Pride and Prejudice (2/?)
Title: Pride and Prejudice, a Maruma fic.
Author: isumi’kivic’
Beta: Invikta.
Pairings: YuuriWolfram, possibly other pairings in later chapters.
Warning: This fic contains shounen-ai or yaoi or BL or slash. Definite OOC. You’ve been warned, nya! Read at your own risk! Hoi, hoi!!
Summary: If ‘Pride’ fell for ‘Prejudice’, he would fell into a deep slumber state on his birthday. Will his family let him sleep forever? Will ‘Prejudice’ know and prevent his slumber? Shounen-ai, YuuriWolfram.
Nya! Important information! If you see the following formatted texts:
Pride and Prejudice: The line said by Mr. Darcy.
Pride and Prejudice: The line said by Elizabeth Bennet.
Enjoy the second chapter, minna-san, nya!! Hoi hoi!!
Pride and Prejudice
Chapitre Two: Pride and Prejudice
“…and so, Shinou dwells in his shrine, for he is the Original King, and he will look after Shinmakoku for many, many years to come.” Yuuri finished the last line he had to read from the history book. In his lap, Greta smiled broadly, her eyes twinkled.
“That was very good, Yuuri!!” she squealed. “Shinou is great! Yuuri is, too!”
Yuuri grinned sheepishly. It had been the three days since Greta started to accompany him in his studies with Günter. True, it was much more fun to study with her. He hadn’t been running away from his advisor for three days, which was really a record for him.
“…and Yuuri will be a great Maou, too! Just like Shinou!” his daughter gave him a hug. “Thank you for the story, Yuuri!”
Günter smiled. “Well, Heika, it seems that our lessons have to end for today,” he said, suddenly going into his melodramatic mode. “Even though we have to be parted for a while, Heika, I promise I will be there if you ever need me! I will not fail you, Heika!”
Yuuri sweatdropped. “Uh.. yes, Günter. I’m.. uh.. glad you’re always here,” he laughed nervously at his advisor’s antics. When Greta nudged him, he turned to his daughter. “Saa, Greta, shall we go play now?”
Greta looked at him hesitantly. “Anou, ne.. Yuuri, Greta had promised Sangria to help her making cookies..” her face brightened. “Greta will try to make delicious cookies so we can have a picnic with Wolfram!”
Yuuri raised his eyebrows, a little bit disappointed, but smiled nonetheless. “Sure, Greta. Now go, don’t let Sangria wait long for you.”
The girl cheered and then practically fled from the room in rush excitement. Yuuri merely laughed and shook his head. He turned to Günter. “So, Günter, what are we going to do now?” he said cheerfully, but then frowned when he found his advisor was spacing out. “Günter?”
Günter immediately snapped back into reality. “Ah.. My apologies, Heika. I was thinking about something..” he stood up hastily. “I have to go meet Gwendal now. Do you need me for anything else?”
Yuuri shook his head, amused at his advisor. “No. Oh.. if you meet Conrad somewhere, could you tell him that I’ll be waiting for him at the backyard? I want to play baseball,”
Once again, the advisor looked guilty. “Forgive me, Heika, but Conrad will be in the meeting with Gwendal and myself,” he said. “There’s something important we have to discuss.”
Now, that turned on Yuuri’s interest. “Something important? About what? Don’t I need to know?”
“It’s only something important for my troops, Heika. No need to worry,” Conrad’s voice startled both the Maou and the advisor. Yuuri turned, his face immediately brightened at the sight of his Godfather. Conrad stood in front of the door, smiling.
“Conrad,” Günter acknowledged him. “I assume you’re here to tell us something?”
“Ah, yes,” Conrad smiled. “I just received a notice from Geika. He said that Shouri will come shortly.”
“Eh?!” Yuuri exclaimed. “Shouri?! Really?!”
“Yes, Heika,” Conrad nodded. “He’ll show up in the castle’s fountain, so there’s no need for us to pick him up at Shinou’s Shrine,”
In an instant, the Maou leapt up from the chair he was sitting on and rushed out of the room, shouting, “This is great! Shouri will be here!” Conrad chuckled at his Maou’s sudden spirit.
“Then, I guess our meeting will be delayed because we’ll have to welcome Shouri-heika, am I right?” Günter said casually as he put some books back on the shelves. Conrad nodded, his expression suddenly turned from a smile into a solemn one.
“Have you found something.. anything about this, Günter?” he asked, voice barely a whisper. Günter sighed, and slowly shook his head, expressing his disappointment.
