Chapter Text
Lilia had been around for centuries, maybe even more than that. He’d seen kingdoms rise and fall, times come and go. People came and went in his life as well, just another point for him to see and remember in his long life.
But one thing that would never stop being so funny to watch would be people dancing around their feelings, especially if one seemed to be aware of the feeling of love, while the other was completely in the dark about their own feelings and the one trying to curry their favor of feelings.
That included, but not limited to, Malleus and Ace.
Oh, how an old bat loved his insight on the situation.
⸻
The first time he saw the two hanging around each other, Lilia couldn’t have been more surprised. Malleus wasn’t a loner by any means, but that didn’t mean he was Mister ‘Surrounded by People’ either and he wasn’t the type to be around Ace’s brand of people typically.
It made Lilia protective and concerned as Malleus’ oldest knight, companion and family member in all, but blood.
He’d seen Ace in action with people. He’d seen the sharp words he used to hurt, he'd seen and heard the mean streak he could have when he felt vindictive and cruel.
The Bat fae would be damned if he let the little Heart soldier hurt Malleus as some prank.
So, he did what he did best in these situations. He watched and waited for the moment to strike, for the quickest slip of Ace’s façade.
He wouldn’t let him hurt Malleus, no matter if the Prince could protect himself with magic or not.
⸻
It started simple enough.
Lilia would follow Ace whenever he wasn’t with Malleus and listen in for any information to clue him in on what game he was playing with the Prince and then bust him right there and then, give him a quick beating and remind him why people don’t just mess with Diasomnia’s Housewarden.
Nothing more and nothing less.
It was something he’d done a million times before and now shouldn’t be any different.
Yet, he’d followed Ace for almost two weeks straight without any sign of anything different in the slightest about the Heart Suite, aside from his new behavior changes.
Instead of loitering with his friends for hours on end, he was often found tailing behind Malleus, much like how Sebek did. Where usually he’d be found finding ways to skip assignments, he was now often found doing some of the lonelier tasks with the dark haired mage, the two talking quietly about nothing and yet everything that mattered to the two of them.
He’d even watched Ace listen to one of Malleus’ rambles about gargoyles and the different stones that were used to make the creatures and the history behind the fearsome wall protectors, all without the redhead even flinching aside from small commentary about it.
It almost looked like he actually cared about what the other said.
But the day Lilia saw the freshman look at his dorm head from the corner of his eye with a small, soft, smile, he finally knew what was truly going on.
Ace had fallen head over heels for the tall mage and was doing everything in his power to get the other to notice his feelings.
Well, things just got a whole lot more interesting, to say the least.
⸻
The more the Bat fae watched the two interact, the more invested in the story he became.
Malleus, the damn brick wall he was, seemed unbothered by Ace’s little hint drops nor his larger, more obvious, hints. He continued as if everything was the same between the two of them, as if Ace wasn’t expressing more of himself just to get the other to notice his feelings.
Though nothing seemed to get through.
While Ace , on the other hand, continued to try his hardest. Finding every excuse he could to hang out with Malleus, even going as far as to take Deuce’s lower graded page in potions of all things to try and set up a ‘study date’ with NRC’s strongest mage, to no avail.
Malleus walked through every portion of the failed test (not even putting the pieces together that Ace had the highest grade in that class compared to the other freshmen he hung out with, even higher than Sebek), most likely almost putting Ace into cardiac arrest with how close they worked when it came to making a replica potion from the test.
Lilia was starting to feel bad for the little Heart, watching as he tried these approaches, only for Malleus to continue to soft block him.
Until he came to another startling realization.
Malleus didn’t even realize he was changing in his own way either.
He was softer with Ace, in a way. Where he was once blunt and honest to the point of being an asshole, much like the redhead himself, he was now softer and more considerate with his words (though this only applied to Ace, everyone else got the same treatment as usual), but most of all, Malleus seemed to genuinely care about Ace and not in the passing sort of friendship or same issues kind of way.
Somewhere along the way of Ace trying to get the older to see his feelings, Malleus subconsciously requited the feelings.
It was truly hilarious, just like it was so predictably Malleus of all things.
Looks like he had his work cut out for him, rather than just watching like a fly on the wall like he initially wanted to do.
⸻
The oldest mage in NRC later found Ace sitting in potions, toiling over a sweet smelling cauldron with intense focus as he muttered the incantation under his breath, before turning back to the ingredient book next to him and finally broke into a smile. “There we go.”
“What would you happen to be working on, Dragons' Heart?” He hummed curiously, hanging from the ceiling behind the younger, who leapt away with a shriek.
“Lilia-senpai!” The Heartslabyul student clutched at his chest for a moment, before his face twisted from shock to a scowl (that the bat thought looked more like a pout). “I keep telling you to stop that, my heart can’t take it!”
