Chapter Text
At one point, I fell asleep under the beach umbrella.
“O-ow… cramp…”
Greta is still sleeping with her head on my lap when I wake up, her half-finished necklace of shells hanging from her hand. Carefully I unravel it from her loosened fingers and rest it on the mat next to her.
“Feeling better now?”
Wolfram is still weaving his necklace next to us, his fingers working deftly. It’s mesmerizing, how expertly he does it, that I end up staring. It’s like how in those old stories princesses would sit by the window doing their embroidery.
“Wolf, can I have that when you’re done with it?”
He looks at me like I’m still half asleep. “Greta said we’re making our own ones.”
It’s a beachside family project, I know. But I suddenly remembered how those old princesses would give their embroidered handkerchiefs to the wandering samurais, like a traditional version of putting scented love letters into senpai’s locker.
“I’m not a samurai, but I would like one. A handcrafted love letter.” Besides, we’re quite traditional, aren’t we? Starting off with that ancient proposal method, then the ancient duel method—
“Why are you smiling like an idiot?”
“Nothing~ I was just wondering how we managed to get here in the first place.” That was quite the disastrous first meeting, come to think of it. And after that—“We sure went through a lot of obstacles.”
“You can say that again. I had to beat so many formidable opponents, including and not limited to my own brothers.”
“What do you mean, opponents?”
“Yuuri, don’t tell me you still can’t see how they all clamor for your attention?” He ties a knot on the sturdy string, and bites off the remaining thread. The unadultered pretty-boy wildness kind of throws me into a daze for a while, so much so that I almost forget what we were talking about.
“Is that so? I thought the only ones clamoring for my attention were you and Günter.”
“Hmph, I never considered him my competition.”
That’s a lie, why else do you get so agitated whenever he tried to catch me? Like earlier…
“Even if I know you won’t ever cheat on me again, you can’t stop other people trying to seduce you. And even though I know they won’t get your heart, I don’t want to share your body with anyone else either.” He hangs the completed necklace over my head like putting a collar over a puppy.
Once, I might have gotten annoyed with his possessiveness and strange choice of words. “Hehehe…”
“What are you laughing about!?”
Now, all I can think is how cute he is, and how lucky I am to have him all to myself. But my skin is not thick enough for me to say that yet, so instead I look at the sea.
“The sunset sure is beautiful, isn’t it?”
The sun and sea are a brilliant shade of orange, while the sky is the prettiest shade of pink. Even the clouds are wisps of light orange, turning to purple nearer to the other size of the sky where the moon is slowly rising.
“Hmph, it’s just as beautiful in the capital as well, if you bothered to look.”
“Mn.” I lace my fingers with his. “Then remind me to watch the sunset with you more often.”
“Yoo-hoo! Your Majesty!”
We quickly pull our hands apart, and I pretend to be surprised when Josak comes running up to me. To be fair, it’s not like I'm not the least bit surprised, and just a little bit resentful. But at least nothing’s jangling as he runs.
“C’mon, Young Master, we’re one person down!”
Eh? Did you bring a mahjong table to the beach?
“Hey, I want to join too!”
Wolf, do you even play mahjong? I mean, you should at least ask what they’re doing before volunteering as tribute.
“Greta wants in too!”
“G-Greta!?” Was she awake the whole time!?
“Yay, then let’s make it a family-themed volleyball game!”
I still prefer baseball, though.
Over on the makeshift court, Conrad is waiting for us with a kind smile, while Murata is slowly edging away from the net.
“Your Eminence! What do you think you’re doing?”
“I just thought you didn’t need me anymore.” Murata reaches to push up his glasses, before remembering that he’s wearing contact lenses, so his hand continues upwards to flick his hair away from his face like a certain spiky-haired main character. Nice save, Murata, but I’m still mad at you for lying to me about those powered sunglasses.
“Aww, but I wanna play with Your Eminence!”
“You say ‘play with me’, but all you do is hit the ball over my head, while Lord Weller aims for my gl—my face.”
Conad’s kind smile turns even kinder.
“And besides, I can’t fight against Lord von Bielefeld, who was trained as a soldier since young. I can’t even fight against Shibuya.”
What’s with that afterthought?
So it’s two against two? I look around. “Who else was playing just now?”
“His Excellency, but then Anissina-chan…” Josak’s voice trails off, but what he said was enough.
“By the way, what’s with that suspiciously moving duffel bag on the side of the court?”
“Oh, this?” Josak follows my gaze, and pats the bag raucously. No, that’s more like slapping than patting now. “Just some snacks. You know, even ladies like me get a little hungry after strenuous exercise.”
That’s not just ‘a little’ hungry anymore. And Gurrier, you seem way too happy that you get to ‘eat’ Lord von Voltaire.
But in order to save Gwendal from death by experimentation, I decide not to say anything. I can’t but help wonder, though, if this holiday is as relaxing for Gwen as I’d hoped it would be.