“Unfortunately not. I’ve been reading some books looking for ways to break it, but.. I haven’t found anything useful. I’ve been doing research in order to obtain some information about the mazoku who cast the curse, but I don’t think it’s going well, either,”
“We don’t have much time left,” Conrad murmured, his eyes narrowed in anger and disappointment. “We have only four months before his birthday,”
Günter nodded in understanding. “I know,” he said, casting his gaze outside the window. “We’re doing our best. I hope we’ll make it in time.”
Conrad nodded, flashing a forced smile. “Thank you, Günter,” he said, before heading to the door. He paused, looking at the advisor. “Are you coming to greet Shouri-heika?”
“Of course. I will be there shortly.”
Conrad nodded and exited the room.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
A splash in the fountain was all Yuuri needed to jump straight into the castle’s fountain and hug his older brother, shouting joyously, “Shouri!”
Shouri gasped, face mixture of surprise and relief. “Yuu-chan!” he coughed a bit when he accidentally swallowed some water. “Yuu-chan, let me breath first..”
“Oops. Haha.. I’m sorry, Shouri,” Yuuri grinned, reluctantly releasing his brother. He smiled broadly when Shouri looked up. “Welcome to Shinmakoku again, Shouri! It’s been a while since you came here!”
“Actually, it had been only two days on Earth,” Shouri stood up, gratefully accepting the towel that Günter handed out to him. He glanced up at the people surrounding them: Gwendal, Conrad, Wolfram, Günter, Greta, Murata, some soldiers he didn’t even know, Cecillie and Anissina, and some maids in the castle.
“What a party,” he mumbled under his breath. Yuuri chuckled. “We want to welcome you, Shouri. That’s why everybody is here,” he smiled gently at his brother.
“It’s Oniichan for you, Yuu-chan,” Shouri reminded him, and Yuuri immediately raised his eyebrows in exasperation.
“Anyways,” Yuuri stepped out of the fountain, smiling thankfully at Günter when the advisor handed him a towel. “Murata told us that you were coming. Are you going to stay long?”
Shouri shook his head. “Just for today, I think. I have a surprise for you, Yuu-chan,” the older Shibuya smiled. Yuuri‘s face lit up, already wondering what it might be. “I’ll tell you later.”
“Eeh? Shouri!” Yuuri protested. Shouri chuckled. “Don’t worry, Yuu-chan, you’ll like it.”
“Welcome again, Shouri-heika,” Cecillie winked, giggling like a schoolgirl, and in a second she was already clinging on Shouri’s right arm. “Cute as usual, that’s Shouri-heika. Say, have you got someone in Earth now? I was thinking, maybe..”
“Celi-sama!” Günter rushed forth, grabbing Cecillie’s hand and dragged her away. “That is very impolite and improper, not to mention that it’s the Maou of the Earth, and yet-…!” his dramatic screams could still be heard as he dragged Cecillie back into the castle. Shouri sweatdropped.
Conrad smiled. “Saa, Shouri-heika, forgive us, but Gwendal, Günter and I need to be in the meeting. I assume you wouldn’t mind to be escorted to your room by Wolfram?”
Shouri glanced at the blonde prince standing next to Gwendal. He frowned in wonder when he noticed that Wolfram looked absent-minded. Nonetheless, the Earth Maou nodded.
“Excuse us, then,” Gwendal grunted, whirled around and left, followed Conrad, who flashed Shouri one of his mighty calm smiles.
Shouri turned to Yuuri once they were gone, and smiled.
“Pack some of your things, Yuuri. We’re going to go back to Earth for a while,”
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
“I can’t believe this!” Yuuri exclaimed, grinning widely, as he sank back to his bed. “Shouri got two tickets to watch the final Koshien! I can’t wait!”
Wolfram stared at him in incredulity. “What’s a Kosen?”
“It’s Koshien, Wolfram!” Yuuri pouted. “It’s our biggest baseball tournament!” at this exclamation, Wolfram raised his eyebrows. “You mean.. that silly throw-and-catch game?”
“Wolfram, it’s not a silly throw-and-catch game!” the Maou grunted. “Ah, even if I explained it to you, you wouldn’t understand,” Yuuri stood, crossing the room to find his pyjamas. Shouri had told him at dinner that they were going to watch the final Koshien together. Apparently, Shouri had won a bet with his college friend and got two tickets for Yuuri and him. His older brother told him that they’d go after dinner, so they could get to the Koshien straight away, and get back to Shinmakoku afterwards.
