Chapter Text
Why? Why why why WHY, Ortho?!
The bouquet from Epel and Jack’s wedding lay where it was thrown across the bedroom and Idia sitting as far away from it like a cat staring down a cucumber.
Why in the name of the Seven did Ortho catch the bouquet just to deposit it in his arms? He didn’t even want to be in an event full of loud and intimidating people from his school days. He only went because Ortho begged him to RSVP with him to celebrate his friends’ special day.
And it was only made worse when those two were somehow able to make it.
No way in Tartarus was he getting married!!
That would require being out in public, finding the one person who wouldn’t find him to be a complete weirdo and thus socialize, and going out of his way to be outside for dates! Too much extroverted energy that’s put into dating, let alone a marriage!
“Idia!” The young man jumped when the little brother that caused this situation came into his room. In his hand were two envelopes, both sealed by wax with one brown and the other black. “You got mail from Leona Kingscholar and Malleus Draconia!”
The blazing blue hair of the older brother ruptured like a flamethrower at the names of his two peers. He didn’t think either of them would contact him again, let alone with official royal seals.
The relationship between the three was… complicated to say the least. The last time Idia saw the two princes, it was at that very wedding just the day before. He didn’t approach them and they didn’t seek him out either.
Unfortunately, as next Head of Styx, the engineer had no choice but to at least read these radioactive letters. He pulled at the wax seals and took them out. The papers had scents to them, Leona’s with a papyrus and linen fragrance and Malleus’s with lavender.
To his horror, the contents of both letters were invitations to their respective homes. In other words, Leona Kingscolar AND Malleus Draconia were asking for him to come to their castles in order to “catch up”. Both were for the same day too miraculously. No. No no nonono.
Idia didn’t want to go to either of them. Sunset Savanna was unbearably hot in, well the savanah, and Briar Valley was absolutely freezing in the mountains. Plus, both of these senders were royalty, meaning he could get thrown into their nations’ politics whether he liked it or not.
But… if he had to pick one to visit… then Briar Valley was not it. That was more for… personal reasons. Malleus Draconia was barely intimidating anymore, he’s a humongous geek for old artifacts and magic that barely functioned properly due to the broken horn. That’s not why; Malleus wasn’t the problem in that way.
It’s how Malleus handled the nature of his and Idia’s relationship. As well as the other…
He’d rather not think too hard about it, this wasn’t a life simulator nor a dating sim.
So in a painful hour, Idia typed up a return letter to Sunset Savanna, saying to expect him in the next few days so he could wrap up research on new technomancy techniques.
To his surprise and horror, there was Leona Kingscholar to pick him up from the royal family's private airport. Idia had been dropped off in one of the Styx choppers, expecting numerous guards. But the familiar lion was the only one.
“L-Leona…!”
“Been some time, Radish Sprout,” Leona greeted.
Idia may be socially inept with facial expressions, but he could tell there was something in Leona’s posture that someone could claim was nervousness.
“D-didn’t we last see each other at Epel and Jack’s wedding?”
“You know it doesn’t count when you had hidden behind the food stalls the entire time.”
“It’s so awkward… Back then, he was the middleman.” Leona scowled, knowing who the pale man was referring to.
“We can make decent conversation without him here. Probably for the best since he’s got that fiancé now and wants nothing to do with us. Let’s just stop talking about that prick and get to the jeep before you get a heat stroke.”
Idia realized that he was indeed melting in his giant jacket. The lion had made him laser focus on him and forget everything. So the two quickly walked a short distance to the car Leona had taken from the palace.
The nerd wasn’t going to lie, Leona was already pretty but the wind threading through his long hair added an extra layer of hotness. And this time looks-wise, not the blistering heat for when they were out of the airport.
They reached the palace in a few short minutes, and Leona had to shoo off two lioness guards from getting too close to the quivering Idia. So many women with broken physical stats…
“Show at least some respect,” the prince warned his guest. This was still his country after all, drink women respect juice.
That didn’t ease Idia’s nerves, so Leona roughly grabbed him by the hand and pulled him through the halls up to an open room for entertaining guests. There was already a luxuriously patterned chess board set up on the table along with some jerkies and candy on a serving tray.
“Do you want juice or coffee?” the host asked.
“O-oh, juice.”
