A/N: This chapter contains some quote unquote 'action' but I promise it's not explict at all, I wanted to keep the story's simple and charming theme, so it's rather nice and short :)
"Malcolm what are you doing here?" Bel said with astonishment as he opened his door to the dark man.
"Yoooouuu..." The man said letting himself into Bel's rather luxurious dorm room. "Where have you been? You didn't go to church yesterday or meet Lucius for lunch after, you better be dying or Lucius is going to have you for dinner!"
"Relax I already scheduled to have breakfast with him tomorrow." Bel began carefully before proceeding tto announce: "I'm going to break off my engagement with his daughter."
Malcolm looked genuinely surprised. "What?"
"I decided that this isn't how I want to do this." The heir explained calmly. "If I get married, if and whenever that may be, I want it to be by my own desire, not because I want to be accepted as emperor. I don't want to give people the impression that I can be bought out. It's not what my father would have wanted me to do."
"What's her name?" Malcolm said almost have had bought his story, but knowing Bel had something else going on.
"What? Were you listening to me?"
"Yes but I know you Bel, I practically raised you. Who is she?"
"There's no 'she', I'm being serious and even if there was I'm not going to tell you." Bel teased.
"Very well, but you're going to have to introduce me eventually." Malcom said with a playful sigh then adding; "Better go round up the council then, this is going to be a hell of a meeting."
"You're the best Malcolm." Bel said with a smile as the man got up to leave.
"I know." The man said matter of factually as he reached for the door handle when a knock startled him.
He opened the door to a young green haired lad who looked rather confused at the sight of the man.
"Oh sorry sir-"
"Are you looking for Belphegor young man?"
"Ah yes, yes I am." Fran said politely.
"Ah well he's all yours!" The man hummed as he exited.
Fran bowed politely as he left and entered the room prominently.
"Hey Bel Mammon wants to know if you'll help him with..."
What an odd hair color, Malcolm noted as he carried on.
"Who was that?" Fran asked with an arched eyebrow. "He looked important." He leaned against a table and crossed his arms over his chest after setting a folder down on the said table.
"Hm? Malcolm?" Bel looked up from his desk as he scribbled something down. "He was a good friend of my father's, almost like a second father."
"Ah was he here on council business?" The boy asked curiously.
"More or less." The blond rose from his desk with a grin. "He knows how to handle them, I trust him to help me out."
He walked up to the boy. "I'm not sure why but you look really attractive today, I think this vest is really your color."
Fran made a face of mild amusement as the blond pushed his hair behind his ear. "This vest? You mean our uniform?"
"Yeah this uniform is really your color," He picked the younger up and sat him on the table almost effortlessly, adding with a playful smile. "What do you say you help me procrastinate a bit?"
"Yeah..." Fran began with a smug face as Bel briefly kissed him on his open mouth. Fran returned the kiss, but then continued. "Maybe next time, you've got homework Mr. Emperor."
He tugged the blond off and slid off the table giving him a pat on the arm with a mischievous smile. "Don't have too much fun."
Bel walked the boy out.
"You have a really nice room by the way." Fran noted on the way.
"Hey I offered." Bel teased.
Fran rolled his eyes as he exited. "Do your homework."
"Lucius… I want to break off my engagement with Lucille." Bel began what had to be the most unpleasant encounter ever.
Lucius made no immediate reaction, but then calmly proceeded. "I'm sure you've thought this over and of the consequences of your decision?"
The heir nodded, "Yes I've thought it over and I decided that this isn't how I want to do this. Or how my father would want me to do this. Even if it means I can't be our county's leader, I know that this is not the right thing. Don't worry, I'll break it to Lucille and I apologize greatly for the inconvenience. She is a fine lady and she probably deserves better. I'm also planning to meet with the council this Sunday to apologize to them as well."
The older man studied the heir carefully with sharp eyes. He closed his eyes and with a sigh disclosed his opinion on the matter. "If you've really thought it over I suppose I can respect your wishes. And I wish you best of luck with the council."
"Thank you sir." Bel bowed respectfully, "it really means a lot."
As he left though, he got the eerie feeling he had handled the situation far too easily than he should have.
"Fran! Will you be here again Sunday?" A child asked happily.
