#claude wmmap

[itsmearia01]

Genre : Fantasy, historical, romance, angst.

Tw : yandere behavior, the characters are warning themselfs, cheat (past. On you, good luck!)

You always wonder why and how your fiancé, who cheated on you and even had children with his mistress who became his wife, is suddenly obsessed with you. it started a long time ago, you loved him but felt very empty when you saw him with that woman. until finally at the dance party he humiliated you in front of everyone.

he kissed her, hugged her waist tightly as he danced. oh how hurt you were when he said those words. You ran out of the dance party, leaving him smiling with the woman watching you leave with a 'sympathy' expression.

Yes, what else can they do? when their wedding was announced you just stared at the invitation blankly, it must have been the woman's idea, there was no way the man would want to invite you to his happy day.

just imagine when you just arrived back to your kingdom, after years of traveling and becoming a figure in the world of education and health. Imagine the king his self organizing a welcoming party for you, truly appreciating your achievements in changing the world into a better place. Your feelings for him don't remain at all, in fact most of the time you forget his existence, so imagine your confusion when in the middle of chatting with other nobles, a man your age calls you almost shouting.

"(Y/N)! y-you're back, darling…"

"S-sorry? Do I know you?"

when you couldn't remember, he immediately pulled you from the crowd and hugged you, "Sorry (Y/N) darling, I promise I will take care of you and treat you like my goddess."

At first you couldn't recognize him because the hug didn't let you see his face. But when you looked at his face, there he was. Still handsome with a few changes that weren't much different. But what you feel is anger, confusion, disgust.

You managed to escape from his embrace that night. The public's view of him changed, they felt sorry for you. But what you didn't know was the evil plans he had planned. So that you will be his and only by his side.

His children with that woman? No different. They know who you are, have idolized you for a long time. My, what a beautiful fantasy it is to have you as a mother.

TBH ANY MANHWA DILFS YOU COULD IMAGINE, NOT ONLY CLAUDE. But i got lazy, sorry.

A/N : SORRY ITS BEEN A WHILE. IM SO BUSY. IDK IF I CAN CONTINUE THE SERIES BUT MAYBE ILL MAKE ONESHOTS MORE OFTEN. Just wanna post this for you pookies🫶🏻 dividers credit to @cafekitsune

[ultramarine-spirit]

Athy placed a flower behind Claude's ear, matching the ones in her hair. She doesn't have to do it in secret anymore, and Claude looks the happiest he has ever been...

[arxsss8]

MANHWA! Who made me a princess.

More opinion regarding the one and only, Claude de alger Obelia!

I don't how to start, but I've been thinking this for a while. We all know that the reason why Claude inflicted the black magic on himself to forget Diana and Athanasia is because he can't handle the fact that Diana has died. And he hates Athy so much to the point he wanted to kill her when he first saw her as an infant (and yes he did actually ended up killing her in the LP au for his pettiness and apathy). But what I meant is that, why did he even do 'it' with Diana if he feared of losing his lover from childbirth? I mean- okay, in the canon story Diana died due to Athanasia's excessive mana (which literally came from none other than Claude himself). Perhaps was it because he didn't expected their child to inherit his magic? He himself should've known that he's so powerful and that his offspring was most likely to be the same. Yet he did it anyways. But in this case let's forget about magic, let's pretend that Athanasia didn't have that much magic. In general, childbirth has always been risky. You could've from any reason during childbirth. Perhaps it's due to excessive blood loss, infections and other medical reasons. So even if Diana didn't die due to Athy's excessive mana she still could've died from any medical reason. And in that era, I believe there's still no modern technology that can help with it. Perhaps she can be saved with magic? If that's the case then why can't Claude find other ways to save his lover from dying instead of abandoning her in the concubine palace at the mercy of other concubines (since in the manhwa the personality of the concubines were not described) but most of them usually came from noble family, and we all know that nobles are usually selfish and hates their rival, especially if it's just a common dancer who have just lost the emperor's favour (at least that's how they depict it) so who knows what happens to her during that time where the emperor won't even come to see her.

Notes: And again this is just a personal interpretation, if there's any mistake feel free to voice it out! ☺🤗

[roseapov]

Who Made Me A Princess Christmas Special

Contains Spoilers to the story Tw: mentions of death and reincarnation This work doesn't contain and ships nor reader, it's just simply characters enjoying their time together Fluff with a slightly angst ending 1,5k+ words

The winter taken the land of springs and summers by storm, both by it's appearance and intensity. An unexpected surprise, something Obelia Empire wasn't used to, and so, the palace staff was going thorugh the chaos, having their hands full of work.

Even for a royalty like her, it would've been better to stay out of the way on the corridors, so she locked herself in the library. Seating by herself surrounded by masses of books and sipping on a warm cup of hot chocolate.

She wasn't the most frequent guest in there, and yet during this afternoon she found in it solace. The library was huge, it contained many massive wooden bookshelfs with golden carvings in the symetrical order, giving the space even more impressive aura. And don't forget the books, thousands of them, most still dusted despite the cleaners hard work.

The young princess lately got interested in the traditions of the neighbouring Empires. The Imperial family were to come to the palace for the peace talks to her and her father, most likely staying for a week or so, so it was only proper for her to adequately prepare to welcome the guests.

The book that she was reading was a really thick one. Maybe she should look into their history book later? After all, so many traditions are just calling for a rich country history, knowing that could be beneficial for her.

The blond locks swayed together, with every move she made, with every turned page. While mindlessly turning pages, the underlined name of one tradition caught her attention.

"Christmas Dinner"

When she saw it, she immediately began reading the rest of the informations on the pages eagerly. It was almost the same as in Korea! She couldn't help but eventually smile at the familiarity of her world, but that smile hadn't lasted for long. After all, she never really got to spend it with her family, as she didn't had one. But the hope aroused in her once again, she has the family now!

Could she recreate that with Claude..? She wondered as her eyes lighted up with determination. From that moment forth, Athanasia knew she would do anything to get her dad to agree to make the christmas feast, no matter the cost.

When she closed the door to the library after her, she almost got swept away by a group of maids carrying some things in a rapid pace. It looks like she will still have to be careful while travelling through the corridors...

"Daddy Please! Can we make a dinner like that tradition?" And that's how it all began. Athanasia spoke with such determination, not wanting to give up no matter what. She very well knew, that her father loved her and would agree to her plans with enough persuassion.

After hearing the first words he smiled internally "Is all of this fuss about one dinner?" He sighed dramatically with a faked indifference. He absolutely loved when his daughter was coming to him for help, he knew he would agree, but he wanted to get as much out of Athanasia as he could before. A familiar teasing, one that Diana often dragged him into, left a visible mark on him.

"Y-Yes, but it's not about the dinner alone!" She was surprised over her fathers indifference, not expecting it and trying to improvise. "I.. I want to spend time with you Daddy! Like a family!" She tried to grab onto her last resort "We can also invite Jennette and-" she continued in hopes of talking through him, falling deeper into the rabbit hole, hoping he will bend to her idea with time.

That's when the Emperor stopped listening, knowing that she had already won. It warmed his heart, the knowledge that his daughter wanted to spend more time with him, others didn't mattered. He put up quite the facade, and yet his daughter wanted to spend time with him, it was more than enough to make him agree. Athanasia was the sun of his life, how could he  possibly deny her? How could anyone deny the precious princess?

He couldn't help but melt and slightly smile at his daughter's antics, even if she couldn't see it, too busy proving her point panicking. It wasn't rare to see her determined, it was one of the most common expressions she wore and yet.. This was different, she was practically glowing, and he wasn't the one to say no to his daughter, especially when she reminded him of Diana like that, she also tried her best to make him agree to her ideas, and join her in her dancing.

The Emperor wasn't playing around, more than welcoming to accept this tradition as his own, everything for his daughter's sake, and so, the preparations began. When the palace heard the news, the palace became a true mess. Everyone started tripping on eachother to prepare everything. Even a second wasted could end up tragically. If what were happening before in the palace was a chaos, then now it was way beyond chaos. No matter where you looked you would see everyone running from one side to another. Even guards went out of their way to help the rest of the servants with trying to finish everything on time.

A few days later the day had finally came. Ever since waking up, Athanasia was in high spirits, shifting excitedly on her chair, while maids were finishing her make up and hair. The princess chosen the dress for tonights dinner herself, a dress that reminded her of her life in Korea, mixing it perfectly with her new reincarnated life as a princess. Claude also seemed to be in a better mood than usual, changing his attire with magic to have a similar outfit that his daughter wore.

