Chapter 12
Wolfram gave Yuuri a slight nudge.
"I-I hope you like these." The double black began to hand out flowers to the girls. They glanced at each other and grinned broadly. The maou was giving them flowers!
Yuuri watched their reactions and smiled a little inwardly. This was exactly the reaction that Wolfram had planned. And, yes, it worked. That emerald-eyed Mazoku could be sneaky when he wanted to be.
Behind Yuuri and Wolfram there was a sudden gust of wind that became a gale. The girls felt the blast of wind and had to hold onto their long skirts to keep them from flying up. Sadly, they were also getting a breeze down the tops of their dresses, pulling the fabric away to show just how much cleavage the three sisters actually had. And they were big girls! Murata sat back and enjoyed the show—doing absolutely nothing to help them because he knew he'd be slapped hard if he tried. And he didn't feel like getting engaged to three girls at once.
Yuuri was handing out the third blue flower when it happened. He fisted the stem of the flower that he was giving Gracelynn. And, in the blast, he noted that the brunette girl was well endowed, indeed.
Young Wolfram turned back to see where the blast of air was coming from. He blinked hard because he saw a shining gold light and what looked like two figures inside of it—one a blond and one with dark hair. The dark one was transparent, only a faint profile. But the blond one was becoming solid and looked like…him. How? Young Wolfram reached out a hand to touch the scowling face. Then, just as quickly, it disappeared.
Once the gale had blown past, the sisters were busy adjusting their clothing and complaining among themselves about the wind and how unexpected it was. Murata was smirking and taking another sandwich off of the plate before it fell. Yuuri finished delivering his flower to Gracelynn, who tucked the flower behind her right ear. And Wolfram was dead silent.
"Wolfram?" Yuuri said, looking at him and feeling worried. "Are you okay?"
"No…I just saw…" He blinked at the spot where he saw something strange. His face went blank. Was it a dream? Was it a vision? Maybe, I'm…
"If you're feeling bad, Wolfram, I'll take you back into the castle," Yuuri said with a little edge in his voice.
Oh, no you don't! Wolfram thought. I went through too much to get to this point. You're just wimping out.
"I'm fine," Wolfram replied smoothly.
"Then, please, join us." Gracelynn gestured to an empty spot beside her.
"Okay," Yuuri said and got a glare from Wolfram. "Oh, yes. Where are my manners?"
Yes, where are they? Wolfram thought tartly.
"Wolfram von Bielefeld, third son of Cecilie von Spitzbert," he cast his eyes to the blond who seemed to radiate self-confidence, which really annoyed the double black to no end, "this is The Great Sage, Murata Ken."
Murata cocked his head and raised a delicate eyebrow for a second and then reflected upon the situation further. He'd heard about the incident in the lab. And, now, Wolfram looked young—a little too young. He'd heard that Wolfram only remembered events from the age that he happened to be. So, obviously, he must have heard of The Great Sage, but had never met him in person. Still, it felt odd. Then again, the youthful face of Wolfram was strange, too. But, he had to admit to himself, it was a beautiful face. And it seemed to be watching him with glittering, emerald eyes. And he likes me, Murata thought.
Murata gave a sagely "nod" at the blond who returned it in the same fashion.
The double black gestured toward the girls. "And we have our local mayor's three daughters: Gracelynn, and…" Then, his mind went blank. He was awful with names! And, in Japan, forgetting a person's name could be a huge offence. He started to sweatdrop.
"I heard a rumor," Wolfram jumped in slyly, "that their names are Adelade and Adelina."
The girls nodded with sparkling smiles. Their blue eyes turned up with adoration.
Rescued by Wolfram! That was nothing new. But, in this case, it was quite a relief. Yuuri tried not to look relieved, though. He took their invitation and sat down instead.
"And it is my extreme pleasure," Wolfram said in a throaty, sexy voice that made the girls melt, Murata smirk, and Yuuri glare, "to meet your acquaintance."
