43 — Joezand's Fate

The moments start to go by fast as he stays inside of his own head.

Joezand keeps lying on the floor as he can hear the groans of people waking up, like Iaomai and Lorelai. They talk for a bit, heal some injuries, and he only gets up when they call to him. Louise latched herself to Anneliese and won't let go.

He walked in front of the group as they chatted behind him. He could hear someone maybe call on him once or twice, but all the voices were background noise.

He's just so tired.

He drags himself forward through the forest, his mind wandering until his feet hit a root. It's stupid, but as he stumbles forward, that's the thing that brings his airy mind back to the present.

"Oh my, is walking becoming difficult for you too?" Agnes teases. "Unlike me, you don't even have an excuse! Do you need crutches as well?"

"Stop bothering him!" Anneliese replies. "He's just tired."

"He's tough, he'll get over it." Lorelai comments. "It builds character."

"I could offer you a more thorough checkup once we're at the village, just to make sure." Iaomai offers.

"I'm fine. I just tripped." Joezand says, as he looks back at them. "You guys don't need to comment on it."

"W-Well, it's just..." Anneliese starts. "We're a little bit worried about you."

"Don't use a we." Agnes says. "You're really the only one who is."

"I'm a bit worried too." Iaomai comments. "I only gave you superficial treatment, so maybe your fatigue is because of me."

"Your appearance doesn't help, either." Lorelai says. "It's not appealing. Poor Louise's terrified of the way you look."

He looks down, seeing his... well, his everything covered in blood. Shirt, pants, shoes, skin, even his cape. Both the bright pink of the creature and his own regular red.

"Ugh." Joezand groans. "I need a hot bath."

"No worries!" Anneliese says. "I'll prepare one for you when we arrive."

"Oh yeah?" Lorelai smirks. "You're going to scrub him real clean too?"

"S-Shut it, Lorelai!" Anneliese replies, her face growing pink. "Besides, Prince Joezand doesn't even like it when I try to bathe him—"

"Sure. Why the hell not?" Joezand says. "I've worked hard enough. I deserve it at this point. If you're fine with that, Anneliese."

"Y-Yes! Absolutely!" Anneliese blushes harder. "I'll get on it right after we get back to Kivul!"

"Again, no need to lay it on that thick." Lorelai says.

"Ew." Agnes says. "You two are disgusting."

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever." Joezand says. "Let's go back already. The blood's already starting to dry. It's pretty gross."

The group keeps walking. Unlike before, Joezand can actually hear them chatting, and even joins in once or twice.

This feels nice. Too nice.

He's reminded of the picnic he had before, with Lorelai and Anneliese. Those two are so important to him, even after knowing them for a little over a month.

But they're not the only ones.

He was able to find common ground with Iaomai and Empress Agatha, too. Even Agnes and Pult are bearable to him now. Cecilia... He's still on the fence about that one. But he'd love to see her get better. Knowing about her past... She deserves to be happy. Just in a way that doesn't hurt others.

It's a bit concerning how much he's enjoying this life. How much he's come to care about everyone here.

How is he supposed to go back to his sad, depressing, downer of a life in Tokyo after this?

...

He pushes those thoughts aside as they reach Kivul. This could be his last moments in this world, he's not about to waste them being anxious about the future. As he finally steps out of the forest and into the village, his vision is taken over.

By the beautiful sunrise.

The gorgeous orange ball of fire up in the sky.

'You know...' He starts to think. 'I don't think I've ever appreciated the sun enough.'

'Such betrayal!' Sunnaria giggles. 'I can't believe you didn't care for it! It's my most beautiful creation, little lamb. Take a good look.'

'Not like we had a lot of sun in Tokyo, anyway.' He grumbles. 'It was mostly covered up by grey clouds. Just a boring and lifeless town.'

'And...' Sunnaria hesitates.

'And what?'

'And you're sure you want to go back to that place?' She asks.

...

'I need some time to think about it.'

He glances at the center of the town, as he sees Karla sitting next to the well. She clearly hasn't slept all night, but her eyes go wide as she sees Louise. She runs to hug her child, as tears prick the corners of her eyes. Karla looks up to Joezand.

He sees Anneliese and Lorelai slipping away from the crowd to go to one of the empty houses.

"T-Thank you! Thank you for saving her." Karla says. "Thank you, thank you..."

"Hey, it was no trouble." Joezand says.

"It clearly was." Karla replies, gesturing to his blood-stained clothes. "I don't know what you've faced, but if it's as formidable as that monster who ambushed you in the graveyard..."

