Hey you guys, it's been a while since I updated. Last time I did was that horrible week and since I recently had break and went home it's been meh. But I pushed myself and got this out for all you lovely readers who keep loving and supporting me!

Also trigger warning, mentions of rape, and anxiety.

Enjoy!

"He'll be fine," the doctor sighed out as Lukas stared up at him from the bed he was confined to. "Just give him a couple days to rest, his body will be hurting after going through such extreme amounts of stress." Helina nodded sitting on the other side of Lukas brushing her hands through his hair.

They were all at Elo's house, he sat beside Helina and then thanked the doctor showing him out. In the living room sat Tino babysitting Emil as he played on the floor oblivious to everything going on in life. Tino still couldn't help but recall today's events, he also couldn't help but feel a bit of guilt, like everything his fault. "Tino… Tino…" he snapped out of his trance glancing up to see his father holding out a mug towards him. "Here."

He took it and could already smell the strong aroma of coffee, it was oddly comforting to him as he took a small sip from it. "What did the doctor say?" he asked knowing his father was also in the room.

"He said Lukas would be fine, so don't worry," he muttered and poked the tops of Tino's head. He knew how Tino got, he was such a worry wart. Even if the problem wasn't his own.

Tino gave a small smile before returning to look down at his coffee, "I think I'm going to go home. I need to clean up the mess from earlier."

"I can go with you," Taisto said setting down his mug.

"No, it's fine," he said."I'll be right back with some more of your clothes so you can wash up." Tino set his coffee mug down and Taisto watched him as he got up and walked out.

Tino headed down the dirt road that led to his home, the summer wind was faint but it carried the smell of the mine. It made his chest ache and he just wanted to forget all about the events of that day. He crossed his arms trying to hold back the tears that wanted to spill over for what seemed the hundredth time that day.

In the distance, he could see his home or more like the roses that surrounded it. At night the leaves would dimly shine, like stars in the night. While the roses shined slightly brighter like a moon in the sky. However, since the moon wasn't really out tonight they were dimmer than when there is a full moon. It was especially beautiful when the wind blew and the leaves would shake making them look like they sparkled in and out of view. Much like they were doing tonight.

He reached the gate that led into the garden before opening it and walking in. The gate squeaked slightly after not been oiled in so long. He closed it behind him and walked toward the middle of his large garden. All around it seemed like the stars were glinting and he watched for a few moments before he fell to his knees.

Tears came forward like a waterfall that wouldn't stop. He felt his body shaking and the exhaustion hitting him. He tried desperately to wipe the tears away with his shirt but they just kept coming. The scare from nearly losing his father and uncle, only to nearly lose Lukas all in the same day. Not to mention now he was going to marry a man he doesn't even know. He cried harder letting out the ugly sobs that rang in his ears. He pressed his face to the cool dirt and gripped handfuls of it. What was he going to do? Why was he so weak?

That's when he heard some footsteps go towards him, he quickly glanced up and behind him to see a figure approaching him. When the figure stepped into the dim light he realized it was Oleo, "Relax, no need to be afraid," he chuckled.

"W-what are you d-doing here?" Tino said pushing himself away and stood up taking a few steps back. But he felt the fence behind him and the small star-like leaves caressing his body.

"I came to check on you, of course, I figured you'd be back at some point in the night," the other muttered as he walked closer to him.

Tino kept his eyes on the taller male with ebony hair and had a faint crooked smile that exposed his teeth. "I'm fine, you can go," Tino whispered trying his best to keep his voice steady. But the taller male kept walking towards him until he was just a few feet away and he laughed bitterly.

"You really had me going there, earlier. I almost thought you were serious about not marrying me." He cocked his head to the side studying Tino with dangerous dark eyes as he took one more step forward. Just enough to make Tino feel trapped.

"Please, just go," Tino whispered. He didn't want to piss him off, after all he was alone. No one would hear him. That thought alone made him tense up more and he gripped the bottom of his shirt.

