Once Upon a Nightmare

Sage Advice

Sebek paced the common room like an expectant father. Worry and confusion lined his face, marring his handsome features. His Prince, the future King of Briar Valley, and his longtime idol, had walked into Diasomnia dazed as the dead. Something had happened, something that put the normally calm and cool Malleus Draconia off his stride. It troubled him.

"You're going to wear out the floor if you keep pacing like that, Sebek…" Silver told him, half asleep as he attempted to read his book. 

"How can you be so calm? Something is troubling our lord, and you're sitting there dozing off as if nothing is wrong." Sebek flicked his wrist impatiently. "You call yourself a guard?" 

"According to father there's nothing physically wrong with him… which means whatever happened was psychological.  He won't speak to us, so let father deduce what the problem is and then we will do our jobs and deal with it."

"I hate waiting… I hate just standing around when Lord Malleus is- AH!" Sebek was on Lilia the minute he appeared in the room. "Lilia-sama! How is our young lord?"

"Calm yourself, Sebek…" Lilia raised his hands up. "Malleus is fine, he's just had a little bit of a shock that's all." 

"A shock?" This from Silver who immediately stood up. "What happened?"

"Well…" Lilia debated on how much to tell them… and quickly voted for at least half disclosure. "Without meaning to, he walked in on a woman disclothing." 

…

…

"DISCLOTHING?!?!?!"

"Oh, Malleus-sama…" Sebek fell to his knees sobbing. "Your poor virgin eyes, to be sullied by a lowly woman." 

“You make it sound as if it were her fault…” Lilia chuckled. 

“Well clearly the woman has no shame as she was disrobing in a public space.” Sebek crossed his arms with a huff. “For I know our Lord isn’t the type to disturb another person’s private space without announcing himself first.” 

“Actually…” Lilia’s lips turned upright into a mischievous grin. “He peered at her through a window.” 

“What!? You mean Lord Malleus-” Sebek held his head and grasped the wall for support. “I feel light headed. What has become of him after being forced to mingle with these rambunctious common folk?” 

“Settle down, now...” Lilia laughed, but his smile quickly faded. Perhaps it was a good thing he hadn’t told the two of the other things he’d seen in Malleus’ chambers. 

~Flashback~

Lilia peered into Malleus’ chambers holding a tray with some stew he’d made, the questionable liquid bubbled black, green, and red with various chunks of meat poking out. He started to announce himself, but his sharp ears pricked up at the sound of Malleus’ voice. 

“I like her… I love her… I like her… I love her… I like her…” Malleus held a single rose and was plucking the petals from the stem, his cheeks unusually flushed and eyes focused on the laxing task. As he plucked the last petal, his heart skipped a beat. He held it out as if it held all the answers in the world. “So it is true… I’m in love with Yuu.” 

The tray clattered to the ground and Malleus’ head whipped around and spotted Lilia standing in the doorway looking awestruck. 

“Lilia I…” He glanced at the petal and carefully folded it up into his hand then held the fist to his flushed face. “Forgive me, I didn’t hear you come in.”