Ichigo slept for the rest of the day, and well into the evening before finally waking up. Which was great since Conrad had spent the whole-time keeping watch over her and fretting about her health. Not only that but he had also had some time to think about things as well.
He'd mostly thought about how she could become so injured while under his watchful eye. And had inevitably come to the conclusion that there was more to Ichigo than meets the eye. Not only that, but her injuries were obviously not just because she had caught him when he'd fallen from that tree.
She'd been injured to begin with and had been hiding it from him and the others. The only thing that he couldn't figure out was why.
The nearest answer to his question had been that she'd been afraid for some reason. But he couldn't fathom her being afraid of him or the others. So that begged the question. What had she been so afraid of that she would hide such life-threatening injuries and say nothing to anyone?
However, despite all of that, he'd not come up with any real reasons or answers. Only more questions. So eventually, he'd stopped thinking about things- he'd only drive himself crazy if things continued anyway- and instead devoted his time to keeping a close eye on her while she rested.
Though he'd done other things as well.
Like sending messages to both Gunter and Yozak to let the other men know just why he hadn't returned to the cottage that had procured for them to stay in for the night. He'd explained everything that he could so that they would know what had happened as well as letting them know that Ichigo was fine now and resting well. He even mentioned that her health would likely be closely monitored by himself, Gisela, and possibly even Gwendal as well for the next ten weeks.
Everything was fairly quiet after that aside from Gisela and Gwendal coming by to check on Ichigo and himself off and on.
It was getting close to dinnertime when Ichigo finally woke up. And to say that he was relieved would be an understatement. The very first thing that Conrad did once he noticed that she was awake and sitting up in bed was move over closer to her and hug her to show her just how happy he was that she was really okay.
He didn't care if he looked like a sap or anything like that either. He really had been afraid that she'd die before so if he wanted to hug her- then that was his business. Besides, Ichigo didn't seem to mind all that much since she was probably so confused right that moment that she didn't even think to push him away. At least not right away anyways.
Which was fine. He got the hug out of his system by the time she did push him away. So, he wasn't bothered in the least when she finally pushed him away. He simply smiled at her while she took a few moments to look around the room with a frown.
"Where-" She started to ask, her expression and tone confused.
"Covenant Castle. You're new home, your majesty." He replied as he folded his hands in his lap.
"I...don't recall the trip here." She finally said as she looked up at him.
His smile became a bit strained as he mulled over how to speak with her about her injuries and just how dangerous they had been to her. He couldn't help but wonder a variety of things about her wellbeing.
Things like, had she even seen a doctor about her injuries? Had she been aware of how threatening they had been to her life? And if so...why pretend that everything was fine? Why not say something? Had she thought that they wouldn't care? Had she thought that they would be angry with her?
He just...wanted to know something. Anything at all about what she had been thinking.
"Highness, may I ask you some questions?" He asked after several minutes of careful thought. She looked at him with that same confused frown but nodded her head.
"Please forgive me if I step out of line with any of my questions, my Queen. But do you remember anything that happened earlier today?" It seemed like the best place to start since her collapse was something that she wouldn't be able to lie to him about or laugh off. At least not well anyway.
She crossed her arms for a moment or two and adopted a thoughtful expression before seeming to finally remember something. "Oh! You fell from a tree, and I caught you."
"Yes, that's right. What else?" Conrad prompted and watched her expression morph from mere worry to one of horror as it finally dawned on her what had happened.
Her face went pale, and she uncrossed her arms and placed a shaky hand on her stomach and took several breaths. Her mouth opening and closing a bit as she tried to find the words to speak but simply couldn't.
And when she finally did, all he could do was listen and try not to feel heartbroken on her behalf. "I'm so sorry Conrad! I didn't mean to cause any trouble. I just...wanted things to get back to normal again. I left the infirmary early because the space was needed."
"I was trying to take it easy and not cause myself any further stress or harm-" He didn't say anything, he merely nodded his head in understanding and let her continue. "I've been going back to the infirmary off and on every few weeks so that they could help me more. But everyone is so damned tired. There's so much that they need to do, and they can't rest properly, and I started to get worried when some of my friends collapsed from healing so many people! They're so exhausted! Their lives could be cut short if they keep having to heal people without proper rest and stuff. And in my current state there was so little that I could do for them but stay away."