Wolfram looked thoughtful for a moment, before saying brightly, “You know, Yuuri, I think I should come with you,”
“Huh?” Yuuri blinked, unsure of how to react. “Uhm.. why the sudden interest on baseball? I thought you hate the game..”
Wolfram rolled his eyes. “I’m not going to go to that Kashin thing, you wimp. I’ll just wait for you until you get back.”
“It’s Koshien! And don’t call me wimp!” Yuuri protested. “Besides, what are you going to do staying at my house, anyway? You’ll definitely get bored!”
The blonde mazoku shook his head in exasperation. “Yuuri! As your fiancé, I need to know your family better! It’s been quite a while since the last time I saw your mother!”
Yuuri sweatdropped. It’s not like I’m seriously engaged with him.. it was an accident! He thought, subconsciously formed a pout on his face. Wolfram frowned.
“Yuuri!” he yelled, impatient. “No matter what you’d do, I’m coming with you and it’s final!”
Yuuri sighed. “Okay, okay.. chill up, Wolfram. Geez… why the sudden outburst..” he mumbled. Wolfram sent him a glare, and a “Humph!” before sitting back down on their bed.
Silence followed as Yuuri proceeded to take his pyjamas and some other things he needed to take back home. He whirled back, setting his possesions on the bed, and turned back to his fiancé. “Oh, by the way, Wolfr-… Wolfram?”
Wolfram-being silent because of the sleepiness he had been trying to suppress-immediately snapped back to reality. “Huh? What?”
Yuuri frowned. “Are you okay?” there was a hint of concern in his voice. “You look exhausted,”
“I’m fine.” Wolfram snapped. “I’ll go tell Aniue that I’ll go to earth with you. And don’t you dare to go ahead with Shouri-heika without me!”
As the blonde mazoku prince stormed out of the room, Yuuri sighed loudly.
Wolfram.. he shook his head as he thought; always as moody as ever..
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Blood Pledge Castle, late at night..
“I see you let him go with Heika,” Günter spoke softly as he approached Gwendal, who was standing in front of the bookshelves in the library. Gwendal merely grunted, “Hn.”, not turning his attention from the bookshelf before him, still looking for a certain book he needed to read.
Behind Günter, Conrad smiled, looking up from the book he was reading. “I think it’s a good chance for him to be closer with Heika, Günter,” he said, bending down to his book once again, skipping through some pages. “Heika needs to spend more time with him. Or else, he would never get a chance to know Wolfram properly before their marriage,”
Gwendal merely nodded in agreement. Günter turned to Conrad, incredulity shone in his eyes. “And when the marriage would be, Conrad? Next year? Another two years? Does Wolfram even have much more time before..” Günter trailed off as Gwendal turned and shot him a sharp look.
Conrad looked up, and flashed them a dry, tired smile. “Don’t worry, Günter. He will have more time. And we’ll make sure of that,” closing the book he was reading, he got up to another shelf and put the book back. “I still haven’t found anything, yet.. the book I just read did not mention about such curse.. what about you, Gwendal?”
Gwendal picked up an old, thick book from the shelf he’d been facing. “I haven’t either. Just pick up another book and keep looking. There must be something useful we can find to solve this problem.” He swiftly walked to one of the table and sat, starting to read the book.
Günter nodded, before turning his attention to the book he was holding, while Conrad’s eyes scanned the shelf he was facing for another book about curses.
The monotonous tick-tock of the clock silently telling them that it was already past midnight, but they didn’t stop.
For Wolfram.
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“We’re home!” Yuuri cheerfully announced as he made his way out of his room down to the living room, followed by Shouri and Wolfram. There was an excited squeal from the kitchen, and the hurried steps, and Shibuya Miko appeared from the kitchen, eyes gleaming in happiness.
“Yuu-chan! Mama missed you so much!” she hugged Yuuri, practically squeezing him. Yuuri’s arms flew indignantly, trying to break free from his mother’s hug. True, Miko’s hug was not as suffocating as Cecillie’s, but still..
“Kaasan!” the boy protested, finally giving up. Miko reluctantly let him go, giggling madly, before settling his attention to the other two boys. “Welcome back, Shou-chan! And! Wolf-chan!” once again, she squealed, and jumped forth to hug her son’s fiancé. “It’s so good to see you again! How are you?”
Surprisingly, Wolfram didn’t try to break free from her hug. Yuuri’s inner mind fliched at the sight that the blonde was actually smiling happily at his mother. Maybe Wolfram had been so used to Celi-sama’s hug? He wondered curiously.
