Aligned For You

Chapter 6

"DO YOU WANT TO DIE!?"

The walls were thick, and Julian's high-pitched, panicked screams only bled through them a little as he dodged another blow to the gut, Alice a whirlwind of killing energy and manic rage. As Julian dodged and weaved around the room, Alice one step behind him every time, Alan stood in the middle of the room, hands grasping his cap to pull it low over his eyes, mumbling to himself. "-oh my god this is all my fault the king’s going to have my head he's gonna boil us alive he's gonna give us to the Ganron Kingdom oh my god-"

"YOU SAID YOU BOUGHT SOME APPLES, LOOKED AT SOME GARDENS, AND LEFT!" Alice screamed, grabbing a dagger from the inner lining of her skirt, hurling it at Julian, who just barely managed to duck, the blade taking some of his hair with it as it stuck into the wall behind him. "HOW DID YOU ALREADY MANAGE TO MAKE AN ENEMY OF YOUR FIANCE!?!"

"A-Alice, Ali, please! I need to live, remember!?" Julian said, dodging a second blade as he leapt over what was probably his bed, ducking behind it. Realizing Alice had actually lost it and wasn't playing, Julian, still hiding, barked out in his best 'Dad' voice, "Alice, I command you, stand down!"

Alice twitched, and though a third dagger was already in her hand, years of training to listen to that type of voice triggered her body to stop before her head had time to catch up with it. As she stopped, her anger gave way just a bit, and she tucked the knife back away, tsking in disgust. "We should have never trusted you to go out alone. This is a disaster, Julian, you understand that, right? This makes everything so much harder."

"How?" Julian said, peeking up from behind the bed before standing up, brushing off his metal armor and checking on his sword before sighing. "No, really, what does this change? So what if he hates me a little bit? The best-case scenario was that me and him get married and bring peace and just happen to like each other once all that is done. The first two parts are still going to happen, after all. It just means family dinners will be a little more uncomfortable...for the rest of my life..."

"It would have been nice had we been able to get on Prince Felix's good side right away, though," Alan said after taking a calming breath, putting his cap back on the proper part of his head. "Seeing you two get along would reassure everyone involved that the union is truly feasible. Plus, I can't imagine what consummating the marriage is going to be like if you two loathe each other."

Julian threw his hands on his face, rubbing his eyes as he growled, "No, no, we're not talking about that. No C words, no S words, I don't even want to hear the word 'fuck' if you use it in that context. That is a later problem. I'm not thinking about that now. It's too weird."

"Well, uh, sorry Julian, but I'd prepare yourself," Alan said, looking somewhere distinctly between amused and uncomfortable, a line he straddled every day. "I overheard your advisors all talking about it while we were setting up this morning, and I think they're planning to sit down with you and go over some things about it..."

"Nope! Nope! That has to be where I draw the line with them!" Jules said, face red as he went to go help Alice pull the daggers out of the wall, one a little too dug in for her. "They can plan my proposal, and my wedding, and hell, maybe my whole future! But they don't get to plan our I...ya know. That. It's not like I need the birds and the bees talk. They know I had relationships at university and in school. I know what I'm doing! Right, Ali?" he said, handing the dagger to Alice with a wink, who blushed and, just for good measure, shot out her hand and used the dagger to cut at the left part of his hip armor, leaving a scratch before putting the dagger away. Julian pouted, "Aww, come on Alice, it was a joke! No need to be like that."

Alan shrugged at all this. "I'm just telling you what I overheard. Ezar and the others all have a lot riding on this. Anything goes wrong and they'll all probably lose their positions, at best. It's understandable they're feeling a little...controlling about it."

"I still can't believe he managed to find you in the market," Alice said, eyes dark and suspicious. "That would take a lot of strategy and forward-thinking, to set up a meeting like that. The small prince might take well after his father. King Aiichi has a mind like a steel-trap and implements strategies better than anything else I've had to contend with. There's a reason your father never just sent me to deal with him myself. You need to be prepared if his son is the same way."

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. The three looked at each other with concern. How much time had already gone by? Smoothing her outfit, it was Alice who went to open the door.

Alan and Alice were not invited to this formal event, so Julian followed the servant alone. Having managed to buy himself fifteen minutes to get changed out of the suit of armor, Julian was now in his second prepared outfit, less bulky but fashionable, mostly red and gold as befitted his kingdom's colors and still had a cape, because capes were dope as fuck. Being led down hallways and through passages entirely unfamiliar to him, Julian had no idea he was at the dining room ‘til he was practically standing in the middle of it, along with a crowd of other people all discussing things in groups and sitting down in their prepared spots.

