Yuuri was looking Conrad in the eye with a furious gaze and an undertone of jealousy, something no one had ever witnessed before and even wondered if the king had such strong feelings when his personality always opted for peace and talking situations out among the parties involved. Wolfram's reaction came after the initial shock he'd gotten as the maoh out of nowhere had claimed that the blonde was his possession while not letting their hands separate.

"Yuuri!?"

Yuuri turned his head slightly to give Wolfram a subtle side glance before pulling him closer to assert dominance over the rival male and show that this particular boy was his and no one else's. The king had an unfamiliar stench alluding from him when Wolfram got pulled close and it was almost overwhelming. He could smell alcohol, had Yuuri been drinking?

"Yuuri, are you drunk?" Wolfram noticed his older brother, who was under the surveillance of his fiance, reacting to his question. Guess he didn't catch on as quickly.

Yuuri's blabbering was hard to understand but both of the males standing there could to a degree make out the words being uttered. Mumbling and harsh looks were all thrown in Conrad's direction as the double-black kept telling him to stay away from both him and his fiance, though it seemed like Yuuri hadn't comprehended that it was his own godfather that he was talking to or the fact that Conrad wasn't out to get either of them. Wolfram made several attempts at calming the king, so did Conrad but his helping hand continued to be rejected.

"His Majesty must have confused the wine for water during his absence. We should hydrate him and then place him in his tent to rest" Conrad grabbed a hold of Yuuri's shoulders to make the king face him. "Yuuri, time for bed, you need to rest and sober up"

Yuuri dropped his head, he was in no mood to look the man who'd flirted with his fiance in the eye. Instead he swallowed hard and, still observing the ground he stood on, declared that Wolfram was to come with him or he wouldn't be leaving.

"I won't return to my tent unless Wolfram comes with me. I'm not leaving my fiance with someone that looks at him like a predator would a prey but with more desire"

Clearly Yuuri wasn't aware that the man Wolfram had been engaging in conversation with was the blonde's own brother but he couldn't help his countenance filling with blush as he watched the defencive king pout. Wolfram didn't mind this side of Yuuri at all, in fact, this was the kind of affection he'd wished for but he'd rather the other boy was sober while acting this way.

"Yuuri, let's go. I'll take you to your tent" He put the all-black dressed king's arm around his shoulders, practically carrying the boy all the way to the grey tents put up close by.

Yuuri's steps were all wobbly, making the trip to the king's bed a more difficult one than Wolfram had first anticipated. When he finally managed to reach the tent, the energy in him had been drained so far that he would need more than a good night's sleep to recharge.

He placed the intoxicated king on the bed, at first he was sitting up but as soon as Wolfram let him sit by himself he fell back as if his own weight had waited to follow the path of gravity, his hair spread all over the cold pillow and with closed eyes he seemed to drift off. Wolfram's mind wandered elsewhere, for Yuuri to sober up he would need to drink some water, the sooner the better. He was moving towards the water on the other side of the tent when a tug at his blue sleeve pulled him back onto the bed where Yuuri was now sitting up.

The blonde turned his head. He was met with a pair of black orbs staring at him with the hand moving from the sleeve to on top of the other boy's hand. Yuuri's mind was still blurry so his thoughts appeared in a haze but he still noticed the blush on Wolfram's face when the boy intended to hide that very fact by facing the other way. The cute expression from before Wolfram hid his face lingered deep in his heart and a desperate wish to see the other boy's face overcame him as he took action by grabbing the boy's chin to turn his gaze back on him.

The strawberry scent got stronger as Yuuri closed in on Wolfram, their faces only inches away from each other. He could feel the other boy's breath against his own, the urge to press his lips against the soft one's in front of him was near impossible to suppress.

Wolfram could tell the double-black started leaning in closer to him, he felt all warm inside and his whole body was tingling. He had no strength while only sitting there waiting to see what Yuuri was going to do, as the boy got close enough that his bangs touched the tip of Wolframs nose, he closed his green eyes. Fireworks were ready to go off in his heart, but no warmth pressed his lips back and the fireworks ready to blow died out when he opened his eyes. A head of fluffy black hair rested on his shoulder, the weight was slowly trying to overcome him. A disappointed sigh left his parted lips, Yuuri fell asleep at the most inconvenient time possible he thought.

Wolfram could do nothing but watch as the boy slept comfortably under the covers. His own night would be even more so as all his thoughts were about that special moment and it left a smile on his lips since nothing else had. Still content with the evening despite the interruption at the peak of it all, Wolfram drifted into sleep with a new kind of happiness resting in his heart.

Yuuri slept in the next morning so Wolfram had been enjoying breakfast alone with his memories which still made his stomach clench with excitement. Conrad had been out conducting the search for the rose and returned not long after Wolfram seated himself on a log not far from camp. The brunette walked with determined steps towards his younger brother when he'd spotted him. Wolfram thought the man's face was more serious than usual and prepared himself for bad news.

"Wolfram, we found the rose this morning and have placed it safely inside a box, though I would like to inform you about the area where it was found. The rose was growing by the stream where his majesty fell unconscious" Conrad was trying to lightly give away his thoughts but ended up dumbfounded as Wolfram for sure hadn't noticed his chosen words hidden meaning.

"Great! Then we can return home after Yuuri wakes up, right?" Wolfram had unexpectedly longed for Yuuris company but not actually had an excuse to wake the double-black up from his slumber, and there was bound to be a hangover to deal with as well.

