Consequences of the Maou\'s Heart

Chapter 10

Conrart waited outside the door to Yuri’s office listening for the usual sigh that indicated the Maou’s loss of focus on his work before knocking on the door lightly. The sound of paper shifting hurriedly greeted his ears before the Maou’s voice rang out.

“Uh… come in!” Conrart chuckled softly as he dismissed the guards and opened the door.

“Hello again Heika … Yuri.” Conrart found himself some what amused by the haggard expression on Yuri’s face as well as the sigh of relief that accompanied his recognition of Conrart. One would think he had been working for hours instead of the half hour it had taken Conrart to finish eating and excuse himself from the table.

“Conrad! I’m so glad it was you and you even got my name with out me reminding you. I think Gwendal is trying to kill me! He left this monstrous pile of paperwork and even left in some of Annisina’s requests. I came this close being her guinea pig,” he gestured emphatically and wildly as he spoke.

“Heh I doubt he’d try and kill you though paperwork.” Gwendal had informed Conrart of his intentions towards Yuri’s work load and the middle son couldn’t seem to find any pity for Yuri. King and country aside Yuri still the man breaking his little brother’s heart.

“No I bet he’d try to suffocate me with that donkey shark thing he made last month. I just can’t figure out what he’s angry about this time. Maybe it’s because I freaked out and pointed Annisina in the right direction last time she was looking for him.”

“Mmm I don’t think that’s the reason. Heika there are a few things I’d like to discuss with you, perhaps we could work on your pitch while we talk if you have the time?” Conrart could see the hope spring up in the Maou’s eyes as he spoke.

“I’d love to but I don’t think those pit bulls disguised as guards are going to let me out of here any time soon.” Yuri grumbled as he glared at the paperwork on the desk.

“Oh I didn’t see any guards when I came in, perhaps they had other duties to fulfill?”

“If that’s the case lets get out of here before they come back,” Yuri spoke in an excited whisper, as though he expected someone to pop out and stop him if he spoke too loud.

“Off we go then, but you’ll still have to finish your work at some point.” Conrart walked toward the door with Yuri in tow.

“Yeah I will I just need a break and some fresh air to clear my head.” As they exited the room Yuri glanced about to make sure no one saw them leave. The two men walked toward their usual baseball practice spot, the whole time Yuri attempted to ask Conrart what he wanted to talk about but the older man insisted they wait till they were outside of the castle. Yuri began to have a mild suspicion about what the up coming conversation might be about and hoped his godfather wasn’t too mad at him. Before long they stood in the open field that they had played in before the real baseball field was built. It was a huge bit of land that lacked any form of trees or decorative plants and only had a small storage building near the edge closest to the castle. In previous years various pieces of large military equipment resided there but now most of that equipment was stored in buildings just outside the castle walls as they no longer needed to be ready at a moments notice. Yuri’s peaceful relations with the neighboring nations was partly responsible for this, of course having a king who could literally call down the raw forces of nature in a way that surpassed even Shinou Heika’s abilities made them a very poor choice of targets.

“So, you going to tell me what you wanted to talk about Conrad?” Yuri spoke as he rifled through the storage building to get a ball and some gloves. He tossed one of the gloves toward Conrart as he waited for a response. The Maou turned expecting to see Conrart’s smiling face as he put on his glove; instead he was met with the sight of the older man staring blankly at his glove.

“Mmm yes. You have been getting much more … mature lately,” Conrart observed the blush that crossed Yuri’s face before continuing, “Many of the tasks and decisions that a few years ago you avoided you are now facing head on. I’m proud of you for that. I just want to make sure you know that you can come to me, or really any of your advisers, if you need help deciding how or if something needs to be done. I’m not only talking about things related only to your duties as king but anything that might be troubling you.” As he spoke Conrart finished putting on his glove and started walking towards the middle of the field. Yuri followed his actions even as his hung his head slightly.

“Yea jeez Conrad I know that,” Yuri drew in a deep breath of air before sighing heavily, “I guess you talked to Gunter then?”

