Kyou Kara Maou – Yuuri's Hot Date

Summary: Wolfram challenges Yuuri to have a date with a girl. Loosely part of my Epilogue story arc.

Disclaimer: I have no rights to Kyou Kara Maou of course.

Chapter 5 – The Marriage Counselor and the Greta Caper

Aldrich must have dragged a riverboat crew out before dawn, because the first Bielenfeld contingent arrived shortly after breakfast. Wolfram had elected to breakfast with the toddlers in order to avoid Yuuri until he had a chance to talk to Aldrich. He joined them as Aldrich and his crop of youthful hopefuls for Kieran's hand were setting up a table in the courtyard below the receiving gallery. This they draped in blue and gold, and piled with thick but beautifully bound blue and gold agendas and supporting documents to hand out to the ruling Lords for the Aristocrat's Summit, plus a great deal of other ornately presented paperwork related to the ball.

Wolfram had confided his plan to Conrad, hoping thus to escape suicide watch. Conrad nodded relieved approval of the plan, and still didn't let Wolfram out of his sight.

Busy Aldrich smiled and greeted them with a nod. "Lord Weller, Lord Wolfram. Sylvain, two meeting packets, if you would." Aldrich resumed briefing his other squires.

A tall blue-eyed blond – around 80 percent of Bielenfeld's population consisted of blue-eyed blonds – selected two of the elegant Lord's packets and presented them to Conrad and Wolfram with a bow.

Wolfram introduced. "Conrad, please let me present Sylvain von Tarkenburg. I believe Sylvain is heir to the heir of the Tarkenburg plantation, do I have that right, Sylvain? Conrad, Tarkenburg is the most prominent plantation, after the von Bielenfelds'." Actually, Tarkenburg was only smaller than all seven von Bielenfeld family plantations taken en masse. Sylvain smiled a close enough. "Sylvain, my half-brother, Conrad Lord Weller."

Sylvain affably bent to his task of making a good impression on Lord Weller, via explaining the contents of the Lord's bound agenda. Wolfram's copy was simply a courtesy to the Maou's political advisor – his domain voting rights lay in his liege Lord Aldrich. His hopes of snagging him were dashed, though, as Efram appeared. Aldrich drew him away for some private instructions.

So instead Wolfram contemplated Sylvain and the other youths. Clearly Wolfram and Efram outranked all of them. But perhaps clear only to Wolfram and Aldrich, they weren't really in the running for Kieran's hand. Judging from the simple relief on Efram's face, Aldrich was telling him he was too young but had to act his part. Good.

So Bielenfeld's offerings really amounted to Sylvain and two other high-ranked plantation nobles, Toby von Guire and Kyle von Derringer. Wolfram knew all three – they ranged in age from 80 to 110. Guire and Derringer were close to Donaghie, and Toby and Kyle closer to Kieran in age. But Wolfram's choice would be the accomplished and socially gifted Sylvain. If von Donaghie passed away tomorrow, capable Sylvain could pick up the reins immediately. The younger ones… might land the domain's succession back into question. But Kieran might want someone younger. Indeed, from the vantage point of age 70, 110 might seem awfully old. And of course, the other domains would also be putting forward candidates, most of higher birth.

As Aldrich and Efram wafted back to the table, Conrad politely excused himself from Sylvain for a moment, and caught Aldrich before Wolfram could. Aldrich sobered and his eyes fixed on Wolfram, as Conrad whispered. Conrad returned to Sylvain's guidance on social resumés – Wolfram feared his own was among the samples – and Aldrich drew Wolfram aside.

"Young cousin," Aldrich said, taking Wolfram's elbow with his one good hand, "I understand we need to talk. I'm very busy right now, but Lord Weller also has pressing business. So, until I can spare time to chat, I need you to stay here and help our squires explain the agenda. Agreed?"

