On the table in Gwendal's office lay displayed objects containing milky crystals. Most of them were the size of a fingernail, and black lines crossed them from time to time. It wasn't entirely clear how they worked, but no one wanted to touch them anyway.
Wolfram put on leather riding gloves and looked at a simple brooch passed to them by one of the maids. The white crystal was the same as the one on the hilt of Eckbert's dagger, but it didn't seem to affect the girl in the same way as it did his subordinate. Well, she only had it for two weeks.
After listening to the report on the events at the lake, Gwendal decided to check if there were more people in the castle with things with strange crystals.
It turned out that there were many more of them than one might think.
"This one came from an antique stall. Unfortunately, the seller was unable to say where he got it." Gunter said, reading reports from Gwendal's desk. After so many items turned up, they began to determine their origins, unfortunately, different in almost every case. "However, the earrings brought to us yesterday came from a reputable jewelry store. The owner provided us with a list of suppliers and people who had already bought the crystals. They are being checked right now."
Gwendal lifted his gaze from documents and looked at Gunter, wrinkling his brow.
"How many were there?"
"Well..." Gunter flipped through the papers and stared at the report for a moment. "In addition to the ones we got earlier, five more were sold. And there were still ten pieces of jewelry in the store. And the same number of still unused crystals."
Gunter read reports to Gwendal, who was investigating the strange crystals, in addition to his duties, including Yuuri's work. Wolfram tried to take some of this work and do it himself from time to time while checking on the progress of the investigation.
"Do you have crystals alone?" his brother asked, glancing at the table. Indeed, Great Sage was currently looking at them.
"It doesn't do us much good anyway," replied the boy with black hair and eyes, just like Yuuri. However, Wolfram was much less fond of him. He associated him with those strange creatures guarding the entrances to treasure rooms and asking riddles.
"I have already searched the entire library. However, I have found nothing about these crystals." Gunter sighed, putting the reports back on Gwendal's desk for approval.
"I've never seen anything like that myself, so I doubt there's any information on it. But they have much older books in the shrine of the Elements, so we can ask their priest about it."
"Lord Adelhard should be arriving soon."
For some reason, Wolfram was annoyed by this, and his brow twitched slightly. He was sure that he knew the collections of the shrine library much better than his father. However, he didn't recall there being any mention of these crystals, so he didn't speak up on the subject. If they want it, let his father tell them about it.
He put the brooch down on the tabletop and crossed his arms over his chest as Gunter stared at him expectantly.
"I haven't heard from him yet."
Gunter sighed again. Even more dramatically. He acted more normal when Yuuri wasn't around, but he was still not normal enough. Like an actor in a theater. At least he had stopped reproaching him for dating Yuuri, and, spare the occasional strange glances thrown in their direction, he didn't interfere in their relationship. It was good to know that he finally understood this when a lot of people had trouble grasping the notion that they were seriously dating.
This morning he had to write another response to a proposal sent by someone whose name he could not match to any face he knew. He didn't know what the man expected and coupled with his unpleasant mood in recent days, Wolfram's reply was not very nice by noble standards. With an extra "un" in the polite formula and a request to not write to him again in goodbye. All very subtle.
He had a right to be in a bad mood. His subordinate is accused of treason, and since there is still no evidence that he did not act of his own free will, he should be treated like a traitor after death as well. Buried in a nameless grave in a deserted cemetery. Fortunately, there are no laws saying when he should be buried, so for the time being, Wolfram sent his body back to Bielefeld, intending to wait until the situation was clarified. Eckbert had no living family left, so Wolfram would have to take care of the ceremony anyway. Fortunately, he had trusted people in his territory who would take care of the body until then.
Thankfully, despite Gwendal's handling the case of the crystals, all matters related to Eckbert his older brother left to him, and he didn't interfere or even comment on anything, for which Wolfram was grateful.
The investigation into the strange crystals, however, did not seem to be going anywhere, even though it had been almost a week. They had heard that crystals somehow affect people and change their behavior, but for now, they only had rumors and nothing concrete to go on.