It was Secretary Ragna who found him first, giving his shoulders a warm squeeze as she said with a bright smile, "There you are! We're beginning soon! Oh, aren't you handsome! Smile, dear, it's time to meet him! Follow me, I'll show you your seat." She grabbed him by the hand and gently led him over to the table.

It was a seat by Prince Felix, to his left side. The two of them seemed to be placed directly in the middle of the table, with Julian sitting on the side that had Head Secretary Ezar at one head, and presumably at the other end of the table would be the king. Julian was surprised to see that he and the prince would be seated shoulder to shoulder, rather than across from each other. It felt too familiar. But then, maybe that was the point.

"Prince Felix, I am happy to present to you Prince Julian," the secretary curtsied, gesturing to Julian, who stood stock still for lack of any better ideas. "I hope you will accept him; he is very excited to make your acquaintance. Prince Julian?" she said, something insistent in her voice.

Jules only hesitated for a moment before bowing slightly. "Prince Felix," he greeted. "May I sit?"

Felix looked up when Secretary Ragna and Prince Julian approached him, his plan to remain calm and unaffected already put to the test as even just seeing Julian made fury alight in his chest. But he somehow managed a friendly smile at the two before gesturing to the chair beside him.

"I would hope you weren't planning to stand the entire time, Prince Julian. Please, have a seat. The boss is often the last to arrive, but rarely makes anyone wait." A blatant lie, though none of the Uminans would know better. Aiichi was usually the first to show up, stopping by the kitchens to ask if they needed any help bringing food out to the table, chatting with anyone who came by for the meal. It was actually Felix who was last to show up if he did at all.

Though it was kind of hard to jot down metrics like that. For most meals, people just came and went as they pleased. 

After that, Felix went back to his silence, his cold ire at least not blatantly apparent. He wouldn't be able to ignore the asshole for the entire meal--they were expected to talk and get to know each other--but he wasn't going to give Julian a moment more than what was required.

All talking went on pause for a moment anyway as Aiichi entered the room, bereft of his coat similarly to Felix. Again sweeping his smile over the room, he took his own seat at one of the heads. "Let us enjoy this meal, friends. The first of many between our people."

A brief statement, but enough, and the food was brought out, not all at once and spread throughout the table like usual, but what would be in courses. A curious way to eat, but they wanted to be as accommodating as possible for their neighbors. A fair trade, at least, since the food was of Dicean cuisine.

Despite himself, Felix spoke up quietly, never one to be good at being tacit. "Is your room to your liking?"

It’d be nice to pass along good news to Wendy, at least. Someone should be happy about this.

The uncomfortable silence between the two had gone on so long that Julian had sort of thought it would last the whole lunch. What he lacked in courage to speak to Felix he had been trying to make up for by listening in on the other conversations. People talking about cuisines, their history, making jokes about recipes. "The Uminan Kingdom spread its influence all over the world in pursuit of fine spices to try, and once we had found all there was to find, turns out we just prefer everything plain!" Lady Aya laughed, the rest of the table chuckling along with her.

Julian knew, he knew, that there were small messages being sent back and forth among the seemingly innocent talk. When such discussions had happened at home, he would listen to what had seemed like inane chatter between powerful people, only to see his father rip maps apart in a rage once in the safety of the war room, apparently facing down insults and low-key threats and boasts the whole dinner that had flown right over Jules' head. He didn't really have an...ear for that sort of stuff. It was hard for Julian to imagine saying something but meaning something else. It seemed like a lot of effort if everyone already knew what you were saying anyway.

With this in mind, Julian, once he was done being surprised, considered the prince’s question before saying, quietly, "I didn't get a chance to really look at it. I was busy fighting off an assassin." Then, after a beat, said, "The bed was nice."

Felix listened to the chatter around him passively. While he caught the boasts and warnings and rebuttals, it wasn't for him to participate. This was a game Aiichi was the master at, especially with his three power-ups by his side. The way Mika was able to derail almost any conversation and confuse people in a way that had them treading lightly not to expose their confusion. The way people underestimated Ryouhei, expecting him not to be listening, even knowing he was a scribe. His words were few but impactful in a way not many expected. And their resident know-it-all, able to catch the nuances and in-jokes no matter who was speaking, despite Hyde's distaste for lies and omissions.