Greta stares at the tall net, and wisely says, “I wanna be the referee!”
“Then I’ll be the score-keeper.” Murata moves over to the scoreboard – who prepares all these things!?—and rubs off the existing team names. “Who’s in which team now?”
“I want to be with His Majesty!” Josak pounces on my shoulders, squeezing my head in his pecs. At times like this, I kinda miss Lady Cherie. It’s giving me a headache.
“Then the other side will be a team of brothers?”
“Gurrier, get away from my fiancé!” Wolfram jabs a finger at Josak, looking like an angry angel of war in the sunset.
“If you want him, you’ll have to defeat me first!”
“What do you mean, Josak?” I poke him in the solar plexus. Damn, even that part is hard as rock. “They’ll have to defeat both of us.”
“Yuuri!?”
I meet Wolfram’s emerald eyes, and I know my own must be shining oddly. “Wolf, what’s the score between us?”
As expected of my fiancé, he catches on quickly. “I see.” He starts to turn his neck left and right, stretching out his hands and feet. “Today we settle the score.”
“The loser has to do one thing for the winner.”
“Fine by me.”
“Oh? This is like déjà vu.” Murata looks between Wolfram and me, and then to Conrad and Josak amusedly. “I’m almost jealous, it must be nice to have a proper RIVAL.”
I look above my shoulder to Gurrier, who gives me a wink. “Do you hear that, Young Master? That’s why tonight we can’t lose to them, okay?”
You mean today. But true, it’s almost nighttime.
“We settle this before sundown!”
“Yeah!”
“Ah, the power of youth…” Günter’s sigh comes from somewhere near our feet, and is muffled when the first serve hits him straight in the face.
After sundown, we all return to the nearby resort for a bath before doing what I’d always wanted to do on a beach at night—have a barbeque around the bonfire.
The air is warm and humid from the sea foam, but it’s still a bit too cold (and silly) to wear our sandy swimsuits at night as well. That’s why I’m glad Günter had ordered a new set of yukatas for us all, fixing some of the obvious issues with the previous design from that matsuri they organized last time, even though we’re nowhere near a shrine now. If there’s anything bad about the situation, it’s now I can’t help but stare at all the wide open chests, especially Günter’s.
“Ah, no~ Stop, Your Majesty, stop looking at me~”
I want to stop, too, but there’s just some morbid fascination that keeps me staring. It’s the result of his easily-sunburned skin, then that shady ‘Quinn’s Invention’ sunblock Josak gave him, plus that BDSM-style swimsuit…
“He looks like a ganguro okapi.”
Unfortunately, only Murata would understand that joke.
“Here you go, Yuuri.” Conrad gives me a fish he just finished cooking, and Josak immediately protests.
“Captain! Where’s my portion?”
“Coming right up,” Conrad smiles wryly, and while he’s distracted I pass the fish to Greta, saying, “Little girls can’t afford to go hungry.”
“Eh? Then what about you, Yuuri?”
“Don’t worry, I can make one for—”
Before I can finish the sentence, Wolfram takes the empty stick from my hand and exchanges it for another cooked fish.
“Wolf…”
“No need to thank me.”
“No, what I was going to say is, don’t think you can get away with just this.”
And with that I have the pleasure of seeing him stiffen up, his face red in the firelight.
Yup, that’s right. Team JoYuu won the Shin Makoku first ever beach volleyball tournament just now.
“That’s not fair!” Wolfram hisses in a low voice. “Conrad was holding back!”
“Now, now, don’t be a sore loser~ Even though you still look cute doing it.” Crap, did I say that out loud?
Wolf glares at me sideways. “Look at them and tell me he didn’t do it on purpose.”
As the winner in their match-off, Josak ordered Conrad to be his servant for the night. Usually the only person Conrad served was me, but since we were on holiday and the area was secure, it seems Conrad could make an exception tonight—or maybe Gwendal was just too occupied to stop them.
“Now that you mention it, Conrad sure looks happy for a servant, and Gurrier pulled him into the bath as well—Could he be a natural M?”
“No way, he’s definitely an S.” Murata cuts in immediately.
“…You know, it’s bad to eavesdrop. And how are you so sure? You don’t know him that well, do you?” And you were really against him in the beginning too, back when he was still on the other side.
“It’s true I’m not that familiar with him, but Gurie-chan knows him best.” So at night, no matter where, Gurrier is now Gurie-chan?
Now Wolfram is curious too. “Does Gurrier talk to you a lot about my brother?”
“Hmm, not really. Not anymore than he does about the other guys at his bar, or you, Yuuri.”
Maybe it’s because he knows you won’t be interested in listening to him talk about Conrad?
“Is that so?” Conrad says suddenly from over my shoulder. You know, eavesdropping is really bad! Bad for my heart, too! “Pray, tell me more. What does he say about me?”
Lord Weller sure is inquisitive tonight.