Oleo chuckled as if he knew what Tino was thinking. "No need to be afraid," he muttered leaning toward Tino and placing his fingers gingerly under his chin. "You're so cute, it makes me want to eat your right up." Tino attempted to pull his face away, but Oleo now gripped his chin forcing Tino to look up at him. "Come on now, Tino, we both know you won't agree to marry that monster."

Tino was breathing heavily as Oleo invaded even more of his space. Oleo got his face dangerously close to his, but Tino couldn't pull away. He knew he could out muscle Oleo easily, but Oleo had magic. "W-why…?" he whispered.

Oleo paused and hummed a bit. "What do you mean why?"

"I-I mean...why...why me?" Tino whispered and that's when Oleo let go of his chin.

Unfortunately, he wished he had kept his hand there. Because now Oleo's hands were on his hips, his hands slowly going up his dirt covered shirt. "That's a silly question," Oleo laughed leaning in closer and his lips right by Tino's ears. "You've caught my eye for the longest time. And when something catches my eye, I have to have it."

Tino felt his lips trembling, one of Oleo's hands sliding onto his back and then down past his pants. He couldn't believe this was happening. He didn't want this. He didn't want this at all. "N-no stop...stop please," he whispered. He tried to push on Oleo's chest to get him away but the other wouldn't budge.

"I wouldn't fight me if I were you," Oleo whispered in his ear before his teeth grazed against it.

"Stop… Please just stop!" Tino said and squeezed his eyes shut. Next thing he knew Oleo was off of him. His eyes shot open feeling the other leave his personal space. He was breathing heavily again but the tears in his eyes made everything foggy.

Oleo was on the ground just a few feet away from him, he seemed shocked and just as confused. "What-what did you do?!" he snapped.

Tino shook his head quickly, "N-no I didn't…" he pushed himself back against the fence more. And that's when he realized the bushes were growing a bit brighter. He watched as they glimmered and the leaves wrapped around him. Almost as if they were hugging him.

Oleo growled before getting up quickly and exiting the garden the creak from the gate and then it slamming rung through the night air. As soon as Oleo left the plants dimmed again. Tino stood there dumbfounded for a few moments before he slid down to his knees again. He didn't understand what just happened, but he was glad it did. He curled up with the leaves hugging his body and sobbed until he fell asleep.

"Well, what did you think?" Mathias asked glancing at Berwald as he served him some coffee.

"About?" Berwald asked not really wanting to talk about the day's events. Even if the beautiful Tino was stuck in his mind. His voice, his smile, his aura, everything about him was magnificent.

"You know what," Mathias muttered and sat back down beside the other male. "You saw his garden of moon roses on the way back to the town hall. There is enough to break the spell and then some."

Oh right, the moon roses. That was the entire point of him choosing Tino. "It's fine,"

"What will you do about Lord Bisok?"

"Nothing," Berwald replied. He didn't want to deal with a fool who couldn't even take care of his own people.

But then again, who was he to speak? He didn't care for his people, no, in fact, he murdered them. He slaughtered them.

But he didn't want to.

Just thinking about that night before caused him to crack the cup in his hand. Mathias simply stood up and took the cup from his hand setting it down on the table. He cleared the plates and left Berwald to himself.

Berwald put his head in his hands, he was nothing but a monster. He didn't want to be a monster. He didn't choose to be a monster. He bit the inside of his lip as the image of Tino flashed through his mind again. The sweet gentle soul was too good for him, he would never accept someone like him. Much less even wish to stick around him.

He was sure once the marriage is final he'll tell Tino the truth as to why he chose to marry him. Maybe then it'll be easier for Tino to hate him, and it'll be easier for Tino to leave him in the end.

Afterall, who would want to stay with a monster?

Days had passed and Tino had stayed far away from the town as possible. He simply wanted to be in his safe haven, in his garden where he feels safe. But, he felt guilty for not going into town to see how his cousin is doing. Last time he heard he was doing fine, at least that is what his dad told him.

Tino finished pulling up some more weeds and grabbed a small sharp knife to begin to trim the bushes of moon roses that grew all along his home. He didn't pay attention to the noise in the background as he hummed to himself, completely immersing himself into his gardening duties.