“I’m doing very well, Mother. Thank you for asking,” politely, the mazoku prince answered. Miko giggled again, before releasing Wolfram. “That’s good, Wolf-chan,” she winked. “And call me Mama,” at this, Wolfram merely smiled.
“Oh, right, Shou-chan, Yuu-chan, you have to rush if you don’t want to be late for the Koshien final,” Miko glanced at the clock. It was only eight in the morning. “Uma-chan would be coming down in a little while. What do you want for breakfast?”
Yuuri grinned sheepishly. “Uhm.. Kaasan.. we just had dinner, so..”
Miko nodded cheerfully. “Okay, then. And you, Wolf-chan, are you will be going with them to Koshien?”
Wolfram raised his eyebrows and shook his head. Miko’s face brightened, and she quickly announced loudly, “In that case, you wouldn’t mind to help me cooking and taste my cookies, would you? Come on!”
As his mother dragged Wolfram-who happily followed her-to the kitchen, Shouri and Yuuri exchanged glances, amused.
“You know, Yuu-chan..” Shouri began casually, “Maybe he wouldn’t be a bad wife after all,”
Yuuri raised on of his eyebrows. “Shouri! I told you it was an accident! How was I to know that slapping his left cheek meant proposing?”
“It’s Oniichan, Yuu-chan.”
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Later at noon..
“Wolf-chan?” Miko turned to the table, surprised at the now sleeping mazoku prince. “Ara, araa.. I don’t know that you were tired. You should have told me before,” she smiled gently. For a moment, the mother of the two Demon Kings was silent, looking at the peaceful sleeping face of the blonde.
“How beautiful..” she sighed, smiling. “Yuu-chan is so lucky to have you as his fiancé. He has to learn to be grateful about it, don’t you think, Wolf-chan?”
The blonde merely shifted a little bit for a more comfortable position, unaware of his surroundings.
After another long moment of silence, Miko got up, skipped happily to her room to take her digital camera. A great opportunity shouldn’t be wasted! She thought; giggling all the way back to kitchen. Maybe she could use the picture later to tease Yuuri. Who knows, perhaps this picture would be a beginning of a beautiful love adventure between her son and the young Prince.. she sighed dreamily at the thought. Carefully taking a good angle with the camera, she slowly snapped a picture of the sleeping Prince.
The camera flashed brightly.
“Uhhn..” Wolfram stirred, looking sleepy and tired. His eyes instantly fell upon the smiling figure of Miko, who hastily had hidden her digital camera behind her back. Wolfram raised an eyebrow. “Mother?”
Miko giggled, her eyes softened at the sight of the sleepy mazoku. “Wolf-chan, if you’re tired, you can sleep in Yuu-chan’s bedroom. It’ll be more comfortable,”
“Ah.. did I fall asleep?” Wolfram quickly straightened his posture, trying to blink away the sleepiness. “No, No need for that, Mother. I’m sorry I fell asleep.”
Miko smiled. “Now, Wolf-chan, you looked tired. Why don’t you take a little nap while waiting for Yuu-chan? I’ll wake you up if they come home,”
“Really, Mother, I’m fine.” The blonde prince smiled back. Miko nodded. “Well.. if you say so. Anyway, I was just wondering.. how are things going in Shinmakoku? How’s everyone? Is Greta well? Has Celi come back from her voyage? How about Gwendal, Conrad, and Günter?”
“Ah.. yes. Greta and everyone else are good. They’re doing great, actually. Thanks to Yuuri,” Wolfram answered, idly playing with the end of the tablecloth. “Hahaue is staying in Blood Pledge Castle. She said she wants to spend some time in the castle, and she doesn’t think she’ll be gone again for quite a long while.”
Miko nodded, and then, more curiously and cheerfully, asked, “What about you, Wolf-chan? How’s everything going? How’s your relationship with Yuu-chan?”
The cheerful question actually took Wolfram out guard. The blonde was silent for a moment, before hastily answering in a solid tone, “Of course it’s fine as usual, Mother. Why wouldn’t it be?”
Miko’s eyes glinted in understanding, before sighing and rising to her feet. She smiled at Wolfram, and grabbed his arms, dragging him to the living room. Wolfram obediently followed, not knowing what was she going to do.
“Look here,” she pointed at the bookshelf. “Do you see those black cases? Those are DVDs. They play movies.”
Wolfram’s eyes raised in confusion. DVDs? Movies? What were they?
She grinned happily as she forced him to flop down on the couch, before skipping happily to the bookshelf and took one of the DVDs thing. She then opened the case, taking out the circle, silver disc and put it in a machine placed near the big screen Wolfram had known as a TV.
