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Chapter Text

Chapter 1

Early Morning - Espresso’s Laboratorium , Parfaedium University

Professor Espresso watched concentrated, as a new coffee magic mixture fell in drops into plenty different pistons, flowing into a mess of tubes and pipes and drizzled into a glass container., with another, dark brown liquid swimming inside.

“Ah, finally. It’s beginning to work!”, he observed, almost excitedly.

Of course he was working again, like he almost always does. His schedule tends to stay the same: First tutoring the students, in the Parfaedia academy after the sun rises, and when the night slowly begins to fade at the sight of the bright golden light, Second, buying ingredients and coffee beans if needed, and the rest of the day (and night) experimenting with coffee magic. He usually only sleeps if it’s needed.

"I don’t have time for breaks after all.”, he mumbled thinking out loud once again.

He paced quickly, but concentrated from one station of his experiment to another, writing complicated calculations on his chalkboard. Regularly he made progress with this, but today was strangely… different? It seems like a new, important resident is coming to live in the kingdom, at least that is the topic of conversation he heard from his students around a week ago. But that was usually only mindless whispering, right? ‘You can’t really trust these, mostly rumors, he thought, while taking a sip from his, of course, black coffee.

Suddenly the mage flinched because of the sudden loud and hasty hammering on the door.. “

What in the world? What is going on today?”, he thought to himself disconcerted.

“Brother! Brother!” "Her?, not right now, not at this moment !” Espresso rushed to the door he looked before to have no distractions.

“Latte… What is up with you today, would you be so kind and stop destroying my door?! And what do you want now? Today is my day off, and as you could notice, if you've ever tried, I am incredibly busy! Do you really need to-”

Latte, his sister, who also teached at at the magic academy, ignored the furious lecture, of the other, rolled her eyes and just took him with her by his arm.

“The new resident will arrive soon~, and I would not want to miss them!”

“ Pardon, but I did NOT agree to be abducted by you, for whatever foolish reason you inform me in the last minutes about.“

“I know and I really don’t care.

The resident is coming today and we’ll be the first one to meet him!”, she smiled mischievously at him.

Oh he knew exactly what she planned. She tried to get him to know people for a while now, but Espresso managed to always get himself out of these situations but now it’s not going to be easy to escape. So he’ll just hope that Latte’s Plan won’t work.

☆

The siblings finally arrived at the place the hot air balloon is supposed to land. The place must be far away if they use that…

After waiting a while it seems like Latte's Plan will be unsuccessful, to Espresso's satisfaction. The crowd was big, which made him a bit uneasy, but Latte did not seem to notice.

“Latte, would you consider to finally letting go of my arm? I really do not like it at this place and you know how much I cannot stand other people.”, he almost pleaded.

“No. Not this time. My apologies. I knew that a lot of people were talking about it, but I did not expect them to show up. This is a rare event, so I wanted to seize this opportunity with you.

Her gaze rested shortly upon the other, before she whispered in a tone only she and Espresso were able to hear: “ You know, I am really worried about you Espresso. You never leave your lab if it is not absolutely necessary and you also never attempt to make friends. Everyone I I introduced to you, was quickly scared off by you. I can’t always be the only person you talk to. If I was not your sibling you would let no one near your side.” At the end of her sentence it was only a whisper, merely loud enough for both of them. Though the crowd was loud, for a few minutes all he heard was Latte’s lecture... The mage scoffed. Alas, he knew that she was right, nevertheless he was an incredibly prideful man and did not want to admit such vulnerability.

“I do not seek anyone to be friends with me and you know that. Focusing on my research is much more of interest for me.” Latte went quiet after this.

☆

The crowd descended into chaos. “There, There, they are here! Vanilla and Dark Choco are back with the new resident!"

Chaos flared up, as the voices of the big crowd merged into each other. Espresso had enough, this was ridiculous. He grew more infuriated by this utterly absurd circumstance he found himself in. Espresso did not want to let down his sister, as she only wanted the best for him, he knew that. Alas, he still fled the scene. It was just too much to bear.

The coffee mage swiftly found a way to hide in the dark, but beautifully calming woods, which were luckily not far away from the landing area of the airship landing place which was used to carry any new resident that arrived in the kingdom, depending on how far they were away.

Espresso used magic to cast a coffee colored (and scented) flame and glided quickly to the path used by him sometimes when he wanted to avoid others.

He perfected these uses of magic a long time ago, but for his students it takes months to perform well enough for their professor to be pleased.

☆

Finally after a while he arrived at his final destination - The Parfaedia Institut.

The Academy, also referred to as “The Magic Institut'' is determined to identify and acknowledge the talent in young wizards and mages of any kind. Professor Espresso has, as any academic in teaching, his own research room, an experiment laboratorium.

The talented scientist almost never leaves this place, as he sees it as an “unnecessary distraction” and “a waste of precious time”. He only does it when he is out of precious ingredients which only he knows when and how to acquire them. While the coffee mage was on his way to unlock the door to his somewhat “second home” by now, he heard a faintly familiar voice.

“Professor Espresso, how nice to see you around here today!”

“Ah… Professor Eclair. Yes yes, the pleasure is all mine as well…” this greeting, if you can call it that, just oozes of what sounds almost like loathing.

The other man sighed.

“I suppose you need to return to your studies?"

Espresso's gaze rested shortly on Eclair, with a clearly annoyed look.

“Did you expect anything else, Professor?”

ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓ

Chapter Text

Chapter 2

Early Morning   - Espresso’s House 

Today Espresso needed new ingredients, including the high quality coffee beans he usually got from his favorite café. It was an important day, as this was one of the rarer days where the biggest market, only occurring every two to three months, took place.

It was the perfect time to restock on certain flasks and perchance even on other rare goods!

 ‘This experiment requires a big amount of coffee beans…

I also require more for my private stock, therefore it could be beneficial to go for a larger amount than usual. 

Based on my observations, Sparkling will not be able to grant me this extent of coffee beans, I will have to go to both places…’

The coffee mage exhaled audibly, before making himself on his way.

“Today will certainly be a long day.”

☆

It was autumn now and the weather was perfect. Neither was it too windy, nier too cold. The fresh gust made his dark brown hair, even though it was only chin long, an absolute mess, and scattered the pretty brown leaves everywhere. He had to admit to himself that this (very early) morning was a very windy, but beautiful one. Any feeling of frustration about failed experiments last night was gone.

The mage liked the feeling of his cape being blown up behind him and he could not resist a little  smile forming on his face. Sometimes even the admired and respected, but known to be, to a certain extent, a harsh and perfectionistic professor needs a moment of peace. 

He put out the coffee flame spell he used for illuminating the forest slightly and started to go north. As he stepped out of the woods, the man could already sense the big and packed market. He heard the chattering of many different people, the shouting of the salesmen and the laughter of children. 

The air was so flavor-packed that you could almost taste the different kinds of spices, florals and all different kinds of food. 

The town square itself did not look like it was far away at all and after the mage emerged from the forest completely, the huge colorful standing all around on the town square caught his eye right away. 

And he decided to try out his luck.

☆

The black liquid was poured in his cup by himself, while Espresso smiled satisfied. He got everything he wanted, even in the quality needed. Ah… Coffee. His favorite thing in the world. Just a cup of coffee and his research, he did not need more in life. After looking at the clock, Espresso took out the research notes he always had with him and his laboratory notes. 

Today was one of his weekly “summary day(s)”. This was a day or two where he summarized his successes and failures and described his research in detail. All of the above was done to understand better what needed to be perfectionated. 

“I should also start preparing the teaching material needed on Monday…”, the always busy man thought out loud.

Then he started to write.

☆

Next Day - Teacher’s room, Parfaedia Institut

Espresso was  in the staff room, of course with a cup of black coffee in his right hand and planning for his lecture. 

‘For the practical exam today everything is finally prepared.’

Deeply focused, he marked off more and more points on the checklist, until he was startled out of his thoughts by the sound of two familiar voices.

“Now here we have the first floor with the science lecture halls. This won’t be particularly interesting to you, but Latte and I were told that you will be patrolling nearby. So, if it is needed, you will find us either here or in our residence.”

“Oh I will take your advice to account Professor Eclair, but I won’t need your assistance. I am the knight commander after all!”

Espresso jolted up in surprise and shock, forcing him out of his thoughts.

This voice was new .

It’s deep and melodious tones intertwined in a very soothing way. 

Voices were nothing which particularly sparked Scientists curiosity usually. But

Latte and Eclair were without a doubt, not guiding a new scholar around, nor a new academician. 

Did something happen? 

No… That was not a possibility. The academy was provided with a warning system specifically designed for emergencies, including sudden attacks.

Espresso listened closely, trying to find the reason for this– until it came to him. 

The new resident!

But, still now he still had one more unanswered question left.

Why was he here?

Hearing the man speak provided a strange relation and complete difference in terms of visualizing his appearance and personality all at the same time, regardless of that it provided no extra information. 

He concluded that if it was anything important, Latte would have already informed him if it was.

After this conclusion he went to his lecture room.

Around twenty minutes later he heard a familiar voice on the hallway:

“Wait in front of the door please. We will continue soon, but I must ask my brother something urgent.”

The person he recognized as his sister knocked on the big and steady side by side door.

“Come on in.”, he replied, shortly taking a glance from his papers. 

What he saw was not only Latte (Eclair likely left), there also was a ( very ) tall man standing outside. 

The armor on him shined as brightly as his blonde hair, which almost reached the floor and despite this extreme length it looked like it's cared for a lot.

Suddenly realizing how long he has been staring at the mysterious knight, he quickly shifted his gaze towards his sister. 

“Here this is Cream Puffs Test. I feel like she would be perfect for your course as well!”, she said with pride in her voice, giving him a file and a transcript. 

Cream Puff was indeed a talented student in his sisters’ class who considered enrolling in his class as well. Latte adored the little girl and agreed to give her a ‘special mention’. 

“Hm, I agree. I know her. She is quite talented. I will look over her files, with these grades and your honest recommendation she might have an opportunity to enroll.”

Unusually nervous he adjusted his glasses and stored  the stapled documents  away.

“Latte?”

“Yes?”

“For what reason is there a light magic wielder standing in my study room?” 

Espresso observed the knight who, at this point in time, wandered around curiously. 

“Oh, that is the new resident!”, his sister smiled before turning around.

“Sir Madeleine? Don’t you want to introduce yourself?” 

The man, who truly stood out through  the contrasting color scheme of himself and the room he explored, turned around.

“By the Divines, how disrespectful of myself! Allow me to make acquaintances with you. I am Sir Madeleine the Knight Commander of the Créme Republic and the new resident living right on the border between the Kingdom and this delightful city! I was called to patrol around the Kingdom, until Dark Enchantress will be defeated. It is a pleasure to meet you!”

The knight was beaming at the one he was speaking with.

‘What an obnoxious person’, Espresso thought.

“Well and what are you doing in here then? I don’t need light magic in my lecture room nor do I need someone who comes in without any permission.”, he growled

Latte knew that she needed to jump in the “conversation” or it would have escalated. 

“Brother, calm down! Me and Professor Eclair were ordered to show him around and I wanted to give you the documents quickly after Eclair had to proceed alone. Don’t be such a prick, he was just interested!”

His sister tried her best to calm Espresso down, after all she had grown fond of the paladin.

“Hmm, so everything Latte told you was true after all!”, the knight let out a hearty laugh. “She talks a lot about you Professor. Your sister must really care about you, no?” he tilted his head curiously, seeming to wait on an answer.

The long, golden hair shimmered/shined in the sunlight.

Latte earned a glimpse  that was crystal clear to understand:

‘Get. him. out. ‘

Latte sighed, but still followed his silent command.

Sir Madeleine did not leave without a grin and a goodbye, through which Espresso's anger only grew bigger. He could not stand him, even though they met just mere minutes ago.

Then the bell rang, announcing the official start of his work day.

But no bell could prepare him for what would come rather often in his life—

Or rather who would .

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Chapter Text

Chapter 3

Morning - The Kingdom, Madeleines “Patrolling route”

It was the first day of him patrolling. 

The Knight Commander confidently followed the route, while greeting every person he encountered with a big smile and a heartwarming  greeting. 

It has only been a day and he knew more people than he could count by now. If Madeleine was asked how he managed to remember every person he encounters more than once he would just laugh and say:

“Oh, I have no idea myself! My assumption is that the Divine must have not only blessed me with divine power but also with a great memory!”

He also loved to engage with other people in conversations and had made it his mission to brighten everyone's day. 

And it worked!

 Every person he greeted, every person he talked with, after just a few minutes even the most sad ones smiled. There was just something about him that gave everyone around a warm feeling of safety and comfort.

While he made his rounds on his assigned path this early morning, he reflected on the first encounter with Professor Espresso. 

‘His sister told me that he was quite “ difficult” to interact with as a stranger .

Even after this “problem” was resolved, it was rather unusual for him to socialize as much as most people would hope he would.

Alas, I cannot stand the thought of someone not being affected by my great presence! Could I do something about this? Although he was very avoidant of me yesterday…

Well, whatsoever. I am going to try to do something about this, I am a knight commander blessed by the Divine after all!’

And with this thought in mind, Madeleine planned to visit a certain someone at the Parfaedia Institut the next day. 

✩

Late Afternoon - Parfeadia Institute 

Madeleine stood in awe in sight of the big building.

He felt a bit incomplete without his armor and sword, they were usually always on him. For this “occasion”, if you could call his every day training that. 

The knight took it off this time.

 He was not sure if Espresso would still be there at this time of day, nevertheless Madeleine wanted to try his luck. 

The huge sturdy entrance door was still open to his surprise, so he entered.

It was unusually quiet at least in relation to the day prior which led to his steps echoing throughout the hallway. 

The paladin continued, until he came upon the room he was in yesterday. 

This time the door was closed shut and the lights turned off.

 He knew however from others that Espresso had a reputation of working as long as physically possible in his research room, therefore it would not be a problem to enter, wouldn’t it? 

The day before he noticed another door in the back of the room while looking around, could this be his laboratorium?

The Knights' thoughts wandered while proceeding to the door. 

He could smell a faint coffee scent everywhere.

He finally reached the door and after knocking audibly, he believed to hear what sounded like glass shattering and a  familiar voice calling out:

“Come in!”

Quickly opening the door, the knight was already prepared to see him needing to be of service to the professor, maybe he was hurt?

“Do not fret my friend! I, the greatest knight commander of my hometown will be of assistance-”

The only thing “needing assistance” was the knocked over flask and the dark brown substance previously kept in was dropping off the worktable on the ground. 

Espresso was not even trying to clean it up. Covering his face in frustration he just stood in this position for a minute, until he slowly straightened up and spoke.

Very coldly. 

“Do you have any idea what you just did?”

Espresso was furious.

Madeleine was slightly startled by this reaction, even though he had expected a similar tone of voice, he was not prepared to be confronted with this extent.

“Oh dear, I am terribly sorry. I simply wanted to pay you a visit and grant you an apology for my misbehavior the day before, unfortunately it seems like I might have committed a deed worthy of apologizing yet again. I promise you Professor, this was never my intention, and-”

Espresso looked like he was about to lose himself. Tiny strings of his magic were curling around his hands while pointing at the other, much taller man, interrupting his ongoing speech of carelessly chosen words without meaning.

“It doesn’t matter what your intentions are. What matters is that you destroyed every tiny bit of success I have made in my research progress this entire week mere moments ago!”

Madeleine smiled nervously, his hand clenched into a tight fist. He was not the type of person to lose his confidence easily, yet this was undeniably a challenging situation.  

“My deepest apologies, I suppose you would not have faith in my competence in resolving this, when you consider those truly distasteful circumstances, not only this particular moment…”

The other sighed in frustration, still holding back his magic.

“No. Even if I was able to save the liquid from the contamination, caused by your irresponsibly chosen actions, it is still unsaveable. 

While you were not far off tearing my door out of it’s frame and nearly startling me to death, you caused me to drop the small glass container and knock over my experiment. The result was that too much of the stardust powder got in which is apart from being one of my most precious ingredients, also very hard to-”

Espresso suddenly stopped mid sentence, realizing how pointless it was trying to explain this crucial matter of science.

“Why am I even trying to explain anything to you? You definitely don’t have the capacity to understand what I am saying…”

Madeleine felt… bad. He really did not want this, the only thing he did want was to check in on the other and… 

Well, there might be ‘a few’ other reasons for this, including his own reputation, but that was besides the point.

“Well, if you would excuse me now, I intend to go back to my experiment.

Having to start from scratch .”, the scientist hissed while turning around furiously.

The knight's ego was hurt a little even though he understood why Espresso might have formed a wrong perception of him, after all of this unfolded.

Generally he was very good at solving conflicts and being just himself.

At least until now.

He was a little confused on why it was happening, he came after all he came to boost his ego and not to let it become completely demolished!

“I presume I should leave him alone. Espresso surely just needs some time for himself”

Madeleine spoke in hushed tones, partly hoping that the scientist would hear him, on the other side praying that the other overheard him.

 ‘I will be back soon. I simply cannot leave this as it is.

Maybe it would help if I gave him time to reflect.’

ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓ

Chapter Text

Chapter 4

Directly after - Espresso’s Laboratorium

Espresso sat there, his face buried in his hands. He felt so tired , exhausted .

Around him was pure chaos. 

Piles and piles of handwritten notes, notebooks and empty cups were surrounding the scientist,  

regardless of this he did not have the energy to get up and tidy up. Espresso felt so… drained. Two weeks. Two weeks of progress! He had worked almost every day and night on it and this estimated time did not even include the theoretical progress with all the calculations and formulas.

Usually he didn't rest — at least not until he really had to. But right now, while putting his head on the tabletop, his eyes started to shut slowly and the scientist had trouble bringing up the energy to get up. After all, caffeine only stops you from feeling tired for a certain amount of time.

No matter the amount consumed, sleep was still impossible to avert. 

This also counted for Professor Espresso.

‘It seems like the caffeine has stopped working at last’, was the final thought he had before drifting away. 

✩

The next day (Midday) - Lattes Classroom

“And that, my dear students, is how you use this spell correctly!”, Latte said, her eyes hovering over her students. 

She closely paid attention to every little movement the future mages did, to avoid possible mistakes.

“Now I want you all to practice this part a little more, most of you still seem to have problems-” 

The loud ringing of the bell interrupted her mid sentence.

“Oh, is it already this late? I didn't even notice! Well, then pack quickly my students!

Pardon, I have lost track of time yet again…”

“Remember to practice up until next time, don't forget it!”, she called out from her pult to the rushing scholars.

“Ha, and another day of teaching over!”,  she hummed and started to pack her things.

