A/N: Thank you, thank you, thank you so much to those who read and reviewed the last chapter! T-T I never expected that this story would get such… passionate reviews. They were even more passionate than those that preceded them! I cried, bawled, wept, shed blood, whatever – your reviews not only moved me to tears, but my heart was also literally jumping in glee that I had to hold on to it! XD To those reviewers who were not signed in, and thus, I was not able to give a reply, please know that your reviews are equally appreciated. Thank you, thank you, thank you! T-T
To , believe it or not, your suggestion is almost – almost – right on the mark. ;D
Enjoy reading!
CHAPTER NINE
The ship's whistle resounded loudly, signaling its departure. Slowly, it trudged forward, the waves splashing against it in rhythmic protest.
"Take care, Heika," Flurin said as she waved her goodbye. Beside her stood Gwendal and Yozak, the former with his usual scowl on his face and the latter with a jovial grin on his lips.
"You too, Flurin-san!" was Yuuri's reply amidst the sea's din, one of his arms raised as he waved back enthusiastically. "Gwendal!" he called out. "Make sure you come home as soon as you can! You too, Yozak!" he added. Yozak replied with a wide grin and a salute, while the first son merely scowled back at the young king and remained silent. Soon, however, Yuuri swore that he noticed Gwendal's lips curve into a smile, regardless of how forced and awkward that smile was.
He pointed this out to Conrad and the second son only chuckled. "With Gwendal on the job," he said, "you won't have to worry about Caloria anymore, Heika."
Yuuri nodded. "I suppose you're right. Besides," the most recent smile on his face dissipated into a small frown, "there are more important things that I need to worry about." He turned to Conrad when the other placed a hand on his shoulder, that impeccable smile drawn on the second son's lips.
"Why don't you go rest, Yuuri?" Conrad suggested. "It will be another long journey back to Shin Makoku. You deserve some rest." The young king meekly nodded at him in agreement, and Conrad ushered him towards the stairs leading to the lower decks. "Huber," he called out, glancing over his shoulder. "Could you send a message to Blood Pledge Castle that we are on our way back? With a," his lips curled into an uncertain smile, "rather important guest."
Geigen Huber curtly bowed, saying, "I will, Your Excellency." And he strode off to perform his task.
The young king descended the wooden steps with Conrad behind him, feeling more exhausted than he had ever been. He really did deserve some rest, Yuuri wondered absently. As they neared his room however, all other thoughts flew from his mind as his gaze fell on the lone figure of blond hair, green eyes and navy uniform, standing in front of his door.
Wolfram stood proudly with his arms crossed over his chest, an evident frown marring his perfect face and his fierce gaze boring into the wooden door. He turned when Yuuri and Conrad approached, and his eyes noticeably softened at the sight of his king.
Yuuri, on the other hand, looked as if he had seen the blond only for the first time. What is he doing here? He thought. He had convinced himself that Wolfram would avoid him indefinitely after the incident that morning, and needless to say he was mightily appalled. Conrad lightly laughed at his expression.
"I'll leave you two behind," he said, a warm smile gracing his features. He walked past Yuuri and halted beside Wolfram, placing a hand on the blond's shoulder for a moment before proceeding on his way.
As Yuuri continued to gawk at him like a spineless fish, Wolfram said, "I was only checking if you're already—" At that moment, however, the young king roughly grabbed hold of his wrist and pulled him into the room, slamming the door behind them. Before the blond could utter a single retort, Yuuri had already pulled him into his arms, and it was only at that moment that Wolfram noticed how violently the young king was trembling.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Yuuri chanted under his breath as he buried his face into Wolfram's hair, his voice breaking at the middle. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm really sorry, Wolf…"
At the mention of his name, Wolfram gently pulled himself from Yuuri's chest and gazed at his face. He felt his heart break further at the tears that trailed down the young king's cheeks and at the regret that overflowed in his dark eyes. Smiling, he pressed his cheek against Yuuri's and whispered, "Hennachoko. I knew you were a wimp but I didn't know you were also a crybaby."