"It was." Louise comments. "It was so scary. Mister Joezand had to save everyone."

"I wouldn't say that I really saved everyone..." Joezand trails off. "But thank you."

"Enjoying having that ego of yours inflated by shallow praise, huh?" Agnes smirks. "Such a big hero you are."

"Miss Agnes helped too!" Louise says. "She saved me!"

"O-Oh, well, that was..." Agnes stutters as she blushes slightly. "Hmph! All in a day's work for the Duchess of Acquatia!"

"You're so pathetic it hurts." Joezand comments.

"Shut up!" Agnes says. "Like you're any better!"

"Sorry to interrupt." Iaomai says. "But what are your plans from now on, Prince Joezand?"

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"You said to Empress Agatha that you wanted to govern Kivul." Iaomai explains. "But that was a lie, right? Your real objective was to kill the demon. So now that you did it, will you just go back to the palace or take countship of the village?"

"I... never really thought about that, to be honest." Joezand shrugs.

"Your stupidness really knows no bounds, huh?" Agnes rolls her eyes. "Did you think you'd just disappear after killing the demon or something?"

...

"In my humble opinion," Iaomai adds. "you should at least try. It might not be for you, but still..." He gestures towards Karla, who's still hugging Louise tightly. "You're a hero to these people. The village is small and easy to manage. I think becoming the Count of Kivul could do you some good. And who knows, you might end up liking it."

"Will Agatha and Thaddius even accept it, though? They didn't seem to believe in me, particularly."

"We'll put in a good word for you." Iaomai says. "We only have one carriage, so we'll have to pass by the castle before returning to Acquatia anyway. If Empress Agatha isn't impressed by you studying the lay of the land, Emperor Thaddius certainly will be with you beating a group of bandits, a changeling and a demon."

"We? You mean you, right?" Agnes rolls her eyes. "I'd never speak well of someone so useless."

"Are you sure?" Iaomai smiles. "I was certain it was your idea in the first place."

"Wha— Don't say that in front of him!"

"Oh my." Joezand smirks. "I'm flattered by your high praise, Duchess Agnes."

"Ugh, whatever." Agnes says. "I just thought you'd need to be rewarded with a city after you've stopped being useless. Positive reinforcement and all that."

"Awww, look at you!" Joezand says. "You actually do have a heart! Who knew."

"Don't make me take it back." Agnes grumbles.

He looks to the side, and sees Lorelai running back from the empty house.

"Hey there, champ. Your bath is drawn." Lorelai elbows his torso. "Go get 'er."

He ignores the whistles from Lorelai and the jeers from Agnes as he goes towards the house.

He enters the house and beelines straight to the bathroom, as he sees Anneliese next to the door.

She's very red in the face, and he can see that she's slightly trembling, but is maintaining a smile.

"W-Welcome, Prince Joezand." She says with a stutter. "S-Shall I, uhm, h-help you undress?" She doesn't even wait for him to answer until she reaches for his shoulders, unclasping his cape.

"D-Don't get THAT excited. Jeez..." He says as he lets her undress him. She takes a little longer than normal because of how fidgety she is. He really didn't expect how much she was anticipating this. That's his fault, he supposes.

And even so, it feels a bit less... erotic? Than the last time she helped him undress. She's still blushing hard, but she's not sensually touching him currently. Well, it's not surprising. It's probably hard for her to think naughty stuff when he's sweaty, covered in blood and extremely fatigued. At least... he hopes so? Her touch here feels incredibly caring instead.

She leaves him only in his undergarments and opens the door, and he enters, finding a makeshift bathtub with wooden planks. Not anything even close to his marble one back at the capital. It's pretty well-carved, though, so it'll have to do. God, he just realized that he'll have to forego many palace luxuries when he becomes the count of Kivul—

...

What is he thinking about? It's not like... It shouldn't matter, right? Shouldn't he go back to his world? His real mother, and Shinichi, and...

That's it, really. There's no one else in his life in Tokyo.

He enters the bathtub as Anneliese starts washing his back and arms, making sure her hands get into every nook and cranny of his body. Even the injuries, which hurt like hell. He hangs his head back to meet her gaze, a smirk on his face.

"Feels like I've seen this before." He says. "Any chance I get a massage this time?"

"Next time, Prince Joezand." She chuckles as she captures his lips in a quick, loving kiss. "Now let me take care of you."

His eyes slowly grow heavier as Anneliese's expert hands work her magic, slowly washing every inch of his body. He might just fall asleep here.

