FIC: Suitors - (Chapter 04: Sneakiness in the Key of Cheri)
Title: Suitors - (Chapter 04: Sneakiness in the Key of Cheri)
Author: Batty_Gal a.k.a Tetra26
Rating: T
Fandom: Kyou Kara Maou
Pairing: Wolfram x ???
Word Count: 3954
Fic Type: Ongoing
Fic Summary: After Wolfram ended his engagement in a fit of rage, suitors from all around started to flock to the castle to seek his hand - much to Gwendal's dismay. Who will capture his heart? A random noble? Murata? Yozak? And, what about Yuuri? Sequel to 1 Up.
Chapter Summary: An unwanted guest shows up at Blood Pledge Castle. No, not THAT unwanted guest.
Previous Chapters: 1 ~ 2 ~ 3
Prequel: 1 Up: 1 ~ 2 ~ 3 ~ 4 ~ 5 ~ 6 ~ 7 ~ 8 ~ 9
Suitors (Chapter 04: Sneakiness in the Key of Cheri)
by Tetra26/Batty Gal
Cecilie von Spitzberg glided through the empty Ballroom, mentally placing the decorations and finalizing the layout planned for the upcoming event. Though the Ball was two more weeks away, and she had planned it for quite some time, she still found herself coming there every day just to tweak things.
It was important that things were placed right, and that things went right. If not, the purpose of even planning this event and what she hoped would be the fallout would fail.
She had planned, plotted, and calculated things for quite some time. This event would hopefully be the catalyst to move things along in a way she saw fit.
If not, then she feared that Wolfram would become even closer to falling into the same trap as Gwendal and Conrart had. All three of her boys were stubborn, but hopefully her youngest would find someone to his liking before his stubbornness caused him to give up on love altogether.
And what of His Majesty, Yuuri?
She detected a newfound weariness in the king when it came to issues of love, one that bothered her as well. He had not even been jaded like Wolfram and her other boys had, and it seemed as if he were already about to write the notion of love off. It bothered her, because she though of him as another son.
She hoped beyond hope that there was at least two people out of the entire set of people she invited that would pique their respective interests. To her, there were not many things worse than completely giving up on love, especially when repressed emotions seemed to quickly follow.
She had watched it happen with her two older sons, Shinou be damned if she wanted to see it happen to her baby boy as well.
Yuuri stared across the table where Wolfram had nodded off and was lightly snoring, biting his laughter back as he watched Günter stoop down to speak in his ear.
“Are you enjoying your dream, Wolfram?” Günter asked. Yuuri was amused to find that Günter - when annoyed - had an eye-twitch that rivaled even Gwendal's.
It took an extra amount of self-control not to laugh out loud when Wolfram sleepily mumbled “yes”.
“We're enjoying your dream, too,” he said. “Are we in it?”
Yuuri gripped his chair in order to restrain himself as Wolfram's eyes shot open and he practically fell out of the chair he had been dozing in.
“What's going on? What am I doing here?”
“You claimed you came here to brush up on your studies, but I'm suspecting that's not your true intent,” Günter said, accusingly.
And, he was right.
Yuuri was certain that Wolfram volunteering to come study with him and Günter was in order to avoid having to deal with the suitors.
It had been two weeks since Gwendal - true to his word - had decided to step back and let Wolfram take on his own responsibility, and it had become a game to him to watch how Wolfram did anything but. He and Murata poked fun and laughed at Wolfram for some of the things he did to get out of meeting suitors, or - if he was caught off-guard by one of them - running them off. He was amused by Wolfram's theatrics, but he was saddened that he had to go through it at the same time.
He had continued his observations of Murata and Yozak, and their respective relationships with Wolfram. He still wasn't certain if Yozak and Wolfram had something romantic going on together, or if he was simply reading into the whole thing wrong. He felt like a tool sometimes when he found himself hiding behind bushes and pillars, spying on the two talking and walking together from a distance. Aside from that one time where he overheard Wolfram asking Yozak to come to his room, he hadn't been able to get close enough to hear what they discussed without being discovered by one of them (usually Yozak). He had a time coming up with excuses as to why he was lurking in the shadows, among other things.
He was completely unsure of what was going on with Wolfram and Murata.
One of Wolfram's favorite ways to get away from his various suitors was to confine himself to the shrine - where Murata was often there with him. It was the sole place that the suitors couldn't breech. Yuuri had casually asked Murata once what Wolfram and he were up to there, but Murata had only smiled at him and said “nothing much”.
Still, he hadn't failed to notice how Murata stared intensely at Wolfram sometimes, or that Wolfram often stared back at him with a pensive look. However, Murata had not brought up being interested in pursuing Wolfram again, at least not around him. He was not certain if Murata was doing so when he spent time alone with Wolfram.
As he watched Wolfram and Günter bicker over whether or not Wolfram should be allowed to continue sitting in on the lesson, his mind started to drift to the recurring dream he kept having about Wolfram.
