In case you're having trouble deciphering the hiragana in the title, it says "Mamoritai" (the title of the main theme of Tales of Graces) which is translated to either "The will to protect" or in terms of the song context "I want to protect you". Tales of Graces/the character of Richard © Mutsumi Inomata and the song "Mamoritai" © BoA. Hope you enjoy it!
"I made you some tea, Your Majesty."
The king of Windor looks up from the stack of papers in front of him and accepts the cup with a little smile. "Ah, thank you, [Name]. What are you still doing up?"
"I couldn't sleep," you shrug, almost apologetically. "More of Duke Dalen's paperwork?"
"I'm afraid so," he sighs, smiling wearily at the papers he can never seem to run away from. "But such is life when you're in a position like mine. Even Asbel could relate." He looks away from the paperwork to the side of his tent, where the others have pitched tents of their own outside. "Such a good man...and I put him through so much. Even today, I continue to burden him."
"Please, Your Majesty, these monsters aren't your fault," you shake your head. "I'm sure Asbel is grateful for the help you're lending us."
He smiles at you before taking a sip of the tea you brought him. "You always know what to say, [Name]. You're a good friend."
Once he stifles a yawn, you remind him softly, "You need your rest. Traveling all over the world and fighting off monsters is unforgiving on sleepless nights. You could get very sick, or worse."
He smirks a little, making no motions of putting away the paperwork. "As tempting as that sounds, I'm afraid it won't make the mountain of paperwork any smaller. Don't worry, I'll be fine," he tries to assure you. "Get some rest."
"If I may," you start, sitting down beside him as he takes another swig of tea, "it seems like a lot of work for one person to do alone. Have you considered hiring an aide or a consultant? It might make this a little easier for you."
"Are you offering your services?" he inquires, chuckling at the flustered look you adopt. "It's not that I haven't thought about it. But I don't know if I've reached that point yet, or if it's just another way of me shoving my burden onto someone else's shoulders."
Ugh, not this again. "Your Majesty..." you start to whine. He looks over at you just as worry floods your [e / c] irises. For someone as young as him, to suddenly have all these responsibilities was almost heartbreaking, particularly after the horror of seeing his father killed by his own uncle. And now he was going around acting like all the troubles of the world were his fault and no amount of atonement would make up for it, something you hoped he knew was only troubling to his friends. But sometimes whenever he looked at you, you could feel in his gaze that he knew how you felt and how sorry he was to upset you.
"Is something on your mind, [Name]?" he smiles faintly, his eyes looking into your very soul. "You're staring at me."
Doing your best to quell the feeling of nervous butterflies in your stomach, you look away from him and your pulse slows when you quickly discover a reason to turn your head: Wolf Pups. They all eye the camp with malicious hunger, giving you cause to spring to your feet and crack your knuckles. "Please wait here, Your Majesty," you instruct in a whisper, slipping out from his tent and glaring at the monsters. "I'll take care of this."
"I must insist," he suddenly appears at your side, his rapier drawn, "you let me deal with them and go back to your tent."
"With all due respect, sire, you're exhausted," you growl between clenched teeth. If he forced his way into a fight, you couldn't guarantee his safety. "There's only three, I can handle this."
Richard snorts quietly through his nostrils as you assume your fighting stance. "I must say, I've never seen a woman so eager to play the hero."
Your eyes avert. "It's not that I want to..." you mumble.
Mamoritai. [1]
Richard wastes no time stabbing one in its hind leg, but he fails to notice the second beast creeping up behind him. Its headbutt leaves Richard on his knees, and you can tell he's far more exhausted than he lets on. Normally such an attack would only briefly stun him.
Realizing you need to end this, and quickly, you send one ricocheting into the other and pounce on the third before it can attack Richard again, using a series of punches, kicks, and body slams to bring it to its end. Seizing a fallen branch on the side of the road, you fling it as hard as you can towards one of the other two, knocking it off the side and down into the water.
The last one growls and starts making its way towards you, and you grab Richard's sword (being sure to apologize first) and commence swinging at the beast. Whether it jumps into your clumsy rampage or gets frightened into running away, you don't care which happens first so long as it leaves the camp.
The Wolf Pup lets out a whine when you slash it across the chest and slowly dies. You heave a sigh of relief as the others, no doubt awakened by the sounds of the scuffle, come rushing out to investigate. "What happened? What's going on?" Asbel demands, his sword in one hand and its sheath in the other.
"Richard! Are you okay?" Cheria gasps, kneeling beside him and checking for injuries.
"You don't normally fight with a sword," Hubert remarks, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Wait, isn't that Richard's?"
"Everything is just fine," Richard nods, groggily rising to his feet. "[Name] and I were just dealing with some unwelcome guests."
"Y'okay, I'm going back to bed," Pascal yawns, going from alert to sleepy in .2 seconds as she turns back to her tent.
"Thank you for protecting us," Sophie bows her head to you and Richard before following Pascal's example.
As soon as the others have returned to their tents, you meekly offer Richard his weapon back, your head bowed in shame. "Thank you," he smiles, his brown eyes amused as he cleans the blood off his rapier.
"I'm very sorry for taking your sword," you apologize.
"Don't be ridiculous," he scoffs. "Your quick thinking saved us a lot of trouble."
"And thank you for your help...though it would've been better if you stayed back," you add, worried he'll misinterpret the meaning behind it.
"Well, much like being a king, defending those you care about isn't always easy when you do it alone, right?" he grins, resting a hand on your shoulder.
You look up into those deep chocolate orbs of his and try to slow down the rapid beating of your heart. Just looking into those eyes assures you he knows you said it because you were worried about him, as well as how touched he is by the gesture and his promise that you have nothing to worry about.
Your strength...shinjiteru. [2]
"Better get some rest," he decides, sheathing his rapier and straightening you from your bow.
"Okay," you nod with a smile.
He leans in very close, inspiring a faint blush that blossoms on your cheeks. "Sleep well, [Name]," he whispers in your ear before leaving a little kiss on your cheek.
As he walks back into his tent, a hand slowly rises to press your fingertips to the spot his lips just occupied.
Wasurenai kimi to kou shite... [3]
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[1] I want to protect you.
[2] I believe in it.
[3] I won't forget being with you
