Wolfram returned with a half an hour to spare before dinner. He, therefore, went straight to Gwendal's office. He knocked at the door and waited impatiently for Gwendal to answer.

After the tiring day he'd gone through so far, Gwendal had developed a nasty headache that was getting worse with each passing moment. He was surprised to hear a knock at the door. The clock showed that it was a bit early for dinner. Praying desperately for it to be someone other than Waltorana or his assistant Taka, he answered to the knock.

"Enter."

Wolfram walked into the room, right up to Gwendal's desk. "Aniue, I want to take Ken and go out to start searching for the crystals that will make performing a blood and fire ceremony safe."

Gwendal was not surprised. "Ah. Yes, I heard all about it from Gunter. But I am afraid I must deny your request." Gwendal said nonchalantly.

"What?" Wolfram roared while Gwendal felt as if someone had struck his head with a hammer. His headache wasn't getting along very well with Wolfram's shouting. "B-But you can't. Don't you realize how important it is for me?"

Sighing Gwendal replied, "I know Wolfram, but I have my reasons for doing so. Gunter told me about the approximate locations where you could find those stones. While I do believe that certain areas are fairly safe for you to enter but most others, especially Erwiston village, are not. It's situated right on the border of the human lands and is said to house renowned murders and thieves. It is much too dangerous to be that close to the human lands. Relations have been good in recent months but you going there and hunting near their lands might spark distrust and anger. And I don't want to start a war with the humans. And even if you did find those crystals, those thieves will kill you at the spot to lay their hands on those precious stones. So, I am afraid you can't go."

Wolfram was nearing to explode and did not refrain from shouting while replying back, "Mph, I am the fifth best swordsman in Shin Makoku and you know it. No petty thief would get the best of me. Or do you doubt my abilities?"

"I do not doubt your abilities, but what would you do if the said thieves had, and I am sure that they will have, Houseki stones?"

Wolfram remained quiet, unsure of how to answer that.

Gwendal seeing that his youngest brother had nothing to comment on the subject, immediately took advantage of his silence to sturdy his point in the argument, and continued, "And you're also forgetting that you want to take Geika with you."

"Of course I am. Without him it'd be a pointless trip. I would, most probably, end up bringing back a dozen or so crystals, all of which would be either fake or wrong ones."

"And just how are you planning to keep Geika safe? You both would stand out in a crowd."

"No problem. I'll just give him the same disguise as we use for Yuri."

Gwendal raised an eyebrow, "So, he's approved this then, and agreed to go on this dangerous trip."

"Of course he has." Wolfram said.

Gwendal sighed and said, "So, in other words, he doesn't know about it yet."

"Of course he knows about it. I just came back from there and we discussed the jewels."

Knowing his brother a bit too much, Gwendal just sighed and said, "Otherwise known as that you did all the talking and simply told Geika what you were planning to do. Right?"

"He didn't object." Wolfram defended himself.

Gwendal rubbed his temple, thinking, 'Somehow I doubt that you let him speak a word in edgewise.' "Look, it's not that I don't approve of you wanting to dissolve this marriage, if that's what you actually want…"

"What do you mean by 'if that what I actually want'? Of course I want this." Wolfram was getting angrier with every passing second due to his brother's seemingly indifference towards his problem.

"Let me first finish." Gwendal scolded him. His headache was at its peak. "As I said, I don't disapprove of you wanting to dissolve this marriage…but I think that you should first try to give yourself a chance to accept the situation as it is."

"You want me to accept it?" Wolfram was outrageous. "I don't want it. What part of it don't you and everybody else understand?"

