#and to this day that scene when the mc talks to that one noble girl he had a bit of a crush on who turned out to be an alien being all like

[thewritingpossum]

Currently rereading this french scifi book that's all about a bunch of medievalish people building this absurdly high cathedral (and by 'high' i mean that none of the living human in this book ever got out of what they call the cathedral and touched the actual ground)in an attempt to reach God but then the big plot twist is that the ruling class are actually a bunch of almost immortal alien beings who accidentally crashed on Earth during the actual Middle Ages, need to be at a certain height to launch their rocket and go back to their planet and therefore used the people's faith and whatever ingineering they had at this point to reach their goals, not caring that it would take centuries and centuries because it's litterally just a few hours for them and honestly this could be such a cool movie, somebody please adapt this thing right now

[whatever-fanfics]

Imagine the princes as uncles

~~~

Ikemen prince

Suitors: Rio Ortiz, Silvio Ricci, Yves Kloss, Licht Klein, Nokto Klein

Tw: contains children, bullying, harassment, verbal harassment,

~~~~~

Imagine Rio and MC's little boy running from other kids in the palace as they see their uncle King Silvio. Silvio talking with other ministers has his back to the scene, being so engrossed in what the ministers are saying he doesn't notice his little nephew until he crashes right into his legs, almost losing his balance. His annoyed face softens ever so slightly, only visible to himself as he sees his nephews crying face, blonde hair slightly covering his reddened eyes, sniffling as he hugs the little stuffed bunny, made for him by his grandmother. A quiet "oi" fell from his lips as the young boy rubbed his face into the crease of his knee. Sighing in fake exasperation he lifted the young boy into his arms, quietly griping as he took out his handkerchief to wipe the boys sniffling nose. Resting him on his hip his eyes took notice of the three young boys, as he raised an eyebrow they flinched and cowered back. Immediately understanding the situation he spoke lowly "what?" Not at all surprised as the boys turned and ran scared by the man in front of them. The ministers could only watch in silence as their king turned back around, seemingly unbothered by his nephew hiding himself in the kings shirt. "You were saying" Silvio continued.

~~~

Or, Licht looking at the door of the kitchen, the light of the hallway cut off by the small shadow by the door. Sighing as his young niece made her way from the door to him, in her tiny nightgown. Not sparing her uncle one glance as she made her way straight to the cupcakes on the counter. Specially made by her father and mother earlier that day, try as she might she couldn't reach the cupcakes. Looking at her uncle for the first time that night she pouted at him and reached her hands up, with a sigh he put the rest of his cupcake in his mouth and lifted the young girl. "You shouldn't be up so late" he gently chided, as he set her down on the counter. She surprised him as she didn't let go immediately, he hugged her back and waited for her to let go. After she did Licht took notice of her barren feet, sighing he put his fur over her. Together the two sat in silence eating their cupcakes until each had their fill. Afterwards, Licht quietly carried his niece back to her room as she dozed off on his shoulder.

~~~

Or maybe, during a ball Nokto sighs as he downs the rest of his liquor and leads the noble woman out of the ballroom. Her giggles falling on deaf ears as he comes to a stop, her giggling ceased as she laid eyes on the scene in front of them. "Should we alert a guard?" She whispered, as she looked the young princess of age 14, trying to mold herself into the wall behind her as a young, most likely, inebriated nobleman pressured her. "Get my twin" she didn't like the way his voice lowered an octave. Nonetheless, she scurried off back to the ballroom in order to fetch the princess' father. Nokto wasted not a single second before walking towards the pair. Nokto's eyes darkened as he heard the young nobleman speak as he walked closer, though the pair had yet to notice him. "Just say yes while I'm being nice" the young nobleman paused and put his arm on the wall next to her head, half caging her in. "Honestly, I'm the best yer gonna get in yer situation. I mean come! on!" he learned in a little close to her. "You're not even a fully blooded noble, your mom is a Commoner and yer a twin to boot" he snickered before feeling a pressure on his shoulder. Not before feeling his weight shift, stabilizing himself as he looked at who had shoved him. Retort dying in his throat as he came face to face with the seventh prince. His legs gave out beneath him as he wondered if this was what a rat felt like when faced with a fox. Nokto's anger only quelled as he felt his niece squeeze his midsection, small sniffles escaping her. Nokto breathed through his nose, calming himself down, losing his temper now would only scare her further. They didn't have to stay silent for long as they heard multiple footsteps hastily heading their way. Nokto didn't have to turn around to know they belonged to his twin and his family. Nokto didn't realize it but he was holding onto her just as tight, only letting go as she wriggled herself out and threw herself into the arms of her mother. The young nobleman was ready to sprout tears as he stared up at Nokto, Licht, along with the young princess' older twin brother. Luckily you had been able to diffuse the situation enough for the guards to escort the young nobleman put of the palace. As Nokto was about to take his leave he felt someone tug his coat from behind, turning around he was surprised to see his young niece's reddened eyes and sniffling nose. Before he could ask she hugged him tightly once more, staying like that for what seemed for hours. The rest of the family looked on in silence as Nokto comforted his niece.

~~~~~

[viatagrinner]

Silvio Ricci. Chapters 9 - 10

Warning: The chapters are too long, knowing myself, I understand that the route will come out faster in English than I translate everything. But the important (in my opinion) conversations will be translated. And, of course, I disclaim responsibility... The translation is not perfect.

Chapter 9

Meeting Keith.

Rio now does not take one step away from the heroine; he wanted to leave with MC, but she persuaded him to stay.

Nevertheless, he asks some knight to accompany her.

Keith notices that MC seems to be avoiding Silvio. The prince also notices that Silvio is lonely and the time he spends with the girl is good for him.

This makes the girl's heart begin to race, but she chases away "unnecessary thoughts." At this point she realizes that she misses Silvio.

_________________________________________

Keith asked the heroine to take him somewhere quiet. MC thought of a hill overlooking the city. She offered to sit on a bench and eat candy, but Keith had other plans...

...He became another Keith.

He went around MC from the back and grabbed her by the neck.

The knight rushes out to save the heroine.

Keith simply says it's a "game" and if MC answers his question, he'll let go.

MC is worried about him asking about "Belle"... However...

Keith: Are you an Obsidian spy?

Keith: Mr. Gilbert doesn't have time to deal with the daughter of a nobody.

So, why did he think the MC was a spy?

They ran into a customer in the candy store who said something about "gemstones" and something to do with selling them, the girl also thought he must be a jeweler. And Keith at this point changed to his dark-personality.

Keith thought it was a metaphor for selling and buying information.

Because of this Keith turned into a detective and decided to use deduction 🕵️.

1. Why did Gilbert come to the kitchen that day?

2. Why was he so friendly with the girl?

3. What did they talk about?

The nobles of Jade don't know her. She is not a young girl who has only recently made her debut into society.

Keith concluded: Obsidian and Rhodolite conspired. And MC had something to do with it. Jade can't ignore all this.

The heroine is silent.

Keith: The silence confirms it. 

She says she is not a spy. But Keith doesn't believe it.

He squeezes her neck harder. She feels helpless. She's scared, but it's probably better for the country if her neck is squeezed tighter.

It would have been a very tense, disturbing scene, if not for one "But"...

The knight who was asked to guard the heroine... He was smoking somewhere while Keith was "playing" with the heroine. Fire that jerk immediately.

_________________________________________

But then the saving clang of jewelry was heard. ...Silvio!

Silvio: Ha! What you're doing is pretty interesting, isn't it?

Keith: ....What are you doing here?

Silvio: I just happened to be passing by...

(...On such a quiet hill...?)

Silvio says that he, too, was "interested in the identity of this woman".

The heroine's hopes of salvation are dashed...

Silvio asks her to confess everything. But the girl has nothing to confess.

Silvio: That's not enough for a scowling bastard... At least she is not an Obsidian spy.

The heroine wonders to herself how he knows this.

Meanwhile, Silvio saves the heroine with the help of bullying.

Keith - you fool, she almost cried when you supposedly declassified her, Silvio replies.

I didn't cry, shouts the heroine at him.

Silvio: She doesn't look like a spy.

Keith: Then why does Mr. Gilbert care so much about her?

Silvio: Perhaps she's a favorite of one of the princes.

MC is surprised. She knows that he is sure she is "Belle."

She realizes that he is trying to save her.

Chapter 10

MC understands that it is best not to make hasty confirmations.

According to Silvio - she is a favorite of either Chevalier or Leon.

Keith let go of the girl as she turned to him, a "gentle smile" on his face.

Keith: I'm so sorry, Lady MC. I seem to have made a mistake.

Silvio: Be careful, you dark-natured bastard. If you go in on this woman, you never know who you'll make an enemy of. 

Keith: .....You say that, Silvio?

Silvio: I'm good.

_________________________________________

Keith realizes that he is third wheel. Besides, the heroine is not likely to want to be near him right now.

(I will never be alone with Lord Keith again.)

_________________________________________

Keith is gone, but the fear is not. A shiver ran through her whole body.  Silvio said nothing, just sighed and shoved the girl into the carriage.

The prince is a kind man, for she thought she would be teased.

_________________________________________

Silvio: You didn't think that gloomy bastard was a good prince....

MC: I thought he was.

_________________________________________

Silvio: Don't forget that even if you are rotten all over, you are still a prince. If it is for the good of his country, he can be kind but ruthless.

Silvio: I, the grim bastard, the blindfold, the rhodolites.

_________________________________________

The girl became despondent.

Why are you helping me? You could have told Keith everything, instead of lying for my benefit.

The guy turned on his tsun-tsun, made a funny sound like a dog howling, ruffled her hair, and told her to shut up.

After that, he calmed down and advised me not to look for any deeper meaning in his help.

_________________________________________

The heroine's feelings for Silvio grow stronger and stronger. She realizes that he is not just a tyrant, but a kind man.

Silvio invites her out for a drink again, because he does not like to get drunk alone.

Instead of the tavern, he takes her to his room.

_________________________________________

Silvio himself is an open "trade route."

Silvio: I earn my wealth through business. But to earn more money, I have to visit every country.

Silvio: Once upon a time, the Benitoites only traded with neighboring countries.

Silvio: So I've been sailing since I was a kid. I've pioneered trade routes with several countries.

_________________________________________

MC asks what sailing is like.

Silvio: Like hell.

Several months with men, in tight spaces and constantly risking your life. In addition, the ships are often attacked by pirates.

Silvio: I almost died many times too. There were also events that seemed like a miracle that I was alive now.

The heroine is delighted.

_________________________________________

Benitoite also has its own ceremony of succession to the throne.

In Rhodolite the king is chosen by the commoner "Belle".

In Benitoite you have to get the Ring*, which is given for achievements and allows you to get the throne, regardless of the order of birth.

*It may have a name, but I missed it.

_________________________________________

Silvio mentions his brothers.

Silvio: One is not good enough, the other is a coward. I'm sure I'll get the throne.

_________________________________________

About the throne:

Silvio: It's only natural. Whatever I do, I am for the top, that's my style.

_________________________________________

The prince hints to MC that Benitoite might form an alliance with Obsidian.

Obsidian has good ore and military power.

What can Rhodolite boast?

MC: Um...Delicious pink wine!

Silvio: You're not really interested, are you?

MC: Art, culture, books...

But that's valuable to her, but not to Silvio. Arrogant laugh.

Silvio: During my arrival in Rhodolite, your duty as host was to convince me that your country was profitable.

Anyway, as the heroine thought, the conversation about a place to drink flowed smoothly into conversations about the fate of countries.

She decided not to run away from the prince anymore, but to show the best sides of her country.

Silvio: I like your sassy face better than your whiny face.

His face grew kinder. The heroine couldn't stand it and, to interrupt the romantic train of thought, drank the wine in one gulp.

Silvio: ....Hey, don't drink that right away. You said it was strong wine.

The girl got drunk. And fell asleep.

Silvio moved her to the couch and put a pillow under her head.

MC's last thought:

(Maybe I can't hate Lord Silvio anymore.)

He stroked her hand as if to measure the warmth, in her sleep the girl smiled.

And he wondered...

Silvio: Goofy face... What are you dreaming about?

_________________________________________

It reminded me of an episode of The Simpsons.

Watch this, guys... You can actually pinpoint the second his heart rips in half... Aaaannnnd now.

MC: Hmmm...Rio...

Silvio: .......

Silvio: .................

Silvio: (angry)  ...... I was going to send you back to your room without incident.

Silvio: ...I changed my mind.

_________________________________________

Silvio carries MC to his bed. She wakes up, and the prince embraces her.

Nokto approves.

The heroine is frightened, but then quickly realizes that Silvio has not and will not do anything to her.

But he puts the hickey back on. This time the pain was "sweet" and her body became hot.

But the girl immediately became indignant. After all, there was a promise not to touch her.

Silvio: Shut up. This is punishment for making me feel bad....

She's embarrassed, he's embarrassed. He ends up turning his back on her.

MC guessed he was drunk.

So there they lay, in bed... It's idyllic. But then jealous Rio comes running in.

...And he saw the hickey.

Silvio accuses Rio of allowing the attack on MC. Jade and Obsidian guess, and the butler and the woman can do no wrong. Silvio saves MC. "Thank me, you damn dog!"

But MC defends his butler.

And Rio promises he won't let her be afraid anymore.

Silvio's Masterlist

[flowerpowell]

The Royal Holiday Romance (Liam x MC)

PART FIVE

A/N: We’re almost done with this mini series! Thank you to everyone who leaves feedback - it’s such a motivation to keep writing! I hope you’ll enjoy this chapter as well!

Rating: G

Tagging: @gardeningourmet​ @delightfullypinkglitter​ @twinkleallnight​ @kingliam-rys​ @sfb123​ @iaminlovewithtrr​ @gkittylove99​ @texaskitten30​ @kingliam2019​ @queen-arabella-of-cordonia​ @lodberg​ @shanzay44​ ❣

“Lunch?”

Victoria smiled at the message Liam just sent her. She had just shot her scene of the day and was packing her bag to head back to the hotel.

“Gladly.”

“I can be at your hotel in twenty minutes, is that alright?”

“Perfect :)”

Twenty minutes to change her clothes and refresh herself wasn’t a lot but she wanted to see Liam so bad that she was actually glad she didn’t have to wait too long. She was falling for him, slowly but steadily. It was the first time she let herself catch any feelings after having her heart broken by a senior in her drama club, when she was a freshman. The guy who had been her crush for a few months, broke up with her on the day she told him she loved him, claiming he couldn’t be in a serious relationship with a freshman because he had a promising career and she didn’t.

Victoria shook her head trying to get rid of the memories. It was a long time ago. And Liam was different. And most importantly, he wasn’t any famous or concerned about his career.

~~~~

“I’m telling her today,” Liam murmured, putting on his coat. Drake’s raised eyebrow suggesting he didn’t believe his best friend’s promises.

“I really am. That’s why I invited her to lunch today. I’ll be honest with her.”

“I hope so. She was honest with you and it’s only fair you tell her the truth as well.”

“I know. But you can’t blame me for not wanting her to see me as the King. I really enjoyed being just Liam with her.” Liam sighed. Why was his life so complicated?

“I understand but I also think that if you want to continue it, no relationship should be based on a lie,” Drake replied.

Relationship.

Liam smiled at the thought but his smile quickly disappeared. He wasn’t sure if she would want to continue this relationship or whatever it was after learning the truth. Dating a King wasn’t anything like dating a normal guy. She said she didn’t like being in the center of attention, which was why she was struggling as an actress but being a King’s girlfriend or wife would be putting her literally in the center of attention.

What wife? Liam, stop thinking about it. You’re getting ahead of yourself, yet again.

It was so easy to think about it, though. He felt understood, he felt like a part of him, a long forgotten part of him was unlocked again with her. And it was mostly because… she saw him as Liam. He was just Liam.

If only my life was easier.

~~~~

“I don’t understand why this place is so empty this time of the day! The food is delicious,” Victoria commented as she took another bite of her lasagne.

Liam bit his lip not wanting to admit it was the most popular place in the town but he closed it for them to have a conversation. He didn’t want to risk anyone recognizing him before Victoria learned the truth.

“And the owner is so nice! I don’t have that many followers but maybe if I posted a picture from here on my Instagram, it’d get more customers. Oh! Or I can ask Hana to post the picture! She has twenty million followers!” Victoria took out her phone and snapped a few pictures.

“That’s so kind of you,” Liam noticed. He was falling more and more in love with her. She cared about people she didn’t even know and she wanted to help them. She’d make a great Queen. Liam couldn’t stop thinking what it would feel like to be cared for by her just the same, if she was his wife.

“Victoria, there’s… something I wanted to discuss with you,” he started. Victoria put down her phone and locked her eyes with his.

“Did something happen?”

“No… Yes. Well…”

“Okay, wait, I think… I think I get it,” she said sadly.

“You… You do?” Did she google him? Did someone tell him he was a King? Did—

“I do. You had a great time with me but I live in America and you live here and I’m an actress, well, a crappy one if you ask me but whatever, and you don’t think it’s gonna work out and maybe it’s better if we’re friends.” She finished and Liam’s eyes widened.

“That’s not exactly what I planned to say,” he ran his hand through his hair. It was a nervous twitch that he had and the one Victoria always noticed.

“You probably would say something more elaborate with your lovely accent; mine is just a short, harsh, American version of it,” she tried to laugh but it didn’t reach her eyes.

“I… wasn’t trying to break up with you… I mean… We’re not dating…Or are we?”

“No… I think? I don’t know… I thought, after yesterday…” she trailed off and quickly composed herself. “I probably got carried away. I’m sorry. I understood it all wrong. Of course we can be friends.”

Liam blinked a few times trying to understand her chaotic speech. She truly was the most interesting woman he ever met.

“No, I thought the same. I mean, about dating. I mean…” Goodness, he was awkward. For someone who gave speeches on a daily basis, he was very inarticulate at the moment. “I never asked you properly to be my girlfriend but I would very much like you to be one.”

“Oh.” She cleared her throat. “So that’s what you wanted to talk about? I assumed you wanted to stop seeing me.”

“No! Never!” The owner of the restaurant looked up from his phone at Liam’s raised voice. “I don’t want to stop seeing you. Quite the opposite, I was hoping we could see each other more but I wasn’t sure if you would want to.” Because I’m the King of the country, my schedule is busy and I lied to you, he added in his thoughts.

“Why wouldn’t I want to? Liam, I might have met you recently but I feel like I know a lot about you. And I told you a lot about me, too. And… And even though, I’m not the first to jump into a relationship like that, I feel that what we have… would be a good base for our… relationship. I think,” she mumbled.

Liam closed his eyes. She did know him. She knew him better than all the nobles he’d known for ages. She got to know the side of him that was unavailable for everyone else. She got to know Liam. And he couldn’t pretend he didn’t like it. He loved being Liam. Not King Liam. Liam. Just Liam. And he could be that with her.

“Does it mean… you do want to…” He started, unsure of where he was going.

“Be your girlfriend?” He smiled at her faintly. “Absolutely.”

~~~~

“So just for the record.” Drake was pacing back and forth in Liam’s bedroom. “You met up with her to tell her the truth… But ended up asking her to be your girlfriend… Without actually telling her the truth?”

“So it may seem.”

“Are you crazy?!”

“Drake, please. I know what you’re trying to tell me but I have no idea what to do.”

“Um… tell her truth?! Maybe?”

“I wish it was that easy,” Liam huffed.

“Would be easier if you told her who you are from the very beginning.”

“I know! I tried! I couldn’t! I don’t… I don’t want to lose her,” he added quietly.

After lunch, Liam took her on a walk and they spend a whole day talking and kissing. He felt so happy he couldn’t say anything. To say he scared to lose her would be an understatement. He was terrified.

“Listen, Li… You know I want the best for you but the chances that you’ll lose her are higher when she doesn’t know. The longer you wait… Let me just say, it may end very badly for you.”

Liam sighed as Drake left his room. He knew it. He knew he shouldn’t wait so long with telling her. But for some reason, being with her made him forget about being a King.

How could he ever bring that up?

~~~~

He couldn’t tell her.

They met up every single day for almost two weeks and the topic was never brought up. He couldn’t. When he was with her, he forgot about the whole world.

Every evening, when he came back to the palace, with a lovesick smile on his face, he couldn’t look Drake in the eyes because he knew what his best friend would tell him.

And he’d be right.

But Drake never saw the way Victoria looked at him. He didn’t know how Victoria made Liam feel. And he could never know, how nearly impossible it was for a King to find something like that.

He was equally surprised and happy that Victoria still hadn’t figured out who he was. He once broached the subject and Victoria told him she never checked the Internet or television or read any magazines. She said she hated gossip and didn’t want to read anything about her online. Liam sighed with relief at her words. His secret was safe, at least for a little longer.

He was also happy when Victoria told him she prolonged her stay in Cordonia. She finished shooting all of her scenes but decided to stay a bit longer, at least until Hana would be finished with her scenes. Which meant she was staying for at least five more weeks.

That meant five more weeks with her. 

And five more weeks of hiding the truth.

~~~~

Victoria was walking to her hotel straight from the set. It was a beautiful day, sunny but cold, and she decided to take a longer way home. Besides going on set and dates with Liam, she didn’t walk anywhere by herself. She didn’t have to. Liam showed her around and she felt she knew Cordonia very well. She was strolling along the street, admiring the view when she noticed two girls, teenagers maybe, pointing their fingers at her and laughing.

