At the crack of dawn one would assume the Great Demon Kingdom was at peace. The kingdom had been quiet throughout the night and life started to show itself once the first light reached over the rooftops. People of Shin Makoku came out of their houses or opened windows to breathe in that crispy fresh air, children already started running around playing with each other, waiting for breakfast to be ready.

In the castle the peace had been interrupted before dawn had even come as soldiers made their way around the area preparing for the day's quest.

Yuuri woke up to the rays of morning shining on his face, it wasn't a particularly bad way of starting the day but anyone would be uncomfortable having light shine through their eyelids in order to wake up. He slowly sat up in the bed, raising both arms in the air to stretch them out before glancing at the lump next to him. Golden hair was sticking out from under the sheets, it looked like Wolfram had once again made it into Yuuri's bed in the middle of the night without him noticing. A knock was heard from behind the door and Yuuri shifted his attention from the prince lying next to him to the familiar face entering the room.

"Conrad! Good Morning!" Yuuri happily said as the man dressed in military green walked closer to the bed.

"Ah good morning your Majesty, I see you've already woken up. Are you ready for today's journey?" Conrad smiled while raising his head slightly to better make out the figure lying next to the king.

"I presume Wolfram rested in your room again" He added with a quiet chuckle.

"Uh come on, call me Yuuri. You are the one who named me, there's no need for those formalities." Yuuri uttered as he always did when his godfather used anything but his name to address him.

"Yes, of course. Let's eat some breakfast before we leave, Yuuri"

Breakfast didn't take long to finish and Yuuri had run off somewhere the second he swallowed his last piece of bread. This led to Wolfram being tasked with finding the king as they were about to leave soon. The blond prince's emerald eyes scouted everywhere while on the lookout for a double-black maoh, it wasn't until he made it to the closed door of Yuuri's bedroom that he could hear the faint sound of his beloved's voice.

It was a bit difficult to make out the sentences but Wolfram could already tell that Yuuri wasn't alone in there. He moved closer to the door, right before he was going to open could he hear something that caught his interest and made him linger outside for just a little longer. It was Yuuri's voice and someone else's.

"Oh come on Gwendal! Can't you just put it in this once? Please? I don't have that much time, I'm begging you"

Huh? Why is Yuuri with Gwendal? Wolfram thought, he wanted to just barge in there but the conversation had gotten the better of his curiosity and he chose to eavesdrop a bit more.

"No. It is too big to fit. I don't want to leave marks." Wolfram could tell that harsh voice belonged to his older brother but what are they talking about? Too big? Leaving marks?

"Oh come on! It won't be in there for long" A sigh was heard.

"Fine. But next time make sure there is enough space for it to fit properly"

"Yes, of course, I promise"

Wolfram wasn't sure where this conversation was headed but it sure made his blood boil with jealousy, to him it sounded like Gwendal was trying to steal his precious fiance. This brought back unpleasant memories of the time when they had been in the city of Svelera, where Yuuri and Gwendal had been thought of as elopers.

Wolfram had chosen to let it go since it did appear to just be a misunderstanding but some doubt about his older brother's intentions with the king had been engraved within him whether he liked it or not. Wolfram knew after all that the lord Voltaire can't resist adorable things and Yuuri was probably the cutest person in all of Shin Makoku.

The bedroom doors flung open with a force so great it could possibly be heard throughout all of the Great Demon Kingdom.

Yuuri turned his head around only to witness a furious Wolfram stomping in.

"YUURI! HOW DARE YOU CHEAT ON ME!? EXPLAIN YOURSELF WIMP! AND WITH MY OLDER BROTHER OUT OF ALL PEOPLE!?"

Wolfram froze at the sight of Yuuri, his black jacket lying on the floor, the king was bent over, sweaty and with his hands moving something around in a box. Gwendal stood behind him, there wasn't much to read from the man's expression but his hands seemed to reach for Yuuri.

Yuuri was used to Wolfram's tendency to become jealous but this time he had really been surprised, his accidental fiance had just barged into the room without any explanation and now he just stood there completely frozen.

"Hm? Wolfram? Wolfram you need to be quiet! You can join us but don't tell anyone, and don't call me a wimp!" This had earned Yuuri a look of shock as well as confusion from the blond.

"WHAT!? Wolfram practically screamed. He was bewildered by the insanity of that invite, it was hard keeping track of his thoughts, especially when Yuuri seemed so calm about it all.

"What do you mean "what"? Hurry up and close the door, be more quiet and come over here."

"NO! I could never participate in anything like this!" Wolfram said with a lowered voice.

"Huh?.. Why?.. I just need help carrying the box containing Greta's gift" Yuuri commented.

