Chapter 9
It was one of those cloudless days when he needed to travel back to Earth.
"Get everything you need with you," Murata told him this every time they were ready to leave.
There weren't many people here to see them leave this time as it was only a short ten-day trip. Other than the three brothers, only Gunter was present, Monica and the others were nowhere to be seen.
"Your majesty, be safe," Conrad handed him his backpack with his usual smile.
The king raised an eyebrow but made no movement to get the bag.
"Alright," he said in a surrendered tone. "good luck with your exam, Yuuri."
Satisfied, he returned the smile and grabbed his bag, "Thanks. I'll work hard."
"Oh… how pertinacious you are, your majesty…"Gunter blew into his handkerchief. "I'm so proud of you."
Yuuri let out a dry laugh, sweat-dropped. He turned to Gwendal and nodded, "I've finished reading most of the documents that are due today," he adjusted the strip on his shoulder. "I'll leave the rest of them for you to handle. Sorry about that."
The stoic man grunted in reply with a slight nod, reserved as usual.
When Yuuri wanted to turn to his knight, Murata commented, "It's about time, Shibuya."
He glanced at his sage, and decided to humour him. Staring at the calm, flowing water in the fountain, Yuuri felt the stir of his magic and the response of the portal.
Every time Yuuri gazed at the water and used his magic, Wolfram could feel his heart flutter. Maybe that was because of the rare serious expression he wore while he did it.
The water started to swirl, forming a small whirlpool.
"Murata, you can go first," he motioned quietly.
The sage sent him a skeptical look, but then shrugged and complied anyways, hopping into the current without hesitation.
"Wolfram," he called, left hand on the edge of the fountain.
The blonde stepped forward, looking up and waiting for an order to take.
They had spent the previous night talking in the knight's bedroom already. Wolfram thought he would have left without anything else to say.
"I'd like to ask you for a favour," the tone the king used was light, but there was a trace of seriousness in his eyes.
"What is it?"
Yuuri glanced around at the others. After bowing, Conrad and Gwendal began to walk away without further signal, dragging a wailing Gunter with them.
His gaze landed back on Wolfram, who had a bewildered look on him. Chuckling slightly, he leaned in and said in his ear, "Miss me."
He must go now. So, he jumped into the water after he had taken a deep breath, disappearing into the fountain.
Wolfram blinked, standing very still, not recognizing what had just happened.
"Eh?"
The following few days in the Blood Pledge Castle passed by rather uneventfully, nothing special other than some stray animals lost their way and wandered around the palace from time to time.
The castle was tranquil.
In fact, it was a bit too quiet.
Wolfram frowned, snapping shut Advanced Maryoku Control for Modern Fire Wielders Volume Two, which was as thick as a tomb.
At first he thought that's because of the king's absence. But then, he dismissed the idea quickly, especially when the last two words Yuuri had told him came back and occupied his mind. Really, Wolfram had no idea what he was getting at. Of course he would have missed him even if he didn't tell him to do so.
I mean, everyone here would miss him.
Walking across the room, he shook his head. He kept feeling that something was off.
It felt like there was something that he had forgotten.
Before he had put his hand onto the door handle, it was swung open, nearly hitting him right in his face if he didn't dodge fast enough.
"Wolfram!"
"Wolfie!"
He found himself being wrapped around with one, then two pairs of arms, the first one around his shoulders while the other one around his head. The next second he was buried into very familiar ample bosoms, suffocating him tightly.
"We are back~" they chirped in unison.
Now he remembered what he had forgotten... It was the day when his mother and his daughter came back from their cruise.
He still recalled the day when they set off, with Greta waving her handkerchief joyfully on that colossal ship, Celi standing beside her, smiling equally brightly, yelling , "We'll be back soon~". They totally ignored the king of this kingdom, who was on the floor after his fruitless attempt of begging his daughter not to go. The way he was sobbing in Wolfram's shoulder was pathetic. He kept muttering about Greta's innocence being taken away by some indecent men and coming back heart-broken while being pregnant.
Wolfram understood how worried he was and had wanted to comfort him by saying that his mother would protect her, but then he thought better and told Yuuri that he didn't need to worry too much since Yozak was following them.
Before Wolfram could check if his daughter was fine, he had to make sure that he wasn't suffocated...
"Nnnnnn…" he protested and struggled.
"Hm? Wolfie? What did you say?"
"I said I can't breathe!" pushing hard, he finally got some oxygen into his lung.
Giggling, both of the ladies let go of him. He took the chance to scan through Greta, who was wearing a light blue dress. She became much taller once she had turned twelve. Fortunately, there wasn't any sign which indicated that there were any babies in her abdomen.
"Welcome back, Mother, Greta," he said, smiling a bit.
"Wolfram, I missed you so much!" Greta exclaimed, hugging him again.
"Aw... how sweet," Celi cooed. "This little girl kept telling me how much she has missed you all through the journey, saying that all those men she has met weren't even close to how handsome you are."
"Eh... Celi-sama, you shouldn't have told him that," she pouted, face getting red but then she added proudly. "But of course Wolfram is the handsomest man in this world."
"How about Yuuri-heika then?" the ex-queen asked mischievously.
Greta crossed her arms and huffed, the gesture looking exactly like what Wolfram did sometimes. "Yuuri is stupid. He didn't manage to marry Wolfram in time. I'm not talking to him for a month!"