With a whisk of a wand that was tucked in his hair, Leona brought over a cup and a pitcher from the side table by the wall.
“Old rune magic?” Idia spoke up, catching the patterns on the pitcher.
“Glad you noticed. It’s a novel ice spell to keep the contents cold. You’d be surprised by the stuff dug up during a low scale mining operation-turn-archaeology site.” Leona casually grabbed the pitcher from midair and poured the red juice into the cup before sending the beverage to his guest.
“Speaking of, how has that energy conservation project you are directing going?”
“The rural areas like Ruggie’s town of shacks have surprisingly taken well to the solar panels. There’s been a few attempted thefts, but all the equipment is always swiftly recovered. Black or white?” The prince gestured to the chessboard with its intricate pieces.
“I’ll give you a head start and choose black.” Idia took a confident sip of his juice. It was nice and cool with a nice fruity flavor.
“Falena kept giving me pushback on the projects for some time until the results came in that those people now have sustainable electricity and filters that give clean drinking water. It’s been a boon.” With the board set, Leona made the first move with a pawn.
“Not to mention more followers for you.” The blue man smirked. Move a pawn forward as well.
“It’s just better resources than scrounging from the surface.” Another pawn.
“Any complaints from the court?” Another pawn.
“Results spoke for themselves, and it left them speechless.” The prince chuckled.
As the game progressed and both sides were defending and losing pieces, discussions of advancements in both Sunset Savanna and Styx began to die down. And by the time their rooks, queens and kings were left, the topic was runes and old magic. It was a standstill. They had quickly gone through the snacks, and Leona hadn’t called anyone to refill yet.
“You’d think we could take the old and spin it into something new,” Idia noted, looking at the ancient pitcher.
“Something Styx would be interested in looking into,” Leona pointed out. “Has the department for that gotten any new staff?”
“Yes, we actually hired four experts last month. Progress on research had been slow after… he interned.” The room came to a halt.
The very person they didn’t want to talk about. It was hard not to, considering the turn in the conversation.
The silence was cut when there was a knock on the door to the room.
“Prince Leona, there is someone here to see you,” a lioness announced.
“I am already entertaining a guest, have them wait in a guest room,” Leona shouted in response.
“I’m afraid that will be hard, Your Highness. Because…”
“Let me in.”
At the deep, harsh voice, the two occupants froze before rising to their feet. Idia was at first shocked to hear that voice again, and it’s quickly replaced with an anger he had tried to ignore.
The doors opened with no warning, and a tall, pale figure in black waltzed into the room. His headdress-crown was in place, making the broken horn stand out.
“I knew I’d find you here, Shroud.”
“Malleus…”
“What are you doing here, lizard?” Leona growled.
“I had sent a letter to Shroud a few days ago, only for a return letter of rejection due to a ‘prior engagement’,” Malleus stated. “And who else would he go to than you, Kingscholar.”
“So you just barge in here with no warning? You and your mood haven't changed. Or matured.”
That was the most frustrating part about the Prince of Briar Valley. He always went to the beat of his own drum, making everyone around him forced to keep up with him. This had happened so often that it felt stifling. And what he did three years ago broke the camel’s back and separated all three of them.
Idia, annoyed by the sudden appearance of the dragon, had his own words to say. “Even if you came here, I do not want to speak with you, let alone mend what you so happily broke in the first place.”
“Shroud…”
“I don’t blame Radish Sprout, not after what you pulled on our froshes’ graduation,” Leona stated, glare on the dragon intensifying. “Did you think neither Jack nor Epel would tell me how you showed up, unannounced, and flagrantly proposed to Yuu in front of their entire year? Clearly, you made your choice after stringing both of us along for three years.”
Yes. These three men, who acted like they couldn’t stand each other even in their junior year, had used to see each other as lovers. Idia had a clear timeline of when that started.
While Idia was off to Olympos Inc., Malleus was interning in the ancient technology department of Styx, and they had gotten into a lot of phone calls (with Styx help on Malleus’s end) and despite the distance it blossomed into a romance. Along the way, magical artifacts were dug up in the Sunset Savanna which got Leona involved in these calls. None of them were sure when to voice the mutual feelings until their graduation. Leona was the one who proposed that they all try dating, and it was honestly wonderful. Game nights, lots of meals under entertainment expenses (which wasn’t a lie as it would make better relations with other countries), and cuddles and soft kisses with given consent.
