Disclaimer: I do not own KKM!

Author Notes: A bit faster update. But that's only because I won't be able to update for 2 more weeks. Sorry J 50 reviews! I really, really can't believe it! I want to thank .3, angelanddevil2, themostprofoundchild, Belldandy55555, Sawyer Fan, damons-hot-as-hell, Wolfram99, Meel Jacques, Makyone, Themoonandstarslove, etc. Also a great big thanks to my anonymous reviewers allergictohomework, Poetrylover, hikari and all my other reviewers!

On with the story!

Chapter 7: Gossips and Plans

The day hadn't even fully begun and it was already shaping up to be one of the worst days ever. Gwendal massaged his forehead trying to get rid of the impending headache that could attack his head anytime.

Why did all the bad things have to happen all at once? The majority of his troops were in Srilesia where a sudden snow storm had forced them to seek shelter and wait until the storm passed. It might take weeks. And then there was Anissina. Her latest invention had taken away all of his eyebrows and he look more comical than intimidating without them. And how could he forget Gunter who interrupted his daily routines with wails about how His Majesty "couldn't see what was in front of him" and "how he was the most loyal servant the king could ever wish for."

Possibly, worst of it was the king himself. Despite what everyone else thought about him, Gwendal loved his family very much. That was one reason why he hadn't punished Huber more harshly. And Wolfram was his own brother. Seeing him so hurt and broken, made Gwendal's blood boil in anger. He knew and accepted the fact that his youngest brother was arrogant, spoiled and bratty but he was also the most truth worthy and loyal companion one could ever ask for.

He sighed and leaned back in his chair. With the entire headache he had to face, it wasn't surprising that he looked older than Celi.

A knock on his office door made him sit upright. He didn't want to give others any more reason to make fun of him. That was already taken care of by his lack of eyebrows. Why did he even agree to assist the Red Menace on the second day of the ball?

"Come in." He ordered.

Conrart entered, looking completely at ease. His usual smile was back in place. The only indication that he found Gwendal's lack of eyebrows funny was the widening if his smile. Gwendal just growled- or at least that's how it seemed to Conrart- and asked, "You heard about the troops?"

Conrart nodded. "They will be fine. It might take weeks for them to return but they are well stocked in supplies."

Conrart sat down in front of Gwendal. Gwendal, on the other hand, frowned. Since the day the engagement had been broken, Conrart appeared to always be on the edge. But today, he was calm and relaxed.

Conrart decided to answer Gwendal's unasked question, "Mother and I met a lady at the ball yesterday. She... "Conrart glanced at Gwendal who still had a frown on his face. He knew that Gwendal would over react but it would be better if Gwendal heard about the plan from him rather than anyone else.

"She claimed that she can help bring Wolfram and Yuri back together." Conrart fell silent. He figured that Gwendal would need to blow off some steam over this fact.

"What?" And he stood corrected. Gwendal's left eye was starting to twitch. A sure sign that he was irritated. "And who is this lady? I hope that she has left Shin Makuko by now."

Conrart just smiled and replied, "She is in the castle right now working as a maid."

There was a pause. Three. Two. One.

"What do you mean that she is working here?" Gwendal thundered after he had digested this information. "She could be a potential assassin for all you know. How could you allow her..." Gwendal might have gone on and on if Conrart hadn't interrupted.

"Don't worry. I know who she is. So does the Great Sage." Conrart tried to assure Gwendal.

Gwendal stopped his rant and looked at Conrart suspiciously. "How do you know her?" True, Gwendal had never taken any real interest in his sibling's life but for Conrart to be so assured, she must be someone he knew for a very long time.

"I met her once 20 years ago." Conrart explained with a reminiscent smile. "I can assure you that she doesn't mean any harm to Wolfram or His Majesty." Conrart met Gwendal's gaze. "Actually she might be equally, if not more, concerned about them."

Leaving Gwendal speechless and confused- a very rare occurrence unless Anissina was involved- Conrart made his way towards the door. Just before exiting he looked over his shoulder and said, "I hope that she is successful. For Wolframs sake.

Gwendal sat in the same position trying to wrap his mind around what Conrart had told him. Burying his head in his hands, he sighed wearily. His headaches only seemed to be increasing.

