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“Sneaking out, Princey Boy?”
If Cedric hadn’t gotten used to Shirley’s habit of suddenly appearing behind him whenever he was going to do anything, this probably would’ve scared him. But by now, his fellow enforcer appearing behind him like it was nothing meant nothing to him return. Even after receiving his own number, the Grandmaster and Anguis seemed to agree that Cedric and Shirley made a good pair. At first Cedric had despised being paired with the jaeger commander, but at this point he couldn’t really argue that they did make a good team.
Maybe some privacy, Shirley? Just a thought.
The room Cedric was given was less than half the size of the crown prince chambers he had back home—No, this was home now. A random Ouroboros temporary base in the middle of nowhere. It didn’t really matter where they were, with both the Society’s giant fleet of airships and the power to teleport at their disposal. As things were heating up in Calvard for the next step of the multistage plan, Cedric and Shirley had been left on standby over in Western Zemuria. Probably because the daughter of the current head of the Red Constellation and the runaway Crown Prince were a duo that would stir up a bit too much trouble.
Not that…the freaking Direwolf and the Oathbreaker wouldn’t be causing incomprehensible amounts of trouble anyway. Cedric had never been in a room alone with the fourth Anguis, but he had gotten a chance to chat with Walter over some coffee soon after he joined. They talked about the Gospel Plan, and Walter was the one to fill Cedric in on every step of the Orpheus Final Plan that had happened so far… Including, Cedric’s prior involvement.
“I’m going somewhere to investigate something.” Cedric answered, pulling his jacket over top of his vest, and placing a pair of false glasses on his face. A page from Olivert’s book: changing your clothes was always enough to fool even Erebonians that you were not a part of their treasured royal bloodline. Though, Cedric certainly didn’t believe too much in his disguise as he looked in the simple stand mirror beside his simple bed. “And I don’t have any responsibilities to tend to today. Novartis has no new technology he wants to force onto me. Therefore, I have free reign to do what I want. That isn’t sneaking out.”
“Yeah, whatever. Where are we going?” Shirley asked, picking up the newspaper from the table in the centre of Cedric’s room, skimming through it without even asking. Cedric shot her a glare through the mirror, though the hot-haired jaeger seemed much more preoccupied with reading. “Elsaim? We may get in trouble for going East of Calvard, but that’d be a good time sabotage your brother.”
“This has nothing to do with Olivert!” Maybe it was the fact that he was stealing his brother’s strategy to blend in with the general population. Maybe it was the fact that every single other enforcer that was active and that had ever met his brother was bringing it up nigh religiously., but Cedric’s temper didn’t take long to boil over. “He can go establish as many international relations as he wants! He’s always been good at that.”
With a quiet laugh, Shirley put down the newspaper and decided to go lean down against Cedric instead. She was only taller than him because of her heeled boots, he had to remind himself. That was definitely true. “So where are we going then? If you’re going to wear glasses that dorky, I’d bet we’re going back home—Oh, this isn’t about Olivert! Must either be your precious sister or that knight of yours. You know, I haven’t read anything about your sister being married off, yet. That means I can totally try and get with her, right?”
“No, you cannot!” Cedric declared as he whipped away from the mirror, shoving Shirley off him. As much as he wanted to, he couldn’t beat the former Bloody Shirley. His best bet would’ve been inside his Divine Knight, and even then, Shirley knows her way around Testa-Rossa better than Cedric ever did. “We are going to Parm. I heard from a couple enhanced jaegers around there that Kurt is there for a bit, and I want to go see him.”
“So, I was right when I asked about your knight!”
--
Shirley’s teasing on and on as they moved toward Parm. Through the entire flight on the airship, she theorized on why exactly Cedric was going to see Kurt loudly, ideas ranging from fantasies of a bloody fight that ended with Kurt (or Cedric) dead on the ground to a messy break up scene out of a cheap love novel.
“Are you going to try and force him to join Ouroboros?” The other enforcer made her umpteenth guess. The forest was dense around them, but it wouldn’t be uncommon for a child to come running in their direction from the stories Kurt told of the area surrounding Parm. Cedric could probably convince Shirley to not kill an innocent child on sight… But an innocent adult would be a different story.