Oho, someone does watch my crappy movies and recognizes me.

She smiled at them and walked past them, ignoring the laughter.

Victoria didn’t even manage to walk five more meters before she noticed a woman sizing her up.

Another fan? She wondered as she smiled lightly. The woman didn’t like it. She came up to Victoria and jostled her.

“What are you doing?” Victoria asked but the woman spitted on her.

“Whore!” She yelled, making all the passersby stop and look at them.

“Excuse me? I think you mistook me for someone.” Victoria took a step back. She never played a whore in any movie and she was sure the woman made a mistake.

“You’re a whore! Leave our King alone, you American bitch! You won’t get famous using him!” The woman yelled. Victoria quickly backed away, noticing a few people taking photos. She ran back to her hotel room and closed the door. To calm down, she took a long shower and made herself a cup of tea.

“Tori?” She heard Hana call out.

“Here!” Victoria answered from her bedroom. Now that she was calm, she decided to go online and see why people were taking pictures of her and what happened. She had an uneasy feeling that the woman didn’t make any mistake, however, she still didn’t understand what she was saying.

“You okay? I’ve heard someone attacked you on the street?”

“I’m fine. It wasn’t an attack. I think a lady mistook me for someone. But some people took pictures of me and I want to check if they wrote anything.”

Hana nodded and sat down next to her friend as Tori opened a new tab and googled her name. Both Victoria and Hana raised their eyebrows when they saw the headlines: 

American Media Whore Seduces the King! How Victoria Brooks, an actress known to no one is using King Liam to get on top. EXCLUSIVE PHOTOS.

With shaking hands Victoria opened the article, chewing on her bottom lip nervously. Hana looked at her concerned.

“I don’t understand, Tori… You met the King?”

“I didn’t! I never even saw him!” Victoria was nearly crying. “He never showed up at the dinner and I never heard of him again!”

Victoria closed her eyes as the page was loading. She always hated attention but it seemed like she couldn’t escape it. But who came up with such lies?

The page loaded and Victoria saw pictures of her and Liam; their date in the park, when they were leaving her hotel, them kissing on the beach… But what did it have to do with the King?

She turned to Hana and saw her friend, staring at the photos with her eyes wide open in shock.

“That’s… the guy you’ve been seeing?” Her voice was almost a whisper.

“Yes. That’s Liam. I just don’t understand it… Is he related to the King? Or what?”

“Tori… This is the King. Liam. King Liam. He’s the King of Cordonia.”

--

[aros001]

First time read through light novel vol. 18. Random thoughts.

I somewhat suspect the author was hungry while writing this volume.

Also, wow, I knew Kizuna was short but the prior artworks never gave me the full idea of how short. She

is only chest-high compared to Naofumi and Glass (I suppose that could make Glass happy, though; ease of access for Kizuna and whatnot).

Given that, outside of the natural gluttons like Filo, S’yne, and the killer whale sisters, the only person on Naofumi's side with the "Eat food for EXP" matter is Itsuki, I think this is him falling dangerously close to thinking only in terms of game mechanics instead of reality, much like the other three heroes had been early on. Theoretically, yes, if you can gain levels and strength just by eating, why wouldn't you do a lot of it? But he's almost outright ignoring the physical discomfort and pain it's causing his allies and seeing only the numbers. Not to mention that he himself doesn't appear to be eating nearly as much, as he's focus on the cooking.

That said, it is cute that this is the first time in her life Filo is starting to feel full.

Chapter One: Sloth

OH SHI-! Oh, wait. Wrong franchise. We're good. I did not want to have to imagine Kizuna biting her fingers off (Kizuna: "My brain trembles!!!).

If Kizuna is indeed suffering under the curse of Sloth, I'm curious what triggered that specific sin for her. We only have the four heroes of Raphtalia's world to go off of but each sin applied to that specific hero for a reason. Naofumi: Wrath because of his hatred of what Witch and Trash put him through. Ren: Greed because he wanted more EXP, levels, and loot; a toxic extreme of his solo-adventuring. Itsuki: Pride because he believed only in his view of justice. And Motoyasu: lust and envy because of his obsession with Filo and being kept away from her. Kizuna's obsession with fishing, even when there's other important matters that need to be dealt with, I suppose could be considered lazy and thus lead to sloth as its extreme, but it feels a little bit like a stretch.

As he did so, the books from a nearby shelf whirled up into the air, forming . . . a dinosaur . . . perhaps. No, a dragon. The monster’s name was “Magical Tome Dragon.” Now things were really getting a bit crazy. A dragon created from books! Was this some kind of joke?

I want a Yu-Gi-Oh card of that.

“Don’t tell me, Glass is like the Raphtalia of this world? Could we really get that lucky?”

I mean, that's what the fandom likes to joke when it comes to her and Kizuna.

Breaking the sloth curse through Kizuna's love of fishing was about what I expected. Not complaining, of course. Again though, I'm just wonder what about her coincides with Sloth. She prefers talking it out and making allies as opposed to fighting but I wouldn't exactly call that lazy or slothful either.

Kizuna had a lot of folks like this among her allies—people who had started out as enemies but then became allies. If I fought someone as an enemy, there was generally no coming back—there were exceptions, like Sadeena and Shildina, so it was probably better not to generalize.

Glass and L'Arc are literally standing right next to Naofumi as he thinks this and Motoyasu, Ren, and Itsuki all tried to murder him at one point or another. S'yne was part of the gladiator fights too, now that I think about it, and while they never fought he and Trash were definitely enemies for a while. This dude turns more enemies into friends than freakin' Naruto. Being kind of oblivious is part of Naofumi's character but I suppose this could be seen as an interesting look as to how exactly he considers someone an enemy. If they fought him for reasons he eventually came to understand and sympathize with, then he perhaps doesn't consider them as ever having been a "true" enemy.

Aww, Glass is jealous of Tsugumi being close to Kizuna. And unlike Raphtalia with Naofumi, Kizuna doesn't have any kind of tragedy that keeps her opposed to relationship and would require Glass to be patient. I suppose Glass could simply be afraid of hurting their friendship by proposing romance or even that Kizuna doesn't swing that way. And this is from Naofumi's perspective, so Glass being gay could be completely off the mark. Still, it'd be nice to get a solid landing one way or another. Even Eclair unknowingly rejecting Ren at least give solid confirmation that he's into her and why they're not together.

“What! I’m the Hunting Hero! I don’t handle the cooking part!” Kizuna complained.

“And I’m the Shield Hero!” I retorted. Not the Stewpot Hero! If anyone called me that, I would kill them with cookery!

And technically, you're not even that right now. Not with that mirror on your arm. The mirror is cool and all but I am looking forward to Naofumi eventually getting his shield back. He just feels incomplete without it.

“Almost feeding time!” one of them said. Others proceeded to chime in.

“Yes . . . the time we’ve all been waiting for.”

“The moment we live for, basically!”

“Even if I only get to eat one mouthful . . . that is the fuel that will keep me alive!”

“I’ll never eat anything but his cooking ever again!”

“I think the schweiz is the best! It has to be!”

“No! The stietz!”

“Hey! No fighting! We’ve been warned about fighting!”

Did they stumble across a food cult?

“It isn’t bad,” Filo said. “It just isn’t as nice as yours, Master.”

“Well, okay . . .” I replied.

“All of the heroes have cooked in the village, Mr. Naofumi, but Filo and everyone else all feel the same way,” Raphtalia told me.

Filo also grew up with Naofumi's cooking since birth, so while he's already a good cook you get the added taste of home for her. I've said it before but out of everyone I consider Filo to be the most like Naofumi's daughter.

“Then you wish to settle the bill,” she replied. I thought it was free. As my suspicions intensified, the girl spread both of her hands and continued. “How was the food at Seya’s restaurant? It was so delicious, wasn’t it? If you wish to become a member, please leave all of your assets or hand over anything that can be turned into money. If you leave some personal items as collateral, you can have some time to go and fetch some offerings.”

Yep, that's a cult alright.

“Master’s food!” Filo said.

“They’ll get a surprise when they taste what you’re cooking, kiddo,” L’Arc said.

“Indeed. Your victory is assured, if that’s the best they can do,” Glass agreed. I was still concerned about how aggressive they were being. Were they hopped up on endorphins or something? They weren’t acting in character at all.

My first thought was that the OOC behavior was some side effect Naofumi didn't realize came with the Mirror weapon's power-up method, but then why wouldn't Raphtalia or Kizuna be effected when they have been eating the food too? Then I thought maybe they were more used to eating Naofumi's food in general and would have a tolerance to any addictive effects, but then why is Filo still effected?

“That’s the best dish Seya’s restaurant has to offer! Seya’s curry bag! And it’s Fifth Floor too!” one of the MCs shouted. I barely stopped myself from tipping over onto the ground. He really was just reheating a premade curry in a bag! So he was allowed to heat and serve already finished dishes? I mean, that might give me some ideas myself . . .

“The flavors that are normally lost in reheating have been sealed in the bag using proprietary technology! Now you get the maximized flavor from the moment you open the bag! This truly is the ultimate culinary technique! Everyone, watch this kitchen miracle closely as it unfolds before your astounded eyes!” The MCs continued their diatribe, but it just made it harder for me to keep a straight face. It was all a matter of perspective. Capturing the flavor in a bag was certainly a worse approach than making it on the spot.

“Naofumi . . . am I imagining things? It looks to me like he’s just adding or warming up instant ingredients using hot water,” Kizuna said.

So, like most other antagonists in this series lately, Seya is just an arrogant, entitled fraud high on his own stolen power. Why am I not surprised? Though he is giving me a bit of a Kazuma from Konosuba vibe with how he managed to figure out how to recreate items the old heroes would have talked about from Japan. It's odd to say he doesn't have nearly the same level of charisma as Kazuma give...well...it's Kazuma and he's deliberately written to be a massive scumbag.

I do like with his magic powers and awesome cape, Naofumi is basically the little muddy boy meeting a superhero, one who will save the day through cooking.

As for Kizuna . . . I handed her some of the fish we had brought in and had her cut it up. She’d finished with the poisonous fish already. Her life as a fishing fool was paying off now. She knew her way around a fish. The blood had been skillfully drained, and overall, she was a step ahead when it came to gutting and cleaning.

...You think the Hunting Tool can turn into something like the Wunder Boner

?

I explained pointedly, looking at Seya, Trash III, and the other MC. Trash III responded by flipping me off. I could taunt with the best of them, and I mouthed some swear words back.

I mean, one of my favorite scenes in Isekai Quartet was Naofumi and Shalltear sassing each other, so I can agree with that.

“Pollution?” Kizuna asked, looking puzzled.

“You didn’t notice that?” I replied. “Well, just watch.” She wasn’t the brightest bulb, that was for sure.

“Hmmm, I think I need to go wash up,” the rotund noble said. “I’ll be right back.” The judges proceeded to take turns visiting the washroom. Once they had all returned, it was time to eat Seya’s food.

“Huh?” Kizuna, L’Arc, and Therese were looking puzzled. The other diners around us too. I guess there was cause for a little suspicion.

...Did Naofumi give them laxatives?

“Ah!” Kizuna finally cottoned on. “So that’s why you used so many medicinal herbs in your dishes!”

“Exactly. The reason they all wanted to go to the washroom after eating was to expel the toxins. I also used other herbs to bolster the lethargic feeling that would bring on,” I explained.

He gave the judges f**king laxatives! That's hilarious! I get the actual explanation he gives is more complicated than that, relating to purifying and digestion and getting them to finally take notice of the toxins in Seya's food now that they're free from its hold, but it's funny to think that's basically what he did. He won a cooking competition through dishes that encouraged the judges to take a sh*t (or a p*ss, I suppose).

“Hey . . . you’ve been reading too many cooking manga. It’s an illusion that delicious and good things will be evaluated highly. What you need is popularity and demand,” I said. Of course, it had to taste good, but putting the emphasis on that as a bare requirement was also a problem. If you were planning on selling food in a restaurant, of course it had to taste good. Customers came because of other elements, because of popularity. If Seya’s restaurant collapsed here, it would cause trouble for all the judges. That was why I’d created an escape for them. In order to realize the future that boy wanted.

While we don't see Naofumi selling his wares so much anymore because he has far less of a need to, it is nice we do still get that cynical and merchant side of him. All that time didn't just go to waste and it's still a key part of his character.

“What, then? What do you want?” Seya asked.

“There’s someone behind all of this, correct? Someone pulling the strings. If you tell us all about that, we’ll let you go. Hey, I have an idea. Write it down on this piece of paper here. I want a record of this.” I said and passed a piece of paper to him. Seya’s expression immediately brightened.

“That’s all you want? Fine, I can—” But the rest of that sentence vanished into an awful grunt. The moment Seya tried to write a single word, his head simply crumpled in on itself. He managed a brief scream, and then his entire melon exploded. I didn’t want to traumatize my allies, so I quickly threw up a cage and blocked out the grisly scene. Then I gave a sigh.

Well...that was kind of f**ked up for Naofumi to do. Don't get me wrong, after what they had to do to get Takt to be willing to confess, this is much less horrific. But Naofumi did basically just give Seya false hope and then trick him into executing himself. I get why he did it and how dangerous the vanguards are, but it is interesting to think that while ROTSH isn't the darkest of the light novel series I've been reading, Naofumi, save for Ainz Ooal Gown, is definitely the most morally grey of the protagonists compared to Kazuma, Subaru, and Goblin Slayer.

“No matter how delicious the food is, if you eat the same thing every time, you’ll start to get sick of it. Once you get sick of it, you won’t overeat simply because you won’t want to. I’ve been applying that concept to my food,”

That is better than what I was thinking with Naofumi getting too into the game mechanics. And boy do I feel for his friends. It's the same thing that killed me off of soda for a few years. Obviously it's worse to starve than be overstuffed but it's still not a pleasant experience.

We were talking about the primary reason why Kizuna was summoned here in the first place. To put it simply, the idea was to revive the Demon Dragon.

YYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!

And they Tanya'd him too; reborn as an infant of the opposite gender. So does that make Kizuna or Naofumi Being X?

“Seriously . . . it brings dragon tears to my dragon eyes to see you, the great Shield Hero who defeated me, now reduced to this.” The Demon Dragon placed her front paws against her head and muttered sadly to herself.

“I hope you aren’t looking for sympathy,” I said harshly.

“Just think about it for a moment. The same bunch who shouted about defeating me and saving the world are now back, having screwed everything up, relying on me—their sworn enemy—to save them! Take a look around. Does this world look like it’s at peace to you? Well?” the dragon said, really coming for me now. What was worse, I didn’t really have a reply. This world was still plagued by humans fighting each other and had been ravaged by the vanguards of the waves. Everything the dragon had said so far had been so on the money that Kizuna and Glass probably didn’t have any response either. “Can you see how this might feel like something from your own past? Having been chased as a criminal, and then having to clean up after those very weaklings who were chasing you after they had been beaten down by the waves and people from another world?” That punch really landed hard. I wanted to call it a low blow, but she was basically providing a stunningly succinct summary of my life in these other worlds.

Seriously though, after Kyo, Takt, and the various other vanguards, it is so refreshing to have a villain who speaks with some dignity and can actually make a decent point or two, rather than "I'm strong so I can do whatever I want! Losers!" In my vol. 16 random thoughts I compared Takt to All For One from My Hero Academia and I still feel the same way. The two are not that much different goal-wise. They wanted the world and had the power to make it theirs, thus their actions. It is an immature goal when you think about it but AFO did not act anywhere near as immature as Takt and it made him feel so much more intimating. He would sometimes mock his enemy but when he did they were deep cuts that he knew would get under the skin of someone he truly hated, like All Might, rather than just throwing out insults and acting like a brat. And the Demon Dragon is the same (the High Priest too, now that I remember him, even if I don't talk about him as much). I liked Glass as an antagonist because she was intimidating, spoke only as much as she needed to, and was very powerful compared to the protagonists at that time, getting Naofumi to fear facing her again and giving her weight to the story and for the audience. Finding out later her motivations gave her some depth and added grey to the situation. The Demon Dragon is not nearly as sympathetic, but he still works for a lot of the reasons she did. There's presence to him, er, her. It's not a brat who needs to be knocked off their high horse but a genuine threat.

And being able to work with the heroes weirdly makes that even better. The Demon Dragon calls a 100 year truce, not because she's on the side of good, but because she wants there to still be a world around for her to take over. She's completely open about her goal, which ironically makes it easier to trust her.

“That should do for now,” the dragon said. “Hmmm, and this is a female body. Excellent. Shield Hero, under the condition that you will ultimately mate with me, I shall provide even greater cooperation.” So that was how long it took for things to take a crazy turn.

Still a little weird that she wants to f**k Naofumi though. And when the anime gets to this part there is almost definitely going to be a fanfic or doujin. Actually, now that I think about it, there are going to be creators getting some mileage out of when the Demon Dragon tried to take Naofumi over earlier in the series.

“Can’t you make do with Kizuna? She’s one of the four holies from this world. You’ll just have to overcome the gender barrier,” I said.

“Why me?!” Kizuna exclaimed.

“What are you planning on doing to Kizuna?” Now Glass turned a hostile gaze on me too.

Ahh, Naofumi's such a d*ck, I love it. Also, now that's two rivals in one book for Glass. She's almost caught up with Raphtalia.

It would have suited us better if the enemy was a bunch of morons. It was annoying that life never worked out quite so easily. We had no idea how bad it was going to get with the waves, so we had to plan our moves carefully and move to prevent this “fusion of the worlds,” whatever that meant.

Wouldn't that be a heck of a comeback to my bitching about the villains? The ones behind the vanguards have been sending out their idiots first, the ones arrogant and drunk off their power, to soften up the heroes first and cause a bunch of damage but that they know will ultimately just get killed. Takt and the others getting offered up as sacrificial lambs basically because those like S'yne's sister don't like them either.

“I’m starting to feel sorry for Naofumi,” Kizuna agreed.

“He probably thinks you two are in the ‘harem,’” I told them.

“I really don’t like that,” Glass responded. “No, I don’t. I don’t like that at all.” I wasn’t sure why she said it three times, but I didn’t like it either. Just for the record.

“Naofumi is a friend and a comrade, but we’re not like that!” Kizuna retorted. I wondered if she really understood the situation. She was the type who needed things to be said directly to her face.

“A shame we don’t have Fohl here. Even L’Arc would have worked,” I said. Just a few guys mixed in might have broken the group up a bit and prevented it from looking like a harem.

“Naofumi . . . even if we did have some guys, it would probably just give them some different ideas. Like . . . boys love?” Kizuna said. It sounded like, whatever the composition of the party, they would presume a lewd relationship with me at the center.

You know, you never hear about this kind of thing with Ren and Itsuki. Motoyasu went out of his way to have a harem and he still doesn't get it thrown at him as much as Naofumi does. Maybe it's one of those "He protest too much" kind of mindsets, where the more Naofumi denies it the more people think it's true.

“You got lucky. If a wave had occurred with the world of our illustrious leader, we were planning on shattering you. That’s the problem with this system; that’s the only way to get the reward for destroying a world,” the sister explained. I’d heard this talk about rewards for destroying worlds before, I vaguely recalled. I had no idea where that reward came from.

So there's a third world mixed up in all this. Obviously there already was the implication of multiple universes with S'yne and such but now there's a big spotlight on somewhere besides Raphtalia and Kizuna's worlds, where the big bad supposedly lives.

“That’s pretty much what I was expecting. Shield Hero, let me tell you something interesting,” the Demon Dragon began. Then she looked at the Artificial Behemoth’s chest again. “That part there houses a corrupted holy weapon from this world, which has artificially turned the monster into one of the four holy heroes and has allowed it all the power-up methods. It’s basically the monster version of a holy hero.”

I'm somewhat suspecting it's the Blunt Force Holy Weapon, given how easily that beast is smashing through barriers.

The soul that Raphtalia had pulled from the vanguard of the waves was not much like the body it had come from. Instead, it was a gloomy, Japanese-looking guy who was probably in his thirties.

...

“The vanguards of the waves are people who have been reborn or transferred over here after being selected by the one who assumes the name of God. They are given all sorts of abilities, such as the power to steal holy weapons or seven star weapons. They come into these worlds and start causing chaos,” I explained.

“Reborn? You mean like having spare bodies, like Kyo?” Raphtalia asked.

“No, something else. Just their souls were led to this world from Japan, and then they were reborn here as someone from this world. With their memories of the past,” I said. For example, they are people who died in unfortunate accidents—people like Ren, Itsuki, and Motoyasu. This “god” would whisper to them that they had died an untimely death and offer to reincarnate them in any world they liked. They were already dead and so had no reason to reject such an offer. If they did, the “god” probably claimed to be taken with their resolve and promised to give them additional cheat powers, basically forcing them to accept. In some cases, maybe they were just forced to be reborn, no matter what they felt. I’d read books like that, loads of them. Now that they knew being summoned to another world was actually a thing, why not getting reborn or transferred over?