She was very proud of her job in the academy, even during the most exhausting times.  

What was most important to her was to remember that her job was full of responsibility.

Every type of magic can be used for evil, but also for good when you present it well enough and that was her mission — trying her best to eradicate misuse of magic through teaching. 

She loved every single second of it.

Giving her young students the ability to develop confidence in themselves and their work while helping them practice their magic skills and abilities, was what she stood for.

It was not rare that she and her brother were compared to each other (mostly in a joking manner).

They were truly a strange duo, however, in spite of their differences, relatively close.

Latte was on her way to check up on her brother, as usually whenever she had time.

For the reason that they were always busy as professors and had different apartments they rarely saw each other.

It was a joy for both of them when they after a relatively long time did meet and catch up on everything that had been happening. 

Espresso was not much for affection, but sometimes, during coffee and cake time with her he would do little things showing his kind of affection.

His sister knew that and was very grateful, at all these times.

Every time he brewed her a coffee, 

every time he gave her words of encouragement or words of advice and every time he took his precious time to visit her. 

“Helloooo~”, she called out after opening the door to his place.

“How is my dear brother doing?”

The mage sighed.

“Latte– Is it that difficult for you to announce your visits?  

I am very busy at the moment and would like to be able to prepare beforehand in general. 

Second, please, by the divine, knock and wait before coming in.

At least some decency from you would be appropriate. 

Also… I was focusing on  my research! 

Do you know what could have gone wrong?-” 

Latte was already no longer listening to Espresso's rambling, she just tuned it out and started to prepare tea for the both of them.

Espresso was, to no one's surprise, not really a tea person. However he had stored a bit of earl grey in his kitchen cabinets to ease Latte's concerns about his 

“overconsumption of caffeine”

(Her words of course, not his.)

“Do not dare to ignore me! This is important!” he snarled at her.

Latte, completely unfazed, carried both cups in the room and put them carefully down on the kitchen counter. 

“Here, take it. It still needs to soak in for around five minutes.” 

After shifting her gaze from the cup to the man sitting in front of her, she noticed that Espresso looked a bit irritated when the tone of her voice began to  shift to a more serious one.  

“Sit down please, Espresso. I have some concerns about you that I would like to share with you.

So please, care to listen, would you?”, she smiled at him, without it reaching her eyes.

Choosing her next choice of action carefully she let her tone shift again in a   now more soft and sweet tone, hopefully ensuring that her statement would hopefully be well received. 

In this moment she got a flashback.

Although it lasted only for mere seconds it was long enough for her to hesitate.

It reminded her of a long forgotten time, almost deleted from her memory. An awful time where they still lived in the Republic.

A time where the only sound was their parents fighting.

Screaming, glass shattering, dishes being thrown, over and over again.

They only had each other to rely on.

It all flashed before Latte's eyes.

How they desperately clinged onto each other, her sobbing, him trembling in fear.

To days where Latte tried her best to comfort the broken down Espresso, trying her best to stop his panic attacks when their parents put way too much pressure on their “golden child” yet again. 

Maybe that was why he was so “invested”, to put it lightly, in his studies. It was not only a coping mechanism for dealing with struggles, it was the only way he ever knew…

“Latte?”

Latte flinched and apologized while fidgeting with the cup of tea in her hand. 

That memory doesn’t matter right now-

“My dear brother, I… I wanted to talk to you because I am very worried about you.”, she began, carefully picking out every word.

The scientist did not respond, only his eyes moved to the window, following the busy movement outside of the Academy.

After a short minute of waiting she sighed and continued.

“I heard that you kind of snapped at the knight commander, Espresso. Why is that?”

Espresso closed his eyes in frustration.

“You won’t even ask if it's possible that this rumor is just that a rumor ?

Latte pressed her lips together.

“Well, I know you and I know him.

This “Rumor” is not only a rumor, right?”

“Yes.”, he hissed, annoyed, finding eye contact again .

“But you should know that I only did that because he deserved it.

He had to be taught a lesson.

Now any more unnecessary questions?

Any about my sleep schedule, on how much I’ve slept the last few days?

On how much caffeeine I consumed?

Because you don’t have to, I can take care of myself, even if nobody believes me” — he was growing audibly more furious with every continuing sentence.

Latte felt hopeless. 

 It always would turn out this way, he was just really hot headed sometimes.

She gave up on trying to knock some sense into him before, but now this line had been crossed. 

Espresso rolled his eyes and continued, he clearly abandoned even the idea of trying to calm down.

“And this pathetic light magic user-” 

which earned him a very judgemental  sigh from the other mage) 

“-apologies — paladin —deserved it. “

With the extent of hand gesturing used by Espresso, the porcelain was nearly knocked off the table the third time.

“I have never met a more infuriating person than him. Not only is he the most self centered, most self praising person I have ever met, he also completely ruined every little accomplishment I managed to gather the past two weeks involving my practical research. 

This utter buffoon startled me to death and made me knock over my precious experiment contaminating every last drop of it!”

He rubbed his eyes, trying to ignore the increasingly obvious signs of fatigue. Latte rested her hand on his shoulder as a sign of understanding and as a promise of trust. 

She finally understood now.

“So that is why you reacted this way”, she voiced quietly.

“Oh Espresso…”

A short pause.

“I… am quite certain that he did not mean to do that. He was very nice.”

“ Nice ? Latte, if you could please clarify on how you came upon the bizarre conclusion that Sir Madeleine was ‘nice’? 

Were you even paying attention to him or what I told you mere moments ago? 

Elaborate on this  statement of yours, I am serious about that. 

You and all these other people speak so highly of him when the only thing he I saw and heard him do was boost his own ego. 

I cannot repeat this enough, his behavior is so very pitiful .”

He scoffed and crossed his arms.

Latte raised her eyebrow.

While she wasn’t surprised about the fact that he was not very fond of the “light magic user”, that was even a bit excessive for Espresso. 

“I got to know him for a bit now and besides the minor things you mentioned, he seemed to actually really care about the people around him.

Maybe you need to get to know him better too?”, his sister suggested. 

“Do you know how utterly ridiculous you sound? I would never even take this into consideration Latte.”, he stated heatedly, now fixating on the view outside again. 

ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓ

Chapter Text

Chapter 5

Pure Vanilla, Espresso - Pure Vanilla’s Castle, Audience Room

“Are you being serious?”
The coffee mage's voice was carried to every corner of the audience chamber, his face distorted by anger.

“My dear Professor. I would ask you to please lower your voice. I do respect you and would like this respect in return.”, Pure Vanilla calmly said, seemingly unaffected by Espresso's harsh outburst.

“I am aware of the fact that you prefer to work on every task by yourself. This is, however, not always possible. I would like you to at least try to work with the others in a team during this mission. You're one of the most talented mages I’ve ever got to know and I am already grateful that you offered to teach students at the university your ways.”

Pure Vanilla shortly opened his eyes to catch a glimpse of the mage's expression and continued.

“Right now we are in desperate need to search for and eliminate any monsters roaming around the forests. Due to many different reasons, including the ones earlier mentioned, we decided to request the best soldiers from the Créme Republic.
The Knight Commander Sir Madeleine and Knight Raspberry eagerly made use of this opportunity and arrived both as quickly as possible.

Now you, Sir Madeleine, Professor Eclair, Bartender Sparkling with a specialty in healing, Knight Raspberry, and Head Detective Almond will attend this mission.”
Pure Vanilla pauses.

“I know that look Professor, but I have to demand your agreement on those terms, we do not have the capacity to switch anyone at the moment.”

The scientist looked up at the monarch, trying his best to hide the anger burning inside him, which he wasn’t as successful in, as he would have liked to.
His legs were hurting from kneeling down for so long, and his head was dizzy from fatigue and all the information given.

“Yes, my king. I understand.”

These were the only words he could utter, withstanding the immense urge to speak up.

He still couldn’t come to good terms with this order.
Yes, he wanted to help the kingdom and Pafaedia, of course.
And he would have to do this, it is the order of the King, after all, there was no way around it.

The coffee mage had no other choice, he would have to put his pride aside and fight side to side with the person he felt the most aversion towards.

He gave in.

Pure Vanilla was pleased with the decision the other man took — even if it was not truly voluntarily chosen.
The wise royal also knew that it would not be an easy task for the other man.
At the same time, however, he was intrigued by the thought of how it could turn out.

Granted, a bit of worry didn’t leave his mind, Espresso was quite short-tempered sometimes.

Would this even go as planned?
Well, the only way is to find out, right?
All of them were completely different in ability, and magic, but also in personality.

He was intrigued by how they would make it work, despite these differences. How would Espresso work in a big team like this?
The King knew that Espresso chose to attend missions only whenever he absolutely had to, and if for a simple team of three at most.

“Now, now. Stand up, please. You will be informed of the date for the final meeting at least a week before the departure.
Before I forget to mention it: Your position at the academy is filled throughout the time you are absent.
The apartment you live in will also be taken good care of by your sister.
In case your mission will take longer than a few days we will need to be informed on this matter as soon as possible.

(Espresso was noticeably bothered, he was never fond of others having to take his role in teaching and he also did not like to think about all the wasted time he could invest in his experiments.)

His brows furrowed- this time he spoke up, keeping his voice as steady as possible.
“My King, may I ask for your permission to clear up any questions left?”

The other man nodded.

“Why am I only hearing from this now?
What is the “real” point of this mission?”
It feels like you are still holding information away and I would need every bit of it, to be prepared.”

He had heard about certain creatures roaming dangerously close to the kingdom before but dismissed it.

Believing rumors was in his opinion a “ridiculous waste of time”, a waste that Latte loved to indulge in.
Due to the present circumstances, he had a creeping suspicion that these rumors might not be rumors, but the whole truth — with merely a few exaggerated details.

Considering that he would now travel in a group of six very talented fighters the danger might be greater than he estimated it to be.

“I do trust you and it is important for your assigned mission, so I want you to guess something.
How many civilians do you think got injured in the kingdom the last few weeks related to this subject matter?”

Espresso shrugged, he really had no idea.
“Around five at worst would be my guess.”
“Seventeen.” the great healer confessed, stressing each syllable of the word.
“Seven of them had to be hospitalized. I do not want to trouble you with the exact total of people hurt, you simply need to know that the number is one of the highest in history.
Do you see the urgency now, Professor?”

Espresso simply nodded.
To say that the scientist was shocked, was an understatement.
The coffee mage was also very surprised, he didn’t think of the real possibility that this would be able to stay hidden.

While pondering more questions came up in his mind, questions that could have such devastating consequences, that he did not dare to voice them out loud.

That said, these thoughts were not afraid of spiraling loudly in his mind:
‘Since when have these numbers increased to this alarming amount?
Were there even some that had lost their lives because of it?’

He did not even want to consider the fact that these were only the known numbers of the injured from the last weeks, this (very possible) assumption was even more terrifying.

Pure Vanilla was observing the other man closely during his train of thought.

Even when the great ruler was not watching by using his staff, or rarely his eyes, he could faintly feel how others felt, feel their racing thoughts, and look into their occupied minds for a few moments.

It wasn’t like mind reading, their thoughts were no available target for him nor his magic, it was more like ‘magical empathy’ and strengthening his abilities to perceive others and their feelings.
This has helped him as a King — and in private — many times before.

“You have a lot of questions on your mind, don’t you? I will answer all of them this time if you seek them,” he spoke gently.

Espresso took a deep breath and finished putting each thought in his head in order before asking them out loud.

“For what reason did you choose me?
Why did no one know about the seriousness of the current situation?
You told me this only right now, why not before?”

“How curious.” hummed the ruler, slightly tilting his head to the right.
“You could have asked me anything and you still chose answers you surely could have answered yourself?”

“Then I wouldn’t have the real answer, I would only have my own theory — and not what I seek.
Quit playing with me, and stop answering in riddles. If I want to theorize I do it. Right now, however, I’d prefer answers.“

Pure Vanilla chuckled.

“Of course, if it helps you.
Let me give you the details you seek then.

First, I chose you due to the talented magician you are and because — like already stated — we are in deep lack of options, so choosing is not an option.
This is only half of the reason.
The other is due to my own interest.
I would like to find out more about how you work and function in a team, especially of this size.

Second and third, we chose to keep this as a ‘secret’ for now in the council.
We were not fully certain of how to control these disastrous events and the possible mass panic if the citizens were to find out.

Granted, this was and still is a high-risk strategy, but we didn’t have a better alternative.
After all of you will have already departed and successfully landed it will all be made public.

Our citizens might feel enough hope to trust this, we will have to twist the words a bit in our statement, as much as I despise that.”, he sighed.

“We had to erase these incidents from the memory of those affected. That is how no one found out yet. We had no other way.
But now we have one more chance:
(The results of) this mission.

I wish I could tell you something that causes less pressure, but I cannot.
Due to the reports by our lookouts, we know that the monsters are getting closer and closer to every region around here.”

Pure Vanilla sighed, this was considering the bags under his eyes undoubtedly something keeping him up at night.

“Before you go, I will give you now a short overview of what I would advise you to do, the others will receive the same advice, listen closely please:

You will have to work together no matter what happens.
It is simply too dangerous to walk and act on your own, so always stay in never less than pairs and only if it really is necessary to split up.

Help each other whenever it’s needed the best you can.
There is a high chance that you’ll have to travel further away than planned, so you must pack enough proviant for a few weeks.

Report back as often as possible.
It is easier to ensure your safety if we can locate you, in case a backup is necessary.

Now this should be all… Do you have anything else you would like to know?”

Espresso shook his head and bowed.

“No, that was all, my King.”
The King nodded once in understanding.

“Very well. Then you are free to go Professor.
Much luck on your journey and may the witches be with you all.”
☆
Espresso & Latte - Espresso’s Apartment

“I’ll miss you so very much Essyyy~.” cried Latte out, much more dramatically than Espresso thought would have been necessary.

Her brother was busy trying to free himself out of her arms, as the tight embrace was causing him to desperately gasp for air.

“Latte- too- tight-”, were the only words he could utter.

“Oh, I’m sorry…”

Leaning in the back of the chair, she resumed:

“It will be so awfully boring without you and Eclair at the academy.
And our meetups… We won’t be able to see each other for weeks!
With whom am I supposed to gossip if not with you?”

Espresso scoffed, amused. She sounded like he would be gone for months.

“Latte, you know that this is supposed to last a few weeks merely…
Also, I don’t gossip, you do!
I simply have to listen to your rambling.”

She giggled and replied: “You sound like I wouldn’t know how much you enjoy this too, you hypocrite! You cannot lie to me.”

Espresso rolled his eyes and let a little smile creep itself onto his face.
Latte saw that perfectly well but kept quiet. It was better to savor rare moments like this in silence.

Seeing her brother happy made her happy.

“Nooow”, his sister rested her head on her hands,
“Who’s gonna go with you? Tell me everything.”

Espresso faced her gaze again.
“Well… There will be six people. One is Sparkling, ...”
(“Ohh, the barista?” she called out, he nodded.)

“...and Sir Almond the head detective, too but I have not interacted enough with any of the two to tell you more about them.
Professor Eclair will attend too.
Then there will be two more, alas I appear to have forgotten them…
Give me a short minute…

There also was the mentioning of a well-known knight coming from the Republic by the name of Raspberry, and-”
His face darkened.

“Ah, good grief, how could I forget– the famous ‘knight commander’ will be there too. He pronounced the “knight commander” like this title was poison.

Latte’s eyes widened in disbelief.
“The knight commander? Madeleine?”

“Yes, him.” Espresso grimaced in discontentment.
“But isn’t it widely known, that your hatred against him would influence the whole mission and likely lead to failing it in the worst scenario?”

Espresso chose to ignore the part where Latte spoke about him ruining a mission, after all, he would never even consider the thought, not even because of this blonde buffoon.

It would be pointless to try and explain that to her.
He had, besides, something better to do anyway.
“Yes—please keep the following information for yourself, Latte — the King told me that not only are we having a lack of possible candidates, but for this mission will the most talented be needed.”

And it seems like he counted as one.

“My opinion of him mustn’t hold any meaning in this situation.”

“That is truly a tricky situation, you’ve got yourself in.”, she commented, tapping her fingers in a steady rhythm on the table.
“That said, even if you would be able to get yourself out of this — which would be a horrible idea, if we’re honest— the consequences of these actions would be the endangerment of your entire team, and that because of one guy?”

No, never mind anything I said, you’ll have to go through with this one.
And I mean, you’re also ensuring safety for everyone in and around the kingdom too, so…

It will only be a few weeks tho, you’ll manage that, I’m quite certain about this.”
Her brother sighed. She was right.
“I know you’re right, Latte, this is the best choice I could make. And I cannot stand the fact that you’re right.”

This provoked another chuckle from the other mage.
He paused to think what to say, before continuing. “I will write to you, I can promise you that.
What I can’t promise you is that I will endure his obnoxious self-praising without letting at least one snarky comment out.”

His sister shook her head,
“Fine, fine; as long as nothing escalates, I’m okay with it. I can't bring you to change your mind about that anyway. She turned her head to check the clock and let out a noise that caused Espresso to flinch.

“Oh, would you look at the time!” she called out and basically jumped out of her seat.
“Finish your tea now, we still have a lot to do!
I will already start packing for you and start in the bedroom with the most important things.”

Latte went, without waiting for the usual protest of Espresso to come, whenever she went into the room without asking him before.

He should be technically used to this by now, she loved to tease him like that.
This time there was no protest, just silence.

A bit irritated, she froze in the doorframe of her sibling's bedroom, closely listening into the silence, as if that would give her an answer.

“He just needs some time to think, I suppose”, she murmured.
After telling herself that she continued in the room and started packing.
☆
At the same time, Espresso placed the now-finished teacup on the table.
His thoughts were a mess.
Even though he would never (or rarely) say it out loud, he hated the fact that he wouldn’t be able to turn to her if he had a problem or needed company.
It’s going to feel way too quiet then as if something was just missing.

Of course this isn’t the first time he or she would be gone. This time however would be a longer time period than usual and rarely the case,
normally only because a mission was accepted by his sister.

He had to research after all, there was no time for exploring.

She would miss him, he knew that.
And he would miss her too, she was his sister after all.
“Espressoo, are you done?” Latte called out of his bedroom.
Speak of the devil.
“Yes, wait a moment, please!”, he responded and finally stood up.
☆
Madeleine - Madeleine's temporary apartment
Madeleine was also busy packing, but way more looking forward to the trip than Espresso did.
He looked forward to working with everyone and getting to know all of them better.
He hoped to warm up to Espresso as well, somehow.
He was oh-so sure that there must be more behind the bitterness of the coffee mage.