“I am done trying to force him to do things.” Cedric declared, watching as the famed Spinning Town finally came into view. “I just…want to see him. I want to see how he’s doing, and how he’s grown.”
“He’s still gonna kick your ass if you fight him now, Princey Boy.” It was painful, but Shirley spoke the truth. As much as Cedric had been training, mostly alongside various archaisms the sixth Anguis kept forcing alongside him, Kurt had likely thrown himself completely into his training after graduation. Unless Shirley interfered, Cedric losing to Kurt was absolutely set in stone. And, if Shirley interfered, even after so much training, there is only so much two swords can do against bullets and a chainsaw…
And if Kurt was going to be beaten to a bloody pulp, it would not be by Shirley’s hand.
--
Well, it was no surprise that as the citizens of Parm looked their way. Shirley’s tattoos were already enough to draw attention, but her full outfit drew the attention of men and women alike. It worked in Cedric’s favour, though. Looking at Shirley’s…treasures drew attention far away from one of the twin treasures of the Empire that had mysteriously vanished following the war.
Shirley found a cute village girl to lay her claws into, and thus Cedric found himself walking to the Vander school alone. The glasses helped keep some attention away, but most people in the village were still staring… As Alfin would say, it is impossible to hide how cute they were. Whispers followed him as he finally stood outside the school, the destination most of the village no doubt anticipated he was going considering the sheathed sword by his side.
The sound of metal against metal was loud as Cedric walked through the doors of the training school. But, even then, by the time he was standing within the main training room, it was dead silent. Students stared in a distant awe as the fashion glasses were discarded, and a sword was drawn.
“I don’t have any interest in any of you. Just go tell Master Kurt he has a very important visitor,” Cedric demanded, as if he was still a prince, as he watched students flinch back. And yet, the students were true to the stubborn Vander style they practiced: they still held their swords with shaking legs and sweaty hands.
The fight was over the first student lunged at Cedric, and his blade was drawn with a practiced hand. It must’ve been the amateur class… A sword never got within an inch of Cedric’s body. It was not long until non-fatal wounds (he wasn’t Shirley, for Aidios’ sake) had weakened the bodies and wills of his opponents until they waited on the ground, on their knees and licking their wounds.
The training school was silent again… Until the sound of the door opening broke it unceremoniously.
“Are you all done sparring already—”
Well, there was only one man with hair that shade of baby blue and a sense of fashion that… special. Eternally semi-formal. Painfully uncool despite all efforts. There was a good reason that Vanders should be in military uniforms, even if it seemed that Kurt wasn’t yet decided if he would follow his brother and uncle, or his father.
Still, a white shirt and blue vest didn’t not suit Kurt. Neither did the slightly longer haircut, nor the way his hair looked a bit messier than it looked when they were growing up. It was more… exactly what Cedric expected of his former best friend.
The sound of metal being drawn, and the feeling of a harsh focused glare of a Master of the Vander School… Heavy, like a sudden weight was dropped right onto Cedric’s spine. A weight that would’ve crushed Cedric the puppet or Cedric the tool. A weight that would’ve brought Cedric of the Ironbloods to his knees. A weight that was over all insignificant to Enforcer XIX.
“Cedric.”
“Kurt.”
Even as Kurt was preparing to attack, Cedric tucked his sword back to his side.
“I didn’t come here to fight. All of this was pure self-defence. You have a group of promising rookies.”
--
His Mother’s son through and through, though Kurt’s expression was completely unreadable as he poured the tea. Even just from the smell, it was obvious that it was Cedric’s favourite pine needle tea, though, even though Kurt himself always preferred peppermint tea.
“Why have you come here, Cedric?” Kurt sounded tired as he spoke, sitting down across the table from his former liege. There wasn’t a moment even as he was making the tea that Kurt lowered his guard. An unmatched aura of a true master of his craft… Kurt must’ve reached the rank sometime after the second Crossbell incident.
Cedric couldn’t help but smirk at the thought that he made Enforcer before Kurt made Master. Finally, he was ahead.
“Not much,” Cedric shrugged, looking over to Kurt. “We’ve moved out of Erebonia with most of our plans. I declined going to Calvard for the next phase, too. I didn’t feel like watching their president gloat about the economic prosperity Erebonian tax money gave them.”