Yuuri held him tighter at that, asking him to stay, but Wolfram shook his head and pulled back. "I'm afraid that is not possible, Heika," the blond said and Yuuri cringed at the painful twinge in his chest. "But," the young king looked expectantly at him, "I'll stand guard over your door to make sure that no witch would be able to disturb your sleep." It was apparent that Yuuri did not understand his words as the young king blinked confusedly at him, but Wolfram only chuckled and pinched his cheek playfully. "Get to bed, you wimp."
Before Yuuri could react, Wolfram had already left, with the small thud of the door as it closed after him echoing in the now silent room.
For a few moments, the young king merely stood there, gazing at nothing in particular. He had felt relieved when Wolfram called him in that nickname that he had come to like, albeit unconsciously, but his chest felt heavier at the realization that Wolfram would not be able to call him that as liberally as he had before. With a sigh, Yuuri fell onto his bed, curling into a fetal position as he sobbed quietly. He loathed himself at how insensitive he had been to Wolfram before, and now he was paying that price dearly. Yes, his decisions had always benefited a lot of people at the expense of his own desires, but they had never pained him before as they had now.
It hurts, Yuuri thought to himself, it hurts so much. And with that, he fell into a restless slumber.
A few minutes later, the door creaked open and Wolfram quietly stepped inside, closing the door behind him in the same manner. Glancing at the bent figure of the young king, he frowned when he noticed that Yuuri had not covered himself with the blanket. Shaking his head in dismay, he approached the bed and pulled the blanket over the young king, but stopped when he noticed Yuuri's tear-stained cheeks. "Crybaby," he muttered softly as he kneeled beside the bed and gently wiped Yuuri's tears away. The young king instinctively leaned onto the warmth of his palm, and Wolfram could not help but smile. He brushed away the dark locks that obscured Yuuri's face, whispering, "Really… what will I do without you, Yuuri?"
As Wolfram continued to gaze lovingly at his king, he failed to notice the door as it opened slightly, along with the contemptuous amethyst eyes that watched them darkly from the small gap.
"Yuuri!" was Greta's overly enthusiastic greeting as she ran into the outstretched arms of the young king. "Welcome home, Yuuri!"
Her adoptive father embraced her tighter as a reply. "I'm home, Greta," said Yuuri. He pulled back and held her shoulders. "You didn't need to come here to greet me," he chided, pertaining to how Greta had persuaded Gunter to take her to the docks to see him. "You could have just waited at the castle."
Greta shook her head at him, a cute pout on her small lips. "I wanted to see you, Yuuri. Besides," her almond eyes gazed into Yuuri's seemingly troubled ones, "Greta felt that I had to see you and hug you like this." She then threw her arms around Yuuri's neck for the second time, embracing him affectionately. The young king's expression softened at this. Somehow, even Greta felt the predicament that her father was in.
"Greta had missed your company greatly, Your Majesty," Gunter remarked as he approached the young king. "I only deemed it appropriate that she would be the one to first greet you on your arrival."
Yuuri grinned and stared up at Gunter, an apprehensive expression on his face. He had assumed Gunter to be the first one to greet him with his exceptional comportment, and as Gunter's eyes filled with that overly familiar glimmer of reverence, he soon found that he was indeed correct on that particular assumption.
The young king struggled for breath under the suffocating hold of his advisor, mumbling out hoarse pleas that eventually went unheard by the overly emotional Gunter.
"No being could ever measure the loneliness I have felt in your absence, My Majesty," Gunter bawled, pressing Yuuri impossibly tighter to him that the young king already appeared as if he would die of suffocation at any second. "Those two days have bred pure agony on my poor soul, and my spirit was crying to the Original King as to why, oh why, did you have to—"
"Gunter!" was Wolfram's enraged cry as he attempted to snatch the already hyperventilating wimp from the man's clutches. Even though he had no right to act in a similar manner with the atrocious human princess, he at least had the privilege and obligation to keep the Maou alive as opposed to what the king's advisor was recently doing, albeit unintentionally. He wanted to say "He's not yours!" in retort, but that would only prove unfavorable to him as well seeing as Yuuri also did not belong to him – at least, not anymore. So instead, he said, "You're killing him!"