There were also a few others he knew, including the barkeeper and of course Professor Eclair!
He was also certain to have heard from a trainee named Raspberry long before he became a commander or even a knight.

Humming various tunes the entire time, he actually had fun putting together what he would need and sorting it into all the suitcases.

The blonde had an extra little bag for his care products, mostly consisting of shampoos, conditioner(s), hair masks, and special hair oils all designed for his type of hair, all designed for traveling and getting packed this time.

His hairbrush was also very important, so it should definitely be packed as well.

‘Now is there anything I’ve forgotten about…?’

The tall man looked down at his belongings in the many suitcases, trying to figure out if he had finally completed packing everything he would need.

‘No, that was all. Perfect.’

He let go of the strand of hair he had twirled around his finger, smoothed it out, and decided to write his mother and aunts a letter.

‘It would certainly take a long time until it would arrive at its destination…’ he pondered .
On second thought maybe it was still worth it.
The only thing he loved more than the great divine, was his family.

Oh, yes he loved them dearly!

At home, he had always helped around the house whenever he could and now, whenever he was home for the holidays, he always gave them a helping hand during the preparations for the big buffet and did everything with them.

‘Hopefully, I can visit them again this year.’ Madeleine thought anticipatively, before grabbing his ink pen and the pearl white writing paper. Guiding the pen carefully over the paper, he didn’t even notice how the time flew by.

—-----------------------------------------------

My lovely Mother, my dear aunts,
I hope this letter finds you well.

The topic of my letter is not only because I truly miss your presence, but also owing to the fact that there is something else I would like to share with you.

Do not worry about me, I have already settled in and found some acquaintances.
I must say that truly delightful people live here, so very nice and courteous.

I have to admit that there is something that is bothering me and the original reason why I chose to write you this letter.
I was assigned to a very dangerous mission around the deep woods surrounding the kingdom.
However, you mustn’t fret!

I have been through worse and the Divine is of course granting me protection. I would, nevertheless still feel horrible if I were to keep you uninformed, having no idea what I am doing.

Now you might ask yourself what exactly this mission may be.

Well, I was assigned to travel through the woods to find out the cause of the mass of dangerous monsters roaming around the area lately and to fight it (and them).

But I am, and will continually, take notably good care of myself, as always.
But I won’t be just focusing on my health alone, I was assigned to a group after all.
The great divine that protects us, will also protect them, I will pray for them.

Others will work with me and one you might still remember.
It is Knight Raspberry who accompanied me already on the way here, we once met her when I was still a mere soldier without a title.

She is exceptionally nice, you should get to know her once!

Having said all of this, I must finish this letter now.

Though I do not know if your response is capable of getting to me, I will continue to write mine.

You will hear from me soon!
Warm regards:
Madeleine

—-----------------------------------------------
ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓ

Chapter Text

Chapter 6
Everyone - Pure Vanilla Kingdom; arranged gathering spot

The number of people gathered around the airship made it seem like every resident came to wish the brave heroes goodbye.

Espresso was a bit uncomfortable, hoping to finally go onboard the ship as soon as possible.
Madeleine and Raspberry were standing on a platform busy shaking every hand surrounding them, Almond was standing right next to the airship also waiting for departure, and Eclair and Sparkling were talking to Latte right next to Espresso.

The mage averted his gaze from the little group, looked around some more — and watched, wide-eyed in disbelief as he caught a glimpse of Madeleine giving away autographs.

“As if this imbecile hadn't provoked enough attention on himself already”, he murmured to himself and turned towards his sister, facing her back.

He had some thoughts keeping his mind busy that he wanted to take care of.

“- I do hope to find these very rare artifacts on our adventure-”, told Eclair, before getting cut off by Espresso, making himself known by a light tip on his sister's shoulder.

“Apologies, I have something really important and not much time left.”, he explained to the others surrounding them.
“Latte, I would like to talk with you for a few minutes, if that may be currently possible.

Latte nodded shortly, seemingly confused about what was going on.

The rare times he took expeditions, which was not often, he always planned everything in advance.
“Is something going on, Espresso? I’m certain that we still have some time left until everything is prepared.”

“Yes I know, that's not the problem. It's-”, observing the area around them, there really wasn't a good way to talk without anyone hearing it.

He sighed.
“It's private. I don't want to discuss it in this big crowd and I don't know how much time we have left.”

The confusion felt before blurred into uneasiness now.
His words combined with the clear distress on his face were very out of character for him.

Her brother was usually very composed. Even when he was nervous, it was something the mage didn't show much of.
Gazing between him and the three others she previously had a conversation with, Latte nodded shortly.

“If you may excuse me, it was truly delightful talking with you. Even if we won't have time later, I would like to come back to this eventually.”, she said, smiling politely at them.

Sparkling returned the nice gesture.
“Now don't apologize Professor Latte, you won't see your brother in a while.
Next time I am in town again, you can almost always find me in my bar.”

Eclair and Almond also said farewell but promised to write to her.

Latte took Espresso's hand so that the siblings wouldn't lose each other and rushed them to a quieter place.
He freed himself out of her tight grip and averted his gaze, now pretending to find the ground much more interesting than his sister.

“Latte, I don't think I can do this. I really can't.”

She didn’t say a word, waiting for him to continue.

“Listen to me, I…”
He sighed.
“As briefly summarized as possible, I don’t think I will be able to endure Madeleine for more than a few hours, this man is insufferable!
He needs to brag about anything he does and how the Divine has blessed him ‘so greatly’ every few minutes!
I won't be able to work in a team with him, I have no explanation for why I ever thought I would be.”
He massaged the bridge of his nose, he was going to get a headache from all of this mess.

Latte raised her eyebrow.
“This is a bit late for regret, don’t you think?”
She quickly continued, he might have misunderstood her.
“Why haven't you said anything before?”

“I simply couldn't. It is already pathetic enough to admit it here, especially out loud,” he confessed.
“And also — the King, the people, all rely on me. What if something happens, just because I didn’t go with them?”

He groaned and buried his face into his hands.

“My dear brother”, whispered Latte — at least how greatly you can lower your voice while there is a big, loud crowd near you — put both of her hands onto his shoulders, and tried to talk some sense into him.

“Come on, look at me!”, she pleaded.

Espresso reluctantly followed her demand.

“First up it is almost time to go.
Even if a change in plan would have been possible — which it isn’t and it never was in the first place, that was made crystal clear —
If I was in your place, I wouldn’t change a thing.
This is your chance to show what you've got in you!
Believe me, you. can. do. this.
Don't hurt anyone — including Madeleine — and concentrate on what you were assigned to do.
I still can't understand why you despise him so much, but I know that you went through worse.”

Espresso breathed in and out before nodding.
“I suppose I understand what you're trying to tell me.
It would be wonderful if you could let go of me now, you're shaking me to my death.”

His sister did what she was asked to do accompanied by a hearty laugh.
Both turned their heads and went back together.

Soon enough every preparation was finished and it was time for departure.
All six of them said their final goodbyes to their loved ones and friends.
Hugs and tears were shared, and promises were made.

Everyone knew that the chances of not coming back weren’t as low as they wanted them to be, but no one wanted to take this thought more into consideration in fear it may come true.

Still waving and smiling at the crowd, they entered the big airship.
Madeleine had the most dramatic exit of all six, of course, shaking hands and giving out autographs until the very end.
There were even flowers thrown after him!
He was as scared of the possible outcomes as everyone else but was excellent at hiding it.
☆
The entry was shut and they all went to the lower deck which was gigantic.
There was even a tiny kitchen.
After fully exploring the lower deck, they met up in the biggest part — which was a mix of social and living room — to discuss the sleeping arrangements for later.
Each of them had one tent reserved.

The place for the camp was located on the border separating the “dangerous” and the “less dangerous” woods, where they'll stay.
If they were to stay longer than two weeks, they would have to find another place.

“I would suggest that I keep guard at night and rest in the camp during the day”, volunteered Almond.

Raspberry shook her head.
“I only partly agree. What I suggest is that we should take turns, so everybody is doing it at least once.”

“Hm, yes, that may indeed be a much better solution,” he replied.

“Please consider the fact, everyone, that the camp is never a hundred percent safe, neither day nor night. It will be at the safest place possible, drawn from the provided information.
But it is foolish to assume utter safety.”, added Eclair.

Madeleine and Raspberry both affirmed this with a nod,
Espresso was skeptical.

“I don't agree.
While it would be ‘fair’, I think we should focus more on being efficient.
I can stay up for long periods without falling asleep, and still function perfectly fine, so I should do it.”

Madeleine crossed his arms and shook his head.
“No, we won't do that, you'll get yourself killed! Assuming to be able to withdraw sleep and continue normally is already a strange assumption.

Thinking about going into battle whilst being affected by fatigue is unacceptable! Even I — the strong, blessed knight — need rest!”

Sparkling also voiced his concerns:
“I agree, this is simply careless.
You look tired enough already, I would kindly advise you to rest until we arrive. Afterward, you may continue to rest for the next three days. Then we will talk again.”

Espresso scoffed.
“As if I hadn't done this many times before”, he murmured.

Madeleine, who listened up to this point observantly, but closely to this conversation, squinted his eyes.
If anybody would have watched closely, they would have noticed that his smile was unusually forced.
“Yes, you are no stranger to this…” Madeleine replied. “But you are also no stranger to the consequences of your actions — which are often fainting — if I recall correctly, are you not?”
He usually was not the type of person to argue, right now he had had, however, enough.

The fact that Espresso already gave his work more priority than his health — as a knight determined to ensure the safety of every citizen he had to protect — was already infuriating enough.

Now the coffee mage was even voluntarily risking his life?
No, Madeleine wouldn’t accept this.

This earned another scoff from the man he spoke to.
“How would you know Madeleine? It has barely been a week since you are here. You have no right to talk about me like this.”

“Yes, my great presence may have only been around you for a short amount of time.
Despite this, I have done my research. To be fair, I have heard much about you without even asking for it, but right now it seems to me like this might have been a good thing.”

Their companions were looking from one man to the other, having no idea if to interfere or not.
Almond looked especially worried.

He could only hope that this bickering wouldn’t go on for the next few weeks.
The detective was, in fact, secretly requested to watch over the knight and the scientist so that they would fight their enemies instead of each other.

Because the Head Detective had no case else to work on anyway, he decided to accept.
It may have been a better choice to do nothing, but wait for a case, considering the current situation.
Leaving them to be for a bit, he used these spare minutes to convince the others to leave and sat down on his chair again.

He had to admit that it was rather amusing watching Espresso spew word after word, creatively using insult after insult while standing nose to nose before the much taller blonde, puncturing his metal chest plate with his index finger.

The knight simply looked down at the other, arms crossed and a big grin on his face, waiting for the brunette to finally run out of breath.
He was clearly not even trying to take it seriously, rarely responding with something that he knew would make the mage even more furious.

“Alright, that’s enough Professor”, Almond eventually called out.

Espresso fell silent and quickly retreated himself a few steps after noticing how close he got.

“Are you finally done now? Come on, you two are adults and fighting like children!”, the detective complained.

“Excuse me, the only manchild here is this unbearable imbecile.” Espresso huffed.

“I am simply expressing my distaste for the man that everyone loves oh so dearly.
You all overlook the arrogance just because he is ‘blessed by the Divine’ which he has to brag about every second sentence. Light magic users are all the same to me, he is merely proving my point further.”
If these words were in reality as sour as they were spoken, the detective and the commander would be covered in it.

“Professor, please. We all know that Sir Madeleine is… not a person you like to see — or to perceive in any other way.
Now, despite your — in your words — ‘distaste’ for him, you'll have to, for now.
There is no other way around it, you'll have to work together.
You don't have to like him, Professor Espresso.
What you'll have to do is to tolerate him, at least.”

Espresso didn't argue back, he simply turned on his heel and left the room.
Madeleine watched him leave, contemplating on following him or not.

“Now… Commander, I would like you to listen to me now. I have a request, regarding the events before.
Please, if it is possible, at least try to be less-

How am I supposed to formulate this…?

Overbearing.”

Madeleine’s eyes widened. Overbearing?
No one has ever described him with these words.
He was to everyone like he was to Espresso.
Did anyone else think of him in this way about him?
Did others find him annoying?
They were always nice to him, but… They could have been too shy to say it out loud.

These thoughts kept him busy, fully blending out the rest of Almond's sentences.
Although the man didn't seem to notice — he just gave him a pat on the back and left.

“Sir Madeleine? Is everything okay?” he faintly heard a female voice calling out.
Madeleine flinched when he felt a hand on his shoulder, the touch finally tore him out of his thoughts.

“Oh, I’m sorry Sir! You didn't respond when I called you by name, so I thought that I should try drawing your attention to me in another way…”, Raspberry said, her tone full of worry.

She had to look up, Madeleine was much taller than her after all.
Then she started to worry even more, as something about him was unusual.
It took a few seconds until she realized:
The always-present spark of energy in his sky-blue eyes seemed to have faded in a weak ember and his smile felt forced.

He tried to hide it, but it was painfully obvious.
She did not know him for that long and also not that well either, but when someone is as present as him, it is easier to tell when something is wrong.

“Raspberry!” he voiced out, trying to keep his voice sound as happy as usual.
This went without success, as the breaking of his voice was giving away how he actually felt.

“You don't have to lie, you know? I can see that you're feeling pretty bad about something.
Is this about the Professor or something else?”

Madeleine’s eyes searched for everywhere but her face, until he chose to simply avoid it by staring holes in the wall.
He was way too embarrassed about being seen like this by someone.

‘No, it is not. Although I must thank you for asking, Knight Raspberry.”

The woman thought for a bit before she asked, determined to get an answer.
“Then is it about what Detective Almond said?”

His head rose again, now staring right at her.
“You…?” he started.

Raspberry held her arms up, in a defensive way.
“Yes, I may have listened to your conversation. I know, I shouldn't have…
But it was accidentally I promise!
Would you allow me to explain?”

“Yes, of course, go on.”

“Thank you.
So, I really left when Almond made us leave.
But then I wanted to look for you because I thought you might want to talk, and accidentally overheard what the detective said.
You don't really seem like a person who cares much about what others think.” — she struggled to find the right words — “... so there must be something else bothering you.”

Raspberry smiled.

“You can trust me, I promise. My lips are sealed”, she assured.

The tall knight looked away again, he was nervously scratching his neck.
After a few seconds, he finally nodded.
“Promise not to laugh, all right?”

Raspberry swore on it, a bit exaggerated to light up the mood.
Madeleine laughed a little, but it didn't reach his eyes.
“Am… I overbearing?”

“What?” Raspberry couldn’t believe her ears, what was he talking about?
“You're worried about that?”

Even though it was a rhetorical question, the knight commander still felt like answering it.

“Well, yes. You were wrong in your assumption. As embarrassingly as it may be for me, I really do care a lot about what others think of me.
Almond's words were confusing, I have never thought of myself as ‘too much’ or, in his words, 'overbearing’.
Then I continued to think and became of the opinion that ‘overbearing’ might only be a nicer sounding word for annoying, which worried me even more.”
He was now looking straight at her, facing her and the questions in his mind, at last.

Raspberry burst out laughing, breaking the “not-laugh-promise” from before, which earned her a frown from the other knight.
“I'm… sorry… hah… I just never thought you’d be a person who overthinks! This came so suddenly… But this was not a mean laugh, I promise I wasn’t trying to make fun of you, don’t think that.
That's so out of character for you! You usually brag about how awesome you are…”

Madeleine got a little red at all of this, he didn't expect her to react this way.
“But, I do get that. You're proud of who you are, that's fine.
To answer your question:
Sometimes, maybe. But hey, that's just you! You may seem a bit much – like when we first met – but you are really nice and caring. The people love you!
And I'm confidently saying that, despite only knowing you for a short amount of time.”

Madeleine sighed in relief.
“Do you think Almond mainly meant the way I am interacting with Espresso?” he asked.

“Probably, yeah. I don’t think he meant you as a person if that’s what you’re trying to ask. But don't worry about the professor, he does appear to be a bit strange anyway.
I asked a few people about him and he is the kind of type you cannot please with anything.” she replied, shrugging.

Madeleine lifted his head, squinting at the wooden ceiling now.
“Maybe. But, somehow I feel like there is something more about him. And it’s so very intriguing. I don’t know what it is, but…” He fell silent.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she replied, a little chuckle escaping her lips.

“You promised not to laugh, Knight Raspberry.” the blonde murmured.

“Sorry, please continue. I really won’t break it again this time.”

And so Madeleine did.
“Espresso has something so mysterious and interesting about him, don't you think?
He does seem a little mean sometimes, but I'm sure that there is more behind this facade. I’m pretty sure it is one…”
The blonde stopped ranting and fell quiet once again, before taking his eyes finally off the ceiling.

“What is it Knight Raspberry, do you not agree with me on this particular topic?” he asked, after seeing her facial expression.

“That's merely a unique way to see it,” she replied.

Madeleine dropped the single strand of hair previously twirled around his finger and pushed his lower lip forward, like a stubborn child.
“Well, you’d hardly know anything about him anyway.”, he muttered, with a dramatic eye roll.

After his voice grew louder, changing into the echoing, self-praising monologue that he did so frequently.
“But I, the great Commander of the Créme Republik, am staying here way longer than you. I would know.”
He exclaimed proudly with his hand on his chest.
“I am quite sure that Professor Espresso would be more welcoming of me if he simply took more interest in the light magic which he ‘despises’ so much!
”
“Sure, continue feeding your delusions.”, she stated dryly.

“Delusions?” he exclaimed, dramatically gasping.
“I can promise you that these are no delusions, but simple reality.”

The female knight got intrigued, and asked — quite entertained by the foolish words the tall knight had to say:
“You can promise me that?”

“Sincerely, yes.” the blonde nodded, he was in fact seriously convinced of his — what the mage he talked about would call — “usual fallacy”.

“And I could prove it to you.”

“I don’t believe that.”

“What if we made a bet?” Madeleine suggested.

Raspberry shook her head and tried to hold back her laugh again.
“Like teenagers..?”

The commander played with a single stray of hair again.
“Hm, I suppose you’re right.”, he murmured.
“To change the subject — how long are we on the ship now?”

At that question Raspberry turned around — her back facing him now — and went to the nearest window, observing the scenery.
“Long enough for my taste," she responded.

With a hum, Madeleine followed her and sighed.
“What a shame, we left the others completely without company!”

There was a short smile briefly crossing her face.

He seemed to have already pushed aside any of his worries before, but this was a decision he would have had to make at some point anyway.
Distractions like this would only harm the mission.

Still, she was glad.