Wolfram took off his gloves and took the brooch back into his hand. Since they were going nowhere, he might as well test it out himself.
"Wolfram," Gwendal hissed warningly.
"I will only test it. Don't worry. I'm unlikely to start killing everyone right away." He cringed at his own statement and touched the white crystal with his thumb, watching as a thin band of black ran through it.
He didn't feel any different in any way. He furrowed his eyebrows and closed his eyes, trying to focus as if in meditation when he was learning to control his own maryoku. Only then he felt something, but couldn't define it. It was like a gentle tug on his mind. Hardly perceptible, and he had to concentrate on noticing it, but something was affecting him.
He heard a chair being pushed back and footsteps moving toward him. Someone put a hand on the back of his chair, and Wolfram opened his eyes to look at a concerned Gwendal.
Truly, sometimes his brother irritated him so much. He treated him like a little child who couldn't do anything alone. He finally had to do something about it.
Wolfram put the brooch back on the table a little too hastily. This was strange. It was definitely not his thoughts that appeared in his head, but Wolfram wondered if he would have recognized them if he didn't know what to expect. Maybe if they had been more subtle. Still, these sudden odd thoughts reminded him of something, but he was now unable to associate with what.
"What happened?"
Wolfram looked at Gwendal and handed him the brooch.
"Maybe it's best if you check for yourself."
His brother didn't look entirely convinced but took the object from him and put his finger on the crystal. He closed his eyes, a few extra wrinkles appearing on his forehead as he focused.
Gunter approached them, clearly starting to get impatient. He looked at Gwendal, then at Wolfram, then at Great Sage, who put his elbow on the table and rested his chin on it, watching them curiously.
"And?"
Gwendal opened his eyes, and from his expression when he looked at Gunter, it could be guessed that the crystal had worked similarly on him. He put the brooch back on the table and cleared his throat.
"Yes. It seems to really affect thoughts to some extent."
"If Eckbert heard something like this all the time, it's no wonder he finally snapped."
"If it's just voices in his head, then he can be considered crazy at best."
"He had this dagger for six months. We don't know what its effects were after such a long time. Do you feel like testing it?"
Gwendal glared at him and Wolfram held his gaze.
"Well, various people's minds work differently," Great Sage interjected. "Maybe people like you only hear voices, however, it can affect someone else much more strongly. Just like with crooked rituals."
Wolfram didn't expect support from him, but he wasn't going to look at him with gratitude.
"We can do a more in-depth interview among people who have possessed these items for a long time," Gunter suggested.
Gwendal waved his hand dismissively and returned to his desk. "Do what you think."
With a falling silence, not counting the scraping of the pen and the busyness of Gunter, who left the room after a moment, Wolfram decided that this was the end of the conversation.
Great Sage returned to looking at the unframed crystals, already without gloves on his hands. One of them lay more to the side, almost within Wolfram's reach. He grabbed it and quickly slipped it into his pocket as he got up from his chair, then walked to the door.
He took one last look around the room, but none of the other two of its occupants even raised their eyes at him, so he quickly left without saying a word.
His men, previously standing at the door, immediately followed him. Wolfram walked without stopping, heading for his own office. It wasn't large, and he used it infrequently, usually using Yuuri's office, but he kept all the paperwork concerning his unit there. And since almost no one was looking for him there, the place should be good for further experiments.
He passed one of the windows overlooking the courtyard. It was on the upper floor, so he could look down at it. Yuuri and Conrad were just playing baseball, or at least the version of it where you threw the ball back and forth. Wolfram had always associated it with fetching. The whole idea of the sport didn't quite appeal to him, but if Yuuri enjoyed it and it allowed him to divert his thoughts from unpleasant things, let him play to his heart's content. Just do not drag Wolfram into it.
He leaned against the window frame, watching the two below and turning the stones on his bracelet in his fingers. A smile surfaced on his face as Yuuri laughed nervously. Conrad must have said something strange again.
"Here you are."
He shuddered and turned around, looking at Arwin.