Gunter looked back at him incredulously. "Wolfram," he started haughtily, "what, in Shinou's name, are you insinuating? I most definitely am not—" His words were cut short again however, when his gaze fell on the unfamiliar woman who had descended from the ship, a number of female attendants following behind her.
Yuuri, who had already recovered from his near-death experience, noticed this and followed Gunter's gaze. "Bella-san," the young king muttered, albeit a bit timidly.
"Bella?" the advisor reiterated as his own amethyst eyes narrowed at the newcomer. "Is she…?"
"She is, indeed," Conrad answered as he appeared behind Gunter, a pensive look on his face. "I believe her identity had been included in the letter that Huber had sent you."
At that piece of information, Gunter's hostility became evident. "I see," he muttered quietly as he approached the human princess. "Your Highness," he pronounced the words with the utmost reluctance, "as the twenty-seventh Maou's royal advisor, I welcome you to Shin Makoku on behalf of the royal entourage."
"Please," Bella said, a gentle smile gracing her lips as she strode to Yuuri and linked her arm with his. "There is no need for such formalities. Call me Bella, if you may."
"Oh, but it is indeed necessary, Your Highness," was Gunter's quiet reply, his last phrase teeming with unmasked sarcasm. "Seeing as you are now the Maou's honored fiancée, it is but appropriate to address you as such." He was completely aware of Wolfram who was seething with paramount animosity beside the newly engaged couple. Fortunately, the young mazoku appeared to be capable of retaining his composure, which Gunter found to be peculiarly surprising.
Under the present circumstances, Gunter had expected Wolfram to act as impulsive and egotistical as what was typical of him. It was still a mystery to him as to why the blond had even allowed this situation to occur, when he most definitely would have prevented the engagement instead. But of course, the Maou's decisions were of utmost priority that not even his former fiancé's disapproval could prove imperative, and in Caloria's case, the young king would have chosen the town's freedom above anything else.
Still, did his engagement to the third son truly did not bear even the slightest significance to the young king? Somehow, Gunter found that disproving. Despite his histrionic tendencies towards the young king, he was not as dense as to not notice Yuuri's implicit affection for the blond. He was even aware of that sensuous moment that ensued between the two lads, regardless of how he had reacted in reference to it. And unquestionably, Wolfram's feelings for the Maou were nothing but distinctive. Hence, Gunter could not comprehend the reasons as to why they had even allowed their engagement to end, though he would willingly wager his life to attest that the young woman presently clinging to their king was but one of that reasons.
"Fiancée?" asked Greta as her gaze wandered from Bella to Wolfram, apparently confused. "But Yuuri is Wolfram's—"
"I'm afraid that is no longer the case, Greta," Wolfram interrupted gently as he knelt before the child and held her hands. At that moment, he was already on the verge of losing his composure, and he could barely restrain his own hands from trembling as he held Greta's. It was one thing to let himself suffer from his own irrational resolution, but it was an entirely different issue to burden an innocent child. "So for now," he said, his voice noticeably strained, "you'll have to ride with me."
Greta grew more confused at this and she turned to Yuuri instead. "Yuuri, why can't I ride Ao with you?" she asked, and Yuuri found it extremely difficult to answer her for he, himself, was in the very same predicament that Wolfram was in.
"Well, Greta, you see…"
"That's because our guest is going to ride with him." Wolfram was the one who answered her instead. His gaze settled darkly on the princess, who even had the decency to appear amazed by this information. "Isn't that right, Heika?"
The child, however, was not appeased by his answer. "Heika?" she said, tugging at Wolfram's sleeve. "But Wolfram doesn't call Yuuri that," Greta pointed out, to which Wolfram glanced back at her with such pained emerald eyes. "Why are you calling him that, Wolfram? You never called him that." Greta's voice was on the point of breaking, and she was looking at both Yuuri and Wolfram with an almost frantic expression on her face. "And why does Yuuri have another fiancée? You're his fiancé, aren't you, Wolfram? What's going on, Yuuri?"
At that moment, both Wolfram and Yuuri wished for nothing else than to hold the little girl tightly in their arms. Before they could do so, however, Bella had gently pulled Greta to her and said, "Greta, you're a big girl now, aren't you? So you'll have to understand that from now on, things would not be the same as before. From now on, you and Yuuri will be with me and—" She gasped when a hand abruptly covered her mouth, preventing her from speaking any further. The hand belonged to none other than Wolfram, whose present demeanor screamed of cold rage.