Then there was silence.
Both stood next to one another, watching out the window.

“I believe that we will have to wait for a little longer. The woods are pretty dense.” Raspberry commented.

Madeleine nodded. “I will have enough time to pray then.”

“You can excuse yourself if that is what you’re implying.
I enjoyed your company, Sir.”

“Thank you, Knight Raspberry. I feel the same way.”
He turned around and went to the door. Before going through the door he stopped.

“Ah, Raspberry, before I forget it…”

She turned her head and responded: “Yes?”

“Call me Madeleine. ‘Sir’ and ‘Commander’ are too formal for friends..”

“All right, Madeleine.”

☆

At the same time, Madeleine and Raspberry started chatting - The Kitchen

Espresso was sipping on a cup of coffee, hovering above the ground.
In this airship was surprisingly a whole kitchen.
Even a coffee machine was here, luckily.

The coffee fanatic would never even think of drinking the ‘abomination’ people call “instant coffee”, after all.
While he swirled his cup in enjoyment, the door opened.

“Ah, hello Professor Espresso!”

“Professor Eclair.”, the other replied, nodding in his direction.

“I know that we have met before, but still, would you mind telling me more about your field of work?” asked Eclair with his usual kind smile on his face.
“We don’t really have anything else to do…”

“Well, I suppose.
I am focusing on coffee magic.
I research this specific type of magic as a whole, I am also the one who discovered it, as you already know.
It is a broadly diverse type of magic, I use it in battle, but also rarely at home.”

“For hovering?”

“Floating is more typically used by me in battle — and hovering is sometimes a better alternative than standing.

So, you teach history, Professor Eclair?” the other man asked after a short pause, more out of politeness, than anything.

The historian nodded, he was always open to explain the subject he devoted his life to.
“Yes, indeed. The topic I am specialized in, however, is the historical background of relics and other historically relevant artifacts.
That is also the focus of my own studies.”

This surprisingly provoked Espresso’s interest.
Although he knew roughly the specialties of the other academics, he was never interested in learning about them.
“Pardon me, Professor, would you mind clarifying how this would benefit anyone in the future? From my point of view, it simply seems like an excessive way of wasting time.”

Eclair gave an understanding smile and — at last — sat down.
“I’ll gladly use this opportunity to try and explain it to you.
In my course, the students learn about history, but more leaning toward ancient relics, scrolls, and more.
These objects hold an irreplaceable monetary worth, which is estimated through a thorough analysis.
There is, however, not only this kind of value as one might think.
Often it is the case that certain analyses lead to a breakthrough in the scientific research of magic.
Although I won’t have to elaborate on the specifics, you’d know best, after all!

Espresso narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

Of course, he knew how (magic) research worked, why wouldn’t he?
“Yes, of course I know. Coffee Magic still heavily relies on me going through my — many would argue overindulgent — research.
My question was how someone would successfully incorporate this in their teaching.”

Eclair chuckled.
“Patience, patience. I was going to come to that matter soon enough.
In my class, the students get to know the many different types of ancient artifacts. They learn how to distinguish them, their age, and how to estimate the corresponding value.
That all is the foundation for the knowledge that is being built class for class.”

Espresso raised an eyebrow and took yet another sip from the almost emptied cup of coffee.
“So shortly said, they simply learn archaeology?”

Eclair opened and closed his mouth, struggling to put his thoughts out loud.
“No! Well, partly… But also not.
The most important part is first laid upon the archaeological factor until my students have completed the beginner section of this course.
After that, they will learn how to intertwine the history of it with the factor I referred to earlier.”

Espresso looked amused.
“Wouldn't it be a lot more efficient to use a different method?”

“Technically yes. But the point is that the students must be able to know how to analyze a relic successfully and in order.
After the first ‘stage’ I'll be able to tell if they have enough criteria fulfilled to continue.”

“If I understood correctly, this is a type of test, isn’t it?” the coffee mage inquired while correcting his posture.
“You certainly have an interesting method for your course.”

“There are often cases of scholars where I can already see that they are not made for this course. It would only be fair for them to hear this in advance.
Eclair sighed before letting go of a nervous laugh.
“Seems a bit strict, doesn't it?”

“No, not really, not in my opinion.” replied the other man. “It may sound brutal to some, but as long as it works I don’t see a problem.

Think about what an inconvenience it would be for you and them.
You would not only waste time that could have been well spent, but also the effort the students made would be thrown out the window. ”
He shrugged.

The historian let go of a breath he didn’t knew that he was holding.
Eclair was glad to be reassured by a colleague as expertised as Professor Espresso.

His thoughts wandered on Espresso’s way of teaching in his advanced course.
The historian knew that the coffee mages’ teaching methods were — to be frank — quite brutal.
In spite of this, the small number of students who made it through his course were full of potential, talent, and endurance.
‘You have to give him respect for that…’, Eclair thought.

Then he cleared his throat and stood up, checking the time.
“I would say that there is still enough time left to drink a cup of tea. Would you like to join me?”, he asked.

Espresso, seeing no other solution than to accept this invitation, attempted a painfully bad effort of trying to talk himself out.
“I am not a tea drinker, and have a lot left to do…”

Although he tried his best, he somehow still got into having a conversation — though with a cup of coffee instead of tea.
Espresso found their conversation surprisingly tolerable.
You could even say pleasant.
He was, however, a way too prideful man to confess this.

The two got along extremely well and as the time flew by, their conversation topics did as well, ultimately shifting in a more personal direction.

Naturally, Espresso talked much less than Eclair about his personal life, it was something he just didn’t like to do.
Nevertheless, the coffee mage listened, with a slight smile on his face.

This continued until Almond came into the room, telling them to prepare for the landing, “[...] they finally found a place to land.”
“If you could lend me assistance in trying to find the others? This airship is more of a house than mine back at home…”, he continued.

Due to the efforts of the trio, the other three were found soon enough and gathered all together, ready to wait for the landing.
☆
They arrived on a wide grassy area approximately a ten to twenty-minute walk away from the woods

Some arranged the tents and lightly secured the area around them.
This took a while — indeed longer than expected — and after they were done with the basic safety measurement, the sun was already setting.

To Espresso’s displeasure and Madeleine’s triumph, Sparkling’s proposal pushed itself through and for the first night Almond was assigned to guard the camp.

Although they were all prepared for at least two weeks, what they weren’t prepared for was how devastatingly overestimated this period would be.

ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓ

Chapter Text

Chapter 7

Camp

It was early morning, and Almond was replaced by the other five, who climbed out of their tents—still half asleep.

He was sent to his tent after they had fully discussed the day and Sparkling was assigned to guard the camp.

Raspberry and Madeleine lead the remaining two through the thick forest, both chatting and laughing to such a degree that he was actually worried, expecting an attack every corner.

Eclair didn’t seem to notice how tense the coffee mage was, he was way too invested in scanning the shadows of the woods, to avoid any unforeseen attacks.

After around ten minutes, Espresso couldn’t stand it anymore.

Quickly boosting his stride with a little use of magic he was right behind both knights packing them by their arms to stop them— which was, at least with Madeleine, not such a good execution of his idea as he thought. 

Madeleine had a very sturdy build— which the muscular build could have already given away — causing Espresso to stumble. The Professor managed to save himself — but this occurrence caused his mood to only further decline.

“Sir Madeleine, Knight Raspberry, would you please be quiet? If you continue like this the entire woods will have heard of our arrival. Is it so hard for you to not attract an army of our enemies?”, he hissed furiously. 

Madeleine was perplexed and finally silent — at least for a short minute.

Then he laughed — which made the coffee mage now fully wanting to end him.

“I’m sorry, Professor, it seems like Raspberry and I got caught up in our conversation so much that we completely forgot to keep the noise down!”

Raspberry nodded.

Espresso sighed audibly and massaged his temples.

“Oh dear, how am I supposed to endure this for so long…”, he murmured.

Eclair looked at him, a bit worried. He had planned to stay out of any big argument, but it seemed like his plans were thrown out the window now.

He could make himself at least a bit useful.

“Professor Espresso, I’m sure they didn’t want to be the cause of any difficulties. Please hold yourself back, I believe that they will surely now be more cautious.” 

His gaze fell now on the two knights, giving them a silent warning.

Raspberry sank her head, regretfully.

“Certainly. My apologies for being so careless.”

Espresso closed his eyes and breathed in and out to calm himself down.

Then he opened them again, now with a stern expression, and nodded.

“Very well. Let us continue now.”

☆

The path they took divided into two branches now, forcing them to split up.

Right now they were debating who should go with whom.

Eclair sighed. This idea would cause a grudge against him, but it had to be done — at least in his opinion.

“I would suggest that Professor Espresso and Commander Madeleine should be in one group and you, Knight Raspberry, and I in another.”

“No. No, I’m not pairing up with him , forget that.”, protested the coffee mage.

Then he turned to Eclair, took him by his arm, and floated a bit away.

“Are you insane?”

Eclair swallowed.

The words of the mage cut through the air like razors. This was maybe a bit too daring of him. Well, there is no turning back now anyway.

“I know of the big hatred you hold against him, this is, however, the perfect opportunity to talk it out.”

“ Talk it out ? Do you have any idea what you are risking at the moment?”

Espresso’s voice was like venom, spitting words dripping with poison.

“With all due respect Professor, it is very important right now that you two learn how to team-play.

Think of it as a test of some sort.”

The brunette raised his eyebrow.

“As a test? Eclair, you really are acting ridiculous today.”

Suddenly they heard Raspberry calling out to them.

“Are you two done now? We don’t have all day!”

The mage rolled his eyes, but the historian nodded, before replying.

“Yes, we are done!”

“What- No! We are definitely not done yet, just what are you doing?”

Eclair didn't answer. Instead this time he took the other's arm and took him along.

Then he smiled at Raspberry and Madeleine, shoved the baffled Professor in Madeleine's direction, and told them that Espresso and Madeleine would be going left while he and Raspberry would go right.

“We will meet here again at noon. Good luck you two! See you soon!”

And then he took Raspberry's arm and quickly continued their way off the branch.

“He is quite brave, I have to admit that,” grumbled Espresso and squinted his eyes. “Still, that will bring him nothing once we are stuck in our camp again.”

The Commander chuckled.

“Well, I suppose we should move forward, shouldn’t we?”

“I suppose so.”

☆

Both of them walked beside each other for around ten minutes and Espresso already had had enough for the next ten years, in his opinion.

How can someone be so positive in such a dangerous situation?

Madeleine hummed and grinned and — unintentionally — drove Espresso nearly into madness.

Even during combat, the man glowed — literally. While Espresso trapped wolf-like creatures with his spells and stunned them first with his dark coffee magic, Madeleine took them out with his light magic — the one he was always bragging about being blessed with.

He confidently swung his sword, his hair flowing in the wind and the sunlight, mixed with his light magic, made him and his armor shine .

Espresso simply had to watch the blonde, it was infuriating.

They should be fighting and not putting up such a show!

But Madeleine did both and did it well.

Espresso would never admit this, of course.

When Madeleine defeated one of the monsters he got a slight cut on his leg, nothing of note for him , really . He just decided to ignore it, it wasn’t important anyway.

What was important, however, was what Espresso found when he defeated one of them. There was some sort of flower falling out of the dear-like monster’s mouth.

It looked dangerous, considering the vibrant red petals, so he held enough distance he thought was necessary.

On a closer glance, there was still saliva on it. What concerned the scientist were the things in it. There were little beads in there, like pollen but for the eye to see.

Looking up he saw Madeleine defeating the last monster of the few which attacked them. He frowned. Madeleine should be informed, that this was too important.

“Commander!”, he called out. “You should take a look at this!”

The blonde turned his head to where Espresso’s voice came from.

He had to fight himself through bushes and branches, until seeing the other.

“What is it?”, he asked, wondering.

Espresso beckoned him to kneel down next to him and pointed to the ground.

“Here. This flower fell out of one of the monster's mouth after I had defeated it.”

Madeleine narrowed his eyes, puzzled at what Espresso was trying to show him.

“That is indeed an unusual type of plant, I have never seen one of these before. But you didn’t call me here, to show me this alone, did you?”

Espresso shook his head.

“No, with this assumption you’re right for once.”

The other man decided to look past this provocation, being much more interested in what the scientist had to show him.

“If you look closely-”, Espresso began. “There are tiny beads in the saliva on the flower.”

Madeleine crinkled his nose in disgust but watched more closely.

“Yes, you’re right! These look really strange, what are these things?”

“I do not qualify for scientific research of plants by any means, but I strongly believe that we are examining pollen.”

The knight tilted his head in confusion, now staring right at the mage.

“Isn't pollen usually too tiny to see?”, he asked.

“Well, lone pollen grains, yes. They are, however, regularly in a mass, which makes them visible to the naked eye.

The grand variety of shape, size, and texture comes into play as well.”

“These grains don’t look like a mass though…”, Madeleine thought out loud.

Espresso stayed silent, contemplating what to do.

“Sir Madeleine, I have to ask. Do you have, perchance, something to safely carry the flower in? This might be a clue we didn’t know we were searching for, so we absolutely should try to bring it with us — as untouched as possible, that is.”

Madeleine shook his head. 

“I don’t have anything else on me other than my armor, sword, and magic. Everything else is stored safely in my tent, protected by my magic.”

Espresso was clueless now, they couldn’t simply walk back, right?

That would be twenty to thirty minutes and that two times, when they’ll come back to collect it. The risk of it getting lost is too high and what if they wouldn’t find this place again at all?

Letting someone stay here was no option anyway and they had nothing to let Eclair and Raspberry know where they were.

Suddenly Espresso had an idea — at least if his theories were correct.

He turned to the man next to him.

“You said something about ensuring your things are safe with the use of your magic, didn’t you?”

Madeleine nodded.

“And how exactly are you doing that? How are you using your magic?” he asked, hoping for an answer that would help them.

“Well, I can seal the entrance and also my things, if I want to be extra careful.”

A triumphal smile scurried across the mage's face at that answer and his gaze went back to the flower.

This reaction surprised Madeleine, his face warmed up.

‘He should smile more often.’ 

Realizing what he just thought he quickly hid his face from the other, stood up, and turned around.

The knight let go of a breath he didn’t know he held.

He could feel his heart pounding. 

Was it from Espresso’s pretty smile or the shock of his own reaction to it?

He didn’t know anymore.

“Alright Madeleine, just breathe. Just breathe and pretend this never happened.”, he muttered.

“Sir Madeleine…?” Espresso asked his eyebrow raised.

The knight commander turned around quickly — facing whom he avoided mere minutes ago.

“Oh, I simply heard a noise and mistook it for another monster preparing to attack. But it was nothing.”

Espresso stared at the other for a few minutes skeptical of his strange behavior and Madeleine hoped that he wouldn’t turn red again.

But then the mage continued, pretending like nothing happened.

“I have an idea, Sir Madeleine. The catch is, however, that this could turn out to be very dangerous. Do you still want me to proceed?”

“Yes, please. If it may bring progress to our mission, we will have to try it. For the safety of the civilians.”

“Good. Then I will continue,” replied Espresso.

“You will seal the flower with your magic and then-” he pulled out a small,

Bag out of silk, “Take it with you in this bag. If my theories are correct, none of the pollen will be able to escape through your seal and we can transport it safely. But still, be careful with it, under no circumstances should your mark be lifted.”

Madeleine took the bag and kneeled down again. 

He used his magic and sent a quick prayer to the Divine, hoping to receive the protection he asked for.

The flower hovered over the ground chained with light strings. It seemed to have worked.

The paladin’s hand was shaking a bit while picking up the plant. 

‘What if the seal only appeared to work and the pollen would be able to fly freely?’ he worried, but immediately reassured himself that ‘Everything will be fine, I just have to keep up the seal.’

He finally tied up the tiny bag and held it out to the scientist, but he refused.

“No, you should keep it with you, you’re responsible for securing it.”

Then he stood up. 

“Come on, we will go now. It should almost be noon by now. I will lead the way, stay close behind.”

But Madeleine waited a few seconds, laying his hand on where his heart lay under the heavy armor. He breathed in and out and while he couldn’t feel it over the metal now, he felt it before when looking at Espresso’s smile.

The pounding of it back then was so strong, that the Knight was worried that something might be wrong with him.

‘I should get it examined by Sparkling later…’, he decided, stored the bag in his belt, pulled out his sword, and went after Espresso.

ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓ

Chapter Text

Chapter 8

The Woods

Raspberry and Eclair were already at the meeting place, they had made themselves comfortable on the ground and talked.

“Where were you two? We’ve been waiting for ages!” Raspberry called out, when seeing the two.

“We’ve found something!”, replied Madeleine with a big grin, while holding up the little silk bag with the transparent yellow seal on it.

“Professor Eclair, Knight Raspberry.” Espresso greeted them briefly.

“This may be a clue. We will take it with us to the camp, for a further inspection.

Later I will explain everything properly.”

Eclair and Raspberry shared one bewildered look, but agreed to return to the camp.

On the way there Espresso reported on this incident and told his theory about how the monsters and the flower could be related.

Madeleine however was too busy spacing out.

He was not able to get the image of Espresso’s face out of his head and he could not figure out why!

Oh and how beautiful the brunette's cream colored eyes shone back then…

Like pearls glimmering under the first ever exposure of sunshine- 

No, what was he doing? He shouldn’t be thinking of how beautiful the other looked in the sunlight and-

No.

No, no, no no, what was happening to him? 

“Madeleine, what are you doing?”, was what he told himself at that moment, his hands desperately trying to cover his burning hot face. “Stop thinking that. 

He shoved all these complicated thoughts he had back, to bury them deeply in his mind and hoped that they might disappear this way.

But the sparks fluttering in happiness inside him were much, much harder to ignore, he couldn’t simply ‘tune them out’. Whatever was going on right now had to stop. No matter what.

What are you doing, why are you so far behind?” called Espresso out irritated, his head turned to face the knight.

(‘Since when was he walking right next to me?’, the spoken one thought)

We cannot risk leaving anyone alone, even for mere minutes!”

Madeleine let go of another nervous laugh.

“Ah, je suis désolé. I just had to think about our great discovery.”

The other man closed his eyes.

“This is no ‘grand’ discovery, we can’t even be sure if the two things are connected to each other. It is simply a hint. A significant one, but still only a hint.

They catched up with the others again and the mage turned to face the knight a last time.

“Don’t fall behind again.”

“Alright.”

The two didn’t notice how the other duo had observed them from afar — seeing what they were up to — until now.

Eclair and Raspberry both shared the same confused looks, there was something different between these too.

It did no longer feel like the usual bantering between them. It felt oddly different .

What was going on between them?