He's said that line so often… Yuuri fumed to himself. His dark eyes narrowed. Murata bowed his head while pushing up his glasses farther up his nose to hide his smile.
Sitting around the edge of the blanket, Adelade and Adelina (and honestly, Murata couldn't tell which was which, though it didn't really matter) were side by side with Murata on the left end. On the other side of Murata was Gracelynn. So, sitting down, Wolfram had Gracelynn to his right and Yuuri to his left.
Yuuri plopped himself onto the cloth and sat Indian style. He put his elbow on his left thigh and rested his head in his hand. It was only when he saw Wolfram pressing his hand to his side and getting to his knees gingerly that he began to worry.
"Wolfram?" Yuuri's voice was sincere and barely above a whisper.
Seeing the discomfort on the blond's face, Gracelynn asked cautiously, "Are you okay, Lord von Bielefeld?" Her sisters also turned to him when she said it. "You seem to be holding your side as though it ails you," the youngest sister continued.
"I was injured awhile back," Wolfram said simply.
"In the line of duty…as a soldier?" Gracelynn asked, breathlessly. The twins nodded. That was their question, too. The girls all leaned forward, eyes wide in anticipation.
"It is the possible fate of all who wear the uniform. And my duty," he said with modesty. It was a truthful statement, but he also hoped that it would win over the pretty faces that watched him. He glanced at Murata to see what his reaction was. And, it was difficult to tell due to the shine on his glasses.
The girls uttered words of approval. "Brave." "Daring." "Inspiring!"
Ah, the twins… "Thank you," the blond said, taking the last two flowers out of Yuuri's hand. Wolfram passed one to Murata, who took it out of amusement more than anything else. He twirled it between his thumb and forefinger—mentally going through the names of the genus and species of the plant.
The girls watched Murata, too. "Such pretty flowers. Right, Adelina?" the blond twin said to her sister, but her blue eyes were on the sage.
Oh, so the twin sitting next to me must be Adelina, Murata thought with a smile.
"Yes, so nice."
Gingerly again, Wolfram moved himself into a more comfortable position—trying to cross his legs like Yuuri. He managed to do it, but dug the nails of his right hand into his knee. Yuuri's dark eyes saw it.
I hope Wolfram is okay, Yuuri fretted. He cast a sidelong glance and saw, much to his dismay, that the blond had paled in the face. He was turning a color white as snow and, frankly, Yuuri didn't know what to do about it. This whole situation is bad, he thought. But, if it weren't for "The Dry Wind" and that accident in the lab… In his mind, he had an image of himself and Wolfram, from not so long ago. They had both been in the machine. And they each saw a different, possible "future"—a fearful one. But, was it really so frightening? Yuuri reflected. Then, his mind snapped to where he was now. What did I just do? I just handed out flowers to…loosely dressed women while…Wolfram looked on! That was the future that Wolfram saw in the machine! The double black blinked hard at that. Slowly, he turned his head to take in the profile of the blond next to him. Yes, this was the future Wolfram feared most. He had been so upset about it when they woke up from their "trip." Wolfram had shouted, loudly in his ear, that he never wanted to see this…again. But he lived it. Just now!
For a brief second, Yuuri wanted to put an arm around the shoulders of the blond and hug him tightly. This was your nightmare…and, in a way…mine, too. Back then, I didn't want you to…really like me. I got my wish, didn't I?
"Shibuya?" Murata said. "We just asked you if you wanted a drink."
"Oh, sorry," he said, putting one hand behind his head. "I just zoned out for a second." Murata watched Yuuri blink something that looked like tears at the corner of his eyes away.
Something's wrong with Shibuya.
The double black's attention slowly focused on the people around him—even if he had to force himself to do it. The group of them chatted lightly with Murata being his usual, charming self. When he wasn't speaking, Yuuri noted, that Wolfram could be quite content just watching the "beautiful faces" that he'd come to see. He also noted which faces were more interesting than others. For example, he noticed that his own wasn't high on the list of priorities and only got a few glances. Yuuri thought that, as a fiancé, he should have gotten a bit more attention than that.