The specially invited guests arrived in the afternoon the day before, and were starting to get ready with the help of the servants too. The castle became more lively than ever, and everyone enjoyed this atmosphere immensely. The little chocolates and candies the princess prepared and handed together with Jennette for everyone in the castle surely helped too, making everyone even more than determinated to do their best. Lily and Felix got extra presents too, behind the scenes of course, making sure they knew they hold a special place for her in her heart, and that she would never forget what they done for her. While looking at their faces after handing them the packages, she knew that both of them got the meaning it held.

When the sky darkened and the first star appeared at the sky, the dinner began. An empty seat for an unexpected guest felt kinda useless, since no one would dare to go into the Imperial palace, just to eat the fancy dinner during the familiar reunion of the royals.

The dishes were very extravagant and absolutely delicious, even more than they usually were, or was it the atmosphere and the people she eated it with, making it better? Deep down, she knew the exact answer.

At first it was stiff, mostly cause of the two brothers there, so their daughters bravely took upon themselves the honors to start this evening on a good note. Both fathers weak for their daughters gave in, and started to relax over time, becoming more open with each passing minute, adding more and more to the conversations.

Athy stopped listening to the talks across the table and opted to stare at her half-finished plate instead. Tears started to well up in her eyes, this is what she always dreamt about. Amazing atmosphere and pleasant talks with people she were overjoyed to call her family, an unforgettable christmas by her family side, everything she always wanted.

She'll never forget it, making this memory the most important and most happy for her. With how Claude was pleased with this evening, it was almost sure that it will become the next and newest tradition of the Obelian Empire. A day meant to spend with your family, yes.. That would make for a wonderful new holiday!

Everyone got swept into this blissfull atmosphere, not letting anyone to see the newly appeared woman, that sat on the unexpected guest seat, looking at everyone merrily. Her blond locks swaying and her pink eyes that looked at everyone, shined with the tears, as she let out her most beautiful smile. She quickly wiped away her own tears, and instead started to fret over her daughter ones, her beautiful daughter shouldn't cry. Her ghostly hands tried their best to wipe away the tears, which she succesfully done. Her actions made the princess surprised, as she couldn't see the woman, but even then, she smiled and relaxed sensing a familiar presence, already having an idea of who that might be.

When the woman felt her time was coming to an end, she stood up from the table and walked towards a window. A winter in the Empire was truly a rare and unseen before sight, when her transparent body started to fade away, she saw in the window reflection her daughter looking straight into her eyes. Smiling at eachother was enough to deliver the message,

"I will always be with you two".

Masterlist / Christmas Series Special 2023 Mastelist

A work with 1,5k+ words.. I'm impressed with myself! That's truly amazing! And the first one that has 1k words and even more too! Haha! I'm happy with how it turned out, there is surely some room for improvement, but for my first try at longer and more fanfiction fic it turned out to be quite good. It is a very late fic, so I apologize for the wait, please embrace it and give it love🙏 Kisses for all of you!💋We're finally starting with moving forward with this year! Expect the rest of the Christmas Series Special soon.

[alicehattera03]

How gentle must his hand have been for her to smile in her sleep like that? 🥹

[rie-092]

Hi, i love ypur dinamic.

When I read lycris number 8 I inmediatly tough of Claude de Alber Obelia.

Maybe where the reader is someone whi he grow up and it could be Athanasio or Felix Fiance/wife <3

EVENT'S ENTRY OO1 : POSSESSION

[ yandere! claude de alger obelia ]

note: here's the link about the event! i love this prompt. this would be fun!

okay, let's start with the time before everything became messy.

there is one reason why you became anastacius's wife despite the two of you being way too young to get married. they wanted to tie your family down to the imperial family and anastacius was the one who acted as a shackle to make sure that your family will stay still and be the imperial family's loyal dog.

but honestly, being in the imperial family wasn't that bad. because you have anastacius and his younger brother, claude who was still young that time.

the first time you met claude, there's only one thing that came into your mind. why in the hell did they abuse this cute little creature?

that's the reason how you and anastacius became claude's salvation inside the imperial palace.

you always plays with him, spend time with him, hell, you even go far on firing those maids who put sand on claude's soup (you're the crown princess and you have the every rights to do so, duh.)

but there is still this small doubt inside his mind. that this peace won't stay forever and there is a high chance that you will change once you grew up and realize that he was lacking in many aspects.

and that doubt was only fueled when anastacius slowly changed.

and anastacius started isolating you. and he started prohibiting you as well as claude from visiting each other. and that's how everything became messy.

you see, this is the main reason why claude lost it. the gentle facade that he created for you and anastacius. his confidence, his emotions, his everything as well as his mother.

but don't worry, this wasn't his boiling point. he still had lady margarita (forgot her name, my baddd). while you escape time to time to spend time with him.

he remembered back then, before his big brother's betrayal. when the two of you escaped the palace to play. he remembered it clearly, the time you said that you were on his side. and you will remain as his friend forever.

unknown to you, this only fuels the unhealthy feelings that he suppress for years. because hell, you were his big brother's wife!

and congrats! now you had a possessive and obsessive yandere who sees love as ownership! and damn, he will not let you escape, after all, you were his right?

and fast forward to the time where claude discovered lady margarita and anastacius' betrayal. instead of feeling betrayed, this man was delighted as hell.

he can still clearly remember how he sent you a letter using his brother's name and inviting you to the room where lady margarita and anastacius was doing the deed.

he remembered how excited he was seeing the horror in your eyes.

ahh, don't blame him. you left him no choice after all. because he knew that deep inside, you started on having a feeling towards his older brother.

and it's a big no because you were his.

and now, after all the shits happened. and he became the emperor. you suddenly said that you will now go back to your family?

no, no. how can you say that towards him, (name)? after all he did to keep you by his side? after all the blood that he spilled for you?

don't be surprise if you woke up in your palace, chained in your bed. and even had a collar with his name on it.

you made him do this so basically, this wasn't his fault. you made him insecure, you made him panic. so, technically, you deserve this.

oh, by the way. starving yourself to death won't work against claude because he won't hesitate to force you on eating. or even killing your family in front of you.

just give up, ( name ). because you were his as much as he was yours.

now, be a good girl and help him raise athanasia well, okay? <3

￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣

“ ahh, dear. stop being annoying or i would be the one to hold you down and put this damn food in your mouth. hmm? you don't like that right? now be a good girl and listen to me, okay? ”

[lxdymoon0357]

Hello 👋 can I pls request relationship and suggestive headcanons for Claude (wmmap) Regis (FIDWYM) and Lante Agriche with a female reader? Thank you ❤️

(some days, I'm gonna be better and consistent...:[ | Warnings: mentions of dying at childbirth, blood, murder, NSFW content, diana-claude poly mentions? idk..Anyways, NSFW content. )

© Writing belongs to me, Lxdymoon0357. Do not plagiarize, but reblogging, liking and commenting is deeply appreciated.

Claude De Alger Obelia, Legis Floyen and Lante Agriche SFW/NSFW HCs

Claude De Alger Obelia

♕ Definitely loves to spoil you! He loves to spoil you when he can, bringing jewellery, making your favourite food, spending extra time with you, buying you clothes, flowers, gifts, anything you want! He is always happy to spoil you, Athy gets a bit worried, but she also loves you and makes handmade gifts for you which you definitely appreciate!

♕ Constantly worried for your health and safety, has a maid and a guard follow you everywhere, he would let them follow you to the bathroom if it wasn't unethical, but yeah..Constantly worried something is gonna happen to you..

♕ Also, constantly making sure you're in top health, always consults doctors about anything he finds unusual on you, if you two were to have kids, he's have a long talk with doctors if you can have kids and there won't be any complications and if anything were to happen, if he'd be able to save you over the kid...

♕ Definitely not loosing you to childbirth like he lost Diana, you both are the biggest jewels in his eyes and he doesn't want to lose you like he lost Diana. Definitely thinks how you both would be with each other if you met, would you both like each other more than him? Would you be open to be with both of them or would he simply be with Diana and you'd go off with someone else??

♕ You, him and Athy spend a lot of time together, eating, tea parties, talking about trends, gossiping or anything in between about Athy's love interests or something. Sometimes even Jeanette joins you both, she's so happy to be included, but after Anastacius left with her, she was happy to learn things from far away, you gave her your blessings, she'll miss all of you but tries to find time to visit when she can..

♕ You and Claude would dance together late at night for fun, it's so quiet and so intimate and so romantic, cue you both forgetting the dance and end up making out against a wall with him leaving hickeys! speaking of them, he leaves TOO many damn hickeys, it's his love language at one point...