"Yes, my liege," replied Wolfram, irked. But Aldrich really did have his hands full. Gwendal – the chancellor could hardly ignore such a ruckus on his doorstep forever – was joining the throng, as well as Adelbert and Ted. Yuuri and Günter will be out shortly, Wolfram thought in dismay. Oh, well, at least I have a flair for social resumés, and I do need to read the final agenda. And… renew my acquaintance with these men who would wed my sister. That thought was uncomfortable, especially since he knew the squires better than the girl. What's she like now, I wonder?

When Yuuri appeared, Aldrich handled the Maou personally. They visited and laughed and Aldrich steered Yuuri back indoors.

Eventually the table traffic reached a lull, Gwendal quit quibbliing with Aldrich over a point on the agenda, and Aldrich beckoned Wolfram to join him on the gallery. Aldrich quietly summarized what Conrad had told him, and Wolfram confirmed.

"I really don't know what to do now, Aldrich," he confided. "I apologized abjectly, I got on my knees and begged, and…"

"And you told him that you did not actually have sex with another man?" Aldrich clarified.

Wolfram gulped, and whispered, "He asked… no, he demanded, but… I said I didn't know, how many. Because… I didn't know, then…"

"OK, Wolfram, first of all, you need to give him that information. Note I'm not talking about begging. Apologize, yes, but don't ask him for anything. This is information he demanded of you, and you owed him an answer, but failed to give it to him. And now you correct that error. You can explain, without excuses. But try to keep it as neutral as possible. Write that letter here and now, and we'll talk some more."

When Wolfram returned with his first draft, Aldrich read and pocketed it, turning his back to the courtyard so no one could read his face. "Wolfram… some of this will have to wait, but… You need to apologize with dignity. A good apology is specific – stick to the point. Omit the self flagellation, comparisons to others, the past, the future... The fact that you've since realized why you did, what you did, is promising. Mention that, but don't digress. For this letter, don't try to solve anything. You are conveying information which you owe him. So, keep it simple, write with dignity, and try again."

Aldrich stiffened as he saw a new contingent enter the courtyard. "And -" he added abruptly, with a hand on Wolfram's shoulder. "Stay here, and stay out of this. I need to deal with it. I'll be back as soon as I can."

Raven, on behalf of Stoeffel von Spitzweg, had arrived with his delegation for the ball and meeting, a day early. He begged off from Aldrich's squires, saying several of his company weren't feeling well, and promised he'd return soon. Aldrich joined the Spitzweg group as they headed into the castle.

-oOo-

"Greta, may I have a private word with you?" asked Aldrich. He led Greta into the middle of the grand ballroom, away from any prying ears. "I have a special favor to ask."

Greta nodded, all ears. "What's the favor?"

"Well, you know Kieran von Donaghie is coming for her debutante ball, and I'm brokering a marriage for her?" Greta nodded. "She could very much use a friend in the castle. I was wondering if you could be a companion to her while she's here? I think the two of you would hit it off, and… Well, it's a little sensitive. She's not to show herself until the ball – you'll see why when you meet her. If you can keep a secret?"

Greta grinned. "I excel at keeping secrets. Sure, I'd be happy to keep her company and show her around on the sly. When's she coming?"

"She's already here. Come with me?"

Aldrich led her to a guest room temporarily labelled 'Tomas Vespasian' and knocked softly. They entered. Greta gasped and put a hand over her mouth. Then she smirked, remembering Efram's worry about 'skin growths'. For Kieran von Donaghie was quite simply the most beautiful girl she'd ever seen, despite being dressed as a boy, in the Spitzweg colors of the minor noble house of Vespasian. Then Greta sobered a little, eyes narrowing. She looks exactly like Wolfram, turned into a girl!

"I've brought you an accomplice, Kieran," said Aldrich. "May I present Greta Shibuya, the Maou's adopted daughter."

Kieran nearly curtseyed, laughed at herself, and bowed. "I'm very pleased to meet you, Greta. Especially if you can spring me from house arrest and show me around the castle." She held up a hand as Aldrich started to protest. "My keeper says I need a better disguise to be allowed out of my cage," she confided to Greta. "Got anything? Maybe some colored contact lenses?"

"Of course! Yuuri – um, the Maou – wears them to sneak out among the people. I'll go get them. Then we can spy on the boys as they come into the courtyard!"