☆

When they were back at the camp, they were greeted by Almond and Sparkling, who indulged in a calm conversation while preparing food..

There was relief in their eyes when seeing the missing crew arrive.

Espresso’s elegant stride hastened, he took Madeleine — without letting out a single word — by his arm and took him to the lit fireplace.

Standing tall before Almond and Sparkling he demanded Madeleine to show the flower to them.

The sigil had a golden shine to it, which gave the red, starlike blooms a hauntingly beautiful shimmer.

It looked so innocent to the unknown eye.

“This may be the cause of all our problems, if I am correct.

Please sit down everyone, I am going to explain now.

You sit down too, Madeleine.”

The scientist  came closer to the flower but still kept a certain distance.

Then he let it float.

After explaining how they had found it and safely transported it, it was time to tell his theory.

He stopped his pacing and faced them.

The scientists gaze hardened.

“Everyone, if you now may pay close attention to it — while please keeping a safe enough gap, we do not want to risk anything — you might notice something in the remainder of the monsters saliva-”

(At this mention Almond  took one or two steps back, his nose wrinkled in disgust.)

“You might notice these little beads, these are pollen. While there are certain types of plants where even human eyes can see them, most of them aren't.

I am no botanist, but I do strongly believe that either that or another component might cause this infections.”

Sparkling tapped his left foot up and down on the grass, deeply in thought.

“Hm, the flower itself has a very interesting flower. The vibrant red is also notable…. A protective mechanism against consumption, I presume. This is contrary to how you two found it though… If I am not mistaken it also has a very alluring scent…

Espresso was pleasantly surprised to hear that someone had the same train of thought as he did and nodded.

“Indeed. Are you familiar with the subject of botany?”, he asked.

Sparkling shook his head and laughed. 

“No. My boyfriend however works with selling flowers and plants, so I do possess some knowledge on different types of plants, their components and on their possible poisonous and healing effects.”

The mage hummed in contentment, this fact would surely prove itself useful later on.

“So I assume correctly that you can provide us with basic assistance?”

“I suppose so, yes.”

Finally Almond spoke up.

“Sorry to interrupt you two, but I think I can speak for us all when I say that we have no idea what you’re trying to say here.”

“Oh, my apologies, we both got lost in our train of thought.”, answered the scientist. 

“In my theory these pollen, or another component have a certain toxin within that — for an unknown reason — turns animals into dangerous monsters.”

“...And that likely through either consumption or another, still unknown to us.”, finished Sparkling.

“Exactly. To really proof this theory to be true, we will have to ask for a professional to analyze it.”

“Madeleine?”

The knight’s head shot up at the mentioning of his name.

“Yes?”

The mage paused for a minute, something seemed a bit off about the blonde. He was usually very focused when it came to his duty, but now he appeared to pay no attention at all.

“How long can you keep sigils up to complete function?”

“I am not sure, I’ll restore the one for my tent around every twenty four  hours, for safety reasons. But that does take away some of my magic temporarily.”, he answered.

“Can we risk it to have a sigil on both your tent and the flower?”

Madeleine nodded. “I think so.”

‘No boasting about himself? How unusual…’ Espresso thought, but stopped thinking about it for a while.

“Good, then we will contact the council as fast as possible. Almond, may you manage this task?”

Almond stood up.

“Of course, I will take care of it immediately.”

“I will prepare everything for my night duty," said Raspberry and left the fireplace as well.

But Madeleine and Sparkling still stayed, talking about who-knows-what. 

The coffee mage observed the knight and was now certain that something was wrong with him.

He sighed and went over to him.

“Madeleine could I talk to you about something?”, looking at the man next to the tall blonde he decided to come up with an excuse.

 To not make the false impression of caring about the knight.

(He was only irritated, that was all.)

“I have to question you about today, for the expedition record I am keeping.”

Madeleine consented and went along.

“What is going on with you, you have been acting peculiar ever since we got back.”, whispered Espresso.

“What-? I thought you’d be here for your record?”

Espresso scoffed. “I am. I have to write this down as well.”

Madeleine laughed.

“Since when are you caring about me, Professor?” teased Madeleine.

“Don’t be ridiculous, I am only here for the data, like stated before. Would you answer my question now?”

“I simply feel a bit dizzy and tired that is all. Nothing to worry about.” Madeleine grinned.

“ I do not worry !”Espresso hissed.

‘Perhaps he is right for once. Maybe it is simply fatigue, I must imagine things.

But, because this is for the success of the mission he has to be watched over.’, he thought.

“Well, it is still early, but I am going to lie down now. Don’t fret, I am safe in my tent, even without my seal.”

Espresso rolled his eyes. Yes, Madeleine was alright.

A few meters away Sparkling turned away, at last.

‘Their usual bickering huh? Glad it didn’t escalate for once.’

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Chapter Text

Chapter 9

Madeleine’s Tent

It was still dark when Madeleine awoke, bathed in sweat.

He had a very strange bad dream, but whatever it was, he couldn’t seem to remember it.

With a sigh, the knight opened his tent and stepped out into the cool midnight breeze.

Raspberry was patrolling, he could faintly see her lantern in the distance.

Although Madeleine was a light magic user and very fond of light colors, the night was his favorite time.

He only saw the rest of it when working in the kingdom, but not now. The stars shone bright and the moon gently shed his light on the open grassland.

Madeleine smiled happily.

What a peaceful time.

He glanced over the tents one last time before entering his again. At least, that is what he intended to do until he saw a faint light in one of the offside tents, and then it dawned on him whose tent it was. 

“ Espresso. "

☆

Espresso flinched when there was — something that could be considered a knock on his tent.

In an instant he hid his documentation book and the extra notebook he had brought with him, he had already a hunch who was standing outside.

This was proven to be true when the knight commander poked his head in.

“Espresso, what are you doing up this late? I thought you agreed to temporarily stop working !” he whispered, this time it was his turn to scold.

“I am not working!”, the scientist protested.

“Yeah, yeah, if you say so. Can… can I come in? The tent is big enough…”, Madeleine pleaded.

The coffee mage rolled his eyes. “No, go back to sleep.”

The blonde man let go of a hair strand around his finger and simply crawled in any way, letting himself and the moonlight in without permission.

“Excuse me, have you ever heard me? I didn’t -”

Oh, heaven’s.

“Madeleine… You’re… without your armor…?” Espresso stammered.

“Huh? Oh yeah, of course. How would I be able to sleep with it on?”

Madeleine chuckled.

The combination of both the fact that his voice was lower than usual (seemingly waking up mere minutes ago) and the muscular body for once not hidden took the mage’s breath away.

It also made his face significantly warmer than normal.

Espresso was so very glad that he turned off the lamp before the ridiculous knight broke into his tent.

“It’s so dark in here, don’t you want to turn on a light?” the voice next to him asked and he pretended like he didn’t get shivers down his spine listening to him.

“No, I just want you out of here, go to sleep Madeleine.” Espresso said.

“Only if you really go to sleep”, the blonde cheekily demanded.

Espresso raised his eyebrow.

“And what would you do, if I weren’t to follow your foolish demands?”

Madeleine sighed.

“Well, that would not be surprising to me. I suppose I would have to initiate Plan B. This would be very embarrassing for you, however.”

“Oh please, what would you be able to embarrass me with?” teased the brunette, with a raised eyebrow and arms crossed.

“Putting you to sleep of course. I thought that this would be obvious,” he said.

“Are you insane? I am not letting anyone put me to sleep, I’m not a child”

“No, but otherwise you’d put yourself and everyone else in danger. To simply go to sleep by yourself sounds more pleasant, does it not?”

Madeleine laid a hand on his chest.

“However, you could do it for me, if you’d prefer it .”

“Never.”

But he couldn’t hold back that the corners of his mouth turned slightly up in amusement, making Madeleine's heart flutter and his grin grow wider.

Espresso’s focus laid on the ceiling

“Did you know that when you’re smiling you’re literally glowing?”

Madeleine was caught very off guard by that.

“What?”

Realizing that he basically admitted to watching the knight way closer than he should, Espresso’s face was feeling a little too warm.

He was glad to be able to hide in the shadows, so he did exactly that by pushing himself in the back of the tent.

Since when was he observing the other so closely?

“When you smile, you beam a tiny bit… And-

Madeleine! Stop looking at me like this! I simply noticed that because there isn’t a lot of light around, that is all.”

The knight laughed.

“Really? Wow, I’ve never heard of this fact before. You’re really observant of people aren’t you?”

The scientist stayed silent.

This was, on the one hand, due to embarrassment, and on the other hand, because he was mad that he wasn’t able to look away before. This has been the case with the blonde before — which was even more infuriating — but worse was that Espresso had no idea when exactly it started.

He had thought about it a lot and he couldn’t figure out what was going on with him. After all, the mage hated the knight, right?

So why did a tiny, tiny part of him almost enjoy seeing the blonde, especially like this?

Why did this part enjoy the time they had to spend with each other the day before?

These thoughts were starting to make his head hurt, maybe he should consider writing a letter to his sister about this.

Another thing the coffee mage had to admit, but wouldn’t of course, was that Madeleine was right — for once.

Espresso wasn’t able to form one coherent thought due to the fatigue taking over.

(The order of Sparkling was perchance , a little ignored by the scientist and he barely slept a few hours the night before.)

Espresso sighed.

“Fine, I will go to bed now. But let me finally be at peace for once.”

Madeleine's eyes gleamed, within them an almost unnoticeable spark of affection.

“That is great! It is very important to take care of oneself, this is a step in the right direction”, and another grin.

“Go now, and stop giving me rules to follow, you moron!.”.”

Espresso suppressed a yawn while gesturing to the blonde to finally get out .

And Madeleine did.

Now alone in his tent again, the mage put his notes back in their place and slipped into the sleeping bag, where hid his heated face in his hands.

What was that?

☆

At the same time, Madeleine could not be happier, he was almost giggling in happiness when going the way back to his tent.

Espresso talked with him, listened to him and caught a detail of him , even the knight himself didn’t know about , what an amazing night!

Turning his head in different directions, he saw metal reflecting the moonlight which was Raspberry of course .

He paused for a moment , thinking about maybe talking with her about this, but didn’t.

She shouldn’t be disturbed at the moment, her current job was crucial to everyone’s well-being. 

Furthermore, Espresso would probably not appreciate telling someone about this without being asked beforehand — or ever, to be frank.

And in general, it felt too private to discuss with someone around.

But he needed advice, he had never really felt like this before.

Maybe it would be okay if he asked his family.

He could write them a letter, they didn’t know Espresso, after all. But would they really understand their son’s and nephew’s feelings?

The Commander was conflicted. He did not want to talk about this without Espresso knowing, he had seen the other’s gaze at him last night.

He didn’t say anything — not that he didn’t want to, he simply didn’t know if and how he should.

The knight desperately needed advice.

So his conclusion was to write the letter to his family, but leave out the name of the mage, reducing his feelings of guilt and giving it at least a bit more privacy.

While this guilt might seem a bit over the top to anyone else, it wasn’t just this situation. It was also about everything.

Madeleine felt blameable thinking about the reason(s) he wanted to become acquainted with Espresso in the first place.

He had earned backlash from the mage back then and that rightfully so and although it all laid in the past, the embarrassment still kept his thoughts busy from time to time. 

He would make this all right.

Because he didn't want this to be the case any longer. 

The knight wasn’t sure when it all changed, he only knew that it did. 

Climbing inside his tent he sighed.

Technically Madeleine should consider sleeping, but he probably would postpone it into eternity. 

No, he should do it now, even though he was very tired and also strangely lightheaded. He blamed the mix of excitement and nervousness.

After writing a whole letter in a record time of around ten minutes he finally could rest. It took bare minutes until the exhausted knight was sleeping soundly.

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Chapter Text

Chapter 10

Madeleine’s tent

When Madeleine awoke he was greeted by his head pounding and the strange symptoms from last night.

They had grown intense as well, the inside of his tent was spinning.

The man slowly forced himself out of his sleeping bag, opened the entrance a tiny bit, and checked if someone was at the fireplace.

His tent was conveniently near it, so this was not as difficult as he feared it to be.

It would be too risky to go further, the sun was not very soothing to his headache.

The only one he could see right now was Sparkling, which was perfect.

While Madeleine really wouldn’t like to face anyone in this horrible state he was in, Sparkling was the only one able to help him.

There was a painful sting in his head when the light of day met his eyes, causing him to let out a few groans of suffering.

“-llo Sparkling…” he uttered, immediately regretting not just tipping the man on the shoulder, his head was throbbing.

“Sir Mad- Oh, dear what happened to you!” Sparkling called out, his expression worried.

“I’m okay, I just have a headache and feel a bit dizzy.

Could you at least …ease it all, for today?”, the knight asked, while shielding his face from the sun, grimacing in pain.

“Well, suppose I can, yes,” Sparkling replied. “However, judging your current condition, I cannot allow myself to let you in the woods, you’ll stay here for monitoring.”

“What-, but-”, Madeleine gasped for air, it felt like a knife was being violently stabbed in his head

Sparkling raised his eyebrow at the other man.

There was no room for discussion, Madeleine would stay here at the camp, so much was clear.

But he didn’t say it yet.

“Come on Madeleine , we have to go in my tent , it isn’t far from here. I will walk with you.”

But the knight insisted on walking without aid, so Sparkling had to walk beside him, very worried that the ill one might fall unconscious. 

When both arrived the healer told him to already enter the tent , he had to inform the others about the change of plans.

Madeleine only hesitantly agreed, but after nausea began to overtake him, he surrendered and sat down.

“I’ll be right back, stay here alright?” Sparkling whispered.

☆

When the other was finally back, the tall one was examined.

“Here, some painkillers.” 

“Thank you.”

“Now, while you indeed show symptoms of a simple cold, I do think there is something else involved, so I have some questions I’d like to ask you.”

“Anything that is needed.”, uttered Madeleine, still in pain.

“Very well. Now, the last — let us say three days — were you feeling strange or ill? It could simply be a slight ache while swallowing.”

“No, I did not. I had slight dizziness and felt a bit light-headed last night. I thought that it was nothing”

“I see… And is there anything else of note that I might have to know?”

Madeleine attempted to shake his head — which he instantly regretted.

“No, neither do I have any idea what this strange illness might be, nor do I know what could have caused it.”

“Hm, alright. Thank you, Madeleine, rest please now.

“Sparkling?”

“Yes, what is it?”

“Do you think I’ll be at least able to patrol tonight?” Madeleine asked, almost pleading.

“Oh Madeleine…” Sparkling sighed. “No, I don’t believe that this is a possibility.”

“Fine… Thank you.”

Sparkling exited the tent again, he planned to ask around if someone had any idea what could have caused this.

Sadly, everyone he interviewed had no idea about anything, until he sat down and talked with Espresso.

“I had no idea he was feeling ill.” — the coffee mage began, folding his hands over his knee.

“Yesterday he was perfectly fine, pestering me as always. We had to walk together during the expedition because we were divided into two groups. He fought— I hate to admit this — well . 

The only unusual situation was when we found the flower. I don’t believe that this incident might be connected with his sickness, nevertheless, this is all I can think of.”

“Pardon me, but are there any news on it?”

“The flower? There was a letter stating they will try their best to find a professional, this is, considering the current situation, proving itself to be very difficult.”

Sparkling averted his gaze, staring into the woods behind them. Then he resumed.

“It was a curious plant wasn’t it?”

Espresso nodded.

“I have never seen it before, though I gather most of the ingredients I need fresh by myself. 

This does involve a lot of herbs I have to know about.”

“How strange… Was there really nothing that could indicate a connection between these two events??”

Espresso squinted his eyes.

“You don’t think…?”

“It’s the only clue we have.”, Sparkling shrugged.

“You’re right, the timing is notably odd indeed.”

“Stay here by the fireplace, I will gather everyone else.”

☆

A few minutes later they all sat around, looking at Sparkling, who was the only one standing.

“Alright, as all of you know by now, Madeleine has fallen ill.

Thanks for talking to Professor Espresso — ”, the bartender nodded in his direction before continuing —

“I have established a theory that it might all connect to the flower including any individual component. For today's expedition, I will accompany you, in case we find another specimen of the same type I have equipment to gather it with, separating pollen and plant.”

Almond told his point now.

“That is great, but someone will have to stay at the camp, we can’t leave the commander alone.”

Sparkling nodded.

“Exactly. Professor Espresso will take over this responsibility.”

“Hold on, I did not agree to this part”, interfered Espresso. “First I don’t want to watch over him , second I have no professional medical knowledge and won’t be able to do anything if his condition worsens.”

“We have to take that risk, Professor,” said Knight Raspberry. “I agree with Sparkling, this is the best option.”

“Also —”, Eclair intervened, “Every Professor at the Institut has to take a safety course that should be of use if needed..”

Espresso gritted his teeth. “Well, then you would also be great for this job, would you not?”

“Maybe, but I am much stronger in a team than alone.” was the answer of the historian .

The bartender clapped his hands together, drawing the attention of the crew back to him.

“Great, then that is settled!”

“I suggest we’ll depart in around twenty minutes," said Almond to the round.

All agreed with this decision and Espresso had to surrender.

“Come with me Espresso, I will show you everything you’ll need the location of in case he needs any treatment.”

Sparkling went first and Espresso followed reluctantly.

Inside Madeleine was sitting and praying.

He looked up, when hearing someone enter and smiled when discovering it was Sparkling with Espresso.

“Thank you Sparkling for the painkillers, I feel much better without my headache. And I see that you have brought Espresso with you, what gives me the honor?”

“Obligation.”, Espresso answered dryly, arms crossed,

“Sarcastic, as ever!”, laughed Madeleine.

“I am glad to see that you’re feeling better, Commander.”, said Sparkling.

Madeleine confirmed this. “While I still do experience some nausea and light-headedness, the painkillers have done a lot — like already stated. ”

“Amazing. Listen, don’t mind us. I have to show Professor Espresso around, he will treat you for as long as I am away.”

Madeleine fell quiet, his eyes curious, but they soon shined in delight.

“How nice of him! Thank you, Espresso .”

Espresso scoffed.

“I have a title, be a little more professional. And wipe that grin off your face, I was ordered to do this.”, he then turned his back to the other and faced the confused bartender.

“Continue.”

“Of course… Where were we… Ah, right.”

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Chapter Text

Chapter 11

The Medical Tent (/Sparkling’s Tent)

Espresso sat behind the boxes of medical necessities, writing in his notebook, the others were long gone.

“Quit staring at me Madeleine.”, the scientist said, without looking up.

“Can you not concentrate? Am I that… distracting?” teased the knight in return, his smile shifting into a triumphant smirk. 