"Say one more word to our daughter and I'll burn you alive."
"Wolfram!" said Yuuri as he pulled the murderous blond away from the human princess as Conrad did the same with Bella. He knew how Wolfram felt – no, wait. Perhaps he did not. No one could ever understand what the blond might have been feeling at that very moment, not even him, but he could not just let Wolfram commence a cold-blooded homicide regardless of the reason. "Please forgive him, Bella-san. But," his own eyes flashed with the slightest contempt as he stared at Bella, "I would appreciate it if you wouldn't talk to Greta that way. She is our daughter, and I think am right in saying that we should be the one explaining the situation to her. So, please... let us do that on our own." Wolfram seemed to calm down at his words, and Yuuri released his hold on him.
A tense moment of silence ensued between them before Bella nodded weakly and apologized. "I'm sorry, Greta," she said. She then held the child's hand in her own and asked, "But wouldn't you want to ride with me and Yuuri?"
Greta looked back at her with uncertainty swimming in her great almond orbs, but she nonetheless nodded. "I want to ride with Yuuri," she said, gazing up at her adoptive father. Yuuri smiled gently at her.
"Well then," said Gunter as he motioned for the soldiers to bring the horses nearer, "we would best be on our way." He sent a furtive glance to Wolfram, who had fallen forebodingly silent after his momentary loss of self-possession, then to Conrad, who had the same concerned expression that he had. The second son nodded in reassurance at him before approaching the silent blond.
"Wolfram," Conrad said as he placed a hand on the blond's shoulder. Wolfram immediately slapped his hand off, however, and strode heavily towards his own horse, throwing a harsh "I'm fine" as a reply. Conrad watched as the blond mounted his white steed, his quiet demeanor no less incensed than earlier. He then turned to Yuuri, saying, "Saa, Heika. The people in Shin Makoku are waiting for your safe return. It would be best not to worry them any further."
"But, Conrad…" was Yuuri's reply as he, too, gazed at Wolfram with unhidden concern.
Conrad smiled at this. "Don't worry about Wolfram, Heika," he said. "As far as I know, he is much stronger than how people see of him." Beside Yuuri, Conrad noticed Bella's lips curl into the slightest of frowns and inwardly, he smirked. "Now, then," he added as he helped Greta onto Ao. Bella followed her, mounting the dark steed in the manner most appropriate for a lady, before Conrad finally helped Yuuri onto the horse as well. He then reached for the horse's reigns and gave them to Yuuri, who now had to put his arms around Bella to hold the lash. The overall picture proved somewhat disagreeable for both Conrad and Gunter, but they kept their sentiments to themselves as they finally proceeded towards Shin Makoku.
Wolfram noticed this, of course, and he deliberately placed himself at the front of the procession to prevent himself from further witnessing that repulsive sight. Yuuri was aware of this as well, and he was about to signal Ao to catch up with the blond just so he could reassure him, if not for the human princess presently staring at him with an accusatory expression on her faultless face.
"Bella-san," Yuuri muttered with uncertainty. "Is there something wrong?"
Bella did not answer him for a moment. "Yuuri," she finally said, and the young king did not fail to notice the pained way with which she had pronounced his name. "I know how important he is to you." By "he", Yuuri understood that she had meant Wolfram.
"Bella-san, I—"
"But I hope you have not forgotten that you have agreed to my Father's terms, and that you are now engaged to me and not to him," Bella stated. Then, she turned her back against Yuuri, secretly reaching inside the front of her dress. When she turned back to the young king, she said, "I hope you would take our engagement seriously, because I do."
Yuuri remained silent as he simply bit his lip and nodded in reply. "I… I'll try…"
At that, the human princess smiled peculiarly at him, then held out her hand in front of Yuuri's face and blew.
"Heika? What's wrong?" Gunter asked as Yuuri suddenly pulled Ao into a halt. The young king merely blinked back at him and shook his head.
