Chapter 3
Knight
Come to think of it. It suits the blonde well. Constantly protecting and being ready to sacrifice for the sake of the kingdom, for him. An honorary title such as that should undoubtedly be given to Wolfram.
Spinning the pen between his fingers, Yuuri stared absent-mindedly at the board which Gunter was pointing at. It was the time for the morning history lesson. The man with long lavender hair was talking enthusiastically without breathing much, explaining eagerly how the kingdom's land had expanded because of the efforts of the mighty kings in the past. In spite of the lack of interest, the dark hair king still took some time to write down whatever might be useful in his notebook. He brought some of the stationery from Earth last time he returned. Though he now could use the quill quite properly, he found using an erasable pen much more convenient.
Even pens are erasable nowadays on Earth. He exclaimed inwardly. When he showed it to the people in Shin Makoku, they thought it was some sort of magic.
When he was drawing the map, he heard his teacher squeak and started praising him again, probably on how artistic he was and how elegant he had drawn the lands of the country (they were in fact just some circles with crooked lines). He wished Gunter would praise him less often. Nearly one-third of the time was spent on Gunter expressing his appreciation towards whatever Yuuri had done.
And at this moment he could just stop listening for sure. He glanced through the window and saw Conrad and Wolfram standing side by side in the yard, taking their swords with them. They seemed to be discussing the stance or whatever about swordsmanship. The smaller figure was saying something and posed. Then, the brunette would either nod in approval or adjust his posture a bit.
The double black beamed at the sight. The relationship between the two brothers had become quite close recently. Seeing them chatting wasn't an unusual scene anymore. Because of the desire to be stronger and the slowly disappearing prejudice, Wolfram appeared to be more willing to spend more time with his second elder brother.
That's one of the things that Yuuri liked most about his changes. He wasn't the little brat who just stuck his nose up in the mid-air anymore. He used to yell and throw tantrums (or fireballs) whenever he felt like it, ignoring others' comments even when he was the one at fault. The double black had suffered a lot because of his temper. But now, he was amused at the thought of himself escaping from the deadly flames. They'd known each other for three years already. He thought he could never stand the blonde at all, let alone admire or even grow to like him.
Sometimes he wondered when the change of his feelings towards Wolfram had taken place. When he realized it, he had already become very fond of the quick-tempered ex-prince.
To an extent that it made him uncomfortable whenever Wolfram wasn't around.
The brothers were now fighting with their swords. Even from the distance, the sharp crushing sounds of the weapons could still be heard. Wolfram was quite aggressive in his attacks, waving the sword forcefully at his opponent with his full strength. Relatively, his brother seemed to be more discreet, defending himself with his usual calm moves.
The king looked at his teacher from the corner of his eyes. The lavender hair man was blowing loudly into his handkerchief but went back on the track on whatever his was trying to explain about the history.
With a soft sigh, Yuuri drew his attention back again on the lecture.
Do your best, Wolf.
He cheered inwardly for his soon-to-be-expired fiancé before he picked up his pen again.
"Conrad, you must keep helping me on this until the day I beat you up," the younger brother demanded while putting back the sword into the sheath.
The brunette laughed, unlike the 'smile number one' he usually wore on his face, he looked and was truly happy when he was with his little brother "No matter how nice I am, I don't think I should teach someone to defeat myself. Would you give me a reason for doing it?"
Wolfram gave a soft 'humph' at the question "That's because I am the one who is asking."
The taller male laughed even louder. "Because you're my adorable little brother?"
He earned a dreadful glare in return. Conrad just liked to tease his younger brother sometimes now that their relationship became more like in the old days. "No, because you owed me that," Wolfram muttered.
Conrad stopped laughing and looked at him, who was staring at the ground before he added "for not telling me earlier that you're not a full Mazoku and thus causes me to be a silly child and hated you for years."
The older soldier was caught off-guard at the comment for a moment. His face was then lightened up by a warm smile. He was glad that 'little brother' had grown up. The reason for this was not because of time. Three years for Mazoku was just a blink of an eye. Obviously, the blonde had grown to think more maturely because of the king. Seeing the double black growing up day by day made him anxious, fearing that he wouldn't be able to catch up with him as the Mazoku didn't change at all physically. Also, his indomitable nature made him refuse to lose, even if the opponent was the ruler of the kingdom.
"You're right, Wolfram," Conrad said, ruffling his blonde hair "I would make you the best swordsman in this kingdom, even better than me."