'On the other hand' Gwendal thought, a small smile appearing on his face ,'If this so called plan does work, Wolfram will be happy, the kid will be less whiny and there will be peace in the Castle.'

If it works.

Meanwhile, Miko had found the kitchen with little help from the guards. Entering the kitchen, she saw the maids gathered around the table, looking at something seriously.

"What is that?" She asked curiously.

The maids, who had been engrossed in the papers on the table, jumped and tried to gather up the papers.

"Nothing." Effe said smiling, appearing the least flustered.

But before they could gather everything, Miko caught sight of the heading. Love Lottery. Frowning, Miko decided to ask the maids.

"What is love lottery?" The maids froze and stared at her. Glancing at each other, they sighed and let the papers they gathered fall back on the table.

"Love Lottery is a betting institution where you place bets on peoples love life. Especially the nobles." Lasana explained.

"Really? That sounds interesting." Miko exclaimed as she stepped closer to study the parchments. There were rows and columns. The left column was filled with names. So was the topmost row. She also caught sight of Yuri and Conrart's names.

What she didn't notice was that even her name was there written near Conrart's, just barely visible. She was concentrating in Yuri's name. Along Yuri's name there were ticks under Wolfram, and even Conrart. But the most ticks were under the heading 'A Girl'. She frowned. So even most of the guards and maids were betting that Yuri would choose a girl.

"Why does 'A Girl' have more tocks along His Majesty's name?" She asked. It was gossiping time.

Doria glanced at the parchment. "Oh. That's because His Majesty prefers females. He had also broken his engagement a few days ago."She explained in a hushed whisper. All the maids and Miko were wide eyed.

"I have also heard that His Majesty had made it clear that he won't be entertaining any requests from males. He prefers females only and that too they have to be near his age." Miko resisted the urge to say something. He couldn't be serious! Surely she had thought him better than this! It was the inside that mattered not the outside.

"But it's no problem right? I mean I heard that it was an accidental engagement." Miko wanted to know what they thought about it. Did everyone think that Wolfie-Chan was not affected by it?

The maid's exchanged a glance. "Actually it is. His Excellency Wolfram actually loves His Majesty." Lasana had lowered her voice purposefully like she was sharing a great secret. "At first, we all thought that it was because of his pride and honor that he wouldn't break his engagement but then we heard him talking with His Excellency Conrart a few months back."

She turned a bit red. "His Excellency Wolfram doesn't like His Excellency Conrart so we were a bit surprised and decided to..." She stopped. Miko smiled and nodded. "We heard him tell His Excellency Conrart that he could've broken the engagement a long time ago if he hadn't fallen in love with His Majesty." Everyone looked near tears. It seemed too romantic to them that even though the prince nick named 'Little Lord Brat' had had hated His Majesty in the start, he had grown to love him unconditionally.

"Well then, why don't we help bring them together?" Miko asked, sensing an opportunity to include them in the plan. "We can have some fun with it don't you think?" she asked.

The maids glanced at each other. It did sound fun on the other hand if they were caught...

Sangria smiled and nodded. "Of course we will!"

Operation Mama Matchmaker is starting to roll.

-OooO-

"Wait a minute Wolfram. I will be back soon." William smiled and gave a light kiss on Wolfram's cheek. A light blush spread through his cheeks as he smiled back at William.

The only thought that was going through his mind was, "This must be heaven." At 60, Wolfram von Bielefeld was one of the most beautiful Mazuko around. Though one might not expect that he was an expert in magic and a skilled swordsman. He had everything he needed.

He knew people called him a brat behind his back and he would be lying if he said that it didn't hurt. It did hurt. A lot. But not anymore. He glanced toward the gardens at Blood Pledge Castle where William had gone.

William had come into his life a few months ago and changed it completely. He had never met anyone so perfectly compatible to him. They both had the same elements and shared the same interests. True, at first he had been rude and snappy but he slowly mellowed down. He still acted like a brat most of the time but less when William was around.

Wolfram sighed. What was taking William so long? He decided to check it out. Entering the gardens, he proceeded to look around until some voices floated up to him.

Eyes narrowed, he hid behind a hedge and watched. There, locked in a passionate embrace with a girl, was William. He felt even sicker when he recognized that the girl was the one that William had introduced as his 'cousin'.