In it, he kept seeing Wolfram in a white and gold uniform, standing beside another man who's physical features were blurred to him - but also wearing an identical suit. He was certain it was some ceremony, but he wasn't sure which kind.
In his dream, he was seated with whom he supposed were the guests. Ulrike was standing in front of Wolfram and the unidentified man, chanting some sort of incantation. Wolfram would turn away from her, and look back at him with an indescribable look. It was then that he would wake up.
He didn't know the significance of the dream - or even if it even had one at all. What he did know, however, was that every time he had it he woke up feeling anxious.
He didn't like that feeling. Not one bit.
After being physically removed from Yuuri's lessons by Günter, Wolfram stomped off, calling him everything but a child of Shinou.
So he had fallen asleep during the lesson. So what? After that incident with one of those opportunist idiots sneaking in his room while he was asleep and waking him up with a pathetic serenade, he had been on edge. He was tired, crankier than normal, and utterly annoyed by the suitor business.
Though his brothers had warned him to take his time before picking one, Wolfram was close to giving in. The guy from last week hadn't been all that bad; maybe he should call him back to the castle? He considered writing out an apology for setting fire to the man's wooden leg, lest he be wary of coming back and having it become reduced to ashes once more.
He glanced out the window, and noted with disgust that yet another carriage was coming. He quickly looked around him, pondering where to go off too. He could not make it to the shrine in time, and most of his other options were out as well. Not only were the suitors persistent, somehow they had been learning - perhaps from each other - where all of his hiding places were.
He looked at the carriage once more with dismay, before fleeing down the hallway. He hoped that Gisela wouldn't mind company for the evening.
Besides, the cabinets in her work room looked to be quite roomy enough for hiding in.
Gwendal blinked slowly at the guest that stood in front of him. It took all of his willpower not to cave in the ground right underneath his feet.
“Hello, cousin,” Herschel von Voltaire said to him.
“What are you doing here?” he asked, incredulously. He hoped it was not for the reason he though it might be. If so, he knew that there was no way he would be able to keep his promise to back off.
He had been proud of himself for managing to keep his word, which was no small feat. Especially after the serenader. That had made him almost go back on his word as well. In fact, if Wolfram had not chased him off, he most certainly would have.
Herschel smiled at him. “Well, I was invited here. For the Ball.”
“That Ball isn't for another two weeks, and I don't remember your name being on the list,” he said, narrowing his eyes in suspicion.
“Well, I received an invitation,” he said, fishing it out of his inner coat pocket. “I came early because, well, I was free,” he said.
“Free, huh? Does that have to do with the rumors you were kicked out of your father's home?” Gwendal asked., taking the invitation from him. He opened it, and gave it a quick glance over.
He gasped upon reading how his mother had worded the invitation. He sincerely hoped that Herschel's had been forged or written on a whim, and that all the other invitations that Mother had sent out didn't say the very same thing. If so, there was going to be far more trouble than he had imagined.
Double the trouble, to be exact.
Yuuri (fresh out of his lessons), and Wolfram (fresh out of Gisela's cabinets), stood alongside Murata, Yozak, and several others that had paused in their work, watching the argument in front of them between Gwendal and his cousin.
“Absolutely, positively not. You cannot stay here,” Gwendal said.
“Aw, cousin, don't be that way!” the man that Yuuri had learned was Herschel von Voltaire, said.
Yuuri had instantly been taken by how he and Gwendal looked in comparison. Where Gwendal was solidly built, Herschel was lithe - as if a light wind could pick him up and carry him away. While Gwendal's face appeared to be permanently grim, his cousin's face showed permanent mirth instead. And though Gwendal's hair was charcoal-gray, Herschel's was salt-and-pepper.
It was quite obvious that they were family, however. Aside from having the same shade of eyes, their facial features were quite similar, though Gwendal's were screwed up in absolute loathing at that moment.
“You are not welcome to stay here, especially not overnight!”
“Why am I not welcome? I'm family! You shouldn't turn your back on family!” he shot back.
“I will not have you here practicing your perverted ways on the people in this castle!”
“I promise to be on my best behavior! Besides, I have nowhere else to go since Dad put me out.”
“I wonder why,” Gwendal said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
“I can't help it if my reputation decrees me!”
“It's 'precedes', not 'decrees', Herschel.”
“I was close enough! Either way, the rumors that I'm a pervert are highly exaggerated. Do I look like a pervert to you?” he asked, an innocent look on his face.
“Yes. Yes you do.”
“Hey! I can't help it if they can't find a good maid to stick around. Totally had nothing to do with me not being able to keep my hands to myself. Nope, not at all.”
Yuuri turned to ask Wolfram about the implications of Gwendal's cousin being a pervert
“Who exactly is this fellow?” Yuuri whispered to Wolfram.
“Gwendal's cousin. Mediocre archer, sub-par air mazoku, and renowned pervert,” Wolfram whispered back. “I hope he isn't here for what I think he's here for,” he said, and sighed.
Yuuri looked at Wolfram, who stood with his arms crossed and a dispassionate look on his face. He noticed how tired Wolfram looked, and between that and him falling asleep during the lesson, he was certain that he wasn't sleeping at night.
