Princess Wolfram?
Chapter 10 – The Truth Revealed
Conrad noticed the king's face twisted in a grimace of fear. Realizing he must be having a nightmare, the brunette soldier shook him, trying to wake him up, however he failed. When Yuuri started to mumble something incoherently like 'Wolfram, don't die! Not again! Not this time!' Conrad shook the king vigorously until he finally woke up! The brunette soldier quickly comforted the king who was still trembling, convinced him that he was just having a bad dream.
"W… Wolf?"
"Wolfram is in his chamber." Watching the king got off from the bed, Conrad added, "Don't worry, Yuuri. Lady Gissela has examined him and confirmed he is fine." However the king insisted to visit the blond. He was getting frustrated when he couldn't find his shoes. Grabbing the home slippers, he staggered towards the door, almost tripped on his own foot. Conrad supported the king back to the bed. "Calm down, Yuuri. You've turned into Maou Heika and healed him. Wolfram is now in perfect health."
Breathing heavily, the king asked, "Really?"
"Yes, he was having some snacks when I visited him a moment ago."
Yuuri sighed in relief. Sitting on the double king-sized bed, he rubbed his temples. "What about Lady Tania? How is she? Where did you guys take her to?" He started to suffer from dizzy spells. Not receiving any reply, the king forced himself to look up at the brunette soldier.
Conrad noticed the king's face turned into a little pale. "Yuuri, are you alright? You look pale."
"My head hurts."
"It must be you didn't have enough sleep these days. There were many things happened since you returned from earth and you didn't have sufficient rest." Conrad walked to the closet, taking out a towel and some clothes. "And you even transformed into Maou Heika last night. You must be extremely exhausted." He placed the garments next to the king.
"You said I'm already strong enough to maintain my consciousness when I transformed into Maou mode. Aarrgh… I feel like my head is going to burst." Conrad thought *I agree. But do you know you were in Maou mode the whole night, staying beside Wolfram and refused to return to your normal self until fainted due to exhaustion?* Not receiving any reply again, Yuuri looked up at the brunette soldier who stared him with a blank expression. "Conrad?"
Awakened from his thought, Conrad lied, "Well… I guess you've used too much maryoku."
"Maybe you're right."
"Need I to call Lady Gissela?" The king shook his head. "Need to take more rest?" The king shook his head again. "Very well, Yuuri. Feeling hungry?"
"A little."
"The lunch is already served. Do you want to have it here?"
"No. I'll be joining all of you in the dining room. Wait for me." Yuuri grabbed the clothes and walked towards his private bathroom. Feeling something amiss, he looked at the hot, sunny sky through the window. "Oh my, it's already that late? Why don't you wake me up? I still have tons of paperwork on my desk. Gwendal will definitely kill me for sure!" He quickly entered the bathroom and slammed the door shut.
Conrad stood outside the bathroom door. "Yuuri, take your time. Gwendal allows you not to sign the paperwork today."
"Huh really? That's rare! He gave me a day off?"
"Well, not really."
"Then why?"
*Should I tell him now?* Conrad thought.
The king was in the bathroom for a few minutes before he yelled, "Aaarrgh, I didn't attend Gunter's lesson yesterday! Don't tell me he wants me to attend his lesson the whole day?"
"Nothing to do with Gunter."
Yuuri let out a relief sigh before he yelled again. "A sudden ten nobles meeting or something?"
"No, well… yes, a meeting but it is only between us. An urgent matter that we need to discuss."
"An internal discussion?" There was a brief pause before Yuuri spoke, "What is it about? How long will it take?"
"I'm not sure but it may take the whole day. Why? You need to go somewhere?"
"I plan to go back to earth and I wish Gwendal will give me a week off."
A minute passed before Conrad quickly returned to the bathroom door. "My apology Yuuri, what did you say?" He watched the king walking out of the bathroom, already dressed in his usual attire.
Yuuri blushed. "I intend to bring Lienette to see my parents today." Conrad was astonished. "Therefore I wish Gwendal will give me a week off. But with his stern attitude, I bet 100% he will reject my request. Looking at his grumpy face, make me feel creepy. I wonder does he have any girlfriend or…"
AHEM!
Yuuri turned to Conrad. "Did you just cough?"
"Erm… It's not from me."
Yuuri soon realized someone was standing at the door and noticed it was Gwendal! He whispered to his godfather, "When did he arrive?"
"When you were in the bathroom?"
The king gasped. "So he heard everything?"
"Your voice is pretty loud and clear."
"Good mor… afternoon, Gwendal," greeted Yuuri sheepishly when the mazoku approaching him.
"I apologize that my grumpy face scares you, Heika. I will wear a mask next time."