So I was right about Takt being some OC f**kboy! They're all OCs! They're people from Japan who died and now are getting to live out their sh*tty power fantasy fanfiction as their equally sh*tty original character! As a source of useful but disposable minions, that's actually kind of brilliant. We saw how bad Motoyasu, Ren, and Itsuki had been at the beginning (with Naofumi himself potentially on that path as well before he was betrayed) and they were chosen by weapons that actually have the world's best interest at heart. Take those same people and have a malevolent entity constantly feeding their egos and pushing them to do terrible things because "it's their right to do so" and "they're the real heroes" and you've got an near endless source of wrenches to throw into the works of those trying to stop you.

Of course, now I just have this image in my head that the World Eater is Aqua from Konosuba. Which would actually be kind of amazing, not gonna lie. A godly being reincarnating otakus from Japan into a new fantasy-based world for a singular purpose and giving them special powers and tools in exchange.

“What if . . . and just hear me out . . . what if this one who assumes the name of a god is somehow responsible for my game knowledge?” Itsuki quietly suggested. That sounded possible to me now. Even if being summoned was the correct process, having some prior knowledge would change your actions once you arrived.

Before, when the Shield Spirit had explained to Naofumi that he was a first pick choice and the other three heroes were their weapons' third picks, I'd theorized as to why and how the final selection ended up. Assuming the weapons were telling the truth about being able to grant any wish once the waves were over, it could be assumed they have some power over reality even in the four's home universe. So I'd theorized the weapons set up a window to snag their picks, with the shield getting Naofumi and the other weapons, by sheer unfortunance, had their picks keep missing the window and thus they became more desperate, thus why their third picks had to die in order to reincarnate because the weapons couldn't leave things to chance anymore.

Now, with the new speculation and info, we can assume the World Eater has some influence over other universes too, including the heroes' original ones. So two new theories come to mind.

The first, and one I find most likely, is that the World Eater is causing video games that are similar to the worlds impacted by the waves to appear in the original worlds of the heroes. In theory, the butterfly effect could cause a chain of events that'd lead to such games existing, so it's not like the World Eater is just dropping them into each reality. It would just need to nudge things in the right direction. If video game knowledge is actually detrimental to the heroes, then that leaves less choices for the Holy Weapons (at least in regards to what their ideal candidates would be) and opens up more choices for the World Eater, since it wants arrogant and know-it-alls like that for vanguards.

The second, which could still work with the first, is that the World Eater is aware of humans the Holy Weapons have their eyes on and is actively sabotaging them. A weapon has a first choice, so the World Eater throws the game or other things in their path to turn them into a less desirable option, possibly even vanguard material.

After all my comments about the recent antagonists, S'yne's sister is starting to grow on me. She's filling a similar role as Witch; manipulating and using people before ultimately tossing them aside. But like the Demon Dragon and High Priest, there is more of an air of dignity about her than with Witch. With the exception of her sister, she's not really talking down and belittling anyone to try and promote her own strength. Like Glass she feels like someone who is genuinely powerful and doesn't need to prove it. How she's using the enemies of the week is curious and perhaps even a little scary because it does feel like she's testing and experimenting and these losses are not really a loss for her. And there's the added mystery Sadeena threw in over what she really wants. Whether bad guy with a bigger agenda or a secret good guy, she's more enjoyable to read about, as opposed to the vanguards where the biggest enjoyment they offer is watching them get taken down, and even that's not much with all the whining and tantrums they have after they're beaten. She's different from Witch and Kyo. She's not completely high off her own power and doesn't refuse to recognize her enemies' strength. Her casually teleporting away for a bit when she realized the battle was turning in the heroes' favor gave a ton to her character.

I'm just looking forward to when she gets a name other than S'yne's sister or Moron Woman. I appreciate Naofumi's completely lack of caring for learning the names of people who don't deserve it, but if she's going to be a serious antagonist or secret ally, a name would help.

Original Reddit post: https://www.reddit.com/r/shieldbro/comments/kdwai7/first_time_read_through_light_novel_vol_18_random/

[ga-yuu]

Genjiden~Eternal Contract Story Event~Ibuki Route

‘(Just for those who don’t know what this event is about? This is the 2nd ‘What if’ event following the Shirabyoshi Event. In this event, Yoshino(MC) is a demon from birth, and stories are formulated in such a way showing how the male leads and Yoshino will meet and fall in love if she was a demon. Imagine the real prologue without Yoshino in it, because this story is happening after that.)

*

The beautiful flowers of the Otherworld bloom and sways even though there is no wind.

There are similar ones in the human world, but I don’t when it is at its best there....

(Okay, I think it’s time to go to the human world.)

I’m a demon, who often visits the human world.

It’s fun to experience different landscapes and creatures from the human world.

(Of course, that’s not the only reason why I go there.)

As I wondered if today would be the day I would achieve my goal, I stepped towards the gate.

???: “You’re here again.”

(Hm?)

I see a strange man blocking my path.

He had rich long golden hair and two horns were growing out of it----

Yoshino: “-----Oni?”

His frosty eyes shine brightly.

Oni: *Smiles like a creep*

(Ummm...)

I stepped back immediately when I felt the intimidating feeling seeping out of him even when he doesn’t talk.

(I can feel that he’s not just any Oni.)

Oni: “I am Ibuki. Have you heard of that name?”

(Ibuki? Hmmm....)

Yoshino: “Are you saying that you’re the Demon King?”

Shuten Doji, Ibuki. That was the name that came to my mind.

The Demon King or more precisely Ibuki-sama looks down at me in amusement when I was looking back at him in surprise.

Ibuki: “I’ve heard that you’ve got a rare gift. I’m a busy man you know. But I still came all this way to see you, and it wouldn’t hurt to make me happy, right?”

Yoshino: “Eerrmmm....”

(Actually, it’s true that I have a one in a million rare power.)

Yoshino: “But why did you wanna see me?”

Ibuki-sama slowly takes a step towards me.

Ibuki: “Your exceptional powers might attract humans. So I thought, you would make a very interesting toy.”

I raised an eyebrow at his insinuations.

(You want to use my powers to destroy humans? How dare you!)

Yoshino: “Sorry. I can’t cooperate with that.”

Snickering at my rejection, Ibuki-sama lifts one hand casually.

Ibuki: “It seems you have mistaken. I’m not here to negotiate. I’m here to do what I want.”

(Is that thunder!?)

I had a bad feeling and quickly ducked down.

The next thing I knew, a bolt of lightning strike the spot where I was standing.

(Is that Ibuki-sama’s powers...!?)

Ibuki: “What’s wrong? Isn’t it time to run? Come on, run away and I’ll keep chasing you.”

Yoshino: “I will, even if you don’t tell me to.”

I turned my back to Ibuki-sama, and started running as fast as I could.

Ibuki: “Not bad.... It’s fun to chase someone so fast.”

(I’m totally being played. It’s frustrating.....but I have to get out of here now anyway!)

.................

I continued running till I reached my limit and then fell onto my knees in the flower field.

(No more...!)

I was breathing heavily and my legs were shaking.

Ibuki: “You’ve done well for a little girl, but that’s the end of your marathon.”

Yoshino: “Ah!”

Before I knew it, Ibuki-sama was standing right behind me, his arms holding my waist.

Like a predator, he pushed me down on the ground and held me by the nape of my neck.

(Is he going to kill me?)

Ibuki; “Don’t be so hard on yourself. What’s the point if there’s no response?”

Yoshino: “Eh?...Ah!!”

A fleshy wet thing touches the edge of my ear and a shiver runs down my spine.

(He’s also biting...!)

When I turned my head in surprise, our eyes meet and Ibuki-sama was laughing seeing my ridiculous reaction.

Ibuki: “Hehe, the face you’re making now is nasty.”

Yoshino: “M-My face...?”

Ibuki: “Your face is telling me that you can’t look at anything else but me and you’re anticipating something more.”

Then, Ibuki-sama inserts two fingers in my mouth and plays with my tongue.

Just as I was about to sink my teeth into his fingers, he sweetly tweaked the nape of my neck, and my whole body jumped in excitement.

Ibuki: “You’re resisting like a kitten. How cute.”

Yoshino: “Nnn...nnn....”

Ibuki: “Now, why don’t try saying ‘Meow.”

(No way!!)

Ibuki-sama’s long fingers tickled the sensitive parts of my mouth and laughed while watching me struggle.

After my tongue was released, I started breathing sweetly.

Yoshino: “Why....are you doing this....?”

Ibuki: “Why?”

Ibuki-sama’s wet fingers traced down my neck and I felt a chill and fear at the same time.

Ibuki: “Because your reaction is human-like and it’s very intriguing.”

(Why...)

Yoshino: “Why do you want to do terrible things to humans?”

Ibuki: “We both are demons. Isn’t it natural for demons to torment and corrupt humans?”

Yoshino: “No! I won’t do that! All I want to do is make a deal with a human.”

Shaking off his fingers on my neck, I pushed away Ibuki-sama.

Ibuki: “You want to make a deal? Did you hit your head or something?”

A glimmer of interest shines in Ibuki-sama’s eyes.

(Looks like I have to tell him what’s going on.)

I decided to give up the idea of running away and told him about my goal.

Yoshino: “...As you already know, I have the powers to heal a person. But when I heal someone, I have to take away the life force of another living being. And, I have no control over this power.”

Ibuki: “So you want to make a deal with a human to weaken your powers.”

Ibuki-sama chuckled after guessing my goal correctly.

It’s kind of embarrassing to be seen through, so I didn’t argue.

Ibuki: “You really are stupid.”

The corners of Ibuki-sama’s mouth moves up and it didn’t hide the fact that he was amused.

Ibuki: “Humans are cute but stupid creatures. Creatures who dream something beyond their reach and will do anything to achieve even if it means to get their hands dirty.”

(Of course, I’m well aware that not all humans are good...)

Yoshino: “But Ibuki-sama who has never made a deal with a human, can never understand my feelings!”

Ibuki-sama, who is so strong and can conquer different powers perfectly, is so beautiful.

I’m so disappointed that I can’t do anything but say it back to him like a sore loser.

Ibuki: “......”

I saw Ibuki-sama looking down at me emotionlessly.

(Did I offend him....? I did offend him, didn’t I? Looks like my time is over.)

I clenched my fists and mentally prepared myself to be struck by lightning.

Ibuki: “Do you want to play a game?”

(It’s not a death game, right?)

With unexpected words, Ibuki-sama pinched my forehead.

Ibuki: “If I win, you’ll agree to be my toy and let me torment you.”

.............

A month has passed since that day. Ibuki-sama brought me to the human world since then and I’ve been living with him at his base.

The rule of our game was simple-----If I don’t find a human within the next three months to make a deal with, Ibuki-sama wins. If I did find one, I win.

(And the loser has to surrender to the winner.)

(So I’ve no intention of losing!)

Ibuki-sama opened his mouth to start small talk, perhaps after seeing me trembling thinking about the wildest things that would happen if I lose.

Ibuki: “You’ve been eyeing a daughter of a noble family, weren’t you....She does charity for the poor out of vanity. But I heard behind the scenes, her attitude towards her servants is the worst. How about seducing a man with your pretty face? There was a guy asking for you-----”

Yoshino: “I don’t want to hear that.”

I slumped my shoulders thinking about the number of humans I’ve been striking off from my list in the past month.

Ibuki: “And there’s this another man, who is was an official, famous for his integrity. I did a little bit of digging and found out he got into embezzlement.”

Yoshino: “I said NO!”

Ibuki: “You never do any background check before agreeing to one. Be grateful that you don’t have to deal with weirdos.”

(Yeah...It’s hard to accept it.)

I initially doubted Ibuki-sama when he told me about these facts and went to find out by myself.

No matter how many times I repeat the confirmation, I’m only reminded that the words are not false.

(I hate to admit it, but he has been sincere about this game from day one.)

Yoshino: “If only I had been able to scare humans into doing bad things like Ibuki-sama....”

Ibuki: “I don’t like doing boring things like that. I’m more into breaking them right away.”

Yoshino: “And you’re seduction skills are too good.”

(You’re strong and clever, if only you were also a good person....I might have been attracted to you.)

I sighed, but Ibuki-sama reaches out to play with my hair.

(...Hm?)

Ibuki: “Hey, Yoshino. Are you ready to admit it? That it’s better to play with humans than to make a deal with them.”

Yoshino: “I haven’t given up yet.”

Ibuki: “Good. It’s the ones who don’t give up easily are worth breaking.”

At the same time, when Ibuki-sama smiled at me----

???: “Ibuki!”

The front door opens to reveal a pale-looking man.

Ibuki: “Akihito? What’s wrong?”

(Akihito-san? For a human being, he has a very strange aura.)

Even after seeing, Ibuki-sama’s two antennas he’s calm. Looks like he’s aware of demons and the Otherworld.

Akihito: “It’s Yasuchika. He’s serious.”

Ibuki: “What?”

Yoshino: “Who is Yasuchika-san?”

(Who is he? and he’s fatally injured?)

Looking at me from the sideways, Ibuki-sama shrugs.

Ibuki: “He’s an Onmyoji and human, but I don’t think he’s someone suitable for your case.”

Akihito: “Who is this, Ibuki?”

(!!!)

I met Akihito-san’s eyes and bowed lightly.

Ibuki: “Don’t worry. She’s a fellow demon and a playmate of mine.”

Hiding me behind his back, Ibuki-sama turns to Akihito-san.

Ibuki: “More than that, What actually happened to Yasuchika?”

Akihito: “I’m not sure of the details yet. It seems like he was badly injured in a rash attempt to exterminate a demon at the request of his superior.”

Ibuki: “........Ohh?”

Akihito: “They did everything they could to treat him on the road. But on the way to Kyoto, the wound got infected and he lost consciousness. The pharmacist has told me that if things continue to go badly, he could lose his life.”

Ibuki: “.....I see.”

(So he’s suffering from a life-threatening injury.)

Ibuki: “But this news is new to me.”

Akihito: “He didn’t tell anyone about this mission because he didn’t want me to get in trouble.”

Ibuki: “That’s because.....that moron loves you too much.”

His tone was the same, but...when he said ‘moron’ I felt a different temperature, unlike the usual.

(I think I may have never seen Ibuki-sama’s face like this before.)

Akihito: “I was naive. I should have seen this coming.”

Even Akihito-san's cool countenance is now tinged with anguish.

(A human named Akihito-san, an Onmyoji named Yasuchika-san and the Demon King Ibuki....I don’t know what their relationship is nor the circumstances of these three.)

(But I can at least make out that, the person named Yasuchika-san is an irreplaceable existence for both Ibuki-sama and Akihito-san.)

Above all that----

I was moved by Ibuki-sama’s earnestness. So I made my resolve.

Yoshino: “Ibuki-sama.”

Ibuki: “What? I’m busy. We’ll play later.”

I didn’t listen to his rejection and stepped forward.

Yoshino: “Please allow me to use my powers.”

Ibuki: “What!?”

At my words, Akihito-san also blinked his eyes.

Akihito: “Your powers?”

Yoshino: “I have the powers to heal others. ...But there’s a problem.”

I gave a brief explanation of the drawback of my ‘healing abilities’ to Akihito-san.

Akihito: “I’m surprised. I never thought I would see a demon with such a rare gift.”

Yoshino: “You’re right. But when it comes to a fatally injured person, it takes a great deal of life force to heal him. If I take too much life force to heal Yasuchika-san, I might end up killing the other person I took it from.”

Ibuki: “And she can’t control her powers by herself.”

Ibuki-sama calmly points out my problem.

(When I hear him say that, I feel sorry for myself.)

But I can’t just overlook a problem because of that.

Yoshino: “I can’t control it, but Ibuki-sama, who is a demon, is sure to be immune to my Otherworldly powers.”

Ibuki: “...Yeah, so?”

Ibuki-sama narrowed his eyes at me suspiciously.

Yoshino: “Here’s the plan, I’ll use Akihito-san’s life force to heal Yasuchika-san.”

Ibuki: “......”

 Yoshino: “But if heal him fully without leaving a scratch, Akihito-san’s life will be in danger. So when I go out of control, I want you to stop me with your powers.”

(It’s actually hard to guess exactly when to stop, but....)

Yoshino: “A smart demon like Ibuki-sama should know what I’m capable of and would save Akihito-san, no matter what, right?”

I could feel the intimidation raising as I openly challenged him.

Ibuki: “...Yeah, whatever.”

Akihito-san smiled softly, not taking into account the tingling atmosphere of Ibuki-sama.

Akihito: “I don’t mind. Half of my life for him is a small price to pay.”

Ibuki: “You’ll always be you, selfish.”

(Akihito-san is quite a man to be able to tame Ibuki-sama.)

Ibuki-sama sighed and shifted his gaze to me.

Ibuki: “Yoshino.”

He gives me a sharp look as if to see my true intentions.

Ibuki: “---Why are you doing this? You shouldn’t have any reason to do this.”

(There is no point in lying to Ibuki-sama.)

Yoshino: “When Yasuchika-san’s injury news came to you...for the first time I saw Ibuki-sama showing a slight difference from his usual self. Yasuchika-san must be a very important person for Ibuki-sama.”

Ibuki: “Oh, are taking pity on me?”

Yoshino: “...No.”

(I can’t suggest such a scary thing out of pity.)

If Akihito-san or Yasuchika-san were to lose their lives because of my powers, then......my legs ache just thinking about it.

I became honest towards Ibuki-sama as to why I am doing this.

Yoshino: “I’m just curious to know what kind of person Ibuki-sama, who knows so much about the negative side of humans, is worried about.”

Ibuki: “.......”

Yoshino: “...I wonder what kind of face Ibuki-sama will make if I help him. I want to see it.”

(I know I’m saying something bold. But I really want to save Yasuchika-san but....)

(Also with the same strong feeling, I’d like to see Ibuki-sama’s expressions that I don’t know.)

Ibuki: “...Heh.”

Then his thin lips gave out a smirk.

Ibuki: “So you want to have some fun with my heart? You’ve got some nerve.”

A faint heat flickered behind Ibuki-sama’s eyes.

Yoshino: “Can’t I?”

Ibuki: “It’s not a good idea to use a human’s life as a shield against a Demon King.”

The words that were supposed to be like a threat turned out to be much warmer.

(I’m supposed to be sacred, but I can’t see or hear anything but Ibuki-sama.)

A quiet heat had seized me and was about to engulf me.

Even so, I kept my face up because I was proud of what I said.

Ibuki: “It’s not good, but....it’s certainly a demon thing to do, to act on one’s own interests.”

(Ahh!!!)

Ibuki-sama big arm intertwined my faintly trembling hands and held them tightly.

Ibuki: “I’ll go play your game. So don’t be afraid to help me.”

Premium END // Epilogue

For the Anon, who wanted to see this.

[emersonfreepress]

okay so is there content that you had planned for the ROs and story in general but then scrapped cause there wasn’t a good place in the story to stick it in? and if so, can you share what it was? 👀 👀 👀

yes, definitely. *rubs hands together* oh man, you done asked THE question today xD I can't wait to get into this 😁

Academics. I almost decided to have classes and grades be a minor part of gameplay, but the more time I spent designing it the more I realized I wanted nothing to do with it 😂 I haven’t really enjoyed academic gameplay in other interactive fiction because I 1) hate having to choose between studying and interacting with awesome characters, 2) have terrible short term memory, and 3) hate school in general!! So instead I just opted to have the MC be really good at school, point blank period so I could focus on social drama and relationships instead! 😆

Physical skills. I spent literal months crafting the catering scene around setting up stats for stamina/endurance, dexterity, and strength instead of just magnetism, confidence, and persuasion. They had their own backstories with the MC’s parents being overly invested sports parents instead and I think the background choices were like... martial arts, gymnastics, and track? But yeah, I ended up scrapping it all because I was spending hours on research about those individual sports so I could integrate them into the MC’s narrative organically but like... when I tried to think of what use they would be in the actual story, I came up blank. Best decision yet, esp since it means a lot less coding!

Skin tone customization. For one, I noticed that a lot of my favorite IFs don’t offer that customization and it hasn’t impacted my experience at all. For two, I originally realized I might as well not implement it since I am striving real hard not to introduce any customization that won’t actually be mentioned in interesting or meaningful ways in-story. I don’t think it’s really all that common for real life friends (esp in high school?) to comment or compliment each other’s skin and like... when it comes from someone who doesn’t share a similar complexion or ethnic background, that type of commentary gets... d i c e y. So then I wanted to be sensitive to that but what’s the pay-off? An RO mentioning how they love your skin tone once? Awkward sentences with the MC referring to their own skin color? Idk, just wasn’t vibing with it. I’m open to revisiting it in beta or something but for now it’s scrapped.

Singing, Rapping, and Gaming as Hobbies/Talents. I feel bad about scrapping these, honestly 😂 They’re great and I really wanted to incorporate them but it just came down to already having a lot of stuff to code. Plus, I know I can write the Hobbies/Talents I stuck with far better. And for Book 2 purposes, as well!

Leo. as @sourandflightypeaches ​​ asked me about a long while ago, I had to scrap an entire RO 😢 His name is Leo, he was the nephew of wealthy west African diplomats residing in Emerson, and I love him dearly! His backstory was largely based on my mother’s childhood and the circumstances she lived through after immigrating to America. and... ok, i’m about to go on one hell of a tangent so buckle up and bear with me if you can 😅

my intention with this story, aside from writing things that I personally enjoy (graphic violence, spooky woods, social drama, romance, conspiracies 😚), is to explore greed, wealth, and how the ways people and families interact with those two things influence young people and who they grow up to be. here i go sounding pretentious af 😝 and here’s where I apply a cut for those who want to preserve a little mystery to the main characters!

