Hello, everyone! It has been a looong time since I've added chapters to this story, so I hope you're still following it and reading it because I have so many ideas! And speaking of how much time has passed since I've written here (I actually think it's been almost a year, but I don't know), I believe my writing has long since improved. For all of you who have been reading my stories for a long time (which is not many of you), you guys know how utterly terrible my writing used to be. So I think I've really improved, but I want to see what you think! So, without further ado, on with the story! This ship has sailed once again!

Elaine's Room, 3rd Person POV

Alex sat awake in Elaine's room, stroking the sleeping princess' hair. He grinned, watching her shift and attempt to get away from his touch. "Oh, Elaine," He sighed, almost disappointed, "You should know by know that there is no escape. You can't get away from me." He chuckled softly at this, still running his fingers through her fine, chocolate-colored hair. "…But you can try." He said after a while, his eyes glowing a bright scarlet red in the pitch black darkness of the room. "You can certainly try."

Hallway, 3rd Person POV

Flandre backed away from the door, Alex's disturbing, yet soothing mutters still ringing in her mind. She couldn't wait any longer, she had to tell Remilia. Even if it ruined her relationship with Elaine, even if Remilia didn't believe her, she had to say something. She knew if she didn't, she was putting Elaine in danger, and signing the death warrants of many innocent people. Then, something flashed in Flandre's mind. What if, if she told Remilia, she was putting her at risk? What if Remilia were to die, all because she was trying to protect Elaine?

"I…I can't." She whispered aloud to herself. "I can't tell anyone, can I?" she clenched her fists, Alex's words still repeating in her head as she made her way back to Remilia's room. She heard it again, Alex's voice.

"Don't hide from me, Elaine…" He was still taunting Elaine as if she were nothing to him, But at the same time treating her like his new obsession.

"And that's not too far from the truth." Flandre thought. The longer Alex was with Elaine, the more clear it became that he was obsessed with her. Hell, it had only been a few weeks since Remilia's coronation, and the dance those two shared, and you could already see it in his eyes. You could see it in the way he spoke, in the way he moved, and in the way he answered the authority's questions. Alex was head over heels in love with Elaine, there was no doubt about it. Even worse, Alex was set on getting his way. Flandre only now realized how defensive he was over Elaine. If she got in his way now, she might as well kiss Remilia and Elaine goodbye. Her walking sped up to running. She was afraid now, afraid of Alex. The minute she was next to Remilia in bed, she started crying.

"Mmm…Flandre? What's wrong?" Remilia's eyes fluttered open at the sound of the younger vampire's sobs. Upon getting no response, she decided it was best not to pressure poor Flandre into anything, so she simply held the girl until she fell asleep.

Elaine's Room, Elaine's POV

I sat on the edge of my bed, watching Alex stress and worry about things as he got ready. I will admit that there was a part of me that was silently fangirling over that toned body of his, but I definitely kept that to myself. "You just slept with that, Elaine." I thought to myself. This thought made me blush, A lot. I could feel my ears heating up.

"Hey, you alright?" I looked up to see Alex, his eyes locked onto mine.

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine…" I managed to mumble in response. He felt my forehead and cheeks with the back of his hand.

"Mmm…no fever, but your face is pretty red…" He whispered softly, resting his forehead on mine. "You're sure you're alright?" I saw the concern in his eyes as he said this.

"Yes, Alex, I'm okay." I smiled, wrapping my arms around his shoulders. He leaned in closer, making me think for a second that he was going to kiss me.

Our lips were only centimeters apart when he stopped and gently murmured, "You let me know if you feel sick or anything, okay?" His eyelashes mingled with mine for a short moment as I blinked and nodded. For the first time in what felt like centuries, Alex smiled. His smile filled me with a sense of warmth and comfort I couldn't explain, and it made a smile of my own spread across my face.

"I should really head back to check on my people," Alex muttered, looking at the door that led to the hallway. "Will you walk with me?" He said, his attention returning to me.