"Oh no, not at all. But if you insists, pick a cute one then," Yuuri joked which earned a deadly glare from the grey haired mazoku. "Sorry, just kidding."
"Very funny." He turned to Conrad who let out a little chuckle. "I assume you haven't told Heika anything yet."
"He just woke up from a nightmare. Gwendal, can we inform him later? Maybe after lunch. I'm afraid he might not take it well."
"I totally disagree with you. He just made a nice joke. Conrad, you must remember. He's the king. You shouldn't pamper him too much. Being here for three years, he should be able to handle everything by now."
Conrad tried to protest when the king spoke, "Hey, what are you two whispering at? Don't try to hide anything from me coz I don't like it."
Gwendal turned to the king with a very serious expression. "Very well, Heika." Yuuri gulped in fear. "Lady Tania was found dead in the dungeon! She commits suicide!"
Yuuri visibly blanched. *Oh no!*
… Shin Makoku, in the king's office …
Yuuri, as usual was sitting on his chair at his desk. Despite he felt sorrow at the news of Lady Tania's death and was asked to take some rest, the king protested and insisted to know everything! Conrad could see that the king was close to tears. Trembling, trying to hold his tears, Yuuri listened attentively to the spy's information.
"I disguised as a maid in the castle of Cavandria and found out the king actually doesn't have a daughter or even adopted daughter. The worst thing is, the king himself didn't have any clue about Shin Makoku's candidates at all. Therefore I sent an urgent pigeon messenger to inform Lord von Voltaire about this."
"So Lady Tania is not from Cavandria? Who is she? Where is she coming from?" asked Yuuri. Conrad placed a wrapped item on his desk. "What is this?" He opened it and was surprised to see it was a dagger.
"Geika picked it. It belongs to Lady Tania! She might come from the country of Elmoldova."
"Elmoldova?" Yuuri repeated. "How can you be so sure?" Gunter then placed a thick, blue-leathered book on his desk and pointed the picture of a dagger. It was an exact similar with Lady Tania's dagger.
Gunter cupped his chin. "It's stated only the royal family of Elmoldova owns this dagger."
"Is that means Lady Tania is a princess?" asked Yuuri.
Gunter shook. "It can't be. According to the book, the royal family was all already killed four hundred years ago…"
"Well, she could have survived!" interrupted Yuuri. He noticed Gunter and Conrad were completely stunned, Gwendal rubbed his temples and Yosak tried to resist his laughter. "What?"
Conrad answered, "Yuuri, the whole castle was burnt down to the ground which means no one could have survived." The king's mouth formed an O. "And the tragedy happened four centuries ago. People of Elmoldova are pure human, they won't live that long like half mazokus or maz…"
"Even a full blooded mazoku may not live that long, kiddo," said Yosak. "If they do, they are very, very old."
"Did you study the history? What has Gunter taught you these years?" Gwendal groaned a little.
"I haven't taught Heika about the human countries yet," replied Gunter, defending his beloved king.
"Are you telling me that the king only learnt about our country all these years?" said Gwendal. Receiving a firm nod from the lilac haired mazoku, Gwendal shouted, "What!"
Yuuri begged, "Please don't get angry, Gwendal. I promise I will work hard. Can we get back to the topic? If Lady Tania is really from Elmoldova, we can bury her body there and let her rest in peace."
Gunter spoke, "We intend to interrogate her this morning but she has committed suicide. So, we failed to find out much detail. Therefore we can only conclude that her ancestor may be either a relative or a friend of the royal family."
"Erm… is it stated on the book?" asked Yuuri.
"No."
"Then how could you just jump into such conclusion?"
"The people of Elmoldova are well known of making good weapons and they sold weapons to other nearby countries."
Yuuri's mouth formed an 'O' again. "What other information did you find, Gunter?"
"Well, in the point of fact, I just found out this book in the morning and I haven't really gone through it yet."
"Why don't you read it now?"
"B… but there are at least fifty pages overall... "
"Do we have other choice?" asked Yuuri. "We can't miss any source to find out about Lady Tania's background."
"It's not a bad idea after all. Let's treat this opportunity as your first lesson to learn about human countries," Conrad smiled to the king before turning to his brother who gave a nod. He then heard a soft groan from the spy and punched him on the stomach.
Yosak uttered in pain. The spy muttered, "I don't mind listening, in fact I love histories very much. The problem is can we not choose the whimsical story teller?"
Gunter started to read...
Three hours later…
"The end," said Gunter and finally closed the book.
Yosak stretched his body. "What a waste of time. The book did not say much about why and how the royal family was murdered."
"Well, at least they did clearly state where the country is." Conrad walked to face the enormous map hanging on the wall. "Elmoldova, erm… the country is quite near to Francia. Yosak, we're going there tomorrow as soon as the sun rises."