That was until the distinct sound of a carriage on gravel caught his attention. He glanced between the silver leaves that showed him a large wooden carriage painted black. It had small purple and gold designs decorating it and even a few black horses pulling it. He blinked a few times, but he realized his father even noticed as he heard the front door open a few moments later. He didn't even have to second guess who it could be, he knew the carriage belonged to the Duke. He bit the inside of his lip, what could he possibly be doing here?

Taisto stood outside his door with his arms crossed, somewhat glaring at the carriage Mathias, who was driving hopped off and opened the door for Berwald. The tall man stepped out and bowed toward Taisto. "What do I owe the meeting to?"

"We're here to talk about the marriage arrangements," Mathias said curtly.

Taisto clenched his jaw looking over at the Duke. "I don't know what it is with you nobles and my son."

"We've come to discuss exactly that," Mathias said.

Taisto stood for a bit longer before rubbing his neck. He knew Tino probably already knew he was here, but since a few nights ago he didn't want Tino around anyone else. "Come on in," he muttered.

The two taller gentleman nodded as they walked toward the door and Taisto walked in just in time to see Tino disappear down the hallway. He then made his way to the kitchen and began to prepare some coffee he knew Tino left out. He heard the other two follow after him, "Take a seat," he murmured as he set the water to boil. "The coffee will be ready in a bit. He then turned toward the other two, Berwald peering outside at all the moon roses that decorated the small fence of the garden, "What is it that you want to discuss?"

"Ah, right, well it's probably best if Tino is here," Mathias said.

"No, he isn't feeling well," Taisto quickly replied. He took a deep breath not wanting to think about it, but the memory came flooding back.

Taisto noticed how late it had gotten and Tino still wasn't back yet. He hoped he was okay and even if his body was exhausted something told him to go and check. So with that, he helped put Emil to bed, said his good nights to Elo and Helena promising he would be back in the morning.

He didn't really have to think about it, his feet just began moving down the dirt road that led to the small home. Alarms felt like they were going off in his head and body, his feet moving as fast as they could without running. He knew he was straining himself doing so, but something just kept telling him to get home quickly.

That's when he could see the dimly lit leaves around the house, the gate that led into the garden was open. It was left creaking a bit swinging back and forth. He knew it couldn't have been Tino, he wasn't so careless as to leave the gate open. "Tino! Tino!" he called out as he approached the gate. There was no response for a few moments before he got to the gate itself, "TINO!" he shouted seeing his son curled up in among the leaves.

He ran over to him quickly and his eyes were wide. Was he hurt? Did someone do something to him? Was he even alive? He reached out toward him, "Tino, hey Tino," he whispered taking a hold of his shoulder.

In seconds Taisto felt himself being kicked back. "Don't touch me!" Tino cried quickly. Taisto gripped Tino's ankle and frowned seeing his son struggle to desperately to get away.

"Tino stop! It's me!" he shouted several times before Tino finally stopped moving and gazed at his father. His eyes began to fill with tears and he nearly jumped onto his father. He didn't get what was going on but he held Tino as he curled up into him. It was only until later that he found out what exactly had happened.

Taisto was livid at the memory. Not only at Oleo but at himself. He if would have just gone with Tino maybe something like that wouldn't have happened. However, he was snapped out of his thoughts when he Mathias began to talk again.

"Perhaps I should go check on him, I'm sure we have medicine…"

"No." Taisto nearly snapped and the two of them glanced at him. "I mean, I'll go check on him," he muttered before he walked out of the kitchen.

Mathias glanced at Berwald who was left staring at the spot where Taisto had been. "Something happened," Berwald muttered.

"Shall I ask?" Mathias said but Berwald shook his head. Sure, it would be much easier if Tino was in the room while they discussed this. That way no misunderstanding would happen, but he could see it in Taisto's aura. The violet color that stained the family just a few days ago seemed to be there still but a deeper color. He wondered what could have caused something but he didn't say anything else on the matter.

Taisto knocked on Tino's door, "I'm coming in," he said before opening it. Tino was sitting on the floor with his knees to his chest. He glanced up at his father and then looked down at the floor again. "I'm not here to force you to talk to them," he said and closed the door softly.