"Listen Wolfram, I hadn't wanted to point it out so bluntly but I think it has become important now, so listen carefully. None of us had wanted to see you agree to the engagement with Heika. But you did anyway. I warned you countless times in the beginning itself that the odds were he'd never accept you. He was from another world and that it would never work out. He simply didn't understand what slapping you meant. But you ignored everything after you witnessed his power. I knew that you're simply impressed and that one day that charm will wear off. I tried to approach you in different manner regarding this from time to time. But you always made it seem to me that things were working out between you two smoothly. It was all very clever on your part and even I, at one point, thought that maybe it'll work out. I stopped pestering you thinking that if things are alright between the two of you, then your marriage will be very favorable to us in the court. But once it became clear to everyone that it wouldn't work out, we all, well except for mother of course, told you to get out of the engagement but, again, you didn't listen and honored your own will over everyone else's. I must say Wolfram that whatever you're facing now is your own reap."

Wolfram was appalled at Gwendal's words. He felt betrayed. He had, truly, believed that Gwendal will help him and stand by his side in every situation no matter what. That he'll always speak in his favor. But now having heard him like this, he wasn't sure anymore. He felt utterly betrayed. Tears sprung into his emerald eyes but quickly gaining control over him, he bounced back trying to hide his emotional wound.

"I know all that." Wolfram yelled. "But somehow I kept hoping that he'd accept me one day." He mumbled.

"But he never did and you knew that. Despite all of your protests otherwise, you knew exactly how he felt for Conrart all along, didn't you?"

"I never…"

"Don't lie to me." Gwendal snapped. "I'd always suspected that you did know. But now I am sure. Do you know why? It's because of your own actions."

Wolfram was confused.

"Whenever Yuri needed someone to comfort him, who does he seek Wolfram, you?"

Wolfram was in turmoil.

"Let me rephrase that. Whenever Yuri needed someone to comfort him, who does you seek Wolfram?" Wolfram jerked his head sharply towards Gwendal at that. He was completely lost and it was evident on his face.

Seeing this Gwendal took to explaining it to him.

"Do you remember that time when King Saralegi betrayed Yuri? So you remember how heartbroken he was? And topped to the fact that Conrart was missing? What did you do then Wolfram? Did you spend each passing minute with your so called fiancé, trying to placate him?" Wolfram stayed silent.

"I'll tell you. After learning of King Saralegi's betrayal and the fact that Conrart had stayed in Big Shimaron, after Yuri returned from that ship, you went after Conrart to bring him back. Against all odds and against my will, you went into the midst of the danger to retrieve him. Do you know why? It was not because he's your brother and that you missed him utterly so. No, it was because you knew that Yuri would want him back. You always do that. You knew that it was Conrart that Yuri needed the most at that time and not you. You knew what was, and is, Conrart's importance in Yuri's life. Am I wrong?" Gwendal asked.

Wolfram swallowed a lump struck in his throat. He couldn't argue against that.

Taking pity at his younger brother's condition, Gwendal relented a bit. He hadn't wanted to hurt his brother. But he knew that this had to be done even if he knew that it'd hurt Wolfram eventually. Sighing Gwendal said softly, "If you really insist on doing this, then I know there's no stopping you. But I'm assigning some guards to go with you, whether you like it or not."

"But Aniue, I can't drag a whole army around with me on this mission." Wolfram protested.

"And what if you get into trouble? Do you honestly think that you can protect both yourself and Geika?"

"Of course I can."

'He'll never learn.' Gwendal thought.

"When you go to Erwiston village, if you get caught, you'll be surrounded by a number of people. Even with Geika in disguise, you're appearance will arouse suspicion. They will probably mistake you for someone coming there to arrest them. They'll attack you."

"Mpmh, I'll just tell them that I'm not. I'll tell them the truth."

Gwendal sighed, "You'll tell a town full of thieves and murders that you're looking for crystals for a blood and fire ceremony. For once, Wolfram, will you stop and think about what you're saying before doing so? Think about how many people would love to have those crystals and will be willing to pay loads of money for them; either because they are nice looking crystals or because of their purpose. Do you realize what importance will they hold for those thieves?"

Wolfram hadn't thought of it that way before. He flushed with embarrassment. "Fine, I'll think of something when I get there or get Ken to do that."

Gwendal didn't like it, but just to call truce, said, "Seeing as to how you'll go through with this plan of yours with or without my permission, I say that you may go but you must take at least two guards with you, likes or no likes. And you must wait until your uncle leaves."