"Perfect!" grinned Kieran – er, Tomas.

Out in the hall, Aldrich detained Greta a moment longer before she could bound off to rifle though Yuuri's bedroom. "Greta… I know it's a lot to ask, that you keep secrets from your family. And if you feel there's real need, of course you should follow your conscience, but… Your family includes some of the most important people Kieran is to be presented to tomorrow night. So… if your conscience allows…?"

"No problem," Greta promised. "This is Kieran's secret, and I'll keep it!"

In no time at all, Kieran – now the brown-eyed, brown-haired, cap-covered Tomas – and Greta were settled on the 2nd floor side gallery above the courtyard, used only by servants and children, where they could see and hear almost everything. Greta brought along a notebook, so they could score the boys. But of course the first thing they did was sketch their dresses for the ball.

The girls had trouble muffling their giggles as Greta described the codpiece of the costume she found in Yuuri's closet, and what she'd heard from the guards of his goofy date last night. Kieran was dismayed to hear about the current dire misunderstanding between the Maou and Wolfram, which of course Greta knew the whole truth of from Efram, though she didn't know how to fix it.

Kieran frowned thoughtfully, chin on fist, at Wolfram, now talking on the first floor gallery with Aldrich. "So do you think now the Maou and Wolfram are available for marriage to someone else?" she asked.

Greta replied, "No way! Nothing can break those two up. At least… I don't think so." She looked at Wolfram sadly. "They've been through so much together…"

"Hm," said Kieran thoughtfully.

"Oooh, look, the Spitzweg boys are coming back out. Which one of them do you like best?"

-oOo-

After he returned, Aldrich approved Wolfram's second draft, and gave it to Efram to deliver to Yuuri, hand to hand and in private only.

"How are you feeling now?" Aldrich asked.

Wolfram considered. He was surprised to find that though writing the first letter made him feel worse, the second draft took a weight off his shoulders. He nodded slowly. "Better. A lot better. I'm not sure I understand, but…"

"Well, I don't know how many minutes of peace we'll get here, but, we'll try. Wolfram, you aren't in control of what Yuuri or anyone else does. You know that, of course, but hold tight to it in a situation like this. You're only in charge of your side. You're cleaning up your side of the street. Exactly what you did wrong, without exaggeration or minimization, without assigning blame or taking more blame than you're due. Just pinning down exactly what 'it' is, and isn't, goes a long way toward making it more manageable. See it whole."

"Chichiue's always saying that…" Wolfram murmured.

Aldrich nodded. "I bet he said a whole lot of that after you got back from Mizrat. The principle's the same. Problems can suck, but when you have them, you deal with them. It's a whole different ballgame when the problems have you. So, now you feel better because you have a problem, instead of it having you.

"But now let's consider Yuuri. People experience jealousy differently. My guess is, he felt utterly betrayed by your actions. But those actions never happened – you had to tell him that! Unfortunately, your words and intention did happen. You and me, we're firebugs – we flash anger and cool off in a moment. But Wolfram, people who are slow to anger, can be slow to get over it, too. They may have a whole laundry list they're angry about. He might read your note and come running to kiss and make up. But I doubt it. He may need time to get over being angry."

Wolfram nodded unhappily. "And in the meantime… what can I do?"

"Love him," said Aldrich. "I'm not talking about sex. I'm talking about thinking of him first. This is a paradox – I'm telling you two things here. One, you can only take care of your side of the street. Two, do that by loving and respecting him. Love is a verb. If he needs space, give him space. If he wants to date another girl, try your best to be a friend while he does that, or get out of his way. He definitely needs a political advisor, so do your job. Do you see the distinction? Keep your demands, your needs, your anxiety over your future, to yourself for the moment. Demand, is a verb. Love, is a verb. Choose to give and not worry about what you'll get in return. Can you do that?"

"I… Aldrich, last night he went out on a date with a girl!" Wolfram fought himself not to crumple here on the gallery.

Aldrich looked at him in mild sternness. "None of your business. Unless, of course, you'd care to help him to not make a fool of himself."