He could play, but it wasn't his time yet.

Instead, Felix had to do everything in his power not to whirl on Julian and demand a panicked explanation. As it was, the way his eyes widened and he turned minutely to the prince was telling enough. An ASSASSIN?! That was something that could break off all negotiations right away, and certainly not something to be said so calmly--

Calmly. Like it happened regularly. Like you had a friend that was literally a stone-cold killer. Felix let out a breath, releasing his grip on his utensils into something more natural. "I'm guessing you deserved it."

Whatever it was, Julian definitely deserved it. God...friends with a killer and not even in a way that you knew you'd never face their blade. Was his fiancé crazy too? The last thing he needed was to play nice with a 'mad king' like in some novel.

Julian snickered, playing with his food. Man, it really was just, like, covered in spices… How did Diceans stand it?

"I generally do, yeah," he admitted, glancing over at Phe- no. Fuck. Prince Felix. Looking him over before attempting to try the potato.

Blegh. You couldn't even taste the potato. What was the point?

"You look nice," Julian said, finally indulging himself in some of the wine. Their ale was shit, but the wine, he was surprised to find, was amazing. And strong. Wow. He'd have to ration that one out. "All dressed up, I mean. Very...mature looking."

This was bullshit. It was what they had to do when the decision-makers of their two countries--minus the rest of Julian's family--were surrounding them, but it was bullshit. He wasn't just being the bare edge of polite--Prince Julian was being friendly if a little unenthused. Like he hadn't told Felix to his face that he was nothing.

It was only his promise to the Dicean people that kept him in that chair.

"I look ridiculous," he grumbled under his breath. "And so do you. I didn't think it was possible to look more ostentatious than you already did, but unfortunately, I know my father."

However, he did crack something of a smirk, still soft enough to be mistaken as a smile by anyone looking their way. "Mature? Just relieved you don't have to marry a teenager? Or did you think I was a pre-teen?"

It was clear that Julian had never thought he was an adult, though not through any fault of his own in this one, specific case. Felix could admit to himself that he was a little amused by it.

"Old enough to order booze for myself," he murmured, taking a pointed sip of wine.

Julian tensed, a flush of embarrassment running through his face. Despite having just told himself to ration it, Jules' habit of giving himself time to think through drink flared itself, and he grabbed the wine again, taking a long sip to think of a response. Something calm. Something responsible. Something worthy of his station.

"Well, can you blame me?" he growled softly once he was done, the cup still high enough to hide the scowl on his face from the rest of the group. "I've never seen an adult whine and needle that much in my life. Of course I would think you were 12."

Alice was going to kill him.

"Maybe you aren't as worldly as you think," Felix shot back without a pause, though that really was the best-case scenario. There were plenty of other things he could follow that up with. How, if that's how he treats children, then Felix wouldn't even let him speak to their heir when the time came. How, if he can't hold his temper against a 12-year-old, did he really think he could handle a constant stream of questions and requests from his people? How it was pretty lame that he wanted to ditch all his responsibilities and hang out with a kid.

(Of course, Felix had ditched all his responsibilities to hang out with another adult but...well, he wasn’t exactly doing his damnedest to avoid fallacies at the moment.)

But, for now, at least, Felix kept those words inside. They were already tempting fate enough with hushed, veiled digs, but taking it further would cause an incident they both couldn't afford.

He felt bad about it, but Felix still had about half his food left on his plate by the time the next course came out. It was a problem he didn't have when they ate in their normal way--he could take as much as he could eat and no more. This way, he had to only pick at each plate if he wanted to be able to keep eating until the end. They were even having fruit parfaits at the end, for anyone who wanted something sweet! And he definitely did!

...gods, if they did this for dinner too... He should ask the kitchen to just set his food to the side when they took it away. He'd eat the rest at a later time. Along with his heart, head, and hope, this whole event was going to be torture on his stomach.

Julian picked at something green that he didn't recognize, but was so foreign to him that when he tasted it, his taste buds didn't immediately reject it under the guise of 'this isn't what this normally tastes like'. Fuming.

What the fuck was wrong with him? Why did he keep snapping at this guy like this? Julian was good with people! He was! Usually he couldn't visit anywhere without becoming the life of the party and left everywhere with hearty waves and sometimes tearful goodbyes of new fast friends. He was GOOD at PEOPLE.

