Black Rose

And Then...

Mimosa apologized profusely after they managed to bring Yami to the Wizard King's residence where he was given a room for the time being. "I am so sorry, Captain Charlotte, I didn't know you were.. I wanted to help out. I was trying to calm him down with my sleeping pollen spell but his dark magic was too powerful I couldn't get to him. I had to wait for the perfect timing when he.. lowered his guard so I could traquilize him directly. By the time I realized the situation, it was too late."
"It's fine, at least nobody got hurt," Charlotte said quietly.
"But he's gonna wake up, right?" Finral asked.
"Of course," she replied cheerfully. "I used the tranquilizer for magical beasts, he'll be fine in a couple of hours.. probably."
Finral chuckled, "Yeah, I'm pretty sure normal tranquilizers won't work on the captain." He stopped talking when Mimosa motioned towards Charlotte. She looked solemn sitting right next to Yami's bed.
He remembered what she said earlier at the cathedral after Captain Yami passed out:
She turned to her parents who were still in shock about what happened. "I'm sorry, Father, Mother, as I thought, I can't marry someone I don't love."
Finral was grinding his teeth in envy. How the hell did his brute of a captain manage to capture the heart of the kingdom's most beautiful woman? Should he start working out?

Yami woke up an hour later. Finral rushed to his side, "How are you feeling, Yami-san?" His face was awfully close above him.
"Get your face off of me." Yami pushed Finral's face away from him. "Where is this? What h-" he stopped mid-sentence when realization hit him. He bolted upright in bed. "What happened to the wedding?"
"I..." Finral suddenly thought of something, he tried his best act then. "I guess they pushed through the wedding."
"What?!"
"There's no reason to cancel it, is there?"
"How is that possible when I-!"
It was the first time Finral saw his captain looked so lost and desperate. He hid his grin. "Don't you remember what happened, captain? You passed out."
Yami frowned. "That's impossible."
"Mimosa Vermillion was one of the wedding guests. She sneaked up on you and used her magic to put you to sleep."
"Yes, I noticed that Golden Dawn kid's ki but I made sure she couldn't get to me."
"She had her chance when you were.. distracted."
The creases on Yami's forehead intensified, making him even more intimidating that he already was. "Huh?? That can't be right. Why can't I remember?"
Finral decided to tease him further. "Maybe it was the shock?"
"Why would I be shocked?"
"Captain, don't you remember? Captain Charlotte said she's in love with someone."
The look on his captain's face was one for the books. He looked properly shocked as Finral had hoped. Serves you right, you stupid captain! How could you forget Captain Charlotte's act of love? It must have took all her courage to do it! He pretended not to notice Yami's surprise and continued, "I must say, captain, I didn't expect you to crash a noble's wedding. Whoa, Captain Charlotte must be-"
Yami decided that he talked too much. Before Finral could guess what he was up to, his captain's ripped arm lashed out and closed his mouth shut. He lifted him off the ground with one hand like it's nothing. If looks could kill, Finral would be dead on the spot.
"What are you doing? Put him down, Yami." The newcomer didn't even raise her voice but Captain Yami complied at once. Not even the wizard king could make Yami follow orders that fast, he noted. Yami clucked his tongue and looked away.
Finral immediately stepped back and hurried to the door to give them time alone.
Charlotte was wearing her usual armor sans the helmet. She was exquisite. He kinda wished he teased his captain more for capturing this beauty.
As he passed her by, he whispered, "Good luck."

Charlotte took a deep breath secretly. She simulated their conversation in her mind over and over before coming here. She couldn't turn back now, she kissed him in front of her own parents and a couple of magic knights (as everyone else was busy warding off Yami's dark magic).
She hesitantly approached the bed. The closer she got, the redder her face became. Things were so hectic earlier she hadn't had time to drink his image in until now. He's got a couple days old beard which made him even more manly, the same unkept hair... and those muscles... did he get more muscular?
He wasn't even looking at her. He was reaching for his pack of cigarettes in the nearby bedside table and lit one up.
She stopped at the foot of the bed, she's afraid she'd embarrass herself again if she got too close to him. Her hands were trembling so she gripped them together tightly away from his eyes.
Come on, Charlotte! You've been preparing for this moment for the last three years, don't lose nerve now, she told herself.
"You shouldn't be here."
She was caught off guard by his sudden remark. A million questions ran through her mind in an instant. Was he turning her down?
She looked at him but his face just spelled boredom all over. She was thoroughly perplexed. "I'm here because I've to tell you something."
"You didn't need to bother, I got it," he replied nonchalantly.
She was rendered speechless. So he's not even gonna hear her out? She got dumped just like that?
"I'm sorry I caused a scene at your wedding. I guess your now Mrs. Squid Face, huh? Good for you."
"My wedding? Mrs. Squid-face?" she was incredulous. "You're not making any sense."
"Didn't the wedding happen?"
"Uh, yeah, it did."
"I just wasted my time then," Yami looked sullen, like a kid who didn't get his own way but trying to act indifferent. "I thought you would definitely put those stinky nobles in there place but you bowed down to them in the end."
Realization hit her then, there's only one plausible explanation for his behaviour. "You don't remember, do you?"
"Does it matter if I don't remember everything?"
She felt like screaming. It took all of her willpower to do what she did and he forgot?! She was fuming. "Do you have any idea what I've been through, you big oaf?"

It was Yami's turn to be confused. He had never seen Charlotte Roselei lose her temper before. No matter how teased her before, she would just give him a cold shoulder but at the moment, she looked like she wanted to throttle him. Shouldn't he be the one pissed off here? He took the trouble to "save" her but she went and got married anyway!
"You got married on your own accord, why are you mad?"
"Of course I did not get married! It wasn't even my wedding!"
"What!" he snapped.
"It was my cousin's!" She yelled back.
"Then why the hell were you wearing such a gaudy white dress?"
"My father forced me to wear it! You jumped into conclusions on your own and made a scene. Why do you even care if I marry?"
He opened his mouth to argue but he realized he didn't have an answer. It was only at that moment that he took the time to think of his own actions but his mind was blank. The moment he heard Charlotte's being forced to marry, he stopped thinking entirely and just... rushed in head first.
Unexpectedly, that calmed him down. "You're right, it's none of my business. Sorry. I won't do it again."
Instead of accepting his simple apology, Charlotte seemed to explode with fury. She turned into a hellion in an instant. With a flip of her wrist, volumes of rose vines flowed from the hilt. They crept under the bed and flung it - with him still on it - across the room with a loud crash, the bed was reduced to smithereens.
The impact almost embedded Yami's body on the bedroom wall like some modern art.
Yami pushed himself off of the wall like it was nothing. Julius wouldn't make him pay for these, right?
"Dammit, Charlotte, what the h-"
He effectively stopped talking when he saw her. Her hands were fists on her sides and her face gave him a look he would never ever forget.
She was biting her lower lip hard, her nose was red and her brows were furrowed. It was as if she was trying to contain her emotions.
He hesitantly stepped towards her. "O-oi, what's wrong-"
But she wouldn't face him anymore. "I don't care anymore, do as you like!" She turned around to leave but not before he saw the tears glistening from the corners of her eyes. She slammed the door behind her.
He was left dumbfounded.