The shorter male frowned and looked up "Don't treat me like a child!"
To Conrad's delight, despite the irritated look on Wolfram's face, he didn't snap away his hand.
It's evening again. He wondered where the time had gone. Scanning through the final piece of document on the revenue of a particular land, the young king was once again amazed about the amount of knowledge required to be a ruler of a country. As the decision maker, one had to acquire any kind of knowledge on any area... politics, finance, economics, geography… He wondered what major he should take in university. The slightly troubled young man signed on the parchment and put it on the top of the pile on his right.
That's the last piece of work today. Stretching his limbs with a yawn, Yuuri rested his head on the large wooden office desk. It smelled like some ancient antique.
Lots of furniture here was made of wood. In this room, for instance, the table, the chair, the bookshelf… even the clock was a wooden one.
Speaking of the clock, he tilted his head a bit, looking up at the huge wooden time-telling device.
It was here since I arrived in this world.
To be more exact, he himself brought it into this world. There weren't any clocks in this world at all and electricity just didn't exist here. So he brought this old wooden device, which he found at home somewhere collecting dust, to his office here. It was working pretty well, considering that the last time he wound it up was a few months ago. The fact that it worked without any other energy source fascinated him. He walked slowly near it, stared up at the glass surface. As if communicating with the king, the sound of the bell inside rang for a few times, telling him that it was officially early nighttime.
It was like an old friend, keeping him company during his working hours.
Though it was a strange thing to say, Yuuri appreciated its existence.
It reminded him of the old Japanese children's song.
"Thanks, grandfather's clock," he looked up and beamed.
He then laughed at his own childishness, speaking to a clock.
Hey, who cares? There's no one around.
He thought to himself as he was strolling out of the room, overlooking the light pink figure reflected on the surface of the glass of the clock.
So, this is the present Maou and your fiancé, or soon-to-be ex-fiancé.
The girl smirked, looking forward to the meeting with her dear student again.
By the time the double black entered his bedroom after taking a bath, he was still softly humming the nursery rhyme.
He stopped at the sight of the young soldier sitting on the edge of his bed.
"Oh…" he chuckled sheepishly, scratching his hair. "I thought you're not back yet."
The other male 'humph' through his nose and said. "That's why I told you to end the stupid engagement sooner," he straightened his own white shirt a bit before he shifted to sit on his side on the bed. "Then you won't find me in your room for sure."
"I didn't mean I don't want to see you in the bedroom," Yuuri protested, dropping the blue towel on the chair near the bed. Looking at the blonde, he then noticed something different. "You're not wearing the pink dress anymore."
Emerald eyes settled on him, Wolfram raised an eyebrow and asked, "What? Are you disappointed?"
The king blushed before clarifying, "No, how could I be?" He didn't like to appear as shy in front of anyone, especially Wolfram. "I was just about to say 'Excellent! You look really nice in your new sleeping outfit' …see?"
He received a snort as a response. "By the way, that's not a dress. But I think I'm not young enough to wear it anymore," Wolfram stated while playing with his golden locks, swirling them with his index finger. "It's for children."
Yuuri wanted to point out that he technically couldn't see any changes of his appearance. If he was a child three years ago, he still looked like a child.
And the double black was wise enough to keep this thought to himself and he managed to just curl his upper lip a little.
"Why? You're wearing that creepy smile again," Wolfram crossed his arms. "Are you up to something?"
Seeing the suspicious glance, the king quickly raised his hands and made a peaceful gesture. He blurted out whatever that was on his brain at that moment. "Well no! I'm just happy to see you here on my bed."
And he bit his tongue after saying that, cursing himself inwardly.
What the hell did he say?
The blonde blushed but still having a disapproved expression on his flawless face.
He still looks extremely beautiful even when he is angry.
Yuuri hit himself mentally for having the thought at this moment. He should say something to ease this embarrassing atmosphere. Yeah…say something…
"You know, I really like sleeping with you every night."
Silence
Silence
Shhhhhhhhit!
He smacked himself on the forehead for saying that.
Well, I knew I'm not a good speaker. I just KNEW it!
"I meant to have you sleep by my side…" he covered his face and murmured, deeply frustrated. He guessed he ought to shut up immediately lest anything stupid escaped from his mouth.
Where the hell was the reliable and mature king who was praised by almost everyone in this castle?
Why was he always so clumsy in front of Wolfram, the person whom he wanted to get the praise from most?