“Yes, yes, my apologies, Dragons' Heart.” chuckled the third-year as he settled himself onto the desk next to Ace, looking over the ingredient book next to him. “What are you making that smells so good, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“I’m making a candle and-, wait…” Ace seemed to stop and run the conversation back in his head for a moment. “What did you just call me?”
“I called you Dragons' Heart,” purred Lilia, eyes glinting in amusement. “I mean, it’s what you want to be, correct? You want to be with the school’s most fearsome student, who happens to be a Dragon fae, which makes you his Heart, no?”
Ace spluttered, face as red as his face makeup, tripping over his words and struggling to find some sort of retort or rebuttal, only to come up with nothing. “W-Whatever…I’m making a candle. Malleus-senpai said he liked the way they smelled…so I was working on one for him.”
Lilia almost laughed at how adorable that sentiment was. Malleus was often entranced by mortal made things, which was ironic since fae were much better at creating things, yet here was this lovestruck freshman working over a cauldron for a candle. “Couldn’t you have just bought him one?”
“Vil-senpai has a recipe for a candle that won’t melt for at least three years, so I’m making him a long lasting one.” explained the redhead, turning back to the potion and stirring it a bit more, grunting when the concoction hardly allowed any give. “Since it’s starting to become harder to stir it, it’s almost done.”
The Bat fae hummed, tilting his head as he watched Ace turn off the fire under the cauldron and put on the fire resistant gloves as he picked up some green candle holders. “How many are you making him?”
“Well, I’ve already made him two other ones of different smells, so this will be the last one.” muttered Ace as he used a large spoon to scoop out a good amount of the newly made candle mixture and place it into the mold. “This way he’ll see if he likes any of these smells and I can make him more if he wants later.”
Lilia knew he originally came to pry a bit more into Ace’s feelings about Malleus, but it seemed like it wasn’t necessary as the other seemed to be a very dedicated lover to be. “Let me help. We can run another batch with some scents that I know Malleus would like. I’ll even do most of the hard work, since I’m making you do more.”
Ace eyed him suspiciously for a moment, before shrugging. “Go get the protective gear then. After I finish this, we can run back the potion.”
The shorter smiled, fangs peeking out as he turned to do as asked.
He’ll help Malleus realize his feelings, but for now, he had a Heart to help woo the Dragon.
⸻
Lilia had the first conversation with Malleus not too long after he received the candles from Ace. The other came back to their dorm, looking both annoyed and amused, which was a strange combination on anyone, let alone the stoic Prince.
“Oya? Did something happen?” He broached at last, watching as Malleus settled into his seat, tea and snack in hand.
“I was approached by Rosehearts and Clover today, they wanted to talk to me about my meetups with Ace.” He sighed, reaching up to play with the end of his hair. “It was truly ridiculous, yet so amusing that the little Rose thought he could threaten me with his puny fire of rage.”
“Why did they want to talk about you and Ace-kun?” Lilia knew that Riddle, though mature for his age, was often like a child with toys when he thought he was in fear of losing someone. “It’s not often they meddle with your affairs.”
“Well, they seemed to think I was being a bad influence on Ace, simply because we meet up late at night or whenever Ace appears to want to spend time with me.” Malleus’ eyes drifted over to his dresser where a hot pink candle sat, burning steadily. “I see Ace made you a candle as well?”
“More like I offered him a trade,” Lilia grinned, fangs glinting lightly. “I told him that I could get him some rather nice smelling flowers if he’d make me one with the scent of the woods. Equal opportunity for the both of us.”
Malleus hummed again, eyes staring at the candle for a bit more, before moving down to his lap. “I don’t think the way Ace and I are hanging out is any problem. I would think Rosehearts would be happy since I’m keeping his freshman out of trouble and helping him raise his grades during our study sessions.”
‘Maybe now wouldn’t be the right time to tell him that he has feelings for the little Heart, considering he’s not in a good mood right now,’ He thought dryly, eyes rolling. ‘Curse you, Riddle-kun. The one time I needed you to be busy with literally anything else.’
“Speaking of, how are those going?” He changed the subject easily, latching onto the topic with the precision of a snake.
“Oh, they’re going wonderfully.” A pleased smile came to Malleus’ face as he looked at the one who raised him from an egg. “You see, despite the struggle of attention, Ace has a wonderful memory! If he actually focused in classes like History or Magical Theory, he would make leaps and bounds of progress. His potions grade is already showing high above the others!”
‘It was like that already, but that’s good to know he’s praising him at least.’ Lilia chuckled as Malleus continued to go on and on about their study sessions, even opening up about how Ace had looked up some gargoyle statue locations outside of NRC for him to check out when he had the time for it.
He could always bring up the matter of the younger’s feelings later.
⸻
Lilia truly had to stop jinxing himself with this situation.
It seemed that even with him distracting Malleus from the ones who earned his ire the day prior, the heir to the throne couldn’t stop harping on the situation, since it had brought some confusing feelings forward.
Thus, he found himself back in Lilia’s room the same night.