"On Elements, don't come at me like that." He sighed and leaned back against the frame. His friend smiled, amused. "Where have you been?"
"You got the mail." Arwin held out to him an envelope with the symbol of five circles overlapped, one in the middle and four around it - the symbol of the Elements religion.
"From father," Wolfram guessed and took the letter from him.
He broke the seal and took a single sheet of paper. The short letter contained only information about his father's arrival in three days and a reminder that soldiers who had touched the tainted bowls were also to go with them.
Wolfram had forgotten about them. None of them were his subordinates, so he wasn't that interested. However, it would be better to pass this information on to Gwendal in case if he had forgotten. It was hard to get his brother to cooperate if any religious issues were involved.
He put the letter in his pocket and looked out the window when he saw something out of the corner of his eye. As soon as he looked down, Yuuri smiled at him and waved. Conrad must not have known what he was about to do because a ball flew right past Yuuri's head right after.
Yuuri quickly ran for it and, after picking it up, looked toward Wolfram once more, rubbing the back of his head nervously.
He waved back with his hand while moving his lips, mouthing a soundless wimp. Then Yuuri flinched and looked to the other side of the courtyard. He rolled his eyes as if he had heard something annoying and turned to Conrad, tossing him the ball. Every now and then, he glanced nervously at Wolfram.
He looked toward the person who had distracted Yuuri and spotted a woman standing in the cloister, partially hidden from where Wolfram was, but he still guessed who she was.
"I didn't know she was still here," he muttered, looking at Rosalinde's figure, pleased that Yuuri had reacted to her in such a way and that he was now trying to ignore her.
"She's stubborn," stated Arwin.
"So much so that even Yuuri feels annoyed. And this is already an art."
"And you are an expert in this art." Arwin smiled and stepped aside as Wolfram stared at him.
"Since when are you so chatty? Suddenly feel like talking back?"
"Sorry. I guess it's just the atmosphere." He didn't look like he was sorry at all. Quite the contrary.
And what was this atmosphere he talked about?
"We'll continue this during training later." Wolfram moved away from the window, walking in the direction from which he had come. "For now, let's give Gwendal the information."
"What do you mean by continuing it during training?" Arwin walked beside him, looking at him with a raised eyebrow.
"You should have guessed what the consequences would be, speaking to me like that."
He smiled with satisfaction, seeing the two soldiers behind them look at Arwin with sympathy.
"Fortunately, we don't have training on the schedule today."
"I'm sure we'll find some time today for additional training."
"You'll tire your people out."
"They can thank you for that."
Arwin rolled his eyes and sighed.
Wolfram quickly came to the conclusion that it was all the fault of his father's visit. First, Yuuri started talking like this, and now Arwin started trying. He had to react quickly, or it would spread like wildfire, and the rest of his men would start talking to him like that too.
He hesitated before entering Gwendal's office, reminding himself of the crystal he had taken. Let's hope no one had noticed it yet. He was still going to inspect it himself.
He knocked on the door, peeked inside, and passed on the information swiftly, without even entering the room completely. When Gwendal nodded in acknowledgment, Wolfram backed away quickly and closed the door, just in case to not give anyone a chance to say anything.
He turned around again, taking a quick step in the direction he was heading in earlier. As he walked past the courtyard, he noticed that Yuuri and Conrad were no longer there. Maybe Gunter had finally come to take Yuuri away.
He turned toward the stairs to the lower floor, where his office was located, and tilted his head slightly as he heard the familiar voices below.
"I think I got out of shape," Yuuri said, throwing the ball back to Conrad. "I had a break for too long."
His godfather caught the ball with ease and smiled at him. "I didn't notice anything like that." He swung and threw it to him.
Yuuri took a step back and received the ball. Before throwing it again, he did a little spin with his throwing hand. "No, there's definitely something wrong."
That's what happens when you skip training. But he couldn't help it; he didn't have time for that lately. Still, he wanted to attend his team's match on Earth, so he had to prepare as much as possible. When was that exactly? He had to return sometime this month. He'll look at the calendar later to make sure of a specific date. But mentioning teams.
