Review Responses:
MagicxMusicxMelody: For a moment, I thought that you meant that my WRITING was bad and I got so scared. (Of course, if you meant that my writing was bad, I agree too, LOL). If you'd like to see how Klaus and Alice are going to handle this scandal, please continue reading~! －O－
pretty-on-point: Honestly, a smoke bomb would have helped in the previous situation, LOL, so you're not wrong. Ah, don't worry about it! I take FOREVER to update, so I understand it completely if you forgot some parts of a previous chapter or whatnot! And I love how I just totally forgot about Julie's feelings in this and am just hyper-focused on our main three. =￣ω￣=
Innocent-Diamond: You could interpret it that way! I always thought that Shun's father left his mother - I'm pretty sure that the anime never mentioned his father's whereabouts - but either way, we stan a feminist!Shun! (o゜▽゜)o
cherry-tree-of-life: Ah, thank you for your input! I'll keep that in mind in the future chapters. And thank you for pointing out that mistake - I was actually aware of it when I was writing the chapter but still kept it in, LOL. I personally view Alice as someone who can take insults but will stand up FAST when somebody insults a person she cares about - this will be seen in this chapter, so please look forward to it! o(*￣▽￣*)ブ
Chapter 10
Alice lost track of time. After coming home after the disaster that was Mr. Barodius' ball, she and Klaus haven't spoken to each other. The same could be said about Shun - she hadn't seen him ever since that catastrophic night. They would spend breakfast time in silence, with the scrapings of utensils and the lifting and setting down of cups being the only noise from either party. Klaus would then leave for work - the fact that he still kept his job was both a mystery and blessing to the redhead - while she would leave for either her room, the library, or the garden. She would come back from to the dining table for lunch and return back from where she had originally spent most of her day. Klaus would come back home from work and the same routine at breakfast would continue. It was a routine at this point and a monotonous one at that. The days bled into weeks and weeks into months until Alice could care less when one day ended and another one began.
She hadn't been out of the manor ever since that night, and she had no intentions to leave. Even without Julie coming by to tell her the recent rumors and gossip, the redhead is fairly certain that her affair would still be the talk of the town. After all, it wasn't everyday where a woman - especially a woman from high status - had an affair behind her husband's back, and people wouldn't take it lightly. Alice should know; Mylene had been glaring at her ever since she found out, and she was sure that the other servants were gossiping about it amongst themselves. The only one who seemed sympathetic was Soon, who still treated the young Mrs. von Hertzon with respect and kindness. Then again, she could also be talking about her scandal behind her back - it was hard to tell who to trust after being stared and talked about for so long.
Alice knows that she should be grateful. After all, she could have had it much worse. Klaus could have hit her, yell vile words at her. Klaus could have turned to alcohol, to the brothels to fight the anger. Klaus could have divorced her, make it so that no man would ever want to marry her, make it so that she would be disgraced from society and her family. Klaus could have done either or all of those things but instead, chose to ignore her existence. She knows that it is a much better alternative, but she can't find it in herself to be grateful.
Because how can she be grateful when she didn't know what became of her lover? What will happen to her future. What will happen to...them.
She knows that it's stupid to think of Shun, of all people, right now, but she can't help it. Her thoughts always came back to him, ever since they met when they were thirteen, separated at sixteen, and even when she was married at eighteen. She's tried before to forget him, but it never worked before and Alice doesn't have the heart to try again this time. Perhaps if she didn't love him as much, it would be an easier feat for her to accomplish. But she loves him so much - so, so much that it would be hell for her not to.
The days came and went, in the same old routine, when one day, after dinner, a knock on her door startled Alice out of her thoughts.
"Come in." She called, not looking up from her book. The redhead figured that it must either be Mylene or Soon or one of the maids, as she had asked Soon if she could wash one of her dresses, seeing as there was a tea stain on the front of it.
"Alice." An all too familiar voice, that definitely did not belong to Mylene or Soon or any of the maids, caught Alice off guard, that the book she was holding dropped to the floor unceremoniously.
"K - Klaus." She stuttered, rising from her chair.
Said man walked into her bedroom rather calmly, as if there was no animosity on his side towards her. "Do you mind if I sit down?" He asked, stopping at the foot of her bed.