It was only Friday but Fran had missed his performance with his favorite audience the previous Sunday because of his half date with Bel.
He smiled and his young friends. "Yes, and I have a cool new trick I want to show you guys then. But for now watch this."
He shuffled a deck of cards and held them out for a young girl to pick one.
"Show it to the audience." He instructed but as he looked away he made eye contact with a familiar face.
"Fran?" The young woman hurried over with a look of relief on her face.
"Lucille? Are you lost?" She had to be, why else would a noble like her be in these parts of town.
"Yes, I'm trying to find the bakery on fifth, do you know where that is?"
"Oh yeah it's just down the street, you turn left on Viola…" He didn't seem to be helping her get any less lost. "Or I can just walk you there, do you want to do me a favor real fast and guess this young girl's card?"
"How would I-"
"Oh what's that in your hand?" Fran asked with a smile that Lucille had never seen before.
She glanced at her hand to realize that there was now a card in her hand. "Oh my goodness! How did?"
"Annie what was your card again?" The illusionist asked his young volunteer.
"The Queen of Spades!" She chimed happily.
"Lucille will you share your card with us?"
Lucille just gaped at him and Fran took her hand and showed her card to the audience who clapped in awe.
"How did you?!"
"I'm sorry everyone but I have to go, I'll see you here Sunday." Fran smiled as the crowd protested. "I'll bring you all a treat, I promise."
His audience accepted the offer, and he turned to Lucille. "Come on, this way."
"Do you do that a lot?" Lucille asked as they walked away from the street market.
"You could say so." Fran was still in a rather good mood Lucille noticed.
"You're so good, that was so so… so… astonishing." She looked at Fran thinking about how she never actually bothered to get to know him before choosing to dislike him. Not that she had a lot of time to get to know him but still. Something about the boy had irked her from the moment she had seen him.
Perhaps it might have something to do with the fact that Fran had this evident connection with Bel that she probably would never have with him. Especially now.
"How is Bel doing by the way?" She asked him, even though she had just seen him the day before when he broke off his engagement with her. She was rather upset about it, but it's not like she could do anything about it. Bel knew what he was doing now and she had no right to stop him.
"Oh, I don't know… I haven't seen him since Wednesday." Fran felt awkward talking about Bel to Lucille. Mostly because he knew that she knew that he was a good chunk of the reason as to why he had broken up his engagement to her.
He was actually supposed to meet up with Bel after this, but he wasn't going to mention that.
She smiled warily, aware of Fran's discomfort. "Well when you do see him, promise you will treat him well." Fran nodded caught a bit off guard, and then she added with a frown. "But don't think this means I don't dislike you. I still can't stand you."
Fran smiled and nodded. "Ditto."
"Was that the Bel's friend from that dinner?" Lucius asked as his daughter boarded the carriage and apologized for being unable to find where he had stationed the vehicle.
"Fran? Yeah he helped me find this street. He seems to know the area well." Lucille said with little interest, signaling for the driver to take off.
"And he is Bel's classmate you say?" Lucius said grimly as he watched the boy through his window.
"Yeah they're rather good friends I'd say."
"Hm." The man said indifferently, but watching as the oddly colored hair of the boy's ran into a rather familiar blond. "I wonder just how close they are." He murmured keeping an eye on the boy until the carriage turned the corner.
"What do you want me to play?" Bel asked the boy with a genuine smile.
They sat on the piano bench in the music room. Only Bel was sitting on it properly, Fran curiously sat cross-legged facing him on the end of the bench. It was dark but the night was a not too dark one so the room had a light navy tint to it.
Fran shrugged "Something you like."
The blond thought it over then began what Fran found surprising to be a rather strong song.
He watched as he almost fell into the song. Submerged in the music, Fran found himself thinking about the one concert he had been to when he was younger. It was his grandmother's favorite violinist, and they practically starved themselves for three months in order to afford tickets.
"A musician's lover has to be one of the luckiest beings in the world." She admitted casually as they watched the man play the violin as if it were his lover.
Fran only remembered his abrupt and rather loud "WHAT?" at his grandmother's awkward comment.