"Yosh, captain," said Yosak in salute. "Only you and me?"
Before Conrad replied, the king spoke, "Did you just say Elmoldova is near to Francia? May I join you? I want to visit Antoine and Laila… " the king paused and scurried to the grey haired mazoku's desk. "Gwendal, please allow me to go…" Yuuri tried several cute begging methods until there were sweats appeared on Gwendal's forehead.
"Permission is granted!" shouted Gwendal. The king cheered joyously. "But under one condition!"
"Huh? What condition?" asked Yuuri in confusion.
"When you return, I'm going to test you on swordsmanship, majutsu and studies. If you failed one of them, you'll be grounded for doing all the paperwork by yourself. I will never help you sorting and signing partial of them. Deal?" Gwendal was really surprised when the king agreed without hesitation. *This king agrees to anything as long as he can go out and play.*
"Heika is going, I'm going too," said Gunter.
"Fine, you go with us, Gunter. You can train me on the way to Elmoldova," said Yuuri. Gunter immediately hugged the king in happiness who did not struggle this time. The king just smiled contently, thinking *Lady Tania, this is the only thing I can do for you*
Some knocks on the door were later heard and the maids brought in some cakes and tea. *Great! It's tea time!* Yuuri remembered he only managed to eat a little during lunch for not having the appetite. He grabbed a slice of cake and inserted it into his mouth. *Yummy!* Gunter poured the hot tea into the cups and offered one to the king. Yuuri gladly received it and sipped the tea. "Now that settles. How do you know about Lady Tania's intention? Gunter told me something about setting up a trap."
"Conrad found something in your room," said Gwendal. He beckoned his brother to pass the transparent plastic bag to the king. The king stared at the exotic orange flower buds with purple petals in awe.
"They are beautiful," Yuuri praised. "What are these?"
"Those are Violet Osagee, a poisonous plant which emits sweet smell," answered Gunter.
"What?" Yuuri was shocked and dropped the plastic bag. The lilac haired mazoku wished to continue, however they heard some knocks again on the door. "Come in," said the king. Everyone turned and looked at the Great Sage slowly entering the room.
"Hello, Shibuya." Surprised to see many people in the room, he asked, "Hello, everyone. Is this some sort of a gathering or what? Am I disturbing you guys?"
Yuuri replied, "Yes. We are in the middle of a very important discussion. What do you want?"
"Am I not allowed visiting my old friend?"
"Isn't your old friend staying in the Shinou's temple?"
"Oh Shibuya, that hurts."
"I don't have time for this, Murata. If you want to stay, 'sshhhuuu'… keep quiet." Murata silenced himself by eating a cake and chose to sit on the couch. "Where were we?"
"Oh yes, the Violet Osagee. It's a poisonous plant which emits sweet smell," continued Gunter.
"Sweet? Now I remember. The first night I came back from earth, I smelt something sweet in my room. Initially I thought it's coming from Beautiful Wolfram. The smell is suffocating." Yuuri gasped. "Oh my, does that mean I got poisoned?"
"Calm down, Yuuri. We have mixed some potion in your meal when you're unaware. You're alright," said Conrad. "Besides, you're not in your room most of the time and you're sleeping in Wolfram's chamber on the night you returned from Earth, remember?"
"Oh, yes. Whew, I'm so relieved." Yuuri then noticed his bespectacled friend sent him a sinister smile. "I know what's in your mind, Murata. Don't get any wrong idea, you pervert Sage! He was sleeping in his own bed, and I was sleeping on the chair!" He turned to the grey haired mazoku and noticed his grumpy face. "Believe me, there's nothing happened between us! Conrad can be my witness!"
"Why are you so tense? I didn't say anything, Shibuya," teased Murata. "I only knew Lord von Bielefeld was fully healed the next day."
Yuuri's face was red in embarrassment. "Shut up and get lost!"
"But you told me earlier that as long as I keep quiet, I can stay!"
Yuuri sulked. "Well, eat your cake!" He then focused on the plant again. "So, how did you find these, Conrad?"
"Remember I was looking for you in your room yesterday morning? Seeing you weren't there, I allowed the maids to clean your room. Lasagna accidentally knocked on a vase; the one which was placed on the bedside table."
"Where were you, Heika? I was looking for you everywhere during that time. Do you know how worry I am to see the bed untouched," cried Gunter.
"I was reading bed time story to Greta and ended up sleeping in her room. That's all." Looking at his bespectacled friend's weird smile again, "Hey you, what is so funny?"
"I just realized you don't really like to sleep in the royal bed and I wonder…" teased Murata again.
"SHUT UP, MURATA!" shouted Yuuri. "Eat your cake!"
