The Princess and the Queen
By saki-enshou
Disclaimer: Escaflowne isn't mine.
Notes: Inspired by that last scene in episode 12 (roughly) where Duke Freid claims, not too coolly, Chid as his son, interrupting Millerna's face-off with Allen. In denial or downright stupid, he's been called, but I'd like to think it has something to do with what he seems to have been drilling into Chid since his first scene: duty.
Summary: Duke Freid is Chid's father, but not because he really is.
It has been proven that it is not impossible for a child to take on only the features of the mother. Duke Freid knows this well, but he is not stupid enough to apply this to Chid. Call it insight, or even psychic capability, but he knows. But he will not play the jealous husband. Marlene was not unfaithful per se because the engagement had been made without her consent, and the lover, whoever he was, had his last night before their first. And call it instinct again, perhaps, when he looked on the face of Allen Schezar, companion of the Princess Millerna along with Fanelia's king, the man had a face now.
He is not jealous. There is no need to be. What had transpired between those two was past tense, doomed from the start, ended when she flew to the country on her wedding day. She knew this all too well, and proved it when she showed up for the ceremony and stayed as his wife until the day she died. A strong and honorable woman. It is more than enough.
He does what he does not out of love (he cares about her, but love is something else), or even out of his duty as her husband. She was his responsibility the moment she became his queen, and he honors her for being one. She was stronger than they could ever know, but to tell her secret would be betrayal. She never told him anything, and he was her husband. She wanted it to be buried. She wanted no complications. She was worried about honor too, his as much as her own.
She had passed on in silence, the only hint of the secret the child she had left behind. He has sworn he would bring up the child as his own, he has sworn he would protect her honor and memory in the hearts of the people. He is her husband, after all.
And so he is Chid's father. It is for the best.