For The Eternal's Soul, His Dearest || WrioLette

IV

Neuvillette heard a knock on his office door when it was around the early evening. He walked towards the door and opened it, finding Wriothesley's figure holding a huge bouquet full of labeled fancy water bottles right in his full vision. Neuvillette eyed the taller man for a split second until a soft chuckle slipped out of his mouth.

"What a sight.." with a smile, Neuvillette puts his hand on Wriothesley's shoulder and leans in to give the black-haired man a peck on the lips.

"What's the occasion, my dear?" asked the white-haired man, taking the bouquet from Wriothesley's hands and holding it tenderly. Neuvillette, who appeared somewhat confused but open to finding out more, questioned, "And what do these...region-named bottles mean?"

"I will give you the details later, let's get in first now. I really need a shower after that long trip.." The duke sighed, yet he's very happy already seeing Neuvillette smile and laugh like that as soon as he came. "May I use your bathroom?" asked the black-haired man.

"Of course. You can take your time, love." Neuvillette answered.

"Excellent." replied the taller man along with a soft kiss on the Iudex's temple, "Thank you, hun."

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Even though it took Wriothesley a little bit to get dressed and clean himself, he and his beloved managed to prepare a fine home-dining set just as the sky was about to get the darkest of all. The duke assisted Neuvillette in the kitchen by helping with some cooking and preparations, but he was essentially just the Iudex's little helper when it came to mastering the recipe for his lover's signature dish. If nothing else, Wriothesley was a big help in getting the particular ingredient—a bottle of water from the top of Dragonspine's highest Mountain—needed to personalize the meal to the Iudex's preferences.

It was impossible for Neuvillette not to be impressed by Wriothesley's effort at lifting his spirits in those brief few days, and it certainly succeeded. And when the duke started narrating his experience filling up all those bottles. It never fails to elicit more than a grin and chuckle from the Iudex, and Wriothesley was pleased that his work did not go in vain.

"That is an interesting and exhausting journey you have in just a couple of days, Wriothesley." smiled the Iudex, his seamless white hair and blue tendrils shimmering in the soft glow of the moon. "And I really value the effort you put forth. However, you don't need to do this again in the future because I fear I would feel rather indebted." he then added.

"Please don't be, Neuvillette." replied the other man. "..You know what? Let me tell you this. I don't like you thinking lowly of yourself. You deserve this kind of affection, and you know very well how much more than happy I am to volunteer to be in charge of taking care of you." he assured, delicately grasping Neuvillette's hand. "Thus, kindly accept me and my actions without a single worry, alright?"

Neuvillette's ears and cheeks turned pink as one bigger hand curled around his own. He didn't want to display much emotion, so he let his hair fall to his shoulder and hide his ears. Particularly those sorts of emotions that would make him appear the most vulnerable. As his lilac gaze locked with the duke's icy blue, Neuvillette opened his mouth to speak but instead took an inhale and then released it again.

"I-I don't know what to say about that, Wriothesley." he sighed softly, looking somewhat flushed. "But I guess I could say I appreciate how deeply you favor me in your perspective.. And I may consider looking at myself the way you do, like you said."

Upon hearing Neuvillette's response, Wriothesley's face broke into a sincere smile. A shudder ran down Neuvillette's spine as the black-haired man pulled on Iudex's hand and gave it a loving kiss on the back.

"I feel very lucky to have you, Wriothesley. I never want to let you out of my grasp." muttered the white-haired man, caressing the other man's jaw with his tapered fingers.

"So am I."

Yet a bad conversation marks the end of a supposedly lovely night. Matters took a turn for the worst just as Wriothesley was beginning to feel that everything was going well and that he had successfully kept Neuvillette pleased. Before it happened, it was expected that the duke and the Iudex were in bed, getting ready for a restful night's sleep and an ideal morning farewell. However, Wriothesley asked a question that set off a series of occurrences that were not what he had anticipated.

The duke had hoped to get some information from Neuvillette regarding what had caused him to break down the other day, but it appeared that the Iudex was not ready to be questioned about it again in the meantime, so he responded quite severely, which resulted in another awkward parting the following day. And this, got Wriothesley all worked up again like before.

Both parties know that communication is indeed important in a relationship, but one cannot seem to open up yet and is hesitating while the other does not want to encourage his partner to open up since he thought it would rather put up more pressure to his partner, which thus, caused both of them to just run in circles the longer the hesitating partner won't open up.

Truly, Neuvillette has a thorough understanding of it. He also understands how it affects his partner. However, he isn't even aware of the reason behind his actions alone. The complete reverse of how he acts when he is with the duke—all buttoned up and unable to open up. He experiences a sense of being shackled and feels as though something is cutting off his voice cord when he tries to express his issues, and it is undoubtedly dreadful for him.

Then, well, there they are again. Distancing from each other for as long until at least the Iudex reaches the duke from a single letter, indicating that he wants Wriothesley to visit him, or he wants to visit the fortress himself. That was, after all, what Wriothesley had anticipated.

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Wriothesley was in his office until midnight, having decided to put in extra hours because he needed to get rid of the thoughts of Neuvillette that had been bothering him all day. After Sigewinne, he simply put on a noise canceling device so he could concentrate on his work that evening as he didn't anticipate any visitors. However, he was unaware that he genuinely has, because there's actually an important visitor who has been knocking and standing behind his closed but unlocked office door since earlier.

On the contrary, the guest, who is Wriothesley's lover himself, appeared anxious as there was no response from within. Then he made the decision to open the door, and to his relief, it was unlocked. Not intending to startle the duke, the man entered the office gently. Yet, he went straight up to the duke after noticing that he was wearing a noise canceling device.

Wriothesley didn't appear to be aware of the Iudex's presence at all, suggesting that he was mostly focused on his paperwork. Conversely, Neuvillette finds it endearing because he doesn't often see his partner acting as gravely around him. The white-haired man watched the duke in silence after that, which he actually kind of enjoyed.

It took some while until the duke finally noticed Neuvillette's appearance. At first, he ignored the man's figure since he thought it was just a figment of his imagination, but the longer he ignored the figure, the more he saw him vividly and it frightened him a bit. Wriothesley then decides to take his noise canceling device off and look at the side of his office's couch where Neuvillette's figure is sitting.

"Are you real? Or are you just my hallucination?" he asked his lover who looked pretty much fazed at his question.

The Iudex's lips then curved into a faint smile before he answered, "I think you need a rest. It's concerning if you do hallucinate much about me that you doubt my existence now, Wriothesley."

At that point, Wriothesley is relieved that the man before him is real, but he is also a little concerned because he knows that his lover only comes to his workplace to discuss important matters. Not to mention that before coming tonight, the Iudex didn't write him anything. He was left wondering what brought Neuvillette to his office prior to speaking, but it turned out that the Iudex was the one who started the conversation by explaining things.

"I think it's time for me to explain things to you regarding my emotional state lately.." uttered the man quietly.

"..Please do. I'm willing to listen, Neuvillette."