"W-What?" stuttered Yuuri as he glanced uncertainly at the princess in front of him. "What was that?" he asked.
"What is it, Yuuri?" Conrad asked apprehensively as he came beside the young king. At the front of the line, Wolfram had also glanced back at them albeit reluctantly, a contemptuous expression marring his perfect features.
Yuuri's gaze wandered from the questioning look on Greta's face then to the bizarre smile on Bella's. "What was what, Yuuri?" the princess asked in turn as she gazed innocently back at him.
"You… there was something in your hand and—"
"Something in my hand?" said Bella as her innocent smile faded into a baffled frown. "There's nothing in my hand," she said and held out her hand for emphasis and the young king frowned in confusion. There truly was nothing there. Yuuri could have sworn, however, that he saw something red and seemingly fluid on Bella's palm earlier. Odd, he thought. Was he seeing things now?
Conrad, however, frowned evidently at this. He had that uncanny feeling that something did indeed happen. Yuuri was not one to react without a reason. "May I see your hands, Miss Bella?"
The princess looked appalled at his request, but she nonetheless relented. Bella held her hands out and Conrad inspected them. To his dismay, he found nothing peculiar in his inspection, except for how flushed the princess' palms had seemed to be. "There's nothing there, Heika," he said to Yuuri, to which the young king weakly nodded.
Gunter, however, approached them and asked, "Do you feel any different, Your Majesty?" The young king shook his head though.
"Maybe I'm just seeing things," Yuuri suggested. "Still tired, I guess." He then let out a feeble laugh and apologized to Bella, who reassured him saying that it was all right. With that, they continued their journey towards Shin Makoku.
Wolfram, however, had slowed his pace down and was now riding beside the young king. He noticed the confused expression on Yuuri's face but other than that, nothing else seemed to be out of the ordinary. Although somehow, Wolfram observed, the young king had gone paler than what was normal.
The blond scowled. His gaze fell on the princess who supposedly had her back against him due to the manner that she sat on Ao. He was surprised, however, when his emerald eyes locked into amethyst ones, a malicious smirk painting the young woman's face. But before Wolfram could react, the smirk had already vanished as abruptly as it had appeared, and he was now left staring at the human's backside.
She is definitely up to something, Wolfram thought as he inwardly fumed and kept his eyes on the scheming witch. Regardless of evidence, he was certain that Belal's daughter possessed ill intentions and Wolfram could feel a vague sensation of dread settle in his gut at how those ill intents were most likely directed at Yuuri.
He was not able to dwell on his thoughts further however, for they had already arrived at Shin Makoku.
After the brief procession through the town, to which the citizens enthusiastically welcomed their king as well as threw confused expressions at the human princess with them, they finally reached Blood Pledge Castle.
"Anissina!" Greta called out excitedly as they passed through the castle gates. There on the front steps stood Anissina and Cecilie, both of them waving a hand in greeting.
At the sight of his mother, Wolfram felt a vaguely familiar feeling course through his chest, and he pulled his ivory stag to a halt in front of Cecilie. "Mother," he said as he dismounted from his horse. Cecilie gave him a very warm look and reached a hand towards his cheek, patting it affectionately. Then she turned her attention to the Maou.
"Welcome back, Yuuri-heika," she greeted as she gave Yuuri a quick, tight embrace.
Yuuri blushed as usual and gave a weak "I'm home" as a reply, before he proceeded to scold Greta lightly for jumping down from Ao while they were still moving. The child apologized and gave him a hug in turn, before running to Anissina with an apparent air of uncertainty around her. Yuuri frowned, before turning his attention back to Cecilie, who was now engaged in a conversation with Bella.
"And you must be Lady Bella," said Cecilie as her own emerald gaze appraised the young woman in front of her. "As the predecessor of the twenty-seventh Maou, I welcome to Shin Makoku."
"A pleasure to be of your acquaintance, Lady von Spitzberg," was Bella's reply. "Please, you can call me Bella."
Cecilie's perfect lips curled into a tentative smile as she said, "Cheri would be fine for me as well." The princess nodded in consent and smiled amiably, to which the former queen gave an enigmatic look at Yuuri. "Well then, Heika," Cecilia continued in her classically animated demeanor. "We have prepared a feast for you and our honored guest. Gunter, why don't you escort His Majesty and the princess to the dinner hall?"
