AN: In regards to those requesting for follow up chapters like with Ch1: Be my Queen The ending is left open ended but it is definitely implied that Asta likes her back I might write some cute scenarios of this—who knows XD.
Ch3: Hanahaki Curse, well if I wrote an alternate ending it would be that Noelle dies. My heart would break if she did especially if it was because Asta didn't love her back T-T. Also he wouldn't be able to uphold his promise and fall into a depression. But this definitely makes for a good tragedy fic (which I like reading but writing not so much).
As for possible longer separate fics, I actually have some pending but I haven't sorted them out yet. Longer fics require more planning and I'm not the best at that. For now Imma just tease you with the titles.
Betrothed (an AU with the plot as implied by the title)
A Valkyries Duty (Norse inspired but I'm not knowledgeable of the myths yet)
Must've been the Wind (Modern Neighbors AU inspired by Alec Benjamin's song with that same title—you should listen to it)
Angels vs Devils AU (kind of Seven Deadly sins inspired but I might make this a oneshot instead)
I'd like some input which one you think is most interesting. Hopefully I finish all of these, so long as you guys keep supporting me I will definitely stay motivated :3.
Moving on, this is kind of a Role Reversal AU. This is an OOC (out of character) warning for Noelle, I would never see her do any of this but the idea was too hilarious to pass up.
Asta had a reputation to never give up that's how he was with everything; including his proposals to Sister Lily. If you told him that he'd have someone as dedicated towards him he would never believe you. And if you said Noelle of all people would be that person he'd call you crazy! Yet here we are, fate was funny like that.
"I won't give up!" He hears Noelle say.
She confessed to him out of the blue and Asta didn't know how to respond. The boy wasn't sure about his feelings for her but his commitment to Sister Lily was driving him to say no. Thus, he told her he liked someone else. Seeing her crestfallen expression made him want to take it back but she was determined.
"I will prove that I am worthy of your love!" She declares.
He knew how frustrating it was to be rejected without a second thought. So he he doesn't stop her but he was sure that his mind was made up. However he fails to realize that he may have told her no but that didn't mean he didn't like her. Rather he was simply unaware of where his feelings stood but Noelle was sure to make this clear to him.
Thankfully unlike Asta, she was more reserved in professing her affections. She didn't proclaim her love and propose to him everyday. The girl was a lot more subtle with her advances: complimenting him, teasing him, bickering with him but whenever she felt particularly bold she resorted to flirting. Those were incredibly rare to witnesses which is why it always caught him off guard.
"Hey Dorksta try this." She orders. The water mage was recently trying to improve her cooking skills by training with Charmy. Trying her food every now and again was his way to show his support. Unfortunately, this meant that he would eat burnt unrecognizable food on his plate.
It is a pleasant surprise to finally see something not charred.The dish she currently presented to him had his favorite thing ever—tatoes! He wastes no time to grab a spoon and start digging in. Just as he hoped the starchy food brought him nostalgia yet it's smoother texture and cheesy flavor had him astounded.
"Whoah! I don't even know what this is but you're really good!" He reacts, genuinely impressed with her improvement.
"Enough to make me your wife?" He almost chokes. The silver haired girl simply laughs while handing him a glass of water that he immediately gulps down
"I'm kidding geez! Anyways, I solved the biggest flaw of your favorite dish since it was so dry, I used cream and milk to add moisture. I also added prosciutto and parmesian because it lacked flavor." She explains definitely proud of her accomplishment.
"You made tatoes fancy?!" Asta couldn't believe her progress, it seemed only yesterday she had trouble making a sandwhich.
"Hmph I'm royalty! So of course my future husband deserves nothing less." She tells him with a smirk on her lips as she flips a pony tail.
I thought you were only kidding. He thinks and he assures himself that his rapidly beating heart was due to surprise rather than her suggestive words.
Ever since she admitted how she felt, Noelle was a lot more open with expressing her emotions. The most noticeable being how often she smiled nowadays. There were even moments when he could hear her gush to herself, whether it be about people acknowledging her, the cuteness of his devil Liebe or even himself. Although it was odd at first, he was happy for her.
Her smile that used to be a rare occurrence now appeared as often as his. It was so rewarding to see her gentle smile that he even found himself looking forward to seeing her everyday. Not that it meant that he liked her, he was still devoted to Sister Lily!