The redhead nodded, not trusting her voice enough to speak. Accepting the consent, the silver-haired male sat on her bed as she sank back down into her vanity chair. Silence fell upon the couple, with the only sound that she could hear was the pounding of her heart in her chest. After a long while, Klaus finally spoke.
"Have I been a bad husband, Alice?"
She could hardly believe her ears. "P - Pardon me?"
"Have I been a bad husband, Alice?" He repeated himself, his face void of any emotion.
"N...No." She managed to get out at last. "No, you aren't a bad husband, Klaus." She repeated again with some finality as to prove to Klaus that she wasn't lying to him.
"Are you sure that I am not? You wouldn't have been seeing Mr. Kazami if I wasn't." His emerald green eyes pierced into her soul and Alice swallowed a shaky sigh that threatened to escape from her throat.
"You aren't." She repeated, firmly. "And please leave him out of this - he has nothing to do with this."
"Is that so? 'He has nothing to do with this?' Really?" Klaus's voice hardened, and she silently prayed that nothing would get out of hand.
"He has been through enough, and I won't tolerate anything malicious you say about him." She explained, forcing her tone to sound just as firm as his. And that is true - her husband can call her all sorts of different names as he pleases but she had to draw the line when it came to Shun.
"Of course he has been through enough. Having an affair with another man's wife is, of course, exhausting." Sarcasm seeped into his voice like venom and Alice could feel herself at her wits' end.
"You do not know him, and therefore have no right to talk about him the way you are talking about him right now." She snapped, hardly caring that her anger was taking control of her.
"And you do? You have only met him just a mere few weeks ago - what do you know about him?"
"You are wrong; I have known him for years."
A silver eyebrow was raised in her direction. "How?"
Alice told Klaus of her love story with Shun. How they met, how they fell in love, and...how he left. How she broke her promise to wait for him when Klaus asked for her hand in marriage. How she didn't have any other choice but to accept. How Shun came back for her, only to find her married off.
Her husband was silent throughout her tale. It was only when she was finished did he speak once again.
"You still love him then. Mr. Kaz - no, Shun." His question sounded more like that of a statement.
"I can't imagine the day I won't."
"You've...you've never loved me then."
Alice looked up to meet Klaus's hopeful eyes. She was never one to lead people on, and she certainly won't start right now.
"I'm sorry."
A short, mirthless laugh escaped his lips. "Don't be. It's not your fault. I suppose I'm just not meant to be loved."
"Don't say that." The redhead reprimanded him. "Everybody deserves love. You included, Klaus."
"Then why don't you love me?"
"Some people weren't meant to be together and we are one of them." Alice rose from where she was sitting, making her way towards Klaus. It was not long before stood before him. "But that doesn't mean that you are undeserving of love."
"Then...what did I do wrong?" His voice was scarcely a whisper and for the first time in their marriage, she could feel her heart break for him.
"You are always busy. You are always busy working and when you had some time off, you would always do something related to work." She answered. "Klaus, we hardly ever see each other, nevertheless hold a conversation that lasted as long as it is right now. That's why I never fell in love with you."
"Then...then if we spent more time together, got to know each other more, would you fall in love with me then?" The silver-haired male asked, his eyes sparkling with something akin to yearning.
"I don't...I don't know." The redhead replied truthfully. "My love for Shun isn't just going to wither and fade away that quickly. But," Alice added, seeing his crestfallen face, "that does not mean that we cannot be friends."
The days and weeks and months continue as they do, but this time, it is no longer as monotonous as it was before. Alice's routine is still very much the same - breakfast, the library or the garden or her room, lunch, dinner, and repeat - but this time, the atmosphere isn't as tense as it was before. Instead, she and Klaus were on speaking terms, speaking much more than they ever had during their entire time being married. From their childhood to their interests and dislikes, everything was being laid out. And Alice discovered that there was much more to Klaus than she originally knew.
Like how she never knew that Klaus' dream was to make a foundation for those who were not as fortunate as him. How his favorite place in the entire world is the beach, or anywhere close to the water. How when he was younger, he always wanted to find the little mermaid in the fairy tale. How he also had a passion for science besides business. And the more that she got to know him, the more she grew to like him.