♕ He is a busy man, being an emperor and all, but he still finds time for you, you're the most important thing to him after Athy and he tries to find time for both of you, together and individually like during meals, before he goes to sleep, after he wakes up, free time, he loves to spend it with you or alone doing something he enjoys..

♕ He is romantic while sex, but also very rough, be careful, don't piss him off, you won't be able to sit with a bruised ass or the aching cunt or walk due to the shaking and sore legs. He knows how to make brats behave, loves you but don't piss him off.

♕ Hates it when other people stare, will go to a nearby room or maybe the balcony if he's extra mad and simply fuck you till you're screaming your throat raw with leaving hickeys and making sure everyone and especially the person is hearing and seeing the whole thing...Likes the eyes on him sometimes, don't know why but he does, maybe it gives him thrill maybe it gives him the chance to prove himself in some way maybe he gets gratification, no way. But likes the way when you're bent over and crying your eyes out.

♕ Cages your hand above your head with a single one of his own and simply fingers you before pulling away and edging you till you're asking him to properly fuck you dumb, even if he's feeling soft, he likes to do it cause you're crying face and whines and moans sound cut to him and he can never get enough of it

♕ Leaves a lot of bitemarks, hickeys, bruises, it's concerning if you don't know it's out of love and how much he can't control his strength at times..When he's about to cum, he bites your neck to muffle his own moans and whines when you're clenching down on him..One hand constantly working on your clit.

♕ Let's say they have some medicine which works as Plan B, cause keep in mind, he will be breeding you, it's one of his biggest kinks, he would love to see you pregnant with his baby who is your and his mix, Athy needs a sibling after all! Will be pounding in you even after you've gone enough, he cant help himself sometimes!

Legis Adri Floyen

◈ Now Legis would be a bit closed off, but still after a while be extremely sweet and romantic, constantly being a gentleman, holding your hand when you're walking down the stairs, gets you gifts, when you got tired, he carried you where you want, feeds you, kisses you and looks at you like you're gold.

◈ You and Jubelian have to sometimes remind him to take breaks, you and Jubelian and literally bestest of friends yet being the cutest mother-daughter duo in Legis's eyes, two of his favourite girls being together and happy and getting alone and all the cute stuff?! Oh man, he feels like he's in heaven!

◈ Loves to spend time with you and Juve when he can, bringing you both gifts and you both in return make tiny gifts for him, like bouquets or like maybe you stitched something for him on a napkin and he carried it everywhere, or maybe you and Juve went out together to choose and mix-match jewellery for Legis and then you both gift it to him, she is always so happy to spend time with her parents!

◈ He and you would spend time kissing and then Juve would be grossed out but finds it cute or maybe you and Legis would spend time sparring or sword-fighting cause women back then used to do a lot of sports including archery, sword-fighting, hiking, so maybe he would love for you to join him in sparring sometime or maybe hand-to-hand combat where you are always winning because he refuses to put in effort, he gets too mesmerised by you anyway.

◈ He would love to take you on trips to anywhere you want, get dresses custom made so no-one else can have them, have portraits painted of you, he's such a sweetheart!! He would love to have a family portrait with you and Juve beside him!!

◈ Another thing is, matching clothes!! You wear something matching in your outfits at ALL times, be it a brooch, be it the colour of the clothing, be it the way the pattern of the dress, he loves to match with you, he even has dresses which are carbon copies of some of Juve's! You both look gorgeous in them!!

◈ Kind of needs your reassurance that he is doing the correct thing, if there is something you don't like, please say cause when you do things passive and aggressively, it makes him overthink things....And if he overthinks, he cries and I'm sure you don't want your husband to cry? Yeah, that's what I thought, communicate!

◈ Okay, first he finds you cute and adorable and hot and so squishable and he folds you like a chair fucking you in matching press with your thighs pressed against your chest while he toys with your cunt and clit so sweetly, it's almost innocent in a way!

◈ PRAISE!! Of-course, the biggest praise kink is in him, his eyes start to water from overwhelming love when he is praised during sex, so just to ground him, hold his hand tightly in yours in anyway you can to remind him you're both there..He gets carried away, poor baby..

◈ Loves to see you ride him, cause it's so cute in his eyes when you're trying your best to take him cause first of he's VERY BIG, secondly you try your best to take him, struggle with it, crying for him to do something to make something out of your fruitless ventures, of-course he teases you until you beg a lot, but because he likes your cries and tears and face

◈ Speaking of crying, he won't stop eating your cunt until tears are streaming down he's pulled a good few orgasms, your cunt is almost raw but i's still drooling...and he can't get enough, you're just sound so cute and taste so amazing, but okay, he'll take pity and fuck you properly, if you don't tell him to, he'll cum from just eating you out, grinding against whatever he can.

◈ Suck him off under his desk after he's overworked, probably one of the only dilfs who moans and whimpers and can't hide them, he sounds cute, as you gag on his cock, he sounds adorable!! Not your fault it's a good way to relax him from overworking and to just tease him!

◈ He sometimes gets so lot in making you cum, he does it for a good while until he simply pulls dry orgasms, until legs are shaking, you're both covered in bodily fluids, drools, sweat, clit is engorged a bit and it hurts but feels too good for him to pull out now as you wrap your legs around his waist to keep him close..

Lante Agriche

☠ Now for this request, I will say he's like a yandere-type in love with you and he's a bit sane and okay in head. Lante would always follow you around, carrying you when he can, holding you on his lap during those special dinners with his top three favourite kids as he fed you food with his hands, does your hair, albeit a bit haphazardly.

☠ He desperately needs you be locked down with him, he would kill anyone you pay too much attention to, that includes his kids, well your kids are his favourite kids, so he doesn't want you to be sad, but threatening them is the way to go!!

☠ likes to bring you the severed head of his victims as gifts with a deranged smile, expecting praise. I hope you give some to him for the sake of your neck joint...I mean, he'd also bring bloodied flowers, a skull, some sword, some jewel, etc, whatever he finds interesting all covered in blood cause he thinks you look hot in blood and everything looks better covered in blood.

☠ Leaves hickeys on your necks, for everyone and leaves more if you try to cover them. He has no shame, not like anyone would dare to say anything, but if they did, you'd have another severed head to your collection. So enjoy!!

☠ DESPISES people staring at you for a second too late, hates it, cannot stand it, will not stand for it, will kill someone for it. I mean, he's a man known for crimes, of-course he's gonna murder someone for looking at you too long! He's such a munchy weirdo..

☠ Would have your ring on your hand AT ALL TIMES, ain't no one snatching up his weirdo, hell naw! Anyways, he gets new rings made for you whenever you need one and it's all decorated well and stuff and so now you have a ring collection and it's very gorgeous and probably cost more than the whole manor and humans who die inside regularly!

☠ He slow dances with you over the dead bodies of people, enjoying the way their bones crunch under you both as you both softly danced while you both are in each other's embrace and are softly being intimate in silence..

☠ Oh now, don't think that if he got jealous and mad at some public event he is also one to not care if he fucks you on a balcony when everyone can hear you both while you scream and wail like it's no one's business in the balcony and later on everyone's too shy to make eye contact with you, including the kids and other wives...

☠ Bending you over on his desk to fuck you all while there are people in the next room or simply eat you out until you cry, but eating you out is a unusual occurrence...He doesn't just give you pleasure without getting anything in return, no.

☠ Edging you constantly, not letting you cum until you beg hard enough or until he possibly can't take it anymore or until you do it yourself earning a punishment by him where either he overstimulates you till you physically pass out and only have dry orgasms, so there are a few options of him to choose from, maybe play the safe submissive and subservient role for a while unless you're confident in your skills as a dom to top him..

☠ knife kink, I said it. Knife kink, holds a knife to your neck while he makes you ride him, and presses it down sometimes to nick your body parts for fun and for the sadistic tendencies...

[mayaree-darling]

can you write me a claude fic? pwetttyy pleaseee beshiiiieeee 🥺HAHAHAHAHA

i need one im begging on my knees pleaaaseeeee 🫴

~ your lovely bestiee 🥰

all these (stupid) little things // claude de alger obelia

Pairing: Claude x Reader (ft. Toddler Athy and Felix)

synopsis: surely claude can enjoy some peace and quiet, right? surely nothing stupid will happen, right?

from mayaree: witch. you know i cant say no to u right now. hayyyssss 😒 everyone else can consider this my break time (who knew 32k words could be so taxing omg)

content: stupid fluff; toddler!athy coz she was so cute; no need to think about what point in the story this was: you guys are just a happy family and claude is still emotionally bankrupt

word count: 2k~

The breeze that came in through the window was warm. Maybe summer was rolling in quite early. Nearby trees tapped at the walls where it could hit, but it wasnt screeching to the ears. A part of him thinks they could be rain, but that would be stupid with all the sunlight pouring into his office and the heat coming in through his window. The muffled quiet was starting to get to him. He could feel his eyes getting heavier.