"I've been trying to take it easy and heal myself like I sometimes have to. But I just don't have enough strength to do so yet. I've been doing my best not to get into any trouble. I've been eating a bit more because I need the calories and nutrition, or I'll just get worse. I've been trying to not expend so much energy doing things. Small things- like doing the dishes or cooking are fine. But big things like-" She seemed to struggle to find the right words for a moment and then settled on. "Lifting cars and things like that are out for a while. And I know it's going to take a while. Months, maybe even longer- but I'm still planning to work hard! I just...couldn't stand looking weak. Not when you put so much faith in me."
Conrad blinked then a frown marring his features as it occurred to him that Ichigo was a bit like himself, Gwendal, and many others within the Demon Tribe. She abhorred looking weak in front of others and as a result, she tended to push herself much harder than she should.
And while that was a good quality for a Queen to have. It was a bad quality when Ichigo was putting her life on the line just to do simple and mundane everyday things.
Reaching out, Conrad framed her face with his hands and lifted it so that she was looking at him again and then leaned forward and pressed his forehead against hers for a few seconds before pulling away from her.
"Shhh," He said softly, hoping that she would settle down. "There's no reason for you to be so upset. I understand, your majesty."
And he did. Truly. She'd had so much going on when he'd finally managed to speak to her about being the Demon Queen that it was little wonder that she hadn't had an incident like the one earlier much, much sooner.
Still...it was nice to finally know what had been going on in her head. That she had been trying to not cause herself further harm. He would chalk the incident earlier up to her being worried about him hitting the ground a certain way and leave it at that.
"I have one more question for you, then I'll let you rest." He said before asking her. "How did you get so injured in the first place?" He doubted that her father had had anything to do with her suffering. He doubted that her friends had anything to do with it either.
Which left him wondering how it had happened.
Ichigo opened her mouth to speak but then abruptly closed it again and then startled him by jerking the covers up over her head and flopping back onto the bed and saying nothing at all.
Conrad could take the hint, though he wished that she would just talk to him. It wasn't as if he could judge her any. Still...the fact that she didn't want to say anything was telling in its own way once he really thought about it. It wasn't as if there hadn't been clues here and there.
After all, he was many things, but a fool wasn't one of them. He already guessed from the scars on her back that she had engaged in combat or a battle of some kind. Obviously more than once. The most recent of which causing all of the damage that she had suffered.
He understood that she didn't wish to talk about it when the fear and horror was still so fresh in her heart and mind. It was just nice to have clarification, that was all.
"Very well, I won't ask again." He said in a soothing manner after several minutes of silence. "Just...know that when you do feel like talking about it- that I'll listen."
Ichigo gave no sign that she heard him, though he knew that she did.
After that, he resumed his watch and let her rest some more. She would need as much as she could get in the coming days so she should really sleep while she could.
The next morning, Ichigo was up out of bed and moving around. Conrad didn't like that much, but the Great One had only said that she was to rest. Not stay in bed as if she were bedridden.
So, he let it slide. For the time being anyway.
Besides, she had expressed a desire to bathe and put on some clean clothes so that she could explore a bit. And while he wanted to say no. He couldn't for two reasons. The first, was that he needed a bath himself to wash away the dust, sweat, and other unsavory things that felt as if they were clinging to his skin because he was secretly worried that any body odor that he was developing may upset her delicate sensibilities.
And the second reason was because he couldn't fault her for wanting to explore her new surroundings. It was only natural to get the lay of the land when in a strange place, after all.
So, after helping her get a change of clothing and find some bathing supplies, he then led her through the halls to the castle's main bath. Which consisted of a natural hot spring that had then been built around so that it would be an essential part of the castle.
Everyone used it to wash themselves. Even the maids and soldiers of the castle.
And while it offered little in the way of privacy, the bath should be more or less abandoned at the current time. So, Ichigo shouldn't have any trouble bathing herself privately. And when he had told her that he was coming with her to bathe himself, she hadn't seemed to oppose the idea of his company.
Which was encouraging.
"Can you tell me more about the Demon Tribe?" She asked him curiously as they walked. Conrad looked at her and smiled. Happy that she was taking an interest in those that she would rule over. Some of the former Demon Kings had never taken an interest in ruling unless it was for selfish reasons.
"What would you like to know?"
"Do you know how big your population is? Number wise."
He laughed. "Sorry but I don't think that we keep track of that. But we are a fairly large tribe with I would estimate...roughly around several hundred thousand. Give or take."
"So, the tribe is fairly large, but at the same time- it's small too."