Wolfram blinked. "What?"

"Your side of the street is to love him. That would include helping him understand how to go about having a date with a girl, if that's what he feels he must do. If you can't love him enough to do that, then stay out of his way. For now. Can you do that?"

"I… don't know," admitted Wolfram. "If he…" He imagined Yuuri actually making it all the way with Kieran and his face threatened to crumple again. He briskly turned his back to the courtyard to get a grip.

Aldrich leaned on the gallery rail, gazing out. "Without exaggerating, or minimizing, what do you realistically think that Yuuri would do? How would that, realistically, affect his feelings for you? Pretty vixen, I think a problem has you instead of you having a problem again… Try to step back. Imagine not-Yuuri, a friend. You had a lot of green recruits. If one of them came to you in Yuuri's shoes, no skin off your nose either way, would you condemn him for settling a little question of cold feet? How far could that trooper go without you condemning him?"

Wolfram snorted, and allowed, "Pretty far. Actually I had someone like that…" My troop medic Paol, when he was about to propose marriage to Sanguria. "It was the other way – he thought he was in love with a woman, but he'd always been attracted to men, too…"

"How'd you handle it?"

"I took him to the late night baths, actually," said Wolfram, remembering. "We looked, we talked. All he had to do was wade across the pool. But he didn't. And there were some fine specimens on offer, too." He and Aldrich both chuckled. Aldrich had been a frequent devotee of the baths in his youth, but that was long ago for this Mazoku in his prime. "The next day he proposed to the girl. Came by and thanked me after, on cloud 9."

"Think you can love Yuuri as well as you did that trooper?"

Wolfram sighed. "I don't know."

"Actually, I was playing coy, before," admitted Aldrich. "I went ahead and asked Günter von Krist what happened on Yuuri's date last night. 'Cultural howler' sums it up nicely, though Günter waxed poetic singing His Majesty's praises. Quite a character, your von Krist. Clueless."

Wolfram laughed. "He is that. So Yuuri…"

"Picture this – with only Günter von Dreamworld as a guide to local etiquette, who doesn't tell him there's a thing wrong with his plan, he invites a dressmaker to a fancy restaurant, because he thought 'fancy' meant 'elegant'. So he's dragging this grown woman, and her whole mortally offended proud master craftsman family, and her boss, all forced to dress up like complete clowns at His Majesty's inexplicable whim, to the Diabolical Newt –"

Wolfram bent over laughing, his black sense of humor engaged. He could picture this exactly. "Oh, Shinou, he would, the idiot!"

"Wolfram, he'd be toast inside of ten minutes trying to get a date in Trondheim. It took him, what, an hour or two here to get engaged to you by accident? So anyway, you can picture what Yuuri's got on his scorecard so far. Do you think, if you dug way down deep into your heart, you might manage to forgive him for that?"

"No, I'll hold his complete idiocy against him forever," Wolfram said, and they both laughed. "Oh… Thank you, Aldrich. I think I get it now. I'm sorry. I'm the one who's been an idiot."

Aldrich squeezed his shoulder. "I release thee from suicide watch for the rest of the day, and I'll check up on you later. Try not to embarrass yourself and others until Kieran's ball is over, OK, pretty vixen? And when that and the Aristocrats' summit are under control, I still think you, me, and Yuuri should sit down and have a little chat. For two adorable people, who love each other so much, you two sure cause each other a lot of pain. Let's find a way for you to stop doing that, OK?"

Wolfram nodded and exchanged a heartfelt hug with his liege lord. Then he went back to the table to retrieve his stuff, made sure the squires didn't really need him for anything, and went back to work. He'd give Yuuri a few hours to digest his note, then request permission to hold his delinquent political briefing. And… love Yuuri best he could as a friend until this thing blew over.

-oOo-

"Whatcha doin'?" asked Efram, suddenly between the two girls. They jumped.

Greta smacked him over the head with her notebook. "Don't do that, Efram! Aren't you supposed to be working?"

