Valentine's Day Special // WMMAP One-shot

Valentine's Day Special

  It was rare for Claude to be walking about in the palace gardens late at night. Usually, he would be in his personal chambers around this time, either fast asleep or drunk on alcohol... Though, ever since his relationship with a certain red-haired knight began a few months ago, most of the nights they shared...

  ... Well, let's just say by the next morning the emperor would feel sore all over, and he would always end up with several hickeys and bite marks on his skin.

  Claude looked down at the note given by his daughter earlier this evening. He was still in his office at the time when Athanasia suddenly waltzed into the room with a bright smile which made him suspect that she wanted something from him. Well, not exactly because she only went inside to give him a note before leaving. 

  That wink she did before leaving though would always make him suspect that she was up to something.

The neatly folded sheet of small paper only had a few words written on it.

  'Meet me underneath the palace gazebo at night, once the fireflies start to appear. I sincerely hope you'd be there.'

  It was apparent that the note had been written by Felix judging by the neat handwriting. Claude wondered why he had barely seen the knight today since it seemed that the man had been ignoring him on purpose. The last time he had seen the man was early in the morning when Felix woke him up by kissing him on the cheek gently. And after he said that he had some things to attend to, it was as if he had disappeared from the face of the earth.

  Sure, it was an exaggeration but what do you expect? Claude was getting irritated from Felix's absence alone. Even Athanasia teased him about it, comparing him to a young teenager who got upset easily if their partner forgot to say "I love you" to them because they were busy with work or something.

  "I'm not that desperate for love and attention from others...," Claude mumbled to himself, still in denial about it. 

  Finally, he arrived at the meeting place. The garden's large gazebo made from marble surrounded by rose bushes. There were flowering vines wrapped around its pillars and underneath the gazebo was the familiar white table with two chairs positioned across from each other. Everyone in the palace knew this place as the emperor's and princess' spot for their private tea parties.

  "Felix? Where are you?" Claude asked out loud after walking inside the gazebo. The knight was nowhere to be seen. Wasn't he the one who wanted to meet up here? So where was he? This annoyed the emperor greatly. "... How unsurprising that he is late, even though he was the one who set up the meeting time so late at night," he mumbled while running his fingers through his blond hair, slightly annoyed by this.

  As he looked around the gazebo out of pure boredom in order to pass the time, as well as to wait for Felix's arrival, he never realised just how pretty the palace garden actually looked, especially at night. He rested his arms on the gazebo's railing, watching in slight interest as the fireflies dimly lighting up the garden.

  To be completely honest, Claude had a soft spot for animals. To be more specific, the smaller animals you would often see in your typical garden. Squirrels, hedgehogs, rabbits, chipmunks, birds... There was this one time Claude was caught trying to get closer to a small rabbit he had seen hiding behind one of the bushes by Felix but due to his intimidating looks, the poor animal just ran away.

  Felix was the only one who knew about the royal's fascination with animals. And he was also the only one who knew of his bad luck in getting closer to them. So he would always help out by letting any of the animals warm to him first before showing them off to Claude who just looked at them with silent appreciate.