Clovis' Point of view
I sigh heavily.
How did it turn out like this? It was only supposed to be a single month of hard work, where nothing would be changed...
I- have to go ask Beatrix why she'd do something like that.
I push off the bedpost and wander tiredly through the palace to the gate, and to Beatrix's mansion. Knock on the knocker, and because the door opens fairly quickly, I expect a servant, but it's only Beatrix again, with a loosened corset and bare feet. From the way her dress sags a bit, that one is probably loosened too.
"You... really..."
"How do you manage to look worse than this morning?"
I give her a stiff stare, but she looks genuinely surprised.
"Because someone was trying to poke my cheek to wake me up, and now Delia thinks I slept with you," I accuse her rather bluntly.
"Poke? Ahh~, I was checking how deep the bags under your eyes were."
"And why by the gods were you doing that?"
She stares at me for a long moment after I ask that, and then looks away somewhat awkwardly, while brushing loose strands of hair behind her ear.
"You know I can see into the royal gardens, right? I've seen you running back and forth like a fool for a week, so I decided to check up on you before you fell over with exhaustion. I figured you wouldn't let me check while you were awake, so I may have crossed some boundaries..."
I sigh.
How the mighty has fallen, if I need Beatrix to look after me. I guess Delia must have looked at or said something to Beatrix that made her angry, so she moved away and called me to wake up.
"It's fine, as long as you don't mess things up more, or do that again."
I take a step down from the stairs to her door. With that cleared up, I should go back now.
"Is she still the girl you fell in love with?"
I pause, and grit my teeth.
"It makes no difference," I end up snapping back at her.
"Do you hate me that much?"
I'm tired of playing games. This isn't how things were supposed to turn out.
I turn back, losing my temper, as I grab Beatrix by the arms, and pour out the frustration that has been building up for weeks.
"This is all because of you! You set up a situation you knew she couldn't handle. A situation where she would be miserable! You knew she would be jealous of Louise, and knew that she would be miserable not even to get a single full day with me, because otherwise our agreement wouldn't be valid! You've done your absolute best to make this month as miserable for me and her as possible! You're cruel, you are calculated, and I hate you! I hate you for making me doubt her!"
I puff. That is right. That is why I never looked at Beatrix. She's cruel.
"Isn't Delia cruel too?"
My heart sinks, and my eyes tear up, revealing things I don't want to realize. I look up at Beatrix, and see only calmness in her eyes, though I'm pouring everything out on her like this...
"She doesn't trust you. She turns people against you, that she gets to rescue her, from you. Humiliates you in public. You may call me calculative, but I don't turn your friends against you with teary eyes, or use those teary eyes to get whatever I want when I'm unhappy."
"Shut up... Delia doesn't... she doesn't..."
"Then why are you here? Coming to my home late at night again, instead of being with her at the palace?"
The unsaid truths in her words string bitterly.
"Because... I had to know why you did it... so I could scold you."
"Scold me for taking better care of you than Delia?"
Yes. No... So I could avoid to realize that everything keeps breaking apart faster than I can fix it.
The clarity of her words hurt.
"What did I do wrong, Beatrix?"
I loosen my grip, and instead plop my head down on her shoulder. Selfishly seeing solace.
"You got blinded by love... that's all. Something everyone tries at one point. You just wanted an escape from being the prince. Or rather, you just wanted a warm love to return home too."
She caresses my back, letting me be selfish once again.
"Have you ever fallen blindly in love too?"
I'd once convinced myself she was blindly in love with me, but now I'm doubting she even had any affection for me... even a smidgen.
"No. Not even once."
See.
"After all, until I am no longer your betrothed, all of my devotion belongs to you. Whether you want it or not."
...I give a small huff of a laugh at those words.
"But you don't love me."
I feel like I can hear a smile in her response.
"I'm not foolish enough to love someone that hates me, and wants to hurt me. Even from when we were kids, and you promised me that you'd never throw me away, you only always swore that it was because our family would bring you back to power."
...did I say that?
I probably did.
"You weren't cute at all."
She huffs back at me.
"Cuteness is relative and subjective."
I smile vaguely.
"Like when you looked more hurt by that slap than I was."
...
"It did certainly not," she protests after a short pause. Sounding stubborn, but insincere.
"Either way, it seems like you've calmed down enough to head back. We've stood in the door long enough."
She gently moves a hand between us.
This idiot still doesn't have any servants or guards.
"Just a bit more... and I'll be ready..."
She pushes me back properly this time, and puts a bit of distance between us, looking at me seriously.
"I am not your therapist. I will not fix you and Delia's problems. Remember, I am the one that made the situation, such that they would appear."
I stare at her.
She did.
She set it up so that I would see the worst sides of Delia, since I've been comparing the two of them and calling her a villainess.
She set this up, expecting a clear cut answer from me, not something half hearted. If anything, she set me up for the same pain I was planning for her...
But that isn't all, is it...?
"The reason you don't have any guards or servants... is it so that I would come running to you in the middle of the night like this?"
She flinches.
I think this is the first time I've actually truly figured her out.
