"Your Majesty", Gwendal began as soon as Yuuri had closed the door behind him, "I am sure that you know the reason why we want to talk to you…"
"I'm so sorry!" Yuuri interrupted, eager to appease the serious-looking general, who was looking even more serious than normal. "I know I'm behind with all the work here, I'll make it up to you as soon as I can, I swear! I guess I just lost track of time when I was with Sara, I didn't think…" A blush crept up on him and he finished with a mumble, "didn't think about all the paperwork and stuff…"
No, all of that had been very far back in his mind; he had been enjoying himself without thinking about anyone else; no wonder Gwendal was annoyed…
"Your Majesty", Gwendal said with a frown, "this is about something far more important than 'paperwork and stuff'. Actually, I assumed Yozak would have said something already."
Yuuri did not understand. Yozak wasn't even in the room. When the two of them arrived to the castle, Yozak hadn't even given him time to change his clothes after the trip. He had just pointed in the direction of Gwendal's office with a smile and a 'Good luck, kiddo! They want to talk to you in private.'
They apparently meant Gwendal, Conrad – and Günter? Yuuri hadn't seen him at first, but there he was, standing against the wall. He met Yuuri eyes, but did not say one word, and he looked – sad? Conrad, standing behind Gwendal's desk close to the window, looked troubled, and Yuuri began to think that something was seriously wrong.
"So now Yozak decides to keep his mouth shut?" Gwendal muttered.
"I suppose he didn't want to spoil His Majesty's good mood during the voyage", Conrad suggested.
"Neither do we", Gwendal said sharply. "This is not about spoiling anyone's mood."
Yuuri began to feel more than a little suspicious about the whole thing. Spoil his good mood? What did they know about his mood anyway? They looked at him in such a strange way, and why wasn't Günter fawning on him like usual?
"We know, Your Majesty", Günter solemnly announced. "About you and King Saralegui. That was the reason why Yozak was asked to bring you back."
"What?" Yuuri's jaw dropped. "How can you know?!" He and Sara hadn't told anyone, they hadn't spoken to anyone…
Oh, he realized, but Beryes was spying on us. And maybe Yozak was, too…
"This brings us straight to the point", Gwendal said and looked sternly at Yuuri, looking more serious than ever behind his big desk. "The point is that you must understand that there is nothing, or next to nothing, that you can do that you can keep a secret."
Yeah, that much was clear to him!
"Because you'll never let me go anywhere on my own without sending Yozak after me, because you still think of me as a child who gets into trouble – "
"No", Gwendal interrupted, "because you are our king. That is what you need to understand. Your life is not your own anymore. Everything you do has consequences and you must think about your country before you make any personal decisions. Did you seriously believe that you could become romantically involved with anyone and keep it a secret? And with a foreign king?"
"Um…" Yuuri didn't know what to say. "I didn't think about it like that… but…" Gwendal's eyes were still fixed on him and that made it hard to find the words. "But… I'm sorry, but now that it's out in the open it's alright, isn't?"
"No", Gwendal said, and that one word sent chills down Yuuri's spine.
Not alright? Sara had seemed to be prepared for that, that was true, but Yuuri had wanted to believe that somehow, they would understand…
"Why?" he said. "Is it because you think Sara is bad for me? Is it because he isn't a Mazoku?"
Surely they all must have gotten over that prejudice, Yuuri thought, but Gwendal shook his head impatiently.
"No, first of all it is because he is a king. Just like you. Surely you must see that."
"Your Majesty", Conrad said, perhaps seeing Yuuri's confusion, "it's like Gwendal says. Your life is not your own anymore. It's not like we can decide for you who you are going to be involved with, but you must understand that there are people who are off-limits. You are the king of this country, and that means that your first duty is to Shin Makoku. The thing is, the same is true for King Saralegui. What were you going to do, spend half the year in Small Shimaron and the other half here?"
"I am so sorry, Your Majesty, that we have to cause you pain!" Günter spoke for the first time, and Yuuri could tell just by looking at him that Günter truly felt bad for him and perhaps wished that Gwendal and Conrad didn't have to talk like that. "But to abandon your country for another for any lengthy period of time, that is not the proper way to rule a kingdom. I am so sorry!"
Yuuri suddenly felt very weak, nauseous even. Why hadn't he thought of that? What were they going to do to make it work? Had Sara thought about it? Surely there must be a way…
"Not to mention all the other problems", Gwendal continued. "Even if he hadn't been the ruler of his country, many people here would find it hard to accept even a noble from another country as their king's consort… And then there's the fact that you are already engaged."
That, at least, was something Yuuri could respond to. The nervous uneasiness turned to anger.
"I wanted to break up with Wolfram before I went to see Sara", he said. "If breaking up is the right word for it; you know what our 'engagement' has been like. But he left before I had a chance. I would be talking to him now if Yozak hadn't dragged me in here!"
"Dragged you in here?" Gwendal's voice was calm, but cold, and it washed away Yuuri's anger as quickly as it had come.
"I'm sorry", he said, and truly, he was. "I didn't mean it like that. I do take this seriously and I understand that this is important. I understand that you're just… just…"
"Just trying to help you do your job right", Gwendal filled in, and sounded a little bit kinder.
"We don't want to make the rules for your love life", Condrad said, "and I wish this didn't have to happen, but there are certain rules for kings. I am so sorry."
The kindness in Conrad's voice made Yuuri want to cry. He had been so happy. Had he even known what happiness was like before? He had gotten two weeks and a day with Sara before Yozak came and… dragged him away; he had to think about it like that, because that was what it felt like. Like he had been dragged against his will, as if he didn't even have his own will anymore, as if his happiness was irrelevant…
No, he realized. /iIt is not irrelevant. It is a choice. I have already made the choice once; I agreed to make Shin Makoku my home and do my best as its ruler. It was a promise, and I intend to keep it, no matter what. If that means that Sara and I can't be together…/i
No, he wasn't ready to dwell on that thought and see what it meant. If he did that, he would cry.
"I understand", he said and tried to sound strong. "But I'm still going to talk to Wolfram as soon as I can. Maybe, if we are finished here, I can go and find him right away?"
No more postponing things, he decided, but no one had time to answer him. The door flung open without any warning and Greta came running.
"Yuuri, Gwendal, everyone! The baby is coming! The baby is finally coming!"
Such news made even Gwendal forget what he had been talking about, and all of them hurried through the castle to Chérie's rooms.
They didn't get to see her or the baby, though. There was a guard outside the door, and he refused, no matter how Yuuri tried to order him, to disobey Lady Anissina's order and let them in.
Lady Anissina herself soon came out to scold them.
"What is this terrible noise out here? Don't you stupid men realize that a woman need peace and quiet when she is giving birth?!"
Anissina was always terrifying when she was angry, but even so, Yuuri dared try to defend himself.
"I'm so sorry; we didn't mean to bother her! It's just that when Greta said that the baby is coming…"
"You idiots", Anissina snapped. "When Greta said the baby is coming, she meant that it is on its way, not that it is already here. The water broke ten minutes ago, and Gisela can't say how long it's going to take. There's no point of hanging around out here, so please leave! And take Greta with you; she's too young to be useful here."
Nobody wanted to argue, not even Greta, even if she pouted a little. Yuuri took the opportunity to escape from the older men and their terrible but probably not unfair lesson.