Claude never used to notice little things like this. It was always the pain in his chest that would never go away. The heaviness in his bones that never seemed to want to go away. And despite everything he did, there were also the thoughts that always seemed to stay. The things he noticed were all trapped in a mortal body and it was taking its toll on him.

Well, at least it used to.

Now, because of two little idiots who wormed their way into his life, he was thinking all these stupid thoughts, muffling everything else he felt and thought of. Noticing too many things. All of them so... stupid. Although he wouldn't so brazenly say it to the two idiots. Or maybe he should.

Another breeze passes by. His pen had stopped scratching on the document in front of him and was now making a large blotch on the paper. His eyes are closing.

"Claude!" "Papa!"

Ah. Speaking of those two idiots who wormed their way into his heart.

He pulls the pen away from the document - it was completely ruined, the ink gone and went tore right through it - and set it aside. He was completely awake now, hands coming up to rub at crystal eyes. Oh. In hindsight, you would get angry at him for doing that now that he thought about it.

Too late now.

The door all but bursts open as you and Athanasia make your way in. Felix, ever the dutiful soldier - to you and Athy now apparently, not Claude's - follows in your wake, a sheepish smile on his face as Claude glares at him. When his eyes turn to you and Athy, his face goes back to being blank, only a subtle softness to them almost none could have noticed. However, Felix picked up on it immediately, and assumed to stand behind Claude in the pretext of standing behind his superior; truthfully, he needed to hide his knowing smile lest he get another glare.

"What do the two of you want now?" he takes another piece of paper from the pile and starts working on it. Well at least now that he had that two of you around, he won't fall asleep. He starts working on it again.

From his peripheral, he sees you and Athanasia hesitate. You and the smaller girl share a look, suddenly the two of you were at a loss for words.

"Give us a minute."

To his surprise he watches as you both walk farther away from his desk and lean towards each other to share conspiratorial whispers.

"Mommy are we sure?"

"I'm not gonna lie, Athy, I'm starting to wonder about that, too."

"Maybe we shouldn't ask Papa."

"Yeah, I'm starting to think this was a bad decision."

"Yes, it's rather late to back out now," Claude doesn't even look up from his papers. "You barged into my office and now you're whispering to each other like I can't hear you."

A shiver crawls down both of your spines. You and Athy stand up straight, turning back to Claude with frozen smiles. He casts a lingering glance at the both of you, crystal eyes almost glowing, challenging. "If the two of you don't come closer, then you won't mind if I come and join you there, right?"

Athy hides behind you and almost to put the final nail into your coffin, she pushes you forward softly.

"Good luck, Mommy. Love you." Claude hears her whisper. Well, the first lamb was finally sent to the slaughter.

You suck in a breath and look at everything in the room except for him. "Ah. Well. Athy and I were just wondering. This is all hypothetical of course, so we were just curious-"

Not able to stand the tension, Athy pokes her head from behind you. "Would Papa still love Athy and Mommy if we were worms?" She waits for his answer patiently.

The silence was deafening in the room. Felix makes the mistake of letting out a muffled snort, but Claude is so surprised he doesn't even have the time to tell him off.

Apparently "wormed" their way in was far too appropriate a term.

Claude blinks. Once. Twice. Maybe the warm summer air really did get to him and he was dreaming. It would be a nonsensical one, and truthfully he hasn't had a dream in a while, but it would explain the absurdity of it all. But alas. He was very much awake and the two idiots had somehow found a way to be more idiotic.

"What do you mean by... worm?" He pinches the bridge of his nose with a sigh. He knew in his bones he wasn't going to like this conversation.

You roll your eyes and stop beating around the bush. With renewed confidence, you motion to Felix to help you move two chairs in front of Claude's table. Claude's frown twitches. Maybe it wasn't too late to pretend he was focusing on the papers after all. Maybe it would send the message that he didn't want to listen any further. "Don't pretend like you didn't just hear what I said, Your Majesty"

Or maybe it won't be too late to give the both of you back to where you came from.

...

On second thought, maybe just sending you back to your rooms would suffice.

"What do the both of you mean with... worm...?" he speaks slowly, purposefully. He hopes - wishes, at this point - that you would get the subtle threat underneath his voice if this conversation would carry on. However, you completely ignore it and turn to Athy with a pleasant smile.

"Athy, explain to your father what we meant by worm," your smile brightens impossibly more. In any normal - or as normal as it could be, considering it's you - circumstance, he would find himself staring, refusing to admit that he was admiring it. But right now he was finding it very hard to keep up with the ride of emotions he was currently experiencing for him to look at your smile.

Athy gapes at you for a second, giving Claude one terrified look - Claude returns it with a scowl - but she pushes through and he can only sigh more. Finally, Athy holds out her pointer finger and wiggles it like an incoming wave over and over again. "Like that."

"See? A worm." you turn back to Claude with a grin, not even trying to mask the mischief. "So, going back to our question."

Athy taps at her chin, gaining more confidence with you around. "Would you put Athy on a pillow and feed her desserts?"

"Why would I do that? What a waste of a good pillow." Claude sighs. "And what worm eats desserts?"

"Athy would!"

"Then would you put us in a pretty garden?" you ask, enjoying the conversation to your heart's content and ignoring your significant other's glare that was trying to pierce through you. Unfortunately, being in a relationship with said significant other had taught you to be as tough as nails once you started.

Claude closes his eyes, seemingly in pain. This talk was dealing him psychological damage more than necessary. "Let me rephrase my answer from earlier then. You'd eat too much."

"Papa can put us in a jar and make sure we have food!" Athy proposes, and you nod your head in agreement.

"Oh that would be nice! You can even put a bow around the jar so it would still look cute and homely." You smile serenely at the idea.

Claude goes back to his documents. He needed to block you out. Soon. Please. "I won't even put holes on the lid."

"Then we'd die, Claude." You sigh like it's the most obvious thing in the world. There's a pause and you blink in realization. "Oh. Anyway. What if you just-"

Claude puts his pen down. "Stop. Do you really want to know my answer? My true answer?"

You and Athy share excited grins before turning to him and nodding hurriedly.

"I would hate you both." He says calmly. "I'd throw you out the first chance I got. Call an exterminator. Fire the gardener while I'm at it for letting you into the palace, too."

You and Athy give out a sharp dramatic gasp at the same time, offended looks painted on your faces. Claude only offers a scoff. "I've been trying to give you hints this entire time and you missed almost all of them. Surely you don't expect me to take care of a couple of worms. I already can't handle you both as is."

It's your turn to scoff and you turn your head away from Claude like he was suddenly the worm. You hold out a hand to the young girl beside you. "Athy, come on, we're going on a picnic and he's not invited."

Athy gives quick nods of agreement, head turned away from Claude as well with wounded pride. Claude sighs. The both of you were so dramatic. He watches as you stand and head to the door before Athanasia stops and looks up at you.

"Can Felix come?" But Athy is already beckoning for the knight to come along.

You blink in realization and turn and beckon for him as well. "Yes, you're very invited to join us if you want, Felix."

"Oh, uh, well-" Felix could feel the tension from Claude, his superior giving him a quick glare in warning.

"You. Stand at the very back of the room." Claude doesn't look at you or Athanasia as you both whine at his orders, but he sighs again. He remembered Felix wasn't his knight anymore. "Keep 10 paces away from them."

"Yep. Understood." Felix stiffly walks closer to you and Athy, keeping a safe distance.

"Athy will save you a cupcake!"

Felix laughs hesitantly, "Thank you, princess."

"Don't save one for His Majesty. That's what he gets for not taking care of us if we were worms." You stick your tongue out at Claude, no matter how childish the action was.

"Right! No cupcakes for Papa!" Athy proclaims, and when she catches Claude's eyes on her again, she hides behind you once more as a shield.

Claude watches as you walk hand in smaller hand with Athy, exiting the room with Felix in tow. You order the knight not to close the door out of pettiness ("Let him get up and close it himself." Felix chokes but when Claude doesn't say anything, he follows your orders with a sheepish laugh.)