"Annelise..." He murmurs.

"Yes, Prince Joezand?"

"I..." He starts, but hesitates. He's afraid. Of asking her about her love. He's afraid of bringing it up again, that she fell in love with past Joezand and not him, yadda yadda. And he's getting annoyed at himself for even having these thoughts. That's what Suzuki Akira would do. Overthink and ruin everything. And he's not Akira. He's Joezand von Styria. "I love you."

"I love you too!"

"Well, I love you more."

"No way! Who's washing the other here?!"

"Well, maybe you should climb in so I could wash you next."

"P-Prince Joezand!" She blushes bright red. "H-How uncouth!"

"I didn't hear a no, though." He teases.

"I..." She looks to the side. "Fine! But o-only my back."

"Hahaha, sure. That's where I'll start, at least."

The couple takes their bath together, as time quickly passes.

— — —

Cleaned up, refreshed and relaxed, Joezand goes to take an afternoon stroll through Kivul. And he sees Lorelai, messing with their carriage.

"What are you doing over there?" Joezand asks, and Lorelai looks back. Her eyes look... a bit sad.

"I'm just checking if we have enough food on the way back." She says, unenthused.

"We?" He asks. "Oh, I think... I'll stay. It'll suck without the palace luxuries, but I'll manage. Maybe I should send someone to get the bathtub back from the palace, at least."

"Yeah, I figured as much. You worked hard for this dinky village. No wonders you'd try to keep it. Anneliese will probably stay here with you, too." Lorelai says. "I was checking for Agnes, Iaomai and me."

"Y-You?" Joezand says. "You're not, uhm, staying?"

"I can't stay, princey." Lorelai explains. "I'm the personal knight of the emperor. I have to stay by his side."

"But... I need protection too, y'know!" Joezand argues. "This is a new, undefended village with a member of the royal family inside! Who knows how many bandits will try to attack again?"

"You and I both know you don't need protection, Joezand." She sighs. "You basically beat a demon on your own. As for defense, obviously the knights will send your own soldier corps here. You'll be able to pick a personal knight from there."

"What if I want YOU as my knight, though?"

"Then you'll have to become the Emperor." She chuckles. "If I'm still alive by then, I'll gladly serve as your sword once more."

"Lorelai..." His eyes drop to the floor. Deep inside, he knew he'd have to say goodbye to her. Obviously. One of the best knights in the kingdom should serve the emperor, not the third prince who just became a count. That's just politics. So, if he knew... Why does he feel his eyes getting watery?

"Aw, come on. Trying to make me feel bad so that I'd stay?" She says, moving close and hugging Joezand. He feels the cold metal of her armor against his skin, as the tears slowly fall down on his face. "I'm not dying. You don't need to cry that much, princey. It's a bit embarrassing, honestly."

"I'm gonna miss you." Joezand murmurs.

"Jeez, I'm just going back to the palace!" She says. "I'm still going to write to you and come visit, okay? Now quit it! You're gonna end up making me cry, too. And I'm too old for that!"

"I've seen Empress Agatha sobbing before. And she's way older than you." He says, hugging her tightly. Which is extremely uncomfortable, because she's wearing hard armor. But he still doesn't care. "Thank you for everything. You're the best not weird, older sister-like figure a theoretical younger brother could ever ask for."

"That's a mouthful." She says, ruffling his hair. "But I'll miss you too, kiddo."

They stay hugging each other for a while.

Agnes and Iaomai arrive a short while later, and they say their goodbyes to him.

The three of them enter, as he sees the carriage departing.

'Joezand?' Sunnaria says. 'Can I have a moment?'

'Yes?'

'Have you decided, then?' Sunnaria asks. 'What will you do now?'

...

He takes a deep breath.

Logic tells him that he should go back to Tokyo.

This is not his life to live.

He's only guessing, but he thinks that maybe past Joezand will retake control of his body once he leaves and goes back to his world. But honestly, anything goes with this kind of magic. Even after everything, he's not sure how it all works.

The fair thing to do is to think of this as a fun little boot camp. He became a better, more proactive person. So the righteous decision would be to leave here and do better in his real world.

That's the rational choice.

...

But...

...

He can afford to be irrational, emotional and selfish sometimes, right?

Just this once.

'I'll...' He takes a deep breath. 'I'll stay.'

'Oh, you don't know how happy that makes me, little lamb!' Sunnaria says with glee. 'Welcome to Orskideal, and I do hope you enjoy your stay here!'

And so, he prepares to live out his new life in this new world.