"How is my team doing? Are they continuing to play?"
"They are practicing in their free time. I think they are making pretty good progress."
"But I think it's hard to tell when there's no comparison. I was thinking of doing some kind of competition or something like that. Maybe a Shin Makoku league?"
"It might be hard, given that we still only have one team. But for that, we have the confidence that it's the best in the country."
"Right." Yuuri laughed awkwardly.
They exchanged a few tosses between them in silence.
"Why aren't there actually any other squads yet?"
"Probably no one wants to compete with the king."
"But isn't that exactly the point?"
Conrad merely smiled at him, and Yuuri mused for a moment.
"I could create more teams myself, right?"
"With the number of people willing, it would probably be possible to form several."
"But I don't know if it will be so exciting if they are all mine. If at least the other territories had their own teams, a national competition could be held. I can make such a law, right? That each territory should have its own team?"
"Of course."
"But that might be a little unfair, given my team's experience. Maybe they won't participate for a while, and I'll send their members to other teams to train them."
"That might be a good idea. And if you set a high enough reward for winning, maybe the other lords won't be so angry with you."
"I can already imagine Waltorana's reaction to that." Yuuri laughed nervously.
"If you offer to give him Wolfram for a while if he wins, he might agree. Waltorana likes competition, so he'll probably take it seriously."
He probably should be happy about that, right? A real competition. But giving Wolfram as a prize didn't sound right to him. Someone might have strange ideas.
"Gwendal will also have to have his own team then."
"I would be most afraid of the one from Karbelnikoff," Conrad said.
"Right. Who knows what Anissina will decide to equip them with? It might as well be an advantage for them or for the rest."
He could already imagine it. They might have to build more solid stadiums in case of any explosions.
Something flashed in the upstairs window, and Yuuri looked in that direction. Wolfram was leaning against the windowsill, talking to someone, facing away from him.
He raised his hand, hoping to get his attention. And he did. Wolfram turned and smiled at him when Yuuri waved. At the same moment, the ball flew past his head.
"Are you okay?" asked Conrad, smiling apologetically and looking into the same window.
"I'm fine." Yuuri ran over to the ball and picked it up, then returned his gaze to Wolfram, subconsciously rubbing the back of his head with his hand. From the movement of his lips alone, he could guess what his boyfriend was calling him. Yet, Wolfram continued to smile at him and even waved back.
"You should be more careful, Yuuri," a female voice spoke up, full of concern.
Yuuri looked in its direction and saw Rosalinde standing in the shadows at the courtyard's edge. How long had she been standing there? And since when had she started calling him by his first name? Usually, he had no problem with this, even asking everyone to do so, but in this case, it somehow irritated him.
"Why don't you take a break? I have tea and cookies prepared."
He rolled his eyes and ignored her, returning to his earlier spot and tossing the ball to Conrad. Maybe it would finally get through to her that he wasn't interested.
He glanced in Wolfram's direction occasionally, but fortunately, the boy was not particularly concerned about the girl's presence. Eventually, he turned away from the window again and then walked away completely.
They continued to exchange throws, but feeling Rosalinde's gaze on him, he felt increasingly anxious. Finally, when the ball returned to him, he lowered his hands with no intention of throwing it again.
"Maybe that's enough for today?" He walked over to Conrad, pulling off his glove. "I just remembered that I have something to do."
Conrad took the glove from Yuuri, pulling off his own, and followed him, putting them aside before they entered the castle. They used the exit on the opposite side from where Rosalinde was standing.
"Do you think I can send her away or something?" he asked when the door closed behind them, and they started walking down the corridor.
"You're the king. You can do anything you want."
"Yes, but I don't want it to leave any distaste."
"Rosalinde has been in the castle much longer than it would be appropriate. I think if it starts to be suggested to her, she will eventually leave."
"I'll ask Gunter to do it, then." Yuuri sighed. Dealing with nobles in the noble's way could be exhausting.
They passed the stairs to the upper floor, and Yuuri looked up, smiling broadly when he saw Wolfram at the top of them.