Chapter 3: A Forgotten Memory

It was unnerving. Conrart usually did not get sick easily, whether or not there was a first time for anything. This fever was nothing like Gisela had seen before. The healer felt sorry for both sides. Conrad was no attention seeker. Yuri nearly had a heart attack when he heard his daughter scream. Another nearly attacked when he found his godfather falling from the balcony. It was completely by luck that the Bone Tribe heard Greta and swooped down to save her uncle from a fatal fall.

Conrad started convulsing even before the Bone Tribe set him down. Yuri left instructions to Gunter

"Conrart," Gwendal called, holding his brother firmly, "You have to calm down!" Conrad did not seem to hear his brother and struggled more. "He's burning up!" Wolfram murmured, feeling Conrad's forehead.

"Dorcascus," Yuri yelled at the soldier, "Get Gisela! Bring her to Conrad's room!"

"H-hai!" the timid soldier exclaimed as he ran to find the Healer.

Yuri looked up to find that they had an audience still. "All of you, back inside now," Yuri called up to the children, "Everything will be all right!" He turned back to Gwendal, "Take him to his room and wait for Gisela there." Gwendal did not need to be told twice as he lifted Conrad and carried him out of the children's sight with Wolfram following close behind.

The night passed without any more problems as the children and their parents went to their guest quarters that Yuri and Gwendal laid out for them. Yuri stayed with the guests for the rest of the party and assured them that everything was under control. Though the King sounded confident, Greta knew her stepfather was panicking.

"Papa," said little Greta once they were alone, "Is Uncle Conrad going to be all right?"

"I'm certain," said Yuri, "Gisela is with him and is doing everything she can to make him feel better."

The problem was that there was no symptom, no poison or toxic, and no signs of a recently or long term disease. There was no reason why Conrart would collapse. Gwendal and Wolfram confirmed that their brother did not have any recent social or psychological problems either. Greta however remembered how Conrad nearly dropped her when he temporarily blacked out that morning. The only person who could explain what was wrong was Conrart, and that was the man himself.

Morning came slowly as Gwendal went into the room once again. Gisela and Gunter slept in Conrad's room for the night in case there was any changes whatsoever. Gisela was awake and was checking on Conrad once again when Gwendal entered. The stern advisor waited until she was done.

"Von Voltaire-kyo," Gisela murmured when she noticed him.

"How is he?" Gwendal asked worriedly.

"I've never seen a fever like this before," Gisela told him, "one minute his fever is high, the next his body temperature is bordering hypothermia. It's just the strangest thing."

"He was complaining about headaches right before the party," Gwendal reported. Gisela shook her head, "Even if that says something, I doubt it would help us

"Tristan..." a weak voice mumbled.

They looked at Conrad.

"Tristan..." he mumbled, barely more than a whisper. Gwendal started; that was a name he had not heard in a long time. Not since Conrad was equivalent to Greta's age.

"Conrart?" he murmured, gently brushing Conrad's fevered thin hair back. If Conrad could hear him, he gave no indication. Instead, he grit his teeth and furrowed his brows as if something was tormenting him on the inside. "Who... are... you...?" he mumbled, "what do you want...? Tris...Tristan!"

Gisela handed him a cool

"Who's Tristan? Gunter murmured, waking up from his late sleep.

"Conrart's late cousin, on his father's side..." Gwendal answered, "He disappeared about forty years ago. He was half-Mazoku as well. The only half-Mazoku I know to never enter Shin Makoku. Apart from that I know nothing. All I know is that he was important to him."

Again Conrad found himself in the field of maize. Why was he there?

He looked down at his hands. Why did he feel like he was a Human equivalent of twelve again?

"Conrart..." a voice called. Conrad looked up, not understanding why he felt happy

"...-oni-sama!" he exclaimed happily. Remembering the name but did not have it at the tip of his tongue.

"This is for your protection..." the man said, turning away. Conrad felt suddenly very far away.

"...-oni-sama!" he called again. And again almost as if he knew the name but can't remember. He ran to the man, but he kept going further and further away. "Matteo oni-sama! MATTEO!"

"Conrart," a voice called at a distance, "Conrart wake up..."

"Aniiue?" he croaked.

"Easy," said Gwendal. Gwendal knew too well when Conrad called him 'Aniiue', he was scared, "easy..." Conrad closed his eyes and focussed on his breathing, a technique Gunter had taught him while he was still in academy when he needed to calm down.