So why did talking to the prince result in him making mean little snide comments and wishing he could just...fight him? Or something, at least. Why was he acting like this!?

Pull it together, Jules. You're the hero of this story! Pretend...pretend Felix was some frightened maiden, sullen and angry in her fear, needing gentle coaxing by a vigilant knight to guide her through these trying times. Hell, maybe even it was true!

Just...stop being a dick, dude.

Julian took a deep, calming breath, and said quietly, "Look, I'm sor-"

"A toast!" General Yuu called out, standing up with his cup out. "To the future king and prince consort! May your union bring peace and prosperity for a hundred years!"

There was an echo of "Toast!" and "To one hundred years!" from around the table as glasses were raised high. Julian, caught up in the familiar Uminan custom of mid-meal cheers, threw on his Prince of the Stars grin, laughed triumphantly, took a sip of his wine, and then raised his own glass again. "Cheers!" he said, in The Voice. "To my betrothed, Prince Felix!"

Another round of cheers and chants, louder than before, as the others all turned their glasses to Felix. "To Prince Felix!"

"To our future, Felix!" Julian said, fully in his persona as he gave the smaller prince a wink. Then, quieter, he said, "We're in this together, for better or worse," before taking another sip of his drink, the rest of the table following.

Please. Please. Felix would not go through all of this without that promise of peace. The war had to finally end, their countries had to play friendly again...and not with his own being run into the ground. Hopefully, Aiichi would still have a nice long reign in front of him, but...all options had to be addressed.

Felix raised his glass with the rest, painting a bright, hopeful smile on his face. And grit his teeth to look away bashfully as Caius turned the lens to him. Bastard. If it wouldn't just paint him in a bad light and give the Uminans more ideas to strongarm him out of power, he'd drink himself into a blackout.

As it was, by the time he was chewing half-heartedly through his parfait, Felix really wished he’d thrown caution to the wind and had more than a glass, even if he could feel the heat collecting on his face. Aiichi knew his son enough to know that it didn't mean Felix was anywhere near drunk, but perhaps he'd ease the concerns of their guests.

"Fe? Why don't you show Prince Julian around the castle? I'm sure he'd like to know more than just where his quarters are."

With a silent nod, Felix stood and took a few steps back to push in his chair, waiting for Julian to follow.

"Are you sure that's appropriate?" Mika questioned once the two princes had left. Ze wasn't sure the two of them would be the best pair to leave together, propriety aside, but...ze was interested to see if zer'd hear yelling through the walls at some point.

Aiichi waved off the concern with a light laugh. "They're both adults, and it's not like they'll be alone walking around. I bet they would appreciate a moment to speak together with less watchful eyes, hm?"

-

Whatever tension had been going on between them at the table among that lively, highly invested group was insignificant in comparison to the sheer ugly, awkward silence that followed Julian and Felix into the halls. As they walked, their footsteps seemed to echo through the corridors, the hustle and bustle Julian had seen earlier apparently hustling and bustling elsewhere right now.

After a while, Julian decided to try to break the ice. "So..." he said, the word trailing off into nothing as he tried to collect his thoughts. He glanced out into the day and tried, "Least it's nice out..."

It was nice out. Summer days in Dicea tended to be kind, stretching out clear, sunny skies for as long as possible. Unlike the fall nights which grew colder much quicker until the days followed and sent them into winter. Felix’s eyebrows drew together in frustration.

"...if you were actually talking about Uminan weather, our winters aren't short. We should have a lot of these days coming up, but don't get tricked by fall when it comes." How much had been a lie? Moving things around to keep his cover...it would take forever to actually sort out what things were what and what weather was where.

Sighing, Felix pressed the back of one hand against a cheek, unsurprised with the heat he felt. Stupid low tolerance...

Unlike Felix, Julian had severely underestimated the strength of the wine, and his head felt thick and heavy with fog as he turned his eyes away from the glare of the sun coming in through the openings and windows. He wished he was among friends right now. He wished he was doing anything else but this.

"...how did you manage to find me in the market that first day?" Julian asked. "I have a friend or two whose guess right now is 'spies', and if that's the case you might want to tell that person to fall back immediately. I can't be held responsible for what would happen if they find that person first."

Felix glanced up at Julian's question, scowling at the assumption. What would it even matter if he told the truth? It wouldn't change what happened, how Julian thought of him. ...still, Felix found himself heaving a beleaguered sigh.