But not love. Not in the romantic sense, not in the way that he wants her to love him. Alice had told him so when he asked her if she had grown to love him. He had came into her room and sat at the foot of her bed, just like he did all those nights ago the first time. Only this time, there was no tension between the two. She only saw him as a friend, a really good friend, she had added, but nothing more. Because even though she had not heard from Shun after all this time, her heart still belongs to him. She can only hope that the same could be said about Shun. That night, Klaus left her room dejected as the first night, but with the encouragement that the redhead will still care about it.
The next morning at breakfast, the servants are running around furiously in the manor, bringing out suitcases and bags and fussing about. When Alice sat down at breakfast, questioning Klaus what was going on, she was met with a bombshell.
"I am leaving for Vestal. There is business there that I have been assigned to."
"You didn't tell me."
"It didn't seem important."
She looked up from her cup of black tea. "Why?"
A pause. "I didn't want it to ruin what we had going on. And it didn't."
"You still should have told me sooner."
"Would you have fallen in love with me if I did?"
It is now her turn to be stunned to silence. "No. No, it wouldn't. But I do care about you, Klaus, and I would have appreciated it if you did tell me beforehand."
A small smile crossed his lips. "Of course. Next time I'll be sure to tell you ahead of time."
After breakfast, when the servants had finished packing and loading his suitcases into the waiting carriage, did Klaus and Alice say goodbye.
"Goodbye, Alice."
"Goodbye...Klaus." The redhead managed to get out. There was much that she wanted to say to him, but she wasn't sure if it would matter to him.
And that was the end of it. With a small smile, he entered the carriage and Alice watched it as it left until it became nothing but a speck. She would have been standing out, staring at nothing, had it not been for Soon, who ushered her back into the manor.
The days and weeks and months bled once again, and before she knew it, Alice had turned 20. Her birthday was a rather quiet affair, as only Soon had remembered her birthday and thus, was the only one who wished her a 'happy birthday'. Not like it mattered, as it just felt like another day. With the exception of a white gardenia that she had found on her balcony the night of her birthday. And as much as she missed him, Alice knew that now wasn't the time for him to come back into her life. She began to wonder if there ever will be a good time for him to come back.
One day, in the middle of her new routine, Soon came bounding into the library, her eyes wet with tears. The maid had opened the door haphazardly, causing it to slam against the wall upon the door opening. Alice, who was lost in a book, was startled at the noise and dropped the book.
"Oh, Soon! You surprised me!" The redhead gasped, reaching down for the book. "Is something the matter - Oh! Soon, what's wrong?" She asked, concerned, as she had just noticed the servant's tears.
"M-Mrs. v-von Hertzon." The brunette got out amongst her tears. "M-Mr. von Her-Hertzon is dead."
End of Chapter 10.
Note: Somebody please mark this date, this historic moment - I FINALLY MADE IT TO CHAPTER 10! AHH! After how many years that I've been writing, I FINALLY made it to the double digits after all this time. I'm so proud of myself. ಥ_ಥ
But jokes aside, oh my goodness, let's talk about this chapter. There's so much to unpack here. First off, let's talk about how quick Alice was to defend her man. Like, you can make fun of her but when it comes to Shun, she isn't taking anybody's sh!t. Get you a girlfriend like Alice. ( •̀ .̫ •́ )✧
And secondly, can we talk about Klaus' and Alice's relationship? Like how they actually got to know each other more after their entire time of being married? And how Alice is still in love with Shun even after she knew more about Klaus? That's loyalty right there. ( ﹁ ﹁ ) ~→
Also, I don't know if anybody noticed it, but this is the first time that Alice - and by proxy, Shun - hit the big 2-0? Like, in my other period works, such as 'Of Angels and Ninjas' and 'Somewhere Only We Know'-related one-shots, they are either 18 or 19 but never 20? （⊙ｏ⊙）
And of course, how can we forget the cliffhanger - Klaus' DEATH. Of course, I'll explain all of that in the next chapter, so stay tuned for that! In the meantime, please leave your thoughts and reviews down below and I shall see you all next time~! O(∩_∩)O