When Conrad left his Queen to her rest for the night, he decided to go by Gwendal's office to see if his older brother wished to speak with him about their earlier discovery about Ichigo being a soldier. And after knocking on the door and being bid to enter, he opened the door and blinked when he spied his pouting mother sitting on one of the couches.
Ah, so that's why she didn't come to help her majesty. He thought as he slipped into the office and quickly and quietly closed the door behind him and then turned to face his brother and paused when he saw who else was occupying the office.
His mother and Gunter were one thing.
But to see Wolfram, Lady Anissina, Gisela and Yozak all present as well, was startling to him. Just what was his brother thinking? Conrad wondered as he walked forward slowly until he was standing next to his friend.
"Have you learned anything else about her highness?" Gwendal asked him, not bothering to beat around the bush any.
Conrad took a deep breath, his heart suddenly beating much faster within his ribcage as he said. "She was in a recent battle. A bad one. But does not intend to speak of any details regardless of how many times she is confronted or asked. In fact, she fully intends to feign ignorance about it."
Gwendal didn't look very happy about hearing that if the frown on his face was anything to go by. But he eventually nodded his head and asked. "Anything else?"
"Yes," Conrad said soberly. "She appears to like helping others. Though she seems to push herself far too much when it comes to her health and wellbeing. Not only that but she rarely bothers to ask for help herself when she really needs it. I can't help but wonder why that is. Though I can only hazard to guess that such behavior may have been drilled in her once she joined the military in her world."
Gwendal grunted and then asked, "You were on Earth for a time, Conrart, Gunter, Yozak- so do any of you have any idea of how the people in her world fight? Any form of combat style?"
"They don't use swords as we do." Yozak said almost automatically. "Not only that but various countries on Earth have various combat styles and weapons. Though I do know that there are some forms of martial arts that are taught to those in the military regardless of what country one is from."
"So, basically we won't know about her ability to fight unless we see it for ourselves." Gwendal said with a scowl.
"Basically." Conrad said with a grin. His mind already going over some possibilities that seemed more doable than others. Though one thing was nagging at him a bit.
Her age. To his knowledge it was rare for any country to recruit children as soldiers unless there were extenuating circumstances such as the country being at war or something akin to that.
"Well, if that's the case," Wolfram's voice cut through Conrad's thoughts like a knife. "Then why not simply let me duel her? I bet that I can make that little human witch cry."
There was a heartbeat or so of silence where everyone in the room looked at Wolfram as if they wanted to smack him before they heard Gisela say in a sharp tone. "Because her majesty's health isn't very good Wolfram."
"There's also the fact that her highness is a human. And you can't be trusted not to set her on fire once you lose your temper." Yozak said with a dark frown as he crossed his arms over his chest and gave the boy a pointed look of disapproval.
Wolfram bard his teeth at Yozak in a silent snarl. Totally unimpressed with the look of disdain that he was being given in return by the ginger haired man.
Yozak suddenly smiled a very scary smile and muttered to Conrad in a barely inaudible tone. "If her highness gets hurt by your younger brother, I'll take great pleasure in skinning him alive for you."
Conrad hummed in understanding.
After all, if Wolfram ever harmed their Queen, it would be an act of treason punishable by death regardless of who his younger brother was. There would be nothing and no one who could save his brother. Not even his mother or siblings. And since that was the case, if Yozak wanted to be the one to do the deed then that was simply one less worry on his mind.
"I don't care if she's human," Wolfram suddenly yelled, unable to hold his hatred back any longer. "I want her gone. Humans have no place among the Demon Tribe! Much less ruling us."
"In any other case you would be right, dear." Ceilie said in understanding. "However, the Great One himself has deemed her worthy. And since that is the case, he has to have seen something in her that the Demon Tribe can benefit from in the future."
Wolfram opened his mouth to argue- but was shut down by Gisela suddenly shouting at him. "Oh, just shut up already you big baby!" Startled into silence by her outburst, the boy stared at her almost slack jawed in disbelief. "So, she's human, so what. You need to get over it already because tomorrow she's being coronated as our Queen and she will literally have the power and authority to do away with your whiny butt. So, I suggest that you suck it up buttercup. No one cares about your silly little grudge towards her for being born a human."
There was a heartbeat or two of silence before Anissina said, "I'm with Gisela. Tomorrow that human becomes our Queen in name and deed. And as per our custom, you'll have no choice but to follow her every order and whim just like everyone else."