"Hey. You didn't recognize me at all, right? You hadn't even been given a description of me, let alone an etching or something, I'm guessing." He had his arms crossed over his chest, tapping his finger against his arm in irritation. "If we didn't provide a picture, if none of your folk got one to you, what makes you think I got one?"

All he'd been told was that he was to marry the second son of the Uminan Kingdom, Julian Momento. And that was it. No description of his appearance, or anything about what he was like, or anything he might've gotten up to. Hells, he still didn't know anything of the latter--for all he knew, Julian could've been just as cooped up in his own castle and just cooked up some stories to feed Felix's excitement. Though...he did seem genuinely surprised to hear that he'd never left home...

With that little bit, Felix's anger started to bubble, forcing more words out of him. "Considering I thought you were a spy coming to ruin the treaty by killing me, or that Aiichi hired you to put me in my place, maybe check your fucking assumptions."

Julian raised an eyebrow at that last comment, fire lighting itself into his belly. He took a steadying breath. Would you just chill, Jules? Calm down.

"I was told a picture would put too many assumptions in my head," he admitted. "Guess they thought if I saw a picture of you, I would just assume you were harmless. Wanted to keep me on my toes. Understandable, really," Julian said, taking off his gloves, tucking them into his pockets. It was too hot. Why was it so hot? He was freaking sweating even.

"But sure, I'll believe you. It was a total coincidence. I totally don't need to be worried about a spy among my people. After all, I have the word of, oh..." Julian sneered at Felix, something vicious curling in his gut. "...what did you call yourself again? You mentioned it several times...ah. Well. I'm sure it'll come to me."

The more Julian looked at him, the more baffled Julian felt about Felix. How could something this small and cute be this fucking irritating? At the same time, how had Julian missed it? Alice was right--Felix was a schemer. You could see it in his pretty little face. The eyes of a demon...

The Uminan Prince stopped, shaking his head, puzzled at his own thoughts. Where had that come from? Felix was exasperating, but the guy wasn't a demon just because he got all weepy during sparring. That wasn't fair of Julian. Maybe it really was all just a coincidence. Julian just had to breathe. Why was it so hot?

Another breath. "...Hired?" Julian asked, looking down at Felix quizzically. "What do you mean, hired by the king to put you in your place? Is that a...thing?"

Figures. Idiots did tend to judge books by their covers. Maybe there was a good idea in there somewhere, though, because if Julian had shown up as himself as everything was planned and tried to speak to him like a little kid? Felix might've decked him.

Well, no, he wouldn't, and not just because of the consequences. He'd more likely sprain his wrist than do any damage to Kai - Julian. Even if not from raising horses, the guy was big.

Felix rolled his eyes as his prediction came true. Truth, lies? Neither mattered when people chose the reality they wanted. Julian obviously wanted to blame all of this on him, typical of Uminan royalty. Ugh.

His bad mood just deepened, if that were possible. Felix glowered off to the side, gripping his arms tightly and likely wrinkling the fabric of his shirt. "I'm not allowed to leave the castle. If I, hypothetically, were to leave it, even regularly, but no one could prove it? Then that would leave the boss no choice but to make me stay of my own volition. A no-fuss, clever plan, right?"

"...bastard..." Felix muttered under his breath, not caring that he probably shouldn't be bad-mouthing the leader to this person in particular. Julian was probably too dumb to change things under Aiichi's rule--the boss would probably weave his words around the prince too, and Julian wouldn't even notice. What a fucking pair.

Two extremely different thought processes ran through Julian's head at the same time.

The first thing was: That's not something you should do to a person.

Sure, Julian hadn't been allowed outside of his home without some sort of supervision or oversight in his castle, back in the day. But that had been because he was a child, and that was just the sort of thing you didn't let your kids do, regardless of where you were on the financial spectrum. As he had gotten older, those bonds and restrictions had loosened accordingly, to the point where it hadn't been uncommon for him to be seen rushing back to the castle from the surrounding city at two in the morning, having realized he had spent too long at the pub and that he was going to be a wreck at school the next day.

And it was easy to do that. Sure, there were dangers. Con artists and criminals who recognized him and knew how much he had to be carrying on him at any given time, kidnappers in the form of pretty women and burly men, the occasional just straight-up drunk brawler who wanted to pick a fight with a noble. But the City Guardsmen were well funded and constantly patrolling and all recognized him by sight and were always looking out, and there were plenty of citizens who were happy to schmooze and butter up the second prince.