“If you wanna know, Cap’n, you could just ask me.” Josak is sitting with his legs crossed, and the yukata isn’t doing much to hide anything. I look away instantly, but I catch Conrad staring for a second too long before Gwendal finally snaps at them to behave.
Poor Gwen, he looks even crankier than ever. I would be, too, if I were pressed under the sea and nearly drowned trying to hide from the Poison Lady. Drowning in three feet of seawater-- what a way to go that would be, for a mazoku as strong and as esteemed as Lord von Voltaire.
“A-ha! I knew you would come out of hiding eventually, Gwendal!”
If summer was the season of ghost stories, Anissina would be the star of the night. But this time, Gwendal isn’t scared anymore.
“Come at me, then! I’m done running!”
He spreads his arms wide, his eyes closed and his face raised, like a big black lamb to the slaughter. Is this the legendary summer night test of courage?
We watch helplessly as the Red Devil swoops down onto the brave Lord von Voltaire, and I hurry to cover Greta’s eyes as she bites his face off—Eh?
“This isn’t for little girls,” Wolfram says nonchalantly, and closes Greta’s eyes anyway.
“No fair, I wanna see!” Greta protests, but as expected of my obedient daughter, she doesn’t pull Wolfram’s fingers away.
“Ah,” Murata says smugly, “summer is also the season of romance.”
Is it? Gwen looks more shell-shocked than lovestruck, though.
“Hm, the experiment seems to be a resounding success.” Anissina smacks her lips, and then wipes the suggestive-looking liquid off them. “With this, all women will have a secret weapon against perverted men lurking in the alleys. I call it, ‘Knock Men Out With Your Lips-chan’!”
“I see, it’s a lipstick-chan… Uh, congratulations again, Anissina.”
“Thank you for your kind words, Your Majesty. To be honest, this was just a prototype, and even I am amazed at my own genius, to think it would work so well even against an above-average maryoku user like Gwendal—”
No, I think it works so well because it’s Gwendal.
Wolf and I exchange knowing looks, and burst out laughing.
“All in all, today went pretty well, didn’t it?”
“Mn.” Wolfram pinches the end of a stick lightly, and it soon sparkles to life. Even the mazoku here know that fireworks are a prerequisite of summer nights, but after that disastrous disaster with Gwendal in space… And well, maybe we are all a little reluctant to break the quiet of the beach at night, with nothing more than the sound of low chatter and lapping waves.
“I mean, it ended well for Gwendal, right? And, uh, Günter…”
“Don’t worry about him, he enjoyed the view thoroughly.”
“The view, huh…”
“Yes, the view up your boxers from when you were jumping to hit the volleyball.”
“…!” Dammit, next time I’m wearing a bikini for sure!
“By the way, I’m still waiting for this.” Wolfram prods my chest—or rather, the seashell necklace hanging around it. “When are you going to be done with yours?”
“Uh…”
“Well, it doesn’t matter, I can wait.”
The way he says it, tells me that we have the rest of our lives to wait together.
“…Y’know, Wolf, doesn’t it feel that everyone knows?”
He just shrugs in reply.
“I mean, it’s not like I’m trying to hide it or anything…” We’re such a traditional couple, that we only properly fell in love after being engaged so long. It’s like an arranged marriage that ends up becoming a love marriage, so the rest of the family should be happy, right? But for some reason, I don’t know how to tell them that we’ve graduated backwards from fiancés to l—l—lov—
I can’t say it.
I slump my shoulders. This is why Wolfram still calls me a wimp.
There’s a light tap on the back of my head, and I turn around. Wolfram’s murmuring something under his breath, but his eyes smile at me, and with his sparkler he traces those little words into the air.
I see, so there are other ways to say it without speaking.
Just as I draw the wobbly heart shape in the crisp night air, Wolfram finishes his incantation, and suddenly, the night sky is lit up by little bobs of light. Tiny fireflies, lighting every contour on his face, the way his blonde hair still sticks to his forehead from the bath earlier, his curly long eyelashes, his smooth skin, too used to the sun to be baked in one day…
“…Beautiful.”
“Isn’t it?” Wolfram stops appraising his masterpiece and turns to me, his expression so childishly smug I can’t help myself.
I hold the sparkler up to our faces so I can see him better, but close my eyes anyway when our lips meet.
“So now you know…”
“So what if they know? It’s not like that’s going to change anything between us.”
“To be honest, Your Majesty—”
“Call me Yuuri, godfather.”
“Yuuri, even if we didn’t suspect anything before, we would have known from the moment the resort owner put you in the same room and you didn’t even protest.”
“On the contrary, the Young Master looked like a teenage boy outside the red light district. Ah, is that why you suggested that, for the volleyball game…”
“Your Majesty, may I ask what you’re planning to do with my younger brother?”
“Oh, Your Majesty, Günter is so disappointed in you…”
“Shh, Greta, don’t listen to them.”
“Ehh, but Anissina~”
“Shibuya, the family you’re marrying into sure is lively.”
“…Yeah.”