Tino was silent, he didn't want to face another noble. They all seemed so mean now, doing whatever they want. Whenever they pleased. It wasn't fair. "Why are they here?" he asked quietly, although he was quite sure of the reason already.

"They came to discuss the marriage," Taisto replied. He watched Tino sit still for a moment before he shifted and stood up.

"Let me look presentable," he said quietly turning away to grab some fresh clothes.

"You don't have to," Taisto said quickly.

Tino didn't respond only grabbing his clothes and then heading off toward the bathroom. He knew life was still going to keep moving, even if he felt like he didn't want to. He had never had such a feeling overcome him, but then again at night he used to never had nightmares of being molested.

Taisto returned to the kitchen where Mathias had taken the liberty of serving four cups of coffee. "Tino will join us in a bit, he is just cleaning up." There was a silent nod from the others as they sat down at the table and Taisto glanced at the cup in his hands. "Can I ask yous something?" he peered up to look at the Duke who had set his cup of coffee down. He nodded quietly, he was sure he was going to ask why he chose to marry Tino. Or who he was. Or maybe even what kind of background he's from. "Will you ever force someone to do something they don't want to do?"

Berwald was silent for a few moments, "No."

Taisto stared at him for a bit longer and then sat back in his chair. His muscles still visibly tense as he held the cup of coffee in his hands. Almost as if making sure it wasn't going to go anywhere, just like he was trying to cling to the reality of things. "Tino, he's the only thing that my wife left me. So you must understand, how much he means to me." He took a deep shaky breath, "I've asked Tino several times if he was going to be okay with this. I told him I would fight tooth and nail if he wasn't…" he slowly fell silent as he then made eye contact with Berwald. "He told me he wanted to. That if it was the only way to thank you...then he'd do it."

Somehow Berwald felt like this was much more than marriage. He could see the dimming colors of his aura, he just wanted to know why he was like that. Had something happened in the last few days? Something he wasn't aware of?

"What I'm trying to say is that…" now Taisto's lips were trembling. He leaned forward a bit more and his eyes were that of a desperate father. "Please, please, take good care of my son."

There was silence for a few moments before footsteps could be heard coming from down the hall. "Hello, sorry to keep everyone waiting!" Tino smiled.

Berwald glanced over at him and he could see the usual bubbly colors, but they were slightly dimmed. Only if slightly, it made an enormous difference. He wanted to know what had happened to cause such uneasiness, but he decided not to pry and stayed silent as his eyes watched Tino take a seat. "So, what have we discussed so far?"

"Nothing yet," Mathias hummed. "But now that you're here we should get started."

They began to discuss the plans for a small ceremony. They decided to have it at Berwald's estate, this way there would be less of a chance for interruption. "Of course the same day Tino will be moving in to live with us. We've extended this invitation to you, Taisto."

Taisto thought it would be better if he did live with Tino. But, it would also be frowned upon. It wasn't a common practice in their land to do such a thing. "I don't think I'll be doing so," he muttered.

Tino glanced at his father, his hands gripping his mug tighter. He wasn't sure if he could move out of his childhood home to go live with some strangers. "I...um...can I still come back?" he asked quickly.

"Of course," Berwald replied.

"He isn't restricting you to the house," Mathias continued. "If you ever want to come back we shall simply get a carriage ready for you. Of course it would be wise to return before nightfall." Tino felt a bit easier now, "Now for the -" but he fell silent as he glanced back.

The door slammed open moments later, both Tino and Taisto jumped nearly out of their seats. Berwald and Mathias didn't seem phased at all as they looked at Oleo stepping inside. "What is the meaning of this?!" he shouted.

Tino's breath hitched and he quickly gripped his father's sleeve. Taisto stood up quickly, "What are you doing? This is still my home!"

"Silence!" Oleo shouted but glared at Berwald who still had his back to him.

He watched Tino silently, the small blonde boy was shaking like a dog. His coffee was going to spill over if he continued. But with his aura he could see the large shade of ruby red taking over - he was panicking.

