A/N: I never imagined that posting this thing on the internet would give me the motivation to actually continue writing it. Anyway, here's the third chapter for my wonderful reviewers and the many people who have looked at this story but did not review (hey I used to do it too). To those people I would like to say DON'T BE SHY!

Also, I took many liberties with Big Shimaron's royal families. I just love Lanzhil

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Chapter 2

Wolfram stared blankly out the carriage window as they continued on the path. Blurs of green swept in and out of his vision as the trees rushed by. Wolfram was too deep in thought to follow them with his eyes. The events of the past few days were unreal, as though he was watching someone's nightmare. There was no way that this was happening.

He shivered at the thought of the job he had been forced to take on. The more he thought about it, the more he wondered if he would actually be able to go through with it. He would be drowning in guilt and shame for the rest of his long life.

"The wimp always manages to get into trouble…even when he doesn't know it," Wolfram muttered to himself. An understatement. This was much more serious. There was no way out of the situation no matter how Wolfram looked at it. STOPPE had made things clear. They had people inside the castle that could get to Yuri minutes after receiving the order.

Of course there was always the chance that they were bluffing. Wolfram trusted all his own men completely. He was sure Conrad and Gwendal did as well. However, because so many people worked at the castle, they couldn't know the personal life of every single individual. Wolfram didn't know if he wanted to chance it. Yuri's life was on the line after all.

The carriage bounced and jostled underneath him, taking him further and further into the heart of Big Shimaron.

After a few more hours, the carriage finally came rolling to a halt in front of a small building just outside one of Big Shimaron's larger cities. It was still quite early in the day, but already the sun was beating down upon the carriage, making it hot to the touch. Wolfram stepped down, happy to stretch his legs. It had been a long journey so far. He'd traveled by boat, horseback, and carriage all in a span of five days. It was all perfectly planned out. Wolfram would even be back in Shin Makoku before his "visit" to the Kaliope estate was over. No one would suspect a thing.

Two human men emerged from the building and escorted Wolfram inside. Thick and muscular, they could have been soldiers at one point, but now Wolfram knew they were with STOPPE.



"Are you the kid?" the first brute asked. He had brown hair and a moustache. Wolfram scowled. Kid? He was more than twice the age of this human. He nodded anyway.

The other human reentered the room carrying some clothes. His face was slightly better looking than the other. His head was a mess of red curls. "You are to put these on." He said shortly.

Wolfram turned up his nose. "Let's get something straight," Wolfram snarled. "I will not be ordered around by you humans. I am staying in the clothes I have on."

Suddenly, a blade was at his throat. It seemed that a third man had been in the room. How stupid of Wolfram not to notice. "Let's get something straight," the voice behind him said mockingly. "This isn't a game. No matter who we have to threaten, this will get done." Wolfram was released. The third man walked into Wolfram's line of sight. His face was covered by a mask. "Now be a good boy and put those clothes on."

Wolfram snatched up the garments and made for the door. Red-hair held out his arm. "Where do you think you're going? You can change right here, blondie," he snickered.

Wolfram glared at him with all the hate he could muster and quickly stripped himself. He could feel their gazes on him. How humiliating. When he finished putting on the expensive looking clothes he stood up and the brown haired man whistled

"He looks like a courtesan to me" the one with red hair said.

"Then we did a good job," Masked man replied. He looked out the window. "We should get moving. The Duke is expecting us this afternoon."

"Us?" questioned Wolfram. "I thought I was doing this alone."

"You are." Masked man said. "We will be your escort. It has to at least look like you come from a noble family of Small Shimaron. Even if it's only a disguise."

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Wolfram sat up in the carriage as the castle finally came into view. It was quite extravagant for a duke, Wolfram mused, but then again this wasn't just any duke. This was the brother of the king of Big Shimaron. The younger brother of Belal.

From what Wolfram had learned upon studying the royal family of Big Shimaron, he knew that Belal and his younger brother, Frederick, were very close. Twenty years ago, they had worked together to overthrow the former king of Big Shimaron and secure the position for themselves. Belal, being the elder, took the throne and Frederick was quite content to let him have it, preferring to take on the title of "duke" and have less responsibilities. As a result, Belal trusted Frederick completely and Frederick was perhaps the only person alive that Belal held deeper feelings for.



It seemed to take the carriage hours to ride along the endless cobblestone road up to the palace gates. They were admitted without a fuss and passed into the castle grounds. An assembly of guards stood ready to great them. The carriage door was opened and Wolfram stepped out into the glaring sunlight.

"Welcome," announced one of the soldiers, stooping into a bow. "The Duke has been eagerly anticipating your arrival. Please allow me to show you to your quarters." He motioned for a few of his subordinates to begin unloading Wolfram's luggage. Of course Wolfram wasn't planning on staying for more than a day or two, but he had to make them think he would be staying for months.

Wolfram followed the man into the castle, glancing back at his carriage that was now being led to the stables.

He was on his own now.

They walked through an enormous garden that held flowers in every color visible to the eye. Wolfram stared in wonder as his eyes took in the incredible sight. Flowers sat on the sills of the stained glass windows. They crept up the walls, woven into the ivy. They even floated in the ponds and fountains while the water swirled gently around them.

"Amazing," breathed Wolfram.

The guard smiled. "Yes, the gardens here are quite beautiful. The duchess has a bit of an obsession with flowers. She gets them imported from all over the world," he said.

Wolfram knelt to smell the fragrance of a little yellow flower he was familiar with.

"Beautiful Wolfram," a female voice called. Wolfram jumped, thinking that someone had discovered him, but then remembering that it was the name of the flower. He looked up to see a woman approaching him with a few attendants behind her. Wolfram assumed that she must be the Duchess.

"They're called Beautiful Wolframs," she told him. "They're named after a former prince of Shin Makoku."

Wolfram stood up. "Your gardens are very pretty," he said.

The Duchess smiled. "You must be the new one. I'd heard that you were a distant cousin of Saralegui but I didn't realize how attractive you would be," she remarked, blushing a bit. She took a step closer. "Perhaps when my husband is finished with you, you can come to my bedchambers for a while."

"Of course," replied Wolfram without hesitation. Hell no.

With that, the Duchess and her attendants left and Wolfram was led the rest of the way to his room.

"You will be joining the Duke and his family for dinner shortly."

"Dinner?" asked Wolfram. And here he had been thinking that he had been invited to this castle for only one purpose.



"Duke Frederick does not keep a harem at his castle. He prefers to treat his concubines like guests." The guard held up a hand when Wolfram opened his mouth. "Do not ask me why. It's just the way he does things." The soldier began to let himself out the door. "If you need anything in the meantime, do not hesitate to ask." He shut the door softly.

Wolfram sighed. He had not planned on attending dinner. This would leave him much less time to prepare. He wanted to be gone from this place as soon as possible.

Wolfram walked over to the bed and inspected it. There were two mattresses. One set on top of another. He slid his hand into his boot slowly and extracted a small dagger. It was a beautiful little thing, specially crafted and very expensive. It had been a gift from Gwendal on his 40th birthday. Gwendal had said to use it only to protect himself. Wolfram ran his finger lightly over the blade. Gwendal would be ashamed if he knew the use it would soon be put to.

Wolfram carefully tucked the dagger in between the two mattresses.