"So, tell us a story, Lord von Bielefeld," Adelina said sweetly. Her request reminded Yuuri of Greta's demands for a bedtime story each night. With their daughter away, Yuuri had missed storytelling.
Wolfram thought about it. "Let's see… Oh, there was that time when I attended the 'Lantern Festival…three years ago.'"
"Oh, I love that one!" Adelade said back, hands clasped together suddenly at the memories: the parade of glowing lanterns, the food, and the flute music playing in the background.
"Yes, well I was attending this with," and his voice stopped suddenly.
"With someone else other than the maou?" Murata said with amusement, his eyes turning wickedly in Yuuri's direction.
The double black shot him a sour look. It's only three years in Wolfram's mind. It was much longer ago than that.
"Well, yes…" Wolfram continued awkwardly. "Anyway, my..." He coughed into his fist. "My lady companion and I met a fortune teller. For a coin, she'd read our futures to see if we were compatible or not."
Great, Yuuri thought grimly, this time it was a girl…
"And?" Adelade said. She loved fortunetellers.
"I was fully expecting that she would say that we would be the ideal couple. Married forever." He cocked his head in a charming way at the twins. "After all, I had just given her money for a fortune."
"But she didn't," Adelade guessed while her brunette little sister pretended to stifle a yawn. Gracelynn didn't like fortunetellers at all. They were creepy.
"You are so right, my lady," Wolfram said and gently tickled the blond under the chin. She giggled. Yuuri crossed his arms and looked away. What is this 'my lady' stuff?
"Well, the woman looked into a water-mirror—one of those porcelain bowls filled with holy water—and said a few magical words—which I shall not repeat now because they could cause trouble."
Murata held back a laugh. Boy, was Wolfram laying it on thick.
"And then…?" the twins urged, both leaned towards him.
Wolfram, very briefly, had the fantasy of kissing the twins and Murata—each in turn. Gracelynn might get a peck on the forehead if she was really lucky.
"And then, the fortuneteller told me that my soul mate—the one I'm tied to by the red string of fate by the ankle—my "twin flame, as it were…"
Now, all the girls leaned forward. Murata's eyes were on him, too.
"Was in the water."
"Oh…I don't get it," Gracelynn said, looking totally confused. "Do you mean in the fortune teller's magic water dish?"
"Water-mirror!" the twins corrected.
"Yes, of course…" Gracelynn sighed impatiently.
Wolfram smiled sheepishly at her. "My read string leads into the water. I suppose that my soul mate probably drowned." It was followed by a slight shrug. "So, in this life, I'm pretty much on my own."
"Oh, how sad!" the twins both sighed at once.
Yuuri and Murata, on the other hand, gave each other strange looks. Yuuri used water to travel back and forth between worlds. He could travel to Earth and back at will now. Murata had been with him on many of these journeys. How would a fortuneteller know about that?
"A guess," Yuuri mouthed to Murata.
"Possibly," The Great Sage mumbled back with an unreadable look on his face.
"Now," Adelina said, "I think it would be great to hear a story from our sage." She smiled at Murata who easily smiled back even though he was trying to shake off the odd feeling he got from Wolfram's story. "That's fine," he said, "I do have a couple of stories." And he began to speak of the days of the original sage and how Yuuri had brought peace to the land a little at a time.
"Wasn't that wonderful?" Gracelynn said to Wolfram. Yuuri noted that they looked to be exactly the same age. So, it made sense that she'd pay him extra attention. The double black had also spaced out again and was totally clueless as to what was "so wonderful" that she needed Wolfram's agreement. The maou noticed that Wolfram smiled pleasantly at her with charm.
"Yes, I think Murata is a master storyteller." He leaned forward a bit when he said it—wanting eye contact with the sage.