Efram snagged the notebook and leafed through, pausing on the ball gowns. "I'm just taking the long way back from an errand. I heard you giggling up here and came to take a look. Aw, c'mon Greta, you didn't really talk Yuuri into a dress like this?!?" He'd found her sketch of the dress Greta wanted to buy before Esmelda confiscated the book of prostitute designs.

Greta snatched the notebook back. "No. The dressmaker vetoed that one… This sketch is the one we ordered."

Efram sat cross-legged beside her, chin on fists, and stared at Tomas. "Hi, I'm Efram von Bielenfeld. Please excuse Greta's rudeness. Her mother and I try to teach her manners, but…" He shook his head in mock sorrow. Greta hit him.

"Tomas Vespasian. Nice to meet you, Efram."

"Efram's my Chichiue Wolfram's brother. He's terrified that Lord Aldrich's going to push him on Kieran von Donaghie as Bielenfeld's best hope," Greta goaded.

"No, Shinou be praised, I am saved! My Lord Aldrich shall not sell me to the von Donaghies. Oh, it was so scary, so scary!" Efram buried his face in Greta's shoulder in mock tears. She laughed.

"Would that be such a terrible fate?" asked Tomas.

"He's scared that Kieran has 'skin growths' on her face," teased Greta.

"Ooh, you're a Spitzweg," observed Efram. "Do you know what Kieran looks like?"

"Does it matter?" asked Tomas.

Efram took this as a sincere philosophical question, since he assumed Tomas was here as a contender for Kieran's hand. He sighed. "Well, it would be a nice bonus. I guess. I'm sorry, Tomas. I'm too young for this contest. And I'm supposedly the highest ranked contender from Bielenfeld. But, until a couple years ago, I was just Chichiue's second illegitimate son. I do think I deserve to be a von Bielenfeld but… I still feel like a trainee or something."

"Well, I hear you're pretty well regarded in Bielenfeld on your own merits," said Tomas. "Though you are awfully young to be sent away to Donaghie."

"Wow, you really study the competition! I'm… embarrassed! Hm, my brother Wolfram and his older half-brothers know 'em all. Though… well, I'm eager to see who comes from Gratz and Trondheim, those are Aldrich's closest cronies, and they have similar societies to Donaghie's."

"I hear Lord Donaghie vetoed Trondheim," offered Tomas.

"Who would be best from Bielenfeld?" prompted Greta.

"Wolfram. By far."

Greta slapped him. "That's not funny! My Chichiue Wolfram stays here!"

Efram shrugged unrepentantly. "I'm just saying, if he and Yuuri really broke up. He almost got Bielenfeld not so long ago, you know. He chose Yuuri instead. But if he and Yuuri break up, I don't think he can stay here."

"Assuming Wolfram's not available. Say you're picking for your favorite niece, who would you pick?"

"But they're too old for Frieda," Efram joked, and ducked the notebook. "Sylvain von Tarkenburg. Absolutely."

"He's kinda old for Kieran," observed Tomas.

Efram shook his head emphatically. "He's a leader, he's trained for the rule of a complex plantation with agriculture and shipping and manufacturing sectors, he's well educated, has excellent connections in neighboring Bielenfeld, and he knows Aldrich's closest friends as well, the Lords of Gratz and Trondheim. He lived in Castle Bielenfeld for decades while he went to school. He could rule Donaghie today and be respected among the Eleven. And, he's a great guy. He's awesome with kids. I'm sixty years younger, and was just some illegitimate brat the eccentric Lord Manfred brought to parties. But Sylvain never talked down to me, was always friendly. Toby and Kyle down there had to change their tune when I was legitimated, but never Sylvain. He makes everyone feel well liked and appreciated. I dunno if Kieran will have better choices. I do know she'd never regret choosing him, though. Sylvain's seriously good folk. So, Tomas, what do you think of your chances?"

Tomas waived that away. "I'm here for the secondary market." She meant the majority who wouldn't win the grand prize of Donaghie – they would still look toward negotiating betrothals someday, if not this week.