Gunter nodded and ushered Yuuri and Bella towards the castle, Anissina and Greta following behind them. Conrad had excused himself to attend to the soldiers, and Wolfram was left behind with Cecilie.
"Wolfram," the former queen said as she held her perfectly manicured hand out towards her youngest son. "There is somewhere that I would like to go, just for a moment. Come with me?"
Confused, Wolfram frowned at her. "Aren't we following after His Majesty and the others?"
Cecilie subtly cringed at how her son had addressed the Maou as "His Majesty" instead of "Yuuri". Her eyes softened in maternal love as she said, "Oh, we will. But there is something that I wanted to show you." She smiled genially at Wolfram, a knowing look on her faultless face. "Shall we, then?" Without a word, Wolfram took her hand and let his mother lead him to wherever it was that she wanted to go.
As they walked away from the front steps, Wolfram failed to notice it as Yuuri glanced back at their retreating figures, a confused and worried expression on his face.
"Where are we headed, Mother?" Wolfram asked as he walked beside Cecilie, his hand still intertwined with hers. They were presently by the castle gardens, and Wolfram had assumed that it was the place that his mother had wanted to visit. It was a well-known fact that the twenty-sixth Maou marveled in her talent to cross-breed various species of flora and create new genii from them. Cecilie, however, continued to lead him past the common flowerbeds, until they had reached a rather secluded part of the garden. "Mother," he tried again, "where are we…?" His voice trailed off when they reached an unfamiliar flowerbed, and Wolfram's emerald orbs widened in utmost amazement.
There on the flowerbed were clusters of purely black, midnight flowers, their majestic elegance sparkling under the brilliance of the mid-morning sun. Each flower stood high and proud, and abounded in omnipotence as that of the revered Maou that they unambiguously symbolized. Wolfram felt his breath hitch in the impeccable beauty in front of him and slowly, he knelt beside the flower patch, reaching a trembling hand towards one. His heart further leapt when he noticed another breed of flowers intertwined with the dark beauties.
"Mother, this is…" the blond muttered in admiration as he picked a sun-kissed, golden flower from beneath the midnight ones. The honey-gold flora seemed to be smiling at him, having been held by the individual whom they were named after.
Cecilie knelt down beside him and held his face between her hands, her verdant eyes overflowing with the most passionate emotion Wolfram had ever seen in them. "Wolfram," she said. "I know this is all very difficult for you, but please," she took one of her hands and placed it over Wolfram's chest, "do not ever lose hope and give up on the person that you have treasured for so long."
It took a moment for Wolfram to answer her and when he spoke, it was with such a pained emotion that Cecilie felt her own heart break.
"That's impossible, Mother," he said. "I will never give up on Yuuri." And he smiled despite the hurt. A genuine, unprejudiced and promising smile… and Cecilie smiled back at him in turn. Her son truly loved the Maou so much.
"Then promise me this, Wolf," she bent towards the patch and picked one from the midnight flowers, "that no matter the circumstances, you would always love your treasured person, but you also would not deliberately let yourself be hurt in the process." She gave the flower to Wolfram, who gasped in awe when he saw that a gold flower was intertwined with the black one. "No one could stop you from loving him, but that doesn't mean that you have to be a martyr for him." She held Wolfram's cheek again and added, "Love him in silence, Wolf. Love him from afar and in your own subtle way, because in that manner, even if you're apart, nothing will ever change."
At that, a single tear fell from Wolfram's eyes and he nodded, leaning into the comfort of his mother's warmth as he held the flowers and their meaning deep within his heart.
A/N: Finished it in time! Again! (does a victory dance) XD Haha. I'm actually amazed at myself for being able to keep the pace up. I guess that just shows how much I love you guys that I will really try my best to finish a chapter in time. ;D
So… I think this chapter is a little lighter than the preceding ones. Correct me if I'm wrong, though. To do that, you most definitely have to review! XD I exceeded eight pages again so I'm a bit anxious right now. So don't you guys forget to review, all right?
Thank you so much for reading!