And, who could hardly blame him? Yuuri thought that he must be on edge due to being awakened in the middle of the night by a crooning suitor. Yuuri knew that he had felt a similar way the first few times Wolfram had crept into his own room, especially that time he was naked.
He shoved away the memory as quickly as it came, but not before remembering how he had briefly considered something that time. He still wasn't sure what that something was, because he would never entertain the thought long enough to find out.
He did, however, consider asking Wolfram to sleep with him again - at least for awhile. Sometimes at night, he would wake up missing him there - and Greta never slept with him anymore. She considered it improper for her age.
All in all, it was kind of lonely sometimes.
Still, even if he asked, he knew that Wolfram would decline. Right after their engagement had broken up, he had begged him to go back to their old way of doing things - including sleeping together. Wolfram never relented, though. He simply said it was better that way.
Yuuri often wondered who it was better for. Wolfram? Or him? The both of them? Usually, that annoying voice at the back of his mind would say it was better for Wolfram - and Yuuri didn't want to think about why it could be right. Doing so meant he would have to admit to himself things that he had noticed but actively ignored for years.
In other words, it meant he would have to face all of what had happened - and didn't happen - between him and Wolfram. Yuuri wasn't sure when, if ever, he could stop putting it off.
It was then that Herschel noticed Wolfram. “Wolfram! Is it really you? You've really grown up nicely!” he said. He tried to make his way over to where Wolfram was standing, but was blocked by Gwendal.
“Like I said. Goodbye.”
“Gwendal, can I at least say hello to Wolfram? I haven't seen him ages!”
“Now you've seen him. Now you can leave.”
A loud squeal of happiness sounded out behind him.
“Herschel, darling! Look at you!” Cheri rang out.
Yuuri watched as she ran up to him and gave him one of her famous chesty hugs.
He muffled out something, and she pulled away. “I'm sorry, what was that?”
“Nice to see you too!” he said, breathlessly. He didn't bother to pretend he wasn't staring at her chest, and Yuuri vaguely wondered what it must be like to be that bold.
“You're kind of early for the Ball, aren't you?” she asked.
“Bad luck has befallen me,” Herschel said, woefully. “I have lost my living place. I came here early to see if I might have a place to rest my tired, overburdened mind, before I set off to find myself.”
“Well, I would of course let you stay-”
“Mother!” Gwendal and Wolfram exclaimed.
“-but it's not up to me,” she finished. “However, since His Majesty is here, why not ask him?”
Yuuri felt Wolfram tense beside him, and knew that was the last thing he wanted. He hated being put on the spot like that, and anxiously watched as Herschel's sights set on him.
Yuuri bit his lip as Herschel walked over to him. He was about to speak, but paused as Herschel's eyes lighted up. Yuuri turned around to see who it was he was looking at, and saw that behind him stood Gisela. Günter was beside her, glaring at Herschel as intensely as Gwendal was.
“Gwendal, is there even room for him? I mean, with your mother back, accommodations might be a little too cramped,” Günter said. “Besides, with his reputation, I worry about my daughter's virtue - as well as your brother's.”
Yuuri wondered just what kind of reputation Gwendal's cousin had that warranted such opposition to his presence - especially from Günter, of all people.
“The only virtue that you need to be worrying about is your own,” Herschel said as he quickly ducked away from his spot in front of Yuuri and smoothly slid up beside Günter. “You're still beautiful, after all these years. Did you know that you were my first crush? The fun times I had with you in my mind...” he trailed off, suggestively.
“Young man!” Günter said, his face completely scandalized. He glared over to where Murata and Yozak were snickering.
Yuuri was fairly certain he now understood why Herschel von Voltaire had the reputation he did. He wasn't sure he wanted such a person around Wolfram.
He mentally corrected the part about “around Wolfram” to “around anyone”, and refused to address why he made that mistake in the first place.
“I would appreciate it if you would not say such things about me,” Günter said to Herschel. He crossed his arms, and glared harder at him.
“You know, the older you get, the more beautiful you become. If I fail at pursuing my cousin's brother, you wouldn't hold it against me if I came after you next, would you?”
“This is why you can't stay here!” Gwendal practically shrieked as Wolfram squawked and Günter's face turned bright red in fury. “I won't have someone like you pursuing my brother! It was bad enough that pompous windbag of a brother of yours tried to, I'm not dealing with you as well!”
“Gwendal, don't be like that! Besides, I would love to have the honor of accompanying Wolfram to this event,” Herschel said, and winked lewdly at Wolfram.
“I already have a date,” Wolfram said, quickly.
Yuuri glanced over at Wolfram. He wondered if Wolfram really had a date, or if he was lying to get Herschel off his back.
“I'm sorry to hear that,” Herschel said, sadly. “What about you, Gisela?”
“Yes, I do have a date,” she said, as quickly as Wolfram.
“Pity. Günter?”
“What are you going to do? Go down the line? No one here is going to attend with you, now leave,” Gwendal said.
