The characters from the game belong to Capcom.
A/N:I'm not english native speaker, so you might find some typos or grammar mistakes, I do apologize for that.
A/N: Contains hints of sexual language.
And now it was all an agony, a struggle. The longing, the long waiting days. Since Angelique returned home, the lake house lost its brightness, its warmth, its coziness. The beauty of the surroundings only served to bring more loneliness. No neighbors, no people, no movement except of the Mother Nature when the birds' chirp, the water flows, the wind making the tree leaves dance.
Everything in the house seemed to remind him of the presence and absence of Angelique, especially the decoration. Her paintings hung on the walls. Such beautiful work. Paintings of Nature. Paintings of people. Paintings telling a story, those were her favorite ones.
As days passed, all they had to do was to wait, secluded in their own internal fantasy. In their own memories. Struggling with the external influences, their stories. He struggled with the war memories and the scar on his abdomen always reminded him of that fatidic evening.
Angelique avoided leaving her chamber and face her stepmother's mischievous comments about her "disappearance". Her father had scolded her for staying away for so long all alone, it wasn't good for his reputation which led him to made up excuses.
No matter what they said, she didn't care this time. There was a new power inside of her, the power of love. That power gave her strength and courage to tolerate those lonely days. In her bedroom she started a new drawing and his scarf – her scarf – with his scent inspired her and kept his memory and "presence" so vividly in her heart.
She could still feel the touch of that man's lips. Her lover's warm and soft lips. She still could taste him in her mouth. On her skin when he touched her face.
Isolated in her chamber as the usual, this time she had the company of her sweet memories and to ease her blooming feelings, she wrote. She wrote a lot. Several texts, several poems. Letters. Longing letters. Drawings.
Every time she heard someone coming to her chamber, she made sure to hide the papers and diary. The good side of being isolated and submissive was that she could serve like a guard to all her belongings in case anyone could peek.
As days had passed, the climate's increasing temperature announced the arrival of the Summer. The king of Bohma proved to be a strong ruler as his territory had expanded since the victory over Edonia. To celebrate the most recent conquer, he decided to throw a big gown party at the court and invited closest friends and his kingdom's allies noblemen and their families in a gesture of gratefulness for their commitment with the Crown. He ordered his servants to prepare the best accommodations for his foreign guests and the life at the Bohma's court was tremendous agitation.
However, at the court and at the closest city surrounding the main royal land, it was the royal party or the weather that was the hot topic among the inhabitants, but the absence of the noblewoman Katarina O'Gregon who hadn't been seen in several days right before the arrival of the Duke of Northwest and prominent future husband to the most beautiful single lady in town.
Other women envied her, as she was the one chosen by the Duke. His brilliance and power only lost to the king's, however, it wasn't rare the king uniting forces and request the Duke's knowledge and advices for many subjects.
Noblemen and women wished they could be chosen to wed by the Duke's heirs and the most ambitious women wished they could be chosen by the Duke himself and inherit a prestige close enough to the queen's.
Katarina was the chosen one and strangely felt sick and was isolated in a property of her family that nobody knew how to locate which only reinforced the rumors that she once again was a run away bride.
The Duke knew about her constant declines for marriage arrangements and that intrigued him. Surely he had seen portraits of hers in few paintings. She was beautiful, but it could also be a trick of whoever painted those and such cases weren't rare to happen.
If she was the beautiful woman he had seen in paintings combined with her family's high influence, demonstrated to him that she was a demanding woman who couldn't bestow herself to any man and she had the right to do that. Her good reputation was across from her about her skills and personality. Her youth added points to her vivacity and he liked that. He felt powerful enough to tame such enchanting woman.
Despite the initial disappointment after learning the news about her sickness, he trusted her father's statement and patiently waited for her to recover. As a good friend to the king, he decided to stay in town for a longer period and participate of the gown party.
Pierce was leaving main hall of the castle after a meeting and walked his way to leave the castle and go to church as it was an important religious day and he wanted to dedicate a part of his memory to his late friend Christopher.
When he reached the main gate, he took notice of a carriage and a familiar face. The woman had a short light straight brown hair. She wore a dark blue dress and carried a toddler while her maiden held the umbrella to protect them from the sun.
He walked to their direction to greet them, "Clary Reed?"
The woman turned around and smiled greeting him back, "Pierce, it's been a long time!"
"Yes it is, you haven't changed anything!"
"Oh I did have change, I'm a mother now and Mrs. Bouchier" she spoke with a playful way
"And you look great! Congratulations!"
"Thank you… what about you? Have you found your fine lady already?"
