Watching over Obelia's Precious Jewel // WMMAP fic

Chapter 48

  "You've finally gone mad," Claude said before yanking his arm away from Felix's grip. "Stop speaking nonsense."

  "Claude...," Diana's words trailed off as she facepalmed herself.

  "I can tell that you're already annoyed by my own stubbornness," Claude said casually. "Don't worry. Even I am feeling a bit agitated at listening to myself being in denial about a lot of things."

  'Me, being unconscious for ten days, trying to save a daughter?' Claude thought.

  "That's exactly what happened if my memory serves me right," Anastacius commented.

  "But of course, His Majesty would never believe it," Felix said before sighing. He knew this man well enough. "He's just that stubborn."

  'I risked my life for my offspring?'

  'He would crawl out of the grave to laugh at me!'

  For a brief moment, Anastacius was shown with his golden blond hair and jewel blue eyes, smirking at Claude.

  "... You know, now that I'm thinking about this, wouldn't this entirely be father's fault?" Jennette spoke out loud, glancing at Anastacius with eyes full of suspicion. "After all, father was the one who cursed the gift I wanted to give to Athy."

  Anastacius froze. "Jennette, are you putting the blame on me now?"

  "I mean she is right," Lucas interjected, looking at the black-haired man with a serious expression on his face. "If you hadn't cursed that blue ribbon, the princess would actually be alright. But no... You just had to be the evil one in this group."

  Before Anastacius could say anything to defend himself, Felix was the one to speak up this time.

  "Oh, we all know that it's Sir Anastacius' fault that the emperor is suffering from amnesia," Felix stated before petting Claude's soft hair, surprising everyone else, especially the man he was petting. "And even though we know that fact, and we should in fact put the blame on him, we can't help but be more annoyed by His Majesty's antics at the moment because it's clearly shown on the screen right there!" he exclaimed before pointing at the large screen.

  "... That is actually a really valid point, to be honest," Roger admitted. "Even if Anastacius is the one who caused this whole fiasco to happen, right now the main focus is on His Majesty so obviously everyone else would be more annoyed by him at the moment," he explained before giving Anastacius a cold stare. "But once he appears in this story, all the hate will be shifted to him instead."

  "... Miss Myra, mind helping me out?" Anastacius asked in a weak voice, hoping that the young lady who he was clearly fond of would get him out of this situation.

  "... Uh..." Myra just smiled before taking a sip of her hot tea. "My apologies, Sir Anastacius. But since this is pretty much your fault that this entire thing with Sir Claude losing his memories is happening, I can't really help you much."

  ...

  Anastacius had never felt so helpless before.

  "So! We'll be annoyed with Claude first and once Sir Anastacius appears we'll be annoyed by him instead?" Diana asked before staring at both brothers back and forth. "My goodness. You both really do make a lot of things troublesome for Athanasia and everyone else involved in your lives."

  "Daddy..."

  That girl's face... what was her name, anyway? Athanasia, was it? Her afraid expression was still fresh in his mind.