With Gabe, we’ve got someone who grew up with very little stability or financial security but who has found unscrupulous methods to gain status and money, with both noble and selfish motivations.

Kile has some of that childhood experience in common with Gabe, having been in the foster care system since infancy, but they lucked out when they were adopted into massive wealth by a caring, loving couple—a couple that uses their wealth and privilege to be far more lenient and protective of Kile than is actually reasonable or responsible.

Jack comes from a prestigious wealthy family on his dad’s side who he loves dearly but there’s no getting around the fact that they love him back as much as they despise his working class mom.

Jessie is a spoiled sweet heiress (being the baby of her family and the only girl) and while she lives blissfully ignorant of the harmful source and impact of her father's income and career, she bears the weight of the expectation to fulfill very traditional gender roles, including her behavior and appearance, but also extending to her career and life plans.

Rain's wealth led to them growing up sheltered and isolated but also extremely accommodated, giving them maximum freedom and opportunity to discover and develop their personal talents and interests. However, they have almost no positive relationship with their parents who have essentially decided to give up on a kid that couldn't be exactly the accessory they tried to mold them to be—both in terms of their identity and personality.

Rupan/Rohan, at their very core, rejects everything about conformity, self-importance, and excessive luxury—which means they have never, ever truly fit in with their peers. Going full non-conformist, however, has resulted in them becoming alienated from much of their family, as well, despite them all loving each other very much. Their history with false friends and betrayals has led them to over-indulge in their vices and reckless behavior to compensate for that isolation. Sometimes, they just get in over their head and many times, they know better. Every time, it's just that the feeling of finally belonging is utterly intoxicating.

Vivian/Vincent has two extremely successful parents who didn't inherit but instead built up their wealth and they aspire to be just like them, to a degree that is well and truly unhealthy. Their mother specifically is an over-achiever and applies mountainous pressure for them to follow in her footsteps, especially academically. Vi is completely capable of achieving what their mom expects of them, but they were already an extremely sensitive perfectionist so this has made them intensely critical of themself. This is a large part of why they are such a rigid, no-nonsense person and that in turn has made them one of the most disliked people among their peers—which is a huge personal failure to them since their father is a very well-liked and socially successful person in town.

And the Emersons are peak privilege: inherent high social status, brains, looks, charisma, athleticism, and massive wealth. They could never have been anything less than extremely popular, just by virtue of their last name and the nature of the town's social dynamics and politics. And they do enjoy that privilege (esp Curt lol). However, it should go without saying that being so high profile, even (or maybe especially) just in the isolated scope of your hometown, isn't always a boon. Their family's and their own perceived failings are widely discussed and privately mocked and/or celebrated. Real friends are scarce while fake ones and snakes are plentiful. Plus their dad is a gigantic dickhead who sees his kids as extensions of his own status and reputation and not much else. Public shortcomings make for an unbearable time at home and the world outside the estate is at once overly accommodating, full of assumptions, and even subtly hostile at times—all unrelated to their own actions or character.

And with the MC, I think the narrative will make it clear there are several ways that story can go. You start off with irresponsible parents that have lost their wealth due to their own mismanagement and material ambitions—how that affects any individual MC should differ based on choices and consequences!

So why bring any of that up when I was supposed to be talking about my cut OC? 😂😂

Leo was going to be the unwelcome recent addition to his uncle’s household, the son of a brother his aunt hates for (petty af) Reasons, and she took that resentment out on him directly by restricting his access to nearly every aspect of the family's wealth. Especially material goods and living conditions. He was basically treated like the help, tasked with playing nanny for his many younger cousins and burdened with doing the homework and providing academic cover for his dumb as rocks cousin in the same grade as you all. To sum it up, he was basically a victim of trafficking at the hands of his own family with his uncle out of town enough to feign ignorance to how bad his wife was treating his nephew and his aunt going out of her way to keep him busy, at home, and isolated. This is sadly a super common form of trafficking in Francophone African cultures (although I don't think most people view it as trafficking. and I’m sure the same is true of other cultures but I don’t want to speak outside of my purview). And like I mentioned above, it’s how my own mom's (and idek how many cousins') child/teenhood went.

It’s a perspective on modern wealth, privilege and greed that I really, really wanted to tell. I am confident in saying it hasn't been explored in interactive fiction yet (though correct me—and direct me 👀—if I'm wrong) and out of all the wealth/greed explorations I came up with, it's the one I have the closest personal ties to and the strongest feelings about. The characters and plans I had for it were detailed and I'm proud of them but at the end of the day... I just couldn't find a place for Leo in the story at large.

Leo was, in fact, the last main character I came up with, when I had already designed and fleshed out the larger story and started crafting the timeline of major events. I think the worst thing I could have done for a story and perspective that I care about this much is shove it into a plot that didn't have room for it at the very base level, regardless of how well the character or his story is written. Shoe-horned characters always stick out. I didn’t want to disservice Leo by having him be the character that did nothing or could be removed from the main plot without affecting it at all, y’know? That’s so much worse than just forgoing the indulgence, imo :((

ugh.... Leooooo 😭 I'm so sorry bb, I failed youuu 😥

[wlw-lovestruck-fiction]

Onyx and MC find out that they're having Twins

Written by: @evoedbd

It was a usual peaceful day in the clinic. Sunlight shone through the windows, reflecting the off coloured white walls to bathe the room in a soft, bright light. The air was so light, light enough that one could forgive the beige linoleum floors and the sterile smell which betrayed the calm and gave a hospital vibe. Combatting the sterile nature was a large fish tank, illuminated with gentle blues through driftwood and aquarium plants. The plants waved gently in the currents, joyfully curling around the playful bubbles escaping an ornament amidst the driftwood. The fish danced around their environment, fins occasionally flaring before they dashed off, merrily oblivious to the incoming storm.

Standing guardian to the peaceful waiting room was a lone secretary, stationed behind her large corner desk. Immaculately dressed, as she had been every day for ten years on the job, her occasionally stern gaze held the rabble in line. Under her eye, even the most anxious of patients stayed quiet, perhaps mistaking her for harsh. She was not. These patients who came in were under her care until they met their doctors. For the lives they grew, the secretary owed them a moment of peace. A place to feel safe. Whether it was to hand them pamphlets from her desk with cliche titles such as “what to expect while expecting” or handing them pamphlets to support groups. Sometimes, a simple glass of water or some biscuits were what her patients needed, and she loyally provided, honoured by her small role in helping healthy babies be brought into the world. Though, there was a darker side to her observations. She had to pick out the women at risk, the women in tough circumstances. These women stayed with her, even long after they left her sight. The “unfortunate” accidents which could not be proven as anything but. The husbands and wives who looked just a little bit too angry at being there. The expecting mothers who were too twitchy. The noble secretary kept them all marked, a tiny yellow flag on their appointments.

She had known the moment miss Onyx Wren had come in all those years ago that something was horribly wrong. A lone, terrified young woman who had done her best to be bright and chirpy. She’d talked about her loving boyfriend, how he was so excited for her baby, how he was working extra hard and making her work harder to provide the best life for their coming child. It had come as no surprise when the clinic heard she had lost her baby in a training accident. When the following check-up was under the watchful eyes of her boyfriend. The way he had looked at Onyx still chilled the Secretary to the core, and when she had heard his line of questioning. All about physicality. All about when Onyx could have sex again. She knew. She knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he had done something horrific, and that Onyx was too scared to speak, too trapped in denial to accept her reality.

Today, the scene had been something entirely different. Onyx had been quiet, terrified even, but she was not alone. With her was a little Asian woman, a hurricane barely restraining herself. The air had changed the moment they stepped in, the Asian woman holding the doors for Onyx, comforting her with amusing faces and gentle touches. The Asian woman hadn’t seemed to care how childish she seemed; her focus was devoted to Onyx. Over her shoulder, a bag containing several textbooks had bounced, textbooks the Secretary recognised as medical schoolbooks on pregnancy and reproduction. That had given her pause. For all the childish energy and wild excitement, the girl had shown, she was so clearly committed. So seriously dedicated to whatever role she was playing for the expectant mother. And Onyx? Onyx, for all her fright, seemed to gravitate to that energy, feeding off it until the two seamlessly worked together, as if they felt the other in their very soul. As if reading one another’s thoughts before they even occurred. It was sickeningly adorable. If only that Asian woman could keep her voice down, then the Secretary might have even been cooing over them.

“TWINS!” The gleeful cry cut through the peaceful din of the waiting room; the roar of a dragon across the countryside. Like the beating of wings, the faithful pounding of footsteps against the floor crescendoed, growing closer and closer. Occasionally, the sound of shoes squeaking from the friction against the floor broke the pattern, or a pause to the steps cued more joyous shouting.

The Secretary cringed, her dedicated typing coming to a halt as she braced herself for the human hurricane. The one she’d read as the emergency contact. Cali Meng Xi.

“Twins! Twins! Its twins! She’s having twins!” Cali continued to shout, leaping and whooping through the waiting room in a flurry of her tie-dyed hoodie and long, powerful legs. The bike mechanic danced, kicking her white high tops into the air with each leap and stride, reminiscent of a frolicking stallion amidst the spring grass. How could she stop? The excitement burning in her body was too powerful to contain, too pure to be tainted by something as cold as rational, mature behaviour or logic. Onyx was having babies. Plural. Not A baby. But BABIES. Twins! Two baby Onyx’s! Double the adorableness in the world. Double the miracles! Her heart was going to beat out of her chest; was going to explode into a shower of rainbow glitter and unicorns delivering bombs of happiness to all. Onyx! Babies!

Behind her, a melodic giggle twinkled. A sound of delight and embarrassment at the same time. Onyx followed at a far more sedate pace, reaching out in an effort to catch Cali’s arm whenever the mechanic was within reach. Of course, Cali didn’t stop bouncing around, her face split by the dopiest grin ever seen. Instead, she took Onyx’s hand, spinning the shorter woman as if they were in a ballroom instead of a waiting room.

“Cali, calm down. Just watching you is making me tired.” Onyx laughed; her voice filled with that undeniable note of happiness. Even as Cali’s behaviour embarrassed her a little, it also filled her with pride. It was evident in the healthy glow of her cheeks, the delighted, adoring twinkle in her oceanic emerald eyes. Her plea was heeded. Cali slowed, sweeping Onyx up into a loving embrace, only to spin her around once again. Onyx simply laughed, kicking her feet playfully before she was gently set down.

“The most beautiful woman in the world is having twins! I love you! I love you all, so, so much! I’m so excited, Onyx. I’m so happy I feel like I’m gonna explode if I don’t let it out!” Cali cried, fat tears of joy rolling down the curve of her cheeks. The truth of her words was evident. Standing still, Cali’s muscles twitched, all rebelling beneath her skin. She trembled, a tangle of energy with nowhere to go. Still, when she lifted her hands to Onyx’s cheeks, Cali was so very gentle. Even trembling, her fingers never became rough as they tucked strand after strand of golden hair behind Onyx’s delicate ear. For all her overwhelming energy, Cali’s hands were nothing but sweet again Onyx’s cheeks, as if cradling her world in her rugged palms. Gently, she lured Onyx into a kiss, the sweetest she could offer. Her lips caressed Onyx’s, pleading, writing her love into every romantic memory. A gesture of such vulnerability offered without fear or shame, unperturbed as to who witnessed such a moment.

The Secretary smiled, surrendering to her impulse to croon over the young women. Even from across the room, she could see the devotion in Cali’s dark eyes, could see how Onyx was her entire world. It was laced through every touch. The tenderness of her hands to Onyx’s barely showing stomach. The love in even the most chaste of kisses, in how Cali pressed them everywhere she could. This hurricane of excitement had no qualms about kneeling to Onyx, to pressing her lips to Onyx’s tummy. About sobbing with happiness. This woman was proud, without being prideful. Intense without becoming domineering. Cali Meng Xi was nothing like the boyfriend Onyx had tried to sell as loving. The longer The Secretary watched, the more apparent it became. Cali’s actions were all for Onyx. Cali wasn’t out to disturb the others, nor was she putting on a show for the crowds. This was her, raw and unbridled, unable to contain herself. She wasn’t trying to seize the stage, she was trying to share her happiness. She was blessing the waiting room with her genuine joy, gifting a glimpse of her soul as she worshipped a goddess in her own life. As she praised the lives growing.

“Six fucking pages.” The doctor whispered as he drew closer, bending down to slide the documentation to the Secretary and keep his words private.

“That woman took six pages of notes. If only all the expecting fathers were as dedicated.” He elaborated, earning a gentle chuckle from the Secretary. The woman gazed into the doctor's eyes for a moment, reading everything he hadn’t said. She watched, assessing for a few moments before accepting the files.

“Miss Wren better put a ring on that girl. They’re perfect together.” The Secretary commented, earning a sound of agreement from the doctor.

Quietly, she flipped to the page, pausing at the yellow sticky dot in the corner. The doctor simply nodded, confirming her thoughts with a smile so large it looked as if his aged face might split in two. The Secretary’s heart almost burst as she worked her nails beneath it, picking and plucking until the label came free. Nothing honored her as much as when she worked it into a nasty ball, then flicked it from her nails straight into the trash. Right where it belonged.

Onyx Wren wasn’t in danger any longer.

[gravesofheirscog]

The update ignited my imagination!

1. When we first meet the revenant, he reminds me of an annoying sales manager, because he reduces everything to a broken soul.

Are you talking about vamir? Of course, it's because of a broken soul!

Are you shouting with joy? I'm almost 100% sure that a broken soul is involved!

Are you silent? A broken soul, no less.

2. When we choose the revenant name, I was amused by the moment with the choice of Excess.

"So, what noble name will you give me?"

Ms "of course": Excess

Excess : I think I've made a contract with the god of originality and creativity

3. When can we interact with Dit? When did Carmine start interacting with him and how did it happen?We will sign a contract with him, and he will give us strength? If he is a god, can he be worshipped by performing any rituals on virgin blood (ours)? Would it be possible to build any friendship with him, or at least the relationship of a faithful cultist and a benevolent god? And why, if Deet can manipulate time so freely, is the world still not in ruins?

4. Is it possible to emotionally manipulate Vitaly to create a sense of guilt in front of us and to cultivate a hero complex?

For example, I have a scene in my head.

Background:

Miss is a fragile child who, thanks to this and her acting abilities, plays a child younger than her age, calls Vitaly her brother and constantly shows signs of affection. All in order to create a sense of innocence and naivety, which must be protected. I decided to destroy the Academy day by day, and I interacted with Dit for a long time.

Ms "runs up to Vitaly and silently embraces him"

Vitaly: Something you are some silent today?

ms "still hides his eyes and says in a lost voice": Brother, do you want to escape from here?

Vitaly "pats the lady on the head": Of course, I want this more than anything in the world. But as long as that's not possible, don't worry, soon your big brother will grow up and be strong enough to get us out of here.

MS "brooding voice": More than anything else? "hugs him even tighter and leaves with a determined look"

Ms: Sorry, I have to go. "runs away"

Vialy " thoughtfully rubs his head, but does not attach any importance to this"

The next day.

Ms "runs up to Vitaly in a painfully depressed state and, without giving him time to recover, says:" Brother, I need you to be at the edge of the forest today in 30 minutes. It's a matter of life and death, I beg you, if you don't, something bad will happen.

Vitaly "worryingly": You were bullied again by high school students, do they want you to be there?

Ms "High spirits leave smnenya with fear and determination": Vitaly, please, I can't say. "runs away in tears"

Vitaly, angry and ready to fight, comes to the edge of the forest at the right moment, but there is no one there, before he has time to think about something, he is blinded by the brightest flash of light. After his eyes begin to see something, he turns around and sees the burning ruins at the academy site and a black dot above them that is rapidly approaching him. When the dot comes close enough, Vitaly realizes that it is Ms, but now blood is flowing from his eyes, nose and ears.

Ms "sobbing, talking in a frenzy": Sorry, sorry, sorry. I didn't know it would be like this. He told me he'd set you free, I didn't know ,I didn't know

, I didn't know, I didn't know. "At this moment, black tentacles break out from under the MK and drag it into the dark hole"

Vitaly shudders from the shock of everything that is happening and falls to his knees. Much later, he will add up all the hints and realize that some powerful dark entity has offered the MC a contract for his release. He realizes that he wasn't really at fault in that situation, there wasn't much he could have done. But a heartbreaking sense of guilt will forever settle in his heart.

Of course, in this imaginary scenario, there are a number of assumptions, for example, I do not know if Vitaly wants to escape, if I got at least partially into his character, if there is a forest edge in that academy, and much more. But my imagination persists in painting such a picture.

Ah, your questions always get me thinking! They’re so much fun to answer, so thank you for sending this in!

1. It’s been so much fun to read/see people’s reactions to the revenant. I totally see what you mean about a particularly bull headed salesman! I had a laugh imagining him trying to pawn off crappy used cars to people lmao. 

2. Haha, thanks! Growing up I had a pet clam named Clammy and people had similar reactions lol. 

3. Interactions with Deathe will be coming up in the next chapter, and his relationship/how he met Carmine will be explained as it affects the plot of the original novel quite a bit. You can choose to sign a contract with him, and he will give the MC powers in accordance with that contract. And yes, he is a god (elder god, to be precise) and as the story progresses you can build up a relationship with him. On the topic of rituals, there’s some in-universe debate over this but you will be able to ask him yourself in the next chapter! Also, his manipulation over time is a pretty overarching spoiler so I can’t say anything yet - sorry!

4. The MC can absolutely manipulate Vitalius/Astasus by pretending to be the meek girl Carmine used to be. There’s a few ways I plan to take this, so I hope you’ll enjoy it! Also, I feel like you really understood him well! I really enjoyed reading that!

Thank you so much for your ask!

[perriewinklenerdie]

One step forward, two steps back (Ethan Ramsey x MC)

Open Heart, Ethan Ramsey x MC

Author’s note:  Hello, hello, hello! OPEN HEART IS BACK! CAN YOU HEAR ME CRYING. That chapter killed me and filled me with so much ideas and will to write that... damn, PB, well done. It's the first diamond scene with a bit (a lot) of changes and it's from Ethan's perspective cause that's what I do I guess.

AO3 link:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/22992799

Tag list:   @paleweasels , @lilyofchoices , @hopelessromantic1352, @kittykatchoices, @valiantlychaoticbarbarian , @radlovedreamer , @usuallyamazinglyaverage, @palestazure, @cordoniaqueensworld, @universallypizzataco, @princess-geek, @faithhasnowords, @mightyfangirlofthefandoms, @drakewalkerfantasy, @timmagicktoad, @laceandlula, @greywitchyshots, @llamasgrl, @gingerjane15, @bucket-harrington , @marywrites-things , @ethanplaysfavorites , @mfackenthal , @betelgeusebee , @simsvetements,  @i-only-signed-up-for-fanfiction, @buzz-bee-buzz, @owleyes374, @cora-nova, @aworldoffandoms, @l822, @cream-ray, @ughhhxjazzy, @silverlitskies, @justendlesssummerfeels, @togetherwearerapture, @desmaranj, @edgiestwinter, @friedherringclodthing, @daisy-ashton, @waytooattuned, @choicesgremlin , @lapisreviewsstuff, @the-soot-sprite, @writerapprentice, @chasingrobbie, @choicesobsessedd, @cassiusownsmyass, @x-kyne-x, @thisperfectmemory, @drakewalker04, @rookie-ramsey, @jlynn12273, @thepinknymph @dr-brianna-casey-valentine, @a-i-n-a-a-s-h Enjoy! <3

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He could list about five reasons for which he went to Donahue’s that night. All of which were irrelevant, and he knew it damn well. He just came back, he should be sleeping, he should be home with his dog. He should be staying away from Edenbrook.

He should be staying away from her.

Lying would get him nowhere. If he didn’t believe himself, why should anyone else? People that didn’t know him thought it was very noble of him to sacrifice two months of his life to help people in the Amazon, and he would only nod slightly to avoid talking, because he knew that the second he opened his mouth, truth would fly out. Deep down, in the middle of the night when he was alone with himself and his thoughts, he knew that the only reason he went away, the only reason he decided to help all those people, as bad as it sounded, was to put as much distance between Claire and himself as he could. It wasn’t noble. It wasn’t admirable. It was cowardice that led him to his decision, and he felt ashamed.

Reggie looked surprised only for a split second upon seeing him walking through the door, but that was substituted with a wide grin as he greeted his old friend. Ethan couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but there was something unusually smug in the way his friend was smiling at him. Like he knew something Ethan didn’t and he was impossibly proud of that.

“You have that weird glint in your eye and I’m pretty sure you’re up to something.” He searched Reggie’s face for any crack that would reveal what was happening, but he gave away nothing.

“You’ve been away from civilization for too long and you’re seeing things, Ramsey.” He cackled, slapping his hand against Ethan’s shoulder blade, then went back behind the bar. “The weather is nice, you should sit outside.”

He followed the advice, sinking back into his own mind. He did that quite often lately, an escape from the horrific images that would haunt him for years to come. The only problem was, the second he closed his eyes to take a deep breath and ground himself with something, she was there. He ran away to forget about the feelings that swelled in his chest, that threatened to overflow and drown him, and yet every time he paid attention to his thoughts, she came right back to him. He got better at ignoring her over the weeks, and now, he only thought of her a couple of times during the day, save it for the countless nights with her as the main character in his dreams.