“Your Majesty, I am so very glad we could finally meet,” Herschel said suddenly, addressing Yuuri for the first time.
Yuuri watched as he bowed elaborately.
“Nice to meet you,” he said. He hoped he didn't sound as unconvincing as he thought he did.
“You know, you're far more attractive than they say you are. I could see myself with you. Or in you, even. You wouldn't happen to have a date for the Ball, would you?”
Yuuri's mouth dropped open at how quickly Gwendal's cousin came on to him after only having spoke to him for a few seconds.
“No, he doesn't,” Murata said cheerfully, and Yuuri briefly wondered what the punishment was for murdering the Sage when you were the Maou.
“So, would you like to attend with me?”
“Yuuri's only interested in women. I should know,” Wolfram said, and it was Yuuri's own turn to tense up at the way he said it.
“Really? You limit yourself like that? Love is love, be it between a man and woman, woman and woman, or man and man,” Herschel said. “If you ever find someone who loves you, you shouldn't be so quick to dismiss them over something like that. You may be letting your happiness float away.”
Yuuri thought it was probably the most poignant thing he had ever heard. Perhaps there was more to Herschel than being a pervert, after all?
“Besides, in the dark it's all the same. Unless, of course, you're on the receiving end of things. There was this one time I got drunk in the Spitzberg territory and woke up unable to move beside this man named Brutus. He had the hugest-”
“Enough!” Gwendal bellowed, as Yuuri decided that all hope was lost for Herschel von Voltaire. “Listen, we don't have the room. Now, there's several inns in town, I would be happy to arrange for you to stay in one of them.”
“I don't have much money-” Herschel started.
“I'll pay for it, myself!” Gwendal said. “Just... go. Yozak?”
“Yes?” Yozak asked.
“Direct him back into town after I finish arranging things, will you?”
“Sure. No problem.”
Gwendal turned back to Herschel. “As for you, I don't want to see you again until that wretched Ball, do you hear me? In fact, I don't want to even hear your name around me! If I catch wind of you stepping foot on these grounds before then, the consequences will be grave.”
Yuuri figured that Herschel had realized that Gwendal was on the verge of homicide. He just nodded at him - though the smile on his face never left.
“Mother! Did you send this invitation to him?”
“Yes I did. Why?”
“Why wasn't his name on the invite list?”
“Must have slipped my mind, I suppose,” she said.
“Did any other invitees slip your mind?” he asked, rubbing at his right temple.
“Maybe a few, here and there,” she said.
“Wolfram, come here,” Gwendal said.
Yuuri watched as Wolfram stepped over to him.
“Read this,” he said, holding out what he supposed was Herschel's invitation.
He watched Wolfram read the invitation, his eyes growing wider and wider.
“Mother! How could you put that in there! Great Shinou's ghost, help me! Yuuri, come here!”
“What''s wrong?” he asked, alarmed. He walked over beside Wolfram.
“Just... read this,” Wolfram said, unceremoniously thrusting the invitation in his hands.
Yuuri couldn't help but stare at how scandalized Wolfram looked. He had a feeling that what he was about to read wasn't a good thing at all.
He slowly started to read the invitation, wondering just what had Wolfram so shook. When he neared the end, he saw what it was that had Wolfram up in arms.
“Murata?” he asked, feeling light-headed.
“Yes?” Murata questioned.
“Suddenly, I remember that we can't be here for this Ball. I forgot about that important baseball event we were supposed to be attending.”
“What important baseball event?”
“The one I just happen to be attending that falls on the same night of the Ball. Now if you'll excuse us, we really have to get back to Earth,” Yuuri said to the others.
He ran up to Murata, and grabbed his hand. “We'll be back. Eventually,” he called behind him, dragging Murata to the closest fountain.
“Oh no you don't! You're not leaving me alone in this!” Wolfram said, running behind him and grabbing him by the waist.
“Let me go!”
“No! You're staying here with me!”
“I don't want to!”
“Don't be such a wimp, you're staying and that's that!”
“I don't wanna!”
Dearest friend,
You are cordially invited to the Royal Ball at Blood Pledge castle on Moon 3, Day 14, Year 4 of the 27th Maou. The Ball will start at seven and will end at midnight.
The Shin Makoku Orchestra will be performing pieces from some of the greatest Mazoku composers to have ever existed - from past legends to more contemporary ones. Also, renowned tenor Kord von Karbelnikoff will be performing a few selections as well.
There will be even more entertainment, as well as refreshments in the form of appetizers, desserts, and an extensive selection of wines.
We sincerely hope to see you here as we utilize this event to search for spouses for both Lord Wolfram von Bielefeld and His Majesty Shibuya Yuuri. With luck, that special someone might end up being you.
Sincerely,
Lady Cecilie von Spitzberg
Author's note: This is the re-edited version of this chapter. I changed Conrad to Conrart, corrected a few other errors, and took out a subplot that was going nowhere. Next Chapter: Part one of the longest night EVER starts as Wolfram shows up with “Kelby”. Plus, Yuuri falls in and out of love in the span of a minute.