He didn't know why. He was happy whenever anyone praised him (maybe not Gunter) but he found himself to be extra happy when the blonde showed any sign of appreciation towards him. Even a little nod could make him smile all day.
Saying something silly to him was the least thing that Yuuri wanted to do.
He expected to be beaten, strangled, or worse, burnt now.
But none of those was coming.
Yuuri plucked up the courage to peek through his hands and saw Wolfram smile.
He smiled.
He couldn't help but gasped and he felt his heart skip a beat.
What's wrong with me?
Then he heard the Mazoku said. "You're hopeless, your majesty." he lay down on his side, with his back facing the other person. "Don't talk to me anymore."
Whenever he was mocking the king, he would call him 'your majesty'.
Sometimes this just annoyed him to no end.
The light went off at the small wave of the fire wielder's hand.
The raven hair king also lay down and looked at the ceiling, wondering if he should keep his usual strategy and speak to the stubborn blonde until he got any response again.
Just when he wanted to open his mouth to say something like 'It's quite cool tonight', he heard Wolfram ask, "What's that song you sang earlier?"
Yuuri turned his head and only saw the back of the blonde head, like he sometimes did when he woke up in the middle of the night.
"What?" he smiled to himself, trying to get the other to talk once again.
"You were singing before you came in."
Though the king really wanted to say 'you told me not to talk to you anymore', again, he was wise enough to keep this statement in his head only. Plus...
It's his luck for not having to say nonsense for hours again.
"Ah, that's Grandfather's Clock," he moved a bit near to his bedmate, inhaling the pleasant flower-like scent of the shampoo from the golden locks. "Do you know that song?"
No response
Hmm... maybe he was still the one doing most of the talking, fair enough.
"It's a well-known children's song in Japan," he continued in a soft voice. "Nearly all Japanese children know how to sing it."
Still no response.
The ramble went on. "It was even more popular when Hirai Ken included that song in his album a few years ago. Ah... I guess you don't know who Hirai Ken is. You probably just know Murata Ken. Hahahahahaa..."
He laughed at his own joke for a while and he thought he knew how Conrad felt sometimes.
The temperature in the room just dropped a few degrees.
"Hmm... not really funny... he's a singer in Japan... you know, somebody who sings for a living and... an album is a thing... that people put songs in it and others can listen to them again later."
Yuuri got used to explaining terms for the Mazoku even without him asking. That's a good thing since he could consider himself more knowledgeable than Wolfram in this occasion.
No response for the third time, hmm, great.
Running out of things to say, he decided to sing the song.
My grandfather's clock was too large for the shelf,
So it stood ninety years on the floor;
A nerve soothing voice filled the room, Wolfram turned around and found a pair of gentle obsidian eyes staring right into his own.
Actually, he had a wonderful voice. His music teacher once tried to talk him into joining the school choir. Obviously, she was turned down as he insisted on joining the baseball team.
Emerald eyes were still gazing at him as if waiting for the melody to go on.
He didn't care about how his voice sounded until now.
Maybe it's useful to have a good voice after all.
It was just a miracle that he still remembered the lyrics after so many years. The last time he sang the song was when he studied in primary school during an inter-class singing competition. The whole class was kind of 'forced' to join it and sing together on stage back then.
Come to think of it now. It was a kind of childhood memory.
It was taller by half than the old man himself,
Though it weighed not a pennyweight more.
It was bought on the morn of the day that he was born,
And was always his treasure and pride;
But it stopp'd short — never to go again —
When the old man died.
Ninety years without slumbering
(tick, tock, tick, tock),
His life seconds numbering,
(tick, tock, tick, tock),
It stopp'd short — never to go again —
When the old man died.
"That's a sad song," the blonde whispered after he stopped singing.
"Yeah…it is," he put his hand under his head, getting a better look at his companion. "Almost all of us in the class cried when we first heard the song."
"You always cry," a snicker followed the comment.
"No, I don't! I was only eight when I heard the song."
"So…that's the whole song?"
"Err… actually there're a few more verses… wanna hear them?"
The ex-prince followed his posture and nodded. Now, they were only a few inches away from each other.
Feeling the warm breath on his face, the king smiled and continued singing. His voice became softer and softer as Wolfram's breath gradually went steady and even. Unconsciously, Yuuri snuggled up closer and watched him sleep for a while before he closed his eyes to fall asleep too.
Yuuri knew that he was going to miss this after their engagement ended.