"What? But Aniue…"

Gwendal help up his hand, "You have my answer. Going alone with Geika only puts you both at great risk. You may think you can handle this on your own but if a fight does break out or something else unexpected happens there, without any guards it will be nearly impossible to come out unscathed. I do realize that seven guards will draw more attention and be a hindrance in being discrete but two will have to go. Take it as an order if you have to."

"I understand, but Aniue I'm sure that uncle will understand once I explain it to him. After all, he wants me out of this marriage too."

Gwendal sighed, "Fine, if he agrees to it, you may leave in the morning."

Suddenly an idea hit Gwendal and while on the inside he was grinning like a madman, on the outside he let only a slight smile escape him, which didn't go unnoticed by Wolfram and made him extremely nervous and wary of his scheming. "Oh! And there's one more condition before you set out."

Wolfram didn't like the sound of that. "And that would be?" He asked cautiously.

"You must tell mother of all your plans, both the hunting for the crystals and its reasons as to why."

Wolfram paled, he hadn't expected that from Gwendal. He didn't want to have to explain it to his mother. That was the last thing he wanted to do. He remembered it clearly how, the moment she had learned of his and Yuri's break up, she was deeply sadden and yet enthusiastic that one of her boys was finally married. She was still planning a reception for next weekend, despite him telling her not to. Telling her that he really wanted the marriage to be annulled would certainly end in disaster. "Fine, I'll talk to her….tomorrow."

'In other words, you'll tell her just before you leave, so that she won't be able to protest too loudly.' Gwendal thought.

x-x-x-x-x

Meanwhile on Earth,

Shori was learning to control his powers more. Right now he was in deep meditation…or so as to say. While he was meditating, his thoughts were running erratic. His most foremost thought currently was that it was so useless if this meditation couldn't help him determine when Yuri's in danger.

After an hour or so of 'deeply meditating', he got tired and let it go. He went more into a sleepy state than a meditative one while he was at it but whatever the cause, he's sure he saw Yuri smiling at someone but he couldn't make out at whom. For some reason he felt anger surge through him against this person. He had felt weird feelings radiating from Yuri, but he couldn't place exactly what those feelings were. And he didn't like that. Then he also saw another man but he couldn't see his face only a devil's mask. He awoke instantly after that and told Bob everything he saw in his vision.

"That's very good." Bob was impressed. "You're learning more quickly than I expected for just your third time trying."

"No, you don't understand. Yuri is in DANGER. I need you to send me to him, now." Shori demanded.

Bob could see the determination in his eyes, "Sleep on it."

"I don't want to sleep on it. I want to go to Yuri." Shori was whining like a little baby.

"It's late right now and it was your first successful vision." Bob said. "Rest and clear your mind. If, by tomorrow afternoon, you're still as determined as now, I'll consider sending you there."

Shori wanted to argue against it but knew that it was going to be of no use. He settled for sighing and said, "Yes, as you say."

He returned back home, determined to try to get more out of his vision. But no matter how hard he tried, he still couldn't infer what vibes he was getting from Yuri. All he could see was that the figure standing next to Yuri was a blur of brown and invoked in him immense jealously and hated for him.

It totally confused Shori. He couldn't place anyone he knew near Yuri who could invoke such sort of feelings. He also couldn't make out who or what that devil image was. He was sure that he could see what could be the outline of a person in a white suit or shirt of some sort but that was about as far as he could make out.

The next morning, in a session with Bob, Bob specifically asked him about his vision and feelings. After Shori explained everything, Bob calmly asked him to walk through his memories of all the people in Yuri's life and tell him how he felt about each. Only one name that came to his mind with, well, not really hate but not exactly friends either was 'Conrad'.

Bob, unaware of the switching ceremony or Yuri's current relationship status with Conrad, was patient with Shori and helped him through his other feelings. Finally, after a thorough analysis of the situation, he agreed to send him to Shin Makoku.