He remembers how she usually hid her true self behind her false attitude. At the time it never bothered him since he understood why. Still, there were times when her actions confused him. Especially with her habit of randomly attacking him—be it physically or magically (side note he can confirm that she is strong on both fronts). However with her declaration to win him over, the habit disappeared completely.
Noelle also regularly expressed her worry whenever he ran off headfirst into battle. Regardless of her concerns, she never attempted to stop him and instead did her best to catch up. Of course, if Asta and Noelle were fighting together nobody stood a chance. She also made sure to treat his injuries in the aftermath.
"Here you go~" She cooes as she hands a mana recovery cookie to the little demon on his shoulder. Liebe only rolls his eyes, but accepts it anyways. The water mage turns to Asta and her face changes instantly
"I told you to wait for me!" He winces while she dabs disinfectant on the fresh wounds—too forcefully in his opinion.
"But I can't afford to slow down when the people need help; it's our duty as magic knights." He reasons.
"I know, it's why I don't stop you. Although you can handle most threats on your own that doesn't mean I get any less worried." She explains as she double checks if his bandages were tight enough. Once satisfied, she gives him another glance over in case there were other injuries.
Her eyes goes to the misaligned bandana on his head and she assumes it was messed up during their mission. She reaches to fix it for him, unaware of the little space that was left between them. Though the same could not be said about Asta as he unconsciously stops breathing at seeing her close up. He feels her delicate fingers take hold of the cloth and the unfamiliar pressure on his scalp gives him goosebumps. At this distance he was able to admire her thick and curled eye lashes, her irises that were somehow a shade between pink and purple and her pouty lips that were still talking to him.
"—just promise to be more careful." She finishes adjusting the cloth on his head and steps back. The action was enough to break him away from his trance and he mutters a response.
"Okay." With a satisfied smile she nods and leaves, ignorant of his previous musings.
And the boy is left to desperately remind himself of his commitment to another woman.
Why did Noelle have to be so tempting?
Months pass and he didn't think much of the weird thoughts that Noelle evoked in him. Until he noticed that the water mage had gotten close with his brother. For whatever reason, she would disappear at random times and he'd find her with Yuno of all people engrossed in conversation. He found it odd given how their personalities clashed during the Royal Knights Exam and the frequency that this kept happening was suspicious. Asta would've assumed that she lost her interest in him but she never failed to cheerfully declare her commitment.
Currently the two mages were talking once more a few feet away, leaving him with Mimosa and Klaus. The male in glasses was proudly proclaiming about his progress in physical training. Usually the antimage would be very enthusiastic to participate in conversation but the sight of the two isolating themselves was distracting. The plant mage was quick to follow his gaze.
"You've noticed too huh? She's been showing up at the base to hang out with Yuno as well."
What for!?
He wanted to scream out but he stops himself. After all, he and Noelle weren't dating and that wasn't his business. Noelle could be with whoever she wanted.
"Do you think they might be dating in secret?" The brunette wonders, her cheeks red with embarassment.
"It's possible, they are both royalty." Klaus agrees.
Their suggestions make Asta realize something alarming.
Noelle may be devoted to him but with his constant refusal to accept her, surely that wouldn't last. But shouldn't he be glad at the prospect of her possibly moving on? He couldn't afford to return her feelings so she deserved to be happy with someone else right? Then why did the idea of Noelle and Yuno liking each other bother him so much?
Fortunately it didn't take long for them to finish the mission, what with Asta being unusually aggressive and silent. He pretty much defeated all of the opponents on his own. Once they were back to base he immediately confronts the water mage.
"You and Yuno have been getting along well." She blinks at his words and shrugs.
"You could say that."
"What do you talk about?"
"Nothing that concerns you." She deflects and her response makes him frown. She was always open to him so what was she hiding? But the girl had no intention to let him know anything so she runs away. At that point, Asta could no longer ignore his curiosity (jealousy). He needed answers and hopefully his brother would grant him peace of mind.
Once he reaches the Golden Dawn, the antimage is bombarded by the sight of Yuno amidst piles upon piles of paperwork. He assumes this was probably due to both his duties as the Vice Captain and the Crowned Prince of Spade.
"Asta, what brings you here?" His brother who was in the middle of reorganizing a bunch of documents asks.
"I was just wondering why Noelle kept coming here." Yuno's hands halt and there was a moment of contemplation on his face.
"Anything else? I can't answer that." The ash blonde haired boy could only look at his brother in betrayal.
"She doesn't want you to find out." The wind mage explains not a drop of guilt in his voice.
