A/N: I decided to finish the rest of this chapter while I'm sick and at home. I had written it out already, but I lost the file on my USB and ended up with half of it missing.

So without further distractions, here's the completed piece!

Pairing: Konrad/Yozak, a pinch of YuuRam, and just a smidgen of KonDorcas... yep.

Disclaimer: Hey, if I owned Kyou Kara Maou, Dorcas would have hair and Yuuri would ride a unicorn every day. -throws up rainbows-

Notes: sorry the story is back to being gay. if you don't like gay men, please, why are you here?

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Dark horse (n): an unexpected winner or candidate.

"Are you going to enter my contest, Your Majesty? I would be honored if you did!"

Yuuri was confused, to say the least. He glanced at Wolfram, who was glaring at his older brother for god knows what reason.

So instead the black-haired boy turned to Konrad, who was ignoring Wolfram, and was giving a nervous, almost contrite smile to Yuuri, glancing down from his expectant mother to the Maou.

Seeing that no one was going to explain and that he should have probably known about this, he sheepishly grinned and inquired the lady herself about her contest.

"My annual women's beauty pageant is going on this week, Your Majesty! I'd be delighted if you would enter." The ex-Maou giggled and leaned forward a bit, willing to hear Yuuri's answer.

The black-haired boy, on the other hand, was wondering as to why the hell he should be joining in the first place. Last time Yuuri checked, he didn't have two lobs of fat growing from his chest, or was missing Shibuya Jr.

Sensing his uncertainty, Cheri smiled and explained. "Even if it may be a contest for women, men can always cross-dress to participate, as well!"

"Really now…" Yuuri muttered. But wasn't that unfair for the ladies, since it wasn't an all girls' competition? Sighing, the Maou turned around towards the back of the room; behind him stood Gwendal, Murata, Günter, and Yozak, who raised eyebrows at His Majesty's pleading look. Yuuri's eyes begged for help, but three of the four looked away, unable to help their King in squirming out of Cheri's spectacle.

Amethyst eyes sparkled with intelligence as Günter stepped forward, an apologetic look given to the ex-Maou.

"I'm sorry, Lady Cheri, but His Majesty is busy that day." Yuuri could not have been more grateful to Günter as he was right now. "But," Günter started, and the Maou was now half tempted to take those words back; there was a glint in the magician's eyes that meant he was not entirely free of this situation. "His Majesty does have room to stay for a bit and give a ceremonial speech."

Yuuri inwardly shuddered. Really, he would rather cross-dress than give a boring dialogue that lulled people to sleep.

Cheri sighed and placed her chin delicately on the palm of her hand. "That's a shame… I would have thought that Your Majesty wanted the prize."

The Maou's posture became straighter, and he found himself unconsciously leaning in to the fair-haired lady's next words.

"After all, the prize not only consists of the frontrunner winning fame out of looks, but also a kiss from Konrad~!"

Everyone stared blankly from Cheri to Konrad, except for Wolfram (who had known all along, and was still glaring daggers at his older brother).

Yuuri blinked and turned to look at the brown-haired soldier, who waved it off. "It's only a kiss on the cheek. It won't be indecent."

The Maou flushed a pretty pink, before Wolfram ripped his eyes away from Konrad and noisily tromped over to his fiancé. Soon, a heel was ground into Yuuri's foot, sending the boy yelping in pain.

"Yuuri, I know what you're thinking! Don't even plan to cancel whatever schedule you have now, because I won't let you enter that contest!"

"I wasn't planning too! H-hey! Let go of me!"

Meanwhile, Günter was still staring at Konrad, speechless. It was one thing if the fire-wielding Mazoku was His Majesty's fiancé… but the thought of another man kissing the poor boy…!

A second later, the magician had pardoned himself to the library, sobbing in defeat.

Wolfram than proceeded to drag His Majesty out of the room by the ear, with a worried Konrad following the two, politely asking for Wolfram to let go. Cheri watched them leave, an amused expression never leaving her face.

Somewhere from the back, Gwendal sighed and rubbed his temple with annoyance. "Honestly, Mother. Why must you cause more trouble than necessary?"

