Author's Notes:

Hey there guys! This will be my second chapter of the day. I hope you like it! Please tell me your thoughts in reviews! I don't really care about the bragging rights of having lots of reviews, I just want to make you guys have the best reading experience possible. Thanks in advance! I hope you enjoy Chapter 5!

Chapter 5: The Loss of One's Love

Saito had just finished explaining his story to Osmond. He explained nearly everything. The only details he left out were Derf's existence and his meeting with the being called Gandalfr.

"Osmond, sir. I really need you to keep this a secret."

Osmond sighed while holding his chin. "I'm sorry, Saito, but I can't. The Queen, no, every leader has to know about this. The world is at stake and we need to prepare." He was about to get up to leave, but Saito stopped him, grabbing his arm.

"Wait…if you have to tell them, at least do me one favor. Please, keep it away from Louise. I can't stand to be without her. If she hears this, we may never be together."

Osmond sympathized with Saito, but remained resolute. "I'm sorry, but she has to know too. She is a Void Mage after all." He saw Saito begin to emotionally collapse, so he decided to do him a favor. "If she means anything at all to you, then you should be the one to tell her. I won't tell her anything, but I will not keep the truth from her. If she happens to be told the truth, I will not interfere." With that, he left the room, allowing Louise to go back inside.

She looked at Saito, noticing his rather dejected mood. "What happened?" she asked. Saito didn't look into her eyes. If he did, he would be unable to hold his tears back any longer. Louise however, was not happy with his response. She forced his head to face her.

"Tell me what you spoke to Osmond about!"

Saito's eyes began to tear up before he was finally able to speak.

"It was nothing. He wanted to ask me about my arm. Just to see if I was healing." He gave a very slight reassuring smile. She wasn't entirely convinced, but decided that he needs to heal before she could interrogate any further. She got up and put her Aristocrat cloak on.

"I'm going to buy you some medicine. Stay put." Before she could leave, Saito raised his voice.

"Louise! Wait…" He gestured for her to come closer to him. When she was an arm's length away, he quickly grabbed her by her shirt and kissed her. He had wanted to kiss her ever since he arrived in Halkeginia, but no longer had the energy to restrain himself. He pulled away and laid back in bed. He couldn't sit up for long because of how much pain he was in. Louise was in a daze, having not recovered from the shock of what happened. By the time she came to her senses and was about to yell at Saito, he was already peacefully asleep. She couldn't help but feel happy that he didn't seem to be in pain anymore. She left him in the room asleep as she went to buy medicine.

In the Imperial Palace, Queen Marianne was mourning the loss of her husband. Try as she might Henrietta could not help her feel any better, so she decided to go back to her room. As she was walking through the hallways, she spotted Osmond walking towards her in a hurry. She politely greeted him.

"Hello, Osmond. How are you?"

Osmond was in a hurry. "I'm afraid I don't have time to make small talk. I need to speak with your mother in private."

Henrietta looked sad. Her mother had given up on being Queen, effectively making Henrietta the Queen of Tristain in her absence. Henrietta stopped Osmond.

"I am currently the effective Queen of Tristain. If you have something to tell her, please tell me instead."

Osmond was skeptical, but complied. He sat Henrietta down and began retelling the story Saito had told him a few hours prior. Henrietta's face slowly went from intrigued to frightened. By the time Osmond had finished, she was in complete shock.

Osmond took no notice of this. "In conclusion, I believe we need to prepare our armies for the foes that are sure to come. Please inform Germania as soon as possible. They are our most powerful ally after all."

When he finished, Henrietta took a deep breath. "I'm going to go and visit Louise." Osmond nodded. He understood that Louise and Henrietta were best friends, so it wasn't a problem for him. Before she set off, he stopped her to say one last thing.

"When questioning the boy, be more thorough than I was. He is hiding something. That is not to say you should be harsh. Indeed, you must tread carefully." She nodded and went on her way. She had sent a messenger to inform Agnès that she was to call for a meeting between Henrietta and the rest of Tristain's allies.

In Louise's room

Saito woke up. He looked around, noticing that Louise was not there. He then remembered what he had done the previous night. The thought of himself suddenly kissing her made him bury his face in his palms. He looked at his sword, hoping for someone to talk to.

"Hey, Derf. You didn't see what I did yesterday, right?" Derf spoke up in a rather tired voice.