He giggled, "No I haven't yet, but I'm not looking for any right now"
She laughed a bit in disbelief, "Maybe it's because you found and is not telling me…"
"What?"
She winked, "I know you Pierce for a long time!"
He stuttered, "I don't know what you're talking about…"
She simply smiled
"So what are you doing in town? I thought I'd never see you here again"
She inhaled and let out a sigh, "If that depended on me I'd never had returned to this place, but my husband couldn't decline the party invitation, so here I am… we are"
"It's good to see you again. It's good to see a familiar friendly face"
"Yes, that's true. And how are you dealing with everything? They say you saved the kingdom"
He gasped, "I didn't save anything. Christopher did! It's because of him I'm here…"
The woman shared the same saddened gaze. The conversation was leading to a sad ground, but somehow it could be better to discuss with a known and close friend and Pierce was that one. The court was a dark place for her, a place of mourn. She had lost important people there. She had lost her first husband and recently she had lost Christopher. She still mourned her cousin's death and the court only reminded her that there was the last place she would ever want to be.
"At least he died for his cause. A good cause" she spoke after a sigh
"I'm going to church to pay him a tribute. Will you join me?"
She nodded in agreement and talked to her maiden giving her instructions. Pierce looked at the opposite direction as he saw the imposing Duke coming to the castle's entrance, most probably for a new conversation. The fifty's man stared at him with a non-friendly expression and then the guards let him in.
At the cemetery, Pierce and Clary visited the graves of their late families' members and they were the only ones to visit the empty grave of Christopher. Silently they paid their tributes to him. After a while, they left the location and walked back to the castle. When no one was around them, at distance they saw the carriage that belonged to the Duke leaving. Clary could not hold herself anymore and ended up commenting, "If I were you I'd be careful with that old man"
"What are you talking about?" Pierce turned to her making a face
"You don't have to lie to me and everybody knows about the rumors of you and Katarina…"
"Those are not rumors, but huge lies!"
"Pierce, I know you always had feelings for her. I remember the way you used to look at her…"
"She loved Christopher!" he spoke in denial
"Christopher is dead and she's still young…and beautiful…rich…"
"I don't give a care for that!"
"I know you don't, but that doesn't change the fact that you have feelings for her and she's single..."
"She's not that single and the Duke is here to meet her. I know I don't have a chance with her, so I don't understand why you say I should be careful with the Duke"
"Just because if I know about the rumors… he does too! I saw the way he stared at you earlier"
Pierce let out a long sigh
"Wherever she is, he won't leave until he meets her and that's why you have to be careful wherever you're hiding her"
He gasped and turned his face to her frowning, but when their gazes met, he couldn't really disguise it. She could read him like the palm of her hand. He trusted her and knew she would never turn him in.
A few more days had passed, Angelique was in chamber painting in the middle of the night when she felt thirsty and left to get a glass of water. She was walking towards the stairs when she passed in front of her father's chamber and heard voices.
"I think the best solution is sending her to a nunnery."
"Why a nunnery?"
"Because that's her essence! Have you noticed how too collected she is? She's not feminine or gracious. Some male candidates had complained about her and she has said she doesn't want to get married… in my opinion the best solution is sending her to a nunnery. You cannot support her for the rest of her lazy life! Not to mention that if she continues disappearing that way, people will talk things that will be very unpleasant and you don't want our family to go through that, do you?"
"You have a point and she does like helping people…"
"Exactly! She's not a marriage material but she can be useful to god!"
"I will talk to her first and give her another chance to get married"
"Why do you insist so much in a trait she doesn't have?!"
"Because she's my daughter"
Angelique listened to their conversation in silence. Tears cored down her face. She couldn't go to a nunnery, not now she had learned and feel love for a man! Before Chris she might had accepted the idea of being sent to a nunnery. Actually, that was one of the things that had crossed her mind to escape that place. She had believed she wasn't born to love or get married.
And now… now she was engaged and loved the one who was waiting for her at their safe place. She walked back to her chamber in silence and hoped her father could listen to her plead at least once in her life.
Palace of Northman
The cool weather of dawn slowly gave space to the heat as the sun opened in the sky of the morning of the gown royal party day.
Katarina had a terrible night struggling with allergies and heat – but not the typical heat. There was a quite a while since she had started her game of seduction with Pierce. She had never felt rejected before, unattractive.
Pierce spent most of his time absent and whenever little time he could dedicate to her, he built a wall between them. she thought that living in the same place would be easier to make him share the bed, but it was actually being harder. Which led her thinking if he really did love her like he stated or if he did like the same fruit as her.