“Mother?”
“Just watch,” she hummed happily. “This movie is one of the best. It’s based on a novel, a romance storybook. It’s such a lovely novel!” She squealed as she casually sat down on the couch next to Wolfram. “The title is Pride and Prejudice. I’d love to have you read the book, too, but since you can’t read it, then I guess, it’ll be just fine if you watch the movie.”
Wolfram’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he turned his attention to the now blinking thing called TV. Miko sat comfortably next to him, eyes fixed on the screen, sighing dreamily once in a while as the movie started.
And, even though Wolfram didn’t understand how those people could fit into the big screen called TV, he was still transfixed by the movie all the while they were watching. He felt a familiar longing crept up on his heart every time he saw two characters staring at each other with such obvious love in their expression.
“They’re good actors,” Miko commented in a mumble, but Wolfram almost didn’t hear her. His gleaming emerald eyes were intent on the screen.
Slowly, he knew why Miko had wanted him to watch this.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Conrad and Gwendal stopped their steps as they caught a sight of the Daikenja in front of the fountain in Shinou Shrine. Murata Ken smiled knowingly as the two mazoku princes nodded respectfully at him.
“Von Voltaire-kyo, Weller-kyo,” Murata nodded back. “It is very unusual for you to come without Yuuri.”
“It’s an important matter.” Gwendal spoke curtly. “Have we your permission to talk to Shinou?”
Murata raised his eyebrows, not expecting Gwendal to be very straightforward about this problem. True, Gwendal was always being straightforward, but he was just asking to talk with Shinou! “Well, seeing as how both of you seem very anxious about this, I can’t help but wondering what might be the problem that brought you here. Am I allowed to be in your conversation with Shinou, then?”
Conrad merely smiled. “Of course, Geika. And we would like Ulrike to know, too.” He glanced at the priestess who stood behind Murata. Ulrike looked a little surprised, but then nodded.
‘Very well, then.” Murata turned around. “Come on.”
The Daikenja led them to the room where the boxes were kept. Gwendal and Conrad exchanged glances as they walked nearer to the door. Ever since the event with Soushu, they always had a certain bad feeling whenever they were going to go inside the particular room.
Murata firmly opened the door and led them inside. Sure enough, Shinou was there, standing and smiling his infamous confident smile to greet them.
In an instant, Gwendal and Conrad knelt before the original Maou. Shinou smiled. “Raise, Von Voltaire-kyo, Weller-kyo. It’s a pleasure to meet both of you again,”
Reluctantly, the two mazoku princes rose to their feet. Shinou smiled, his eyes glinted with understanding.
“I assume you come here to talk about Von Bielefeld-kyo?”
Conrad nodded. “Yes. We.. been looking for any information we could find about the curse, but there was none.”
Shinou nodded, satisfied. “And you came here to ask for my help.” He stated as-a-matter-of-factly. He turned to Murata, who already stood next to him. “And, you’re hoping that my sage would be able to give you advice about this.”
“Yes, Heika.” Gwendal said. Murata looked at Shinou in exasperation. “What is this about?”
Shinou smiled, a victorious one, towards his sage. “My Daikenja, do you not know anything about this? If so, then this is the first time you have let a precious piece of information slip away,”
Murata raised an eyebrow. “Well, Shinou, I have to admit that I’ve been very busy lately.” He grinned. “Weller-kyo, would you mind telling me what curse are you talking about?”
Gwendal and Conrad exchanged looks. Hestitantly, seeing as his brother wouldn’t bother to explain, Conrad began, “Wolfram had been cursed-unknown to us all, and even to Wolfram. Hahaue was the only one knew, and she told us about this last week.”
Murata cocked his head in curiosity. “And? What’s the curse?”
“If..” Conrad stopped for a moment, contemplating on how he should explain without wasting too much time. “If Wolfram fell for a Maou-in this case, Yuuri-heika-on his next birthday, he would be trapped between life and death.”
Murata looked interested. “Needless for me to tell you that Von Bielefeld-kyo has already fallen for Shibuya,” he stated. “And.. how did he get cursed?”
“It’s a long story,” this time, Gwendall huffed in exhaustion. “But to make it short, let’s just say that someone was jealous at Hahaue, and cast a curse to the child she was pregnant with, which in that time, happened to be Wolfram.”