Espresso sighed, he closed his notebook and put it with his ink pen next to him.

“No, not when you cannot stop staring.”

“I am just really bored , there is nothing to do and you don’t talk to me!”

“Fine, then let us talk. 

What is this about suddenly not calling me by my title anymore?” Espresso finally addressed. “Did you really think you could do that after one conversation with me? How unprofessional.”

Madeleine tilted his head. “Well, no this was just the final sign for me. You started with that.”

Espresso furrowed his brows.

“What are you talking about, do you have a fever…?”

Madeleine laughed silently.

“No, you really, really started, I remember it clearly. I was very surprised , I must admit.”

“You must be mistaken, maybe you should rest.”

“Oh, you called me by name the one night as well, if you can remember that better.”

Espresso’s eyes scanned the room without a destination in mind, while he reflected on the day or, better said, night the blonde was talking about.

Madeleine was right.

“When I told you to get out.” the mage realized.

“Yes, you got it now. And because I know that this must mean very much coming from you, especially directed to me, it made me very happy, friend .”

Madeleine emphasized the word ‘friend’ very proudly.

“Don’t call me that we’re not friends.” 

“Fine, is ‘dear’ better?”

Espresso’s face turned even darker (and warmer) after this nickname was spoken.

“No, that’s not even what you call a friend, that’s worse”! he spluttered .

“You—” Espresso paused and closed his eyes, calming himself down. “If you really need to, call me an ‘acquaintance’. But you still have to use my title.”

“Hm, alright, if you say so. Better than nothing.”, Madeleine smiled again.

Espresso said nothing, merely averting his gaze.

“ Professor Espresso?”

“Yes, Sir Madeleine?” 

“You’re really nice to talk to, you should know that.”

“Alright, that is enough. You should rest now Commander.”, Espresso said, keeping his — yet again — increasingly warm face under control.

That this tiny sentence could cause such a reaction was very aggravating for him.

He couldn’t lay his finger on any fact indicating why this was happening and he didn’t even want to.

There were a lot of thoughts in his head, waiting to be noted by him.

‘Calm down, it is just a simple, very small compliment, nothing else. He probably has a lot of friends, to whom he says it to(o) regularly, I am just one of many. And that is good…—

Just what am I thinking?

I am just one of many , what a ridiculous thought.

I don’t like it when he says that I am ‘nice to talk with’., I despise it.

Utterly.

As much as I despise him.’

“But you still have to watch over me, it’s your job for now.”, said Madeleine, more as an excuse for the other man to stay than for anything really.

“As long as you keep quiet.”, replied Espresso without addressing the pleading tone in the blonde's voice.

Madeleine frowned. 

“So you get to stay up way too often way too long, but I cannot stay up to talk with you, simply due to a sudden illness infecting me?”

The scientist turned back to writing in his notebook, answering briefly while keeping his eyes busy on the pages.

“Yes, I have to do this ridiculous job so I am responsible for you and Sparkling would not be thrilled about your condition worsening, whatever your illness may be.”

This sent a slight sting into the knight’s heart, he had hoped that they might be at least slightly on better terms.

He pulled his legs towards him and laid his turned head on his knees.

By that, he could watch as Espresso wrote and wrote until the pages were filled.

Madeleine was able to observe every detail of the mage’s face until the one spoke up again.

“I have told you before to quit staring at me, Mad- Sir Madeleine .”

Madeleine chuckled and continued to watch as the brunette’s hands guided the ink pen quickly over the pages.

Was his handwriting still as beautiful as the more slow-paced professional documents even when rushed?

“See, you’re starting to disobey your own rules, it seems like even your mind tells you that we’re friends!”

Espresso let out a half annoyed amused snort, surprisingly no longer arguing against it.

Madeleine turned off the many thoughts whispering the worst scenarios on and on, about how the other hated him and always will.

He shoved them deep down in his mind, now was not the time to overthink.

The taller man could not resist, he had to catch another glimpse of the cream-colored eyes again, the one that had shined so pretty once before.

Madeleine wondered if Espresso even knew how stunning he himself was — inside and outside.

Madeleine had the sudden urge to tell it all, in great detail.

But the knight could never say these things out loud, even if that felt like a string of rose branches wrapping around his heart, stinging and choking it at all once.

“Is that the notebook for the documentation of your experiments?” he asked, completely out of the blue.

Espresso looked up, facing the sick man in front of him.

“Yes.” That was it. The blonde frowned. He wanted to know more.

“But you can’t really experiment right now, can you?” 

“No, but I can still recalculate, or set up formulas.”

The Knight smiled, he loved it whenever the other man spoke about his research.

“Soo, your experiments, huh?

Would you mind if I took a look?”

“I don’t think that you would be able to understand anything , this is very complicated. Also, you should finally rest now , you are ill.”

“After looking into it, I will. That is a promise.”, begged Madeleine, determined.

Espresso gave up and handed it out.

“Fine.”

The blonde's mouth turned into a big grin and he opened the logbook carefully — as if it was a very valuable treasure.

The inside was as organized as Madeleine thought it to be. 

He reverently stroked over the beautifully curled letters.

Madeleine’s point had been proven to be correct, the scientists' rushed handwriting was almost the same.

And even though the knight could barely understand half of the words and numbers on the many many pages, it all did not matter.

This was so important to Espresso and he had trusted it upon him, that meant so very much to Madeleine.

It was one puzzle piece of many — slowly forming the whole picture that the mage was. He was all a mystery waiting to be solved.

Yet the knight was not sure anymore if it really was the mystery intriguing him, or if it was the brunette himself.

As he flipped page after page, looking closely at texts and numbers and numbers again, he slowly realized that this no longer was a boost of his pride.

Something about Espresso himself had captured him and hadn’t even noticed.

It reeled him in, didn’t let go, and stole his heart in the process .

And slowly, as these thoughts were born in his mind, he did not stop them from growing, he no longer tried to deny them.

Instead, Madeleine looked up and told words as if they were nothing.

“You know, I’ve never even thought about how other types of magic might work, but this is fairly interesting.

I must admit, I do not understand much, but what I saw when we battled side by side intrigued me, but maybe it was just the sight of you.”

Espresso he felt himself blushing profoundly.

He must have misheard this, right?

Madeleine went back to reading as if he had not just confessed to something nonchalantly mere seconds ago.

The scientist was speechless — quite an impressive achievement, he was a man with words — should he keep quiet?

The tall blonde was still sick after all, he could hardly think straight.

Before the man could find his words again, he was already interrupted.

“Oh, Professor Espresso, can I ask you something?”

The brunette hesitated the mess of his own feelings and the uncertainty of the following words holding him back.

“Of course, what is it?” Espresso didn’t know why he said that. He wanted to say something else, it just slipped out.

“So, I‘m not sure if this is true, it could just be a rumor. But I’ve been wanting to ask this since I’ve heard about it:

Is it true that you are the discoverer of coffee magic?”

Espresso breathed out, thankful for the topic change. 

The eyes of the knight shone , he looked so excited honestly interested in anything the scientist could tell him.

So he answered.

“Yes, indeed I am.”

“Why, that is very impressive! I — for myself — have only got it through the Divine’s blessing-”

The scientist rolled his eyes, if he knew that this all would turn into the other bragging, he wouldn’t have carried on.

Regardless, the next sentences came as another surprise.

“But I must say that this deserves much more acknowledgment. You built up everything by yourself and now you even teach it. This deserves far more attention than my magic.”

The blonde smiled, ear to ear and Espresso’s heart bloomed .

What was happening to him?

Madeleine continued.

“Hach, this sounds so absurd, I must apologize for myself. You must think I am lying, but I swear that every word I said today was genuine.”

Espresso opened his mouth and closed it again, trying to find the right words.

“Can I ask you a question now?”

“Of course, go on!”

Espresso swallowed, unsure of what to do or what to feel. He felt dizzy and a little sick , wait … would he also succumb to the mysterious sicknes s—?

“What… What exactly did you mean when you said something about the sight of me?”

Madeleine laughed nervously, he didn’t really intend to say these words out loud.

“Can I tell you something first, before fully answering the question? I want to be fully honest with you.”

Espresso nodded, slowly.

“Go on.”

“I’m not the most… confident person, even though I may seem like it. 

I struggle a lot with what people think of me and… 

I don’t think so anymore but at the start, I only wanted to befriend you as a boost for my own ego.  

To assure myself that truly everyone likes me and… I’m not sure why , actually .

Even though I do not think like this anymore, I still feel guilty. 

Now that is said…-

Espresso, I… I’m afraid that I do not want to be “just friends” with you , my heart screams after more and I cannot ignore it any longer. I know you don’t like me much, but I do. 

It seems like I have developed feelings for you. Romantic feelings.

I know that you don’t feel the same, but, like I already stated, I would like to be honest with you.”

The time felt so slow it almost stopped like Espresso’s heart did right now .  

He said nothing, he wasn’t able to.

No matter what he tried, the mage's head was empty, no words could be found.

Madeleine smiled, but it was not a genuine one. The blonde’s sky-blue eyes started to fill with tears.

“Alright, I understand.” , Madeleine spoke softly. “I politely ask you to leave now , I need some time for myself , you’ll surely understand.”

Espresso stood up, with his head down and walked to the exit, all in a trance-like state. The brunette wanted to say so many things , but could not , his feelings were as unclear to himself as the words for them , it was all shrouded in fog.

“You are a wonderful person, Espresso. Please never forget that.” , were the final words Madeleine said , before the mage shut the entrance with his magic , without turning around.

Outside Professor Espresso was able to watch the sun setting. His eyes filled with tears and he was not quite sure why, but he let them flow, slowly making his way to his tent.  

Why was he crying?

Why did he feel so horrible?

For what reason did his heart sink when Madeleine asked him to leave?

Why did one part of him want to stay?

As the tears poured he felt utter regret, but also hopelessness. 

His current feelings were a formula the scientist didn’t know how to encipher.

ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓ

Chapter Text

Chapter 12

The camp

This evening was a strange one.

When the others returned — and Sparkling went to check on the ill knight — Madeleine was resting alone in the tent.

No words were spoken of the “incident,” and yet there was tension in the air; everyone could feel that something was off.

Nobody knew what went down, except Madeleine and Espresso and they wanted to leave it at that.

☆

It was night again and Espresso laid wide awake.

The man tried to fall asleep for hours at this point yet was unsuccessful.

There was too much going on in his mind and — after hours of contemplating — he concluded that he had to confront whatever was troubling him. 

To wait until tomorrow was no option.

The mage’s heart was beating so fast that he could hear it, but he did not let fear overtake him.

After quickly changing into more suitable clothes, he went out in the direction of Madeleine's tent.

Sparkling was no longer having him monitored all day, which would make talking with Madeleine a lot easier, finding where he sleeps is the difficult part.

Or so he thought, at least.

Madeleine sat on one of the logs around the fireplace, staring into the big, wide clear night sky.

Due to the spare, silver light present Espresso could not identify many details, but he still stopped to take a good look at the other man.

The blonde almost bathed in his hair, it spilled all over him.

The cold breeze let lone strands flow for seconds, before letting them fall again.

He looked so majestic .

But the most beautiful must be his face at the moment.

His blue eyes reflected the tiny lights hovering above the two, his lips were slightly parted in awe.

“Hello, Madeleine.”

The blonde turned his head in, the stars in his eyes gone. He had the same sadness Espresso saw after the horrible outcome of the confession.

“Oh, are you not able to sleep?”, Madeleine asked, his expression a miserable attempt at covering up his heartache.

“No. And it seems like I am not the only one. Can I join you? It won’t be long.”

“Alright, but you should try to sleep again, Professor.” Madeleine slid more to the right and Espresso sat down.

“Don’t call me that.”

“What?”

Espresso’s face adorned a slight smile.

“I want you to say my name, Madeleine. Please .”

Madeleine looked confused.

“Espresso.”

The mage hummed content.

“When you say it, it doesn’t sound that horrendous.”

“I have loved your name as soon as I first heard it, Espresso. It’s beautiful.”

The mage looked at the sky again, pausing.

“Madeleine, I had a dream. You were in it, I was in it. It began with the moment we met and ended when you and I parted after your confession.”

“What are you trying to tell me with this?”

“That made me think. I never thought that anyone could ever like me or even love me. And due to me being always too busy with my experiments and my research, I’ve never experienced love. 

Of course, I’ve had my fair share of crushes in my past, but love was never something I’ve found.”

Madeleine said nothing, waiting for the other to continue.

“I have a question and I want you to be as honest as possible.

What exactly do you love about me?”

Madeleine glanced over to Espresso, slid closer, and reached out with his hand but stopped.

“Can I?”

Espresso nodded and Madeleine smiled a spark of adoration in his eyes, then began to softly stroke the other man’s lips .

“Your voice.

Those eyes, I always get lost in…”

He cupped Espresso’s face in both of his hands.

“... Your smile…”

The knight let go and took the brunette's hand, caressing the lines on his palm.

“... The magic you have made your own…

… And…”

Then he finally guided it to Espresso’s chest.

“The big heart I know you have.”

Madeleine sat upright again.

“These are only the things I am able to list freely at the moment, I could surely find more. Does that answer your question?”

Espresso blushed heavily and half covered his face in embarrassment.

“It certainly does.”

And then proceeded to ignore the shiver he got at the sound of the knight's low chuckle.

“Madeleine, I need to confess something.

I thought about you, about us … And then I realized something.

I was not quite sure what to do, I did not want to wait any longer, I simply could not.

I might have developed feelings for you.”

Madeleine beamed, even his eyes sparkled.

“You did?”

“I did a long time ago. I just didn't fully realize it and afterward didn’t want to admit it.” Espresso sheepishly looked away.

Espresso hummed in agreement, nodded, and then even smiled.

The blonde’s heart stopped, this smile was even more stunning than the ones he had seen up to this point.

He absorbed every detail of the gorgeous face in front of him and it was like he fell in love for a second time.

He then cupped Espresso’s right cheek with one hand and lovingly stroked over the man’s lips.

“May I?”

“Go on. Please. ” Espresso demanded, already melting at the other’s touch.

“So impatient.” Madeleine laughed but went in closer.

“I love you, Espresso.”, he whispered, before finally lowering his head and meeting the other’s lips with his own.

And the time stopped .

It was only them now, nothing else mattered.

Espresso had never felt more at peace and returned the soft kiss they both shared under the bright shining stars, the tiny lights dancing over their heads as if they wanted to celebrate with them.

The first kiss lasted mere seconds, but it felt like hours.

When they parted — both breathless of happiness — Madeleine smiled softly at him, his eyes as full of love as his heart was.

They didn’t part long, however, as it was the mage who — after resting his eyes on the sight of his knight for only a few more seconds — went in for another kiss.

It was more intense and passionate than the first one. Feelings that had been pushed down before were let out.

Both of their hearts had, in a strange way, always yearned for each other and let each other know at long last .

Thus the unspoken truth was revealed.

When they parted once more, Espresso let go of a laugh of pure joy and proceeded to let his head fall on the knight’s chest.

Madeleine put his arms around the mage and leaned his head on the brunet's.

“I love you too, Madeleine.”

Espresso murmured, breathing in the comforting, familiar vanilla scent.

The blonde chuckled and kissed the other's hair.

“And how would you like to continue now, with our relationship I mean.”

“I would like to start slow, with a few dates at first.”

Espresso paused, before looking up to his knight.

“If that is not too troublesome for you?”

“Of course not! Take as much time as you need dear.”

Madeleine softly lifted the mage’s head and looked him in the eyes.

“If you are not ready yet, do not rush it, simply tell me. And whenever you are not comfortable with something, please inform me as well, alright?”

Espresso nodded.

“I promise it.”

“Hach, I hate to say it, but I feel like we should at least sleep for a few hours shouldn’t we?” commented Madeleine after a while of them just cuddling, when realizing how high the moon stood.

His date followed his gaze and sighed. “Yes, I suppose we should.”

A goodbye kiss and both went back. But they did turn around one last time — simultaneously.

“Goodnight, love. ”, said Espresso, a smile adoring his face.

The blonde’s face lit up at the mention of a nickname and he giggled.

“Goodnight, ma chérie.

ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓ

Chapter Text

Chapter 13

The fireplace

Espresso yawned. Finally, his night shift was over.

As the sun rose and the sky was colored in all the possible colors of the rainbow, he went back to his tent, preparing to rest.

It has now been a few days since they both declared their feelings to one another. 

After Madeleine had done his best to ensure Espresso had a healthier sleep schedule, this was the first time the mage even guarded through a night ever since the start of the trip.

Espresso was not too thrilled about this outcome, but he learned to live with it, as he did not want Madeleine to worry about him so much.

When entering the tent the mage immediately noticed a difference in the air — quite literally.

There was a very familiar scent in the air.

Madeleine .

The sweet vanilla scent of him, that Espresso learned to love, was lingering in the air, the scientist could recognize it anywhere.

The mage was a bit confused, the blonde was now on a mission, after all.

Tired as he was, he just noticed not what was standing — in a vase — next to him on the ground.

A bouquet.

There were pretty little white flowers with long stems in the middle, surrounded by tall plain-looking green flowers.

The bouquet smelled like a mix of coffee and vanilla.

Espresso was aware of many plants and flowers, but only of those that were crucial for either experiments and/or (another way of) progress or, when it comes to light medical care.

These were two he couldn't identify, but the scents clearly originated from them.

This fool of a man had sent him flowers .

Espresso kneeled down and spotted two other things — a pearl white envelope and a beautifully packed perfume.

The coffee mage first opened the envelope.

♡-----------------------------------------------♡

My dearest,

I know that we are — when you will read this letter — mere hours away from each other.

Yet, I have decided to write to you and to give you certain things.

Of course, there are the flowers — which are the Euphorbia characias (here the subspecies ‘wulfenii’) surrounding the ‘Nemesia ‘Wisley Vanilla’. 

These flowers are not particularly special in themselves — except for the strong freshly ground coffee the first one and the vanilla scent the second one possesses. 

so you can be reminded of the beautiful mix of our love for the time we cannot be together.

It also serves as a reminder that you mustn't worry about me, I will always return from the mission.

Then we have a very special bottle of perfume. This is the only kind I use and I want you to have one of it. 

There is also the letter you hold in your hands, but much more important is the little bag attached to the ribbon around the vase.

In it is a strand of my hair.

This seems excessive — and you are free to return anything you find a bit overbearing, but I wanted to bestow it upon you nevertheless.

It is not only a promise that I will always be by your side, it is also a promise of my earnest love to you.

This was common for lovers a few centuries ago and I suppose I did act a bit irrational getting to know this detail from Eclair while he and I were talking.