"It's quite heavy." Gwendal added, finally saying something after having been quiet the entire time.

Wolfram's mind was really befuddled. What exactly was happening?? Not only did he have a hard time keeping a clear mind but speaking also seemed harder than ever. "Wait.. A gift?" He managed to utter.

"Huh? Well yeah, we are placing this gift in a box for Great to open before we leave. I thought it would be nice to give her something since we're probably gonna be gone for a while. But we are having some trouble fitting it inside the box and Gwendal doesn't want it to break. What did you think was going on?"

Wolfram felt his face turn red at the realisation of the context.

"That doesn't matter. I want to know why you're not wearing your jacket." He looked down at the floor. The emerald eyed prince had managed to understand the situation based on the information he just received but one piece was out of place, why did Yuuri remove his jacket?

"Oh that. I was running around trying to avoid Great so she wouldn't find out about the surprise and ended up out of breath, the jacket was too warm so I took it off. Why do you ask?"

"No reason"

"Since we are done here I'll leave the rest to you" Gwendal had just been standing there, watching the two boy's clear out the obvious misunderstanding while wishing for them to get it over with so that he could take his leave and continue with his work.

It was silent after Gwendal's leave, Wolfram still stood in the same place he'd frozen in and hadn't even noticed Yuuri sprinting his way until he felt a warm hand grab his wrist. He was being pulled towards the box placed in the middle of the bedroom.

"You should've just asked me to help you from the beginning.." Wolfram muttered under his breath.

They didn't say anything more to each other but Yuuri gave Wolfram a smile right before both leaned to pick up the gift for their daughter.

The front of the castle grounds was full of soldiers running around, horses neighing and Günter crying. Everything had been prepared for the departure of the Maoh. Greta stood on the last stair step with her hand around a stuffed toy she'd received as a gift only moments ago, she waved her other hand, shouting for her father's to do their best and stay safe.

Günter had placed himself next to the king's noble steed, holding the reins of the black beauty while Yuuri climbed on. "Ah Heika, why must you go on such a journey? Conrad could take care of it while you stay here" He cried.

"There, there, I'll make sure to bring back a souvenir for you and don't worry so much, I will be fine so no need to cry anymore okay?"

"Your kindness can't be measured, heika. I will be waiting here for your safe return"

Those who were to accompany Yuuri on this journey - Conrad, Wolfram and a couple of soldiers - were all waiting by the gate for Günter to let the king leave. They all passed impatient glances at the white dressed man with tears in his eyes until it seemed Yuuri had managed to calm him down while turning his horse towards the open gate and riding forward to exit the castle walls..

"Alright everyone, let's go!" Yuuri told the impatient waiters. He turned around one last time to wave goodbye to everyone at the castle. In the main were Greta standing with Anissina close behind her, Günter still wailing and even Gwendal had made an appearance, only giving Yuuri his classic cold stare as a farewell.

Two days earlier*

"Huh!? A rose that makes people fall in love?" His confused tone matched with his face as Yuuri heard about a magical rose with thorns that when stung by it apparently made one fall for the first person you're touched by.

Conrad explained to Yuuri that they had received some information that enemies were planning to find said rose and use it for their own benefit. Since they had no clue to what the enemy's plans were, Condrad made it clear that finding the rose first was important as it could otherwise cause problems in the future.

The plan was originally for Conrad to bring some soldiers with him and go on a search but with Yuuri's curiosity and sheer desperation to avoid paperwork as well as Günter's lessons, it had been decided on Yuuri's order that the king would be joining them on the journey to find the so called 'Love Rose'.

Back to the present*

"Does it work like a love potion? Like those in movies I mean?"

Conrad watched the curious boy riding beside him and thought about how to answer the suddenly asked question. Yuuri's grin was bigger than before as he looked around the lands. The day was very beautiful, they had been blessed with clear sky's, inviting sunshine and light cool breezes.

"I wouldn't say it works like the movies, but if I'm being honest we don't know much about the flower. We're going to have Anissina take a look at it once we've returned back home" He answered.

"Ah good call, guess we have to be careful not to get stung by the thorns then"

Despite his calm facade, inside Yuuri there was actually some concern building up. What if the effect of that rose were incurable? He didn't want anyone being influenced by a flower that basically took away your free will when it came to love. Some thoughts were still lingering in his mind while he continued to converse with Conrad, they were later interrupted by a certain blonde also looking for Yuuri's attention. The sun was starting to set, it had been a long day consisting of mostly riding, sometimes taking a break and in Yuuri's case, his behind really hurting. It seemed like despite having ridden many times before, he would never get used to long distance horse riding.