William was whispering something. Wolfram strained to hear it.

"Don't worry my love. I will always love you truly. The only reason I am behind that brat is for his status. And he actually thinks that I like him."

Wolfram couldn't take it anymore.

He stepped forward and watched with satisfaction as they both pulled away with identical shocked expressions on their faces. "I-I can explain..." Was all that William could utter before Wolfram cut him off roughly.

"I think I heard enough of your explanation." Surprising enough, Wolfram didn't feel sad. All he felt was anger. It was as deep down he knew all along that something this perfect couldn't be true. How can someone be so perfectly compatible with each other?

Wolframs expected him to apologize or try to put forward some pathetic excuses but instead he stood straight as his grey eyes hardened. "Well, I am glad you came to know. I'm tired of running behind you, trying to please you. When I first came to you, I really thought that it would be great to marry you." He tilted his head. "Of course your background and status was also a reason but it was mainly your beauty. But then I found out. You might be beautiful on the outside but you are just a little bi*** on the inside. No wonder no one loves you and calls you 'Little Lord Brat' behind your back. The name does suit you. You will never find anyone who likes, let alone loves you." He slipped a hand around his 'cousins' waist, a smirk on his handsome face.

That was when Wolfram lost control. The gardens were completely burnt and though no real damage had been done to William and his so called cousin, Wolfram never so them again.

Nor did he want to.

-OooO-

Wolfram sighed tiredly. He had decided to take a short nap in order to refresh himself but the dream or rather memory had caused him to feel more exhausted than before.

He couldn't understand what had bought up that terrible memory in his mind. Though he had a sneaking suspicion that it had something to do with the recent events. Maybe his sub conscious was trying to relate what had happened 25 years ago to the incident that had occurred now.

He didn't know and he didn't care. He should've guessed that William was back if him only due to his back ground. Other than that, he also thought Wolfram as a spoiled brat.

It was no use dwelling on that incident now. The corridors of the castle were nearly empty. The weather was good and most of the castle residents were outside.

Just as he was turning around the corner, he collided with someone. The laundry basket that was held by the 'someone' tumbled onto the ground, spilling all its contents on the floor.

"Oh! I'm really sorry." He looked up at the person who was apologizing and almost groaned. The one person he didn't want to meet as here.

"Wo- Your Excellency! I'm glad I met you here. It would've been hard for me to search all over the castle for you." Miko smiled brightly as she gathered up the clothes fallen on the floor.

Wolfram set his face in an impassive mask as he helped her gather the clothes. He had hoped to dodge her for as long as he could so that he could escape whatever she had in store for him.

"Let me just put these in the Laundry room. Then we can talk." Lifting the huge basket, she smiled and walked in the direction he had just come from. He contemplated running away for a moment but then shook his head. It would be of no use. He wasn't a coward. He would face whatever she came up with, with bravery!

So he quietly followed her until the Laundry room. Keeping the laundry in the room, she turned to face him. "Done. Do you know any place where we can talk safely?" He understood that she meant someplace where they would not be overheard. The castle residents were to curious and gossipy for their own good.

He nodded and led the way towards the tower. It was a place he liked to often come when he needed to be alone. There were cobwebs handing from the ceiling and the tower hadn't been used in a very long time. He was sure that even the wi- His Majesty didn't know about this place.

As they climbed the stairs, he glanced behind him at Miko. Instead of frowning, scowling or looking disgusted, she actually looked like she was marveling the place.

They reached the top within a few minutes. The view from there wasn't much. It just overlooked the unused courtyard which was empty. The only reason he liked it so much was because he could se the sun set clearly since it was on the opposite side of his room.

Turning toward Miko, he waited for a moment for her to adjust to her new surrounding- By adjust he meant allowing her to comment about how marvelous the view was and how high they were - before asking, "What do you want to do?"

She blinked in surprise and looked at him. "We are going to you and His Majesty back together." Wolfram didn't miss the we.

"We?" he asked suspiciously.

"Oh just Conrart-san and Lady Celi."She said airily waving her hand around like it was not a big deal. He felt that she wasn't telling him something but refrained himself from asking.

"And how do you propose we do this?" he asked raising his eyebrow. He still had no idea who this lady was. And even mother and Conrart didn't seem to know who she was. But mother seemed to trust her. "I don't even think it's possible."