"What are you two hiding from me?" The shorter boy asks.
Yuno sighs, he swears his brother and Noelle were the bane of his introverted existence lately. Why couldn't they just handle their couple problems by themselves? Must these two idiots always make things harder for themselves? Can't they let him do his paperwork in peace? Regardless, he needed to set things straight if he didn't want to be involved in whatever this issue was.
"Look, she approached me to ask about Sister Lily and what made you fall in love with her." This makes Asta's eye brows furrow in confusion.
"Why didn't she ask me instead?" All of this was starting to make his head spin.
The windmage shrugs from his question.
"I told her the same thing but she wouldn't leave so I answered her. Eventually it encouraged her to ask about our childhood, your likes, dislikes, anything about you really. As you can imagine with both my duties, I can't afford to waste my time on needless conversation so I made her work for me.
It's nice to have a royal assistant, she knows what to do without me having to monitor her. Of course, I still need to check everthing before sending these to Spade."
"So all this time, you've been exploiting her to do work for you?" His brother nods with a smug smile on his usual stoic face.
"Should a future King really be that underhanded?!" Asta scolds and the taller male simply shrugs.
"She wouldn't leave me alone, I had to get revenge somehow." After everything is cleared up, Asta sighs in relief.
"Now that you're here, I actually have a question of my own. How much longer are you going to make Noelle wait for you to get over your silly crush?"
"My devotion to sister Lily isn't just a silly crush Yuno!" His brother only raises a skeptical eyebrow at him.
"Then why are you here acting like Noelle's jealous boyfriend?"
"I was just curious—"
"That excuse is lamer than your insults." The wind mage quips and Asta hears the devil inside his grimoire laugh. Yuno refused to allow this nonsense further evolve, he was going to make his brother get over his density.
"Okay how about this, what do you like about Sister Lily?"
"She's very kind to everyone and really patient with the kids. When we get injured or sick she's always there to help us recover. She also makes good tatoe dishes." Yuno notes how Asta's answer was similar to how other people would describe their mother but he decides to keep that to himself.
"And what do you like about Noelle?"
Asta tells him of her strength, confidence, and kindness. He looks back to everything they had been through. And it strikes him that everything he had said about Sister Lily was the same with Noelle and more.
She was beyond patient with him. Despite her harsh words whenever she scolded him, her hands remained gentle as she wrapped up his injuries. The girl made sure to remind him of her love everyday just by the smile on her face even though he hasn't returned any of her advances. Noelle was even willing to work for his brother in exchange for information.
He'd be lying if he told Yuno that none of her actions elicited profound feelings within him. She made his heart beat so fast it was as if he had run a marathon. Witnessing her smile so openly was enough to make his day. The thought of losing her drove him to finish their last mission solo from jealousy. Sister Lily never evoked any of these unfamiliar feelings.
"I like Noelle." He finally admits.
"Congratulations. Now please leave." Yuno said satisfied that the two idiots will no longer bother him.
Noelle leans against a tree, finally having some time to herself after finishing her deal with Yuno. That cunning jerk, she pouts to herself. Their deal had taken her longer to complete and she knew Asta was suspicious. Thankfully she was able to avoid answering him. If he had found out wouldn't it seem like she was desperate? What normal person would allow themselves to be exploited for the sake of knowing him better? Then again, she had stalked him on more than one occasion so it was debatable if she had already crossed the boundary of 'normal'.
In fact, was it normal for her to continue loving him even though he had no intention of returning her feelings? Wasn't it foolish to keep investing into something that will never happen? Surely she can find someone else that can reciprocate her feelings. Yet the watermage knew that her own feelings were deeply rooted that it would be hard to find it in anyone else.
However this was a time for reading, therefore troublesome thoughts about her love life were no longer allowed. She immerses herself in the literature and hours pass without her noticing. Just as she was about to reach the climax of the book, a flower covers the next words of the page.
Confused, she looks up to see Asta sporting an apologetic expression.
"I'm sorry, I made you wait." He simply says.
The water mage observes the flora caressed in between sheets of paper. After everything Yuno told her, she was aware of the countless marriage proposals Asta attempted. Thus she knew what this gesture meant. And it was the sign Noelle had been waiting for.
I love you too.
She places the book aside, turns to him and leaps into his arms. The boy didn't expect the sudden momentum so they fall on the forest floor. And they both laugh in each other's embrace, glad that they were officially together.