Author: Batty_Gal a.k.a Tetra26
Rating: T
Fandom: Kyou Kara Maou
Pairing: Wolfram x ???
Word Count: 3954
Fic Type: Ongoing
Fic Summary: After Wolfram ended his engagement in a fit of rage, suitors from all around started to flock to the castle to seek his hand - much to Gwendal's dismay. Who will capture his heart? A random noble? Murata? Yozak? And, what about Yuuri? Sequel to 1 Up.
Chapter Summary: An unwanted guest shows up at Blood Pledge Castle. No, not THAT unwanted guest.
Previous Chapters: 1 ~ 2 ~ 3
Prequel: 1 Up: 1 ~ 2 ~ 3 ~ 4 ~ 5 ~ 6 ~ 7 ~ 8 ~ 9
Suitors (Chapter 04: Sneakiness in the Key of Cheri)
by Tetra26/Batty Gal
Cecilie von Spitzberg glided through the empty Ballroom, mentally placing the decorations and finalizing the layout planned for the upcoming event. Though the Ball was two more weeks away, and she had planned it for quite some time, she still found herself coming there every day just to tweak things.
It was important that things were placed right, and that things went right. If not, the purpose of even planning this event and what she hoped would be the fallout would fail.
She had planned, plotted, and calculated things for quite some time. This event would hopefully be the catalyst to move things along in a way she saw fit.
If not, then she feared that Wolfram would become even closer to falling into the same trap as Gwendal and Conrart had. All three of her boys were stubborn, but hopefully her youngest would find someone to his liking before his stubbornness caused him to give up on love altogether.
And what of His Majesty, Yuuri?
She detected a newfound weariness in the king when it came to issues of love, one that bothered her as well. He had not even been jaded like Wolfram and her other boys had, and it seemed as if he were already about to write the notion of love off. It bothered her, because she though of him as another son.
She hoped beyond hope that there was at least two people out of the entire set of people she invited that would pique their respective interests. To her, there were not many things worse than completely giving up on love, especially when repressed emotions seemed to quickly follow.
She had watched it happen with her two older sons, Shinou be damned if she wanted to see it happen to her baby boy as well.
Yuuri stared across the table where Wolfram had nodded off and was lightly snoring, biting his laughter back as he watched Günter stoop down to speak in his ear.
“Are you enjoying your dream, Wolfram?” Günter asked. Yuuri was amused to find that Günter - when annoyed - had an eye-twitch that rivaled even Gwendal's.
It took an extra amount of self-control not to laugh out loud when Wolfram sleepily mumbled “yes”.
“We're enjoying your dream, too,” he said. “Are we in it?”
Yuuri gripped his chair in order to restrain himself as Wolfram's eyes shot open and he practically fell out of the chair he had been dozing in.
“What's going on? What am I doing here?”
“You claimed you came here to brush up on your studies, but I'm suspecting that's not your true intent,” Günter said, accusingly.
And, he was right.
Yuuri was certain that Wolfram volunteering to come study with him and Günter was in order to avoid having to deal with the suitors.
It had been two weeks since Gwendal - true to his word - had decided to step back and let Wolfram take on his own responsibility, and it had become a game to him to watch how Wolfram did anything but. He and Murata poked fun and laughed at Wolfram for some of the things he did to get out of meeting suitors, or - if he was caught off-guard by one of them - running them off. He was amused by Wolfram's theatrics, but he was saddened that he had to go through it at the same time.
He had continued his observations of Murata and Yozak, and their respective relationships with Wolfram. He still wasn't certain if Yozak and Wolfram had something romantic going on together, or if he was simply reading into the whole thing wrong. He felt like a tool sometimes when he found himself hiding behind bushes and pillars, spying on the two talking and walking together from a distance. Aside from that one time where he overheard Wolfram asking Yozak to come to his room, he hadn't been able to get close enough to hear what they discussed without being discovered by one of them (usually Yozak). He had a time coming up with excuses as to why he was lurking in the shadows, among other things.
He was completely unsure of what was going on with Wolfram and Murata.
One of Wolfram's favorite ways to get away from his various suitors was to confine himself to the shrine - where Murata was often there with him. It was the sole place that the suitors couldn't breech. Yuuri had casually asked Murata once what Wolfram and he were up to there, but Murata had only smiled at him and said “nothing much”.
Still, he hadn't failed to notice how Murata stared intensely at Wolfram sometimes, or that Wolfram often stared back at him with a pensive look. However, Murata had not brought up being interested in pursuing Wolfram again, at least not around him. He was not certain if Murata was doing so when he spent time alone with Wolfram.
As he watched Wolfram and Günter bicker over whether or not Wolfram should be allowed to continue sitting in on the lesson, his mind started to drift to the recurring dream he kept having about Wolfram.
In it, he kept seeing Wolfram in a white and gold uniform, standing beside another man who's physical features were blurred to him - but also wearing an identical suit. He was certain it was some ceremony, but he wasn't sure which kind.