Conrad's eyes widened a bit, and he quickly said, "Wait. Her majesty isn't like that!" While Yozak nodded his head sagely next to him.
After all, during the time they had spent with her before coming home, she had barely even requested anything of them. And that was something that they weren't used to in those of higher ranks.
Requests.
Not orders.
"Besides, I for one don't care is she's human or not. As long as I can keep doing my experiments, I'll be happy," Anissina said and then tacked on with a sweet smile. "Although if she wants to punish you then maybe I can give Gwendal a break for a few decades and use you as a test subject instead."
"Please." Gwendal practically sobbed out as he lowered his head and clasped his hands together in front of him as if he were praying.
It was right around then that the Great One suddenly materialized next to the desk, startling Gwendal badly if the way that he screamed and caused everyone to jump was any indication at all.
"Do I smell desperation in here?" The Great One asked as he tilted his head a little bit as if he were scenting the air like an animal while Gwendal tried to calm his frantically racing heartbeat as Gunter took one look at the spirit and fainted. Everyone else simply dropped to their knees on the floor and bowed in respect.
"Do you?" Conrad asked the spirit with a wolfish grin, all but laughing at his older brother for screaming like he had before asking him curiously. "How are you this evening Great One?"
"Oh, I'm good. Just doing some last-minute prepping before tomorrow's grand event." The Great One said with a smirk. Conrad merely nodded his head and wondered just what it was the spirit was prepping.
"Great One!" Ceilie squealed in delight as she suddenly jumped up from the floor in surprise and bounced over to the spirit. "What are you doing haunting this drafty ol castle? Did you come to see me?"
"Hello, old friend. You're as lovely and cheery as ever." The spirit said in a fond tone before replying, "I'm haunting this castle because my sweet child is here now. And I have to make sure that she's taken care of."
"Your...sweet child?" Ceilie echoed questioningly as she tilted her head to the side inquisitively.
The spirit grinned at her as he said slyly. "Bet you never thought that you'd be putting one of my long-lost daughters on the throne. Huh?"
Conrad could barely stop his whole body from doing a weird twitch as he heard the spirit say those words even as Yozak asked incredulously, "Queen Ichigo is your child?"
"Indeed, she is." The spirit said with a happy look on his face. "She is the last true child of my bloodline. And as such, my one and only daughter." There were several heartbeats of silence as the spirit chattered on, "I wonder if I'll be a good father to her? True, she's still young and fairly impressionable. Not to mention very treasured and cared for by a lot of people. But I can't help but still worry about her."
"That's completely understandable when you are a parent. I worry for my own boys quite often." Ceilie said with a nod.
"I know," The spirit said as he winked at Conrad. "Troublemakers, every last one of them. Especially this one here." He said as he pointed at him playfully.
Conrad huffed a laugh even as Wolfram decided to make the mistake of opening his mouth. "Great One, why must we have a mere human for our Queen? Surely there is someone more suited-"
Ceilie sighed and hid her face in her hands as her old friend zeroed in on her youngest child and snapped. "Shut up." Wolfram wisely did as he was told and snapped his mouth shut with an audible click as the Great One went on to say, "I don't care what pitiful grudge you're holding against the humans of this world. But my sweet child isn't one of them and your grudge has absolutely no place in her presence. You are one of her retainers- Von Bielefelt. I suggest that you learn your place before you bring misfortune to yourself."
There was a second or so of silence in the room as Conrad, and his mother looked at Wolfram worriedly before the boy finally said, "Yes, Great One. I understand and will do as you say."
"That's good. Your mother is a very old friend of mine and the last thing I want is to break her heart by putting some curse on you. Besides, you'll like having my Ichigo around. She isn't like anyone you've ever met before and will help the Demon Tribe to prosper for the next ten eons or more."
"Eons?" Conrad questioned curiously.
After all, his Queen was a mere human so how could she help the Demon Tribe prosper for eons? The Great One gave him a mischievous smile and then vanished into thin air, leaving all of them with more questions than answers.
Once they finished their meeting, Conrad went back to his Queen's bedroom and stood guard at the door for the rest of the night. Doing so gave him some time to think about things. Though it didn't really resolve anything he wished to know, it did help him mull over other things.
Like his Queen's upcoming coronation and what he wanted to do with himself.
It was true, that he had achieved a rank equivalent to that of the thirteen aristocrats. And even had his own army of men that he was in command of. He had worked diligently for the past twenty years or so just to get to where he was now.