He wondered, from time to time, if he would ever get over her. If he would ever leave behind the pull that he felt every time he so much as thought of her. If he would ever forget the feeling of her lips against his. Forget the feeling of her body pressed against him, wrapped around him, moving against him. Her laugh rang in his ears, her voice followed him wherever he went, and he was ready for the torture to be over and not able to get enough of her at the same time.

It was late in the night, and the bar wasn’t as packed as he expected. People talked, music flew from the speakers and the air was significantly colder than he remembered it to be before he left Boston. The moment he took a step outside into the beer garden, he knew why Reggie was so smug. The reason was right there.

He heard her. He saw her.

Hushed voices flew in the air and suddenly five pairs of eyes were locked on him, observing him with curiosity in most cases. Only one pair of eyes was different. The green filled with surprise, confusion and underlying pain that he knew damn well he caused and that stung him more than he expected.

He knew this would happen eventually. Sooner or later, he would come face to face with her and would have to see how much his plan worked. In an ideal world, he would be cured of her and would be able to work with her like two colleagues that they were. But this wasn’t a perfect world, and they were only people.

And he still gave a damn about her.

The only way to the other side of the bar was to pass by their table, and he knew he had to at least greet her, even if only to keep appearances up. Nothing was amiss, nothing was wrong, just a bunch of Doctors that had a free evening and ran into each other.

Which was very obviously a lie and everyone, including Ethan, knew that. But that didn’t mean he wouldn’t try.

Their eyes meet for the first time in two months and he knows, right in that moment, that he’s still a goner. He’s still so tangled with her, so lost in her that the chances of saving him were slim and getting smaller every moment that passed. He could feel his throat closing, breathing got hard and the back of his eyes stung when he realized that he might as well fall apart right there, in front of everybody. He had to get this over with and get away from people. Try to get away from her.

Again.

Clearing his throat to at least try to regain some control over his voice, he hesitated before speaking. “… Rookie.”

Her eyes flash with familiarity and her lips curl into the smile that knows so well. His heartbeat accelerated like it always did, and, like always, it drove him mad. “It’s good to have you back, Dr. Ramsey.”

She probably didn’t mean to poke him with his title, to remind him what their situation was. She definitely wasn’t aware of why he went away, and why he dreaded coming back almost as much as he anticipated seeing her again, despite how much he tried to deny it. Her face didn’t give anything away, but he knew her well enough to notice a shadow pass her eyes, revealing that she caught onto something in him that didn’t add up.

“Yeah… good to be back.” He muttered, his gaze still locked with hers, even though he knew he should severe the eye contact before it gets suspicious. Hesitation takes over his mind as he argues with himself. Finally, he shakes his head slightly, blinks twice and breathes deeply. “Doctors. Enjoy your night.”

Leaving the group behind, leaving Claire behind, he walked back to Reggie, his expression fixed into a careful scowl. He saw him and as soon as he connected the dots, he started laughing. Ethan fell into the seat by the bar, his fingers drumming against the flat surface restlessly.

“She really got you, that Claire of yours.” Reggie mused, stating the fact rather than asking, and one look at his friend confirmed it.

“She’s not my Claire… she’s not mine.” he clarified, and it nearly broke him. His friend nodded, then grinned at him again.

“Oh, I know. But wouldn’t you like her to be.”

“I-“ he trailed off, nursing the drink that Reggie placed in front of him, opting for talking with him instead. There was too much to unpack, too much to explain when it came to Claire, so the prospect of a simple, not complicated conversation seemed like heaven to him.

Further down the bar, he saw Dr. Thorne. He saw enough to know that the man was a scumbag that didn’t deserve to be touched with a stick, but he was a good doctor, and while he didn’t agree with him outside of the hospital, in the work environment, he had to endure his presence. It seemed as though he found himself a new victim that night, because the girl he was talking to looked uncomfortable and, if he had to guess, was getting angry with every word that Garrett spoke and that Ethan couldn’t hear. His hand touched her back and suddenly she grabbed it and slammed it onto the bar, the crack resounding in the air. A scream followed and the plastic surgeon shoved her onto the ground, the sound of the glass breaking reaching his ears. Ethan shot up to go help the girl, when a blonde woman stepped between them, holding her hands up to shield herself from any incoming punches.

“Hey! Easy!” she spoke up, loud and clear, her voice steady. Claire looked at Dr. Thorne like she was about to murder that man on the spot, and Ethan didn’t like how his mind reacted when he realized how close to getting punched she got. He started walking towards the commotion, more and more words reaching his ears.

“… charges! Do you know how much I’m going to sue that bitch for?” he exclaimed, waving his good hand around.

“Garrett. That’s enough.” He heard his own voice, seething with anger, dangerously low. Claire’s eyes shot straight to him, surprise flashing in them, followed by a tender sliver that warmed the green of her irises. He turned away from her and scowled at their colleague, his hands curling into fists. “You still got one good hand, don’t you? Put it to good use and call yourself a cab.”

“I don’t give a shit what you think, Ramsey. You think you can tell me what to do? You get lost, come back and think you call the shots around here?” Garrett sneered, spiting the words in Ethan’s face. He had to stop his hand that itched to punch some sense into his thick skull. In his peripheral vision he could see Claire grabbing grain alcohol and a clean rag, then running out the door to chase the girl.

“If you think you can be an asshole cause you have lines of people that give their faces into your hands, think again. I don’t care what goes on in that stuck-up head of yours, you acting like a scumbag doesn’t do right by me.” Ethan kept his voice low, fully aware of all the other doctors that they both worked with, now having their attention focused on the two of them. “Get your things and call yourself a cab before I decide I no longer care and take care of you myself.”

“I’m so scared of you I’m about to cry. As I said, I don’t give a shit what you say. You can boss around that bitch of yours but I’m not your lapdog, Ramsey.” Garrett sneered, a cruel smirk crossing his features. Ethan felt his blood boil as he heard him disrespect Claire and it took all his self-control not to beat him till he was black and blue. He did the next right thing, grabbing him by the lapel of his jacket and dragging him outside. He waved down a cab, his grip on the man vicelike.

“You’re so disgusting, I’m not even going to dignify you with a response. You treat women like trash, you’ll be lucky if no one presses charges.” He opened the door of the car, threw him in and sent him off with a look of disgust. “Get your shit together.”

He slammed the door, putting a barrier between him and Garrett, and finally taking a breath. He never liked the man, and now all he felt when he looked at him was utter disgust. He walked back in and saw Claire already inside, explaining the situation to her friends. His gaze lingered on her for only a moment before he walked to the bar and took a seat. He could very dimly hear Reggie calling out to his customers that he was about to close and that they needed to leave.

“What? Last call doesn’t apply to you?” he heard her voice, calling out to him from the other side of the bar. He let the silence ring between them for a split second before answering, keeping his eyes on the glass in his hand.

“Reggie and I go way back. We have an arrangement.”

“An arrangement? Is that what you call a friendship?” her voice was filled with warmth and he didn’t have to look at her to know that she was smiling. He allowed himself to smile too.

“I don’t have friends. But…” he didn’t think his next words through. “… I wouldn’t mind you joining me if you were so inclined.”

He definitely didn’t think this through.

He let his guard down and he was sure that there would be hell to pay. What was he even thinking? He should be staying away from her, not drawing her in.

She told her friends she would stay behind and talk to him about tomorrow. And he was sure she meant that, just not in a way that was safe for both of them. It sounded simple, and yet it had danger written all over it, because there was no way of knowing how much his self-control could take before he breaks again. He felt her more than he saw her, sitting down in a seat next to him by the bar.

“Rook- er, Claire. Sorry. Force of habit.” He bit his tongue, the nickname lighting a familiar warmth in his chest before he realized that she’s not a Rookie anymore. She’s a resident now. His colleague. And he is her boss.

They were so screwed.

She ran her eyes along the lines of his body, taking in his new clothes, nodding her head towards the jacket. “We’ve got ourselves a brand new Ethan Ramsey.”

“This jacket’s been through a lot with me.” he mused, running his thumb along the seam of his sleeve.

“I have to say, that jacket is nice. It’s good to see a more laid-back side of you. You seem more… relaxed. You can mix it up with that sweater of yours. I liked it, it was soft to touch…” she trailed off, biting her lip as she looked down, the meaning obvious and clear. He cleared his throat, shaking his head.

“Duly noted. And the beard?” he probed her for answers, subconsciously trying to find out what she preferred. He realized what he was doing only after he asked the second question, and he could hope that she didn’t catch onto that, but her smirk was enough to tell him that she knew. And she enjoyed it.

“It’s a bit too long, but I like it.” she mused, her fingers flying to his jaw and tracing the line of it with the tips of her fingers. Her nails scraped against his skin slightly and the shiver that ran all over his body almost ended him, right then and there.

“I’ve gotten used to it. I can trim it, I suppose.” He wondered out loud and she grinned, her cheeks rising. They watched as the last of people left the bar, leaving only them and Reggie. Ethan looked around them, and then turned to her with an idea.

“Why don’t we move outside? It’ll be winter before we know it. Might as well enjoy the weather while we can. Want something to drink?”

“I’ll have whatever you’re having.” She nodded towards his glass and he grinned, the situation bringing back the memories.

He reached over the bar, grabbing the half-drunk bottle of scotch. Ethan called out to Reggie to let him know that they’re borrowing it. He knew his friend long enough to know that he wouldn’t mind.

Claire walked alongside him, both of them silent, taking in the peace and tranquility of the beer garden. He sat down by the fire pit, ensuring they were both warm, looking at the flames, climbing up in the air. She took a place next to him, their bodies pressed against one another slightly, just enough for them to feel each other’s heat. His breath caught in his throat, his pupils dilating as he felt the soft scent of her perfume.

“I can see why you like it here.” She muttered, watching the lights flicker above them. He grinned, knowing that his prediction was right and that she liked it too.

“Because nobody’s annoying me?”

“More or less. It’s peaceful.”

Silence covered them like a thick blanket, and maybe in the past he would find some comfort in it, but now, it felt suffocating. There once was a time when he was so comfortable with her that nothing else had ever felt this easy. Those times were behind them, but damn him, how he wanted to go back in time.  

“So. This Dr. Thorne guy. Should I be worried about him?” she asked, leaning onto the table to while looking at him. He knew why she asked. After the trial she went through last year, he expected her to be cautious. She learned her lesson the hard way, but then again, so did he. They were the same, in that and many more ways. That’s why he restrained himself from punching Thorne. Nash was a problem enough, and Garrett was the same type of an asshole. No matter how much he wanted to beat him up for what he said and did, he knew that he shouldn’t.

“He has some influence. Just stay out of his way for a couple of weeks and he’ll entirely forget who you are.” He advised, mirroring the way she rested her head on her palm, making their eyes meet.

“But not who you are. Should you be worried?” she sounded almost like she was worried about him, and almost immediately he knew that she most likely thought it was her fault he had to get involved.

“I’ve worked too hard to get where I am to give a damn what someone like him thinks.” He scoffed, his blood boiling as he recalled what happened just thirty minutes ago. Knowing she had no way of knowing what went down, he moved on. “Don’t think twice about that asshole. What you did back there, helping that girl? You did the right thing. That’s all that matters.”

“We both know that’s not true.”

“Hrm. Well, it should be.” He stated, then felt a wave of pensiveness washed over him, making his entire body ache. “You’re too young to be a cynic like me.”

“I’m not being cynical. I just learned my lesson. You saw what happened last year. I almost lost my license for breaking the rules to help Mrs. Martinez.” Pain twisted her features, she curled her fingers inwards, digging her nails into her palms. He saw her do it multiple times in the past, but never saw it from up close, and now that he had her hands only inches from his own eyes, he could see crescent marks in a line across her palms. His hands itched to reach out to her, to run his fingers along her skin, to kiss her scars away, knowing painfully well that he couldn’t.

“The lesson there is that if you put patients first, you’ll always be vindicated in the end. That’s the lesson. What you did just now was brave. You’ve always been brave in the face of the disaster and death, of course…” he trailed off, thinking back to how much death and pain she had to see and how much of a toll it took on her. “But it’s different when you’re facing down a superior. To stand up to them for what’s right.”

She smiled brightly, nudging him with her hand slightly. “It’s not as brave as venturing into the depths of the Amazon to fight an epidemic, that’s for sure.”

That felt like a knife, pushed into his chest up to the hilt, and when she smiled at him again, the knife got twisted. He knew damn well why he left, and it had nothing to do with bravery. She probably admired him for it, and he was about to shatter that image of himself in her eyes. Looking back down at his drink, he managed to choke out. “… That wasn’t bravery.”

Surrounded by the air that was getting colder by the minute and the country tune that flowed slowly from the jukebox, he could almost hear the gears turning in her head as she tried to decipher what he meant by that.

“Ethan…” she breathed shakily, sitting up straighter, trying to seem like she had it all together. She didn’t, he could see right through her. He recognized all the symptoms of falling apart, and he knew them so well because he’s been through it all. Actually, that was a lie.

For the past two months, his life has been nothing but a series of symptoms of longing and pain.

“Why didn’t you keep in touch?” she only needed to ask one question, and he was no longer able to survive what was about to happen. She was hurt, she felt abandoned, and she wanted answers. Hoping she wouldn’t ask was stupid of him, he should have thought this through, should have thought about what to tell her, but maybe it was for the best. She deserved the truth, and truth was what she was going to get.

“No word from you at all for two months? After everything that happened between us?” her voice got smaller and smaller until it was nothing but a whisper. She was at her most vulnerable, scared to be hurt, even though she knew what was coming. They both did.

“Everything that happened between us is exactly why I didn’t contact you.” he admitted, trying to keep himself as steady as he could, but failed. His façade crumbled into a million pieces and it was futile to try and pick them up. “Claire, if we’re going to work together on the diagnostics team, we need a fresh start. Your professional development is too important to jeopardize it whatever…” his voice caught in his throat, his jaw impossibly tense. “… whatever it was that we had.”

“’Had’, past tense.”

“Yes. And the past is where it has to remain.” Ethan’s resolve was a sliver away from breaking and he was grasping at the strings, trying desperately to not let himself fall. To not pull her along with him. telling her that they couldn’t be together hurt him beyond belief, more than he ever thought could be possible. They were looking at each other, seeing right into each other’s souls, the moment stretching into eternity.

It seemed to him like it was a split-second decision when she dove forward and pressed her lips to his. Softly, gently, perfectly.

He felt the air being pushed out of his lungs, his body burning with flames so hot he felt like dying. And maybe he was. His muscles tensed, his whole form stiffed, and yet he tingled from his feet to the top of his head. Feeling him not reacting, she began leaning away, when he woke up, broke free from the confinements and reached for her like a drowning man.

His hands caught her waist gently, barely touching her as though he was afraid she would break if he squeezed too tightly. Afraid to come closer, but afraid to let her go. Scared to push her away, wanting to pull her in. His lips moved against hers slowly, his eyes falling shut once more. He couldn’t count how many times he dreamed of kissing her, of having her in his arms, and now that he did, he was torn.

She’s the one to lean away, looking into his eyes for any indication of what he wanted. He poured all the want, longing and pain into his gaze, seeing it reflected back at him in her green irises. “Dammit, Claire…”

He’s said that to her before, in a situation much like this one. He pulled her back to him then, kissed her like he wanted nothing more in the world than her. He still did. But their situation was more complicated now.

“If you don’t want to kiss me again, then just tell me-“ he never wanted anything more. He probably never will.

“It has nothing to do with ‘want’. I can’t. And if I give a damn about you, I won’t. How am I supposed to push you to be everything you can be if I…”

There it was. Again. He didn’t know what he meant by that back in Miami, but he was a different man now. She was a different woman. They were a different couple. Now he knew, even if only deeply inside.

If I care for you.

“If you what?” she asks, much like she did back on that night, and he still couldn’t bring himself to give her the answer. That much hasn’t changed. He knew that the moment he tells her she’s in his head and in his heart, she would never leave, and they couldn’t allow themselves that much freedom. Freedom to live, freedom to feel, freedom to love.

He looked at her as though he could pass his thoughts to her through their eyes. How easy that would be, if he could just let her into his minds and let her see all that she was to him. His teeth gnaw at the corner of his lip, fighting with himself, struggling to look away from her until he succeeds. Hanging his head low, he burns his stare into his drink, praying that she understands.

“Okay, I get it. Goodnight, Dr. Ramsey.” She whispered, then turned to go. He watched her, gritting his teeth, pushing himself down into his seat, anchoring himself so he doesn’t jump and run after her. Once she disappears behind the door, he takes a swig of his drink, shaking his head somberly.

“You really are an idiot.” Reggie’s voice rang behind his back, his hand falling heavily onto his shoulder.

“I know.”

“You really should go after her.”

He didn’t say anything. He wanted to, god, he wanted to. “After all that I told her, she would push me away. And I wouldn’t blame her.”

“She won’t push you away. You didn’t see her face when she walked out of the bar. Follow her.”

Ethan’s eyes locked with Reggie’s and he knew he was right. It was cold, knowing her she walked home and it was late. Against his better judgement, against what he decided and what he knew was right, he shot to his feet, threw a ‘goodbye’ to Reggie and ran, faster than ever before in his life.

He busted out of the bar onto the street, looking around to try and find her. Not that surprised that she was nowhere to be seen, he set off in the direction of her apartment, and eventually, he saw her, walking slowly. He called out for her and she stopped dead in her tracks, turning towards him slowly.

“Ethan? Is everything okay? You’re out of breath… you’re not being chased by a murderer, are you?” she ran her eyes over him, taking in his condition, the way his hair was swept to the back, the way his jacket was crooked and his chest moved up and down rapidly as he struggled to catch his breath.

“I’m… okay… I just...” he panted, taking a deep breath before looking at her again. “… I wanted to make sure you got home safe.”

Her eyebrow shot up in surprise, then melted gently into a sweet smile. “I’m fine… you can walk with me if you want to make sure I’m okay, though.”

He knew he shouldn’t, he knew he should just turn around and walk away, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. He almost reached out and took her hand, but instead opted for a smile that he could only hope came out as friendly. Her laugh rang in his ears.

“You’re still terrible at pretending.”

They walked and he asked questions. About the life at the hospital when he was gone. About Naveen’s recovery, which she supervised along with Harper while he was away. About his patients, some of which she had under her care.

“Mr. Dursi laughed when he saw me walk into his room. He just woke up and he was convinced that I was you. Kept muttering how he could swear that you were a man, but he didn’t really mind. It took me solid twenty minutes and a photo of you to convince him.” Claire recalled, laughing until she cried, drying her cheeks with the back of her hand.

“You must have had a hard time finding a photo of me.”

“Not really. I mean, I have a couple on my phone-“ she shrugged, then cut off in the middle of the sentence, knowing fully well that she had no way of going back on her words. “I- uh…”

“It’s okay, I have some photos of you too.” Ethan’s confession hung between them, settling into her mind. He would never admit that when his loneliness in the Amazon got too much for him and he was breaking, he looked at her. Despite what he tried to tell himself, despite how much he tried to extinguish his feelings for her, it seemed as though it was impossible.

A chilly breeze blew around them, biting into his flesh. He looked over to her, just in time to see her shiver. On instinct, he took his jacket off and stopped her, turning her towards him.

“Give me your hands.” He nudged her arms, pointing to his jacket. She shook her head, beginning to protest. “I won’t take ‘no’ for an answer, Claire. You’re cold, I’ll be damned if I let you be cold.”

She held his stare, trying to determine if he was bluffing, but she knew he was serious. His look of certainty and resolve told her that if she didn’t allow him to help her put his jacket on, he would wrap her in it. With a heavy sigh, she put her arms through the sleeves and snuggled into the material, still warm from the heat of his body. Still smelling like him.

Ethan tried to make it seem like the sight of his clothes on her didn’t make him come undone, but the truth was, if he could, he would forbid her from wearing anything but his clothes. It felt good, it felt right, and the thought of them maybe never having the comfort of being that close to each other again hurt his mind, body and soul.

Her apartment building came into the view much sooner than he would have liked. They could be just Claire and Ethan while their walk lasted, but the moment they say goodbye and he lets her go, they go back to square one. The only difference is, he already knows how it feels to have her, and it’s going to be a million times more difficult to pretend like he doesn’t. Their walk slowed to a stop and she turned to him, somber look on her face.

“That’s it I guess.” She muttered, looking up at the window of her apartment. Her friends must have been back already, they all had an early morning the following day. His eyes traced the lines of her face gently and he took a step towards her, placing his hand on her shoulder gently.

“It seems like it.”

Claire turned her body towards him and right into his unexpecting arms. Her grip on him began as a soothing breeze and gained intensity as seconds ticked by. He gathered her into his embrace, holding her closer than he had in months, and he felt his body relax. She was like a drug to him, and he was addicted. Her scent that he missed, that he familiarized with a sense of safety and home, her voice that could stop the biggest tempest in his mind. Her touch that lit up a fire in his veins, made him fell invincible. Just like he felt right now.

He took a step forward, she took a step back. And another. And another, until they reached the side of the building, hidden away from the street in an alleyway, lit only by a dim light. Her head rose slightly to look at him, their eyes met and not even a fracture of a second later, their lips were back on each other.