Conrad made another attempt at getting his message through by adding "One of the thorns seemed to have been broken off recently"

At this point it had been made clear to the blonde what his brother was trying to tell him but deep down he didn't want to believe it. His relationship with the king had during the past days been reaching higher and in his heart there was no room for letting it reach the peak only to fall all the way back down at the bottom since it already was a hassle reaching common ground when Yuuri kept going against the engagement. But he couldn't simply ignore the matter at hand, especially as Conrad also was aware of the sudden changes Yuuri exhibited.

"Are you telling me Yuuri got stung by the rose?" Wolfram's tone turned sharp, like a piece of broken glass but he wasn't mad at his brother or anything, it was just the thought of Yuuri acting somewhat affectionate towards him for the first time since the engagement meant a lot to him, and for it all to be ripped away by this cursed knowledge felt like a stab in the back.

"Well.. do you believe that Yuuri's behaviour last night was only due to the influence of alcohol or could there perhaps have been another factor..?"

He met with Conrad's brown eyes, the sun highlighting the faint silver specks hiding in his gaze, before contemplating that what he'd said made sense even if he didn't want it to.

"What do we do then? Just ask him if he's under the love spell and expect him to come clean about it?" The blonde regretted his use of sarcasm in a serious moment like this, of course Yuuri would've told them if he knew the rose had stung him, but an uneasy feeling was eating Wolfram from within. Worrying if Yuuri actually had some feelings for him hidden deep down or if it had all been because of the roses magical charm's made his insides twist and turn at the very thought.

Yuuri felt how Wolfram had been distant ever since found him talking to Conrad this morning. He'd intended on asking what happened yesterday as his own memory was still somewhat blurry and the hassle of remembering made his hangover feel worse. Right at that moment, when he woke up with the worst headache ever experienced, he decided to never again accidentally drink.

Even with a heavy head did he make it out of the tent, his first instinct was to search for the one who recently had occupied his mind to the point where it felt like a filled glass on the verge of overflowing whenever in the presence of the one whose smile shone the brightest in his eyes. His yearning for Wolfram was actually turning ridiculous to the extent where he swore he'd seen roses around the boy as a shining light drowned him deeper in the allure.

It seemed like Wolfram had a change of heart when he finally found him packing for the journey home, the blond had stopped avoiding him and instead appeared to be embracing the affection Yuuri was throwing his way. The maoh's own heart still skipped a beat whenever sharing a sweet look with his fiance but nothing had actually changed between them except for him not resisting anymore, so with that he decided to seduce the prince a bit more before wanting to confess his feelings properly and establish a proper relationship.

Wolfram's own insecurity led him to initially avoid the double-black who constantly wanted to be by his side now which in any other case he would welcome with open arms but forcing Yuuri into something to benefit himself could result in a distance when the rose effect eventually wore off and such a risk wasn't one he was prepared to bet on.

Yuuri on the other hand took a more aggressive approach to show his feelings but quickly noticed that something on the other boy's mind kept him from having his full attention. To gain that notice he so suddenly craved, the double-black insisted on riding behind Wolfram instead of on Ao by claiming his wrist still hurt - even when it didn't - and that his head occasionally felt out of sync.

The ride back would be shorter than when they had ridden from the castle. Yuuri was in no hurry and took his sweet time holding tighter and tighter around the delicate waist of Wolfram. The fluffy blond locks bounced with every step forward as the strawberry smell once again penetrated his nostrils and left a warm and comfortable feeling lingering deep in his bones. So far no particular expression made an appearance on his eye-catching fiance but Yuuri wasn't stopping until some kind of reaction showed itself.

As if luck had been by his side, reading his mind, came a part of the path where he unintentionally almost fell of if not having squeezed a significant amount tighter and the reward came in the form of a blush not to mention the loud heartbeats he could hear through Wolfram's chest while still clenching to the blue clothes covered in the same pleasant smell as the other boy's hair.

Wolfram's body was essentially boiling from the intimate contact, his heart raced faster than ever, even faster than the night they had almost shared a kiss and it was all because of the remaining touch after the unexpected grasp around his waist. The hands around him still stayed in the same position, not even letting air pass the tight pressing against his stomach which was currently filled with a thousand butterflies. He made an attempt to get Yuuri from releasing his grip even if his inner voice was begging not to as he wanted the near to be a hug to last longer.

"Are you alright? There's no need to hold on so tight anymore"

"I'm fine but you smell so nice it's hard to let go, or maybe it's just that I want to keep hugging you" With a straight face Yuuri tightened the grip even further to rest his head on the sturdy back in front of him.

Wolfram's countenance turned into a deep shade of red to the unexpected response he got that practically melted his heart and made ignoring the beguiling king all that much more difficult. Since when had he been so easily swayed by a couple of sweet words? Nevertheless having the roles switched and him being pursued really did make his heart beat all that faster. But creeping up from behind, hiding in the shadows of his mind, was still the insecurity of whether the feelings were sincere or just an illusion conjured up from the magic of that rose.

The trip back to the Blood Pledge castle lasted three days and two nights in which nearly all soldiers became aware of the affections the king showed his fiance. Despite the engagement being known among the people since the beginning, there had been few occasions where people actually saw the sweet love between their ruler and his lover. The story had made its way through all of the kingdom in a flash as the news of the dear king finally returning reached their ears but also that he had found love at first sight, so the soldiers spared no time to spread the gossip on to their families when the party returned back to the kingdom late at night.

End of part three.