Part 1!
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Wriothesley's POV
I dropped my work and showed up a Palais Mermonia quite early today.
Not an hour ago I got a letter from Sedene saying that Neuvillette was having a horrible day and I might want to come by if I want the staff to survive.
And so I came.
I walked past a few groups of deadly pale people whose eyes lit up as if they had finally seen the light as soon as they laid eyes on me.
That bad?
"Your Grace, please save us!"
"This is horrible!"
"He shouted! Monsieur Neuvillette never shouts!"
"It was just a minor mistake but..."
They all collectively shuddered and the speaker did not continue.
What kind of traumatizing thing happened here?
I quickly walked past them and up to Sedene.
"Sedene dear, what-"
"There was a bad trial and then another, and another. Finally, someone who was accused of abusing their child got off with nothing more than a restraining order and had to pay some compensation because of the lack of evidence. From what I know the evidence was destroyed by the defendant but there was no proof as of yet.
After that, he came back to a whole room's worth of paperwork and found a fault in one of them. He may or may not have vented out his frustration on the poor guy in charge of it."
That explains both the god-awful weather and the traumatized workers.
And angry Neuvillette is not someone you want to deal with.
I thanked Sedene for filling me in before going for the door of Neuvillette's office.
I didn't bother knocking and just opened the door to see-
I quickly shut the door, looking at Sedene questioningly.
"Didn't you say he was pissed?"
"He is. Annoyed, angry, and very tired. Now go and deal with it already."
I was pretty much kicked inside and the door slammed shut behind me, leaving me alone with Neuvillette.
And Neuvillette...
Well, he...
He was lying on the couch playing with some water floating around.
...
He certainly didn't look all that pissed.
It looked like it was only now that he noticed my presence, but he only gave me a single glance before clicking his tongue and looking away as if I was the biggest bother that could have walked through that door.
What the hell?
"Neuvillette-"
"I'm annoyed." He interrupted.
"What?"
"Pissed off even." He continued.
"Because of the trials?"
"Tsk! Trial this trial that. I'm pissed because I know exactly how to deal with those."
I followed his finger pointing to the piles of paperwork on his desk.
???
He was angry because he knew how to do his job?
"Damn it! If even I know how to do it then that means it has become an instinctual action at this point. Tsk! How humiliating. To think something like this would be engraved into a Sovereign's mind so deeply." He grumbled.
Wait...
"You're not-"
"How many times do I have to repeat that we're the same person?! You can't really say that I'm not him."
So, I was right.
Sigh...
"Why are you here? I remember hearing something about you not having enough strength to wander around outside anymore."
"I meant outside my body and that I can't do. Now, however, I'm still in my body and stuck here." Neuvillette grumbled annoyedly.
"Stuck?"
"Yeah. Great, isn't it? My precious other side decided that he had enough of today and went to sleep, leaving me to deal with... well, everything."
Phew!
For a second I was worried that something had happened to him.
Well, something did happen to him, it just isn't as bad as half the things that flashed through my mind just now.
"So now you-"
"Now I'm stuck here, in control, and for once I don't feel like it."
He dispersed the water floating above him and sat up, every single one of his actions radiating annoyance.
I couldn't help but chuckle at the display that was so different compared to Neuvillette's usual actions.
I walked over and sat down next to him, shocking him quite a bit.
"So. What's got you so annoyed?"
"Shall I make a list?" He asked sarcastically.
"Go for it if you want." I answered him with a smile.
No amount of sarcasm can beat me.
I'm Sigewinne trained.
He clicked his tongue in annoyance.
I watched as he tried to find a comfortable position only to fail miserably over and over. After a while, he turned to me, giving me a once over as his eyes lit up.
Before I knew it he had flipped around to lie on my lap.
What the-
I wasn't given the time to process the sudden turn of events as he started speaking.
"First of all, there were a whole bunch of bothersome bastards on trial today. It beats me why he suffers through all of them when he can just get up and leave and no one can stop him. The most undragonlike dragon I've seen in my life."
"How many dragons have you ever seen?"
As far as I know, he's the only one in Fontaine and he never left the nation since his birth.
So you yourself are the only one.
Sure enough, he had no answer to that.
"Anyway, after getting back here, he started doing paperwork, that cursed thing, and found some fault with them. I, for a fact, am aware that he was actually looking for fault, though only subconsciously. When he finally found a little mistake, he decided to just let out all his built-up frustration on that poor kid who was in charge of it. After that was done, exhaustion finally hit him and now here I am instead. Tsk!"
"So in short, you are annoyed cause Neuvillette not only acted against his instincts but also left you with his work."
"That damn bastard. Sometimes I doubt whether or not we're really the same person."
Yeah...
So do I.
Neuvillette really does have a whole lot of self-control if he can keep himself from acting like this on a daily basis.
Hmm...
How should I deal with this situation?
I'm guessing the gestionnaires would want to be as far from Neuvillette as possible at the moment.
I don't think it would be very convincing if I told them he's not angry anymore.
So...
Oh.
Oh!
Wait.
I have an idea.
...
No.
This is a horrible idea.
Neuvillette might kill me when he goes back to his usual self.
But...
It's tempting.
It's very tempting.
You know what?
Screw it!
Let's do it!
Having decided this, I turned to Neuvillette.
"You want to have some fun in Meropide?"