How about a secret date tomorrow night?

Then we can talk if you need to.

I will be back soon, do not worry about me!

Yours truly,

Madeleine

♡-----------------------------------------------♡

Espresso could not resist a smile.

It was a very intimate gesture and maybe a bit excessive, but that simply was Madeleine.

He himself had never thought to find something like love at all, it was like a dream came through — one he never even imagined to become reality.

And Madeleine seemed to know that and was scared to be ‘too much’.

But — to be very frankly speaking — in Espresso’s opinion there was no ‘too much’ Madeleine.

Not anymore.

He did not hate Madeleine’s personality, it was just different than his sometimes.

And that was amazing in its own way.

He lovingly held the letter in his hand, burning the image of Madeleine’s handwritten font and the content inside in his mind.

Feelings for the one he thought he thought he hated — what a turn of events!

Latte will be so excited about this piece of information.

Also, there surely was something else that he could update her on, pretending that this was about a general update and not about the fact that he was now going on dates with the person he almost killed on the second day of meeting.

He could just leave that at the end.

There were no news about the flower, except that they had found a second one and sent it to the academy for professional testing.

Maybe there were updates on that topic she could report on?

His sister was not assigned to the research of it, but as far as he was aware, Latte had her ears everywhere.

Somehow she would find out anyway, as always.

So he turned his head to the beautiful flowers, took a deep breath, and then his stationery.

He had a lot to tell.

☆ 

A few hours later — Espresso was deep asleep, Madeleine checked — it was time to leave.

Although everyone covered it up as excitement or something similar, there was a certain atmosphere making everyone feel uneasy.

“I feel like there is something bad bound to happen”, murmured Raspberry.

Even the brave knight that she was — and typically didn’t believe in bad omen — felt this way.

“Sparkling can be lucky to stay back in the camp”, noted Almond dryly.

“I’ve felt this way too often on a few of my investigations, this is serious.”

“Now come on, let us calm down everyone. This is not going to help at all, let us simply focus on the way and our end goal.”, voiced Eclair, though his voice was a bit shaky.

Madeleine nodded.

“Do not worry, as long as I am with you my light will protect us!”, he reassured.

Raspberry sighed.

“Well, there is no point in simply standing here, we should proceed.

Madeleine and I will go ahead, stay right behind us everyone!”

☆

The longer they went on, the more intense this gut feeling became and even Madeleine’s ‘playing tough’ cover was starting to crumble.

After a while, on another clearing — if you can even call it that, there were so many monsters, that Raspberry’s suspicion only grew.

There were no longer simple infected animals, but also creatures of pure infection no longer recognizable and much stronger.

It made the fights increasingly more difficult.

Soon this feeling of catastrophe would prove itself true and everything would crash down .

ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓ

Chapter Text

Chapter 14

Camp

Madeleine felt horrible.

He hadn’t told anybody, but his condition worsened over this night again.

Luckily he still had some of Sparklings Medicine left for the most distracting symptoms, he had to drown out the other symptoms by himself in secret.

The knight knew that without him it would be a major setback.

Splitting up a group of three was a huge risk and he would feel like the one to blame if anything happened to any of them.

Madeleine was a knight commander after all and it was his duty to protect everyone and keep things in order.

This also meant to put his health second sometimes.

But he would be fine, that’s what he constantly told himself.

☆

The fight was in full swing — literally. Madeleine had to swing his sword in every direction, with almost no pause.

It was intense, they were being overrun by monsters and were struggling to keep them in check.

“Damn it, it doesn’t stop, they keep pouring in!” called out Almond, struggling to keep trapping them all.

“They are coming in every direction, withdrawal is impossible!”, affirmed Eclair,  sweat dripping.

“We can only hope that the Professor and Sparkling are safe-.”, grunted Raspberry.

☆

Espresso was startled out of his deep sleep, breathing heavily he sat himself up and felt his heart beating. 

It raced and he knew it right away.

Something was wrong.

Very wrong.

☆

Madeleine paused, only for a moment.

But that was enough for a monster to slash its claw into him.

Crying out in pain he collapsed, his hand pressed on the throbbing wound in his right side.

His sight began to blur, then faintly being able to hear Raspberry calling out to him.

The last thing he noticed before everything went black was the familiar scent of freshly brewed coffee.

☆

Espresso was covered with magic, but it was not only his own.

Light magic surrounded him and provided warmth.

“What-”

Then it wrapped around his body, suddenly ice cold forcing him to take in a sharp breath.

Some of his magic escaped — which, notably, only happened once before.

The area on his right, near his stomach started to hurt, like he was stabbed in it and then suddenly – out of nothing only the light remained.

He had never been ready so fast for a destination, rushing to find Sparkling.

Sparkling looked at the mage with concern, but Espresso quickly put his coat on and — before using his magic to fly — called out:

“Listen Sparkling, I do not know what happened with the others, but I have a hunch that there was something severe taking place.

There is no time for explanations, I only know that I have to be quick.”

And he was gone, in the direction where the others went off to.

☆

It took him merely minutes before he found his destination, for him, however, it felt like hours.

There was no sign of the others, but so many corpses of different types of monsters that it was a safe sign that they were not very far away.

And then he finally found them and…

Oh, his heart dropped.

He had never landed this fast before walking towards Knight Raspberry who hunched over what only could be —

“Madeleine…?” he whispered.

His eyes filled with tears and his body trembled at the bloody scene.

With a boost he was quickly beside Madeleine, pushing everyone, even Raspberry by side .

His hands were shaking when he was next to him, especially when realizing how serious the wound was.

“No. No, no no no!” 

He let his head fall on the unconscious one’s chest — as soft as possible of course.

Then he raised it again, cupping the blonde’s face, begging him to open his eyes.

“-spresso…” Madeleine smiled, weakly. 

Espresso’s eyes widened

“Don’t… worry -bout me… There is… a weak sigil on my wound, I created it…

Your magic fuels it.

Don’t go…  You have to fly me back…

I believe in… you… 

Ma chérie …”

And he shut his eyes again.

Espresso turned around one last time:

“I have to go, quickly. I can barely take him with me, you’ll have to walk. I’ll meet you all later.”

Cupping the others' face in his hands shortly, he murmured — barely audible —

“Hold on, you will be safe soon. I promise, darling.”

☆

The flight had been hard to manage as Madeleine was not very easy to carry.

Furthermore, having to hold him in a secure position did not make it much easier.

Espresso however was an expert in his magic field, even when it came to a practice he rarely used.

Only a few more minutes, he would need only a few more minutes —

Trying to focus was so very difficult when the one you love was dying in your arms and the tears fell from the mage’s face he couldn’t hold them back anymore.

He thought he had finally found it, the one thing he was always told he didn’t deserve to have — true love.

And now?

The universe was so very cruel . 

He glimpsed at the knight, narrowing his eyes.

“I am so sorry Madeleine, I… I should have been there, I should have been by your side.”

A single tear fell on Madeleine’s face.

Then he looked upward again and focused on hurrying, rather than overthinking.

☆

Sparkling hastened to where Espresso’s voice was coming from, he had never heard him so distraud.

“Sparkling! You have to take care of him quickly, he has lost a lot of blood already and the bandage is not holding up very well even with his sigil, I tried to rush but—”

He stopped when Sparkling laid a hand on his shoulder.

“Alright, I’ll do my best. But you have to breathe, okay?”

The bartender spoke gently. 

Espresso nodded, ignoring the feeling of his tears coming back , and helped Sparkling bring the badly injured man inside the tent. 

“Alright. Now, he still has a relatively steady pulse.

You have basic medical knowledge, right?”

“Yes, but I am not sure if I am able to assist you — assuming you want me to.”

Replied the scientist, looking at his — very shaky — hands, while the other had already prepared everything.

“Do not worry, you will simply have to give me the tools I am asking for .

We don’t have much time, but this here is a medical stapler — everything else should be nothing new to you.”

After Sparkling cleaned the wound, he stapled it.

Madeleine also had — unexpectedly — high fever, which the bartender treated as well and noted for later.

“Oh right, Professor? The results of the research on the flower came back.”

Sparkling handed the letter to the brunette.

“They had found out something very interesting —”

“The pollen can cause sickness through entering an open wound.”, finished Espresso the sentence.

Sparkling nodded.

“Exactly. Now please look at the symptoms.”

Espresso swallowed.

“Are you saying —?”

“Yes. We have to at least consider the theory that he could be infected.

As soon as he wakes up I will ask him about it and then take a sample. We don’t know yet how severe it can get.

And we have to take into account that we don’t have any idea how much time he has left — if there is a terminal phase.”

Espresso stayed silent.

Not only was Madeleine infected with an illness that still has to be researched, but also was he now impaired to do anything.

He stared at the unconscious man who seemed to be fine just a day ago and asked: — without looking up —

“Do we have any way of contacting the king in case of an emergency like this? This is now a very urgent matter where we should not rely on the reports, they could arrive too late.”

“I’ll see what I can do, but we will have to wait no matter what.

Stay with him.”

The bartender was very curious about what happened between the two of them, but that was not the time for these types of questions.

ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓ

Chapter Text

Chapter 15

The Medicine Tent (/Sparkling’s Tent)

When Sparkling was gone Espresso sat right next to Madeleine, holding his hand and waiting.

He insisted on staying with Madeleine even after Sparkling came back and tried to get him out (“This is a lot to take in, you have to give yourself a break”).

When the others finally arrived as well and had to be treated, it was he who squeezed himself into the tiniest spaces next to the knight.

Espresso was so worried that he fell back into his extreme caffeine overconsumption, trying desperately not to fall asleep, he was too worried about the other man.

Hours began to pass and at this point, the mage hardly took his eyes off the one by his side.

He tried to distract himself before, but the brunette couldn’t stop blaming himself.

So he waited.

After a few more hours Eclair tried to talk with him a little bit — which Espresso did not reciprocate — and Sparkling informed Espresso that there was an airship sent tomorrow, not only for Madeleine but for all of them.

The mission was canceled.

The second time Sparkling came in to bring information, there were very important news on the subject of the “Corruption flower” as it was called.

“It seems like this is the reason there are so many monsters out there, they seem to be corrupted animals, turned into monsters because of the plant.

But they still have to find out what it could do to humans.”

“So there could be a fatal outcome.” Espresso finished the sentence with tears forming in his eyes.

Madeleine looked so very peaceful like he was simply sleeping.

Espresso narrowed his eyes, before tearing them from the blonde with a painful sting in his heart.

At least the knight didn’t appear to be in pain. A small bit of reassurance, but anything was better than nothing.

Sparkling didn’t reply and simply watched for a while before breaking the silence.

“Yes. That is indeed a possibility.”

Espresso shut his eyes and he spoke.

“Thank you for informing me. I… would like some privacy now.” his voice broke.

Sparkling still wondered what had happened, but he didn’t dare to ask.

Especially right now was not the time and he could only hope for the best.

Everyone was a mix of worry and fear.

They didn’t know what to do or how to deal with all of what happened.

It was awfully quiet without Madeleine. To be fair everyone’s joy was gone, they were all down. Still, they had not realized how much of Madeleine was missing.

His signature laugh, the usual banter with Espresso, the casual conversations with him … Hell, even the silly boasting of his blessing and the divine.

Raspberry was particularly down. During their time here, both knights had found themselves indulging in conversations with one another, both deep and light.

She had found herself a good friend, only to know that she was potentially about to lose him.

☆

At the same time, Madeleine was still deep asleep — if you can even call it that. Espresso still held his hand, caressing it and hoping.

He had hardly ever hoped this much in his life for something or someone. Although the mage tried his best to stop thinking, the many fears still came through.

What if… What if Madeleine weren’t to survive? 

Was it his fault? They had found the flower first together in the forest and after that, he probably never touched it or the other ever again.

Espresso let his head rest on the other man’s shoulder, the everlasting, now so tragically familiar vanilla scent causing more tears to form.

His heart felt so empty like something was harshly carved out of it and left to bleed.

Quiet sobs and the yearning for touch.

The brunette let all his grief out and his tears flowed at last.

He was too tired to hold them back now, he didn’t even know when or why he started to.

But he didn’t. Not anymore.

Espresso’s head shot up when he felt Madeleine’s hand and his intertwining.

This wasn’t his doing —

His eyes widened when he saw the other man looking at him.

“Hello Espresso.”, said the knight weakly.

“ Madeleine .”, whispered Espresso whispered and more tears formed.

“You’re awake! I am so sorry, I… This is all my fault.”

“Don’t be silly, I am the one who fell sick and still went into battle,” replied Madeleine.

He put his arm around the mage bringing him to lay his head on the blonde’s chest.

He nuzzled Espresso’s hair and the familiar fragrance of freshly brewed coffee was the comfort he missed.

“You never left my side, didn’t you?”, chuckled Madeleine.

“No. I was too worried to do so. And I still am.” confessed the other, metaphorically choking on his words.

“Love,” Madeleine called out, his tone worried. “What is going on? I am awake now, there still seems to be a lot troubling you. I told you that you can tell me anything.”

The mage straightened up and swallowed, his eyes filled with sorrow.

“We might know what caused your sickness. But the problem is… We do not know of a cure yet and…” Espresso breathed trying to handle the reality of the situation himself.

“Your wound is one thing, but your illness… It might be more serious than expected, that is why we will return to the kingdom as soon as possible.”

“What? Espresso, please continue.” said the other softly and took the other man's hand, his expression worried.

“The flower, remember? There might be a certain reason you felt like this only a few days after.”

The mage's voice was shaky and he blinked, trying to hold back tears.

He continued.

“The flower is not only the source of your corruption, it is also most certainly the reason why you have fallen ill. 

That is why we will return. To try and find a cure — anything that could help you.

They are not completely certain what consequences it could have on the human body.

Madeleine. You… might not survive this…”

Espresso’s voice grew quieter, his last sentence almost inaudible. He felt like this cold reality was taking up all the space in his heart, holding it tightly in its thorny grip.

Madeleine stared at the other man, trying to grasp the information. 

“Espresso, I don’t want to leave you, I want to stay with you.”

His voice was merely a whisper. “I love you, Ma chérie.”

And when Madeleine said these words, the mage realized that he did too. 

Really, really loved him.

Love was a complicated thing, but in this moment, in this moment of desperation and grief, it felt right .

At this time he felt his heart beating. He felt the fast rhythm and — for the very first time — really listened to what it said.

Everything the knight did had a huge impact on him.

The signature laughter lit sparks and the slightest amount of touch ignited a fire inside his body.

There is so much someone realizes when there is all sight of hope lost. 

And Espresso realized that this was honest love. He was now sure of it.

His heart told it. The brunette had been too scared before.

This was something the mage had rarely ever experienced.

He had always stopped before uncertain territory, in all kinds of situations.

Not anymore. This may be too late to realize now but now is better than never. 

Never would mean more regret.

Regret that would not be able to be fulfilled .

“I love you too. I’m so sorry, I thought we had more time,” said Espresso, with a smile. It was a sorrowful smile, full of regret, but also honesty.

And Madeleine returned it.

When Espresso sank his head, their lips met — clashed together even — in a desperate attempt to hold on to that moment — to each other.

Tears fell and fell, they were sure that fate was sealed.

It had brought them together and would now tear them apart.

“I am so sorry that I have told you so late,” muttered Espresso when they parted. “I was unsure of everything and I was scared.”

“I know,” replied Madeleine. He cupped the others' cheek and gently brushed it. “You love your patterns.”

The mage dryly chuckled.

“You noticed.”

“Of course I did. I love your details. Things that make you you.”

“I love your details too. I love you too.” Espresso smiled.

Madeleine smiled but looked away.

“Espresso, darling. You will stay with me when we return, right?”

“Of course, nothing would hurt me more than to leave you alone. And do not worry they will find a cure. I will do anything that is in my power. I am a scientist after all.”

The knight smiled.

“My smart Professor…” he murmured.

“If anything happens to me, please remember that I will always stay with you. No matter what. I’ll always be there.”

Espresso held his breath, remembering their first kiss and the one before, remembering how desperately he had wanted to stop the time in both moments.

Such similar events, with such different circumstances.

“Don’t say things like that, I cannot bear the thought of parting ways with you. Can we not pretend for just a little longer?”, he pleaded.

“We have to remember the cruel reality of the situation. You are usually so focused on facts and I need this right now. Do what you do best.” replied Madeleine.

“As soon as we will have returned, I will be arranging a team of researchers with a range of expertise in all kinds of magic, and — with the help of Professor Eclair — we might be able to find similarities in history. 

This won’t be the end.” concluded Espresso the theory he had put forward when waiting for his knight to wake up.

Madeleine faintly smiled.

“There we go, that is the spirit. You should go and inform Eclair, I will wait.”

His mage hesitated, leaving his knight alone felt wrong, especially after waiting so long for him to wake up.

But Madeleine insisted and promised that he would be fine.

So Espresso went to go find the historian.

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Chapter Text

Chapter 16

Eclair’s tent

Eclair was in his tent and already packing when the mage arrived. 

“Ah, hello Professor Espresso. I heard that Madeleine is alright?”

“Well, as alright as possible in this situation… He woke up at last and his wound was treated. But this is exactly what I wanted to talk with you about.”

He sighed, asking for help was something he never liked to do.

“You might have already heard about the new information regarding his sickness?” the brunette began.

Eclair nodded, turning his head. “Yes, I did. I am as worried, as everyone is. Do you want to… talk?” he asked, choosing his words carefully.

“Talk?” Espresso raised a brow. “No, not particularly, I wanted to enquire about something — related to the topic.”

Eclair narrowed his eyes and paused, but then nodded. Espresso sat down and repeated the plan he had already told once before, his voice still a bit shaking.

The historian listened closely and agreed to help. Trying is better than nothing at all , so he would be honored to work alongside.

“May I ask you a question?”Eclair asked after they had settled on everything, adjusting his monocle.

“Yes, go on.” answered the other, arching his brow in suspicion.

“What happened between you and him?”

Espresso closed his eyes and crossed his arms.

“That is private .”

Then he fell silent for an uncomfortably long time, causing the other man to mistakenly think that this was all .

But then he continued, his voice quiet.

“Madeleine and I are kind of dating, I suppose . Not quite together, but we … were… on the way.”

Eclair opened his mouth and closed it again. Of course, he had already had this speculation, ‘Ma chérie’ was a pretty good indication of it, but hearing it officially was still very surprising .

“I… have so many questions.” stammered the historian. He breathed in and out and shook his head.

“But… They are not relevant at the moment, my apologies. This was not very thoughtful of me.”

“I accept your apology.”, Espresso indicated a nod and turned — ready to leave the tent.

