Ten Miles of Red Sakura Blossoms

Chapter Twelve

AN/: EDITED! :)

"A-Gun!"

"Er-er! How did this happen to you? Siegrain told me that he found you injured in Father's study?" De Gun said worriedly. Erza watched Jellal suspiciously. He had promised her that he wouldn't tell anyone!

She felt guilty, however, as she looked at her older brothers' knitted brows. He looked so much like their father that it made it difficult to confide in him when she did anything bad.

"I don't know what happened." She said in a small voice. It was still the honest truth. Jellal sighed, and their eyes turned to him for some sort of guidance.

'Tell him what you told me. He won't be angry with you. I've known my lord since he was very young; he is very responsible.'

'But what if he tattles on me to Father?'

"Seig, do you know any way to fix this before our parents find out? If we don't know how it happened, we need to make up a convincing story until we figure out how to fix it. Mother and Father are having problems at the moment, and Mother is still very ill; we can't ask for their help unless we run out of options." De Gun said.

"I agree, my lord, and no, unfortunately I do not know how to fix this matter yet. I will look for information in the archives immediately, and I will search the records to see if such a phenomenon has ever occurred before. If it has happened before, there should be a method to rectify this case before Dijun finds out."

"That's an excellent idea, Seig! I knew I could count on you!" De Gun said, and Jellal smiled at them tiredly. It didn't seem like either of them would be resting any time soon, at least not until her body was back to the way it was supposed to be.

Her toes curled with guilt, and she cringed as she hesitantly tugged at her brother's sleeve. De Gun was a good two, to two and a half heads shorter than her now, and it made her feel strange to have to look down into his caring eyes.

"A-Gun, do you promise you won't tell Father?" She asked him. De Gun smiled and patted her hand placatingly.

"Of course not. Father has his own problems to deal with right now, and mother..." he trailed off, and thinned his lips before looking back at Jellal, "hey Seig? Wouldn't it be best for Er-er to stay here until her body is back to normal? Mother needs some time to rest in peace, and Father will definitely find out about this if I bring Er-er back to Qing Qiu to live with Grandpa and me for a few days. You know how unreasonable Grandpa can be..."

Siegrain had begun shaking his head frantically before her brother had even finished speaking, and he raised his arms to bow to her brother as he politely denied his request.

"My lord, I'd rather not. If Dijun does find out, and you know he has his ways-"

"Surely it won't take you that long to solve this issue, Seig? I'm sure my little sister won't cause you any problems, will you, Er-er?"

"I won't, I promise! I can even help Jellal chase away that girl who keeps bothering him!"

"Who is Jellal? What girl?"

"My lord-!"

"Siegrain is Jellal, he is the man who saved me at Rosemary village after the village was ceased, when Mother and Father left me there to wait for them." She explained, and watched as an expression of utmost gratitude and faithfulness washed over her brother's face, as he looked up at Jellal. She smiled at Jellal too. He was too modest not to accept any reward for his good deeds. She was glad that someone else knew what a good man he was!

"Seig, it was you who saved my little sister? Thank you!" De Gun said, and kneeled in front of Jellal, who quickly pulled him to his feet before her brother could bow in gratitude.