"I'm not eating, I'm enjoying tea now." Murata slurped his tea.
Yuuri sulked. "THEN ENJOY YOUR TEA! Continue, Conrad."
"Gunter started to do some research on the cure with the help from Geika and Ulrike while we tried to look for any suspicious people in the castle. When we received Yosak's message, we have confirmed the culprit and discussed to set up a trap. We did all this when you were in the library."
"Now I understand. Gunter purposely gave me those tough questions to spend hours in the library while you all discussed how to catch Lady Tania! That's unfair!"
"Well, we did not wish to startle you. However during the discussion, Lady Anissina pulled Lord von Kleist away to test her new invention. What a pity," said Yosak. "So it ended up only Lord von Voltaire, Conrad and me in the discussion."
Yuuri huffed annoyingly. "Fortunately, Wolf is there to help me out. Who knows, I might be punished for handing up blank paper!"
Gunter shook his head. "How could I punish you, Heika for I love you too much. If Lord von Voltaire intends to do so, I'll try my very best to stop him!" Gwendal glared at the lilac haired mazoku.
"Speaking of Wolf, the way he explained those questions were so much comprehensible. I understand how the people in this world express their feelings of affection and it's truly interesting!" Despite the king was praising the blond, Conrad felt miserable when he recalled his baby brother's red teary eyes.
Gunter wailed in miserable. "There is no way the brat is teaching better than me!"
*Great, time for revenge* Gwendal thought. "This means your teaching is boring. That's why Heika always skips your lesson." He turned to the king. "Too bad Wolfram can't be your personal trainer, Heika." Getting annoyed to hear the wail again, he shouted, "Shut up!"
Yuuri tried to hide his guilt with his goofy smile. "I'll talk to Wolf about this one day, okay? What happened next?"
Conrad continued, "After the dinner with Lady Lienette, I walked you back to the royal chamber. When you were asleep, we shifted you to another room and Yosak disguised as you."
"Well, I'm not that bad sleeper... how come I don't feel someone moved me?" asked Yuuri.
Yosak answered, "Kiddo, remember the fruit cocktail?" Yuuri nodded. "We have mixed some sleeping herb into that drink!"
"No wonder you insisted me to drink it!" The king crossed his arms. "How do you know when she will attack?"
"Conrad saw a shadow disappearing into darkness the night he led Wolfram's steed away," said Gwendal. "Since then, we have started to prepare."
"Why did she want to kill me?" asked Yuuri.
Gunter blurted out, "Lady Tania said Maou Heika had killed thousands of people four hundred years ago! She is back for revenge!"
"What? Why?" Yuuri was shocked. "What has it to do with Maou Heika? Lady Tania is from Elmoldova, right?" He noticed every occupant carried plenty of unanswered questions in their expressions except the smirked Great Sage. "Murata, you knew about this?" and the smirk grew wider. "Why you…" and everyone started to curse the Great Sage when a maid announced the dinner was already served.
Murata stood up brushing his attire. "Dinner time. Oh man, I'm starving. Everyone, I suggest we have dinner now and rest for a while. If you want to know the real truth about Lady Tania's revenge, meet here again after two hours. I'm going to tell you a real life story." The Great Sage opened the door and walked out of the room.
Two hours later, Shin Makoku, somewhere in the East Wing…
"Wolfram?"
The blond was walking to the office when he heard someone called his name. He turned and saw his second half brother slowly approaching him. "Conrad? You're alone? Where is Heika?"
"He's with Princess Greta and Lady Lienette. He wants to tell them that he'll be going to Elmodolva tomorrow too," replied Conrad. Wolfram nodded. "Didn't Yuuri ask you to call him by his name?"
"Yes but I think I should show him respect for he's the king. You were also used to call him Heika countless times until he imposed that silly punishment on me." Wolfram blushed when the brunette soldier smiled. He quickly turned away, hiding his embarrassment. "Oh, so he'll be going too." Conrad nodded. "How long will you be away?"
"Twenty days or more. Yuuri wants to visit the king of Francia as the countries are quite near." Wolfram was taken by surprise when Conrad suddenly held his hands. "Your hands are all bruised. I was told you were training very hard since morning."
Wolfram retrieved his hands, hiding them behind his back. "Well, Martin and the others were suddenly getting serious into practice and requested me to give them harsh trainings. I heard they said something like wishing to be as powerful as Maou Heika?" The blond chuckled. "I wonder what changes them all of a sudden."
Conrad thought, *Your personal guards really love you, don't they? For they dare to compete the most powerful Maou. Wolfram, you're unconscious when Maou Heika confessed to you. I think every occupant in this castle knew about this except you and… Yuuri.*
Wolfram noticed his brother staring into space. He called and called until the brunette soldier looked at him. "Geika asked for my presence. Got to go."