They had this wonderful relationship for three full years, even with the support of their families. Until… Yuu came out of nowhere and got Malleus Draconia for a fiancé. The betrayal broke them apart, and Leona and Idia also barely talked to each other after that. It was clear this visit was to fix what Leona and Idia still had for each other. And of course the center of their heartbreak had decided to crash it for his own selfishness, as if he wouldn’t let them forget him.
“I-I never meant to make you both feel that way…” Malleus tried to reason.
“We wouldn’t have if you had told us you felt the same towards Yuu as you did with us. Were we just some dirty secret of yours to keep from that crackpot of a senate your country has?”
“I would never view either of you in such a way.”
“Then why? Why did you never ask either of us if you can add Yuu to our relationship?” Idia accused, as the roots of his hair began to go red. “We had no issues with them until you pulled a fast one and proposed to them.”
“My sense of time had just let it slip by to tell you before-”
The crimson inferno spread through Idia’s hair, and his sharp teeth seemed to glow in response to his anger. How dare he use his race as an excuse, something he should've fixed a long time ago.
“Enough with your excuse of being a fae! You then can go live your wonderful, long life with the isekai victim! I don’t want to see you anymore unless it’s official business with Styx! So get out of my sight, Malleus Draconia!”
And thus, the Prince of Briar Valley was forced to retreat to his guest room or wherever, Idia didn’t care as long as he didn’t see him.
The room was completely quiet, with the lioness guard poking her head through the doorway with fear in her eyes. Idia took many deep breaths before his temper cooled enough for his hair to return to normal.
Once all the anger and adrenaline were out, the weight of the quarrel came crashing down and Idia fell into the divan and fat tears spilled out of his eyes.
“That… terrible lizard…!” he cried.
Leona sat himself down on the same divan, with enough space in case the geek didn’t want physical contact. He let his old lover sniffle and whimper despite it hurting his ears, and he’s caught off guard when Idia willingly moved over to lean his head on the prince’s shoulder.
Neither of them wanted to be caught alone, or else Malleus would think he had a shot of conversing one on one with them. Against the nervous looks of the guards, Leona let Idia sleep in his room where they wouldn’t be disturbed. If lions could purr, he would with how the other snuggled up in his hair.
They fell asleep very quickly, exhausted from the ups and downs. Both were out the entire night. Leona groaned though when someone knocked on the door that morning. He got up, making sure Idia was still asleep and made his way to the door.
“It better not be the lizard…” he growled. Opening the door, he was face to face with his sister in law and Princess Consort, Niara. She had a soft smile, but Leona knew that it meant she had dipped her toes into a matter that could have consequences if not played right. Aside from Falena, Leona knew that about her better than anyone.
“I came to tell you personally that Malleus Draconia has departed this morning,” she told her brother in law.
“That was quick, did you have something to do with that?”
“Perhaps. I couldn’t forgive him for trampling on your heart. It’s my right as your sister.”
“I do appreciate that.” This was all the more reason why Leona wouldn’t dare refuse her. If even Malleus backed down via her rage… she’s not a woman to take lightly.
“I was also wondering if Idia Shroud would like to join everyone for breakfast.”
“That’s a no, Idia doesn’t do well with lots of authority figures, let alone the crown prince.”
“And I guess you wish to join him?” Her ear twitched at Idia’s light snoring, and she giggled. “I’ll make sure this doesn’t get out if you don’t want it to.”
Leona replied with a chuff and a smirk. “He’s an esteemed guest. It’s rude to make a guest eat by themselves on royal invitation.”
“Neji will know better, but I can get in a word for you. Just be sure to properly introduce him to me before you let him slip from you again.”
Leona would have to at this point.
With the conversation concluded, the Princess Consort walked away to the crown’s quarters.
Idia missed this. He really did. It wasn’t like his relationship with Leona healed completely over a span of 24 hours, but ending the visit with breakfast in bed and a short video game session was a cool balm to the burns of heartbreak.
He nearly jumped in surprise when Leona shot him a text right as he landed saying that he returned the feeling and that they should do this again. Idia smiled, a genuine warmth filling him that he thought he'd never have again.