“I see.” Murata nodded. He actually wanted to know more about the story, but he figured he could ask Cecillie personally later. The two mazoku princes before him seemed to be in no mood on wasting any time. “So, we have only four months before Von Bielefeld-kyo’s birthday, am I right?”
“Yes,” said Conrad. “That’s why, we intend to find a way to remove the curse before his birthday comes.”
Once again, the Daikenja nodded in understanding. He turned to Shinou. “Unfortunately, at this moment, I don’t have any idea to solve this problem. Does Von Bielefeld-kyo know about this curse?”
“Yes,” Conrad replied. “But he denied that he has fallen for Yuuri-heika,”
“Ah, I see,” Shinou smirked. “Von Bielefeld-kyo’s pride is really high,”
“Aside from the fact that he might not want to make everybody worried and treat him differently,” Ulrike spoke for the first time. “Isn’t he always like that?”
Gwendal gave a heavy sigh as an answer.
“Does Shibuya know?” Murata asked, already guessing the answer. He smiled when Conrad slowly shook his head, confirming his guess.
“Then, Shinou?” Murata turned to the original Maou, who kept silent since Conrad began his story. “Do you have any idea on how to break the curse?”
Shinou still looked thoughtful for a moment. “You said you’ve tried to look for information about the curse,” he said, more like talking to himself. “Have you considered to find a descendant from this mazoku who cursed Von Bielefeld-kyo? Some powerful magicians chose to give all their knowledge about magic to their descendants so that the magic would never be gone. Perhaps if we could find the heir, he might know something-any clue-to break the curse.”
Gwendal and Conrad looked surprised. They hadn’t even thought about it!
“Then again, Shinou-heika,” Conrad argued, “We don’t know the mazoku’s name. We only knew his physical appearance, based on Hahaue’s memory. Is it enough?”
“Nothing’s impossible, Weller-kyo,” Shinou smirked. “We still have four months, and I’m certain that there’s more than enough time to find his descendant. In the mean time,” he gestured to Murata and Ulrike. “My Daikenja and Ulrike could keep looking to find the way to break the curse.”
Murata nodded. “I think this is the best that we can do now.”
Gwendall and Conrad looked at each other, relief evident in their eyes. “Thank you, Shinou-heika.”
Shinou smiled. “Ah. It’s just my way to pay for the problems I’ve caused you all.”
Gwendal nodded gratefully and respectfully. “We still have duties to do. Excuse us, Shinou-heika, Geika.” He looked at the priestess and nodded again. “Ulrike,”
“Please be safe on your way back,” Ulrike replied, smiling. Conrad smiled back. “We will.”
As the two mazoku princes exited the room, Murata sighed.
“No wonder Von Bielefeld-kyo looked easily exhausted nowadays,” he shook his head. “I have noticed it, but I couldn’t confirm my suspicion.”
“As expected of my Daikenja,” Shinou smiled. “And if you don’t mind, my sage, would you do a favor? Not exactly for me, but more for Von Bielefeld-kyo,”
Murata stare at the original King, contemplating his answer. Sometimes Shinou’s wish could be very unreasonable. “Depends on what you want me to do.”
“It’s an order, then,” Shinou replied easily, and Murata rolled his eyes. The original Maou chuckled at his reaction.
“I want you to help Shibuya Yuuri to realize his feelings,” Shinou said. “No matter what it cost. To be honest with you, I have a feeling that we won’t be able to break the curse in time.”
“Shinou-heika..” Ulrike began, a bewildered expression on her face, but the original Maou raised his right hand, silently telling her to be silent. “This does not mean that I’m being pessimistic, not at all. But looking at the situation at this moment, we don’t have much chance to break the curse. That’s why, we should give Von Bielefeld-kyo his wish before he runs out of time.”
Murata looked at Shinou, trying to read the gleaming sapphire orbs. At last, the Daikenja sighed.
“I’ll do what I can, Shinou,”
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Shibuya Miko smiled widely in satisfaction when she was done with setting the table for dinner. Next to him, looking exhausted, was Wolfram. Although the youngest prince looked very tired, he was still smiling at Miko’s bright face.
“This is great!” Miko squealed. “Everybody will come home soon, and then we can have dinner together. I’m done with my kare, and.. Wolf-chan, do you think we should make dessert?” the mother of Shibuya family skipped back to the kitchen, humming tones in a cheerful voice.
“Yuu-chan really likes ice cream for dessert,” Miko said cheerfully as she opened the fridge and started to look for ice cream boxes. She pulled out one box of ice cream and whirled around. What’s your favorite flavor, Wolf-chan?”