Claire took a deep breath upon the feel of the kiss, her knees suddenly too weak to hold her up. She gripped his shoulders, her nails scraping the skin at the base of his neck, making him tremble. The kiss was different from the one they shared earlier that evening. That one was cautious, almost empty, lacking the fire that he longed to feel again, that he wanted to get burned by.

This one was everything. It had the drive, it had the power, it had the intensity of a thousand lightnings, striking him at the same time. The hunger he felt could only be satiated by her, by her kisses, by her lingering touches, by the way she held him close. His hands slipped under the jacket that hung loosely from her shoulders, his fingers curling around her waist and pulling her impossibly closer.

She trailed her hand up his neck, tangling into his neck and pulling on the strands, eliciting a low growl in the back of his throat. His body pushed on hers, pressing her against the wall, letting his lips leave hers so he could assault the skin of her neck. She breathed heavily, pushing her other hand downwards and grasping the thin material of his shirt, her grasp so tight she could tear the fabric apart.

Ethan nipped at her collarbone, causing her to arch her back against him with a moan. “Go inside.” He breathed against her skin, his shoulders moving heavily beneath her persistent touch. Coming back to her lips, he kissed her again, harder, faster, the intensity kicking the air out of his lungs.

“What?” she panted, pulling him right back to her, her hands snaking down his back and digging into the back pockets of his jeans, pushing him onto her. He groaned helplessly, grabbing her face with his hands and pulling their faces as close as humanly possible.

“Go inside.” He bit her lower lip, pulling on it and then soothing it with his tongue, growling impatiently. She squeezed his backside with her hands, causing his breath to falter and his grip to loosen for a moment before he adjusted his hold on her.

“Why?” He dug his fingers into her back, a cry falling from her lips, both of them definitely louder than they should be. Leaning back to make their eyes meet, he let her see the desire, the lust that threatened to consume him at any moment.

“Because if you don’t, I’m going to rip your clothes off your body and take you, right here and right now.” he looked at her seriously, taking a moment to catch his breath. His body dove forward before stopping, barely inches away from her, his eyes dropping to her lips, watching them eagerly. “And god, don’t I want to.”

“I want that too.” Claire confessed, retreating her hands back up his body and placing them along the sides of his face, mirroring his hold on her. The heat was gone, only tenderness and softness left. They caressed each other, eyes glossy and filled to the brim with emotions.

“I know. But we can’t. So, get inside.” It hurt him even more than the first time when he had to say that to her, and he could see her breaking a bit more with every breath she took. Unable to stop himself, he kissed her delicately, holding onto the moment for as long as he could before, at last, letting her go and taking a step back. She kept his gaze for just one moment more, then nodded and went back out onto the street, leaving Ethan alone in the darkness.

[twinkleallnight]

Marshmallow

(Part-9) Bewitched

Book: The Royal Romance

Pairing: Liam x MC, Drake x ??

For previous chapters: catch up here

A/N: This fic is my submission for this week’s @wackydrabbles prompt. The prompt is: “Okay, wow, you just dumped a lot of information on my lap and gave me no time to process it.” and will appear in bold.

A/N 2: Thank u @lizzybeth1986 Lizzy, your essays are amazing. Thank u for the quick brainstorming.

Tags: @ao719 @aloneautumn @charlotteg234 @choiceskatie @cordonia-gothqueen @cordonianroyalty @daisydancer12385 @drakewalker04 @gardeningourmet @gkittylove99 @glaimtruelovealways @hopefulmoonobject @hopelessromanticmonie @iam-the-kind-and-thoughtful @idontknowwhysblog-blog @islandcrow @jovialyouthmusic @jaxsmutsuo @kingliam2019 @lovablegranny @mrswalkers-blog @mom2000aggie @no-one-u-know @ntoraplayschoices @ritachacha @speedyoperarascalparty @shanzay44 @texaskitten30 @queenrileyrose @sanchita012 @theroyalheirshadowhunter @wackydrabbles @yourmajesty09-blog @xpandabeardontcarex

I stay back on the yacht, while Riley joins Max and Bertrand for the official speech and the opening ceremony of the Regatta- the ceremonial boat race.

I enjoy my time gearing up, listening to the music with my earphones on.

Riley climbs the yacht after about an hour with Max and Bertrand.

Bertrand seems to be in worse mood, and acknowledges my presence only with a nod before he starts handling the ropes.

“Did you hear that?” Riley has an astonished look.

“What?” I ask curiously.

“The king just now announced he is stepping down at the end of social season.”

“What?!” A whirlwind of thoughts flood my mind suddenly. All topped up with the thought of what Liam must be going through right now. He is being burdened with one responsibility after another since past year and this is a heavy one.

“Earth to Walker! Earth to Walker!” Riley’s funny robotic sound brings me back to present.

“Yes, Brooks.” I try to smile at her. “I am pretty much here. Let’s get ready for the show-off race.” Bertrand raises his eyebrow at me. I know he doesn’t like a word against the royal events but he is stuck with me right now.

The race starts with the king pulling the trigger of the starting pistol. The suitors stand on their yachts, while the crew struggles hard to make them win the short race.

Obviously with no trained crew we lose the race and Penelope from Portavira wins, having an upper hand with sea activities. Bertrand is upset again and disappears from the scene soon after the race.

The suitors and other nobles join Livy's yacht party to enjoy rest of the festivities. Official races are to begin soon. I excuse myself, to meet Liam at his booth at the harbour.

“Hey, you ok?” I ask him with concern. The announcement must have been hard.”

“Hmm… I don’t know. It is a lot to take in.”

“He did not tell you about this, earlier?”

“I had no clue. The news is as fresh to me as it is to you.”

“This will bring lot of change. Are you ready for it?”

“I don’t see that I have an option. I think I will speak to father after this day’s event.”

“I will be around. We can meet in the study after you talk to him.” I try to reassure him.

“That sounds good. I may need it.”

I pat lightly on his back and we both turn to face the sea. I see Livy's yacht is lively with the ongoing party. Some movement on another boat catches my eye. It’s Hana's yacht with just Hana and Riley standing there. I smile and look at Liam. His eyes are following the same.

“Your girl has a knack of walking against the wind.” I tease him.

“She is a fighter. You know, the media and press are very much impressed with her. I see a bright chance for her to claim this social season.” Liam speaks with lot of affection.

“That’s great! So, you may get to marry a girl you love and not just have a political alliance to call it a marriage!”

“Well it’s a very complicated situation. Being a crown prince, I can’t just express my love openly to anyone. But yes, I may have a chance, after all!” He says flashing a grin.

“But why are these two not with the rest?”

“Hana’s parents are quite pushing. They forced her to throw her own party. Since Livy is a local person, people know her better and so, they accepted her invite and not Hana's. I guess, Riley couldn’t let Hana be alone. So, there they are, just the two of them.”

“How is Hana related to Cordonia?” She is a mystery to me.

“Her mother, Lorelai belongs to a minor noble family of Cordonia and is married into a noble family from China.”

Just then the sound of a trumpet distracts us. The official race begins and we get busy with it.

The event is followed by a private beach party for the suitors where they get to interact with the prince. I leave Liam with Penelope, and join Max, Hana and Riley for the buffet.

After our food we relax down, I get ready for a swim. “ I am dipping in. Girls, are you coming?”

Riley tries to coax Max one last time to join us, “Max you sure don’t want to come with us?”

“Let him rest Riley, let’s go. Bye hippo!” I twit over his hidden tatoo and he glares back at me.

As we stride to the water Riley questions, “ Why did you call him hippo?”

I knew that would come up. Now I try to cover up. “ He was a chubby child and his mother used to call him that lovingly.” Though this was true too.

“That’s so cute.” Hana replies. “May be if I had a brother my mother would have called him panda!”

“Why panda?” I question.

“They have been managing a panda reserve since the time I remember. So, may be….” Her voice trailed into a sudden silence as her mind reeled into some thoughts.

Before I can react, I am hit with a splash of water by Riley. Soon, we three are swashing and plashing. Riley and I do our favourite thing together – The race! It’s swimming race this time.

After about an hours play we get back on the beach. Max whisks away Riley to meet others, while I relax down for a nice sunbath.

Hana settles down close by. I don’t know why I am so curious to know about her. May be because I know the rest suitors, who r all from Cordonia, I give myself a reasoning.

“So, Pandas huh?” I try to continue our conversation that was left.

“Xióng - māo”

“What mao?”

“Panda…in Chinese.”

“Chinese, hmmm, you are missing home?”

“A tiny little bit!” She gestures with her forefinger almost touching the thumb.

“How different it is to be here in Cordonia all alone away from your family?

“ I miss them but it’s good. I am getting a chance to experiment and explore. I have never done anything without their permission or out of the rule book.”

“Seems you hardly had fun as a child.”

“I have heard few of your stories from Liam and I can definitely say my childhood was unlike any of those fun moments you had. I never had anyone to play with.”

“How did you play alone then?”

“I was not allowed toys except for a tea set as that would train me to be a proper hostess. So, I had my own imaginary games with imaginary friends. Prince Snickerdoodles and Miss Lemon curd, Miss Napkin and Mr sock.” She sounds a bit embarrassed, her eyes down on the circles she is making in the sand with her slender fingers.

“That is some great fictional work there.” She raises her eyelids in surprised look at me. “Tell me more.” I encourage her.

“My childhood was more about grooming me to be part of the court someday. To be perfect at every skill that will help me win my love one day.” I raise my brow puzzled. “It sounds crazy, I know.” She continues, “ My younger years were full of all skill lessons like horse riding, ice skating, dance, music, culinary, you name it.”

It leaves me shocked to imagine a child being put through so much. I don’t know how to react. She is looking at me for some response. “Okay, wow, you just dumped a lot of information on my lap and gave me no time to process it.” I manage to say something sensible.

She gives me a weak smile “So, there was no running around the palace like you all did.”

“So, you never played tag?”

“Never.” She says with a frown.

An idea comes to my mind, and I jump up suddenly. “Get up.”

“What?”

“Get up!” I insist giving her a hand and pull her up. “It is never too late to have some fun.” I make some distance and get ready to run “Now, catch me. You are it!” while she processes what just happened.

She gives out a sweet laughter, and starts running after me, over the soft sand. As I take a lead, I hear her giggle.

There are few tall rocks ahead and I circle them and hide behind one of them. When she comes searching for me, I pounce and scare her. She lets out a scream and I catch her and pull her into me before she loses balance. We both are soon laughing and rolling on the sand.

We relax there catching our breath, both quiet, gazing up into the open sky. It’s a moment of bliss and we lose the count of time until there is a shuffling sound and then…

“No, you can’t come here.” Livy's sharp voice comes from behind us. We turn to see that it is coming from behind the rock, where we are lying, hidden away from her view.

“I know. I am missing you too.” It seems she is talking over phone. “I will call you as soon as I get back.”

I turn to Hana and open my mouth to speak. But she covers my lips with her small hand and gestures to keep silent.

“I love you more. Bye.” Livy finishes her call. Hana’s doe shaped eyes go wide and are transfixed on me.

I keep looking back into those honey almond eyes, Bewildered or Bewitched?

[darisu-chan]

Kaien vs Ichigo: A Memories in the Rain Analysis, Part 1

Hello

It’s me again, back with my bs lmao

I finally finished the mini arc of Memories in the Rain pt. 2 and, as I’ve been sort of discussing certain stuff that’s happened in Bleach as I re-read the chapters, I decided I needed to talk about MITR as a whole. If you’ve been following my posts, I didn’t really analyze the first part. I saved it to compare it with the second part. I also thought that instead of just saying my thoughts as I have been doing thus far, I’d go the extra mile and truly analyze both parts, specifically comparing Kaien and Ichigo.

So, sometime ago, I wrote this post about how it bothers me how people compare Kaien and Ichigo as being the same, and using that to establish IchiRuki. When, honestly, you don’t need to. Ichigo and Rukia’s relationship stands on its own. In fact, it is so strong that, years after the ending, people keep being fascinated by IR. The LA was centered on their relationship as well. And it’s still the Ichigo and Rukia show, thank you very much.

And though I made some good points in that post, I decided to further explore Kaien and Ichigo, as well as the events of both MITR and how that relates to Ichigo and Rukia.

It’s probably been done many times before, but I’ve never analyzed them in much depth, so here we go.

The first part will soley be about Ichigo and Kaien as individuals. On the second part, I’ll finally explore MITR

1. The Shiba Gene

So, as we all know, Ichigo and Kaien look like each other physically, and in Everything But the Rain we finally found out the reason why: they are cousins. This put a stop to all the “Ichigo is Kaien reborn” theories people liked to come up with back in the day.

Now, in the story, this resemblance was pointed out by Byakuya and even Ukitake, to an extent. Which means Kaien was designed to look like Ichigo on purpose to further draw parallels between them. What I mean to say is that this is a seed that was planted in the readers’ minds, and as such, comparing both guys was done on purpose.

Interestingly enough, neither Kukaku nor Ganju are ever seen to believe Ichigo looks like their older brother.

In EBTR we see Isshin as a young man, and we can see how Isshin, Ichigo and Kaien resemble each other, meaning the Shiba gene is a strong one, and, if Ichigo had actually stayed in SS, that same resemblance could have been used as a way for him to claim that part of his heritage, but I digress.

We are all aware they look like each other because they are family, so we don’t need to go deep into detail in that aspect. Now the true question is, just how similar are they to each other?

Physically speaking, there are a few noticable differences, like hair and eye color. Kaien’s hair is longer and there’s the fact Kaien has very long eyelashes, as Kukaku and Ganju have. He’s also taller.

Although key differences, they are not enough to negate their similarities. Hell, Ichigo does look more similar to Kaien than Ganju, his actual brother.

But there’s something very important that sets them apart: Kaien always carries himself as if he didn’t have a care in the world. When we’ve seen Kaien, he’s always able to smile freely. Sure, he also scowls, gets upset, and the like, but he goes back to smiling. This is something Ichigo hasn’t been able to do since his mother died. Hell, there’s a whole chapter about that (Can’t Smile Don’t Blame). There are very few times in which Ichigo actually smiles, and all of them are short-lived. In fact, whenever he’s tried to give big smiles, they seem off, as seen when he smiled to Orihime back at the beginning of MITR and later on, in the Lost Agent Arc, when he smiled at Yuzu. 

Even when Rukia has a flashback of Kaien while looking at Ichigo, their smiles look very different:

Ichigo more often than not smiles through his eyes, while Kaien tends to smile with his eyes closed:

Although brash and arrogant as well, Kaien is also more mature. He can go from joking around to having deep conversations with Rukia. Ichigo, as a teenager, has yet to mature and will become more and more like a grown up as time passes by. At this point in the manga, he really isn’t there yet. Now, this will be important later on.

In short, even though they look very similar, they carry themselves with different auras. Kaien is more of a free-spirit, while Ichigo is a person who seems to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders. 

2. Prodigies

Ichigo, as the MC of a shounen manga, is obviously special. From the very first moment, we know he’s not like everyone else. He’s able to see spirits, which is not the norm. And then Rukia informs us his reiatsu is too powerful for a normal human.

And as time goes by, as he keeps fighting hollows, he grows exponentially. 

When Urahara trains him, he realizes that, which is why he tells Yoruichi that if there is someone who can achieve bankai in 3 days, is him.

As the story goes on, we learn that Ichigo is even more special, as he is also part Quincy and Hollow. But he also has very impressive skills when it comes to swordmanship, shunpo, and the like. 

What is more relevant is Ichigo’s ability to grow at a fast rate, always learning from his mistakes. 

And although he was never taught how to be a Shinigami in the traditional way, we can see how he surpassed his peers.

Now, although Kaien is not as special as Ichigo, we learn from Ganju that, for Shinigami standards, Kaien’s very impressive:

Hisagi, for example, failed the final exam numerous times. Rukia says she barely passed the entrace exam. Finishing the curriculum in two years is a great achievement. And the fact that he made VC in 5 years means a lot. It took Renji, let’s say, around 35 years to be promoted to VC. And Renji was in the special class at the Academy.

People like Ichigo and Kaien are not the norm. They are very skilled and special individuals. Might be because of their genes (it’s never explicitly said, but they might come from a long line of Shinigami), or just because they were gifted with those powers, but the point is these characteristics set them apart as more powerful than the rest.

3. Brash, Rule-breaking, Arrogant

The words above can be used to describe both Ichigo and Kaien, and that’s certainly Byakuya’s opinion of them.

Kaien and his siblings are not like the nobles we know. They’re certainly very different to Byakuya and the Kuchiki Clan, but they also live very differently than Soi Fon, Omaeda, the Shihouin Clan, and so on. They seem to live more like the common folk than like dignified people. Hence, Byakuya seems very against this sort of attitude, at least early on in Bleach. 

Because of being loud, less refined, brash, and with a penchant of rule-breaking, Kaien seems totally different to other nobles. However, I dare say these characteristics extrapolate what Ukitake meant in this scene:

Not anyone would be able to go against the whole Soul Society, specially if you are a Shinigami.

Byakuya was certainly not going to do any rule-breaking. As we later find out, he had even promised not to break anymore rules and was going to stick to that promise.

Renji, until confronted by Ichigo, had decided not to go against the SS.

Even Ukitake wasn’t about to start a revolution to save Rukia. It took him seeing Ichigo to decide on what to do.

Basically, only Kaien would have been upfront about his own intentions.

And what we know of Kaien is that he was the sort of guy who would break the rules when necessary. That means, that he would do the right thing. Specially when it comes to saving his peers. He even tells Rukia as much:

He might not have been the most elegant of individuals, but Kaien’s brashness and even arrogance came from the fact he had a good heart.

Now, who does exactly what Kaien would have done?

That’s right.

Ichigo.

Here the comparison of Ukitake trying to imagine what Kaien would have done is directly compared and contrasted to Ichigo, as before that scene Ichigo confronted Byakuya.

Now, Ichigo wasn’t raised as a noble. He had no idea he was one until almost the end of Bleach. But he was raised with the idea of protecting other people and of doing what is right.

We have seen him protect other people, even before he became a Shinigami (his friendship with Chad, Keigo and Mizuiru respectively reflects this, as he saved the three of them). 

Ichigo is not the kind of guy who can just do nothing while an injustice is taking place.

Ichigo has been, from the first moment we saw him, brash, rule-breaking and even arrogant, but note that from his introduction, we saw him protecting a little ghost girl. It goes to show that Ichigo would go to extremes to protect others and do what’s right. So, it’s no surprise he jumps at the chance to go to SS to save Rukia, and that he grows stronger and stronger each time to save her, as he cannot let her die. 

However, there’s a key difference.

If Kaien had been alive, he would have saved Rukia as 1) he would’ve probably figured out an execution was too hard a punishment for Rukia’s crime, 2) he told her he would always stand by her as long as they were from the same division, and 3) he wouldn’t let her just die.

But Ichigo’s reasons to save Rukia are much more complicated than that. As I’ve said in other posts, Ichigo is filled with guilt, as Rukia’s in this position because of him, firstly because she saved him by giving him her own powers to protect his family, and secondly, because Rukia got taken away to protect him as he feels he failed to protect her.

But, even then, it’s not only guilt that fuels him or the fact that he owes Rukia.

There’s the fact that Rukia is an important person to Ichigo regardless. Particularly, she is kind and good. Certainly not the type of person who deserves to die, much less because of a stupid rule.

Then, there is something else at a deeper level Ichigo doesn’t say out loud

My point with this is that Kaien and Ichigo are certainly the same type of rule-breaking people and that’s the sort of person needed to pull a stunt like saving Rukia from execution, in such a way that this person would even inspire others to help. Both guys are special in that way. However, in practice their actions come from different places. Certainly there’s a closeness Ichigo shares with Rukia due to circumstances that adds more complexity to his intent to save her and that, may I add, also fuels him to such a degree he refuses to lose. 

Which brings us to...

4. Rukia

The last main common denominator between them is no one else but Rukia, a person they both have inspired in different ways. However, the type of relationship they have with her is different.

Let’s start with Kaien:

So, their meeting takes place shortly after Rukia was adopted into the Kuchiki Clan and graduated early from the Academy. Ever since, it seems she was judged for both not really being from a noble family and from having been adopted by one. We can say that no one is looking at who Rukia truly is, but they are making assumptions about her at this point. This is isolating to Rukia, who now has to deal with a new identity and a new way of living. She’s now apart from the one person she had known most of her life to that point (Renji) and is feeling out of place.

Then, Kaien swoops in and he treats her like he would treat any other subordinate. He doesn’t treat her like a street rat, a pampered noble or even a pet. And she says it herself that having that normality is exactly what she needed. Rukia didn’t feel comfortable at home with Byakuya, but she could at least feel more at ease in her division, working under Kaien.

Their relationship was that of mentor and mentee. Later on we find out Kaien trained her in swordsmanship and probably other skills. 

But he also taught her important lessons about life:

And these are lessons Rukia will carry in her heart the whole series. Protecting others, making others feel welcomed, forming hearts with others. Rukia made hers everything that Kaien taught her. 

He’s very special in her life because Kaien was the first person to make her feel as if she belonged in her division, and even as a Shinigami.

In short, he’s acting like a parental influential, or even being the brother Byakuya failed to be at this point in time. Teaching Rukia and accepting her, so that she could feel she had a place she belonged to.