However, he was willing to give those things up along if it meant that he could remain by his Queen's side as her personal guard. It wasn't as if he minded any.
He liked Ichigo.
She was a very kind, thoughtful and sweet young lady. So, he doubted that he would ever find himself bored with being her personal guard. Besides, she would need someone knowledgeable and flexible to help her learn things outside of etiquette and such. Not only that but she also needed someone with the patience of a saint to help take care of her when she forgot to take care of herself.
And he didn't mind doing that either since he liked taking care of others.
He would need to speak with Ichigo herself about such an arrangement since he couldn't do it without her permission. But he was sure that she wouldn't mind since she seemed to enjoy his company just as much as he enjoyed hers.
Sighing, he tipped his head back to rest against the wood of the bedroom door when he suddenly heard a loud scream coming from inside the bedroom.
Quickly turning on his heel, he threw the heavy door open and ran inside with his sword in hand and shouting, "Your majesty!" His mind already worried that someone had heard about the Demon Tribe's new Queen in residence and tried to assassinate her.
However, he came to an abrupt halt in mid step when he saw her standing next to the bed with her hands covering her face. Her once strawberry blond hair that had looked like captured fire in the sunlight- was now as black as a raven's wing. Not only that but it was also a lot longer than it had been the previous day too.
He blinked, unsure of whether he was actually seeing things or not and then after a few moments, finally put his sword away and walked over to her and bent down a bit so that he could see if he could see her face through her fingers.
He couldn't. So, he had no idea what to do or say to her right then. After all, one's hair doesn't just turn black and lengthen on its own. It simply wasn't possible.
"Majesty?" He asked hesitantly. "Are you alright?"
She made a funny little whining sound and then slowly dropped her hands away from her face a bit and looked at him. Her face was still a bit pale, but nothing like it had been the past day or so since she had been healed. In fact, if anything her skin had a healthier look to it.
"It's black." She muttered sounding upset. And honestly, he couldn't blame her there. But that didn't seem to be all that was different about her now that he could see her face.
Her facial scars were gone and so were her freckles as well. And her eyes...they were still a honey color; they were merely more of a gold color than amber.
"My..." He said in a breathless tone, already knowing what had happened to her.
The Great One had obviously done this to her as a way of making her more strikingly beautiful than she already had been. Though Conrad wasn't really sure why he would change such fundamental parts of Ichigo's appearance. All he could really do was admire the spirit's handiwork.
Truely, he had created a masterpiece that would make all other women green with envy.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Ichigo finally asked him, her distressed tone jolting him out of his thoughts.
"Uh, sorry! I'm just not sure what to do here." He replied, not really knowing what else to say.
She made another whining sound and hid her face again as she grumbled about all the weird stuff always happening to her. Conrad couldn't help but wonder what she meant by that. Even as he gently took hold of her slender shoulders and carefully maneuvered her back to her bed and pushed her down to sit on it and then scampered off to grab a few things.
Like a hairbrush and some leather hair ties and ribbons.
Because as weird as it sounded, he was a man completely at a loss here. And this was all that he could think of to try and comfort her since he used to do things like this for his mother.
Once he had everything, he went back to the bed and climbed up on it and began to carefully brush her hair. Absently marveling at how soft and silky it felt to him.
"A-Are you brushing my hair?" Ichigo suddenly asked him in an incredulous tone that had him pausing.
"I am." He said lamely.
"Why?"
"Because I don't know what else to do and things like this can be comforting." He explained.
She sat silently for a moment before finally sighing and lifted a thick handful of her hair out to him. He made a happy sound as he took it from her and began to brush it until it gleamed in the early morning light. Once her hair was completely brushed, he then pulled it back and began to braid it.
Of course, by then Ichigo no longer cared that her hair was longer than necessary. Or black. She had already moved on to the events of the day and begun to plan out what needed to be done on her end of things.
Thus far, she had some time to kill until the party. At least as far as she knew anyway.
So that meant that if she was careful then she should be able to fit in a bath, doing some paperwork, eating lunch, and then...well, she wasn't sure about anything else after those things just yet.
She knew that she still had to find herself an outfit for the party that wouldn't embarrass anyone. And that might take a few hours depending on whether or not she wound up finding one for herself or with someone to help her.
"There all done." Conrad finally said. Sounding thoroughly pleased with himself.
