To Turn the Other Cheek
part sixteen“Wolfram....”
Yuri stared wide-eyed at the face he’d seen every morning of every day for what seemed like an eternity. The eyes were all wrong, he noted, but it was hardly distracting. The shape of his face, the way his hair fell across his brow, the annoyed turn at the corner of his lips when he made that face that came before every long lecture on his fiancé’s wicked ways--everything was just as he remembered it.
“I’m sorry, you have me mistaken for someone else,” the familiar voice replied to no avail.
Yuri shook his head and came inside, closing the door behind him. “Wolfram, why are you wearing contacts?”
The two of them looked at each other for a moment in silence before Wolfram’s fist came down on top of Yuri’s head.
“Contacts? Is that all you can ask? Why am I wearing contacts?”
Yuri shielded himself from attack with his arms. “What do you mean, is that all? Your eyes are brown. It’s kind of hard not to notice something like that.”
Wolfram flung his fist at the king again, but Yuri grabbed it and held his arms apart to save himself from further bludgeoning. The blonde’s face was scarlet, complimenting the soft pink color of his ruffled collar.
Pink?
Yuri shifted his gaze down the other man’s body.
It was a short, pink gown with enough ruffles and bows to make any European-style porcelain doll turn green with envy. Its empire waist was trimmed in a slightly darker pink bow and made no attempts to disguise a severe lack of breasts. Under the flat chest a rather prominent bulge was present. The many layered skirt ended close to the knees where white stockings continued the rest of the way to pairs of shiny, black buckled dress shoes. For a moment, Yuri stood completely and in all ways utterly confused. He’d seen Wolfram in his rather attractive nightgown, but this was above and beyond anything he expected.
Finally, realization hit him harder than Wolfram had.
“You’re Miss Jennifer?” he asked, still taking in the curious sight before him.
Wolfram pulled his wrists free from Yuri’s grasp and turned his back to him, the ruffles of his petticoats creeping out from under the pink satin. “Don’t go thinking anything funny. This is my disguise, is all. I didn’t choose to dress like this!”
Yuri shook his head in disbelief. “But Frederick said she’d been here for over a month. How could...you mean you’ve been here all this time? Why?”
Yuri watched the muscles in Wolfram’s shoulders tense and his hands begin to fidget with the cloth of his skirts. “It was the mission Conrad spoke of. Gwendel asked for Yozak and I to go on ahead of you and make sure it was safe.”
“You mean to spy on them.” The king shook his head. “That wasn’t necessary. What if someone found out? You’re not exactly keeping a low profile.”
“This wasn’t my idea, Yuri! My job is to follow orders.”
“Yeah but....” Yuri shook his head again, unable to care much at the moment. “Never mind. It’s not important right now.” He grabbed Wolfram’s arm and forced him to turn around so he could see his face again. “So, how have you been?”
Wolfram’s expression changed too many times in that instant to label any of them for sure. He seemed to settle finally on disbelief, though, and pulled away from the king’s grasp again. “You’re not going to laugh at me?”
“Why would I laugh at you? You look very nice.“ At that point, he did laugh, but only to lighten the atmosphere in the room. “You certainly look better than me in a dress. What is it you’ve got stuffed up there anyway?”
Wolfram blushed again and lifted his skirts bitterly to reveal what looked to be a simple half empty sack of flour like the ones he’d seen in the kitchens back at Blood Pledge Castle. The corners were folded back to give it a more rounded look but it hung without much else in the way of alterations. Considering the amount of science Yuri’s home world had put into making pregnancy suits for movies and the like, it was almost comical. “How much does that weigh?”
“At least five kilograms.” Wolfram informed him with a grimace, flattening his garments down again. “Why, you wanting to try it on?”
Yuri was certain he did not. “No, you can keep it. How much longer do you have to be disguised like that?”
“Yozak and I will leave with you and the others. Just tell Frederick you’re dropping us off in a nice town. After that, we should be beyond suspicion.”
Yuri nodded, then gave a large smile. “So you’re coming home again?” It was hard to keep the excitement from his voice.
“Until I’ve decided on where to go next.”
It was the response he'd expected but not the one he wanted. Yuri sighed and sat on the bed. So he’d been staying in a nice room with nice people the whole time. Gwendel had again refused to tell him where he’d gone. Many nights he’d wondered if Wolfram was being made to sleep on the cold ground, if he was eating alright and feeling okay. The stubborn mazoku had a taste for the finer things in life and it was not unheard of for him to turn his nose at anything less. Rather than think less of Wolfram for it, Yuri would prefer he just be given the things he wanted such as a large, soft bed and warm, cooked meals he could recognize. It wasn’t so much to ask for silk sheets when one had the money to acquire them.
“Has the last month been awful for you?”
Wolfram shook his head, sitting in the chair by the balcony door. “Not awful. Stressful. I’ll be glad to leave this place.”
“I’m sure you will.” Yuri bounced a bit on the soft mattress. “Greta asks about you a lot. She’ll be very excited to see you.”
“I’ve missed her a great deal.” Wolfram ‘s voice was soft and wistful as he gazed out at the sky rather than at his king.