In his dream, he was seated with whom he supposed were the guests. Ulrike was standing in front of Wolfram and the unidentified man, chanting some sort of incantation. Wolfram would turn away from her, and look back at him with an indescribable look. It was then that he would wake up.
He didn't know the significance of the dream - or even if it even had one at all. What he did know, however, was that every time he had it he woke up feeling anxious.
He didn't like that feeling. Not one bit.
After being physically removed from Yuuri's lessons by Günter, Wolfram stomped off, calling him everything but a child of Shinou.
So he had fallen asleep during the lesson. So what? After that incident with one of those opportunist idiots sneaking in his room while he was asleep and waking him up with a pathetic serenade, he had been on edge. He was tired, crankier than normal, and utterly annoyed by the suitor business.
Though his brothers had warned him to take his time before picking one, Wolfram was close to giving in. The guy from last week hadn't been all that bad; maybe he should call him back to the castle? He considered writing out an apology for setting fire to the man's wooden leg, lest he be wary of coming back and having it become reduced to ashes once more.
He glanced out the window, and noted with disgust that yet another carriage was coming. He quickly looked around him, pondering where to go off too. He could not make it to the shrine in time, and most of his other options were out as well. Not only were the suitors persistent, somehow they had been learning - perhaps from each other - where all of his hiding places were.
He looked at the carriage once more with dismay, before fleeing down the hallway. He hoped that Gisela wouldn't mind company for the evening.
Besides, the cabinets in her work room looked to be quite roomy enough for hiding in.
Gwendal blinked slowly at the guest that stood in front of him. It took all of his willpower not to cave in the ground right underneath his feet.
“Hello, cousin,” Herschel von Voltaire said to him.
“What are you doing here?” he asked, incredulously. He hoped it was not for the reason he though it might be. If so, he knew that there was no way he would be able to keep his promise to back off.
He had been proud of himself for managing to keep his word, which was no small feat. Especially after the serenader. That had made him almost go back on his word as well. In fact, if Wolfram had not chased him off, he most certainly would have.
Herschel smiled at him. “Well, I was invited here. For the Ball.”
“That Ball isn't for another two weeks, and I don't remember your name being on the list,” he said, narrowing his eyes in suspicion.
“Well, I received an invitation,” he said, fishing it out of his inner coat pocket. “I came early because, well, I was free,” he said.
“Free, huh? Does that have to do with the rumors you were kicked out of your father's home?” Gwendal asked., taking the invitation from him. He opened it, and gave it a quick glance over.
He gasped upon reading how his mother had worded the invitation. He sincerely hoped that Herschel's had been forged or written on a whim, and that all the other invitations that Mother had sent out didn't say the very same thing. If so, there was going to be far more trouble than he had imagined.
Double the trouble, to be exact.
Yuuri (fresh out of his lessons), and Wolfram (fresh out of Gisela's cabinets), stood alongside Murata, Yozak, and several others that had paused in their work, watching the argument in front of them between Gwendal and his cousin.
“Absolutely, positively not. You cannot stay here,” Gwendal said.
“Aw, cousin, don't be that way!” the man that Yuuri had learned was Herschel von Voltaire, said.
Yuuri had instantly been taken by how he and Gwendal looked in comparison. Where Gwendal was solidly built, Herschel was lithe - as if a light wind could pick him up and carry him away. While Gwendal's face appeared to be permanently grim, his cousin's face showed permanent mirth instead. And though Gwendal's hair was charcoal-gray, Herschel's was salt-and-pepper.
It was quite obvious that they were family, however. Aside from having the same shade of eyes, their facial features were quite similar, though Gwendal's were screwed up in absolute loathing at that moment.
“You are not welcome to stay here, especially not overnight!”
“Why am I not welcome? I'm family! You shouldn't turn your back on family!” he shot back.
“I will not have you here practicing your perverted ways on the people in this castle!”
“I promise to be on my best behavior! Besides, I have nowhere else to go since Dad put me out.”
“I wonder why,” Gwendal said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
“I can't help it if my reputation decrees me!”
“It's 'precedes', not 'decrees', Herschel.”
“I was close enough! Either way, the rumors that I'm a pervert are highly exaggerated. Do I look like a pervert to you?” he asked, an innocent look on his face.
“Yes. Yes you do.”
“Hey! I can't help it if they can't find a good maid to stick around. Totally had nothing to do with me not being able to keep my hands to myself. Nope, not at all.”
Yuuri turned to ask Wolfram about the implications of Gwendal's cousin being a pervert
“Who exactly is this fellow?” Yuuri whispered to Wolfram.
“Gwendal's cousin. Mediocre archer, sub-par air mazoku, and renowned pervert,” Wolfram whispered back. “I hope he isn't here for what I think he's here for,” he said, and sighed.
Yuuri looked at Wolfram, who stood with his arms crossed and a dispassionate look on his face. He noticed how tired Wolfram looked, and between that and him falling asleep during the lesson, he was certain that he wasn't sleeping at night.