But as he watched Bel play more and more of this song he almost understood where his grandmother had been going with the comment. There was a certain passion in music making that not many people had. And it wasn't a sexual passion either; it was a more lovely passion, a more craved passion. Giving the illusion that it could be experienced through love making. There were similar aspects; the tenderness, the brutality, the parts in-between that made your heart skip. Despite this though, Fran recognized that this was a passion that could not be attained.
And as he watched Bel he realized that the more the blond got lost in the music, the more distance he felt come between them. Then Fran suddenly felt really alone.
That's when the blond stopped playing abruptly. Looking at Fran oddly, who admittedly was rather glad that he had started his hair back more often when the two were alone, but embarrassed at his strange train of thoughts.
"What's wrong?" Bel asked.
"What do you-" Fran felt something drop on his arm and as he instinctively reached to wipe it off he realized that he was crying. He immediately cleaned his eyes. "Oh- Sorry. God that was really weird-"
Bel cut him off with a kiss, which was interrupted by Fran who boldly asked if they could go to the heir's room.
In this situation Bel felt like he should be the one not freaking out.
But it wasn't even like it he had a solid reason for being this nervous. It wasn't out of inexperience either, he simply was freaking out because Fran wasn't freaking out. What did this mean?
He looked into his bedroom cautiously; Fran was just sitting on his bed like nothing, flipping through the pages of some book he had found. What the hell? He slapped himself mentally telling himself to relax.
Fran was a straightforward kid, he would just ask him yes?
He returned to his room not sure how to approach the subject, and immediately backed out of asking.
"What?" Fran asked curiously.
Bel sighed and sat down on the bed. He didn't really answer the question, but simply studied the younger. Was he even aware of how much his actions influenced him? He was so strange, in a way that was intriguing and sparked curiosity.
The teen leaned in for a kiss, which became the start of a chain of kisses. Until Bel stopped.
"Fran,"
"What?"
"Um, exactly how far do you want to go tonight?
The boy made a face of thought, then answered. "All the way?"
Bel's response was priceless. "What? Why? Really?"
Fran seemed confident in a humble way as he nodded. "I mean if you don't want to its fine, but I want to, I mean I don't see why not… and, and I trust you."
The blond was a bit taken back by the response but it was a reasonable response, especially in comparison to the previous time when the boy was too emotionally unstable to make a rational decision.
He nodded understandingly, "Okay but we can stop whenever you want alright?"
Fran gave his grandmother kudos for her strange statement. Because it was pretty goddamn amazing to be a musician's lover.
The blond could make music out of anything, and sex was not an exception. The rhythm, the tempo, the dynamics, it was all there. Like the earlier piece Bel had played on the piano, there were constant changes in the tenderness and the brutality of it all. And like any incredible piece of music, there were no words to describe it.
So what if Bel's passion in music making and lovemaking were not the same? Fran was absolutely okay with that.
The next morning Fran stirred for a moment. Still half-high and half-exhausted from the night.
It took him a second to coordinate himself properly. His eyes finally adjusting to the blond sleeping soundly next to him.
He studied the blond carefully but eventually drifted back into slumber.
The second time he awoke it was much later in the day. The blond was gone, and Fran found it ironic because he was the one who was supposed to disappear.
He eventually forced himself to sit up, then in order to avoid looking at his mess of hair in the mirror to his right, he got out of bed.
After somewhat redressing, he wandered around the blond's spacious dorm. Eventually finding Bel in the kitchen with breakfast.
"Yeah I didn't cook this." Bel admitted honestly. "But I did walk all the way downstairs to bring you breakfast from our luxurious cafeteria."
"You're so considerate." Fran said with slight amusement in his monotonous voice. "It smells nice." he admitted taking a seat at the small table.
Bel walked over setting the trays on the table. "Today you dine like royalty." He said with a grin. "And realize that it isn't all that great."
Fran smiled, "I'm sure the cafeteria workers spit in your food at least twice, to make it extra special."
"Oh shut up and eat your food."
"Fran you're leaving us early?" A small child pouted and a chorus of 'awe's encircled the young illusionist.
"Yes I have to be somewhere today, but I promise I'll visit Friday again like I did this Friday." he assured his young audience as he packed his tricks away.
"Will you come Sunday too?" Another young girl inquired.