"Wait, Wolfram."
"What?"
"Aren't you going to tell Yuuri?"
"About what?"
"You love him, don't you?"
Wolfram was astonished. "W… what are you talking about?"
"Don't deny it. I know you well, Wolfram. You can't lie to me." The blond bit his lips. "You do not intend to tell him. Why? I understand Yuuri will have a little shock at first but he…"
"He's a wimp. He'll faint on the spot and once he awakes, he will start to avoid me!" Wolfram's lips started to tremble. "Besides, why do I still need to tell him? He has already made his choice. He has confessed and given a present to Lady Lienette. Remember?"
"Yes, Wolfram but…"
Wolfram covered his ears, refused to listen anymore. "It's an unrequited love, Conrad. You know it. He'll never love me in return for I'm a guy and I don't want to get hurt in the end. I'll ask him to take me out from the list and…"
"And you'll return to Bielefeld." Seeing his baby brother nodded, Conrad added, "You don't have to leave. Do you know Maou Heika lov…" Conrad almost blurted out when they heard some strong footsteps approaching.
"Brother Gwendal?"
"Wolfram, it's a good choice. Don't give yourself false hope," said Gwendal. "If you wish to return to Bielefeld to forget the feeling towards Yuuri Heika, I grant you."
"Gwendal? Why you…" Conrad was speechless when he heard the grey haired mazoku.
"Everyone loves the king, uh?" said Gwendal, looking at his baby brother whose head tilted down, blushed. "Didn't Geika ask for your presence? He's already in the office. Go now. I've something to talk to Conrad." The blond nodded and walked away. Gwendal turned to Conrad. "You wish to tell him about Maou Heika's confession, didn't you?"
"Yes. I couldn't let him thinking it's an unrequited love and… I don't want him to leave Blood Pledge Castle."
"Conrad, you're just complicating the issue. I've just warned everyone in the castle including Princess Greta and Lady Lienette not to disclose about this and now you wish to tell him?"
"What? Why?"
"Yuuri Heika loves Lady Lienette! Are you going to tell him that his other self loves somebody else and that happens to be a male?"
"I understand Yuuri has a little prejudice about male to male relationship but didn't you notice he treats Wolfram a little different? The way he looks at him… the way he talks to him… Yuuri cares Wolfram very much."
"I only know they love to bicker over small matters. Conrad, he only cares Wolfram as a mere friend because they're almost the same age. That's all."
"Gwendal, once Wolfram stepped out of this castle, he will never come back! He won't come back. Understand?"
"Yes. But this is the best choice for him."
"You might have angered Maou Heika."
"I believe Maou Heika will understand if he truly loves Wolfram." Gwendal sighed. "Right now, let's go to the office. Everyone is waiting. Where is the king?"
The two tall men were walking towards the office, when someone slowly came out of his hiding place. He was squatting down behind a pillar, covering his mouth with both hands, had unintentionally overheard the two brothers' conversation. *Wolfram loves me? Maou Heika loves him?*
Yuuri was standing still outside the office, staring at the doorknob. He froze; listening to familiar shouts and screams inside the room. They were from Wolfram, Yosak and Lady Cecilie. *Cheri-sama? When did she return?* The king thought until someone opened the door.
"Yuuri, where have you been?" asked Conrad in concern.
"Greta asked me to accompany her for a walk until I forgot to keep track of the time." The king lied and then entered the room. He was shocked to see Wolfram strangling the orange haired spy. "What's going on?" Lady Cecilie giggled girlishly, running towards him and gave him the famous ample bosom embrace. "Cheri-sama, when did you return?"
"Just a few hours ago. I'm so damn worried thinking my precious Wolfe is dying. I've cancelled all my love trips to return as soonest. Seeing him in perfect health, I'm relieved!" Yuuri was trying to get out of the embrace when the ex-Maou continued, "I love you, Heika! Thanks so much for saving my son in such a romantic way!" said the blond woman cheerfully while planting some kisses on the king's face.
Yuuri's face was as red as a tomato when the beautiful blond woman kissed him in public. Gunter cried and pulled the ex-Maou away from his beloved king. "Cheri-sama, you're welcome. But did you just say romantic? Why did you suddenly say so?"
Lady Cecilie asked in disbelief, "You don't know yet?"
"Mother!" shouted Gwendal. "Don't utter a word!" The grey haired mazoku failed to talk to his mother for he just found out about her return. Ignoring her eldest son's warning, Lady Cecilie blurted out everything.
"WHAT!" yelled Yuuri. Everyone covered their ears. "K…Ki….Kis…Kissss…..?" He blanched. *Didn't he just confess to Wolf last night? He too sacrificed my first kiss?*
Yosak whispered to Conrad who was smiling, looking at his mother's immature attitude. "I'm impressed that Cheri-sama has just returned home and she managed to know so much!"