"When compared to human's I suppose that that's true." He said with a small nod.
"Okay," Ichigo said as she got a thoughtful look on her face before then asking. "Next question. What is the mortality rate of those in the Demon Tribe? Do you know?"
"I can't say that I do."
"What about infant mortality rate?"
"What?" He asked startled.
"Infant mortality rate. Have the number of births dropped significantly in recent years? And if so, do you have any idea why?"
"Ah, that is something that I may be able to help with." He said easily. "We do take note of all children born into the Demon Tribe. And while we don't exactly count them...the birth rates among our women have dropped in the past ten years or so. Mostly due to a significant number of child deaths."
"Any idea about what's causing the deaths?"
"To be honest, it probably has to do with the hostility between our tribe and the humans. Any child from the Demon Tribe found within human lands are usually killed. Even the half-blood children aren't safe in human territories. They are looked upon with disgust and-"
"That's stupid," Ichigo said suddenly. Conrad looked at her oddly, tilting his head to the side inquisitively as she went on to say. "Anyone with half a brain would know why the kids shouldn't be killed regardless of whether their full-blooded Demon Tribe, or halfblooded Demon Tribe. After all, the children are everyone's best chance to bridge the gap between both your races and bring everyone peace."
His lips parted a bit in suprise and he stopped walking, which allowed her to accidentally run into him. She squeaked and quickly backed away from him. But all he could do was stare at her with the most awed expression on his face.
The words, Children are a way to bridge the gap, echoing in his head over and over. He wasn't sure how long he was like that. But it must have been long enough for her to start to worry about him since she was looking around for someone to call for help when he finally snapped out of his funk and smiled brightly.
He didn't think that he'd ever heard anyone say the things that she said before. But even so...for someone like him- who had always been looked down upon for being part human, her words were a sort of healing balm for his heart and soul.
He couldn't help the surge of affection that he felt for her right then. Yet despite the affection that he felt, he had to keep it to himself.
"Come, your majesty. The bath is just up ahead."
"Uh, okay." She said as he started walking again. She fell into step beside him easily and he chuckled in amusement. He couldn't say it aloud, but her majesty was so cute that he could barely stand it.
I wonder if this is how Gwendal feels when he comes across something small and cute as well? He thought, making a mental note to ask him sometime when no one else was around. Finally, they reached the large double doors that led to the bath, and he took a moment to push them open to allow Ichigo inside before quietly following her.
There's steam everywhere! Ichigo thought as she stepped into the large room.
There was so much of the stuff that she could barely see beyond her own hand when she held it out in front of her. Humming thoughtfully at how perfect the room would be for an assassination/assassination attempt, she dropped her arm back to her side and then turned to see where Conrad had gone. And found him busy stripping out of his clothing several feet away.
Quickly averting her eyes, she tried to tell herself that this was no different from the baths that she had taken with Renji and the other from time to time back at the barracks. There was absolutely nothing at all for her to be weirded out or embarrassed about.
So why was she freaking out? She didn't understand. Just act like he's one of the guys and forget that you barely know him. She'd be better off if she did, right?
Taking a deep breath to steel her nerves, she then lifted her hands to begin undressing when she felt the air stir behind her and felt large hands grasp the fabric as she heard Conrad say close to her ear, "Hold on, I'll help you."
Her mind went haywire on her at how those simple words sounded so very...sinful?
She was so out of it that she didn't feel the clothing that she was wearing being pulled over her head until the warm air hit her skin. Gasping she started to bring her arms up to cover herself when she felt something being wrapped around her- a towel by the feel of it- that was then fashioned into something like a wraparound dress to hide her body by deft fingers.
"There, much better. Right?" He said once he finished.
Ichigo simply stood there, blinking and trying to figure out what she was supposed to do. On one hand she was a tad bit irked at having been undressed by him, but on the other...she weirdly didn't mind.
What the hell is wrong with me? Either slap the man or walk away already, Kurosaki. She gave him a shaky smile as he moved around her so that he could see her face and then thanked him quietly and then walked away so that she could get into the water.
If Conrad found her behavior the least bit odd, he didn't comment about it. He merely smiled and then took the nightgown that she'd slept in and began folding it up before moving to put it where his own dirty clothing had been placed. After that, he got into the water and grabbed her bathing supplies and asked her if she wanted him to help her wash herself.
But Ichigo merely took her stuff from him and told him that she was fine. He gave her that same inquisitive head tilt, as if she was confusing him somehow but backed off anyway once she grabbed the bar of soap that she'd found and began scrubbing herself.