Gwendal waited patiently as Conrad calmed down. Whatever was plaguing his mind, Gwendal knew it was bad. Gisela and Gunter had left the room an hour before leaving the brothers alone. "You were calling out to Tristan in your sleep?"

Conrad looked at him confused, "Who's Tristan?"

Now, it was Gwendal's turn to be confused. "You don't remember?"

"No," Conrad murmured, "I don't remember any Tristan... but I keep having this same dream over and over... about a man... he seemed to care about me deeply... then I hear a lion roaring... this man, I feel as if I knew him... I keep calling his name followed by the suffix 'onii-sama'."

"When did it start?" Gwendal asked.

"I-I don't know..." Conrad murmured, sitting up, "I was fine until the party... my head was aching and I just blacked out..." He froze, realising what had happened. "I messed up the party, didn't I?"

"Our niece," said Gwendal, "is not mad at you if that's what you're thinking and I was talking about your dreams."

Conrad thought about it before answering, "About a week ago."

"Moaritsu wants to talk to you," Gwendal told him, "Can you walk?"

"Let's find out," said Conrad as he pushed away the blanket. He stood shakily and managed to walk to his desk. "I'm not hurting. Just not feeling the greatest."

"If that's the case," Gwendal said, standing, "if you feel like you're going to faint or feel even worse, tell me or head straight to Gisela

They held the meeting in the throne room. Yuri sat upon his throne. Conrad had to force down a smile, knowing how Yuri hated sitting on the throne while looking down at his men. He preferred the meeting room where they all sat on equal level. Greta did not join them in the meeting, which led Conrad to believe that whatever Maoritsu wanted to talk to him about it was not something to be discussed in her presence.

The discussion began once Yuri was satisfied that

"I came to visit and see how she is faring," Maoritsu told him, "but my visit has a greater purpose. One concerning the princess's father."

"Maoritsu," said Conrad stepping forward before anyone could say anything else, "I have to ask, who was her father?"

The Duke looked at him, surprised. "I thought you knew Lord Weller,"

"Eh?" everyone asked.

"King Tristan of Zuratia," Maoritsu said, "Was half Mazoku, and your distant cousin though your father, Dan Hiri Weller."

"Greta's quarter-Mazoku?" asked Wolfram. It was too unbelievable, Greta was eleven and looked it.

"Conrad," Gwendal called, once everyone was snapped out of the shock at the possibility that Greta was part Mazoku, "do you remember anything of your cousin?"

Conrad shook his head. "I remember very little, not even his name," he confessed, "All I remember was that he had eyes like Greta." He paused and smiled sheepishly, "And a quiet husky voice filled with warmth." He then remembered something, "He went far away soon after my father and I rescued the people of the village where there were half-Mazoku, the one Yosak used to live in."

Gwendal nodded. At least they found a missing piece to Conrad's sudden fever the night before...

"Apart from that I don't remember much of Tristan," said Conrad. Then he realised something, "Is that why Zuratia was torn apart?" he asked Maoritsu, "Because Greta's father was part Mazoku?"

"The enemy soldiers were unaware that he was part Mazoku," said Maoritsu, "In fact he died soon after the Princess was born."

"He was still alive?" asked Conrad, only just realizing this. Gwendal observed his brother. Though ten years was a long time by human standards, it was a relatively short time for Mazokus. The stern advisor could see that – then, it hit them as with everyone else. Conrad's cousin was alive even when he faced Luttenberg and did not make a move to save him... and he was alive for another six years after Conrad had finished his mission on Earth...

Even Maoritsu kept quiet. The Duke had no idea that Conrad did not have any contact whatsoever with the late King of Zuratia after all those years. Conrad's eyes were hidden in his brown hair as negative energy flowed from him, "I request to leave your presence at once, Yuri-heika."

"You may," Yuri told him. It was rare to see Conrad mad... when he was it was best to agree to anything he said.

"Conrart..." Gwendal murmured, reaching to his brother's shoulder. Conrad swatted it away, much to everyone's surprise.

"Conrart?" Gwendal called again.

Without looking at him, Conrad bowed his head low, as if hiding the emotions bubbling emotions that stirred violently within him. "Please," Conrad said quietly, "Leave me be." He walked calmly out of the throne room and closed the door behind him. Not even Yuri made a move to stop him.