"I agree," the brunette said and placed a hand on Wolfram's shoulder with a smile.
Oi! She just jumped from the "nudge" stage to touching him. And it wasn't the hand, either. It was the shoulder! So, what does the shoulder mean?! Yuuri stared down at his half eaten sandwich. He never noticed, up till now, that he had actually been eating one.
"Quite good. Right, ladies?" Wolfram said to the twins. They nodded and giggled a little at Murata. Yuuri noticed that Wolfram had placed his hand softly over Gracelynn's. Then, he gently guided it down and away from him in such a smooth and sweeping motion that the girl didn't notice. No offense was taken.
How did he just do that? Yuuri blinked. He couldn't help but be impressed.
Gracelynn turned her wide eyes up to Wolfram again. Yuuri could see a spark of annoyance in his green eyes now and chuckled darkly on the inside. That's what you get for being a 'master flirt', Wolfram, the double black thought with a smirk. If you were your old self, and I had done that, you'd be dragging me away by my ear. I am so much more patient and understanding than you are. That thought appealed to him, too.
"How rude of me," the blond said to her, "I haven't asked my fiancé what he thinks."
"Fiancé?" the girl echoed.
"Why, yes, our maou and Lord von Bielefeld are engaged," Murata said with a toss of his head at Wolfram.
Wolfram nodded back with seriousness.
"Didn't you know?" Adelina said to her baby sister. "I thought everyone did."
Before Gracelynn could make a reply, there was a sudden crash.
Wolfram's head turned toward the double black. "Yuuri!" he said in the same half aggressive, half pleading tone that he always did when his fiancé was in danger. The voice was higher pitched, but the reaction was typical of the blond.
Before Yuuri knew it, Wolfram had knocked him down and shielded him with his body. The action was agony, too, because moving so quickly and changing position made the blond want to pass out just to escape the pain in his side. Mentally, he fought off the darkness and swore to himself that he would be with Yuuri no matter what.
"Oh, no!" he heard a shrill feminine voice say.
It took a minute, but Wolfram managed to pull himself together enough to sit up.
"So sorry!" Lasagna said to them. "I was bringing you a little dessert and dropped the cake plates." She looked down at the stepping stone in front of her with shards of white porcelain littered everywhere. She fretted and scampered off to get something to clean up the mess with.
"What a relief," Wolfram sighed, putting a hand to his beating heart. He had no idea what had come over him. Everything was just instinct. And, if it had been a real danger and, if he had died in the process, that would have been fine with him. Some part of his soul would have been happy to do it—glad even.
"Umm…Wolfram?" Yuuri said from underneath, "Can you get off?"
Wolfram was still on top of Yuuri. In fact, he was straddling him low across the hips and had a hand cupping the right side of the double black's cheek. Emerald eyes blinked. "Hell," he breathed, and got off.
They both had bright red cheeks as they sat up.
I did that in public! Wolfram grimaced on the inside. Ugh!
"So brave!" Adelina said with stars in her eyes. Her hands were clasped to her heart.
"Aww…I want someone to protect me that way, too," Adelade said with a whine.
Gracelynn merely pouted and found Murata patting her on the shoulder in a friendly, but highly amused, way.
Wolfram moved with an agonizing slowness back to his place. In addition to the pain, he was still breathing hard and could feel his heart beating wildly in his chest. He hoped it was due to the scare they'd both had or, maybe, the embarrassment of the "position" he was in. But, he was starting to have his doubts. Then, he looked up. All eyes were on him. He had to say something now. "Well, to take the death blow in place of our maou…there would be no greater honor."
He grinned to himself inwardly. Yes! That statement would fix everything.
"I won't have that," Yuuri snapped back, tugging at his school jacket to keep it from riding up. He wasn't going to have any talk of Wolfram dying. He'd already gone through that kind of agony more than once—of Wolfram just jumping into situations without planning first.