I thought it over, thinking about what I would do if the guards caught us together again. Finally, I shook my head. "I'm sorry, Alex, as much as I'd like to, I just can't. What if the guards catch us together again, what then?" I saw his gaze drop a bit and immediately felt my chest tighten. "I can help you get out of my room undetected, but I just can't risk being seen with you again." Alex sighed and looked out the window, the first light of the morning was peeking over the horizon.

"If that's the case, I'll just leave out the window." He muttered, seeming to be almost upset at my response. We embraced one last time, then he stood up and walked over to the window. He opened it slowly, allowing a cool gust of air to slip in and send icy shutters down my spine. Taking one more glance at me, he stepped out the window. At the last minute, I jumped up and tried to grab his cape to get his attention, but he vanished into thin air before I could even touch it. I doubt he even noticed I was there. Once he left, I slowly closed the window and sighed, asking myself if I really wanted to keep doing this.

Soulia Kingdom Clinic, 3rd Person POV

"I will be taking my leave now," said Remilia as she turned to Alex. "You will instruct your people from here, good day." And with no further words, the aqua-haired girl left the room.

"I know a lot of you are sick and injured from the effects of the recent fire that engulfed our city," Alex began, his eyes scanning all the dirty, disheveled people. "Some of you are even bedridden." He bit his lip, wondering if he was doing a good job with this. "And I know how it feels to be restricted to a bed, I've been there." His voice nearly gave out, and he honestly felt stupid for saying this to a bunch of ratty men and women he knew wouldn't listen. "No," he thought, "I promised I'd make this place more suitable and efficient for people to live in, and I will. I will not be like my father, things are going to change for the better, not for worst." He sighed, and wondered why he was even trying. He looked at all of them, and to his surprise, most of them were looking back at him with trusting eyes. He cleared his throat. "…But we're going home now." He said simply, "And I will do what I can to make sure everything gets restored." He finished, wondering if he should say more, but at the same time wondering where this sudden wave of kindness came from. Even Mahad was looking at him strangely. He gave the sorcerer a half shrug, frowning slightly. There were many cheers and shouts of appreciation and thanks, but it all died down as quickly as it started. Everyone was tired and hungry.

"Mommy look!" The young boy's voice shattered the silence. He had strawberry blonde hair, and was only about three feet tall. Freckles covered his cheeks and arms. He pointed a pudgy finger at something past Alex. Instantly, everyone's attention was turned to the victim of his publicizing. "That girl...who is she?"

Murmurs arose from the people as Alex turned around. There, standing only a few feet away, was Elaine. She looked almost like a deer in headlights. Her body was tense, like she wanted nothing more than to run away. But Alex took advantage of her shyness, and used his unbreakable gaze to make her stay. He held out his hand, which she hesitantly took, and with no regrets, he guided her closer to his people and held up her arm. "This is the beautiful young woman who saved our lives!" He pulled the small princess in front of him to draw more attention to her. "She deserves far more thanks than I do."

"Alex, please…" Elaine whispered, her voice shaking. She felt like crying. Anyone who truly knew Elaine knew how fragile she was, and how much she hated being publicized. That was why she had no desire to be queen. She was too sensitive, and the emotional turmoil would have her in tears before any social conflict started between the people of her kingdom. She looked at all the people with frightened eyes. Seeing as they were all staring at her, even though gratefulness was the only thing you could read out of their expressions, Elaine yanked her hand back and turned away. "Alex, I can't…" She whispered, although it was barely audible over the hushed talking of the people. She tried her best to blink back tears, but you could still tell she could barely take much more.

"Yes, you can," Alex whispered, taking her hand once more. "You're going to be alright."

Elaine looked away from him. "Alex, seriously…all these people, I just can't…" She rubbed her eyes and hid her face, trying to hide her tears. A few stray ones fell down her cheeks anyway.

"Elaine," Alex murmured softly, wiping her tears with his thumb, "I can assure you that these people wouldn't hurt you."

"And what if they do?!" Elaine sobbed, wanting nothing more than to run. "Because of me they've been stuck here for the night! Because of me they had to leave loved ones behind to die as they were dragged away! Alex, they have every reason to hurt me!" At this point, she dropped to her knees, covering her face as she cried.