Like...it all worked just fine. What would be the point of locking anyone up in the castle? That was just a...shitty thing to do to someone. And Felix's open resentment clearly showed it wasn't appreciated. The fuck, King Aiichi?

The second thought was strange but strong.

Schemers.

The whole fucking line was made up of schemers.

No wonder the two kingdoms had been at war for so long if that was the way the royal family thought, always planning and conniving. If King Aiichi had just been willing to have a good, old fashioned brawl and then crawled away like the dog he was to tend to his wounds while the honest fighters took their just reward...fuckers deserved everything coming to them...honestly, the whole line should just be-

Julian slapped himself.

It wasn't a traditional slap or anything. He just took both hands and pressed them quickly and fiercely against his face, digging his palms into the lids of his eyes as he took another cooling breath. Was he drunk? Off three glasses of wine?? Why was his head going to such dark places? Shit, the wedding date was being announced tonight over dinner. That wasn't going to be a private event like lunch had been, hundreds of people would be there. He'd probably be expected to speak at some point. Julian needed to sober up, pull it together.

"Phe," Julian said, without really thinking about it, "Can we go get some water somewhere? Somewhere colder and less bright? Dicean wine has had a tougher effect on me than I expected. I can feel myself becoming a fucking asshole. Well, a bigger one." Julian tried to give the prince a well-meaning joke at his own expense. Then, suddenly, feeling like it had to be said, "That's really shitty, you know. You're not a child. It's not fair to treat you like one. It's disrespectful."

Felix knew it all was to keep him safe. But that didn't not make the reasoning and execution flawed!! Despite what they all might think, he wasn't helpless and Usott was safe. He'd snuck out consistently since he was 11 and nothing had ever happened! Apart from accidentally meeting the foreign prince he was supposed to marry and learning that he was a callous, self-important jerk.

Snapped out of his fuming thoughts, Felix looked up in startled confusion as Julian...tried to brain himself with his hands? Julian could probably use a firm jolt to his head, but...

"...are you drunk?"

Asshole! If Felix couldn't get drunk, then how dare he! Felix had made sure to only drink about a glass--his usual when they had wine, honestly, he didn’t like it that much--and Julian...had been drinking...well. More. Did the idiot have a low tolerance too?

With a groan, Felix latched onto Julian's sleeve and started dragging him away--Naomi would be in the library and there was no telling if she'd tattle on them, the observatory was too far away for a lush to make the journey, and he was not hiding the prince in his own room, so...one of the empty meeting rooms would do.

He had a whole book of insults to hurl on their way, but Felix found himself stopped before he could say a single one. He even stopped physically, staring back at Julian in bewilderment. He...agreed with him. Saw how ridiculous the situation was without, like, any persuasion.

Felix gaped for a moment before flushing more than what could be blamed on the wine, whirling back around and dragging Julian along with twice the bustle. "Rich for you to say, Mr. Thought I Was a Child Until Two Hours Ago."

It wasn't right. Julian had said to his face how much of a weak, useless disappointment he was. Had pretended to indulge in his curiosity, then dashed it all in an instant. Had shoved in Felix's face how he wasn't meant for any world outside the cage he'd seen people come and go from freely for years.

His grip tightened and he practically threw Julian into the meeting room (not really), stomping over to the pitcher present in every public room, pouring the prince a glass, then shoving it at him. "Sit. Drink. And don't pretend to be on my side."

Felix stormed over to the windows, furiously closing the curtains.

Julian blinked slowly at Felix. "Side? Whose side? I don't have to be on anyone's side to know you don't lock people up in towers and make them wait for rescue. It's, like, the number one thing you shouldn't do to the damsel," Julian said, having grown up to read just as many deconstructions of old fairy-tales as he had the fairy-tales themselves. Plus there had been that Feminism 101 class at University. Very eye-opening. Fantastic for picking up chicks.

Felix wasn't a damsel, but he was small and pretty and it sounded like he was being treated like a typical one in a typical fairy-tale. So it applied. He nodded, certain of his logic. "Takes away her agency. Disrespectful. It's why all the villains do it. Easy way to control someone is keep 'em helpless. 'veryone knows that."