They did kiss and sometimes things increased between them, but he always managed to stop any further progress. That wasn't the case with Christopher. He was slow to be seduced, but he didn't stop any further progress in the only nightstand they shared before her parents ruined her plans by engaging her to Fleming.
She did try to arrange her marriage to Christopher, but her father was completely opposite to the idea of her marrying a knight.
Flashback
"I love him, father!"
"He's just a knight! You can take better than that"
"He is a good man and can love me like any other man could!"
"He's just an opportunist that wants easy money, your properties!"
"He does not need my properties, he already has his own!" she yelled out
"Katarina he is a vassal!"
"I love him!" she shouted
"Love is a pathetic idea you have read in those books you collect! You were born a noblewoman who shall 'love' and marry a prince or a king! And shall we end this conversation! I will not allow you to marry that man and you must get ready because in a few days you will meet your future husband who is a member of the royal family and become Mrs. Fleming!"
She cried a lot that night, revolted. The next day she visited Christopher to inform him the bad news.
"I do not want to marry Fleming. My love is you Chris and I do love you even more after that day!"
He swallowed at the mention of that event, "We shall forget what happened…" he spoke in a nearly dry tone
"You released your flame in me, told me I was unforgettable and now you say to forget that?"
"That was a mistake"
"Mistake?" she spoke in horror looking at his seemly-embarrassed face, "I do not want and will not forget we made love and you liked!"
"Of course I did… I'm a man! And you…"
"And me what? Do not dare blame me for something You wanted too! I never forced you to do anything!"
"You didn't force me, but you didn't make it easy to resist… don't you dare denying your flirts and special treatments!"
"I do not deny my love expressions for you because all I did was for loving you and not because I am a whore like those ones you are used to!"
"I never said you are a whore!"
"But you were about to say it!"
"I wasn't! I just said that you and I are responsible for whatever happened that led to that love making… it's a mistake that won't happen again"
"You'd better pray that I am not expecting your child already!"
He swallowed dryly at the thought. Another reason why it surely had been a mistake.
"Why making love to the one you love is a mistake?" she gasped
"Because your father said so! You now belong to Fleming and shall respect him as your future husband."
"I will not marry Fleming. I die before that!" she spoke bitterly
End of Flashback
She didn't die, but Fleming did. She didn't kill him, but she couldn't deny that somehow his death was a relief to her fate. She did try giving herself a chance to be happy with him, but he just wasn't good enough and didn't make her happy or pleased… like Chris did.
In only one night, Christopher proved he was the man she looked for, the man she desired, the man she could love with all the love she had in her body and soul. He proved he had more qualities than she could've had asked for besides what everyone knew about his good character and position in the society.
What they had was perfectly described in one of the books she had read by Andreas Capellanus in De Amore: "It is the pure love which binds together the hearts of two lovers with every feeling of delight. This kind consists in the contemplation of the mind and the affection of the heart; it goes as far as the kiss and the embrace and the modest contact with the nude lover, omitting the final solace, for that is not permitted for those who wish to love purely... That is called mixed love which gets its effect from every delight of the flesh and culminates in the final act of Venus."
As a knight, surely he had moral codes and demeanor to follow and she didn't see anything wrong about that. He did serve the king and Bohma with his heart, but he was also a man willing to love a woman like no other royal family member, prince nor even a king could. Fleming, the man with royal blood, proved that theory of hers. She was willing to fight for Christopher's love and take him back for her, but before she could accomplish that, the stupid war ruined her plans.
Now living the post-war phase, all she had was Pierce. He was handsome, more handsome than any other husband aspirant arranged for her and the second most handsome man in the land – the first was Christopher, at least in her eyes. Pierce, the man she always knew seemed to have had feelings for her for years, but didn't prove it to her like she expected. Were those feelings real or was just a way for him to pretend to be what he wasn't?
Lost in her wonders and drinking wine alone, she didn't notice how late of night it was already. She only noticed when she heard a noise coming from the entrance door and immediately hid herself for a few seconds until she realized it was Pierce returning from the party. How soon there was she thought?
She walked to his direction to greet him. There was something different about him. He seemed pissed or something, but well, normally he seemed that way – she laughed inwardly.
"You're still awake?" he spoke as he hang his coat
"I cannot sleep when you're not home"
"I'm sorry for that"
"You do not have to sorry for… I am the one who stuffed here…"
"That's true indeed and I tell you that the Duke won't leave until he meets you, so you have no other option besides returning home and marry him…" he looked down at the mention of her marriage thought
"I cannot marry that man! You have seen him and confirmed I am not exaggerating when I say he is disgusting and not a man for me to love!"