Alex knelt next to her and pulled her hands away from her face. "That is true," he whispered, "You are the reason they're here." He was going to say more, but Elaine interrupted.

"See?! Even you agree with me! They're going to hurt me! They're going to-"

"Elaine!" Alex cut her off. By now, a lot of people were staring, some with pity, some with anger, at Elaine's meltdown. Slowly, Elaine's accusations were upsetting them. But then again, how could she know, most reasoned. They've never seen her, and she's never seen them.

"Do you not see the reason why my people are rejoicing when they see you?" He continued, looking her in the eye. "You saved them, Elaine." He said solemnly, "Without you, most of them would probably be dead. And Elaine," he lowered his voice further, making sure she was the only one who could hear him, "There were no fatalities. Everyone was recorded alive."

Elaine looked up from the ground. "Really?" She whispered, her voice shaking.

Alex nodded. "Yes," he said, pulling her up to her feet, "And it's all because of you."

Elaine nodded, but was still shaking from her recent panic attack.

Young Boy, 3rd Person POV

He saw his king talking to that girl, his savior girl, as he started calling her. The king and the savior girl…as young as he was, he thought they looked good together. But he pushed this thought away, for his young mind didn't know the difference between love and generosity just yet. Gripping the black rose in his hand, he made a heroic march up to the girl. Or at least, what he thought was heroic. Once up close, he saw batter details of the girl, and found her to be quite beautiful. Her skin was darker, like King Alex's. She had long, chocolate-colored hair that went down to her waist. She had eyes that were just the perfect shade of gold. Her tiara, made of silver and sapphire, clung to her forehead in a way that much reminded him of Princess Zelda of Hyrule. And her dress, that had to be the most stunning thing of all, was blue, like the color of the sky, and of all the world's oceans and lakes combined into one. It was made out of a very soft silk, he realized as he reached out to touch it. He could feel everyone's eyes on him. Silver dragons and sequins lined the bottom of the dress as it touched the floor ever so briefly. When his gaze returned up to the girl's face, he saw she was looking right back at him, and he realized there were tear stains on her cheeks. He thought that the young princess must be sad, so he gave her a bright, nearly toothless grin. He felt his gums almost touching as he did. Her trembling hand reached down to give him a pat on the head, and it was then when he decided to present the gift to her. He showed her the wilted black rose. "Fank you very mush, mith." He said, his lack of teeth making it hard for him to pronounce words correctly. The girl's delicate fingers curled around the rose as she took it from him. The small boy noticed how fragile she looked, like she'd break if she got caught in the slightest breeze of wind.

"Thank you…" she whispered as she held the rose close. The slightest bit of a smile formed at the edges of her lips. She knelt next to the boy, who felt a rush of energy flow through him. "What is your name?" She spoke softly, trying not to frighten him.

"Mathon." The boy murmured, looking down. "I wanted to thay thank you again, Mith. You thaved our lives."

Her gentle smile spread happiness through the young child's body. "Well, Mason," She said, "My name is Elaine. And to be honest, you and your fellow citizens are much better people than I expected." The boy beamed as she said this, knowing his kingdom's reputation had just improved, even if it was a small fraction of an improvement. And with these thoughts in his little mind, he ran back to his mother and waited to start the journey home.

After the People Left, Elaine's POV

As I walked up the stairs after the people of the Kingdom of Death took their leave, I felt relieved in some way. That boy, Mason, was really nice to me, and Alex helped me through my anxiety attack. And as they all left, a few young girls waved at me, calling, "Miss Elaine! You should visit us sometime!" It warmed my heart knowing they appreciated my presence. I inhaled deeply as I walked out onto the balcony. The day was reaching its end now, we had burned most of the available daylight helping the people prepare to leave. Their kind words of thanks and acknowledgement continued to cheer me up throughout the day. Now, as I looked out to the west, I saw it. The little tiny specs of people nearing the scorched territory. "I really hope they fix up the place…" I mumbled.

"Hey, Elaine," Flandre's voice came from behind me.

"Yes Flan?" I asked, smiling.

"Can I talk to you for a second?"