"Of course." Fran smiled at them and they all felt better automatically.
They all ran off and Fran started his journey back to campus. He was going to meet up with Mammon to go over the Calc Final.
As he walked he had a flash back to that same morning. Today was the day Bel would denounce his engagement to the council. Fran had woken up early to go beg Bel not to go through with it. He hadn't gotten a wink of sleep that night because of his guilty conscious.
Bel had assured him that it wasn't Fran who was being selfish, it was Bel who wanted this. He was doing it for himself and his father.
As convincing as his argument was, Fran was still troubled because he knew that he still was a part of the decision. And he was worried about the consequences of Bel's rashness.
Fran smiled though, reminding himself that both Mammon and Margret would scold him for worrying about it this much. Chika would probably pretend not to care, but would try to comfort him anyway. Mukuro would tell him to do whatever he wanted and not look back, after making him wash all his palettes anyway. His grandma would tease him but give him a great big hug and then presume to make him his favorite dish for dinner.
Fran had friends and family that loved him, and would stand by his side no matter what he chose to do with his life. He was eternally grateful for that.
His thoughts were suddenly interrupted when he was pulled into an alley. Someone was trying to drug him? He pulled away and made a run for it but was kicked down by the stranger. He crawled towards the street calling out for help but someone else kicked him in the stomach. He curled up into a ball both in pain and in self-defense. Crying out when someone pulled him onto his feet by his hair. He tried to catch a glimpse of the dark stranger before a final punch in the face put him to sleep.
"Did Bel leave already?!" The young man in front of Margret spoke too quickly and out of breath for her to catch the question.
"I'm sorry?" Margret opened the large door to the palace a bit wider. "Do you want to take a seat sir?"
"Did Bel leave for council already?" He asked clearer this time.
"Yes, is there something I can help you with?" Margret asked with concern. "Are you a friend of his from school?"
"Do you know where the meeting is taking place?" The purple haired young man asked urgently.
"Yes, its downtown in the Capitol building but you can't get into the meeting unless you're part of the council." Margret said impatiently. "I'm sorry sir but would you please tell me what is going on?"
"Is there any way you can get me inside-" Mammon was interrupted by a slap.
"What is going on?" Margret asked with irritation in her voice.
Mammon stared in shock at the girl for a second. She was right, he wasn't thinking, he was in such a panic he wasn't processing his thoughts. "A good friend of his, he's gone missing-"
"Oh no." Margret's face filled with dread as she made the connection. "Fran?!"
"Fran." Mammon confirmed. "He was taken by some strangers about an hour ago according to a witness, are you sure there's no way of getting into the meeting?"
"Oh there's going to be a way." She said as she summoned Gregory. Mammon was a bit surprised by the maid's sudden determination. It gave him a bit of hope in finding his good friend.
The butler didn't really seem to understand the situation as well as Margret had but he gave them his pass for entrance anyway.
"Bel gave it to me for emergencies, so you two better hope you're right about this." He said blandly.
"We aren't just going to bust in there are we?" Mammon asked the maid curiously as their carriage stopped in from of the Capitol building.
"No, we can't really interrupt the meeting, we're just going to have to find a way of getting the message to Bel quietly." She looked like she knew what she was doing.
"You have a plan?" Mammon realized that he didn't really know this girl, who the hell was she, and why did she seem to know so much?
"More or less." She smiled at the guard at the entrance as they approached him. She showed him the pass, and when the man raised a brow at Mammon she explained, "I was sent out by Malcolm to find out why his assistant here was taking so long, turns out he thought the meeting was tomorrow."
Mammon didn't think the man would buy that bull shit story, but he did.
Once inside, it didn't take them long to sneak into the gathering hall. The quietly found their way to Malcolm, despite Mammon running into random people as he tried to catch whatever some old guy was ranting about.
"Margret?!" Malcolm whispered exclaimed as he saw the two squeezed into the bench next to him.
"Malcolm, can you reach Bel without creating suspicion?" She whispered to him.
"What's so urgent if I may ask?" Malcolm had known Margret for a rather long time but she had never spoken nor did anything out of her place, so obviously this was something serious.
Before Margret could explain Lucius spoke out loudly against whatever it was the head of house was arguing.