Claude hears you and Athy talk excitedly about what tea would match better with the desserts you were going to bring. He listened and waited for the footsteps to walk farther and farther away before letting out a breath.

His picks up his pen again, scratching away at the paper.

The breeze was warm. The sun shone high over head, but he knew that you would place yourselves underneath the larger trees in the garden, somewhere with lots of shade but just enough sunlight to break through the foliage. You'd eat through a concerning amount of dessert provided by the kitchen, readily made to accommodate Athanasia's sweet tooth. You'd have meaningless conversations that would go wherever, and come up with more stupid questions to ask him. Claude can already hear the sound of your laughter at the mere thought of it. He blinks. Did he actually hear you? He must be getting tired. Should he close the windows?

His pen scratches at the paper a few more lines. The breeze was warm, becoming stifling so. He sighs.

Claude stands up and only takes a minute to decide whether to clean up the papers or bring them with him so he had a proper excuse. But of course he didn't need an excuse.

Maybe he could pay his two little worms a visit.

✨ Masterlist ✨ KOFI/Commissions

Disclaimer: Characters are not mine and belong to their respective creators. Their portrayal is merely my own interpretation of them and may not be accurate to their intended characterization. I stake no claim to the original works, only to the ideas and plot of the fictitious stories I’ve written them into.

[yyuwii]

wmmap; athy is actually an unreliable narrator (sometimes)

so it's come to my attention that Athy is much more of an unreliable narrator than she's lets on, it took me a few re-reads to notice, just because it's incredibly subtle and only applies to her younger days with Claude specifically

When Athy coughed up blood and was bedridden, she thinks that her dad is being heartless and forcing her back to sleep but that's not true because

its not that shes being noisy but before lucas pops up, this is all he knows to do to alleviate her pain. he doesn't want to her to be in pain and not because she was actually being noisy.

claude putting her to sleep was his way of caring for athy.

but athy doesn't know that, i guess she's in too much pain to listen to this conversation. but when we follow her perspective and her inner thoughts on things, we actually end up believing her narrative, and this builds up that claude is uncaring and cold

here's another early example;

again, we follow athy thoughts and she thinks that Claude thinks that he was referring that her being a fairy is nonsense

which makes claude seem cold and unloving again

which is suprise suprise actually untrue, if you look back a little earlier during the class the madam talks about something else,

he was actually referring to this, her putting athy down because of diana's commoner bloodline and athy not being a "pure-bred" aristocrat

you can see the panel where he thinks about it for a while, and Athy's little slip-up (because she doesn't like bringing diana up in front of claude due to her fear of abandonment) and she hesitates to actually say that the madam meant that she looks like her mom and not some fairy

claude knew, and he is shown to be well aware of the nature of nobles and how people think (which makes sense because it is canon that he is very intelligent).

he knew what was actually said to athy, and he's actually telling her to not care about the nonsense about what they say about her mom and implying she is not pure enough. he was trying to reassure her and made her feel better after she heard something terrible about herself and her mom

funnily enough, he doesn't deny that athy looks like a fairy when you realise what he was actually referring to

so, throughout most of her childhood claude actually showed love and affection in his own way, but it was never really acknowledged by athy, she has always misinterpreted it and missed the signs of it because she was scared that he was going to kill her eventually and didn't want to get attached

i think im going to write about how much claude is misunderstood in this fandom and break down his character tmr... anyways this is going to be where I write bl and my literature notebook :>

anyways claude is a really tragic and broken character and wmmap is literally about how athy and claude heal each other's trauma by bonding together as family which I don't think is talked about at all

my ask box is also open so send me anything! :>

[hollyhoneybear]

【 𝐖𝐇𝐎 𝐌𝐀𝐃𝐄 𝐌𝐄 𝐀 𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐂𝐄𝐒𝐒 】 - being athy's big sister

remember, requests are open !

Athanasia was very weary of you, at first.

In Lovely Princess, you were an impartial character. You treated both Athanasia and Jennette the same, never favoring one more than the other.

At first, you did speak out agaist the claims of Athanasia poisoning Jennette. However, when the fake evidence was presented, you could only side with the law.

The novel didn't expand much on your personally.. You were just Jennette's beloved big sister, and Claude's first daughter.

So she was surprised when almost every day, without fail, you would come running to her nursery, begging whatever maid that was half-hazardly watching Athy to let her play with you.

Although only a few years older than Athy, you did more than the maids every did (aside from Lillian, of course). You happily bottle fed her, read her books, played toys with her.

Still, Athy kept her guard up with you. You'd think she's cute now.. but when Jennette comes along, you'd leave her side just like in the novel.

...

At 10 years old, your little sister was 5. After your persistant efforts, Athy had slowly let down her guard around you. It was alright to relax for now.. right?

Your days before Claude were blissful. You'd sneak Athy chocolates, bake sweets together while the maids gushed over how cute you both were. You'd spend hours in the flower fields braiding wildflowers.

At some point, you basically began living in the ruby palace. You'd crawl into bed with Athy at night, holding her against you as Lily read you both a bed time story.

Every single night a kiss was placed on her small forehead, and you both slept soundly in each other's company.

But that changed when Claude appeared.

...

Both something that you and Athy could agree on was that Claude was.. unknown to you both. He wasn't exactly a good father to either of you.

Still, you saw the opportunity for your family to become closer, so you jumped at the chance!

Every day you were in Claude's office begging him to have a tea party with Athy and her.

Every day you would ask for a bit of money to get Athy a gift - and then of course, suggest he should get her one as well.

Slowly, over time, you three bonded and became closer (even if Athy didn't want to admit it).

When Athy started drowning that one day, Claude watched as you nearly jumped in after her. But he grabbed you by your ankle before you could jump in, instead fishing his hand in to get her out himself.

That surprised you both. You were excited, while Athy was freightened.

Things really changed when Athy had that near-death scare, though. You three were having one of your usual tea parties, when Athy started spitting up blood.

The last thing she saw was you rushing to her side, and Claude staring at you both in shock.

...

After that incident, everything changed. Well - things stayed similar. You three had tea, ate dinner together, went on boating trips. But things just felt.. different.

You both could see the way Claude looked at you two had changed. You were cherished. And while you weren't super caught off guard about it, Athy certainly was.

Every day you were carrying her to Claude's office, and spent almost the whole day in there coloring, playing, or talking to Claude.

Claude started giving you both gifts.

When you appeared at his office one day with Athy, dressed in these adorable matching outfits Lily got for you both, Claude nearly choked at how cute his daughters were.

You three were getting closer, as if you were a real family.. and Athy felt like she could finally, really, relax.

...

As you both got older, your dynamic changed a little, but you were stiill very close.

You helped Athy with everything for her debutante. Choosing decorations, jewelery, makeupstyles to do, dresses to wear, you were involved in every step. And she couldn't have loved it more!

Compared to Athanasia's original debutante, the event didn't feel like an upcoming battlefield, but instead a day to celebrate with her family ....in front of a bunch of nobles, but we'll skip that.

She insisted that you were a dress that matched her's somewhat.

As a teenager, she's much more protective over you. Her darling, angelic older sister, she couldn't just let someone take advantage of you!

Definitely starts getting jealous when you start spending more time with your friends, or your lover.

Despite her fears, you never "left her side" for Jennette. You were always cordial towards her, but Athy was always your first priority.

When Jennette's identity was eventually revealed, despite the ongoing turmoils, you tried to act like family to Jennette, but that sister bond with Athy was a bit different.

And even if it was a little selfish.. she was immensely greatful for that. You were the only person to be on her side since day one.

You were always there during the hardest times for Athy. Even when she ran away, she couldn't bare to see you in distress, so she would visit you every night and keep you updated.

On one occasion, she snuck you out to meet Jennette..

..And it was wonderful! You three spent the night drinking tea, eating cute cookies, and chatting the night away.

It relieved you that, even though Athy wasn't home, she was still safe.

...

By the time Claude got his memories back, you three had the strongest relationship you'd ever had before.

You were.. a real family.

After everything with Anastacius was over, the topic of inheritance came about.

You were, by a good few years, the eldest.. and therefore, the rightful heir to the throne.

You expressed right away that you'd love for Athy to become Empress. But that's where she stops you!!

You've done everything for her in this life. If you weren't here.. she wasn't sure if she'd even be alive, let alone in Obelia.

So after much deliberating, it was agreed that you would be the next Empress of the Obelian Empire.

...Which meant, you had to hang out with Athy a lot less. It was torture for you both.