“Yes we spoke last night; he told me you’d taken an interest in certain traditions.” As they reached the center of the field Conrart turned to face Yuri, taking in the dejected look on the Maou’s face.

“Yea I guess you could put it that way. I… Well I asked him how to break an engagement.” For the first time in his life Yuri found himself afraid to look Conrart in the eyes.

“I trust he made sure to properly inform you on the subject.” Conrart fought to keep his emotions out of his face and voice. Maou or not the boy in front of him held his little brother’s heart and it angered the soldier to think that it was not treated as gently as Conrart thought it should be.

“Yea he told me all about it,” Yuri stole a glance at Conrart, “Hey Conrad um….. are you mad?”

“What reason would I have to be angry Heika?”

“Well… Cause the reason I was asking… I … um well I think I’m going to end me and Wolfram’s engagement.” Yuri’s posture radiated meekness and guilt as he spoke, like a child waiting for his parents in the principal’s office.

“I see,” Conrart was in that moment glad Yuri hadn’t been looking at him as he flinched slightly at the Maou’s words, “I would hazard to guess that you’ve given this considerable thought?”

“Of course! I’ve thought about it a lot. Wolfram is loyal, brave, handsome, and pretty much my best friend. He’s a great guy but I just can’t marry a …guy. If he was a girl I don’t know maybe something could have worked out but he’s not and I just … Argh,” Yuri shook his head frustrated with himself, “And the whole thing isn’t fair to Wolfram. He’s a totally gorgeous pretty boy, I’m sure that if he wasn’t engaged to me there would be people beating down his door wanting to go out with him. Instead he got stuck in this joke of an engagement. He’s never really happy with me even when I try to be nice I just end up messing things up. Maybe he’d be better off with someone else, someone who can accept him as he is.”

“Heika… Yuri you’ve thought this through as a personal matter and while I might not totally agree with your conclusions I can understand how they came to be. However have you considered the political and social ramifications of your decision?” The shocked and confused look on the Maou’s face let Conrart know Yuri had not let political thoughts enter into his decision. “Wolfram is a member of one of the aristocratic families and the son of the former Maou. By all accounts he is the ideal marriage partner for you in the minds of the people; to them it was like a fairytale. It’s one of the reasons there were so few objections to the engagement. Many will wonder why you have suddenly rejected him. There is a fairly good chance that the rumors could turn quite vicious towards either Wolfram or yourself.”

“WHAT!! Fairytale! People really think that? Jeez I can see Wolfram as the Prince Charming type but that’s just weird. And what do you mean rumors?” Yuri was shocked that his relationship with Wolfram was such a public matter, sometimes the magnitude of being the Maou still made him uncomfortable.

“Well infidelity, lack of desirability, and betrayal are the usual rumors. Of course with your engagement being so public and with your position as king it’s nearly impossible to guess every possibility.” In truth Conrart knew the direction many of the rumors would take. His little brother’s sexual nature had been in question for years; some even had the nerve to speculate that the blond had been made a eunuch so that Celi could have something closer to a daughter. The rumors would be vicious, wild, and mostly focused on the lower ranking party; Wolfram didn’t stand a chance.

“Holy cow, that’s not good Wolfram is going to kill me twice over.” Yuri could only stare in horror at the vision of a flame wielding Wolfram hell bent on Yuri’s death that flashed before his eyes.

“I suppose he will be quite angry, of course some of the aristocrats might be angry with you as well. Wolfram is the person they selected to become the Maou in your absence. They may take your choice to mean that you think they were wrong choosing Wolfram and they don’t take being wrong lightly.”

“Great just what I need, a bunch of big wigs with their feelings hurt for no reason,” Yuri threw his hands in the air in frustration before looking at Conrart warily, “Any other depressing insights you want to give?”

“Hum… there are likely to be numerous requests for your hand in marriage once news breaks. Some of them may honestly wish to marry you but I would be willing to bet the majority of them will be attempts at gaining power through the Maou’s marriage bed.” Conrart had seem many such requests come for his mother while she served as Maou, and while Celi hadn’t been naive enough to take the offers Yuri might if not properly warned.