"Calm down, Shibuya," said Murata. "It's only a kiss. It's not a big deal."
Conrad comforted the king to sit on the couch. "Yuuri, Maou Heika has no intention. He just wanted to save Wolfram."
"Have you not had your first kiss yet, kiddo?" asked Yosak, which earned him a scold from Conrad. The king did not answer anything as his mind went blank.
Lady Cecilie clapped her hands. "Wonderful! Maou Heika saved you twice. He kissed you and even confessed to you. Oh Wolfe, no man will resist your beauty not even Maou Heika." She walked up to his precious son and hugged him lovingly.
Everyone noticed the king murmuring. Murata approached him to listen. "Think positive, Shibuya. It's not that bad. He's beautiful. It's worth to lose the first kiss to him…"
Wolfram felt deeply hurt and upset, watching the king who was still in shock. He then bowed. "I'm sorry for giving you so much trouble. Thanks for saving me, Heika." He turned to the Great Sage. "I'm sorry, Geika. I think I better excuse myself."
"Lord von Bielefeld, I'm going to start the story soon and I really wish you could join us!" said Murata. Wolfram was about to protest when Murata started to ask everyone sitting on the couches. The Great Sage was sitting between Gunter and his mother. Gwendal was sitting on the single couch. Yosak and Conrad were sitting together on the twin couch.
Looking at his baby brother still standing, Gwendal spoke, "Wolfram, Geika asked you to join. He must have the reason behind."
Wolfram hesitated for a moment and then said 'very well'. He looked for an empty seat but he could see the only empty seat was beside the king and he would never choose it. "Yosak, move!"
"No way, I want to sit with my Conrad," said Yosak, grabbing the brunette soldier's arm lovingly. Lady Cecilie chuckled. Conrad punched him on the head. "Ouch!"
Wolfram was going to get a chair when suddenly Yuuri slowly stood up. "I'm sorry, Wolf. I was just too carried away. Forgive me and it's Yuuri. Don't make me remind you like Conrad." The king was going to hold the blond's hand but Wolfram recoiled from his touch. "I know your hands are hurt." Wolfram was surprised when the king gently held his right hand and began summoning healing maryoku.
Conrad and Gwendal looked at each other. The brunette soldier smiled. *See, I told you. Yuuri treats Wolfram differently* He then watched the king concentrating his healing maryoku onto his baby brother's injuries. *When did he know about Wolfram's injuries?*
Lady Cecilie spoke, "Poor Wolfe. He was practicing fencing since morning till his hands were all bruised."
"You've just recovered and you're pushing yourself too much!" said Yuuri, taking the left hand and healed it.
"I haven't practiced much since I came here. So I need to catch up a little," said Wolfram. He did not wish to speak about his personal guards' sudden changed behavior.
Lady Cecilie smiled. "I had been explaining the same thing to him but he didn't listen. Please advise my stubborn Wolfe, Heika."
"Done. Take care, Wolf," said Yuuri and the blond replied a 'thank you'.
There was a brief silence until Gwendal coughed a little. "It's already late. Geika still has a story to tell."
"Oh, don't mind me. I can start it anytime. Besides, I'm sleeping here tonight," said Murata.
Yuuri groaned. "I'm going to Elmoldova as soon as the sun rises. I need to get up early." He sat down, inviting the blond to sit beside him.
"I bet you won't sleep well after hearing the story," teased Murata.
"What do you mean?" He glared at his bespectacled friend.
Murata sipped some water. "It's all started with Alice Wincott, a direct descendant of Erhard Wincott. Despite she's a Wincott, Alice disliked inventing. She preferred travelling to explore new things. She eventually met her true love during one of her travels however due to he was merely a human chef, her family strongly protested the marriage. Therefore, they chose to elope to Elmoldova and a year after Howard, their son was born. As his father was not a Mazoku noble, Howard did not have "von" in his name and due to his mixed heritage of mazoku and human, he did not possess any maryoku."
Yuuri whispered to Conrad, "Sounds like you," and the brunette soldier just smiled.
"Howard Nigel was a very hardworking and obedient boy. When he was thirty-six, his father had passed away due to sickness and he helped his mother to run the tavern. It was their family business. Fifty years later his mother too passed away and Howard ran the tavern all by himself."
This time, Yosak was the one whispered to Conrad, "An independent, hardworking type of guy. I like it."
"He eventually met his true love, a peasant girl. She is pretty, feisty and has a pair of beautiful emerald eyes."
"Sounds like me," said Lady Cecilie. Wolfram stifled a yawn, starting to feel sleepy as he always slept early.