The bright side was that Athy got to involve herself in all aspects of the planning. She wanted you to have the best coronation, so she deemed herself in charge of the matter, along with Claude of couse. But she'd act like the boss because it's Athy

She helped you pick out a dress, decide on the hairstyle. You two spent countless nights doing makeovers on each other, because she wanted to try different makeup styles on you, and you wanted to try similar looks on her so that you were matching on the special day.

When the day came.. it was magcial.

You were surrounded by your loving little sister, your proud father, the friends you had made, and the empire that adored you.

Although Athy wasn't going to be Empress, you made sure to communicate to her that you two would stay as close as you always had.

Despite her original fate, Athanasia had earned her place of ultimate safety and happiness; right by her big sister's side.

[itsmearia01]

Imagine being Claude's fiancee. Seeing him fall in love with someone else (Diana) and ran away when you know that Diana is pregnant. He marry her, didn't even think about you at all. Just Diana, all Diana. You become an alchemist and a great witch, you have friend, Lucas, who often talk with you with magic device. You don't know who he is, you know just him as 'asshole but cute wizard,' slowly in love with him and sounds that he into you too. It happens trought years. One day, Lucas said he want to meet you, he want you to go to the princess's debudante.

You know about her, athanasia or athy. Of course, how can't you? She's the daughter of your Ex-fiancee and Diana. So you come, with disguise, you change your appearence (welp- it's just colour of your hair and eyes) and you go there. You watching the Princess and Claude dance, and in the middle of it, you can hear telepati from Lucas.

"Come meet me at the garden," he said.

you're so excited, you finally met him, he blushed so much when he saw you (and the fact that he finally have you for his own can be with you, he knew you back when you were still living in the palace as Claude's fiancé. But you never even knew his existence. Basically he's obsessed with you.)

"it's been awhile... It's been a long time, I've always loved you but you never glanced at me, didn't even know that I existed"

you're confuse, "w-wait, what-"

"Y-YOU!" someone shouted from behind you, a very familiar voice… you looked at Lucas scared. you and he know exactly who it is…

You turned around and looked at him, very scared. its him, your ex fiancé.

He pulled you from Lucas' arms and hugged you, you tried to escape from him and looked at Lucas in fear, trying to ask for help. But I was even more afraid when Lucas said… "I'm sorry, this is the only way to have you always near me, forever."

"Please don't leave me again.... i'm so sorry, i'm sorry"

you cried, especially when claude talked about how he missed you and apologized, when claude managed to kiss your lips… your vision went dark, you fainted because of lucas' spell.

it seems like you forgot that even though lucas is cute, he's still a powerful jerk who can cast a spell on you.

this inspired by @cassanderasblog wmmap series tho.

[ultramarine-spirit]

I'm still not over this...

[temporaryrose200]

✩Just A Little Accident✩

✟pairing: Yan Claude X Fem Reader

✟genre: Yandere

✟warning: Yandere, mention of murder, reader being drugged.

✟one-short

✟fandom: Who Made Me A Princess

✟summary: After your maid spilled tea all over your lap, Claude knew she had gone…

✟a/n: This I meant to be a side story. Check out my other Yan Claude for this story to make sense if you haven’t. Also sorry I haven't been updated much but a lot has been going on. Going to try and update now.

Hissing in pain as the boiling liquid spilt all over your lap and in the process staining your dress. In the pain, you drop your cup and it landed on the soft glass, breaking its fall “I am so sorry my lady!” Annie your maid exclaimed, snatching up a nearby napkin and tried to remove the stain. Keyword, tried. All the maid was doing was making it worse.

Claude who was sat beside you, watching intensely, glaring dagger at the poor worker. The murderous glint in his diamond eyes sent chills down everyone including yours if you had noticed. You were much more occupied with Annie and the burning pain to even notice the emperor. Oh how Claude wanted to strangle that maid for putting her dirty hands on you, even worse hurt your fragile skin. The woman was a nuisance in the eyes of the emperor, a clumsy and idiotic person to be assigned to serve someone as graceful and perfect as you. The maid needed to go…

Placing a gloved hand over Annie’s hand, you gave the woman a reassuring smile. “If you keep rubbing it in like that, it’s just going to make it worse” you spoke softly. Eyes focusing on the large stain, you noticed how the woman began tearing up. Before you could get a single word out to calm her, apology after apology began spilling from her lips. She bowed her head in shame and her voice trembled. With a sigh, you stood up from your seat, placed a gentle hand on her shoulder and gently patted it. “I’m fine, calm yourself Annie,” You said, trying to soothe her, but she remained in her apologetic bow, her hands balled into fists and still trembling like leaf. “I’m going to just go change” you explained to the teary-eyed maid. Turning towards Claude you saw the murderous glare focused towards the maid and you felt something deep within you, telling, no yelling at you to stay. But of course, you didn’t listen. “I’ll only be 10 minutes” you timidly told the emperor. Eyes landed on you, the deathly glare that the emperor held had now vanished and had been replaced with a soft loving gaze. It made you sick.

Picking up your cream-coloured dress, you began walking towards the palace leaving poor Annie all alone with Claude. Diamond blue eyes watched you, his gaze not leaving your figure until you were out of sight. Now that his lover had gone, there’s no one to stop him for what he’s about to do next. Placing the half-empty tea cup on the garden table, Claude stood up with a dead expression. He towered over the quivering woman, who knew her life was soon about to end. The only witness to horrid scenes was a young guard, who just stood there watching.

Coming back with a freshly clean dress, you were about to open your mouth to tell Annie a funny story to cheer her up, but when you saw no sign of the maid, you were left confused. E/C eyes darted around the garden, searching for the missing maid. ‘Where is she?’ You question to yourself. “My dear, what seems to be the matter?” a familiar voice asked, pulling you out of your thoughts. Claude sat there, sipping away at his chamomile tea, he held this sickening smirk which was hidden under his cup. Stepping towards the garden table, you griped the top of your seat, feeling uneasy at the missing maid. You had an extremely bad feeling. You questioned to your fiancé to where your maid had gone off to, but there was silence after that. No excuse came from his lips.

It wasn't until you looked over at the other side of the table, a guard. He’s been here all along, maybe he might know! Opening your mouth, you stopped yourself as you finally noticed the frightened expression painted on the young guard’s face. The colour had drained from his face, his eyes widened with fear, his hand gripping tightly at the hilt of his sword, and his breathing unsteady. And that was all you needed to know and the whereabouts of Annie.

Your blood ran cold, you felt yourself shaking like a leaf. A million scenarios ran through your mind at what kind of horrible things Claude had done to her. Falling to the fall, hands covering your face, you sob. Not caring that you were ruining your makeup. The sound of the chair hitting the grass, signalled to you that Claude had gotten up from his seat. Feeling him wrap his strong arms around you, pulling you into a hug. You screamed, kicked and struggled for the blonde to let go of you, yelling insults left and right. “WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER, YOU BASTARD!? TELL ME!”

Out of nowhere, you felt a piece of cloth be placed over your mouth and noises quickly shutting you up. You breathed in the fumes, feeling your eyelids began closing on their own. To struggled to gain consciousness, but it was futile. The drug was too strong. Before slipping into unconscious you heard Claude’s voice echo in your mind. “You are mine understand. I will not let anyone hurt what is mine, only I can.”

Oh [Name], what did you do wrong to this story…

[roseapov]

Happy Birthday Claude!

28th February 2024

[alicehattera03]

It does make me wonder what Claude would have done if Diana had heeded his words and chose to stay by his side instead of going through with the pregnancy. Like...he would have needed an heir eventually- such is a royal's unfortunate duty- and he was happy that Diana and him would have a child until he realized the baby was eating away at her from the inside...

Would he have chosen a middle ranked noble and made her give birth to his heir and die? Would he have risked watching Diana go through heartbreak and him, disgust, as he shared a bed with the nameless noble until the pregnancy was confirmed? Would he have bothered to find some distantly related relative and sat them on the throne as a puppet?

[vampyrial]

A World For Her Alone | Born of Love

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18

cw (chapter specific): threats of violence, assault, parents talking horribly about their children

summary: Mothers of us, be kind to the fathers on whom we rely.

word count: 4.0k

Claude watched your mother fall to the floor but threw himself down with her all the same. He gripped her by her shoulders, as though the truth he had scoured this house for was only awaiting his anger to draw back from the void as her life slipped away. He called into the hall for help but he sounded not frightened or even desperate but commanding, like his superiors. Like the men who trained him when he was just a child, trying to wield more from his pathetic body than he was willing to give. He knelt on the floor with your mother’s body as she gurgled blood and his grasp never faltered. He looked into the dark, waning pits of her eyes and tried to conjure the answers she’d die with.