“Ah man. So it’s either marry a guy or be hated and treated like a piece of meat. I might as well just ignore mine and Wolfram’s feelings and marry him to keep the status quo.”

“That’s not what I’m saying Yuri. I just want to be sure you are aware of all the ramifications before you act. Both of you are very important to me and I want the best for you.” Conrart ignored the part of him that wanted to yell that Yuri should marry Wolfram for any and all reasons. It pained him to think that for one of them to be happy the other would suffer.

“Ok I get that it’s a big deal, but isn’t it just going to get worse the longer I wait? I should have set Wolfram free years ago but I guess I just got comfortable having him around. Sure he calls me a cheater and stuff all the time but whenever I really want to do something he’s behind me one hundred percent. The least I can do is give him a shot at happiness. You gotta understand that Conrad, right?” The double black’s eyes looked pleadingly toward Conrart.

“Yes I do understand. Have you decided how you are going to go about it then?” Conrart’s anger at Yuri faded some at the realization that the Maou did care for his younger brother, even if it wasn’t in the way Wolfram hoped for.

“W…well I… um… I was going to go with the k… kiss method.” Blood rushed to Yuri’s face as he thought about what he’d have to do.

“I would imagine so, the others are crueler than you would normally allow. However I was referring more to the when and where.”

“OH! Well I was just working up the courage to do it. I guess I hadn’t really thought about those things.” With a weak laugh Yuri scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

“If I may make a few suggestions?” Conrart waited for the Maou’s nod before continuing. “You’ll need at least one witness there to make it official, but make sure you have as few people there as possible. That should help keep Wolfram’s pride in tact. Don’t just do it and run off, it reflects poorly on you and will only fuel more rumors. Basically just treat the situation delicately, if he sees that you are sincere in your reasons Wolfram is more likely to take everything in stride.”

“Delicately, ok I think I can manage delicate,” Yuri nodded to himself determinedly, he was sure that everything would work out for the best. “Hey Conrad?”

“Yes Heika?”

“Thanks. I know this has to be difficult for you since Wolfram is your brother and all. I don’t want to hurt him but I still think ending it is the best course of action.”

“Perhaps,” for a moment Conrart’s eyes seemed to loose focus before settling on Yuri’s timidly smiling face, “It’s getting late I really should let you get back to work.” Yuri’s smile fell as he thought about the mountain of paperwork he’d left behind and his face worked into a frown when he realized that they hadn’t even thrown one pitch. As the two put up their equipment and began walking back towards the castle Conrart found himself hoping that Gwendal included Yozak’s request to instruct Yuri in disguise techniques in this morning’s paperwork. Watching Yuri’s discomfort might just make him feel better, who said passive aggressiveness was a bad thing.

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In another part of the castle Wolfram was shooing his men away to join the rest of the unit after their talk. The blond closed the door behind them, shutting himself alone inside his study. He had set his plans in motion as best he could with out raising the suspicions of half the castle. Now all he had to do was wait. He was frustrated that there was nothing more he could do until Yuri made his move. He’d been waiting on Yuri since the day he came to their world. The double black had become the center of his life for so many reasons. It was unrealistic to try and avoid Yuri anymore; he was vaguely surprised no one had questioned him on his behavior yet. Lunch was only a few hours away and Wolfram planned to be there doing his best to act the same as he had for the past few years. Numbness washed over him as he contemplated the immediate future, he aimlessly drifted over to the chaise lounge that so many had been forced to model for him on. He carelessly flung himself onto the plush piece of furniture, staring at the wall blankly until his eyes drooped closed of their own accord. And so the former prince drifted off into a thankfully dreamless sleep.

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AN: Phew. You know considering how much I dislike Conrart he is disturbingly easy to write. Next chapter should be the first bit of Yuri and Wolfram interaction. Even I’m not sure how that’s going to turn out.