Murata smiled and shrugged at Yozak, before leaving to go after the trio that had just left; Yozak, though, stayed unusually hushed in the back, an impish gleam in his eyes.

Even cross-dressers can enter, eh?

--

Cheri's competition arrived, along with many beautiful women (and men). There were more competitors than usual, and it was no mystery they were all after the Lord Weller part of the prize.

Said prize in question had been shifting around uncomfortably all day, thinking about where a certain cross-dressing spy had wandered off to.

As the usual royal group sat perched in the balcony's plush seats, waiting for all the contestants to prepare themselves, a certain fair-haired Mazoku was sitting way too close for the Maou's comfort (as he was persistent of keeping him away from Konrad).

Wolfram had begun to talk to the black-haired boy about contests before this, and how his mother had even forced Gwendal to dress in drag. An occasional 'wimp' or 'cheater' could be heard from under his breath, but Yuuri was too busy looking at how full and inviting his fiancé's lips were and just how close they were in proximity.

Cheri chose that fine moment to interrupt. With elegance, she stood up from her throne, and addressed the people under the terrace. "Everyone, I would like your attention, please! I would like to start the contest immediately… but first, a word from our beloved Maou!"

Yuuri's groaning was tuned out by cheers of the citizens, and he reluctantly moved to the head of the balcony, flashing his 'dazzling' King smile.

--

Yozak looked up at His Majesty, who had just appeared before the crowd on the terrace.

The black-haired boy started his speech, but the spy could not concentrate on his King's words. Instead, azure eyes, now outlined with mascara and gaudy eye shadow, searched for a brown-haired soldier overhead. He wasn't the only one looking; tons of gorgeous girls and guys were also looking for the handsome man.

For some reason, Yozak felt threatened in this competition of looks. Usually, he would have a definite air about him... but this year's rivalry looked more promising than years before it.

The man tried to shake off his worries; hey, he had won more of these competitions than anyone else here, right?

…Then why was he just as nervous as when he was going into Rütenburg?

It's probably because of the prize, he thought with a selfish grin, finally spotting Konrad. Oh, how Yozak needed to claim what was rightfully his…

"Thank you, thank you; and without further adieu, we shall start the contest! May the best woman… uh, or the best man, win!"

With a chuckle at His Majesty's ending words, Yozak moved with the other contestants to their place. They were ready for the next few hours of battle, in which they fought using cosmetics and charm as their only weapons.

--

An orange canvas spilled into the sky overhead; sunset had come, and with it, the end of Cheri's exhibition of the beautiful.

Along the line, Yuuri and Wolfram had disappeared (which frightened Günter at the thought of what the Little Lord Brat was going to do with His Majesty, while there were just the two of them…alone…). The ones that remained on the balcony were the lady herself (her smile turned devious as she picked the winner out in her mind), Konrad (who was holding a bouquet, and a bit anxious to see who had won), Gwendal (a few more wrinkles had appeared on his brow), a panicking Günter (due to the royal couple, no doubt), and Murata (who was enjoying himself to no end).

When everything was settled down, and everyone was gathered at the foot of the terrace waiting patiently, Cheri decided it was time for the time to announce the winner.

With a wily grin over her cherry-glossed lips, the ex-Maou rose and faced the eager crowd. Her hazel eyes shimmered as she said,

"And our dark horse of my pageant is…!"

--

Dorcas had always been a proud soldier.

That responsibility came with honor, such as accepting any mission given to him, even if that mission meant dressing up in frilly skirts and being suffocated with perfumes and makeup.

So when Lady Cheri announced Dorcas as the official winner of her yearly competition… well, no one could believe it. Hell, even Dorcas himself wasn't even expecting himself to get a second glance from the hostess herself.

"Mister Dorcas, if you will, please step forward and announce your presence."

The not-so-bald-anymore (courtesy of a blonde, itchy wig on his head) soldier stiffened; his legs worked on their own and carried him from out of the throng of people and into the opening, where all (jealous) eyes were focused on him. The pressure coming from the sore contestants who lost was honing in all around him, and the man was ready to hightail it out of there.