“Like you had zero involvement in any of that—” Kurt was about to counter, his tea mug close to his face after he took a sip. “—Wait. We? The rumours were true. I didn’t want to believe them, Cedric. I didn’t want to believe you would actually join Ouroboros.”
“Not just join Ouroboros, Kurt.” It was hard to keep his smile in check, but excitement rushed through Cedric’s veins as he stirred in a couple sugar cubes into his tea. “By the time Olivert got married, I was already an Enforcer. That means I can do whatever I want, whenever I want. I’m no longer bound to bed, nor a treasure to be admired and pampered. I am not an asset to be passed around by powerful men looking for a linchpin because of my blood, nor the poor sickly emperor-to-be.”
His monologue had stunned Kurt silent, or he was just taking the time to process each one of Cedric’s words individually. “You have a number, then. A rank you earned from your own efforts.”
This…wasn’t the tone Cedric had expected. He had expected tea mugs to be knocked over and shattered on the floor. He expected an uncharacteristic rage finally boiling through Kurt’s typical cool personality. Not a warm smile that matched the temperature of their perfect teas as Kurt finally appeared to drop his guard.
“I can’t say I approve of you joining Ouroboros. When Instructor Rean first told me what the Bracer Guild had found, I threw myself into my training completely. Even Mueller was concerned.” The smile on Kurt’s face didn’t even waver as he sipped his tea, reminiscing like he was talking about a good date or a nice walk. “But it seems like joining them has helped you come to some realizations about who you want to be.”
Kurt was still talking… something about Cedric’s Enforcer predecessors that had found a home among the Society’s ranks but departed after they had grown strong enough to stand on their own feet. Stories that Cedric knew very well from his own colleagues… Yet he couldn’t hear much of what Kurt was saying beyond that over the sound of his own pulse in his brain.
“This isn’t a temporary thing, Kurt!” Cedric probably interrupted some anecdote from Kurt about how his trashy Class VII classmate was somewhat close to the former Black Fang who had left Ouroboros after true love’s kiss. “This isn’t a fairy tale! Alfin, Olivert. I don’t care which of them succeeds my father! All I know is that it won’t be me.”
A deep breath, and eye contact that immediately shot Kurt’s guard up so hard, Cedric wouldn’t be shocked if the roof collapsed on top of them.
“I’m not coming back. The next time you see me, I promise it will be as enemies as long as you continue to face off against the Society.”
Mugs of tea were finished in an awkward, heavy silence.
“Is that all you came to say? That you aren’t coming back?” Kurt asked, though Cedric could not get a read on what he was thinking. “You came all the way here, just to leave again?”
“Kurt—”
“I respect your decision, Cedric. But, even if Prince Olivert or Princess Alfin end up taking over the Empire… I’ll drag you back to the light with my own two hands if I must.” It wasn’t some joke or empty threat. It wasn’t some tease like Cedric was still a bedridden child… But a challenge, from his knight who looked him right in the eye.
--
“So? How was your date?” Shirley asked, leaning over the centre seat of their airship as they lifted back up from the forest around Parm. “You’ve been quiet for a while, Princey Boy. After dragging me away from that cute girl too.”
“For the last time, Shirley, the only one of us on a date in Parm was you.” Cedric answered with a scoff, his eyes trained on the empty baby blue and white sky in front of them. “I don’t know how you got her so into you so quickly.”
“Lady Bell taught me all the ins and outs of how to make women dread when you leave and wish for a romantic reunion that will never happen.”
“And what experience does she have there?”
Shirley shook her head, but Cedric knew that the Third Anguis was typically in the position of pining rather than pined for.
“I just told Kurt that this was my decision.” Cedric explained, looking over at Shirley as she shifted to sit back in her seat…at least somewhat properly. “And that this wasn’t changing any time soon. He said he’ll drag me back to the light, but I intend to stay on this path as my own man for as long as possible.
Shirley Orlando had the gall to laugh, but Cedric didn’t find himself phased the same way he did when he was at the academy. She was in the same category as Kurt, as Olivert, as Rean Schwarzer himself. They were all people that Cedric had to surpass. And, he intended to do so… Just the thought was making him excited.