"Howard proposed to Rachel and since then, they worked together to run the tavern. They were very happy and planning to marry when one evening, the Prince of Elmoldova stopped at their tavern for a rest after his horse riding practice. Prince Enrique took a liking towards Rachel and since that day, he often came to drop by for a visit."
Murata stopped a while for a drink. Watching his bespectacled friend pouring down the content into his throat, the king urged, "Hurry up, Murata!"
Murata wiped his mouth. "One day, Howard went out to town to replenish his supplies. When he returned, he found out the tavern was in a mess! He searched for Rachel in every room until he finally found her crying in the bathroom. She was cleaning herself… as she was already raped by that bastard prince!" All the occupants' eyes were bulging in shock!
Murata was going to continue when he noticed his friend suddenly had difficulties in breathing. "Shibuya, are you alright?" Conrad helped to rub the king's back. Everyone turned to look at the king in concern.
"Wimp, it's just a story," said Wolfram.
Taking some deep breaths, the king retorted, "I'm not a wimp, brat!"
"What happened next, Geika?" asked Gunter.
"Of course Howard looked for Prince Enrique for revenge! But he was beaten almost to death and was locked up in the dungeon. After two weeks, he was released and he returned to the tavern. He failed to search for Rachel until a loyal customer of his told him that she was taken away by Prince Enrique. He ran back to look for Prince Enrique asking him to return his beloved fiancé. But he later found out the reason he was released because Rachel offered herself to be one of Prince Enrique's concubines!" Murata continued, ignoring their surprises. "Howard was a mere half mazoku, he couldn't do anything to rescue his beloved fiancé. He cursed himself for being weak. Suddenly he remembered his mother, Alice told him about the legendary Shinou Heika and he went to Shinou's Temple, hoping the Great One would grant him power. Yes, Howard was granted enormous maryoku and he successfully killed Prince Enrique."
Yosak shouted, "Way to go! Cool! That bastard is killed!"
Murata smiled. "Unfortunately, Howard was a just half mazoku. The maryoku Shinou Heika granted was too much for him to handle, therefore he went berserk. After he killed Prince Enrique, he killed the soldiers, maids, everyone in the castle. He burnt down the castle which means he burnt his beloved Rachel alive as well."
"He burnt Rachel?" asked Yosak.
"That's pathetic, she was burnt dead," added Gunter.
"When he back to consciousness, Howard realized he killed his fiancé with his own hands. He couldn't face the fact, he cried and screamed in agony. The night sky turned into thunderstorm and imagines what will happen when the storm broke and lightning struck in Elmoldolva?"
"Many people die?" asked Yuuri.
Murata nodded. "Thousands people of Elmoldova were killed on the spot during that tragedy!"
"Thousands people?" Conrad gasped. "So Howard Nigel was Maou Heika?"
"Exactly!" said Murata. Everyone gasped in shock.
"What? Maou Heika is the one who killed all the innocent people of Elmoldova?" asked Yuuri, standing up all of a sudden. "Are you telling me the one living inside my body is a murderer and that's the reason Lady Tania came to revenge?" Wolfram looked at the angry wimp, speechless.
"Shibuya, calm down," said Murata. "This happened four hundred years ago. Maou Heika only did that because he loved Rachel too much."
"How am I supposed to calm down? The one living inside my body is the murderer to thousands of innocent people!"
Conrad comforted the king. "Yuuri, he went berserk! He didn't wish to kill them."
"I DON'T CARE! TO ME, HE'S STILL THE MURDERER!" shouted Yuuri. Everyone noticed blue aura emanating from the king's body.
"Y… Yuuri?" Wolfram stammered.
"YES, YOU'RE RIGHT! HE'S THE MURDERER! SO WHAT!" Everyone silenced to see the Great Sage yelled at the king. There was a brief pause before Murata spoke, "He dared to return to Shinou's Temple and asked for punishment. He entrusted his soul to Shinou Heika and pledged to serve Shin Makoku for eternity to repent his sin." Despite breathing heavily, Murata still continued, "Shibuya, Maou Heika received harsh punishment just like how the murderers in our world were served life or death sentences." Yuuri slowly sat down, covering his face in guilt. The blue aura was gone. Wolfram bit his lip, not knowing how to comfort the wimp.
"So, is Howard's soul, I mean Maou Heika's soul really merged with the Maou who ruled Shin Makoku?" asked Gwendal.
Murata shook. "Shinou Heika had no intention to merge his soul with anyone. He just kept it in a black crystal ball. But he sensed Soushu would eventually be released to conquer the world. Therefore, he came up with a plan. Four hundred years later, when Lady Susanna Julia is born, Shinou Heika merged her pure soul with Maou Heika's in order to eradicate Soushu.