If a guard or servant got in the way, I wouldn't be as foolishly bold, and I'd run back halfway or turn at the door, worried about public perception.
She slowly glances away.
I can't tell if I've walked into a trap, or attempted saved from my own stupidity, but either way thinking of it from the perspective of Beatrix highlights objectifies the situation for me.
Assuming she knew that Delia would end up crying with someone, then she knew I'd come running, and she'd be able to deal with me out of the public eye, something she usually never does. She's been more aggressive about having me in private, to show off sides of herself, that she can't display in public.
Was I being so stubborn, that she had to set up this bothersome thing, for me to notice her saying she's a suitable partner?
Beatrix unfolds a fan from who knows where, and hides her expression behind it.
Even more importantly, it highlights that my struggles to keep Delia happy have probably been futile.
"Did you affect Louise too?"
I remember how weirdly Louise reacted before I left, and since Louise's superior in the ministry is Beatrix's father, she does actually have sway over her. More importantly, I just need cleared up how far Beatrix's scheme has affected the world around me.
"No. But Delia probably tried to gain an ally in Louise, because she's a woman. But Louise is your friend. She's not blind."
I stare at Beatrix for a few moments... She's going to wrap me around her finger, if I let her. She is terrifying, to be honest. I remember thinking, that it seemed like she was looking down on me. I wonder if she still is.
She probably is. With how much of a mess I am.
Honestly, right now I'm pathetic.
But she really doesn't take me seriously enough.
I look back to the castle, where I know Delia is crying her heart out again.
"Did you sleep in the same bed as me when I was here last?"
"Do I seem like a fool? Sleeping in the same bed as a man leads to cuddles, and cuddles lead to awkward questions in the morning. I need you to make a choice based on your heart and brain, not anything else."
She says it all with a huff.
I'm relieved, knowing she wouldn't do something like that without me knowing, but also that I know where I stand with Beatrix right now.
A choice.
The choice of hoping Delia will change, and become a good queen, or the choice of choosing this bully, that would without a doubt stay with me unless I try to kill her.
"So, you have figured out, or remembered my devious plan, to make you realize that Delia isn't flawless, and life with her will contain many small heartbreaks. You've tried it now, after all. Also, seemingly, more than I expected. What will you do?"
...
"Get some guards," I scold her, the second time.
Then step out the door away from her.
"Eh?"
She looks so confused, shocked even, as I glance behind me one last time.
I'm done playing games, with both of them.
--*--
I go back to the palace, where Louise greets me with an exhausted look on her face. It's been a long day for her too.
"Clovis... I'm glad you came back tonight..."
I nod.
"How is she?"
"...she's... still upset. She got more upset as she found out you left the palace, but she's relatively stable right now."
"I see."
No more games. I have to take control of the situation... I must.
I look to one of the guards.
"You'll deliver a summons to Maximillian to arrive here by tomorrow night exactly."
Louise tilts her head.
"Isn't he under house arrest?"
Yes, because of Beatrix's schemes. But in this case, I'm pretty sure they'll let him go. I should add a letter to Beatrix' mother.
"Don't worry. With what I have in mind, Maximillian will be here come hail or storm. Probably even if they cut his legs off."
After all, he's as big of an idiot as I am.
"I'll be sleeping in the office tonight."
"You... won't go back to Delia?"
"...No... I am not ready yet. I can't make anyone happy like this, not even myself."
Louise looks at me with worry.
Next evening
As planned Maximillian arrives around dinnertime, where he appears in my office, as I try to finish dinner, before the meetings continue.
Louise has been acting as an intermediary between Delia and me... or rather, trying desperately to keep Delia from spinning out of control. Not Louise's specialty.
This has been the longest I haven't seen Delia since we got here.
"You called."
Maximillian looks at me with his curly blonde locks bouncing in thick waves, just like his sister.
"We are going to set a plan in motion, Max. A plan to make Delia happy."
He perks up.
"Just tell me what you need done."
I'm sorry Maximillian... and Beatrix.
"She's distraught by one of Beatrix's schemes. She's somehow put into Delia's head, that Delia isn't good enough to be queen. But, though I've tried to tell her that she is, I think she needs to hear it from someone else. Once she's calmed down a bit, and my last meeting is done around ten, you will bring her to the north garden fountain to meet me. I have a plan from there, so just go along with it."
He nods determinedly, and walks off hurriedly, probably excited to see her. I was far from the only one vying for Delia's hand, but the only one she had eyes for.
"...are you sure about this?" Louise looks at me doubtfully, clearly noticing Maximillian's reaction. She wasn't with us at the academy, so she doesn't know exactly how many fancied Delia, but she can recognize a man in love with she sees one.
"Then, should things stay the way they are?"
She frowns.
"It will be fine. We are already villains to her. It can't go down from there."
I sigh.
Dealing with Delia's games, is far easier than dealing with Beatrix though.
I get up, go to my last meeting of the day.
This is the best answer I can come up with, for doing this properly... part of me hopes it won't work, but... I can't hesitate. For me, for Delia, and for Beatrix.