Like everything, it was no use.

Your father, having stumbled upon a baffling scene that should have tried the endless patience he held for the lord, still questioned Claude with a gentleness that sickened him. “Was there anything unusual before this?” Your mother lay, already dead, in her bed with the two of them standing at the foot of it. And though he hated your mother with a fervor that begged him to crush her bones under his heel, what angered him more was the fact that the reverence had not ended when he had every reason to believe that Claude had a hand in his wife’s death. The falseness of all of it threatened to overwhelm him.

He allowed it.

He grabbed your father by the collar of his shirt, the man’s body even neglected to flinch immediately, he was that far removed from the harm Claude could do. “Unusual is the entirety of this farce.”

“My Lord–” Your father began, fear only just beginning to darken the edges of his eyes.

“You will tell me what you know of a certain princess and knight I read about in a frivolous story sitting on your shelf.” Claude’s grip did not relax, he flexed his fingers, yearning to curl them around your father’s neck.

Your father’s face betrayed an instant recognition but he held himself aloft from it. “Lord Claude, we all act impulsively when life challenges us this way but let you not sully your own reputation with violence against your family.”

A frenzied and crazed laugh slipped from Claude’s lips and he bared his teeth in some odd approximation of a grin. He could not believe the audacity of it. He was so tired of normal. So sick of it that he could let himself die right then. Still, he pressed on, willing the information from your father’s body as he had done to prisoners before. “Diana’s mother. Who is she?” Your father’s eyes went flat as though he’d recoiled in on himself for protection, already having decided defending himself was not an option. “That…why do you wish to know?” He had stopped pretending there was nothing to know.

“Does she hold it over you, father-in-law?” Claude sneered. “Does Diana use her magic to keep you in her thrall?”

A spark of something ignited and your father was dragged back from the depths of memory. “Diana uses nothing, know of nothing, my lord. Is that truly not apparent to you?” He wrenched himself from Claude’s grip suddenly, holding out his arms in a gesture that signified that he’d tread carefully. Claude allowed him to step back, believing his explanation to follow. “Can you not see her perfect innocence in this? She is above the madness she was born amidst.”

Claude had given him every chance to speak sense, the tips of his fingers were growing cold and numb. The acrid stench of her blood on his clothes and his hands grew difficult to even breathe through, it was everywhere, traces of blood were everywhere in this house. And still he might add more. He unsheathed his sword partially from his belt to which your father did not flinch. “My Lord, I need only know what becomes of Diana, what of her and your child if you act this way.”

What becomes of them? Claude laughed again, the world ebbing with flashes of blurred daylight as he felt himself descend with each gasped breath. He was greeting the pits of madness, he could feel it. Reality was disintegrating again. “I’ll leave here and kill them both now if I don’t have my answers.”

Your father’s expression turned to shock, as though he believed…as though he truly believed in what was sold to him by a self which had retreated. Claude— not the one with a grotesque and near calculable perfection in his single-mindedness, but the one who had been buried underneath, was the only thing left behind to speak but your father did not know him. He could not comprehend that there had ever been a part of him that could not only feel apathy toward Diana but one which could actively hated her. Claude thought placidly that he was soon to sink, collapsed under the weight of this dichotomy and the madness it inspired. “Diana’s mother, the princess.” Your father stared with a sort of wonder into Claude’s eyes, trying to weigh how to proceed in a conversation with a once tamed and now feral animal. “She is gone now, you must have heard it even if before you did not know her significance.”

Somewhere in his memory, he felt around for a name he’d heard but it was difficult, for all of time and thought revolved around this agony. And reality had scarcely moved with the stability it had before, it bisected so that he was of two minds and of two lives at once. Still, he managed to draw a whisper from the depths of his lives. A princess of Siodonna who had been her elder sister’s heir, had succumbed to an unknown illness. The kingdom’s future was uncertain and as his father-in-law and his country at large had ties to them, it had been their concern too. That princess, the immaterial one who had no face and name in face of the consuming thing thoroughly within and without his mind. Nothing had any definition that was not given by Diana’s gaze and Diana treated your mother as her own, the only mother she would ever know. He’d had no reason to care. “She was a mage? She crafted this…” He realized he didn’t know how to describe what it was he was afflicted by. Especially to someone like your father, who seemed like he’d have willingly given in to a life of toil for Diana’s love were he in Claude’s place. “This life.”

“I know little of her work, or I– I knew little. She cast some spell on our princess, perhaps it is so that she gave her this life with you.” Your father compulsively smoothed his clothes out, rearranging himself where Claude had disheveled his neat appearance. “If it is true then…forgive me, Lord Claude but I do not see it as a bad thing. I can’t understand why you would. Is it not a good thing?” He smoothed the lapels of his shirt with a quivering smile. “Something was given to you, Lord Claude, by ordinance of magic that is so very rare in this world. Should you not treasure it?”

Claude could have lunged for him again. Instead, though, he drew his sword in warning. Your father, undeterred, only smiled. “My Lord…No matter what, Diana is a gift to you, whether the princess’ or god’s. Why do you only pretend to scorn her now? Is it out of guilt for her elder sister? She made her own bed, she made it easy for fate to find its way between you. In your love with Diana, she was just happenstance, don’t you think? Wasn’t it always going to be that you two would find a way?”

Another frisson of light and reality rearranged again. Claude was kneeling on your father’s chest with one hand around the man’s throat and the other holding his sword above the man’s head as though he were keen to put it right through his eye.

“My Lord, what is going on?” Felix appeared in the doorway, a hand on his sword which stayed sheathed despite Claude obviously meaning to hurt your father. His voice didn’t sound panicked as it should, he sounded truly conflicted. His eyes flitted from him to your father again and again, his gaze tense but tinged in something akin to…amusement. Yes, it would make sense that he’d be amused by. If Felix hated Claude then he must surely had a father who’d been treating you poorly far before. Perhaps he was debating letting both of them kill each other.

“You may go,” your father replied, placidly. He was panting and clearly a bit afraid but he spoke calmly. “Do not intrude on us, Lord Claude and I were caught in a misunderstanding.”

Felix raised an eyebrow but did not disobey, turning on his heels and closing the door behind him with a click, his pride as a knight long forgotten. Claude would have killed him without a second thought had anything interrupted them, he was tied to a singular desire that was the only thing holding him to earth. Whether it be your father, your knight or his very own child, he’d not let anything stop him. If he did, this life would yet again be nothing but wasted time and wasted agony. He looked down at your father. “I don’t care at all if your mother was a brazen courtesan who let your father knock you about like a disobedient dog if it meant that she could let other men fuck her for position. I don’t care if you feel nothing when you see your wife cold and dead. The cruelty you visit upon your first daughter, that will be repaid. I will see it repaid.” The voice that came out of him was guttural like the call of animal. “But not before I know who put this story to paper. You say you know little of her work but it seems that someone must. Who are they?”

“Lord Claude, pardon me, but if you could find someone to give you what answers you wish to hear…what would it change?” He huffed, struggling to breath under Claude’s weight. “She was never my daughter, that girl. I never felt like her father, she…she was more omen than a child. She was born from me and the misery ever above me. I don’t know who she most took after. If you believe there was a spell that compelled you toward my little princess, then it must have been intended as a blessing for you as much as her. There’s no reason for lies, My Lord, there’s no one here to pity anymore. You could never have loved that girl, it might have been enough for her just to do her duties to you but she was so vicious, so hateful. She has never been innocent a day in her life, always had to be reminded of herself. It would have compounded your misery, that I know, Lord Claude. Believe that I know my own blood even if she has never been held in my arms as a daughter.”

A punch landed on your father’s nose, Claude could feel a part of the bone split. He wished for his gauntlet, wished for the pleasure and ease of watching your father’s face turn into a grotesque portrait of his own viciousness in moments. “I’m not you.” The words came out in a rhythm, like the warning song of a bird of prey.

Your father, with blood all over his face and still gushing from his nose, smiled and revealed the blood on his teeth as well. He was fully crying then, gasping little breaths and squeezing his eyes shut. “No…you’re not me. You have had a fate…that I…might have died for.”

“I will have my way. I must have my way. If not, I will take from you the last shred of that princess you so loved. I will kill them both.” Your father’s eyes popped open, red with blood and terrified. This time, he had no reason to believed that Claude could be swayed from the boundary of anger and a will to see bloodshed done. He took a long and trembling breath in through his mouth, madness defeated under the weigh of Claude’s own. “I saw the book long ago, I’d heard…whispers about it. I bought it from…a common woman’s bookstore, the author called himself…Lucas, I wanted to know…who could know our story so intimately and who could dare publish it but I…I went to where the woman said he’d last lived and he was not there, in fact…it looked like no one had lived there in some time.”

