Chapter Text
A week had passed since their talk, and many things took place.
The news spread through the Clover Kingdom faster than wildfire.
Within hours.
Within minutes, perhaps.
Every noble estate.
Every Magic Knight headquarters.
Every tavern.
Every market stall.
Everyone seemed to have something to say..
"The rowdy captain and Captain Silva?!"
"The foreigner and Lord Nozel Silva?!"
"No way!"
"Captain Silva would never!"
"He must have hypnotized him!"
"Black magic!"
"Mind control!"
"Surely Captain Silva was coerced!"
"I heard Captain Yami threatened someone!"
"I heard Lord Silva proposed first!"
"I heard they fought and accidentally got pack-bonded!"
"That doesn't even make sense!"
"I know!"
The rumors became increasingly ridiculous.
The Black Bulls thought it was hilarious.
The Silver Eagles thought it was a national tragedy.
Black Bulls Headquarters.
"CAPTAIN GOT AN OMEGA?!" Magna screamed.
"THAT'S WHAT I'M SAYING!" Luck shouted.
Vanessa was already on her third bottle.
"I knew it."
"You knew nothing," Finral replied.
"No, no, I absolutely knew it."
"You didn't."
"I did."
"You thought Captain Yami was secretly dating a tavern owner."
"Details."
Asta and Yuno on the way to the Selection Place
Asta looked utterly confused.
"So if Captain Silva and Captain Yami are forming a pack and merging bases, and if we get choosen by either of them then... We would be in both of those squads?"
"No," yuno immediately answered.
"Technically yes," asta said boomingly.
"No."
"Yes."
"No."
"Yes."
"They will probably still have control over their own squads, but if you say about training perhaps they will have an advantage, training two squads together will help in adaption." Yuno admitted after a while.
"SEE!!" asta
Meanwhile..
Silver Eagles Headquarters.
Silence.
Absolute silence.
The kind of silence before an execution.
Nebra looked as though she had forgotten how to breathe.
Solid had gone pale.
Rob was staring into space.
Curtis was questioning reality.
Simon had sat down and simply refused to stand back up.
"Brother..." Nebra finally managed.
"Yes?" Nozel replied.
"...is this a joke?"
"No."
"..."
"..."
"..."
Nebra left the room.
Nozel wasn't entirely sure whether she was crying or laughing.
Possibly both.
A few hours later
The matter eventually reached the Wizard King's office.
Not that Julius hadn't already known.
He had known from the moment Yami submitted the paperwork.
Two entire folders.
One for the pack registration.
One for the merged residence request.
Julius sat behind his desk.
Across from him stood Yami and Nozel.
One looked completely relaxed.
The other looked as though he hadn't known peace for seven consecutive days.
"Well!" Julius beamed.
"This is certainly unexpected!"
"It is?" Yami asked.
"Extremely."
"Huh."
Nozel pinched the bridge of his nose.
Julius opened the documents.
Reviewed them.
Stamped them.
Reviewed them again.
Stamped them again.
Then smiled.
"As Wizard King, I officially recognize this pack."
The words echoed through the office.
Official.
Irrevocable.
Done.
Yami merely nodded.
Nozel closed his eyes.
A strange feeling settled in his chest.
Not regret.
Not fear.
Just...
Finality.
The point of no return.
Gods.
Julius leaned forward with sparkling eyes.
"Though I must admit..."
Both captains looked at him.
"I never expected the two of you."
"Why?" Yami asked.
Julius laughed.
"Because every report I received for nearly ten years involved one of you threatening the other."
Flashback.
"Shut up, foreigner."
"Make me, princess."
Flashback.
"I will drown you in mercury."
"I'll cut through it."
Flashback.
"Your squad is insufferable."
"Your face is insufferable."
Julius sighed fondly.
"And now you're building a pack together."
Yami huffed.
"Life's twisted."
Nozel looked out the window.
The kingdom was still whispering.
Still gossiping.
Still making absurd assumptions.
Let them.
Because eight and a half years ago..
On a battlefield beneath a rising dawn..
A twenty-year-old foreigner had listened to a frightened twenty-one-year-old omega.
And without hesitation.
Without conditions.
Without judgment.
He had promised.
"Sure. Why not?"
And despite everything.
Despite the arguments.
The insults.
The years.
Yami had kept that promise.
Noelle Silva would have a place in the Black Bulls without participating in the upcoming selection examination... And well atleast now, she would still be near them.
Just as he said she would.
And somehow...
Somewhere along the way...
The foreigner had become someone Nozel trusted more than almost anyone else.
Even if he would never admit that aloud.
Beside him, Yami nudged his shoulder.
"You thinking something sentimental?"
"No."
"You totally are."
"I am not."
"You got that face."
"I do not have a face."
"...that's the dumbest thing you've ever said."
Nozel's eye twitched.
Yami guffaws.
A tiny smile tugged at the corner of Nozel's lips.
...
And somewhere a lion's paws wrinkled the official papers in his hands. Jaw tight.