“Hold on —.” And when the mage turned back to face him again, the historian looked him straight in the eyes.

“Are you scared, Professor?”

“Terrified.” answered the brunette.

“Well, if you ever need to talk, I’m here.”

The corners of Espresso’s mouth tucked into a faint smile, but his eyes kept a faint sadness.

“Thank you, I truly appreciate everything, Professor Eclair. Nevertheless, I should go now.”

☆

One month.

One single month left . That was the final prediction.

Professor Espresso ran his hands through his hair, pacing around from one station to another.

He had eaten a tiny bit of lunch his sister had brought — more to ease her concern than to actually consume any food .

There was no time to waste after all.

Another cup of coffee in his bloodstream, more pacing .

Then catching up with researchers on the research — the time started to run.

The only results were rather depressing — containing everything but a possible cure.

Espresso was more than simply ‘on edge’, he felt like he was going crazy.

And so the next few days continued, unsuccessful.

They had found out that the flower had very likely made itself — or rather its pollen — in Madeleine’s body through an open wound. 

This could have been a simple scratch, so the time of infection has been noted as ‘unclear’. 

Through observation and testing, they managed to calculate a timespan.

One month.

This had held the scientist up at night even more than usual.

As much as he tried to keep his composure, death was looming around the corner, waiting for the time to strike.

When was the last time he slept?

It didn’t matter anymore.

“Professor!”, someone called out, the door to his office brutally flung open.

The mage turned his head to the entrance, resting on one of the scientists standing there — completely out of breath.

“Professor… Eclair… Is asking… for you… It’s… urgent!”, huffed the man.

Espresso rushed, his mind begging for some sort of great new information, his heels clacking on the parquet, his coat soaring behind him.

The scientist ignored the fatigue making itself noticeable by blurring his surroundings entirely.

He would deal with this later.

☆

Professor Eclair flinched when the door was harshly busted open, almost bashing on the wall.

“Please tell me that you have truly found something.” Espresso panted, his expression desperate.

“I do, indeed. But sit down first.”, Eclair said, his voice was soft and reassuring.

After the other man hesitantly sat down on the colorful carpet, the historian opened up a very old-looking book.

When analyzing records written down decades ago, he came across interesting notes.

The flower was a species thought to be extinct since ancient times.

It seems to have resurfaced and spread.

In these times they thought that it was a curse from the gods as the infected animals became monsters and humans brutally died because of it.

But the most important note was that there was indeed a cure — or at least evidence for it.

“However—” concluded Eclair. “There are some things on this list that I have never heard of. If these plants are extinct by now then… Well, we might not be able to save Commander Madeleine.”

Both of them didn’t want to think about it.

“We have to try, this is the only way. Tomorrow we will start to plan a search.”

Espresso’s voice was determined, his face however was marked by the countless nights and days being awake.

Eclair sighed.

“ I know that we do not have much time, but you have to rest. I can set up the search operation without you, as long as you try to get some sleep.”

“I simply cannot take the cost of losing all the time! If this search operation does not turn out to be successful if any of these plants are extinct…” 

Espresso paused, trying to get the anger out of his voice.

“If Madeleine loses his life, this will all be my fault. Because I haven’t tried as hard as possible and I could never forgive myself for that.

Don’t you understand how important this is?”

“I do. But what you are doing right now is self-destruction.”

The historian’s words were genuine, his expression reflecting that. 

The mage knew he was right, the brunette was very self-aware about the choices he made .

But Espresso felt like any other decision would be an act of betrayal. Why would he be allowed to rest when his partner was fighting for his own life?

“I will go to him and tell him that we may have a lead. His life is on the line and he deserves to know about any possible clue.” 

His head high and his arms crossed, there was undoubtedly no way of talking him out of it. Eclair sighed.

“Alright then. I will do more research on the ingredients. I should find something somehow.”

☆

Days later Madeleine was worse than ever. 

The knight was most of the time asleep and barely awake. It broke Espresso’s heart every time he visited his knight, which was when he wasn’t attending the search or forced to care for himself.

The search was in full swing. 

Professor Eclair had gotten aid from Sparkling's boyfriend Herb, whose knowledge in botany provided not only major breakthroughs in research but also proved itself very useful during their search.

After the third flower was finally located another five days had passed. They still had to find three more ingredients in a span of a few weeks.

Espresso stayed by Madeleine’s side the entire day and night now, horrified of leaving him alone. 

It was like a living nightmare in which Espresso could do nothing but watch.

At this point it was a very rare occurrence for Madeleine to wake up, he was too weak to stay awake for longer than a few hours.

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Chapter Text

Chapter 17

The Kingdom — local Hospital

-

[Dr. Redacted] Logbook

Patient: Commander [Redacted]; Madeleine

The patient had fallen into a coma. The infection is spreading at a faster rate than we anticipated.

The patient’s remaining time is calculated to be two weeks at best.

[...]

-

“How hard could it possibly be to find one single plant?”

Latte sat on the coffee-colored couch he barely used, one of her legs resting on another, her eyes following her brother’s nervous pacing.

She didn’t say a word, it was better to listen for now. 

But after some time he stopped, and let himself fall on the free place next to her, his head in his hands.

“Every day the only thing I can think is ‘What if he doesn’t make it?’. Every second that goes by I fear that he might have already left this world. 

It is pure torture and the only — very slight relief is, that he doesn’t seem to be in pain.

Latte had listened closely to his words. She wrapped one arm around him and spoke gently:

“It will be okay, I promise! There is a huge search dedicated to finding the last flower, they will find it soon.”

Tears formed in Espresso’s eyes and he lowered his head before he spoke. 

“I haven’t told you yet, he has only weeks left. It spread faster than the doctors first thought.”

Her eyes widened, and she pulled him into a hug.

“Oh Espresso… That is horrible . I am so sorry.”

He didn't have the energy left to reply.

☆

They had finally found it, the single missing ingredient. It was a pretty little bouquet of purple flowers, their blossoms were similar to buds.

Now the progress of brewing could finally begin and this would be taken over by Espresso.

-

Research — “Corruption Flower” — Entry [01]

I have to be careful. Never was one of my projects as significant as this. If there is any mistake made and the antidote doesn’t work anymore, there is no second chance.

Two hours later

I have now started.  With the flower seeds of the first plant, the whole (crushed) second one, and the blossoms of the third one it begins.

One more hour later

The tincture seems very accurate to the handwritten instructions of the document.

I will now add the three remaining ingredients. I will report back tomorrow when the antidote is going to be finished.

-

-

Research — “Corruption Flower” — Entry [02]

The mixture is ready. I will transfer it and immediately put it to use.

The next few days Madeleine will have to be thoroughly observed. I will take part in this.

-

✩

Espresso sat next to Madeleine, fondly caressing his hand. The antidote would — given the calculated time — show effect in around two to three days.

At least he hoped it would.

-

Research — “Corruption Flower” — Entry [03]

24 hours after intake

Currently, no signs of any recovery or decline, and the subject is stable. Monitoring continues.

-

The scientist closed his notebook and sighed. While nothing worsening was technically good, worry was still not off the table for him.

Maybe these good signs would only be around for a bit. Maybe they were only an illusion?

He had always been relatively neutral about the way he thought — usually very negatively — so this was a change of everything for him. Never before had the mage wished for a more positive way of thinking than right now, that would have made hoping easier.

Nevertheless, he tried . For Madeleine.

☆

-

Research — “Corruption Flower” — Entry [04]

48 hours after intake

The first signs of recovery.

Madeleine’s fever sank drastically, and his body values are steadily improving.

-

There were finally faint signs of hope after all this time. It felt like the sun coming out after a terrible storm — showing its bright rays of light while banishing the dark, stormy clouds.

And — after a long-drawn-out time of waiting, fearing, and hoping there was light again, the sun was out.

It was on a frosty but still sunny day; mid-autumn now.

Espresso was pacing in Madeleine’s hospital room from one side to another, absorbed in reciting formulas and calculations when he felt something.

It felt like his heart getting wrapped in warmth, like sunbeams .

And when he looked over, frantically putting everything in his hands aside in foresight, he saw it.

The beautiful sky-blue eyes and the gorgeous smile he had missed so much.

Madeleine had woken up.

He covered his mouth with his hand in shock, eyes wide and filled with tears.

“I thought you’d never wake up,” muttered Espresso under his breath when he reached the side of his partner again.

He took the hand of Madeleine.

The blonde still was weak, but he looked much more alive than before — only very tired .

“Really, I thought you’d know me better than that.” chuckled his knight and smiled fondly.

“You idiot! Quit joking about that, your condition was very serious !” Even though the scientist planned these words to sound intimidating, it failed miserably, he was way too happy.

“Sorry, haha. Considering you chose to say “was”, I’m guessing it no longer is?” asked Madeleine curiously.

“There still is a chance you might relapse, but this chance is — especially now, considering you awakened — is very, very unlikely.

You fought well, back then and now too, my dear knight.” Espresso leaned forward and kissed him softly.

Madeleine grinned, before looking around.

“There are no doctors here?”

“No. Right now they are busy. They are busy treating other patients.” Espresso averted his gaze, slightly blushing. But he continued after clearing his throat. “And I may or may not wanted to be the only person around when you wake up.”

His knight tilted his head.

“Really now?” he teased, letting a small laugh out — and starting to cough immediately regretting this choice of action.

“Madeleine! You need to take care of yourself, you are still sick!”

“Yes, I noticed that. Hey, what did I miss during… sleeping?”

“Well, we found an antidote. Eclair and Herb — Sparkling's boyfriend — have worked together in the search for the plants. Herb is an expert in botany, remember? After that, I took it upon myself to brew the antidote. And then it was injected into your bloodstream.”

Espresso traced the veins of the other’s arm with his finger.

“You reacted to it well, it took only two more days after the ingestion until you woke up.”

“Hach, that is why I fell in love with you, you are so smart. It was really hard to concentrate.” 

Espresso’s cheeks turned lilac again at this compliment.

“That was the only reason?”, he raised his eyebrow, the tone in his voice playfully teasing.

“No, of course not. But I must admit that I love listening to you talk, especially when it’s about your magic. I do not understand a thing, but it is important to you and I think that is very admirable.

And also you look adorable when you talk about something you love.”

Madeleine grinned when seeing Espresso’s face blush darkening.

“Before I forget —”, the mage quickly changed the topic.

“Your family is going to visit you. They’ll arrive tomorrow.”

Madeleine beamed excitedly.

“Oh, I have missed them so much! I will have to catch up so much with them…”

“You’ll have enough time for that.” Then his lips curled up in amusement.

“And I have heard —” a chuckle escaped him, which rose butterflies in Madeleine's stomach that took his breath away.

“ — that they’ll come in the family airship …?”

“Oh, have I not told you that?” 

“No, I am quite certain that you did not.” 

“Well, now you know that we have a family airship. We usually only use it when we need to make an impression — so usually for diplomatic purposes —  but rarely if we use it to travel as quickly as possible.”

Espresso hummed and rested his head against the other man’s shoulder — who sat upright on the hospital bed at this moment .

“Hey, ma chérie?”, while Madeleine cleared his throat and wasn’t sure how to continue, Espresso could feel his face getting warm yet again.

God, how much he loved that nickname.

“You know, there was a story that was told to me when I was a child. It was about two people who had a certain connection between them and their magic.

And I’ve been thinking about this for a while now. I feel our magic is somehow connected. 

I definitely felt your presence while not being able to feel anything else. It was very comforting .

Do you think something like soulmates is real?”

“I felt yours too — that’s how I knew that you woke up.

This theory is very interesting … I haven’t heard about real events before, but maybe Eclair knows about similar events?”

The scientist seemed now deep in thought and Knight Commander watched as he rushed towards his notebook again and started to write for a few minutes.

“Alright. Now, tell me whenever you experienced something like you described. Please describe the situation itself too. Also, add as many details as you remember.”

Madeleine nodded and began to think.

After a few minutes, he began talking.

“I am not sure about the time before, but I know about the moment before I passed out.

I felt an explosion nearby and suddenly it smelled like the times you use your magic, like freshly brewed coffee. But you weren’t there, I knew that much. I don’t know how, but somehow…

I think you saved my life twice that day.”

Espresso paused the hectic writing and closed his eyes, giving himself a moment to breathe.

“I suppose I did,” he murmured.

“I have experienced something similar to what you described…” Suddenly Espresso closed the notebook.

“But there is time for that later.”

Madeleine only watched in confusion as Espresso took off his shoes, climbed into the bed, and wrapped his arms around Madeleine's torso, silently commanding the man to retreat from his half-sitting position.

“If you’re telling anyone about this—.” warned Espresso — although not very convincing — “You are going to regret this.”

Madeleine gave him a soft kiss on the head and smiled. “Alright my love, assignment understood.”

Then they laid in silence, cuddling with each other and relishing the moment(s).

After a while, the knight finally dared to ask a question that had his mind occupied ever since the injury.

“Darling, I want to ask you one more question — a very, very important one. You have to be perfectly honest.”

Espresso turned his head so he was able to face the taller man, waiting for him to continue.

Madeleine hesitated, he was terrified of how this conversation could go down if he was honest.

“I wanted to know what our relationship is for you. We are certainly not friends, we established that… But after escaping death very lightly, I just don’t want to step around in the dark anymore. I can still wait if you still need time, I just would like to know what this is between us.”

There was a long pause before Espresso began speaking.

“If I had to describe it, I would say that we are not dating — at least not yet. 

I know I said I wasn’t ready before the incident, but now somehow this entire train of thoughts changed its direction quite a bit.

I realized that I was terrified of making mistakes, I was terrified of the unknown. But you are too. And yet you still pursue it like it is nothing. You made me realize that there is no other way around it, I cannot always avoid it.

And well, while I would still have to ask you for a bit more patience — to fully figure everything and anything out — I can assure you that it won’t be long.”

“Alright. Thank you.” Madeleine said and — while he tried his best to not to — he still seemed slightly disappointed. But he shook off this feeling soon enough.

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Chapter Text

Chapter 18

The Kingdom, local hospital

The Family of Madeleine consisted of three aunts and Madeleine’s mother, all having an eerie similarity. Blond hair, blue eyes, and a similar smile — there was no doubt that these well-dressed ladies were related to him.

Espresso stood in the left corner, partly writing, partly watching — that was until one of his aunts interrupted the torrent of speech.

“Oh Madeleine dear, who is this fine, young man?”

The knight’s eyes lit up at the mention of Espresso and he frantically wove him over, grinning ear to ear.

“This is the man who saved my life three times now if I recall it correctly!”

He beamed, and Espresso blushed slightly.

“I only did my job —” he dismissed it, defensively putting his hands in the air.

“Oh, so he is a doctor?” another one of the aunts asked. The mage had tried to remember the names before, but he had failed to do so — all of them were so similar in everything.

The only name he had been able to remember was his mother’s name — “Grand Madeleine” — sharing the same name as her son must have contributed to him easier remembering it, usually, it would still have slipped his mind.

However, there was not much time to wonder right now, he wanted to listen to Madeleine continuing.

“No, but he is a scientist! With that, he is also the smartest person that has ever graced my presence. He has also discovered a whole new area of magic which he teaches as a professor in the Parfaedia Academy!”

Madeleine’s mother hummed in surprise, her sisters silent, seemingly whenever she spoke.

“That is indeed quite impressive. And that all at the age of… 25?”, she guessed, one eyebrow arched.

“I am 30, Ma am. The same age as your son.”

Grand Madeleine chuckled before her expression grew soft. 

“Professor, none of us could ever do anything that would even roughly pay off how much we owe you. 

Thanking you is the least we can do.” She put a hand on Espresso’s shoulder like a proud parent and then turned to walk back to the end of the hospital bed.

The blonde man in it paused and then continued.

“But I wasn’t done yet!” he said, pride in his voice — for Espresso and not him.

The following words increased the heat in the man's face to an extent he didn’t know was possible.

“Espresso is also such a nice person and — even though he can be intimidating — is very caring.

Sometimes he is way too absorbed in his experiments and me and his sister Latte have to pay attention to an appropriate amount of sleep and food.

That only shows how important it is for him to advance his research, which is so very admirable!”

Espresso was standing there staring in awe at Madeleine praising him with big gestures . It wasn’t about the praise — although he was thankful for it — and more about how the man looked while doing so.  

His heart absolutely melted when their eyes met and Madeleine looked so honest at him , he had never heard and seen him talk like this, even about The Divine or his family.

Madeleine wouldn’t leave him, the man truly loved him and only wanted the best for him. Espresso finally understood. 

And somehow — maybe it was the way he said it, — somehow, despite his feelings being such a mess one day ago, now he knew it certainly.

This was the man he loved, adored, and was infatuated by.

And the only thing the mage wanted was to spend his entire life with him.

And when the realization came in, he spoke.

“Madeleine? Don’t you want to tell them something very important?”

And when their eyes met yet again, Espresso smiled.

And Madeleine understood.

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Chapter Text

Chapter 19

Parfaedia, Parfaedia Academy

When the air began to grow colder, the last days of Autumn were over and Winter began — the terror was over. 

Knight Commander Madeleine was now healthier than ever and on his way to visit his boyfriend, Professor Espresso at the Parfaedia Institut.

His steps were echoing through the hall, his armor clanking.

“Madeleine!” called out Professor Eclair. Both Espresso and Madeleine had grown to become close friends with the historian over time, who visited them often in their shared apartment.

“Eclair! How delightful to see you. Have you heard, the source of the strange flower has been eradicated!” 

“Yes, I have heard, I was a ‘special guest’ in the council. I am so glad that this is all over now… 

Well, let us talk about something else, I don’t want to think about what could have happened!”

Eclair shook his head, his grip on the (note-)books tightening.

“Well, I am picking up Espresso early today! We will take a trip and pay not only Raspberry but my family a visit!”

As always, he almost seemed to glow at the mention of his boyfriend’s name.

Eclair chuckled.

“That sounds fantastic. Have fun you two!”

“We will!”

☆

Inside his laboratorium Espresso did one final calculation, before checking the time.

“So late already?” he murmured, quickly used his magic to sort the books, notebooks, and papers in the fitting shelves and drawers and began to get ready.

Right after putting on his cape, there was a knock on the door — one he could recognize everywhere.

“Hello, darling”, he welcomed the knight and turned.

“Madeleine! You still have your armor on!” Espresso scolded — after a welcoming kiss of course.

The knight laughed.

“Of course! If something happens, I will be there to protect you!”

The scientist raised an eyebrow and chuckled.

“I love you too, dear.” 

Espresso lifted his suitcase with one hand and intertwined his other hand with Madeleine’s.

“Let us go now, we don’t want to be late.”

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