"What are you talking about? I've been asleep the whole time. Something I should know?" Saito shook his head. "Nah, nothing." He was relieved. Derf had made himself fall asleep, not wanting to risk being found. Saito turned his body, trying to stretch his back. He was surprised to find that his body wasn't in pain anymore. At the very least, it was quite stiff, but there was no sign that he had such a massive injury on his arm.

He got up and walked to the bathroom to look at himself in the mirror. At first, everything seemed fine. He then noticed that something about himself was off. He looked at his face more carefully. He was shocked to discover that his left eye's iris had turned from blue, to an extremely vivid, solid, bright orange. It was almost as if it was glowing. He was confused, but did not panic. He tried his best to convince himself that it was random and purely cosmetic. He just told himself that it looked cool and brushed it off. He then turned his attention to his arm. Since he wasn't feeling any pain, he decided to unwrap the bandages. He slowly removed them, preparing his stomach for the disgusting sight he was going to see.

When they were finally removed, he looked at it in the mirror. His arm had seemingly made a full recovery. There were several scars spread over it. Some looked like wounds made by swords, others looked like burn wounds that still needed a bit of treatment. The most outstanding sight, however, were the glowing reddish-pink runes wrapping around his entire arm. He wasn't sure what they said or what they meant. However, he decided that it would be best if people didn't see them. He looked through Louise's cabinets until he found bandages.

He tried to wrap his arm himself, but he was absolute rubbish at doing anything even vaguely associated with medical care. As he kept trying to tie the bandage around his arm, there was a knock on the door. Before he could tell the person not to come in, the door opened. He only barely managed to hide his arm in time.

Through the door came Henrietta. She was expecting to see Louise, but instead found Saito half naked, trying his best to hide his arm. She looked at him with a blank face. After a few moments of silence Saito got out of bed, making sure to keep his arm hidden with a blanket, and bowed on one knee.

"Hiraga Saito, at your service, Your Majesty." Henrietta stared at him for a few moments. She then gestured for her guards to wait outside. She walked behind Saito and sat on Louise's bed. Saito did not respond to this, and simply remained bowing in the same direction, acting as properly as he could. Henrietta sighed before speaking to Saito.

"You may rise, Mr. Hiraga." Saito got up and turned around, making sure not to make eye contact with Henrietta. She patted the bed next to her, wanting Saito to sit down. He sat next to her, filled with fear. He knew that she was there to ask him questions. She began first with the most obvious question.

"Why do you keep your arm covered with a sheet? Was it not bandaged?" Saito was quiet for a few seconds.

"I took them off to inspect my arm, but did not have the time to put new ones on. I do not believe it is proper for Her Majesty's eyes to see such a gruesome wound." This was the best lie he had ever told in his life. In fact, it was probably the best lie told in the history of humankind. Henrietta seemed to be satisfied with his answer, so moved on to other questions.

"I have been told the truth by Osmond. About where you're from and the situation you're in. So tell me, if you woke up back home with the chance to live your life normally, why did you choose to come back here? You know that war will come to this place and you know that there is a possibility of dying. So why?"

Saito wasn't sure how to respond. He technically didn't know Henrietta, so he didn't want to discuss his emotions so freely with her. Luckily, before he could answer, Louise came back into the room. When she noticed Henrietta sitting next to Saito, her face turned red with anger. She grabbed her riding crop and hit Saito over the head.

"How dare you sit so casually with the Princess!" Henrietta was extremely embarrassed to have to witness this. However, in his desperate but futile efforts to shield his head from further attacks, the sheet he was using to cover his arm slid off, revealing his many scars and, more importantly, glowing runes that covered every inch of his arm. Henrietta's eyes widened. She was not very accustomed to magic, but even she knew that something was strange. Louise stopped hitting Saito, trying to examine the rune. She looked in all of her textbooks for something similar, but there was reference to anything even vaguely similar. Henrietta decided to rewrap his arm.

"If what you say is true, then there are people who may want to harm Louise. Since they are not aware of her status as a Void Mage yet, or of your status as Gandalfr, I think it is best to keep this a secret."

She finished wrapping his arm and then turned towards Louise. Her demeanor suddenly changed from a very respectable aristocratic woman, to a young child excited to see her best friend. She lunged at Louise, holding her in a tight hug.