“Did you miss me?” The words were out before he had the time to stop them. It was odd, he guessed, to feel ashamed to ask. He knew the answer was yes. It had to be yes.
But what if it was no?
“I missed you very much, Yuri.” Wolfram sank down further in his chair, his legs propped up on a small step stool. “How are things with Emily?”
A change of topic. Yuri didn’t mind so much, but that he would choose to ask about Emily seemed out of place. This was the man who used to refused to let him leave the castle alone lest he so much as walk past an attractive young woman by chance.
“Well, I’m meeting her family. So...good. I guess.”
“And you love her?”
Yuri couldn’t answer him. It wasn’t so much that it was awkward to talk about it with him, though it most certainly was; whatever answer he offered would be transparent and flawed, neither being able to get past his dear friend.
The mazoku sighed, turning a smile in Yuri’s direction. “You’re such a wimp.”
“Don’t call me a wimp.”
The king stood, taking that as his cue to leave, feeling tired now in a way the long trip hadn’t left him. It was the peaceful sort of sleepy feel one got after accomplishing something-- that desire to do nothing more than bask and perhaps sleep in its glow. “You’ll be coming downstairs to eat with us, right?”
Wolfram shook his head. “I don’t want Conrad to see me like this.”
Yuri could understand that. “Alright. I’ll tell them you were tired. You want me to bring you anything?”
Wolfram shook his head again, remaining reclined in his armchair, his attention wavering again.
Putting his hand on the doorknob, Yuri paused and turned back to his friend, finding it hard to keep the smile from his face. “You know...don’t take this the wrong way but...I think you’re prettier when you look like a guy. You do look very nice, don’t get me wrong. But...I prefer you the regular way.”
He left quickly incase Wolfram chose hit him again or, as he was seated, found something nearby that would be convenient to throw at him. When the door was shut though and no sound of a rebounding object could be heard, he felt a small twinge at the reminder that things were not as they had once been. Still, it had been wonderful to see him again and find him well.
On the way back down the stairs, it was hard not to skip a few steps and bounce slightly on each one. He couldn’t explain the rush of happiness he felt from such simple interactions, but he wasn’t about to worry it away with thought. There was still the dinner party to attend and he was certain he was overdue in his return.
“Sorry for taking such a long time,” he announced as he bashfully reentered the dining hall.
“Yuri, really, did you get lost?” Emily asked, her expression cross. Gunter and Conrad both looked at him similarly, though the latter seemed more inclined to question the way he bounced into the room.
“Was Miss Jennifer feeling alright?” Frederick inquired with concern. He laid his napkin beside his plate, ready to rush up the stairs if the news was negative.
Yuri smiled at him. “She’s fine. She’s tired, though, so she won’t be coming down.” He felt a pang of guilt for going along with the deception, but for Wolfram’s sake, he’d let the two identities stay separate. To call him out on it would only make him angry, and he trusted Gwendel to have a good reason to order the young noble to do something like this. There would be words later, of that he was certain, but this was neither the time nor the place.
“What have you been doing this whole time?” Emily tugged at his sleeve and he took her lead to sit back down at the table.
“Just talking.”
“So you remember her? From Caloria?”
Yuri smiled. “I remember her very well.”
Rather than seem pleased, Frederick’s face seemed to cloud over even further. He bowed his head and ate in silence while his sister scolded Yuri for letting his food get cold. It was hardly unsettling, though. Yuri took it in stride and apologized as many times as she would let him.
After dinner it was drinks in the parlor, Emily and Conrad sitting at the piano to play a duet while Gunter stood to the side to appraise her musical aptitude. Frederick seemed less than interested in engaging Yuri in conversation now, though, something weighing heavy on his mind.
“Your sister’s very talented, Frederick,” Yuri commented, hoping he hadn’t forgotten to wiggle a finger or something to accent the praise.
Lord Ackart nodded slightly, sipping from his glass of liquor.
The room felt stuffy and crowded suddenly, despite how much room there was around them and how the night air filtered in through open windows. The king felt inclined to converse with the man but there was a wall between them, plain as day. Had he offended him somehow? Yuri decided not to give up and try again to begin a conversation. “Thank you very much for taking such good care of Miss Jennifer. She’s an important friend of mine. It’s good to see she’s okay so far from home.”
“She’s going to Shin Makoku, you know. I hear the child’s father is from there.”
Yuri nodded, finding it hard to keep a straight face. “So she said. We’ll be happy to take her to wherever she’s going. It’s on the way, after all.” How had Wolfram managed to pull off something so ridiculous without throwing a fit either in violence or in laughter?
“She is very precious to me.”
Something in his tone of voice made Yuri uneasy. Frederick had spoken very well of Wolfram earlier in the day, too. After a month, of course they had become friends. That only made sense.
But precious?
“Uh...right.”
Frederick finished his glass then stood, bowing to the king. “I’m afraid I must retire. Please make yourself at home. The servants will show you to your rooms tonight when you are ready.”
Without another word, he left, seeming quite unlike the man Yuri had walked with earlier.
Something had gone very wrong somehow.