Everyone blanched at Yuuri's comment.
"Yuuri-Heka?" Wolfram turned narrow green eyes to his fiancé. "Are you saying that I'm not worthy to die in your place?" There was a dangerous tone to him now. His fists were clinched and he was glaring hard to drive his point home.
"Of course not," Murata said wisely, "it's just that our new maou doesn't know all of our customs yet. And he doesn't understand the honor that a warrior is given if he makes the ultimate sacrifice." Murata emphasized "understand" for a reason and hoped that Yuuri would pick up on it.
The girls murmured a somewhat insincere "oh, I see" followed by other suggestions like: "He needs a good tutor," "He'll quickly learn our ways," and "I know good books on etiquette."
Yuuri put a hand over his eyes as the girls chatted. Not good. Definitely not good, even if it's the way I truly feel...
Then, Yuuri leaned into Wolfram's shoulder. His fiancé was staring darkly at the ground but allowed the contact. So, the double black felt only slightly better.
"Sorry, Wolfram," he whispered.
He got a "humph" as a response. So, Yuuri decided to try again. "Please be reasonable." It was followed by a nervous laugh.
The blond's face hardened at the implication that he was the one at fault.
Yuuri sighed and said, "I just can't…part with you. So, I'm sorry. Forgive me for being selfish."
"Really?" came a quiet reply. This time, the blond seemed to brighten a little but he still acted put out. He folded his arms and said, "If you say so."
"Don't be mad at me," the double black whispered. Almost instantly, he could see the last of the anger drain away from green eyes. And then, Yuuri smiled a little on the inside, seeing for the first time how to handle Wolfram. Because, it wasn't just what he said but the soft, "just between us" way that he had to say it that won the blond over. Yuuri understood now. Giving in to Wolfram's behavior was "the wimp." And barking back at Wolfram was being like Gwendal or "a brother." His relationship with Wolfram was different. It had to be deeper, more personal.
"Girls?" a bald, middle aged man in a new suit of clothes said with a very pleased Gwendal by his side. "We are done with the signing and it's time for us to leave."
"Heika," Gwendal said, "This is Joshua Stein, the town mayor."
"And our father," the girls said in unison and, then, giggled because they'd said it together.
The mayor gave a profound bow and the girls stood up, giving curtseys with their blue flowers in their hands. This would be their parting moment from the maou and they wanted to make a very good last impression. And it worked. Yuuri turned pinkish and Wolfram did, too.
"Heika?" Gwendal said, "I'll need you to cosign the document that we just finished with. Could you spare a moment to do that?"
Yuuri frowned a bit. This was sounding like work again. Work! And he was promised the entire week off. But, he also saw the hopeful look on the mayor's face. And he hated to disappoint anyone. So, he stood up.
"It was nice meeting you," Yuuri said to the girls and their father.
"Shall we go?" Gwendal said to the little group. They all headed off across the well manicured lawn and onto the cobblestone walkway.
Once they neared the path that took them to the gate, Gwendal assigned a guard to escort the mayor and his daughters out. There was another brief bow. And Yuuri and Gwendal proceeded on to the castle.
As the maou and his brother retreated, Wolfram found himself still sitting on the blanket with Murata. The sage smiled back and pushed his glasses up his nose a little.
The pair walked on. Gwendal cleared his throat a little and said, "So, how is my brother doing? I'd like an honest answer."
Yuuri blinked at the question. Should I tell him that Wolfram's in pain? That he's turned white before me? Yuuri looked back behind him. He frowned deeply to see Wolfram scooting closer to Murata—who didn't seem to mind the attention at all. Their shoulders touched and they seemed to be talking quietly to each other.
"Oh, I'd say he's…just about…." Yuuri searched for a word. "Impossible." He began to march away and Gwendal felt a bit confused, trying to keep up with the Demon King.