Ichigo glanced over her shoulder at his smiling face and then reached back to see what he'd done to her. Thankfully, all he'd done was braid her hair so that it would be out of the way. However, he'd also tied it off with a couple of ribbons that looked sort of like streamers were tied to her hair.
Grunting at the weird mental image she suddenly got of herself wearing streamers just like a bicycle's- she thanked him and then slowly slipped off of the bed to stretch a bit.
"Do you feel better now, majesty?" Conrad asked, sounding just a tad bit worried about her mental state. She supposed that she couldn't blame the guy about that given how she'd reacted to her hair being black.
"I feel much better now. Thanks, Conrad."
He beamed at her proudly and then climbed off of her bed. "I'm glad," He said as he set the hairbrush aside along with the other things that he'd collected but not used. "Now, what would you like to do this morning?"
"I'm planning on taking a bath. And then doing some paperwork for a while. Then I plan on eating something for lunch and... continue my never-ending quest for something to wear for the party this evening. I'm not sure about the rest to be honest."
He hummed thoughtfully.
"That sounds good. Would you like to use the big bath from yesterday? Or your personal one?"
"Maybe the personal one would be best for today. Since there's going to be a party this evening, the big one might have a lot more people in it than it did yesterday."
"Alright. Would you like me to run the bath for you?" Conrad asked.
"No. I think I can take care of it. Thank you though." She said as she walked across the room to where her bags lay on the floor in front of the couch and began to riffle through them to find some clothing to wear after her bath. Then once that was done, she stood back up and then made a beeline for the bathroom. Only pausing just before she reached it to look back at him and say, "If you want, why don't you see if there is any fruit in the kitchen that no one would mind parting with."
"Fruit?"
She nodded her head. "I can eat that for breakfast. That way you're free to sit down and eat with your family like yesterday while I do the paperwork."
Conrad made an interested sound as he mulled over her request. But upon thinking it over, decided to pretend as if there was no fruit in the kitchen. This way she would have no choice but to eat with he and his family again. Besides, he had to make sure that she didn't get into trouble or have an accident of some kind to. And really that was for the best in the long run.
He waited until she was inside of the bathroom and the door was firmly closed before moving to stand with his back against the bathroom door, guarding it from any potential unwanted visitors.
Like a maid. Or God forbid, his mother.
Ichigo was in the bathroom for nearly thirty minutes before finally bumping into something near the door and alerting him to the fact that she was about to come out of the bathroom. Which was nice since he was able to quickly remove himself and go find a spot somewhere else to hang out.
She walked out of the bathroom with a towel on her head and some of her hair tied up off of her nape in a messy bun, wearing a nice light blue sweater, jeans and socks.
"Damn hair," She muttered darkly. "It's so long that I can't even do tie it up properly."
He huffed a laugh quietly and then pushed away from the wall and walked over to her and started to try and dry her hair a bit more since it was still far too wet for it to be healthy for her to wander around the castle like this. However, with it tied up in its current style, it was a bit harder to dry it than it should have been. Still, he tried.
"Would you like me to brush and style your hair again?" He asked. His fingers all but itching to do so.
"No time. I need to go and do the paperwork and give your brother a break." She said firmly as she dusked under his hands and began walking towards the door.
He blinked at her back but smiled and tossed the towel onto the nearest piece of furniture and began to follow after her. The walk to Gwendal's office was an interesting one to say the least.
Conrad especially enjoyed the various reactions from some of the guards patrolling the castle halls that they passed them. It was the hair, he supposed. Black hair was incredibly rare in those from the Demon Tribe. So much so that only two people to date had ever been born with it.
But then the guards weren't aware that the color wasn't their Queen's natural color. Still...he enjoyed the looks of slack jawed disbelief from them as he and Ichigo passed them by. The looks were funny.
Almost as funny as Gunter's reaction to the new color on Ichigo when they ran into him. Though as funny as Conrad found the older man's reaction, he could tell that the fact that Gunter got a nosebleed and passed out freaked Ichigo out considerably.
Even so...he gently maneuvered her away from the fallen man and led her to Gwendal's office where he let them both in and then shut the door quietly behind them.
As usual, Gwendal was seated at his desk, hard at work on the paperwork. And the man paused to look up at them when he realized that they were there.
Gwendal's reaction to their Queen's new appearance was less funny and more practical. He was startled, sure. But all he did was look at her, blink and then set his pen aside and ask, "What are you doing here, highness? I assumed that you would be preparing for the party this evening."