“Where?”

“Right here in this county, I could not believe…across the road from where that shabby little theater is.”

A noise sounded at the door a woman’s voice muffled, sounding pleading against the voice of Felix, giving her what sounded like short and rather curt answers. Your father’s head whipped toward the noise and for the first time, he struggled underneath Claude. “My Lord, I ask that you not let my daughter see this. Whatever you feel for her, she has done nothing wrong.” Claude hesitantly climbed off of him, having gained the answers he’d sought. It had little to do with sparing Diana and more to do with the fact that he could move forward, finally. Claude swung open the door and barged past both Felix and his frantic wife with their daughter in tow, sucking at her thumb. He might not have even noticed there was still blood on his hands if he did not see it in he way their expressions mirrored each other as he walked past. Though their daughter took after Diana most in the first place, fear made them doppelgangers, the sight of him rid his wife’s face of the mature and practiced expression she wore. She looked as young as when they first met.

He pushed past.

“Claude! Oh my god, are you hurt?” She followed after him, letting go of her daughter’s hand trying to stop him from proceeding. “What happened?” She stood in front of him. “Where are you going.

“I’m leaving.” He started to walk around her but Diana put her arms out, moving with him.

“Don’t,” He warned. It was a bit laughable that she was using her body as a shield to keep him from walking away because she presumed he’d not harm her to pass. All the while, the harm he did to her would be negligible in his mind, one drop of her fair, precious blood in a sea of viscera.

“Don’t what? Don’t stop you from leaving when you’re covered in blood?” She cried. “What is wrong with you? Talk to me, please. They’re saying my mother is dead and you…you were there with her. No one will tell me what’s going on.”

“Yes, I was there.” He affirmed easily. A little smile rose at the corners of his lips. “Forgive me, I should be the one to tell you what has been going on.”

She was not soothed but she relaxed somewhat, her gaze growing expectant. She reached out for his arm, perhaps trying to console whatever it was she saw in his expression and the blood drying on his clothes. He took her by the shoulders instead, unable to keep his grip gentle when he had the object of so many miseries between his fingers. His daughter called for him but her voice had simply become part of the chorus of little voices lost to deaths behind him. He did not know her voice from the ones he dreamed of, the voice of the colicky little infant he’d left behind. “Everything in this house has always been for your sake, Diana. Everyone has lived just to give you more but no one paid the price like your sister did. Did you not see that? Or perhaps did you think it was her duty, to be expected that she should survive off of scraps just so that you could have more.”

Diana’s brow furrowed, she did not look nearly as afraid of him as she should have been. She did not approach him with nearly as much caution. “What?”

“Your mother devoted her life to caring for you. Promised to you. Your father holds you like a relic of the past, a keepsake of your mother. But while we’re at it, let’s speak of your mother. They never spoke to you about her, did they? I’ll be the one who does, after all, I am your savior. It is the least I can do.” He stared down at her. “Your mother was poisoning you to keep you inside the house, safe and sound. Did you know? No, of course not, this woman was a slave to your care. What could you think to do other than swallow up her lies?”

“Poisoning me? Claude, you’re not making sense, you’re hurting me.”

“Everything does,” He said simply. “Everything hurts you. Save for the pleasure of your actions. The fallout hurts you, the secret hurts you but never the act. Only how it looks. Did you ever consider your own sister when you spent your days throwing yourself at me?” It wasn’t fair to speak to her of these things as though he had no part in it but what had ever been fair about any of his lives? She could shoulder her share of it. He’d make her. “If it were her, you’d have never forgotten but that’s the point, isn’t it? It’s you so it’s acceptable, you, the poor, sick little darling. Maybe you felt like you deserved it even if you felt a bit sorry, you always came back to that fact. Your mother gave you the chance to excuse yourself this way, maybe you’d have been glad all along to know what she was doing. Maybe it would give you reason to be saved, reason greater than your sister’s.”

Your father came out of the room, blotting his nose with a soaked handkerchief. Diana looked over Claude’s shoulder in horror, letting out a gasp. “Lord Claude. Please. Leave her be.” He was swaying on his feet a bit but Felix did not offer his arm.

Claude paid him no mind. “Your mother was a mage, beloved by your miserable father. I read it in your mother’s diary, it’s still in her room if you wish to read every word your mother inspired. She put a spell on you but your magic was also great, did you know that? Or did you cast this spell on me by sheer will?” He paused, waiting to hear her answer, as though she would give one. He had not realized until then that he wanted her to. He wanted her to have known.

“Let go of me! Don’t do this in front of your daughter, you’re frightening her!”

His fingers flexed, grasping her tighter. “Tell me. Is this love the doing of all that wasted magic buried in a weak body?”

“I truly don’t know what you’re talking about, Claude, please. I love you.” She pleaded, teary eyed. Her tears…for some reason inspired a burning hatred, one that was painful to hold. Tears. She hadn’t earned the right to tears, not for you and certainly not for herself. Their daughter had begun to cry, mirroring her mother. Diana gently called to the girl, trying to calm her while terrified herself. The crying of their child brought him back, reality merged again and he was hearing the cries from a cradle rocked by the wind, this time the hollow between her screams filled by the comfort of a mother she did not have. It enraged him.

“I don’t love you, Diana. More than that, I hate you. More than I ever thought one could hate. This feeling, the misery of laying with you knowing that you reek of the deaths that follow after you…I’d rather kill myself than bear it even once more. You sicken me and I sicken myself for having ever…fallen into you like this.” It came out in a desperate tone, a breathless ramble. “The child with my blood might as well have been born only of you for how little I feel for it. Her birth brought me no joy, because every time I look at her, I think of the child that your sister might have had with me. I love your sister. I love her down to her bones, down to the hollow space in my life that she’s left. You have…again you have stolen it…”

Belatedly, caution entered her gaze. “Claude…” her voice broke. “You don’t mean any of this. You’re ill. You’ve made yourself ill. You need rest.”

He laughed humorlessly. “I’ve never meant anything I’ve said to you until now. You think this is madness and maybe it is! But that doesn’t mean it isn’t me.” He let go of her. “All of it is falsehood and you know it. It was falsehood that benefitted you so you could live with it well enough but no more. I cannot live this way.” He forced himself to leave the anger there, it was of no consequence now, his anger did nothing to save you and was becoming rather indulgent. Only his next pursuit could provide any hope of helping you. And he’d not be tempted from that path for a belated revenge.

Diana went to their daughter and held her, tucking the girl’s teary face into her shoulder as Claude pressed forward, walking down the hall. Your father came over to comfort the two, setting a hand on her shoulder and murmuring assurances which she ignored. “Where do you intend to run?" Diana, who simply could not leave things be called out to him. “Your home is here, your family is here. Whatever you feel now for me…I truly don’t understand what you feel you’ve discovered here but I know that you have always had your regrets and I’m sorry for that. I always sought to be happy with you. But even if I have failed, it isn’t for you to abandon us now of all times. I didn’t kill my sister, I didn’t make her run away. I’m now without my mother and without my sister and you would have me lose you?” She rose to her feet, cautiously, the only sound in the hall being their daughter’s sniffling and the swish of her silk skirts. “Stay. Let a doctor see you.”

Claude looked back at her for a moment. Diana’s gaze held his with fragile hope. She was beautiful in the dull, grey light from the window. Her tears glittered on her cheeks, her white dress was smeared with her father’s blood. It reminded him of you. How many lives you’d spent kneeling at the altar of his sins, waiting for him and still waiting at the end. The innocence of your disbelief worn on your sleeve.

But on Diana, such a look was a profoundly cruel farce. A reminder of just how unearned the tragedy in her eyes was. He felt glad to leave her. He hoped that just once, she’d be made to wait for a husband who would not come, to cling to a promise she knew was already broken, even if in the end he knew it would not matter. Memory is what makes tragedy. For all that happened, the agony is in remembering.

“You’ve never been a wife to me, this has never been a family,” He said it softly, not for her benefit, but because he felt reality begin to waver and his mind become such a fragile and uncertain place. “You have always felt like a trial from god and that child…a shadow of something long gone born only to compound my misery. All of this to punish me.”

Reality melted again, reformed around a memory of you begging him not to leave without you. He knew it wasn't real and still it had been hard to make his way out into the dark without turning back.

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