And, who could hardly blame him? Yuuri thought that he must be on edge due to being awakened in the middle of the night by a crooning suitor. Yuuri knew that he had felt a similar way the first few times Wolfram had crept into his own room, especially that time he was naked.
He shoved away the memory as quickly as it came, but not before remembering how he had briefly considered something that time. He still wasn't sure what that something was, because he would never entertain the thought long enough to find out.
He did, however, consider asking Wolfram to sleep with him again - at least for awhile. Sometimes at night, he would wake up missing him there - and Greta never slept with him anymore. She considered it improper for her age.
All in all, it was kind of lonely sometimes.
Still, even if he asked, he knew that Wolfram would decline. Right after their engagement had broken up, he had begged him to go back to their old way of doing things - including sleeping together. Wolfram never relented, though. He simply said it was better that way.
Yuuri often wondered who it was better for. Wolfram? Or him? The both of them? Usually, that annoying voice at the back of his mind would say it was better for Wolfram - and Yuuri didn't want to think about why it could be right. Doing so meant he would have to admit to himself things that he had noticed but actively ignored for years.
In other words, it meant he would have to face all of what had happened - and didn't happen - between him and Wolfram. Yuuri wasn't sure when, if ever, he could stop putting it off.
It was then that Herschel noticed Wolfram. “Wolfram! Is it really you? You've really grown up nicely!” he said. He tried to make his way over to where Wolfram was standing, but was blocked by Gwendal.
“Like I said. Goodbye.”
“Gwendal, can I at least say hello to Wolfram? I haven't seen him ages!”
“Now you've seen him. Now you can leave.”
A loud squeal of happiness sounded out behind him.
“Herschel, darling! Look at you!” Cheri rang out.
Yuuri watched as she ran up to him and gave him one of her famous chesty hugs.
He muffled out something, and she pulled away. “I'm sorry, what was that?”
“Nice to see you too!” he said, breathlessly. He didn't bother to pretend he wasn't staring at her chest, and Yuuri vaguely wondered what it must be like to be that bold.
“You're kind of early for the Ball, aren't you?” she asked.
“Bad luck has befallen me,” Herschel said, woefully. “I have lost my living place. I came here early to see if I might have a place to rest my tired, overburdened mind, before I set off to find myself.”
“Well, I would of course let you stay-”
“Mother!” Gwendal and Wolfram exclaimed.
“-but it's not up to me,” she finished. “However, since His Majesty is here, why not ask him?”
Yuuri felt Wolfram tense beside him, and knew that was the last thing he wanted. He hated being put on the spot like that, and anxiously watched as Herschel's sights set on him.
Yuuri bit his lip as Herschel walked over to him. He was about to speak, but paused as Herschel's eyes lighted up. Yuuri turned around to see who it was he was looking at, and saw that behind him stood Gisela. Günter was beside her, glaring at Herschel as intensely as Gwendal was.
“Gwendal, is there even room for him? I mean, with your mother back, accommodations might be a little too cramped,” Günter said. “Besides, with his reputation, I worry about my daughter's virtue - as well as your brother's.”
Yuuri wondered just what kind of reputation Gwendal's cousin had that warranted such opposition to his presence - especially from Günter, of all people.
“The only virtue that you need to be worrying about is your own,” Herschel said as he quickly ducked away from his spot in front of Yuuri and smoothly slid up beside Günter. “You're still beautiful, after all these years. Did you know that you were my first crush? The fun times I had with you in my mind...” he trailed off, suggestively.
“Young man!” Günter said, his face completely scandalized. He glared over to where Murata and Yozak were snickering.
Yuuri was fairly certain he now understood why Herschel von Voltaire had the reputation he did. He wasn't sure he wanted such a person around Wolfram.
He mentally corrected the part about “around Wolfram” to “around anyone”, and refused to address why he made that mistake in the first place.
“I would appreciate it if you would not say such things about me,” Günter said to Herschel. He crossed his arms, and glared harder at him.
“You know, the older you get, the more beautiful you become. If I fail at pursuing my cousin's brother, you wouldn't hold it against me if I came after you next, would you?”
“This is why you can't stay here!” Gwendal practically shrieked as Wolfram squawked and Günter's face turned bright red in fury. “I won't have someone like you pursuing my brother! It was bad enough that pompous windbag of a brother of yours tried to, I'm not dealing with you as well!”
“Gwendal, don't be like that! Besides, I would love to have the honor of accompanying Wolfram to this event,” Herschel said, and winked lewdly at Wolfram.
“I already have a date,” Wolfram said, quickly.
Yuuri glanced over at Wolfram. He wondered if Wolfram really had a date, or if he was lying to get Herschel off his back.
“I'm sorry to hear that,” Herschel said, sadly. “What about you, Gisela?”
“Yes, I do have a date,” she said, as quickly as Wolfram.
“Pity. Günter?”
“What are you going to do? Go down the line? No one here is going to attend with you, now leave,” Gwendal said.
