. The Great Sage and Wolfram took their seats.

"It has all been planned out. Since we know what they want, the prisoner we have will not have second thoughts on delivering a message to his king, not if it's about declaring war. I think it's pretty obvious that they are cowards," Gwendal said.

"We have a theory that we are against two kingdoms. Kingdom A is the one doing the attacks. Kingdom A probably wants us to declare war against Kingdom B. So as soon as we give a letter of war declaration to our prisoner, he'll give it to Kingdom B. Presumably, Kingdom B will accept it, causing war against our kingdoms," Wolfram continued.

"SO? THAT'S WHY WE SHOULDN'T DECLARE WAR! THEY'RE TRICKING US!"

"That's what they think. They do not know that we have found out about their plan. The only fear that we have is that Kingdom B might be a powerful one. But as of now, we are second to none. The problem is, we don't know what their potential is."

"I don't understand! Why do we have to go into war with an innocent kingdom?!"

"This is where our second theory comes in. Kingdom A might be working under Kingdom B. The latter uses the former's men. Why? First, so that their identity remains hidden until we go into war. Second, because they want to keep as many of their men alive for the war."

"How can you be so sure about this?"

"Because I confirmed it."

Yuuri's head turned towards the voice of the Great One. He emerged from the shadows wearing his usual grin.

"So you decide to help us now?" Yuuri asked.

"Not quite. I will only confirm if your guesses are right."

Yuuri grinded his teeth together. He heard Wolfram sigh beside him.

"So now that that's all cleared up, we'll give you until tomorrow to make a decision," Gwendal said.

"Please do not forget that you are talking to your king here," Wolfram almost growled.

"We know. But you must understand our situation. If he does not give his decision tomorrow, then he leaves us no choice."

"What do you mean? Are you going to out-throne him? That's against the law!"

"No. We will not do that. But His Majesty isn't the only one that has a say on this matter; so does his fiancée."

Wolfram remembered that she had the right to decide on this matter too. She looked at Yuuri, who was already staring at her. Without breaking eye-contact, she spoke again.

"I will not sign any war declaration."

"That's absurd!"

"If he does not wish for a war, then no war will happen. I will only follow his wishes."

Yuuri felt thankful to Wolfram. How many times has she sacrificed what she truly wanted for his sake? This was one of them.

Lady Cheri, serving as ice-breaker, said that she was hungry and that Greta and Anissina were waiting for them at dinner. Gunter and Conrad, who were silent during the whole meeting, spoke their agreement.

"Very well," Yuuri closed the meeting.


Dinner was awfully quiet, the atmosphere of the previous argument still hung over them. Even Greta noticed this and asked Yuuri what was wrong. Yuuri just shrugged. Thankfully, Anissina was able to capture Greta's attention and distracted her of the situation.

When dinner was over, Yuuri and Wolfram decided to tuck Greta in. They headed to her room, Yuuri and Wolfram's first time to enter it. It was all pink. Too pink, in Wolfram's opinion. Greta headed to her bathroom to change and brush her teeth. When she came, she climbed on her bed and Yuuri fixed the covers on her. The couple gave her both a kiss on the forehead before saying goodnight. Wolfram flicked her fingers, extinguishing the candles and they left.


"Wolfram, I'm worried," Yuuri suddenly said. They were lying on their bed and Wolfram had thought he was already asleep. She searched for his hand under the covers. He met her hands halfway and squeezed it.

"Don't be. We won't let anything bad happen. I won't let anything bad happen," she assured him.

"But some of our soldiers will still die. Some of us will get hurt."

"I know. But we have to keep fighting."

"Greta will be in danger."

Wolfram gulped. She too feared about that. "We'll protect her."

Yuuri was glad that she said 'we'. It meant that she trusted him. He squeezed her hand again and finally closed his eyes.

Wolfram was relieved when he finally fell asleep, because she knew that she was going to have a hard time doing so. Her heart pounded fast.


A/N: First, I'M SORRY THIS UPDATE CAME OUT SO LATE! I participated in an overnight leadership formation during the weekends so I didn't have time to write! To make it up, I made this longer than usual. I'm really sorry *bow bow*

Yeah. For those who know the song "Migikata no Chou" by Kagamine Rin and Len, I intended to change their names. I don't know why I suddenly wanted to slip that in XD For those who don't know, check out VOCALOID! They're A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.

Guys, I really need reviews! Reviews = motivation! I need your opinions! ^_^

Hopefully, I'll be updating regularly again (weekly) if my schedule isn't too tight. So SEE'YA!