He shrugged, "His shows otherwise. The court women are all agitated with his presence. Some even want you to die so they can be chosen"
She laughed, "I prefer dying too instead of marrying him and let him touch me!" she spoke with shivers of disgust and aversion
He didn't like the image too and after seeing the wine bottle on the table, he stood up to get a glass and join her in the drinking. He wanted to forget that man's words to him at the party, "You're not man enough to deserve a woman like Katarina. Your plebeian roots prove you're not a man for her and never will be. You only got this position because Christopher Reed died. He was more of a man than you pathetic vassal!" that old man knew how to humiliate him, he was angry, he was mad at him and himself for had listened to them in complete silence in respect to the king and not start a commotion.
Katarina dropped discreetly let the glass of wine on her chest and dress and made a dramatic scene. Pierce willing to help her took a handkerchief in attempt to dry most of the liquid on her clothing. She made sure to lean further her cleavage as he passed the fabric on the lower part of her nightgown. He ignored her cleavage as much as he could and delivered the handkerchief for her to dry herself.
"The sun will soon be bright outside. I can wash hang it outside to dry faster. I am absolutely sure this will work!" she spoke
"Yes and what do you intend to wear in the meantime?" he smiled only with one side of his mouth and looked at her from head down
"Nothing!" she thought marveling the look he had given her, "Hum, you could borrow me something to wear such as a nightgown since I only brought this one… or even a clean towel, robe or a sheet…"
Pierce was a bit hesitant but she was right. She needed something to wear. He asked her to follow him to his chamber, retrieved a robe from the wardrobe, handed it to her, and left the chamber to give her privacy. However, little while after he closed the door she called him.
"Pierce, here"
Pierce's jaw opened a bit and there was no way to disguise his eyes looking up and down to the perfect feminine silhouette standing before him.
Katarina smiled discreetly enjoying the success of her plan. The shivers on her skin surely made her appeal even more delightful as his eyes looked directly at her busts' level, but she still couldn't celebrate. The strategy wasn't over yet. She wanted him closer.
However, things didn't go exactly as she expected when she heard his voice as he grabbed the clothing from the ground still keeping some distance, "I'll hang it myself"
"What the hell?! You surely do not like women!" she spoke bitterly
Pierce was standing, his eyebrows lifted, he licked his lips. There was no way he could disguise his eye looking up and down at her exposed naked body.
"What face is that Pierce? You seem like you have never seen a naked woman before!"
"It's not that! I have never seen You naked before…"
"Because you have been a fool!"
He swallowed hard ignoring looking down her waist level as much as he could, but the vision of her naked and trimmed body was already glued in his memory. Her south area was trimmed! That was intriguing for him.
In the other hand, Katarina finally took notice of him and seemed delighted watching his under reaction, she was sure he was enjoying what he was seeing. His south was pointing to the north and she couldn't help the large smile on her face.
Pierce finally returned to himself, "Are you sure about this? You know this will change things between forever and this could be wrong…" he asked throwing her clothing back on the ground
"More than anything… There nothing wrong in loving each other…" she spoke in a seductive way as she stepped closer to him
"Kat… I…"
"I am a woman who seeks love and have all the love to receive and give to you…the chosen one! How can you say no to that?"
"You're not any woman!"
"Of course not… I am a woman who loves you with all my heart and soul…" she pushed him to her into a passionate kiss as she played with his south, "Now only my body needs the love…our love…What is wrong? Loving each other?"
"Yes! Before marriage and remember we are not allowed to get married!"
"Just because the society said so?! We will not be the first or last! You know there is a huge difference between rules and reality… Do not they say that women shall bear children? How to discover that without the proper experiment? She spoke in a seductive way as she travelled her hands on his chest under his shirt
"What if you get pregnant?"
"I guess that is the only way our marriage will be allowed just because of reputation!" she spoke in between kisses
"Kat…" his steady voice
"Shall we love each other, Pierce?"
There was a plead in her voice tone he could not resist any longer. Surrendering to his basic instincts, his feelings, his hands travelled around her body. Her skin was so soft and warm. He guided her to his bed laying her down in it with her belly up as he prompted himself on top of her while their fierce kiss intensified and they both were lost in the hot ocean of their lust.
Thank you Herpderp for the review :D
And I decided to change the rate to M right before publishing the chapter, just in case... I don't know if what I wrote is still in T rate, but well...now it's done and maybe now I can feel more free xD xD
I thought the chapter would be shorter, but I guess it's not. There's a lot happening lol
Dang, I thought I had updated longer ago and not two days ago LOL xD
Let's see what happens next...
Stay Tuned!