The water was like an ice cube fighting magma, but Julian still drank it with reverence. As he took it down in one long drink, emptying the glass, he reached over and just grabbed the pitcher instead, drinking straight from the supply. He drank down half the pitcher before taking a breath, feeling a little bit better, if still foggy.

In the confusion of his brain, Julian tried to untangle the mess of messages that was the angry little ball of fury in front of him, Julian's shoulders relaxing from their rigid position as the light was blocked and he could collect himself in the darkened room. "I'm not drunk," Julian protested, looking back into the memory of the meal. "I barely drank. I only had one glass for every course. Who even gets wine drunk besides doddering old men and exhausted mothers?" Julian looked at the half-downed pitcher, curiously watching the fuzziness at the edges of his vision. "Besides! I'm a fun drunk. This sucks." He groaned, taking another long, long drink from the pitcher.

With the water almost gone, something resembling manners occurred to him, and he gestured the pitcher over to Felix, wordlessly offering him some.

There were certainly sides here. His, with the reasonable anger towards being expected to never leave the castle except for festivals during which he'd be accompanied by a guard if not Aiichi himself. Then there was the boss's, which everyone else was on. Everyone who told him no when he was little and still asked about going into town, wanting to see the things that visitors talked about. Everyone who was quick to hurry him away from weapons and everything sharp, even banning him from the kitchens. ...that one was a little more warranted since when he'd get his hands on a knife he enjoyed playing games with them. The holes in the walls had long since been patched up.

He was expected to study and work, quietly and obediently. Hypocritical, since it would be his job to be concerned with the world outside. He talked with people that came to the castle, but what about those who couldn't come? How would he lead his people if he didn't know them?

Those arguments never worked. Not like Aiichi ever listened to him.

However, Felix just grumbled an annoyed, "Not a damsel."

Looking on in wonderment and slight disgust, Felix watched Julian guzzle water down. He'd been drunk before and had seen other people drunk. This...wasn't...

"...three glasses isn’t nothing, Julian. Even for a freakish giant like you." Maybe wine in Umina was weaker? That would've been nice to know and pass on the information. But, still, this didn't seem right, and while he couldn't fully trust Julian's word, if this was weird to him too...

With a grossed-out look, Felix turned down the out-stretched pitcher and chewed on the inside of his cheek. They'd all eaten the same things, it couldn't be poison, right? Even if it was all on different plates... He admittedly didn't know the kitchen staff as well as everyone else, considering his ban. Would one of them want to stop the treaty?

"...your escorts are here, right? Stay here." Felix turned to go, aiming to find someone who would know what was normal for Julian more than him. And...likely wouldn't send everything to shit.

"Phe?" Julian said, watching the little spit-fire walk away, the door closing behind him on its own. Where was he going?

Julian took a deep breath, moving his hands to his shoulders and loosening the clasps of his light armor a little bit. Man, fuck. It was hot. He was glad Felix had turned down the last of the water, using the last bit to pour a little down his back, cooling the area between his skin and the shirt protecting himself from the rough bites and cuts of his chestpiece.

He wondered what Felix was doing.

...

He wondered what Felix was scheming.

Julian stood in the dark of the meeting room, his mind racing furiously as he considered the possibilities. Certainly, there was something about this he wasn't understanding. Why was it always so hard for him to understand? He had grown up in the same world as Byron and Felix, been part of the same parties, had the same education; why, with every advantage available to him, had Julian been the one to grow up just...unable to understand?

Schemers. Fucking schemers. It was better to just be rid of them. Rid of the whole brood. He bet Felix was going to his father to tell him the good news, that his fiancé was a fucking idiot who wouldn't be able to figure out their plans and traps in a million years without Alan and Alice babysitting him all the fucking time...

Wait, no, Felix had gone to go get his 'escorts', right? Isn't that what he said? Maybe he was just worried and was going to get help? That was possible too, right?

...

Or...OR

Alice and Alan were IN ON IT.

Oh my god. It made so much sense! Sure, Julian's fever-raced brain maybe couldn't explain to him...exaaactly how that made sense. But it did! Betrayers! Schemers! He had figured it out! Everyone was in on it!

His sword. He had to go get his sword. His father had sent him for a reason, after all! If the Dicean Kingdom didn't want to play nice, if they wanted to scheme and trick and betray, he'd fight them all! This war was coming to an end today, even if Julian had to win it all by himself!!

He was the GOD DAMNED HERO!

And, later, that thought would be his last, hazy memory of the day before everything went black.