And we know that Kaien was the one to make her feel good

But here we have a power imbalance. Because Kaien is doing the teaching, he’s changing her life, but we don’t know if it’s mutual. We don’t know if Kaien was affected by Rukia’s actions and words. It’s a very unilateral situation.

Furthermore, if we go with the route of Rukia had a crush on Kaien, there’s more power imbalance and impossibilities, as we know that:

She already couldn’t be the person closest to Kaien, as Miyako existed. 

Rukia recognized Miyako as having great qualities, probably what Kaien even liked about her, and aspired to be like her:

So, Kaien and Rukia were never in a position of equality for several reasons, starting from the fact Kaien was her vice captain.

This is even exemplified when the find the hollow that killed Miyako:

Rukia acts like a subordinate, trying to be helpful, and is denied:

Finally, there’s a key aspect that I will be analyzing with more detail in another post, but Kaien is for Rukia what Masaki is for Ichigo:

The root of her trauma is that she failed to protect Kaien, who was the person who taught her so much and helped her when nobody else did. Rukia feels as if she didn’t do anything to save him from his fate:

And when Kaien became a hollow, instead of running or trying to help him, Rukia let instinct take in and we know what happens next:

And the fact she couldn’t save him is worse becase Kaien doesn’t blame her:

So Rukia ends up in a state of guilt, because she couldn’t save the one person she probably wanted to save the most.

This trauma will continue on for some time until HM, where Rukia comes to terms with what happened. However, that doesn’t change the fact that her relationship remains a one-way street.

Now, as for with Ichigo, they have a different relationship altogether. 

It is true that Rukia was Ichigo’s first teacher when it comes to Shinigami stuff, but it is not as if he never taught Rukia anything.

Their relationship is so special because they’re two sides of the same coin. The fact that one is a Shinigami and the other is a human being makes it so that they end in a relationship of equals. As Ichigo needs to learn how to be a Shinigami, Rukia has to learn how to be a human.

Even when they just tell each other their names, the panel demonstrates this equality

Even the way they’re both holding the sword symbolizes this equality:

They’re both holding it and directing it towards Ichigo due to a common goal.

The fact they also call each other by their first names is important. Rukia always used “-dono” to refer to Kaien, a term of respect, while he called her by her last name. Meanwhile, Ichigo and Rukia call each other by their first names, symbolizing they’re close, something that is even pointed out within the story.

They also grow together.

Not only does Rukia teach Ichigo about his powers and her philosophy of saving others, Ichigo keeps surprising her at every turn:

Ichigo teaches Rukia how to be human, and not in the way of how to appear human or do human things, but how to feel, how to make connections with others

We always say Rukia changed Ichigo’s world, but he had that same effect in her:

It was always a mutual thing.

A relationship so different to any other in this manga.

But the best example of how different Kaien and Ichigo’s relationships with Rukia are is the fact that Rukia doesn’t think Ichigo is like Kaien from the get go.

She’s reminded of Kaien twice:

1. When Ichigo’s fighting Grandfisher, and I’ll analyze that part in the next post.

2. When Ichigo finally appears in front of her in SS and reassures her he’s not going to die. He smiles at her and Rukia remembers Kaien’s smile. She closes her eyes due to all the emotions she’s feeling.

My best explanation as to why Rukia thinks of Kaien in that moment is, as I said before, because Kaien was also reassuring in the fact he was not gonna die, yet he did and by her hand. Rukia doesn’t want to cause Ichigo’s death and she already feels guilty about turning him into a Shinigami, Byakuya hurting him, and everything else he’s gone through to try to save her. Rukia doesn’t want Ichigo to be like Kaien and die for her sake, as she believes she’s not worthy of being saved:

This is yet another thing Ichigo and Rukia have in common, they both feel guilty for having in some way cause harm to the other. 

Because, above all else, they both want to protect the other.

The thing is, the two actually achieve it: Rukia saves Ichigo’s life in the first chapter and when Byakuya is about to kill him. While Ichigo ends up saving her from execution, making it so their relationship stays equal.

That is the beauty of IchiRuki.

It’s never unilateral, but their feelings parallel each other’s constantly.

They want to save each other and they do.

They learn from one another, and they have faith in one another.

One doesn’t take while the other receive, they both give and receive something in return.

Because, in their eyes, they are equals.

Anyway,

This is the end of this very long post.

The rest of MITR will be analyzed in a later post.

Thanks for reading!

[jokertrap-ran]

(少女的王座—The Throne of Girl—) Main Story: Chapter 1 Part 9 English Translation

*The Throne of Girl Masterlist. *Spoiler free: Translations will remain under cut! *Main Story will be tagged under #Throne of Main

Chapter 1-1 / 1-2 / 1-3 / 1-3B / 1-4 / 1-5 / 1-6 / 1-7 / 1-8 / 1-9 / 1-10 / 1-11 / 1-12 / 1-13

Phone Call from Adrian / Lancelot

My thoughts were with the field of flowers and the beautiful light bugs I had witnessed earlier the entire way back. 

Just thinking about the dream-like scene and what Vergil said lifted my spirits like no other.

MC: (I can't wrap my head around how life in the Palace seems so dull, yet the royal advisor here actually proves to be rather interesting.)

Just as I was lost in thought, Albert, who was by my side, suddenly asked.

Albert: Your Highness? Are you, perhaps, thinking about that advisor?

MC: Yeah; I'm rather surprised by him.

MC: I never thought that such a dull place like the Palace would hire someone as interesting as him to be the Royal Advisor.

Seeing the apparent joy on my face, Albert lowered his eyes.

Albert: Please forgive me, your Highness. But,

Albert: I’m sure that the advisor's motives in approaching you are not as they seem; you must exercise caution.

Albert is very wary of Vergil; what should I do?

▷Choice: Tell him that he's overthinking it 

MC: You're overthinking it; Vergil isn't a bad person.

MC: Besides, what sort of motives can he have towards a country bumpkin of a Princess like me?

Albert: It'd be best if you were a little more wary, your Highness. People who backstab don't show it on their faces.

▷Choice: Promise him that you'll be more wary about it.

MC: Okay. I promise you to be more wary about him, regardless of whatever motives he may have!

Albert: Yes, your Highness; that would be undoubtedly the best course of action.

I sighed; it felt like Albert had been super on edge ever since he came to the Capital.

MC: Everyone was dancing earlier at the dance, leaving me to be the only one standing awkwardly in the corner. Vergil was the one who was kind enough to ask me for a dance; that's how I met him.

MC: And I'd also accidentally stepped on foot while we were dancing, but he wasn't bothered by it.

MC: He said that it was because I was too "fearful" of socializing. As long as you’re calm and relaxed deep down, even horrid conversations will turn out to be a little cuter in comparison!

MC: So I really don’t want to indiscriminately write him off by second-guessing. Don’t you often say, seeing is believing?

Albert: That guy might seem as if he’s not doing anything, but he’s oftentimes trying to get closer in contact with you… At least that’s what my gut is telling me; so you have to be more careful about it, your Highness.

The light and shadows of chandeliers that hung in the corridor casted mottled shadows on his case, making his light blue eyes appear deeper and darker.

Looking at his face that was filled with worry, I couldn’t help but to feel a little exasperated.

MC: Besides, I’m sure you’re also aware that the nobles we’ve met these days are all high up their horses, looking down at us beneath their noses both overtly and covertly...

MC: And all they do is talk about boring gossips all day.

MC: Compared to those nobility who seek nothing but personal profits, I hope I’ll be able to make more friends like Vergil.

Albert: Please pardon my rudeness, your Highness.

Albert: I couldn’t find you anywhere earlier and was worried when I found you together with someone else, I didn’t know or recognize; so, I couldn’t help but to...

Hearing the deflated tone in his voice, I turned back to look at him.

MC: I know you’re worried for me. But I really think Vergil isn’t the sort of person you think he is.

MC: Besides, don't I still have you by my side?

Albert looked a little helpless under my gaze, but smiled, appeased, and nodded.

Albert: Yes, I will definitely protect you; always.

After saying so, he checked the time on his phone.

Albert: Now, it’s already late today; so please rest up early, your Highness.

MC: Okay. You should hurry and go rest too. Don't overthink things too much!

Albert: Yes, your Highness.

⊹ ˚✩ ━━━━━━━ ∘◦ ♔What’s past, it’s prologue♔ ◦∘ ━━━━━━━ ✩˚ ⊹

Previous Part: (Chapter 1-8) | Next Part: (Chapter 1-10)

[camillemontespan]

her one constant [part three: for safety] [drake the bodyguard AU]

Part Two if you want to catch up

A short series in which TRR canon is used but instead, Drake is MC’s bodyguard. The above edit is mine and I really liked it so I had to find another excuse to use it again!

@ibldw-main @jovialyouthmusic @katedrakeohd @moonlightgem7 @pug-bitch @princessleac1 @burnsoslow @notoriouscs @dcbbw @saivilo @rainbowsinthestorm @marshmallowsandfire @marshmallowsaremyfavorite @sirbeepsalot @gardeningourmet @emichelle​ 

Thank you to  everyone for reminding me of TRR canon scenes that I can use for this fic. @jovialyouthmusic​ reminded me of Lythikos and the meteor shower - I can’t believe I forgot about that. So, this chapter focuses on that. 

Previously..

‘I’m here,’ Drake murmured, his voice cracking. ‘If you need to talk..’

Camille’s smile wobbled. ‘I know,’ she whispered. ‘You’re my one constant.’

**********************************

Drake woke up at 6am without needing an alarm. After a steaming hot shower and selecting his suit for the day, Drake was ready for work. 

As usual, he stood in the foyer of Valtoria Manor, waiting for the Duchess to appear. Today was a big day for Camille; she was to visit the duchy of Lythikos for the weekend with the rest of court. Camille hadn’t been to Lythikos before and wasn’t yet prepared for what a weekend with Olivia Nevrakis would entail. Neither did Drake and as her bodyguard, he had to be with her all weekend. He was not looking forward to it; he didn’t like the look of Olivia. She tended to speak to Camille in patronising tones, often saying a bitchy comment.  Drake had no time for arrogant nobles. 

‘Morning, Drake.’

Drake started at the sound of Camille’s voice. He looked up to see her descending the staircase with a suitcase that seemed full to the brim. She was wearing a pink ski jacket with black thermal leggings. On her feet was a pair of wooly snow boots. She looked different; more youthful. Cute actually. The wooly hat that was placed on top of her head only added to the cute effect.

Drake gave her a smile. ‘Duchess.’

She stopped at the foot of the stairs and raised an eyebrow at him. ‘Call me Camille,’ she said. 

Drake smirked and gestured for Camille to walk in front of him. Instead, she waited for him to walk too and she fell into step beside him. 

‘I like your boots,’ he said, surprising himself and her. Camille looked up at him with her brown eyes sparkling and a warm smile lit up her face. 

‘Thank you!’ she said. ‘But aren’t you going to be cold in your suit?’

Drake chuckled. ‘I’ve packed some layers.’

‘Good,’ she said, nodding her approval. ‘Can’t have you getting cold.’

‘Aww shucks, Camille, you worried I’m going to freeze my toes off?’ Drake teased, shooting her a wry smile. 

‘Well someone’s got to look after you,’ Camille shot back, her voice also light and teasing. They had reached the car. The driver, Geoffrey, took her suitcase and placed it inside, letting Drake and Camille continue to joke with each other. 

‘You’re not my mom,’ Drake said, opening her car door, ignoring Geoffrey who had his hand out to do it himself. Geoffrey shrugged, resigning himself to the fact that when Drake was around, he may as well just drive the car. The bodyguard did everything else.

‘If she is a typical Texas woman like I think she is, she would want her son to be kept on the straight and narrow,’ Camille protested, not giving up. ‘She would want you to be snug and wrapped up in treacherous Lythikos conditions! She’s not here so I’m going to look after you this weekend and that starts with making sure that you at least wear a hat.’

Drake let out a deep laugh, throwing his head back as he did so. He shut the door and walked to his side of the car, getting in. He turned to Camille after fastening his seat belt, ready to continue their teasing.

‘You know that I’m the one meant to be looking out for you, right?’ he asked her. 

‘Sure, protecting me from Olivia Nevrakis,’ Camille said, shrugging. ‘But if I see you not wearing a wooly hat this weekend, I will..I…’

She trailed off.

Drake raised an eyebrow. ‘Yes?’

She gave him a triumphant and endearing grin. ‘I will call your mother!’

**************

Lythikos was freezing. As soon as Camille stepped out onto the snow, she let out a series of expletives that made Drake laugh as soon as she shouted them out. He had never heard her swear before but he found that he liked it.

‘Oh god, Drake, take me homeeeee..’ she groaned. ‘I need my fireplace, a blanket and a glass of whiskey right now..’

‘Jesus, Camille, don’t tempt me,’ Drake muttered, helping her with her suitcase. Geoffrey stayed in the car, knowing his job was done for the weekend. 

Drake and Camille plodded through the thick snow, keeping their heads down as the wind struck snowflakes and hail into their faces. Camille’s suitcase was not built for this landscape; for one thing, it had wheels. She tried to drag it through the snow but to no avail; Drake grabbed it and carried it with one hand, desperate to reach indoors before they froze to death. 

‘The things I do for you..’ he grumbled goodnaturedly.

They reached Lythikos Keep a few minutes later, their noses red and their eyes streaming with tears from the freezing temperatures. Olivia was standing at the door with her eyes narrowed and arms crossed. She was wearing a red sweater, black leather trousers and boots with a heel that could take Drake’s eye out.

‘Look what the cat dragged in,’ she droned in her obnoxious Lythikiosian accent. ‘The commoner.’

‘You. invited. me,’ Camille said bluntly, punctuating each pause between her words.

‘Only because Liam wanted me to,’ Olivia told her, rolling her eyes. ‘Come in before you die of frostbite.’

‘Charming,’ Drake muttered.

Olivia wrinkled her nose at him. ‘And you are?’

Drake was about to respond but was beaten by Camille, who pulled her hat off and raised her chin in defiance. Gone was the cute appearance. Now, she looked like a woman on the edge. 

‘Drake,’ she said, her voice like ice. ‘My bodyguard.’

‘Not very polite to bring your bodyguard,’ Olivia said, her voice like silk.  ‘Whatever do you think will happen to you this weekend?’

Drake smirked and interrupted Camille before she could deliver a scathing response. ‘I am to be by her side at all times,’ he said, keeping his voice even and strong. ‘It’s my duty to protect her, regardless of where we are and who we are with.’

Olivia raised an eyebrow. ‘Fine,’ she said. ‘But you have to sleep in the servant’s quarters which is only appropriate-’

‘He gets a room near me,’ Camille interrupted. ‘Otherwise I’m leaving and Liam will certainly hear about how inhospitable Lythikos was to the new Duchess of Valtoria.’

Drake pressed his lips together, holding in laughter. Olivia looked like she wanted to hit Camille and was exercising all of her restraint not to. 

‘Fine,’ she spat, finally. ‘The bodyguard can sleep next door to you. No funny business, mind.’

Drake raised an eyebrow. ‘Oh really?’ he asked, keeping his voice innocent. ‘Give my regards to Lou.’

Olivia’s face paled.  Drake smirked and pushed past her to help Camille get inside. 

*********************************

‘Who the hell is Lou?’ Camille hissed as they walked quickly up the stairs to their rooms.

‘Her bodyguard,’ Drake whispered. ‘They’re fucking.’

‘WHAT?!’

‘Shhhhh!’

Camille shook her head. ‘Oh my god, that’s unbelievable! Well, I never thought she would do something like that. Also, how do you know?’

Drake chuckled. ‘Lou told me.’

‘...Bodyguards gossip?’

Drake smirked, making Camille’s eyes widen. ‘Lou gossips,’ he corrected her. ‘I don’t. I’m professional at all times, trust me.’

A blush bloomed on Camille’s cheeks.

They reached Camille’s bedroom. Drake entered first, scouting the room for anything suspicious. Camille watched him curiously.

‘So, what are you looking for?’

‘Well,’ Drake said as he investigated the room, ‘windows without a lock, forced signs of entry, possible ways for intruders to get inside.. Anything that could make you vulnerable. But you’re fine, all clear.’

Camille edged into the room, warily, and looked up at the corners of the room. Drake frowned. ‘You alright?’ he asked.

‘Just making sure the room’s not bugged,’ Camille quipped, flashing him a mischievous smile. Drake chuckled, realising she was teasing him. He watched as she took off her ski jacket and he tried his best not to stare at how her cashmere grey sweater slid off one shoulder, exposing a delicate collarbone.

‘So, I’ll be in my room,’ he said. ‘I’ll leave you to unpack. According to your schedule, you’re meeting the rest of the group downstairs in thirty minutes for wine and cheese-’

‘Fancy..’ Camille muttered, clearly not impressed.

‘So I’ll be stationed in the dining room with Lou,’ Drake finished. ‘You need anything, let me know.’

Camille wrapped her arms around her body, as if she was trying to keep herself together. ‘Confidence? Bad assery?’ she said, giving him a weak smile. She let out a shaky breath. ‘Drake, I’m shitting this.’

He moved closer to her, his eyebrows furrowed together with concern. ‘Why?’ he asked. ‘What’s there to be nervous about?’

‘It’s Lythikos!’ Camille cried, throwing her hands up in the air. ‘I’m in Olivia’s domain! She hates me. God knows what she’ll do - she was so pissed when she found out Liam had proposed to me. And don’t get me started on Madeleine, that girl wants me dead, I swear-’

Drake grasped hold of her hands and held them tightly. His eyes bore into hers. ‘Camille, breathe,’ he instructed her firmly. ‘Calm down.’

Her hands were shaking. When she spoke, her voice was very small and quiet. ‘I just feel like the outcast,’ she whispered. ‘All the time. I’m a commoner pretending to be a Duchess-’

‘No you’re not.’

‘That’s what it feels like,’ she told him fiercely. ‘I feel like I’m masquerading as this noble woman, this woman who wears designer clothes, has a fancy house and acts more important than she is. But that’s not me. I feel like fraud. And here I am, in Lythikos with women who hate me, trying to be a noble woman like they are but everytime I’m near Olivia or Madeleine, I just feel like I don’t belong.’

Drake closed his eyes. He knew Camille had been having self-confidence issues for months; but he hadn’t realised it had gotten this bad for her. Why hadn’t she said something to him?

Because you’re her bodyguard. You’re not her friend or her boyfriend. 

He ignored his internal thoughts. Time for a pep talk.

‘Camille,’ he said, opening his eyes to meet hers. ‘You are worthy of being in that room with them. Hell, you’re worth more than all the nobles of Cordonia put together. You are the best Duchess that Cordonia has seen in years; you care about the people, you make a difference. You are loved by the people and that is worth everything. Who cares what Olivia or Madeleine think of you? They’re just jealous. Fuck ‘em.’

‘But-’

‘You are incredible,’ Drake continued, ignoring her protests. ‘It astounds me that you don’t believe in yourself. You should. When you walk into the lion’s den in thirty minutes, you throw your shoulders back, hold your head high and be yourself. Because that’s all you need to do. You’re the Duchess of Valtoria, sure, but you’re also Camille Montespan. You told me one of your ancestors was a noble in France, right? Fucking own it.’

Camille was staring at Drake with wide eyes as he continued his tirade. He couldn’t stop. He had to make her realise how important she was. 

‘You’re more blue blood than fucking Madeleine,’ he said. ‘So I won’t have you thinking they’re better than you because they’re not. They could try but they wouldn’t get very far, if I’m fucking honest. You belong in that room. Don’t let them make you feel small. If they make you feel even more shit, say the word and I’ll kill them.’

Camille stared at Drake in shocked silence. Drake cleared his throat, worried he had gone too far in his rage. But she had to know how amazing she was. She had to. 

She reached out to squeeze his hand. 'Thank you, Drake,' she murmured. 

Drake smiled weakly and made his excuses to leave. If he stayed any longer, every feeling he had about her would pour out of his mouth and she would know exactly how amazing he thought she was. 

***************

That evening, the group convened downstairs to drink wine and eat cheese. Olivia had selected her best bottles from her wine cellar and wore a smug smile on her face as Liam complimented her selection. 

Camille sat beside Hana, the two women happy to talk amongst themselves as they drank wine.

Maxwell didn't like wine but he tried his best.

Drake stood in the corner of the room beside Lou. As usual, Lou made inappropriate jokes about Camille, knowing it would bother Drake. 

'She looks mighty fine in those jeans,' Lou said. 'Like two peaches.' 

'Lou, shut the fuck up and do your job,' Drake muttered. 

Lou smirked. 'Olivia's at home. She doesn't need me to be on duty 24/7.'

'That's the difference between me and you,' Drake replied, his voice cold. 'I take my job seriously.' 

Lou shook his head but said nothing to defend himself. Drake watched as Camille sipped her wine, occasionally her eyes meeting his. 

Olivia spotted this. 

'So, Camille,' she said grandly. 'Tell me about why you acquired a bodyguard and why he is here this weekend like the lap dog he is.' 

Camille clenched the stem of her wine glass. 'It's in his contract that he is always with me,' she explained frostily. 'Simple to understand, Olivia.' 

'But you are here under my care,' Olivia said smoothly. 'You don't need a human shield to protect you.' 