All in all, cleaning herself only took her a few minutes. And then the only thing that she had left to do was to wash her hair. She was already in the process of doing that when Conrad snuck up on her again and gently took her soap from her and slipped a glass pump bottle of something into her hand.
"You use this to wash your hair," He said helpfully. "It's better for it than the bar of soap is."
She blinked at the glass bottle in her hand and decided to take his advice. But when she went to use it, he stopped her and had her hand it back to him. And once she had, he used the pump to get some of the shampoo out and then started to work the stuff through her hair.
Ichigo felt silly just sitting there glaring at one of the statues while he worked on washing her hair for her. But he seemed not to take any notice of her mood.
If anyone else had tried to help her wash her hair, she would have drowned them in the bath already and walked off. But she was literally having issues with treating him like that. After all, her friends were used to her mood swings and stuff. Conrad wasn't.
Besides, it wasn't as if it were unpleasant or anything.
Conrad was very good at what he was doing. Almost as if he had done it a million times before. He also hummed, the entire time. And from time to time, he even used his fingers to comb her hair so that it wouldn't become tangled in-between rinses until all of it was finally clean.
"There, all done!" He announced happily. "Do you want to get out now? Or would you like to soak a bit longer?" He asked as he set the shampoo bottle among her other bathing supplies before facing her.
"I think-" She didn't get much farther than that before Ichigo spotted a tall blond woman with long curly hair and mesmerizing green eyes. She wasn't sure when the woman had got there, or how much she had seen of Conrad washing her hair.
But to say that Ichigo was mortified would be an understatement. Her face heated up so much that it was a wonder that smoke didn't start coming out of her ears. Conrad, being the nice guy that he was, was so busy fretting over her that he didn't notice the blond woman until she had pretty much tackled him from behind with a happy, "Conrart!"
The two went down in the water, narrowly missing taking Ichigo with them. There was a lot of splashing and thrashing around. And maybe even an actual drowning attempt on the woman's part since Ichigo had to intervein and haul the pair up enough so that their heads weren't under water anymore.
But the second that they were both above water again, Conrad coughed and sputtered a bit while the woman latched onto him and pressed herself close to him with a giggle.
Ichigo felt uncomfortable as hell right then and decided that it would be best for her to leave these two crazy kids to their...whatever. But before she could so much as take a step, she suddenly found herself with someone attached to her and had to stop as the blond woman giggled in her ear as she pressed her breasts against her back.
"Your majesty! You are her, aren't you?" She cooed. Ichigo was beginning to wonder. But she didn't dare say that aloud as the woman used her hand to turn her head to look at her. "Oh my! You're so beautiful," She said excitedly as she hugged her and called out. "Isn't she Conrart?"
Ichigo blinked at her and wondered who she was looking at. Because there was no way that she was actually looking at her. She wasn't pretty, not by a long shot. She never had been and never would be.
"Indeed, she is." Conrad finally chimed in in agreement. He sounded strangely proud as he tacked on. "We're very lucky."
Ichigo had to suppress the urge to roll her eyes. Oh please. She thought in annoyance as she reached up and gently pried the woman's arms from around her.
"Please excuse me." She said politely as she then started to make her way over to the edge of the bath so that she could get out. The woman made a distressed/disappointed sound behind her but didn't make any more move to stop her as Conrad moved to join her.
He helped her out of the water, despite the fact that she could easily climb out herself and then ambled off to get himself dried off and dressed.
Ichigo couldn't help the look of utter disgust that she had on her face, truly she couldn't. Though Conrad seemed pretty amused by her expression given the way that he was trying to suppress his laughter by covering his mouth with his hands. And failing at it miserably.
It couldn't be helped though; she supposed with a sigh.
She had known that it was only a matter of time before she was forced to wear something girly like an actual dress or gown. But for it to happen so soon was just...devastating to her. So much so that she had propped herself up with a hand against the wall and was muttering all kinds of oaths under her breath while Conrad tried, desperately to stop laughing and only managed to do so after coughing a few times.
"It should be a crime for someone to be so amused by someone else's discomfort." She grumbled in annoyance.
"Forgive me, your majesty." He said with a big grin. "I didn't realize that you hated dresses so much."
"Have you ever worn a frilly, lacy, bow covered nightmare?"
"I have not." He deadpanned without remorse.