He listened to the overly complicated way Malleus explained the simple factor of he enjoyed Ace’s company more than he knew what to do with or the reasoning behind it, downplaying it to the extent that he simply thought it was all because they had similarities between themselves.
‘Poor little Heart, in love with a silly lizard of all things.’ He thought fondly, a small smiling playing on his lips as he worked on his homework easily.
“Well, from the sounds of it, you like Ace.” Lilia hummed as he sat idly at his desk, looking over their homework with a smile. “Ha, history messed up another moment in time. How funny mortals can be.”
“I do like Ace.” confirmed the royal fae, head tilting in confusion as his brow furrowed. “That’s not exactly explaining what that has to do with anything else that I’ve told you, Lilia.”
Hot pink eyes blinked slowly, before a laugh slipped out of the bats’ mouth. “Not like that, you silly lizard.”
Malleus pouted in annoyed indignation at the jab and the nickname. His arms crossed with a small huff as he turned to face the older fae. “How else could you mean then?”
“I mean like as in love, Malleus.” explained the shorter, tilting his head slightly with a fanged smile. “You don’t like Ace, you’re in love with him. You love the little things about him, hence why you help him and work with him on things that upset him about himself. You like the way you two can connect about things, despite only just getting closer recently. You like the way he looks. That is love. Loving someone means accepting all their flaws and their good parts, which you’ve mentioned admiring everything about Ace, from his bad temper and smart mouth to his sweeter moments that hardly anyone gets to see.”
Lilia watched as the taller mage mulled his words over in his head, most likely playing back every interaction he’d had with Ace up until that exact moment and he knew the second Malleus found his answer as his eyes widened and his mouth dropped open slightly in shock.
“Oh…” Bright green eyes suddenly blinked, enlightenment hitting him like a brick wall. “I see now.”
“I had a feeling.” snorted Lilia, eyes already back on his stack of papers as he scribbled down another answer without much thought. “Good luck with this realization, Malleus, I hope everything works out in your favor. You deserve someone to love you and keep you in line with sharp words.”
Malleus hardly paid him any mind, merely turning and making his way back to his room. Lilia already knew that he was planning a way to confess in a subtle, yet extravagant enough way to the little Heart suit.
“A Dragon’s Heart indeed…” He cackled quietly to himself as he finished up the last page he was working on and turned to his PC. “I wonder if Gloomurai is online for some grinding and quests tonight.”
⸻
The next time Lilia was brought to attention of the blooming relationship, Ace and Malleus both approached him, the Prince basically glowing in happiness, even as his face remained mostly impassive, save for a small soft smile.
“Kufufu…I see everything worked out, no?” He chuckled, enjoying the way Ace’s face burned slightly, even as Malleus leaned down and intertwined their fingers and brandished their hands proudly in front of Lilia.
“He said yes.” The Dragon fae spoke softly, but the short third year was sure that if he had a tail at this moment, it would be wagging hard enough to break some objects behind them. “I’ve come to thank you for your help Lilia.”
“Me too…” Ace looked down and his voice was soft, but Lilia knew after listening to Malleus ramble about the Hearstlabyul student that it wasn’t pride or arrogance, but more so a new type of embarrassment, due to not being used to relying on others for help. “Without you talking to this brick wall, I wouldn’t have been able to get him to see my feelings…nor his own, apparently.”
“Beloved, please,” sighed Malleus, running a hand over his hair. “Feelings are such a fickle thing, I hardly consider mine as something complicated. You’re much more complicated without doing much.”
A spark flashed in Ace’s eyes as his red eyes shot towards his newly minted boyfriend. “Like you’re much better.”
“Only a day together and you’ve already started bickering like an old married couple,” joked Lilia, watching in amusement as both flushed a deep red. “It was a match made by the Seven themselves, it seems. I can hear the wedding bells tolling already.”
His words seemed to break something in Ace, who spluttered like he’d forgotten how words worked at all, though Malleus seemed to take his words into deep consideration. “I’d have to wait for him to graduate and to get the blessing of his parents, but I think I could wait the mere three years left. We wouldn’t even be broken up, I’d just have to make sure no one else tried anything.”
Ace and Lilia both stared at the dark haired mage in disbelief. It truly was something he’d already been considering, it seemed.
“Malleus, how would you possibly do that?”
“You wouldn’t even be here…” sighed Ace, looking just as bewildered as Lilia felt.
“I wouldn’t have to be,” sniffed the Prince, tugging Ace into his sighed with their connected hands. “Though me and Lilia graduate this year, Silver will be here a little while longer, same for Sebek. They think they will leave when I graduate, but I won’t have drop out knights, so they will be graduating before moving onto my personal knighthood. While they are here, they can make sure any nuisances keep their hands away from my precious Princess.”
Ace squeaked at the nickname, while Lilia broke into full belly laughter.
Truly, his insight had helped, and he couldn’t be happier about his gut being wrong and watching his beloved Dragon flourish with his newly acquired Heart.