Hey guys, MT here!

Okay, so I would like to start with, until May this story will only a chapter every two weeks. The semester is coming to an end and I need to focus on grades and tests and stuff so I'm not going to have a lot of time to write. I'm really sorry about that!

Also, this chapter is shorter than I would have hoped but time constraints didn't really allow for it.

ENJOY!

Chapter 69

Otr had managed to sneak Gwen in with Derf and Vivlio and he locked the door behind him. Gwen immediately ran over to the back of the room to find Saito asleep in a bed, covered in bandages. She stopped at the edge of the bed and looked down at him, her eyes filling with tears as she examined him. She reached out a hand to him and caressed his face with her hand.

"Saito-san…you're a mess," she said, her voice cracking a bit. "What happened?"

"Mm…" groaned Saito before cracking his eyes open. "Huh? Gwen, that you? Otr said everyone left."

"It's a long story. Saito-san, are you in pain? Do you want me to heal you?" asked Gwen, frantically, shocked by him suddenly waking up.

"Ah, but I thought magic can't be used here without letting everyone know about it?" asked Saito, weakly.

"Don't worry about that. Otr told me it would be okay. Now, where does it hurt? You look terrible," said Gwen as she pulled out her wand and nervously looked him over.

"A friend of mine who is a doctor said that he has many broken and fractured bones throughout his body. If your magic can heal him, this will accelerate his recuperation greatly," said Otr. Gwen nodded and chanted the spell for her magic before getting to work, Saito sighing a bit in relief at the feeling of Gwen's magic on his wounds.

Some hours later…

"I'm finally finished with all your limbs," said Gwen in relief as she wiped the sweat from her brow. She stood up from where she was standing and found Saito smiling at her.

"Thanks Gwen. I feel a lot better," said Saito, calmly. Gwen blushed a bit at his thanks and smile before frowning again.

"I thought you died…everyone else still does," said Gwen, her eyes tearing up again. Saito frowned and reached up with his newly healed arm to grasp her hand.

"Sorry…I caused everyone a lot of pain. It looks like I'm going to cause a bit more, though," said Saito, causing Gwen to look at him confused. "I'm not going to tell them I'm alive yet."

"What? But why? Aside from Tenshi, Tiffa, and I, Louise and Asuna-nee took you dying the hardest. If you don't tell them…I don't know what they will do," said Gwen, worriedly.

"I can imagine from how I heard Louise reacted last time. I have a reason, though. I normally wouldn't want to use a strategy like this, but I think it's necessary. I want Hreidmar to think that Halkeginia has lost their 'hero'. It will probably make Hreidmar act sooner and less cautiously since he will think everyone's morale will be down," explained Saito, calmly. "I'm afraid if we don't force Hreidmar to move soon, it will cause major problems further down the road."

"Okay Saito-san…" said Gwen, in defeat. She was worried about everyone but she trusted Saito's decision, knowing he must have had some kind of plan. "Alright, I should start on your head and torso now. It will take a while so feel free to take a nap, Saito-san."

Saito nodded, wincing a bit as he did so, and closed his eyes before feeling Gwen's calming magic on his head. He quickly dozed off as he relaxed and Gwen smiled a bit as she heard his soft snores.

Later that day back in Halkeginia…

"What are we going to do? Without Duke Hiraga here, we've lost a tremendous military force," said one of the generals. He and several other generals, along with Cardinal Mazarin, were all together in the war room.

"On top of that, Henrietta is broken. She and the Queen of Gallia have taken his death tremendously and the other leader seem quite dismayed by the news. Even the high priest, Julio, seemed very troubled by the news. If the Dwarves decided to attack now, I doubt we could do much to stop them," said Mazarin, dejectedly.

"It's understandable, there were many rumors that the Gallian Queen and Queen Henrietta were in love with him to some degree. The heartbreak must have been tremendous," said one of the generals.

"As for Julio, I heard that during the battles with the Ancient Dragon and war in Albion, they had been good friends and rivals. He must feel at a loss," said another of the generals.

"And to think we still haven't told the people. If we told them, it would create a depression at the fact that their Hero was gone," said Mazarin.

"I can't imagine having to tell my children this. Ever since after the battle with the Ancient Dragon, they've told me how they want to become great warriors like Duke Hiraga. Now that he is gone…it breaks my heart when I imagine the expression on their faces," said one of the generals, dejectedly.

"I understand how you feel, my friend. I just hope this doesn't destroy everything he tried to protect during his life. We need to make sure that we can protect this world just as he had," said a general, seriously. A couple of the other generals along with Mazarin looked at him and put on confident expressions before nodding.

Over in the Des Ornières Mansion…

"Siesta, is she still…?" asked Henrietta, a deep frown on her face. She had come to Des Ornières after Axel had informed her of Saito's death upon the group's return from the Dwarfish kingdom. She was devastated when she head the news but she had been forcing herself as she knew Louise must have been suffering worlds more than she was. Siesta, whose eyes looked a bit dead, looked over to Henrietta from where she was standing.

"Miss Louise hasn't left Saito-san's study since she left. I've tried bringing her food but she only responds to water," said Siesta in a monotone voice. Henrietta looked at Siesta with a deep frown and moved over to her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Siesta…how are you?" asked Henrietta, worriedly.

"Ah…I'm fine," said Siesta, her eyes watering up a bit. Henrietta's expression became more worried and Siesta's eyes progressively filled more and more with tears until they were overflowing. "I'm fine…I'm fine…I'm fine…"

Henrietta's eyes became glassy as Siesta continued to mutter 'I'm fine' while tears streamed down her face. She walked towards the crying maid and wrapped her arms around her head, bringing Siesta's head into her chest in a hug.

"I miss him, too, Siesta. It's okay for you to cry," said Henrietta, her voice cracking. After a few moments after she was hugged, Siesta began balling, unable to suppress her emotional outburst.

Henrietta and Siesta remained like that for what seemed like an eternity and eventually Siesta had cried herself to sleep before Henrietta laid her down on the couch in the parlor where they had been prior. Henrietta walked up the stairs, reluctantly, and made her way over to Saito's study. She cracked the door open and found Louise hunched over Saito's desk, asleep. Her face was contorted in sadness, her brow creased and a deep frown on her face.

"Saito…" moaned Louise, weakly, as Henrietta entered the room. She paused to listen and frowned when she heard Louise start sniffling. "Don't leave me…I can't live without you…Saito…Saito…"

Henrietta's frown only deepened as she heard Louise speak and saw tears beginning to stream down the sleeping girl's face. She walked towards Louise and kneeled down next to her before petting Louise's head, stroking her hair. Louise had stopped muttering out Saito's name and was fully asleep again, despite that, though, her tears continued to stream down her cheeks.

"Louise…I'm so sorry…I shouldn't have sent you on that mission…I put all of you in so much danger and now we lost Saito-dono…It's all my fault," said Henrietta, tears now streaming down her face. She remained there, crying, as she caressed Louise's head, lamenting in guilt.

So? What did you guys think?

Heh heh we've finally made it to the 69th chapter ;)

Anyways, enough of my perversion xD

I hope you guys liked this chapter and I hope the end wasn't too depressing. Also, I know some of you don't really like that fact that Saito is going to keep his being alive a secret, but don't worry, it won't be for long.

Anyways, until next time...byeee :D