Tamed || Wriothesley x Reader

Chapter 56

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"I understand you have questions. But can it not wait until after my match?"

Sigewinne had been pushing Wriothesley for answers to the many questions that had brewed after his revelation of Chronie. She suspected that the two had something going on behind closed doors before, but now, it seemed that her suspicions were only confirmed.

"You can't just say something like that and expect me to sweep it all underneath a rug." She huffed, trying to block his pathway at the front door. "And you're clearly bottling a lot of things up, Wriothesley. You were just on the verge of breaking down, and now you're acting like nothing is wrong at all."

Wriothesley scoffed, crossing his arms. "I've said all that I needed to say. What more do you want from me?"

"The truth!" She exclaimed, her cheeks burning red from frustration. "Why is Chronie stopping you from being with Y/N?"

Wriothesley sighed, lowering his arms back down to his sides. "I'll see you later, Sigewinne."

With ease, he gently pushed her to the side, walking out the door. He didn't have time to be bothered by a plethora of questions that didn't need to be answered at the moment. What he needed to do was go to the Pankration Ring and participate in his upcoming match.

The walls of the Fortress seemed to be... smaller to him as he made his way to the Ring. It felt like the space was slowly closing him in, day by day, but he knew it was just his mind playing tricks on him. Nothing has changed; nothing. Same old prison, same old snooty prisoners, same old workload...

Same old Wriothesley.

Upon entering the Ring, he had greeted the host, his usual stoicism plastered on his face. "Evening, Roussimoff."

Roussimoff gave a nod, his voice as gruff as usual. "Evening, Duke. Here for your six o'clock match, correct?"

"That's right." Wriothesley nodded, taking off his coat. "Need to warm up a bit before I get out there."

"You have plenty of time." Roussimoff said, crossing his arms. "There's a match going on at the moment. But due to your opponent falling ill, we've had to make some different arrangements."

He paused, raising a brow at him. "Ill? What, he overworked himself again?"

"No." Roussimoff replied with a shake of his head. "There's a cold going around down here. I'm surprised you didn't know..."

Wriothesley's brows furrowed in confusion at that revelation. He was always the first, or at least second to know about anything that pertains to the Fortress. So, the fact that Sigewinne didn't tell him that bristled him a bit.

"Well, I'll have to have a talk with our head nurse to see what's going on in more detail." He said, his voice carrying a small bite.

"I'm sure she's just had her hands tied behind her back with the amount of prisoners who are sick." Roussimoff chuckled, "But it seems like a nasty cold."

"Hm." Wriothesley cleared his throat, shifting his gaze towards the Ring. "So, who's up against me?"

"Estienne and Galvaryet are up at the moment." He explained, "Depending on the winner, we're going to have a surprise guest go up next. Then, after that, you'll fight the winner of that match."

"Surprise guest?" Wriothesley echoed, "Since when has that become a thing?"

"Since a few days ago." Roussimoff mused, "I wasn't expecting it either, but it was a good opportunity that I took a chance at."