Wolfram gasped at this, "How... how did you know about it?"
"Everyone in this kingdom knows about this," she replied, playing with the lace on her dress. "I think I'm going to say hello to Anissina, see ya around." Then she walked across the room and left.
He could tell that she wasn't happy about that. Maybe he should talk to her later.
"She cried when she heard the news," Celi commented, sitting down on the sofa. "But now she's old enough to hide her true feelings."
He sighed, "But then she may have got a mother very soon."
Leaning back on the sofa casually, he glanced at his mother and found a pair of emerald eyes that were strikingly similar to his staring back at him.
"What?"
"Wolfram, do you honestly think so?"
"What do you mean?"
"Do you really think Greta would be happy to replace you with a so-called 'mother'?" Celi's tone went uncharacteristically serious. "or that Yuuri-heika would get himself a queen?"
He shrugged, averting his gaze to the side, "Yes, why not?"
She let out an exaggerated sigh, "I don't realize that you can be this oblivious when you choose to be."
He didn't give any response to this.
"Aw... poor Yuuri-heika, I understand why he wrote me the letter now," she clasped her hands together lovingly. "He really needs some help here, with you being deliberately difficult."
This must be the last thing he had expected to hear. He turned his head alarmingly towards her, "What letter?"
He had a bad feeling about this. When he saw Celi's cheeky, triumphant smile, he shuddered, "Mother?"
"Don't worry," she chirped cheerfully, "He basically just required my alliance. His words are 'I hope that Celi-sama would be on my side though I know I was once a fool who had let go of Wolfram's hand.'..."
She peeped at her son for the reactions and snickered. His face turned from pale, to blue, then to scarlet. "How romantic!" she exclaimed, wiggling her body in excitement. "You know, as a great fan of free true love, I would definitely support him on this matter! I've always known that my Wolfie and Yuuri-heika are meant to be together! Oh... such a passionate love confession... I'm sure that at night…"
Wolfram stood from the sofa abruptly, raising a palm towards her, "Look, Mother, I've no idea what you're going on about…"
He could feel his pulse rate increasing in a dangerous manner, face heating up, palms sweating. Yuuri wouldn't do this, would he?
Celi giggled and put her beautifully manicured hand onto Wolfram's arm, "Calm down, Wolf. Here, I've brought it with me. Read it."
He eyed the envelope as if it was a poisonous serpent. With a shaky hand, he took the letter, opened it and started reading...
Dear Celi-sama,
I hope this letter finds you and Greta well. Sorry for interrupting your trip but I have something I must inform you before I set off to Earth for my exam.
As you might have noticed already, the engagement of Wolfram and I was annulled due to the three-year time limit. Ironic it may seem, I just realized my true feelings towards him right before the knighting ceremony. No matter how much I regret taking Wolfram's love and care for granted, it was already too late. We cannot be as close as we used to be, at least not in front of other people. What I'm trying to convey in this letter is, I admit that I was too prejudiced and ignorant to even consider my relationship with Wolfram and now I really want to amend my mistakes. I'll give him all my love and care if I'm allowed to.
I hope that Celi-sama would be on my side though I know I was once a fool who had let go of Wolfram's hand.
Yours sincerely,
Shibuya Yuuri
He gasped once he finished reading the letter. This couldn't be... this couldn't be true. Yuuri must have been very ill if he was really the one who composed this letter, or, someone else told him to write it, for whatever political reasons...
Yes, this must be it!
"Ah, I get it now," handing back the letter to Celi, his breathing became much steadier. "The Great Sage asked him to write it."
Celi raised an eyebrow, "Oh, it could be but I don't think Yuuri-heika would do something he didn't want to."
He waved a hand towards the comment, "He just wants to make sure that I wouldn't go anywhere. That's why he's lying to himself, and other people around him."
That's much better. He could breathe more easily now.
"I think you should have a little more faith in him, Wolfram," she suggested sadly.
"I trust Yuuri with my whole heart, always," he said, walking to the door. "He is my king."
Shutting the door close, he left. It's time for the routine training with his squad.
He looked through the huge glass windows while walking in the corridor. There were an unusual number of guards standing near the entrance of the castle.
Speaking of crowds, there didn't seem to be any visits from nobles or officials these days. Usually, there would be a few every day... that's why the castle was this quiet.
"Have you heard about the imperial order?" one of the maids asked, trotting briskly at the end of the corridor.
"Of course I have," the other maid giggled. "This move of his majesty is way too obvious."
Both girls laughed while carrying the heavy baskets of laundry downstairs. "Yeah, it's really bold of him to do it. It's practically a threat to everybody who dares to lay a hand on Lord Wolfram."
"I wish there is a man who would do this for me," the first maid then said dreamingly.
"Only a king can do this," the other replied, their giggling disappeared down the stairs.
Wolfram's pace quickened. He ran to the entrance of Blood Pledge Castle, ignoring the people gawking and the long distance he had to run.
The large parchment on the main entrance was hard to miss...
Imperial order from the 27th Demon King
All kinds of visits to Blood Pledge Castle are forbidden until further notice.
All non-business-related letters, except letters from family members, are also temporarily banned.
Individuals who violate the order entail a duel with the king himself.
The order issued above takes immediate effect.
It took all Wolfram's efforts not to faint on the spot...
Yuuri... what have you done?
To be continued.