Ichigo waved one of her hands as she replied. "I'm a simple girl. I don't need hours to prepare for a party. Besides, I thought that it would be nice to come by and do some work for a few hours and give you a break."
Gwendal looked at her as if he wasn't sure what to think. Probably because no one that had ruled them previously had ever bothered to do any serious work before. Much less give any of them a break of any kind.
When it came to everyone in the castle, they were all basically workaholics.
"I see," Was all that the older man said after several heartbeats of silence. His usual frown softening a bit as he stared at her. "I wasn't expecting you to be so eager to do any official work so soon. But as far as today's work goes, I can take care of it. That way you can do other things that may need your attention."
"Like what?" Ichigo asked. Genuinely curious about what could possibly need her attention more than important papers in need of signing.
Gwendal looked taken aback by the question and took a second to wrack his brain for a possible answer. "Like checking up on the flower arrangements for the party."
"Not important enough to require my input." Ichigo said as she crossed her arms over her chest and stared him down.
"Picking out the accessories that you'll wear-"
"Nope." She said with a slight shake of her head. Gwendal's eyes flew to Conrad's face, but his younger brother didn't seem to want to help him here.
"Take a nap?"
Ichigo sighed and stepped forward and grabbed a tall stack of papers before Gwendal could stop her and then walked away with them. "I'll do these while you do those. Conrad would you please get me a pen to use?"
"Of course, your majesty."
"Thank you!" She chirped at the man as she settled herself on the floor between the two couches where the only coffee table was. Gwendal's mouth dropped open in stupefied shock as Conrad spent a few seconds rummaging through his storage drawer to get their Queen the pen that she had requested.
After that, the three of them spent the next hour or so in silence.
Conrad leaning over Ichigo's shoulder while she read and then signed various documents. And Gwendal, trying and failing somewhat to get back to work. His eyes simply kept straying to the young lady working on the dwindling stack that she had basically stolen from his desk.
So, this is our new Queen. He thought as he sighed and steepled his fingers together and rested his chin on them so that he could take a moment or two to observe her. To be honest, he wasn't really sure what to think of the woman. He'd never met a King/Queen that cared for the paperwork before due to how tedious and annoying it was even to him.
But he could at least confess to a sort of begrudging respect for her. After all, she had made a commitment to being their Queen and ruling them entirely and she wasn't backing down from her decision.
If nothing else, he could at least say that he was somewhat impressed by her stubbornness.
"There, done." She said as she finally signed the last piece of paper and set it aside.
Conrad clapped his hands together as he grinned. "Very good, your majesty." He praised her as he leaned down and carefully picked the stack of papers up and then moved them back to Gwendal's desk. Startling the older man out of his thoughts enough to pick up his pen and begin to at least try to look as if he were still busy.
Not that he seemed to fool Conrad any.
His younger brother winked at him playfully as he set the papers down and then walked back to where their Queen was and helped her up off of the floor. Then once she was up, Conrad asked. "Now that the paperwork is finished, what's next on your list?"
Ichigo hummed. "Well, that didn't take as long as I thought it would-"
"That's because you work very efficiently," Gwendal said from across the room as he finally finished up his own paperwork and set his pen aside. "I'm not sure what impresses me more. Your work ethic or how efficient you are at it."
"Uh...thank you." Ichigo said as she flushed a little bit at the compliment.
Conrad blinked at the blush staining her cheeks and then glanced back at his older brother to see if he had noticed. Weirdly, Gwendal hadn't. Which was odd considering that his sharp eyes rarely missed anything.
"Let's see," Ichigo said thoughtfully once she recovered. "I still want you to sit with your family and eat breakfast Conrad. And while you're doing that, I guess I could go back to my room and begin sorting through my things again. Now that my hair is black, it should make putting an outfit together much easier than before."
Conrad nodded his head in understanding as Gwendal stood up behind his desk. "I have patrol. Please give my regards to mother and Wolfram." He quickly said as he started to walk off only to get stopped when his long green coat got hooked on something.
Turning around, he saw that their Queen had his coat in her grasp, and she was giving him a sweet smile. Gwendal knew that smile. He'd been given that smile many, many times over the course of his life. And it never led to anything but suffering, pain, and serious anxiety for him.
"You're eating breakfast with the rest of your family. Then you can run off and go on patrol." She said firmly. And because Gwendal was afraid of saying no to her right then, he slowly nodded his head and then looked at Conrad who merely smiled evilly at him and gave him a thumbs up.