I Will Hold Your Hand Gently

Chapter 5: The purpose of the marriage

After reporting in, Reinhart had a few more long chats with Zwei that did not involve business but catching up as friends. It's been a while since they've both talked to each other as a friend since his coronation as king. When they finished talking, Reinhart asked Zwei to take a few days off to recover from the aftermath of overusing his psychic power. Of course, knowing him, he'll only rest two days at most before coming back for more work. The knights open the door of the throne room and close it after Zwei leaves. As he walks down the hallway, he encounters a young woman dressed in a royal robe and a crown dawn on her head. She's the queen of the Nova Kingdom, Queen Alice.

Zwei gave her a deep bow of respect and didn't lift his head until she told him to. Alice ordered her maids to leave them. As soon as they left, she smiled at Zwei warmly, "It's been a while since we last met, Zwei. How are you doing these days?"

"I am faring well, your majesty," Zwei answered.

Alice saw through his lies. His eyes were weary with fatigue, and he had lost weight. Zwei was pushing himself again without having a guide by his side. Esper without Guides was given prescriptions to either dull the pain of miasma accumulating within their body and mind or knock them out so they could at least let their bodies rest. Alice took a step forward to at least give him some Guidance to lessen the pain, but the moment she went forward, Zwei took a step back. Alice's eyes slightly widen, "Zwei?"

Zwei kept his head low, "Your majesty, I am grateful for your kindness, however I must refuse your treatment. Your guidance is for his majesty only. I fear it is more than this lowly one can receive." 

Alice was about to rebut his words until she felt eyes upon her. Reinhart had only recently sat on the throne. There were still many spies within the palace who belonged to their enemies and the noble's group. Reinhart's status as the King hasn't stabilized yet, and the Nobles are still going after Zwei. As a Queen and the Guide of the king, she mustn't recklessly give her guidance to anyone who isn't the King of Nova. If she does, the noble group would use this against Reinhart, and even against Zwei. Alice pulls back her slightly held-out hand with a small nod.

She quickly tried to think of something to say and asked, "How did your wedding go?"

"As ordered by his majesty, I am now married to a Marquis daughter. She is the daughter of Marquies Spheral," said Zwei.

Alice jerks back in surprise as well as in shock. The Spheral Household was one of the families that was against Reinhart's rise to the throne. They even went as far as to support the other princes just so Reinhart couldn't ascend to the throne. They were also one of the few families that sent assassins to have him killed. During those times, Zwei was the one who got rid of all those who went after him. Alice didn't know that Reinhart had set up a marriage between them and Zwei. Even if the Spheral Household is known for having a strong Guide, they were still the family that tried to kill them on multiple occasions. Alice wondered why Reinhart set up this marriage. Was it truly for the sake of Zwei's need for a Guide or was there a bigger part at play here?

"I will keep her under close watch and make sure to take measures against the Spheral House should they decide to rebel. With their daughter as a hostage, it should keep them from being reckless for a while," said Zwei, answering Alice's questions.

Alice blinks at his answers to her question. She shook her head. Even if Reinhart wants to keep an eye on them, he wouldn't put Zwei's health at risk. There must have been no one else capable of giving Zwei guidance besides those who had the Spheral's blood running through them.

"Zwei, I don't think that was the purpose of the marriage," said Alice.

"Please do not worry, your majesty," said Zwei, "I will fulfill my duty and will not allow any harm to come to his majesty."

"Zwei..."

"Then, please excuse me," Zwei gave Alice another bow and left.

Alice still wanted to talk to Zwei. After the wedding, she could no longer interact with him. She understands her duty as the Queen of the Nova Kingdom, but she is very concerned about Zwei. Before she became the Queen, Alice had helped give Guidance to Zwei. A mere touch on his arm or being in her presence was able to lessen the burden upon him. Now, she wasn't even allowed to heal him because of all the eyes that were watching her. 

As she watches him leave, Alice hopes deep inside her heart that the woman he married would be a kind person who could heal him. However, she knew that she would be asking too much since Zwei's wife was someone who came from the Spheral House. Zwei finally reached the gates of the palace. As he rides on one of the horses, Zwei turns around and looks back. He gazes away from the palace and takes off.

******

It's been a week, and I haven't seen Zwei yet. From what I understand, Zwei didn't become a Duke until the end of the novel. Then, that means I reincarnated after the end of the novel. I've only been here for a week, but everyone here has been kind to me and speaks fondly of Zwei. I couldn't help but smile at the fact that Zwei had become a good lord to his people.

But, I'm worried about Zwei...

He's been gone since the wedding day. Knowing Zwei, the only guide who had guided him was Alice, and Viola during emergencies. However, not even Viola could fully heal him since she was only a C-Class Guide. Alice, who was the daughter of the Duke of the Icela Kingdom was a powerful S-Class Guide who could get rid of the built-up miasma inside of an Esper at the mere touch of her hand. 

Since I have the Spheral blood inside of me, I should be a powerful Guide as well... I mean, Five. Five has the Spheral's blood inside of her. The Spheral Household Guides may not be at par with Alice, but they were known to have guided many powerful Esper in the past. I'm pretty sure that's why Reinhart had Zwei marry someone from the Spheral House to help him. But I don't even know how to give Guidance since no one taught me... I mean, Five. No one taught Five how to give guidance. This is giving me a headache, constantly reminding myself that I'm not Five.

Turning around in a large bed by myself is also lonely and boring. I miss my twin-size bed with my cat sleeping at my feet and waking up to my sister's cooking. My cell phone buzzes as my friends call me and ask me to go hang out for the night. Reminiscing about my old life, I didn't even realize that the door to the bedroom was open. It wasn't until I felt someone's stare did, I finally noticed a presence.

I quickly leaned up from the bed and saw a man standing near the door. In the darkness of the moonlight, a normal person would be frightened out of their mind by those glowing glaring yellow eyes. Those eyes were described to be the very eyes belonging only to monsters in the novel. However, what first came to my head wasn't the eyes of a monster, but beautiful eyes that looked like those clear yellow gems called topaz.

As the moonlight shone down on the room, I was able to see his image more vividly. I couldn't get a good look at his face when we were in church due to the veil on my face, but without I could see more than just those topaz eyes. He had a sharp jawline, thick eyebrows, full flesh color lip, glaring topaz eyes, high cheekbones, a straight nose, a wide chest, long legs, well-defined muscle under his clothes, and leather black shoulder length hair complementing his deep bronze skin. Imagination and real life were truly nothing alike. Even my imagination didn't do him justice. For an instant, I thought that a dark elf like those in the fantasy stories or even in LOTR was standing in front of me.

There he stood in the moonlight as elegant and as graceful as the book describes whenever he carried out his assassin. There he stood, Zwei Sigma.