'Drake is more than that,' Camille said quickly. 'He's my friend -' 

'Nobles don't have commoners as friends,' Olivia said. 'The sooner you learn that, the better. You are the Duchess of Valtoria. To forget your place in this world is to do Liam a disservice.' 

'Liv, stop it,' Liam butted in. 'Just because she is a Duchess doesn't mean she can't be friends with who she wants.' 

'I'm just saying, the media will associate Camille with who she spends time with,' Olivia said. 'How do you think it will look if she is constantly with her bodyguard? Like she is afraid and vulnerable. Gossip websites are already calling her a coward and that she doesn't trust Cordonia to look after her.' 

Drake couldn't listen anymore. 

He didn't want to be her weakness. He couldn't be her weakness. All he wanted was to help her be strong but even now, he was damaging her reputation. 

He wrenched himself away from the wall and strode out of the room and through the French doors to get some fresh air outside. 

For the first time in four months, he abandoned his post. 

************

Camille saw Drake leave before everyone else did. As soon as he left the room, she felt the cold air surround her and the feeling that she was adrift without a life raft to keep her afloat. 

She pulled on her coat and scarf, rushing to follow him. Olivia rolled her eyes as she watched Camille run after the bodyguard. But Camille didn't care. She needed to talk to Drake and tell him not to pay attention to Olivia. 

The snow and hail hit her as soon as she got outside. Bracing herself, she wrapped her arms tight around her body and strode purposefully through the snow, trying to find Drake in the dark. 

She found him standing on top of a snow covered hill. He was looking down over the duchy of Lythikos with its small wooden houses lit up like stars. 

'Drake,' she said softly. 

He turned to face her. 'Go back inside, Duchess,' he said, his voice monotone. 'You'll catch a cold.' 

Camille shook her head, moving towards him. 'No. Come back inside. You're not wearing a hat.' 

A tiny, sad smile broke out on his forlorn face. Their little joke from earlier. When things were lighter. 

'Don't listen to Olivia,' Camille said desperately. 'She talks shit. Don't let her make you feel small - you said that to me earlier and now I'm saying it to you. You're my friend and protector. You look after me in ways nobody else does.'

'I can't have people thinking you're weak,' Drake told her. 'I refuse to be the reason why people underestimate you.' 

'People underestimate me because they're assholes!' Camille protested. 'Not because of you! Drake, you've helped me so much these past four months. You've helped me trust people again, you've helped me feel safer!' 

Drake shook his head, turning to look away. Camille grabbed him by the arm and pulled him back to look down at her. As the wind caught at her hair, Drake could see the ferocity in her eyes. 

'I was a mess when we met!' she shouted over the wind and snow. Tears were filling her eyes now. 

'The assassination on Constantine made me a wreck. I was terrified to go back into that ballroom in case another situation like that happened! But you took over as my bodyguard and you took the time to make me feel secure. You are always there, loyal and steadfast. Seriously, Drake, I would be a shell of a woman if it wasn't for you. I would have upped and left to go back to my shitty life in New York but because of you, I keep going. You make me feel confident with your pep talks and reassurances. So don't you dare listen to Olivia again, you hear me?!-'

Drake pulled her into him and held her close as she sobbed. He didn't care that it was inappropriate to hold her tightly like this. She was crying and he didn't want her to cry because of him, ever. All he wanted was for her to be happy. 

'It's alright,' he choked out, his fingers grasping her hair into knots. 'It's alright, Camille. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I walked out and left you there. I'm sorry.' 

Camille's fists bunched his shirt that was now soaked from the cold and snow. She let out a whimper. Drake held her tighter. 

She gently pulled away, rubbing her eyes harshly. She looked up at him. 

'You need to buy yourself a hat,' she said, her voice cracking. 'You're definitely going to get a cold now.'

Drake chucked, relieved she was feeling a little better. He moved away from her and looked up at the sky. 

'Hey, look,' he said softly. 'Meteor shower..' 

And so, the two of them forgot their emotionally charged moment and settled down on the snow to watch the meteor above. 

Camille leaned back. Her hand brushed Drake's. They both jumped. 

'Sorry..' she whispered. 

Drake smiled. 'No worries, Duchess.' 

She nudged his shoulder with hers. 'Call me Camille.' 

Drake smirked and nudged her shoulder back. 'Sorry Camille.' 

They watched the meteor shower in wonder. Drake loved the outdoors from a childhood of camping and hiking with his father. Since Jackson had passed, Drake had been unable to share his love of the outdoors with anyone; it hadn’t felt right. Sort of like he was betraying his father. But right now, here he was, sharing this moment with Camille. He couldn’t help but feel that his father would be pleased. 

‘I love looking up at the stars,’ Camille said softly. ‘It reminds me that really, we’re just a tiny speck of dust in the universe and in the grand scheme of things, nothing matters. It gives me perspective.’

Drake smiled. ‘I get that,’ he said. ‘Like, you realise that your place in society doesn’t really matter. Nothing you do has a big impact, not really, unless you’re a hero which most people aren’t. We’re insignificant.’

Camille laughed. ‘God, we’re so cynical.’

‘I am,’ Drake agreed. ‘But I’m surprised at you.’

Camille shrugged. ‘Maybe court has made me cynical. It’s certainly made me develop a thick skin. I’m different to who I was six months ago.’

Drake bit his lip. He turned to look at her, no longer focusing on the stars above. He was looking at Camille, a star in her own right. ‘Who were you six months ago?’ he asked gently.

She smiled to herself, still looking up at the sky. ‘A waitress who lived in a crappy apartment in New York,’ she said. ‘Naive. Tired. But happy.’

‘Are you not happy now?’ 

Camille wrenched her eyes away from the sky and looked at Drake. Her eyes softened when she found his gaze. 

‘I’m happy now,’ she whispered. 

Drake’s heart flipped.

They looked up at the sky, watching the meteors, but not really focusing. Instead, both of them were acutely aware of the other. How close their bodies were. How open they could be with each other. How their relationship was not typical of that of a bodyguard and his charge. 

When they wandered back to the keep, Camille slipped on the snowy ground. Drake reached out to grab her, his instincts always on point. Their hands tightened around each other. As Camille stood up straighter, she didn't let go. 

'For safety,' she said, giving him a nod. 

Drake squeezed her hand, glad the cold air was a good excuse for the pink blush on his cheeks. 

'For safety,' he repeated. 

Together, they walked hand in hand back to the keep. 

[kate-sinclaire]

the baby announcement (maxwell x mc)

Author Note: An inspired scene that stems from my love of New Girl. I honestly couldn’t NOT write this. Anyhow. Here we go. This takes place after my last fiction. If you want to read that, it will be attached below:

hey, baby, I think I wanna marry you (maxwell x mc)

Book: The Royal Heir/The Royal Romance

Pairing: Maxwell x MC (Emily Beaumont)

Rating: PG-13

Summary: Emily and Maxwell continue to try for an heir while the gang becomes over protective of their mom to be.

NOTE/WARNING: This piece contains potential triggers, such as pregnancy concerns and issues. Please take care in reading if this is a trigger for you.

Tags: @itsbrindleybinch

Word Count: 1432

Comment or message if you’d like to be tagged in future Maxwell fics/TRH/TRR fics.

Disclaimer: All characters belong to Pixelberry Studios (minus, for the most part, Emily), I’m just borrowing them. Some events, however, may not be canonical, rather imaginative scenarios. I also do not own the image. Gif found here.

--

“Emily, please be careful,” Bertrand sighed, pulling out the chair as the young duchess sat at the dining table. She looked up at him, eyes narrowed. Maxwell suppressed a scoff. He raised his hands in mock surrender. “I apologize, being a father has made me...protective.”

“I appreciate your concern, but I’m not pregnant yet. Coffee please?” she asked, looking up at Drake expectantly. He pursed his lips together and stared at her cautiously.

"How about some orange juice," he offered slowly. "Or um...water? You like water."

"Drake," she warned, her voice growing impatient.

"I made hot cocoa!" Hana sang from behind him, placing her famous marshmallow mountain topped hot chocolate in front of Emily as an all too innocent smile played on her lips.

Emily took a tentative sip, keeping her eyes set on her best friend. "That was convenient timing," she murmured, though she couldn't hide her blissful expression as her entire body warmed.

"I'm not sure what you mean," Hana replied casually, walking behind the kitchen counter. "I made Maxwell one, as well."

"God, you're the best," Maxwell grinned, eagerly taking hold of the matching campfire mug.

“You guys, I’m not pregnant yet. You don’t need to worry about me so much. I fought off deadly assassins.”

“With help,” Olivia chimed in with a smirk as she entered the room. “But never mind that. Emily, would you like to accompany me out of this godforsaken cabin? I promise that I’ll let you breathe all by yourself.”

Without a second’s hesitation, Emily joined her by the door and bit back a grin at the worried exchanges. “That sounds lovely, Olivia, thank you.”

“I don’t-” Drake started.

“I’m not so sure-” Liam murmured.

“I feel like-” Hanna winced.

“Enough!” Olivia exclaimed, slamming her palm on the table, sending echoes throughout the kitchen. The entire group startled. “Emily Beaumont is a strong, self-sufficient woman. She does not need to be coddled like an infant just because she is trying to have one.” Emily stared at her, stunned, and then looked back at the group with resolve.

“Thank you, Olivia. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go run errands with my best friend.”

“Well I wouldn’t go that far-”

“Bye gang!” Emily grinned, grabbing Olivia by the arm and closing the door behind them. Everyone exchanged concerned glances.

“Is it just me or is Olivia really scary when she’s protective?” Maxwell muttered after a moment of silence, taking another drink of his cocoa. Everyone collectively nodded.

--

After walking a bit, Emily stopped and let out a sigh. Olivia glanced at her curiously, stepping beside her. “Can I be honest about something?”

“As opposed to what you’ve been doing since I met you?” Olivia smirked. Emily rolled her eyes in response and Olivia sighed with a nod.

“I’m scared that I’m not going to get pregnant.”

“What?” Olivia asked, genuinely shocked. “Emily, you can’t be serious. You just started trying.”

“Well, it’s been a...a while. And everyone has been treating me like I should be pregnant by now. I notice everyone’s worried glances, especially other nobles’. Last time I saw the paparazzi, I got hounded about my fears regarding the pregnancy or...lack thereof. And honestly, I’m kinda freaking out a little bit.” Emily’s eyes started watering and she quickly wiped away any trace of her tears. “God, sorry, I didn’t think I was going to break down.”

“You just started trying, Emily. I don’t know if you remember this, but Liam asked you to produce an heir a month ago. Do you realize how sudden that is?”

“I guess...”

“And it takes some couples longer than others to conceive. It’s not abnormal for you to be experiencing this kind of thing.”

“But we try so much,” Emily sighed. “Like...so much.”

“Okay.”

“No, really. So much.”

“I get it.”

“I just feel like if it isn’t going to happen now, maybe it won’t ever.” 

“I don’t know what you’re going through, Emily, but I can promise you this: no matter what happens, you have...” she winced and swallowed hard. “Amazing, loving friends who will be there for you no matter what. Including me. And you have...Maxwell. Who I’m sure loves you very much.”

“He does,” Emily sighed, wiping her eyes again.

“You don’t have anything to worry about. Okay?” Olivia’s voice softened for the first time in...ever since Emily had known her. She sniffled and nodded, wrapping her arms around her neck. Olivia let out a startled sound before hesitantly returning the hug. “Now, let’s forget about babies for a bit.”

“Where are we going?”

“The only place I can go after comforting someone: shooting.”

--

Meanwhile, back in Valtoria...

Maxwell let out a sigh as he played with Pip and Pup absentmindedly in the sun room, his gaze roaming to the mountaintops ahead of them. It was weird being away from his wife at all, these days, and it felt...lonely, even though he was with his friends and two adorable, cuddly creatures. Drake nursed a whiskey over by the telescope and looked over at Liam who stood reading a novel at one of Emily’s bookshelves.

“This is boring,” Max finally said.

“Thanks,” Drake replied with a scoff.

“No, I mean. Who even were we before Emily came into our lives?”

“Bored,” Drake agreed.

“Incomplete,” Hanna nodded.

“Lost,” Liam added, something flickering over his expression. Something Maxwell chose to aptly ignore.

“Exactly. And now here we are without her and we’re nothing. She’s the glue that holds us all together.”

“I think that’s a little dramatic,” Drake replied. “But you’re right. It’s not the same without her. And it’s our fault. We scared her away with our worrying.”

“You guys did. For the record, I’ve been a rock through this.” Max smirked, prompting a collective eye roll. “But yeah. It sucks. Maybe we should call her and apologize.”

“We can’t, she left her phone,” Hanna pointed at the table.

“What?” Panic began to race through him. “What if she gets into trouble? What if I get into trouble? I’m always in trouble!”

“Maxwell, calm down,” Liam laughed. “She’s fine. She’s perfectly capable of handling herself. And she has Olivia with her, remember?”

“That almost makes it worse!”

“Maxwell, she’s fine-”

As if on cue, Emily’s phone rang. Maxwell cautiously approached it and shook his head. “I can’t answer.”

“I will,” Hanna smiled dutifully. “Hello?”

“Hello, Lady Beaumont? This is Doctor Ramirez. Congratulations, you’re pregnant!”

“WHAT?!” Hanna squealed. “Oh my god!”

“Wait, who is this?”

“WHO IS IT?” Maxwell practically screamed.

“This is Hanna Lee. Sorry, can you pretty please call back so I can let Maxwell answer?”

“Why isn’t Emily answering her phone?” the doctor asked, confused. Then she sighed. “Okay, I’ll call back. Wait, why can’t I just talk to him now?”

Hanna hung up and grinned, handing the phone back to Maxwell. “I think you’ll want to answer whoever calls next.” He squirmed under her constant smile.

“Okay...”

Sure enough, the phone rang again and he winced. “Hello?”

“Maxwell Beaumont?”

“The very same.”

“This is Doctor Ramirez. I called to tell you congratulations! Your wife is pregnant.”

“EMILY IS PREGNANT?!”

--

After a long day of archery and blade throwing, Emily followed Olivia back to Valtoria with a renewed sense of self. “That was exactly what I needed, thank you.”

“Violence is what everyone needs,” Olivia nodded, knowingly. Emily laughed and jogged ahead. “Wow, you’re happy.”

“I am! We never get to hang out.”

“Yeah, it’s almost as if someone crafts that perfectly...”

“You know, you talk a big game but I think you like hanging out with me.”

“Think what you like, Emily,” but a smile played at Olivia’s lips.

When they both got back, Emily walked in with a grin. “Honey, I’m hoooome.” Silence. Olivia and her exchanged a look and then she called again. “Maxwell, I’m hooooooome.” Still nothing. She glanced down and noticed rose petals trailing from the kitchen to the bedroom. Confused, she followed and her eyes widened at the sight of Maxwell with three bouquets in hand along with about a dozen others scattered throughout the room.

“Max..?”

“I’m pregnant.”

“What...?” she looked around and then he shook his head with a grin.

“We’re pregnant. You’re pregnant.”

Realization dawned on her as she stepped back. “We’re...pregnant...”

“We’re pregnant!” he pulled her into his arms and spun her around. Emily laughed as the tears came down her face. “Doctor Ramirez called and Hanna picked up. Then she called again and I picked up.”

“Oh my god, we’re pregnant.”

“We’re pregnant.”

[lizzybeth1986]

Hey Lizzy, can you share the screenshot of Drake saying Liam lead MC on?? I still can't believe that happened! 😱

Sure! It's from Book 3 Chapter 16, in that diamond scene where you take your LI around different spots in Vegas and remember important moments in your romantic journey with them.

The setup for this dialogue is that Drake and the MC are at a replica of Liberty Island, and are remembering how they first met. This dialogue is unlocked (I think) when the MC mentions she was intrigued by Drake, and he can't believe it because she and Liam seemed so attracted to each other. The MC then tells him that it was because Drake didn't even seem to want her there. Here's his response:

(Screenshots from HIMEME's YouTube channel)

I find this distasteful for a couple of reasons:

1. It erases Drake's actual first response to her, which was to continue to call her a waitress instead of her name unless she dressed attractively enough, and accuse her of being a crown chaser just a day after this meeting. There was zero protectiveness involved in either of those gestures.

2. Liam...leading the MC on. Read that together in a sentence and try to make sense of it. LIAM...LEADING THE MC ON.

3. The problems I have with that way of viewing that entire sequence. Where do I even begin:

- So this comment can be viewed two ways. Either Drake is talking about the time Liam was spending with the MC in NY - or in a larger sense, about Liam's behaviour during the social season. I lean more towards the first one, since the context of the conversation is clearly the NY bachelor party. But I can argue that in both cases, claiming that Liam "led her on" is inaccurate and actually pretty damn insulting to both the MC and his so-called best friend.

- Liam was more open and honest than he even needed to be that night. He didn't have to be. He wasn't obligated to tell her his true identity, in fact it was seen as a better choice if he didn't. Liam tells us as much if we ask him point blank why he didn't tell us straightaway who he was.

- If the MC reveals she has started having feelings for Liam, he is very clear about not being able to give her what she wants even if he wants it too. He makes it clear throughout - from the get go - that while he is intrigued and fascinated by her, nothing can come out of this. It's the MC's choice to kiss him (either at Liberty Island or at her doorstep), despite her knowledge of this, and she acknowledges that especially in the Liberty scene.

- Also...Drake was clearly not exactly involved in this conversation so why the fuck was he making judgement calls based on something he didn't completely hear.

- How...the fuck...is spending ONE (1) evening with a guy she'd probably never meet again equivalent to "Cordonian royal politics ruining another hopeful girl's life". How. What even is the connection. I -

- But...suppose we assume he was also speaking about the social season, going by the latter dialogues about "those nobles". Could Liam be viewed as "leading the MC on" even then? You'd have to really stretch logic to read it that way. Bringing her to Cordonia was Maxwell's idea, not Liam's. Liam doesn't even know she's there until the Masquerade Ball, and up until the Regatta, he worries constantly about being fair to her (and until Lythikos about being fair to the other ladies), asks her repeatedly how ready she feels for the role of queen, keeps her in the loop about how confident he feels about choosing her. Up until he actually feels confident about his own choices, he doesn't make any promises. Hell, even their first official date is after he has made his decision.

I can't see him as leading the MC on if even he wasn't aware what would happen next at his Coronation. He did everything in his power to protect and help her, and Drake knows this because Drake was the one he trusted with that task.

- I'm still willing to give Drake the benefit of the doubt. Maybe what Drake meant was that no matter what Liam's feelings were, he should have waited until the end instead of being open about them (if we're talking about the social season). Maybe he expected Liam to act like a complete monk at his own freaking bachelor party idk. Maybe Drake is the kind of guy who values 'honour' over 'emotions'.

But even then...Drake doesn't exactly live up to his own lofty principles for some reason. In his final Book 1 diamond scene, he asks for a kiss regardless of whether you have feelings or not the night the MC is expected to be engaged to Liam. He is aware Liam has feelings for the MC but it never occurs to him to talk to her about her not telling Liam anything...or to his best friend about how he feels. He doesn't exactly mind flirting with her even after she is engaged to someone else (including said best friend), telling her this:

(he's said this to both my MCs - Esther [Liam MC] and Persephone [Hana MC] - who have zero romance points with him).

Is "honour over emotions" only meant for lesser mortals like Liam then, and not for The Almighty St. Drake?

- Also by the time of this conversation Drake already knows that Savannah ran away from Bertrand because they're both stupid and they both suck at communicating. You can't still be blaming that on "those nobles" now!

So...yeah. I find it even more distasteful because Liam is practically never allowed to say anything but positive things about Drake. Drake is amazing, Drake is great, Drake saved me from a capsizing boat, Drake found me when I got lost while camping once, Drake helped me in difficult times, Drake saved my life, I'd trust Drake with my life, you'll love Drake when you get to truly know him, I wouldn't be alive and here if it weren't for Drake. Drake Drake Drake.

Drake on the other hand can call Liam out on his privilege, without ever once examining his own. He speaks a lot about his obligations to him and what he owes Liam, but at the same time he also makes Liam's life sound more charmed than it actually is (except maybe for a handful of scenes, and the last chapter, where he conveniently notices the flip side now that his own kid - in his playthrough - may go through it as well). He can say shit like this, and it's supposed to be justification for his own shitty behaviour in the first few chapters of the series. Like I really don't even like to consider him a friend anymore to Liam tbh, if he can do his BFF dirty like that.

I honestly believe the team was trying to retcon most of the narrative behind Drake's initial behaviour to her, by framing it as protectiveness rather than mistrust. I just wish they didn't throw Liam under the bus to do so. How difficult is it to have Drake say: "I made snap judgements without even knowing you. I was an asshole. I was wrong" in that sequence?

Edit: This post was written quite a while before PB released TRR 2.0 - the "rewrite" where the team drastically rewrote the first four chapters of Book 1. While opinions on Liam's behaviour and characterization in those chapters vary, many agree that he was cockier, more forward, more hesitant to open up about his identity and more flirty around the MC, while Drake was written to be more helpful and more friendly. Ergo, Liam in this rewrite would be more open to being interpreted as "leading the MC on"

Whether the team wrote those characterizations to prove Drake right is something we cannot say for sure, but one can see the connections between this scene and the eventual rewrite, if one remembers how Liam was originally written and how different that is from the very deliberate framing Drake gave to Liam's first interactions with the MC.