Her face turned serious as she came closer to him. He frowned, forcing himself not to move back. "Do you really, really love His Majesty?" She asked. It would've been easier for him to answer if she was in her usual cheerful, carefree mood but the seriousness on her face prevented him from telling any lies.

"Yes I do." He turned his head away from her, preferring to look outside.

"I don't think so." She stated. His head snapped towards her as his eyes narrowed. "If you did love His Majesty you would've never given up on him. You are only back of him because of your pride and honor." He felt like she was mocking him. Clenching his fists, he glared angrily at her.

"Who are you to talk like that? Do you know how much I love that idiot? I was- and always will be- ready to sacrifice my life for him. I was there with him through all the good and bad times. I should've never fallen in live with that wimp but I did. And I will never regret it." He was panting by the end of his speech but it only made him more riled up."I gave up my honor for him a long time ago. No matter what everyone said about me I still stayed by his side." He stopped and glared at her. "If he is happy without me, let him be. His happiness is worth more than my honor."

Miko just smiled softly, her face losing its seriousness. "And that's why we have to make him realize that his happiness includes you. Without you by his side, there is no way he can be happy."

Wolfram just stared at her in surprise, all his anger draining out. He should've known that it was only trying to get him pumped up that she had said all that things.

He chuckled; feeling a bit lighter as a little of the tension left his shoulders. He was already unwittingly warming to Miko.

He kept the smile on his face and she beamed t him. "Now to outline our brilliant plan. First, you must stop acknowledging His Majesty then... "

-OooO-

Yuri roamed through the corridors of the castle, alone. It want often that anyone saw the young monarch without a companion. He was often accompanied by Conrart Weller., Greta or Wolfram von Belfield.

But Conrart Weller was busy training his troops, Greta was off somewhere with Anissina and Wolfram von Belfield was out of question. Yuri would've even accepted Gwendal's company and that was saying something since Mr. Grumpy was even grumpier than usual and Yuri constantly felt that he would be buried 6 feet under whenever he was around Gwendal. Gunter was the one he was running from since he was in no mood to listen to one of Günter's lectures on Ancient History of Shin Makuko.

He was walking through one of the numerous corridors when he saw someone approaching from the opposite end.

Emerald clashed with Onyx. Even though there was a lot of space between them, their eyes automatically met like they were opposite poles of a magnet.

It was the first time Yuri had seen Wolfram properly after breaking the engagement. He looked almost the same, if not a bit tired. But for some unknown reason, Yuri's heart filled with happiness when he saw that Wolfram was making no move to run away again. Wolfram was striding purposefully towards him.

Or so Yuri thought.

Wolfram passed him without even a glance in his direction and Yuri felt like he was being suffocated. "Wolfram!" He called out in hopes of gaining the Mazuko's attention.

Wolfram stooped but didn't turn. Yuri sighed in relief. Maybe he could end all the tension between them for once and for all.

"Wolf. I haven't seen you around for days. Are you alright?" He asked softly coming to stand beside Wolfram.

"I am perfectly fine. I have been busy Your Majesty." Wolfram replied in a monotonous tone. Yuri frowned.

"It's Yuri not His Majesty." Yuri would've even accepted it if Wolfram called him a wimp.

Wolfram turned to look at him. "Sorry Your Majesty but only the people close to you have the right to call you by your name. Have a good day." With that, he passed Yuri and went on.

Yuri, on the other hand, didn't move from the spot feeling for the first time but certainly not the last, the consequences of his actions.

Author Notes: Over! This was an uneventful chapter. I promise that I will start the plan in the next chapter!

Sneak Preview:

(Unknown P.O.V)

Blood Pledge Castle loomed against the evening sky. It was looking magnificent as ever. I wasn't supposed to be here. I had no doubt that no one would be happy with my arrival. King Yuri will not mind it but the others won't be happy.

But I was not here with any kind of scheme. I just wanted to see King Yuri again. And maybe spice up the castles' life.

I smirked as I leaned back. My carriage went through the gate smoothly without any interruptions. The soldiers out were all frowning. They might not been expecting any noble. But I wasn't a noble and I was one person they would never expect to step in the Castle again.

But I was here and I am going to spice up their life.