"Lady Julia? That explains the reason why her healing maryoku was much stronger compared to her ancestor!" said Gunter.
"Unfortunately, Lady Julia overspent her magic, which resulted in her death and Shinou Heika had to search for a suitable person who is eligible to carry these two souls until he found you," said Murata looking at his friend. "For he believes Shibuya is strong enough to defeat Soushu and yes, he predicted correctly!" Everyone nodded smilingly. "About Lady Tania? Well, we can only conclude that her ancestor might know the royal family very well. A relative, a friend, whatever and she came to revenge. As usual, please ensure the king's safety and protect him all the times."
Some occupants in the room were starting to move their muscles for they thought the Great Sage had finished his story. Yosak stood up stretching his body!
"I've not finished yet," said Murata.
"Aren't you have finished?" asked Yosak. Murata shook. "What else?"
"Well, Shinou Heika finds Rachel was an interesting girl. She's unique." said the Great Sage.
"Uh-huh?" said Gunter.
"Shinou Heika allowed her to be reincarnated. She has been reincarnated several times when Maou Heika's soul was released."
"Oh really? Where is she now?" asked Gunter. The occupants returned to their seats.
Murata smirked. "Hmm… He is now as one of Lady Susanna's students."
"A healer? Could she be Lady Gissela?" teased Yosak. Everyone turned to the spy in surprise except Gwendal.
"Didn't you hear clearly that Geika mention the word 'He'?" Gwendal groaned. Murata chuckled.
"Who is he?" asked Yosak, impatiently.
Murata cupped his chin looking at the beautiful person who was sitting beside his best friend. Everyone followed his gaze until Yuuri realized all the occupants staring at Wolfram. He then too looked at the blond. Wolfram was surprised by the king's remark and quickly looked away when he noticed everyone was looking at him in gape. Murata joyously announcement, "Yes, it's Lord von Bielefeld!"
"WHAT!" all the occupants yelled. Some even collapsed onto the ground, unconscious.
The next morning, Shin Makoku, in the royal courtyard…
"What happened to you, my beloved Heika? You looked extremely exhausted and sleepy. Didn't you sleep well?" asked Gunter. He had been repeating the same thing when Conrad carried his beloved king on the back and walked out of the royal chamber until they finally reached the royal courtyard. "It's entire Geika's fault. Why did he tell you that the brat was the reincarnation of Rachel?"
Even though the king was half asleep, he was mumbling and Conrad who heard him, chuckled. "Yes, we go Elmoldova together. We won't leave you behind." The brunette soldier looked at Gunter. "Don't worry. He can sleep on the way to the port."
Yosak approached them. "I've asked Darkoscos to arrange a carriage." He looked at the sleeping king and noticed there were dark circles around his eyes. "Yo kiddo, what have you done last night? You got shocked by Geika's story till you could hardly sleep a wink?" Yuuri was shocked by the sudden yell and opened his eyes for a second before shutting them again. The spy sniffed some unpleasant smell emitting from the king. He then whispered, "Ow man, he stinks. Is he wearing the same old uniform?"
"Mind your manners, Yosak! He's the king," scolded Gunter. "You have no right to say the king stinks!"
"Sorry!" Even though the spy apologized but his tone was mocking.
"He didn't change into sleeping attire when I woke him and he was sleeping on a chair," said Conrad.
Yosak gaped. "He really doesn't like sleeping in the royal bed?"
"Stop talking nonsense. The carriage has arrived. Yosak, open the door," demanded Gwendal.
Yosak quickly complied and watched Conrad placing the king slowly on the seat. He then supported his head with a soft pillow. "I'm so jealous. You never treat me like this before."
"Are you saying I'm not treating you good enough?" Yosak shook his head and quickly walked away to pat the horses. *Maou Heika appears again, right?* Conrad looked at the sleeping king and then noticed his second button from the top was missing. *Is Maou Heika presenting him with the button?* He smiled. He said goodbye to Gwendal and noticed someone standing at one of the pillars. He stared at the pillar for some time until Gunter entered the carriage.
"Bye, everyone. See you after twenty days," waved Yosak and led the horses' reins.
There was indeed someone standing at the pillar. He was surprised when Conrad noticed him and quickly hid behind the pillar. When the carriage was heading towards the exit, he came out of his hiding place. He tilted down his head looking at something he gripped. Yes, it was indeed the king's button!
Extra Information about Gakuran (Yuuri's black attire)
Gakuran is one of Japanese school uniforms. It is said, the second button from the top of a male's uniform is often given away to a female he is in love with, and is considered a way of confession. The second button is the one closest to the heart and is said to contain the emotions from all three years attendance at the school.
Source : .org/wiki/Gakuran