In the distance, Conrad could see his older brother walking with his godson. It was good to see Yuuri in the gardens. Since they both appeared to be free, it might be fun to play a little baseball. He'd heard that Gwendal had given Yuuri a whole week off. So, it was a safe bet that they could play a game of catch or have a little batting practice.
Conrad's gaze strayed in the garden somewhat, and he found himself shocked to see his younger brother sitting next to Murata. It was more than the usual way they sat together. Wolfram was coming on strong—his body language was flirtatious and his smile bright.
Starting to feel sick about it, Conrad wanted to cover his eyes. This was not good. Once Wolfram was "himself" again, this little escapade would be haunting him for months. Conrad wasn't surprised to see that the servants in the castle were watching with great interest. Lasagna, in particular, was eating it up and taking notes on a pink notepad.
His stomach churned. If he could just walk fast enough, maybe Wolfram would see him and would behave with a little more dignity. Conrad remembered that Wolfram could be easily embarrassed by the attention of his own family at this age. Then, another thought came to him. He glanced at Yuuri. Had he seen this? The soldier didn't know for certain, but Yuuri's marching stride with clinched fists and an annoyed pout seemed to say "yes" to him.
"Well, that was very interesting," Murata murmured to the blond as he felt the body lean into him. They sat shoulder to shoulder.
"Is that so?" There was a sexy, almost "purring" quality to the voice.
"Yes…Yes, of course…" the sage looked deeply into emerald eyes and a secretive smile came to him. Wolfram's expression was different—very different. "Shinou Heika, the First King of Shin Makoku, has possessed you more than once. Did you know that?" Murata said. "You probably don't because you've been very ill. You don't even remember your fiancé right now…or me."
Wolfram bowed his head down. But sharp, green eyes looked at the sage from out of the corner. There was a cruel smile now.
"And it would be most unfortunate," Murata continued, "should that situation happen again."
There was a dark chuckle. It didn't sound like Wolfram's at all.
"I would probably avoid Shinou for the rest of this lifetime if he happened to cause some sort of mischief to a sick man."
Eyes locked. Unspoken anger was rising. Wolfram's glare seemed to say, "Is he serious?"
"And I have no intention of carrying these memories, as The Great Sage, into my next reincarnation. So, this is the last "life" that I will have with a memory of Shinou."
A threat. Yes, this was a threat. Emerald eyes hardened at that.
Murata crossed his arms and huffed to himself impatiently. "So, stop being difficult and stop being so over the top." His face stiffened, looking away at nothing in particular. "Stop making trouble. You know what I want." He was at the point where he was going to say, "These little pranks are getting old. So, just get out!" when Wolfram's slender fingers touched his arm softly. The blond leaned in seductively, whispering back with the words, "As you command, but you'll regret it."
Wolfram's body collapsed.
Murata found himself with the sudden weight of a handsome, blond soldier pressing against him—one arm slung over his shoulder and the head against his chest.
"Wolfram!" yelled Conrad. He'd seen his brother whisper something in Murata's ear and, then, he just crumbled against him.
Yuuri heard the shouting and turned with Gwendal at his side.
"Wolfram, no!" Yuuri cried out, panicked.
"Get Gisela!" Gwendal barked to Lasagna, who stared, horrified with wide eyes. She nodded and took off—speeding through the castle.
Murata wasn't prepared for this. He prided himself on being the sage. But, even a sage cannot foretell all possible outcomes—especially this one.
Wolfram's body sagged. Now, Murata was supporting Wolfram's head in his left hand with his arm wrapped around the other's waist to keep him from falling and injuring himself further. The body was white—too pale. The lips were parted slightly. There was soft breathing. The sage could feel it against his own chest.
"Wolfram!" Yuuri shouted across the lawn as he ran, arms pumping. I knew he was turning white and I did nothing. He felt bad and I didn't say anything because he was flirting. I didn't tell Gwendal about it because…I was feeling…
He ran harder than ever before to be by his side.
I was jealous.