"Louise! It's been too long!" Louise smiled and hugged her back. "It's good to see you princess. You've certainly grown a lot." Louise said while looking at Henrietta's chest. She then looked at her own, momentarily becoming depressed at her breast's state of near non-existence. Henrietta chuckled, trying to comfort her.

"Any good man will love you for who you are." She glanced at Saito when she said this, making him turn very red. "Does she know? Impossible!" he thought. Henrietta and Louise played together for a few hours, seemingly forgetting that Saito was there. When the time came for Henrietta to leave, she gave Louise a big hug. Henrietta did not have the courage to tell Louise about the trials that were to come.

"I have to go now Louise. I'm sorry! I'll visit again soon!" Louise hugged her for several seconds before bowing.

"I look forward to it Your Majesty."

Henrietta was about to leave, but then walked back towards Saito. She went close to his ear and whispered.

"Take care of her, Saito. She'll fall for you in no time. Don't give up!"

Saito was taken aback. "What?!" Before he could even respond, Henrietta skipped out of the room and left the school. When Louise was sure Henrietta was gone, she locked the door and walked towards Saito, a dark aura surrounding her.

"So", she said calmly, "what did she tell you just now?"

Fear shot across Saito's face. Should he lie or tell the truth? He looked up at her.

"She told me that is my duty to protect you, as your familiar. Nothing special." Louise was not convinced.

"Until you tell me the truth, no supper for you!" She left her room, leaving Saito both depressed and relieved. A few moments later, there was a knock on the door. Saito was quiet for a moment, then responded "Come in!". It was someone he did not expect to see, nor did he want to.

"Hello there, sir." the woman stated, "My name is Ms. Longueville."

Saito was on edge. He knew exactly how dangerous this situation was. Although somewhat healed, he was in no condition to fight. She sat next to him.

"I heard snippets of what Osmond said whilst he was in this room." She turned to look at him. "Ms. Vallière is quite the special girl isn't she?" Saito couldn't do anything. He knew she was a bad person, but without any proof of this, he couldn't attack her. Besides that, his body wasn't ready either. She smiled at him. It was almost as if she knew what he was thinking. She got up and began to leave the room. As she was leaving, Louise came back to the room holding a glass of water. Longueville patted her head, smiling at Saito as she did so. When she left, Louise looked at Saito. She could see a range of emotions on his face. Fear, hatred, sadness. He didn't say anything to her. He simply laid down on her bed and closed his eyes. Louise didn't bother him, not wanting to be on the receiving end of his emotions. After a few minutes he fell asleep.

He woke up in front of Gandalfr's gate. The creature was already staring at him. Saito looked up at it.

"What should I do?" They were the only words Saito could think of.

Gandalfr was quiet for a while, finally speaking after several seconds.

"The girl does not have the power to protect herself yet, so you, as the one they call Gandalfr, must be her shield. Take whatever steps you must to keep her safe, although I do not understand why you put her life in front of your own."

Saito sighed, "We humans have this thing called love. It's really stupid, but I don't care. I'm sure you've felt it before, haven't you?"

Gandalfr was quiet. His eyes narrowed as he looked down, reminiscing about something. "Perhaps." He said.

Saito smiled. He was starting to view Gandalfr more as a person than as an entity. However, as Saito was about to reply, his heart began to hurt. The pain was excruciating. He then began to cough up blood. Gandalfr spoke to him quickly. A great amount of urgency could be heard in his voice.

"Wake up, boy!"

Saito eyes shot open. He got up just in time to see a figure jumping out of the window, holding an unconscious Louise. He tried to get up to go and stop them, but felt a sharp pain in his chest. He began to cough. Large amounts of blood came up whenever he did so. He looked down at his chest, and it was there that he saw the source of his pain. A dagger had been shoved into his heart. He slowly but frantically crawled off of the bed and out of the room.

He made it into the hallway, but couldn't move any further. After a short time, he began to feel cold. He soon stopped feeling any pain as he fell unconscious.

Author's Notes:

Well, that was not easy to write. I have a feeling that it was a subpar chapter, and for that, I apologize. Either way, please leave a review. It really helps me know where I have to improve and what you guys would like to see. I may post another chapter later today. Maybe two! We'll have to wait and see. Anyway, thanks for reading guys!