"May we help you?" Matthias asked as he stood up fixing his clothes slightly and looking at the young Lord.

"Yes, you can get the fuck out of here before I call my father," he growled.

"Such language, not proper for a man of your status," Mathias only smiled slightly. "Perhaps a cup of coffee to calm your nerves…"

"I don't want anything like that! I want you to get out!"Oleo was livid. "I told you that Tino is going to marry me. And that's final!"

Tino felt his face becoming hot, the voices that were talking were slowly dying away. He stared at his cup of coffee that was shaking and now spilling onto his clothes. He felt as if his throat was slowly closing up as he tried to get a grip on reality, but the more he tried the harder it got and the deeper he fell into his abyss. He could only feel the tears spilling over his hot cheeks and he tried to make a sound but it only came out as a choked noise.

"I need you to leave," Taisto said quickly glancing from his son to Oleo. "Now."

"Don't you talk to me like that!" Oleo scowled walking closer toward the kitchen.

Berwald stood up quickly blocking his path from entering the kitchen anymore. "He told you to leave," he said looking down at Oleo. Oleo stepped back without even thinking and he glared at the Duke.

"Just because you're stronger doesn't mean you can do whatever you please," Oleo muttered.

Such irony, really at it's best. At least that is what Berwald thought. "Leave," he wasn't going to tell the young Lord again, not wanting to use force, but he knew he would if he had to.

Taisto turned to Tino who had managed to spill his coffee all over himself, "Tino, Tino listen," he whispered and touched his arm gently. "Tino listen to me, it's just me," he whispered trying to console his child that sat there trembling. It pained his heart and made him livid all at the same time. He had never seen his son, the sweetest person he's ever known, become so scared and vulnerable. He took the mug from his hands and tried to get him to stand up.

Tino's breathing had picked up and he clung to his father's sleeve. He could barely make out his father, but all he wanted to do was get to the garden. He knew it would be safe there, it would protect him. He motioned toward the door leading into the garden and Taisto helped him along. The room was slowly dimming around him and longed the brightness from outside reminded him of something like a tunnel.

"Young Lord, it would be best if you left," Mathias said glancing back at Tino. "You've caused enough trouble."

Oleo glared between them, "This isn't over you bastards." With that, he left the house, Mathias walking not too far behind him to make sure he indeed leave the premises.

Berwald didn't waste another moment as he walked out to the back of the garden. But he knew something was different, he got to the door and it was like something was pushing him back. Not allowing him to enter. Upon closer inspection, he could see the roses seemed different. They all seemed to lean toward the middle of the garden where Tino sat now having calmed down a little more, the roses gleaming in the sunlight and brighter than usual.

Tino reassured his father he was okay and sat silently staring at the warm dirt. He felt safe there, the flowers protecting and hiding him. Taisto nodded patting Tino's back and got up to give him a few moments. He looked up just in time to see Oleo staring at them from his horse, Mathias said something but he couldn't hear. Then, just like that Oleo rode off. He sighed out and walked over to the door where Berwald stood silently, "What...what was that all about?" Berwald asked.

Taisto shook his head, "It's not my place to tell," he said barely above a whisper. He stood still looking up at Berwald and then he quickly looked away.

Berwald moved aside letting the older man through. He could see his aura go dim, and his fist clenched as he shoved them into his pocket. He wanted to know if it was something so devastating to make Tino's own aura to go dark… He pushed the thoughts aside that flooded his head. The more he thought about it the angrier he would become.

"Master Berwald," Mathias called out as soon as he entered the home. He walked over to where he stood at the door and cleared his throat, "What is your next move?"

"Let them be," Berwald sighed out. "I think everyone has had enough today."

Mathias nodded quietly, "Are we not going to discuss the reason?"

"No," Berwald replied and walked over to the table where Tino's cup was nearly empty. Coffee spilled on the floor and chair. He ran his fingers over the rim of the cup, "Let's go. We've caused enough trouble."

So a bit angsty, not really. But I do hope you leave a review, it just gets me pumped to write another chapter and honestly to see if anyone is reading it. But anyway to all of you who already have, thank you so very much!