"Well, it's not fun for girls either," She looked down at the corset style belt that she was wearing with a scowl and poked it. "Especially when you have to be laced up in them with crap like this. How do people even breathe?"
"I have no idea. But I can ask some of the women in the castle if you like." He offered as she grunted. Her expression was so adorably peeved to him that he couldn't help but smile so widely that his face was starting to hurt.
"Well, at least the color is nice." Ichigo finally said as she straightened her spine.
Conrad didn't offer any comment, though he agreed. The dress was rather fetching on her. The ocean blue of the muslin fabric went well with her strawberry blond colored hair. And the gold thread embroidered black lace up corset style belt complimented her honey-colored eyes. All in all, the dress was a lovely choice for her first day in the castle.
And it was even suitable for her to explore in which was simply part of the reason why he had chosen it for her out of the many, many others that he could have borrowed from one of his mother's closets.
Still...it was surprising to him just how similar Ichigo's figure was to his mother's own.
I probably shouldn't tell her that mother will be sharing her old hand-me-downs with her just yet. He thought awkwardly. All of his mother's clothing, even the old stuff, was very elegant and lovely. And given Ichigo's reaction to be in a dress for now- she likely wouldn't want anything much in the way of dresses or gowns anyway.
"Alright, what's next?" Ichigo asked him now that she had composed herself again.
"Well, why don't we have something for breakfast-" He suggested. It wasn't that he was particularly hungry, though being able to get some food would certainly be nice. But Ichigo hadn't eaten anything since breakfast the previous day, when they had left her world. And after everything that had happened, he figured that she had to be fairly ravenous by now. Even if she didn't seem like it. "And then once that's done, we'll go exploring."
"Okay, that sounds good." She said as he smiled at her and began to lead her towards the dining room.
The entire time he was showing her the way, he found himself asking her things about her childhood to fill the silence and appease some of his curiosity about her a bit.
"What's your favorite animal?"
"Bunny's, I guess. Though cats are a close second."
"Favorite food?"
"My mom's curry. But I've also been having an avid love affair with my best friend, Chad's fajita's too."
Conrad grinned. He totally understood her loving fajitas. When he had been in America nearly twenty years ago, he'd had the pleasure of being introduced to the amazing food. And he'd wanted them often after that. He had even tried his best to reproduce them so that he could share the food with his family. But it had never turned out right.
It wasn't bad or anything. Just not really as good as what he'd had on Earth.
"Do you know how they get the fajitas to taste so good?" He asked, curious to know if maybe he'd missed a step or something with his attempts.
"It depends on a variety of things ranging from the spices used to the meat and even sometimes the way you cook the rice or vegetables. It has to be made just right, or everything taste kind of, bleh."
He snorted. "That sounds about right."
"Chad showed me how to do it."
Ah, now she had him hooked. "Really? Do you think that you can try to show me sometime?"
"I don't see why not." She said with a slight shrug.
He made a happy sound and startled her by dropping down to kneel in front of her and say half-jokingly, "I am at your command my lady."
Ichigo just blinked at him for a second and then laughed before reaching out and pulling him to his feet so that they started walking again.
"What kinds of music do you like?" He asked after a few moments of comfortable silence.
"I like various kinds. But I lean heavily towards the music that speaks the most to me."
"Oh? What kind of music is that?"
"I like the eighties, early nineties music the most. It has such good rhythm to it. And even if it has the most ridiculous lyrics- as long as the rhythm is good- I love it." She said with a wistful look. Obviously missing it now.
"I don't think I've heard any of the music from those eras. But you make it sound wonderful. Now on to the next question. What are your hopes or dreams? You have some right?" He asked, wondering what it was she dreamt of for herself in the future.
Had she wanted to be a bride some day? Maybe a mother? Or a lawyer? A doctor or perhaps even a musician given her love for music?
She looked startled for a second, her previously good mood evaporating, as she muttered. "I don't have any."
He stopped walking and looked at her wide eyed in concern. "You don't?" He asked with a frown. Not being able to imagine that she didn't have any hopes or dreams for her future. It just seemed...wrong to him.
She shrugged her slender shoulders. "I never thought that I'd live long enough to see any of them come to fruition."
That...was a very strange thing for someone to say. Especially her. Though he didn't say so aloud. Instead, he merely stared at her intently for a few seconds before letting the subject drop for the time being and tried to lift her mood again by telling jokes instead of asking questions that he was certain that he wouldn't like the answers to.