“Your Majesty, I am so very glad we could finally meet,” Herschel said suddenly, addressing Yuuri for the first time.
Yuuri watched as he bowed elaborately.
“Nice to meet you,” he said. He hoped he didn't sound as unconvincing as he thought he did.
“You know, you're far more attractive than they say you are. I could see myself with you. Or in you, even. You wouldn't happen to have a date for the Ball, would you?”
Yuuri's mouth dropped open at how quickly Gwendal's cousin came on to him after only having spoke to him for a few seconds.
“No, he doesn't,” Murata said cheerfully, and Yuuri briefly wondered what the punishment was for murdering the Sage when you were the Maou.
“So, would you like to attend with me?”
“Yuuri's only interested in women. I should know,” Wolfram said, and it was Yuuri's own turn to tense up at the way he said it.
“Really? You limit yourself like that? Love is love, be it between a man and woman, woman and woman, or man and man,” Herschel said. “If you ever find someone who loves you, you shouldn't be so quick to dismiss them over something like that. You may be letting your happiness float away.”
Yuuri thought it was probably the most poignant thing he had ever heard. Perhaps there was more to Herschel than being a pervert, after all?
“Besides, in the dark it's all the same. Unless, of course, you're on the receiving end of things. There was this one time I got drunk in the Spitzberg territory and woke up unable to move beside this man named Brutus. He had the hugest-”
“Enough!” Gwendal bellowed, as Yuuri decided that all hope was lost for Herschel von Voltaire. “Listen, we don't have the room. Now, there's several inns in town, I would be happy to arrange for you to stay in one of them.”
“I don't have much money-” Herschel started.
“I'll pay for it, myself!” Gwendal said. “Just... go. Yozak?”
“Yes?” Yozak asked.
“Direct him back into town after I finish arranging things, will you?”
“Sure. No problem.”
Gwendal turned back to Herschel. “As for you, I don't want to see you again until that wretched Ball, do you hear me? In fact, I don't want to even hear your name around me! If I catch wind of you stepping foot on these grounds before then, the consequences will be grave.”
Yuuri figured that Herschel had realized that Gwendal was on the verge of homicide. He just nodded at him - though the smile on his face never left.
“Mother! Did you send this invitation to him?”
“Yes I did. Why?”
“Why wasn't his name on the invite list?”
“Must have slipped my mind, I suppose,” she said.
“Did any other invitees slip your mind?” he asked, rubbing at his right temple.
“Maybe a few, here and there,” she said.
“Wolfram, come here,” Gwendal said.
Yuuri watched as Wolfram stepped over to him.
“Read this,” he said, holding out what he supposed was Herschel's invitation.
He watched Wolfram read the invitation, his eyes growing wider and wider.
“Mother! How could you put that in there! Great Shinou's ghost, help me! Yuuri, come here!”
“What''s wrong?” he asked, alarmed. He walked over beside Wolfram.
“Just... read this,” Wolfram said, unceremoniously thrusting the invitation in his hands.
Yuuri couldn't help but stare at how scandalized Wolfram looked. He had a feeling that what he was about to read wasn't a good thing at all.
He slowly started to read the invitation, wondering just what had Wolfram so shook. When he neared the end, he saw what it was that had Wolfram up in arms.
“Murata?” he asked, feeling light-headed.
“Yes?” Murata questioned.
“Suddenly, I remember that we can't be here for this Ball. I forgot about that important baseball event we were supposed to be attending.”
“What important baseball event?”
“The one I just happen to be attending that falls on the same night of the Ball. Now if you'll excuse us, we really have to get back to Earth,” Yuuri said to the others.
He ran up to Murata, and grabbed his hand. “We'll be back. Eventually,” he called behind him, dragging Murata to the closest fountain.
“Oh no you don't! You're not leaving me alone in this!” Wolfram said, running behind him and grabbing him by the waist.
“Let me go!”
“No! You're staying here with me!”
“I don't want to!”
“Don't be such a wimp, you're staying and that's that!”
“I don't wanna!”
Dearest friend,
You are cordially invited to the Royal Ball at Blood Pledge castle on Moon 3, Day 14, Year 4 of the 27th Maou. The Ball will start at seven and will end at midnight.
The Shin Makoku Orchestra will be performing pieces from some of the greatest Mazoku composers to have ever existed - from past legends to more contemporary ones. Also, renowned tenor Kord von Karbelnikoff will be performing a few selections as well.
There will be even more entertainment, as well as refreshments in the form of appetizers, desserts, and an extensive selection of wines.
We sincerely hope to see you here as we utilize this event to search for spouses for both Lord Wolfram von Bielefeld and His Majesty Shibuya Yuuri. With luck, that special someone might end up being you.
Sincerely,
Lady Cecilie von Spitzberg
Author's note: This is the re-edited version of this chapter. I changed Conrad to Conrart, corrected a few other errors, and took out a subplot that was going nowhere. Next Chapter: Part one of the longest night EVER starts as Wolfram shows up with “Kelby”. Plus, Yuuri falls in and out of love in the span of a minute.