She frowned at the now spacing out mazoku. Looking blankly at the kitchen counter, Miko noticed the exhausted and sleepy eyes. Raising her eyebrows in concern, she called, “Wolf-chan?”
The blonde mazoku seemed to be far away in his thought. Miko frowned, worried. “Wolf-chan?” she waved in front of the emerald eyes. “Wolf-chan? Hello??”
Blinking, Wolfram snapped back to reality. “Ah..” he stuttered, and the smiled apologetically. “I’m sorry, Mother. What did you say?”
Miko scrutinized the blonde’s features. “Wolf-chan, you look tired. You really should go to bed and rest for a while.”
Again, Wolfram shook his head at the invitation. “I’m alright, Mother, don’t worry.” He said almost idly. He blinked several times to shove the sleepiness away. Why am I easily exhausted lately? He wondered, not noticing he was spacing out again. When Miko clapped her hands in front of his face, he startled. “Ah.. I’m sorry.”
“See, you are tired..” Miko sighed. “At least sit down and rest. I’ll take care of the dessert. Okay, Wolf-chan?” she gave Wolfram a stern look, and Wolfram had to nod. He wondered how on Shinmakoku Miko managed to give him that stern look.. as if Wolfram was her own child.
At this thought, Wolfram smiled softly.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Shibuya Shouma patiently filled the plastic pool he had drag to the backyard with water, once again, while Shouri was helping Yuuri, Miko and Wolfram bringing all the things Miko had insisted Yuuri had to take back to Shinmakoku.
“These are presents for everyone!” Miko announced happily. “Send my hugs and kisses to Greta, Yuu-chan. Tell her her Grandma misses her!”
Yuuri sweatdropped. “Yes, Kaasan,”
“It’s Mama, Yuu-chan!”
Yuuri rolled his eyes. Wolfram was already at the backyard, talking with Shouri. His mother had pulled him back inside, saying that she had something important to tell Yuuri.
“Ne, Yuu-chan, do you realize there's something wrong with Wolf-chan?" Miko's statement startled the Maou. Yuuri looked at his mother as if his mother had grown a second head. Receiving Yuuri's reaction, Miko just laughed softly, part amused and part surprised that Yuuri didn't notice what she had noticed about Wolfram.
"Oh, Yuu-chan, don't you notice? He's your fiancé, you know, give more attention to him,"
Yuuri rolled his eyes. "Kaasan, I thought I've told you that our engagement is an accident! He's a boy!"
Miko's eyes glinted. "But, Yuu-chan, he seemed to be serious about it, don't you think?"
Yuuri sighed. "Well, he probably thinks that it's part of his duty.."
Miko waved her hands in dismissal. "Now, Yuu-chan, that's not what Mama wants to talk about. Don't you notice that he looks exhausted?"
Now that she mentioned it.. Yuuri's eyes strayed to the backyard, looking at the particular subject his mother was talking about. Sure enough, the blonde mazoku looked kind of tired. "Ehh.. it's probably because he didn't get enough sleep?" Yuuri grinned sheepishly, realizing that it was a lame excuse. His mother shook her head in amusement.
"Yuu-chan, you should give him more attention..."
"Kaasan, I'm sure he's alright. He's probably just a little tired. Don't worry," Yuuri smiled. "And Wolfram is very strong. I'm sure he's okay,"
Before Miko had a chance to answer, Wolfram's voice came. "Yuuri! Wimp, what are you doing? We have to get back quickly! We don't know how long you've gone in Shinmakoku! Aniue will kill me if we come home late!"
Smiling triumphantly, Yuuri winked to Miko. "See, Kaasan? I told you, he's okay!" and before Miko could argue, he gave her a quick hug and ran out of the house. "I'm coming, I'm coming! Don't call me wimp!"
Shaking her head in slight disappointment and concern, Miko finally yelled, "It's Mama, Yuu-chan!"
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Blood Pledge Castle, Shinmakoku..
Night once again had fallen peacefully, lulling the inhabitants of the castle with its calming darkness, only brightened with the shines of the stars and the Goddess of Night, peeking shyly behind the dark clouds. It was nearly midnight, and most of the living creatures had surrendered into the embrace of deep sleep, seeking joyous dreams and escaping dreadful nightmares.
Except, maybe, for a certain blonde mazoku prince, who was lying on the Royal Bed, next to his beloved King and little Princess. The striking emeralds were still opened, occasionally blinking, but they were hazy with clouds of thoughts. Yes, there was something in Wolfram’s mind.
I have struggled in vain and can bear it no longer. These past months have been a torment.