Darkness had already laid itself over the once light blue sky, a blanket of shining light covered the blackness making it breathtaking to look up at from down by the fire. All the tents had been put up and Yuuri had gone to bed early due to being exhausted from travelling on horse back thus leaving Wolfram and Conrad alone by the fire that evening.

The brother's hadn't talked much with each other except when planning for the day coming. Wolfram was the first to excuse himself from the company of his brother to retire for the evening. He found himself walking towards Yuuri's tent instead of his own but since it was his fiance it should be fine if he rested in the same tent, as protection that is, in case anything were to happen he could protect Yuuri easier by being closer to him.

He entered the cold tent quietly so he wouldn't wake up the double-black lying in the corner, sleeping surprisingly soundly. Wolfram also noticed how Yuuri was slightly shaking under the covers and went to grab another blanket to put over him. The tent was dark so he leaned closer to the sleeping boy's face so he could make out the features better. He thought about how cute Yuuri looked while sleeping before going to bed himself. They were resting close next to each other, Wolfram could still hear some soldier's outside moving around but ultimately fell asleep staring at his fiance's alluring countenance.

The next day almost everyone at camp woke up from the noise of someone shouting "WOLFRAM?!".

Yuuri had woken up to a familiar face only inches away from his own, he even felt a pair of hands holding him around the waist which startled him so bad he fell out of the covers and onto the hard ground.

"Yuuri? Yuuri what are you doing?" A half awake blonde asked while yawning and meeting the black in the other boy's eyes.

"W-Wh..WHY WERE WE CUDDLING?!"

"Well you were shaking last night so I thought it was my duty, as your fiance, to warm you up. I even added another blanket." Wolfram pouted, Yuuri should be happy to have someone like him in his life. Though Yuuri didn't seem very appreciative of Wolfram's kindness, instead he went on nagging about how guys shouldn't share beds and why Wolfram had been in his tent from the beginning.

They kept quarrelling with each other while packing, mounting and even on the road. It wasn't until the road narrowed, leading them into a dense forest that they stopped. Light managed to fight its way through the thick roof of tree crowns covering almost all above. The crowns didn't necessarily exclude light but instead offered a green kind of brightness surrounding them.

Yuuri watched the fairy-tale-like woodland around him with stars in his eyes. It was really beautiful and gave a feeling of life even though not many animals had shown themselves. Being in a forest was not something Yuuri tended to experience that often - with him living in the city that is - but he also never knew what you're supposed to do when in one. Enjoying the scenery was something he already did while riding but boredom was creeping up on him. He was told it would be a while before they would be getting to the area where the rose was due to the forest's large coverage.

Suddenly the bushes beside him began to rattle as if something large was hiding from prying eyes. Yuuri didn't give it much thought but for his horse it had been a different story, hooves were raised high in the air leaving a startled king falling on to the hard ground. He landed on his behind but managed to catch himself with the palm of his hands. Yuuri's surprised face, as he watched Ao galloping into the forest, quickly changed into a face of discomfort. His first instinct was to get up and run after the raven steed but when trying to pull himself off the ground came a sharp pain that ran through his wrist as he lost his grip of balance.

Ready to meet the ground once again, he felt a pair of strong hands catch him from behind. Conrad stood behind him, saying something about being careful, truthfully Yuuri was still a bit out of it since everything happened so fast that he didn't listen. He did however catch a glimpse of a soldier holding the reins of Ao which made him release a relieved sigh while Conrad turned him around, the long brunette kneeled to inspect Yuuri's body.

"Thank you, I'm fine though, you don't need to check" Yuuri looked down at the man that silently continued poking here and there on his arms.

"As expected, a wimp like you can't even stay on top of a horse. You should just ride with me instead" Wolfram commented from behind, there was some taunting in his voice but it continued being ignored. Yuuri was about to tell him off when a shock of pain made him flinch, he turned to look back at Conrad who held his hand by the wrist.

"Seems like our beloved heika has a sprained wrist"

Conrad stood up, turned his heel and walked to one of the horses in the back. He returned shortly after with some medical supplies in his arms. The group decided to lay up camp nearby and let the king rest despite Yuuri's constant saying of being completely fine.

Wolfram had been glued to the double-black more so than usual, offering to do everything for him. He made sure Yuuri was covered with a blanket at all times even though the evening was quite pleasant in temperature. The blonde also decided that he would be sleeping in the same tent but per Yuuri's request in separate beds which wasn't to his liking but he felt compelled to listen to his injured fiance. Twilight soon came. The lone sounds from the wind passing by, trees rustling and the hoots of an owl were the only things surrounding the tents as the hours of darkness approached.

End of part one.