He almost succeeded, if it weren't from the threats given from the sideline.

"Dorcas! If you dare run away, Lasagna, Doria, and myself will hunt you down!"

"Yeah, what Sanguria said!"

"Come on, Dorcas! You actually won it!"

Ah, yes. The ones who put Dorcas in a dress to begin with; the three maids (minus Effe) had begged and begged, until the man could finally not stand it any longer. Now they were to blame for his triumph, for he could never live this embarrassment down when the other soldiers would confront him.

Oh, whatever, maybe half the guys aren't even here watching thi—

The soldier's entire body froze in terror as he remembered the prize. Oh, god; no way was going to be showing his face to his Commander, Lord Weller, after that. It would…

Beads of sweat formed around his forehead, and he tried to calm himself down. If this keeps going on, my makeup will run and then – What the hell!!? Am I some teenaged girl now?!

But before Dorcas could make another move or think another thought, Cheri had emerged from the crowd on the opposite side, her son in tow.

"Here you go, 'Beauty Queen'," Cheri giggled and smiled, beckoning at her middle son. Dorcas was going to die before he even looked at his Commander, no doubt about that.

Konrad bowed slightly, producing a gorgeous bouquet of fresh red roses. The bald soldier awkwardly took them, thanked the pair, and tried to escape…

…but Konrad was too quick, and grabbed his subordinate's shoulder, before leaning down and placing a peck on Dorcas's cheek.

"I think it's unfair for the other contestants if you were to turn down the prize."

With that, Lord Weller brought himself to a straightened positioned, and tried to spot his Rütenburg comrade in the mass. The man could not spot any vibrant, orange hair dazzling among the contestants.

To Konrad's dismay, the only thing that rivaled Yozak's hair within 10 miles of the area was Dorcas's face.

--

Dusk has settled, leaving a cold night to envelop the citizens of Shin Makoku.

Konrad tried to shake of the sudden drop in temperature as he patrolled along Blood Pledge Castle for his nightly watch, wondering what happened to the warmth that so nicely presented itself in the earlier hours. The day had been hectic, to say the least, with his mother's competition and shameless fangirls confronting him every second. Alas, it was almost over; the only mystery he was yet to solve was as to where Yozak had disappeared to.

Well, he's on the same patrol hours as I am right now, Konrad thought, now rubbing his hands together to keep them warm. Hmm, I usually run into him by now…

Sure enough, just as the words formed in his head, he spotted his friend turning around the corner and striding towards him.

Yozak's infectious grin spread over to Konrad's lips as the two stopped in front of the other, before said spy began to speak.

"Sorry I didn't stick around for the ending of the competition. I saw my messenger pigeon come back with news from Miss Gilbit about Caloria's restoration."

Out of all the questions that had been swirling and swelling inside his head all day, the only intelligent response Konrad was able to wrack from his mind was, "…Ah."

The orange-haired man shook his head, still grinning. "Ah well, never mind that." He looked up, blue eyes making direct eye contact with his comrade. "So Commander, did I win your Mama's contest?"

"I'm afraid not," Konrad laughed, his arm extending to wrap around his friend's shoulders. With a wink, he added, "But it was a close call."

"Oh? Is there a prize for second place, then?"

"Of course."

In a moment, their lips were smashed together in a rhythm of desire, of urgency; arms were snaked around shoulders and bodies were being pressed together with such needing to get the other closer than they already were. Tongues were battling for dominance over the other in a heated war, sending fervent electricity through their veins every time it swept across that one spot. When they had to break for air, blue eyes met brown, both boring into each other.

Words weren't needed for their affection towards each other. After years of doing battle together, just the simplest glance and meet of eyes told a command – it was communication through vision.

So in that little spell of time when they were not molesting each other's mouth, three words were reflected in both of their eyes.

Three words that meant more than winning a silly beauty pageant could ever mean.

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A/N: hurrr, i don't know anymore. i'll get updating again, but i've been working on my AMVs too much OTL Please read and review, loves~