Wolfram’s eyes blinked once again, and softly, he let out a heavy sigh.
It’s been a torment.. he silently agreed. And yet, I can’t tell him what I feel for him.. what a coward..
Then again, If I told him, what would his reaction be like? Disgust? Anger? He is prejudiced… but I can’t blame him for this. He is raised in a society that denies this kind of relationship. However, knowing him.. he probably wouldn’t take my feelings seriously. He would thought that I was only kidding, that this engagement is still there because I think it’s part of my duty to protect him..
Slowly, the emerald eyes shifted until finally fell upon the unaware, sleeping Maou.
Another reason that I can’t tell him… I can’t let him break the engagement. I wouldn’t lose my pride. I’m the strong, proud Wolfram von Bielefeld. To have a wimpy Maou humiliate me by breaking off the engagement.. that absolutely will not happen. If anyone is going to break the engagement, I am the one who will break it first.
A small, bitter smile made its way upon his face as the deepest corner of his mind spoke.
But Wolfram, you know what those people talked about behind your back. ‘The poor youngest Prince who is not wanted at all by the Maou, although he is Heika’s fiancé.’ It’s hurting your pride. Would it make any difference now?
No.. he admitted bitterly. But I will not let anybody hurt my pride further.
Thank you. Perhaps these offences might have been overlooked had not your pride been hurt by my scruples about our relationship.
The particular line he had heard earlier reverberated in his mind. A very soft sigh once again came from the prince.
Will you ever say that to me, Yuuri? Will the day when you finally love me ever come? Will you ever apologize like Darcy did?
You’ve hurt me, Yuuri. So much than you’ve ever thought. By the way, have you ever thought that you might have caused me any pain? No.. perhaps not. You’re just.. being you.
Then again… hadn’t I hurt anyone with my pride? Like Elizabeth Bennet did..
Am I hurting Yuuri by keeping this engagement?
If I had broken off the engagement a long time ago.. Yuuri would probably have a girl as his fiancée by now. Beautiful and graceful girls in Shinmakoku aren’t rare. Yuuri would easily find one without me, shouting and getting angry at him every time he talks to a girl..
Yet, I wouldn’t be happy.
Your arrogance and conceit, your selfish disdain for the feelings of others made me realise you were the last man in the world I could ever marry.
The emerald eyes closed slowly. The deepest corner of the prince’s heart started to interrogate himself.
Aren’t you, Wolfram? Arrogant. Conceited. Selfish. Aren’t you? You must’ve hurt so many people.. not to mention Yuuri, too..
Yes, I am.. the blonde admitted half-heartedly.
Then, that’s probably why Yuuri will never even smile at you the way he smiles to your brother. You always show everyone your negative side.. never your positive one. If you showed the positive one.. you’d mask it with another negative side..
And why is that? The deepest corner in his heart who knew everything asked.
The emerald eyes fluttered open.
I don’t know..
A small smile tugged at the corner of his lips. Rolling his incredible emerald orbs, Wolfram cursed himself for being so sentimental.
But.. the thing called movie that Miko had shown him had taken an important portion of his mind. To think that such sentimental thing would resemble his and Yuuri’s characters so much..
Wolfram let out an amused chuckle at himself.
As the sleepiness slowly overcame him, Wolfram turned to face his so-called family: Yuuri and Greta. A genuine smile crossed his face, and slowly, his eyes closed, hiding the incredible emerald behind his eyelids.
Everything would be okay.. he told himself before drifting off to the Land of Dreams. Everything would be okay…
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A/N: Some.. euh.. technical stuff I have to explain here..
Originally, I planned to make Wolf-chan read the novel, not watch the movie. After all, the novel is just incredible. Well, so is the movie.. but really, the novel is much better. Nya, the suspense! Ehem. Saa, like Miko stated, Wolfram couldn’t read the novel because the writings wouldn’t be in Mazoku language, ne? But Wolfram could understand if he watched the movie, because Anissina’s invention (I forgot the invention’s name) would already be set in his ears if he was to come to Earth. Otherwise, he wouldn’t understand a word everybody’s saying. Hehe..
This is actually a question for all of you who read this: Who do you think resembles Wolf-chan more: Darcy or Elizabeth? I personally think both Darcy and Elizabeth were proud, and yet prejudiced to the other. Therefore, in later chapters, I’ll make some reference of Darcy and Elizabeth to either Wolfram or Yuuri. If you noticed, in this chapter, I referred to both Darcy and Elizabeth when I wrote about Wolfram’s pride.