"Ha! Responsible?" He said smugly. "You know Belphegor is anything but? Do you know the real reason for breaking off his engagement with my daughter?"
On cue the big doors of the large room burst open, two rough men brought in a beat up Fran and threw him into the center of the room.
Margret and Mammon froze for a moment, before looking at each other then up at the podium where Bel was sitting. His reaction was not as bad as they expected.
Still his eyes widened in surprise then immediately turned to Lucius and demanded to know what was going on.
"Oh don't pretend you don't know him," Lucius said with a dark tone. "This boy is his highness's personal whore. Before you deny anything just know I did my research Belphegor."
"Belphegor is this true?" The head of house asked Bel calmly.
"What do you think you're doing Lucius? You can't get away with do this, he's my classmate." Bel could not believe the lengths Lucius had gone to. "This is illegal. Whatever it is that you're accusing me of, you take it out on me not my friends."
Mammon and Margret gave each other a look of some relief; Bel hadn't completely lost it and blown up at Lucius. That had obviously taken all of his self-control, because both Mammon and Margret wanted to strangle the man at the sight of Fran's condition.
They hadn't seen his face as he was looking at the ground and his hair veiled his face. But something told them that it probably wasn't a pretty sight. His arms were tied up behind him, his legs were not, but he made no effort to get up from the floor.
"Ah but you and this friend are rather 'close' aren't you?" Lucius wasn't anywhere near being done. "Lucille told me of him spending the night at your place, and there have been a number of sightings of you two parading around town. I myself saw you two on Friday."
Bel prepared to defend himself when an unexpected voice spoke up.
"Stop! Please!" Everyone's attention was drawn to the strange girl standing next to Malcolm. "There has been a misunderstanding. I'm the one seeing Francis."
Both Mammon and Bel were shocked at the action. Bel because he hadn't even noticed Margret or Mammon in the room. Mammon because of what the girl was saying.
"Who the hell are you?" Someone exclaimed.
"She's my maid." Bel explained.
"I met Francis through Bel and we have been seeing each other since. But because my parents don't approve Bel has done us the kind favor of keeping it a secret." Margret explained so well Fran almost believed it, he reminded himself to make sure Bel followed through on that raise. "I apologize for the confusion." She bowed but the head of house asked her to stand.
He looked at Lucius sternly. "Release him."
Lucius was outraged. "You believe the girl? Obviously she's covering for them! This is ridiculous!"
Lucille rose. Bel hadn't noticed her presence either. She didn't like Fran it was true, but he didn't deserve this, she was ashamed of the extent of her father's actions.
"It's true." She spoke. "The day he spent the night at the palace I accidently stumbled into him and the maid in the garden. Bel wasn't even around. Back then it wasn't really evident but now that I think about it, it does make sense. They also spent the day alone together as me and Bel went to town that afternoon."
"Lucille-" Lucius looked at his daughter in disbelief.
"Lucius release the boy." The head demanded. "We will speak about your position in the court tomorrow."
Lucius's goons untied Fran and Margret rushed to his side, immediately checking his wounds and embracing him in a hug. Which wasn't part of the act but added to her case.
"In the meantime Belphegor." The head continued. "Your loyalty to your good friend and servant has convinced me that you are indeed on the path to becoming a great leader. I will talk to Bishop Winstow about your sacrament tomorrow as well. I wouldn't worry too much about it seeing as he owes me one. Consider your engagement annulled and your proposition for an extension allowed. Council dismissed."
A/N2: It was pointed out to me that in the last chapter Charlie calls Bel by his actual name at some point, I can assure you that it was completely unintentional I'm so sorry for any confusion that may have caused! I'll fix it after I post this.
Also I don't remember what I said in the last chapter but the next chapter or the one after should be the last.
Hm... vut else? Oh the song Bel plays in the piano scene I want to say would be something like Yann Tiersen;s Rue des Cascades or something else of the sort.
Anyway I hope you didn't find this chapter too autrocious :) Until next time!
P/N: This is the proof reader, I apologize in advanced for all the error that may have slipped my tired eyeballs because I honestly half skimmed this chapter, you are welcome ;P It is 3 a.m. where I live in my defense...