"Well, better you than me," concluded Efram, getting up. "If I'm not old enough for the secondary market, I sure wasn't old enough for Donaghie. Well, I must away before yon squires vote me latrine duty. Maybe see you around later, Tomas. I can introduce you around to the guys if you want."

"And me!" demanded Greta.

"Sure," Efram shrugged.

"He's really cute," said Kieran/Tomas, after Efram had left.

"Yeah, and doesn't he know it!" replied Greta. "It's really fun having a brother though."

-oOo-

Yuuri had been with Gwendal when Efram came to see him. Efram insisted he'd wait until Yuuri was free, then handed him the note from Wolfram. The boy added that Aldrich had sent him, and was concerned about the rift between the Maou and his kinsman, and would be happy to help in any way he could. Then Efram skedaddled to let him read his note in private. (And detour to see who Greta was giggling with on the servants' gallery.)

Yuuri's first reaction was elation. He didn't do it! Nobody else held him and…! He almost ran out the door to look for Wolfram and put this whole mess behind them right then and there. But once on his feet, he paused, and turned to stare out the window instead. Well, he didn't do what he set out to do, and I'm glad of it…

But he still set out to do it. And I still don't know why. I also set out to do something, and I do know why. I really do want to settle, once and for all, whether I'm OK with forsaking all girls, to never have the chance to have a biological child of my own, without ever having given girls a chance.

That's selfish. I love Wolfram and he loves me and it would hurt him deeply, perhaps irreparably, if I put him aside.

And he isn't selfish? He snorted.

Yes, well, it's not one of his qualities I aspire to emulate, observed Yuuri wryly. Though… there's no way to answer the question of what I want out of life, without being a little bit selfish. We should both be selfish in that sense.

Yes, I never thought I'd say it, but perhaps even Wolfram should be a little more selfish here. He didn't intend to marry a man, either. We got engaged by accident, and he fulfilled his honor… It's nice that we grew to care for each other, but… We both took away each other's options pretty carelessly.

You weren't defending his options when you thought he'd been promiscuous in the baths.

No. As a friend, even if I weren't his lover, I'd disapprove absolutely. After what happened to him in Mizrat, I can't think of anything worse for Wolfram's happiness or self-respect. That would have been an act of pure self-destruction.

But a dance is but a dance, as Günter put it. It turned out I didn't really care for Deanna much, but it sure was nice to dance with her. I had fun.

But if Wolfram flips out, gets suicidal, that's too high a price to pay.

Suicide. Aldrich. Just last year, Aldrich had finally decided to divorce his mentally ill wife Glynda after over a century of misery. He finally did it not in selfish desire to escape that living hell himself, but for his son, Dietrich. All his friends urged him to do it, argued that it was long overdue. And she killed herself right here in Blood Pledge Castle.

But Aldrich had done the right thing, all along, as best he could, in a bad, bad, tragic situation. Would any friend have told him otherwise? He should never have married Glynda if she'd been insane from the start. The tragedy unfolded because her insanity developed with age, and Aldrich felt honor bound to stand by her in her affliction.

And me? If I were willing to accept a life sentence as Wolfram's emotional hostage for myself, would I be willing to accept it for my baby Bertram?

The image of Aldrich, stunned by grief, holding his hysterical son Dietrich tight, assuring him over and over that his mother didn't kill herself because of anything Dietrich did, was indelible in Yuuri's mind.

Yuuri's heart hardened against Wolfram.

Why am I willing to demand better for Bertram than I would for myself? Well… it doesn't matter why.

Yes. I really do insist that Wolfram grow up a little, learn to control his emotions better, for Bertram's sake, if not mine. And I don't feel one bit guilty about that – indeed, my little blond friend has demanded that I grow up for the children's sake on many occasions.

And he was right to do so.

No, he concluded sadly. This isn't over yet. I still insist that Wolfram learn his lesson. And if he cannot… then perhaps… it's best that we do not marry.

The king returned to his desk, and opened the agenda for his summit with his vassals. His political advisor's input would be welcome. But he intended to read the full dossier with care for himself, to understand the most pressing concerns of his realm.

-oOo-

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