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raven-at-the-writing-desk · 9 months

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leona in club leadership

Me: I’m safe after the hitman that was Epel’s Birthday Jacket jumpscared me with the “Leona is a reliable senpai” talk Broomquet Leona: Broomquet Leona: *slowly raises the broom for a bonking*

why Why WHY

THGiS KeEEP S HAPPENinQ GgGggGggGGGGGGggggggg OTL wW E KJEEPA GETTIGN FL*ONA BEING A Goo D CAPTaiN SENAPI MENT0oe ER tPO HIS CLUB mQME MBers AND UNdERCLASMeN I'T S' DRIVXINw fG ME UP THE qm FUCKKERIQQaqBG gg gnK d WALLLLLLLLLLL

I THOUGHT I HAD PUT IT ALL BEHIND ME BUT NO 😭 HERE COMES CATER BAITING LEONA TO TAL K ABOUT AMGIFT /SPELLDrIV3 CLBU IN THS BROOMQUET......... . . ........ .. . ... . . . .. . QHJEBIYslbiufadbadf TO GET THESE THOUGHTS OUTTA MY HEAD I'M GONNA RANT A ND RAVE A LIL' aboUT L*ONA AND HIS cLUB

Alright, so. 🤡 We all know that Leona's the captain of the Magical Shift/Spelldrive Club at NRC (moving forward, I will refer to this as "Magift Club", since that's the shortest phrase). What's more is, we actually get quite a bit of information about how he goes around running the club and training its members (although the information is scattered across various vignettes, so it may be difficult to piece it all together if you don't know where to look or don't read certain vignettes). THIS IS THE GOOD STUFF THOUGH, THIS IS A GOLD MINE OF LuONA CHA EARCTERiXATION AND I'M GOINOG TO POP of DFF ABOUT IT

Firstly! In book 2 of the main story, Jack tells us that he was impressed by Leona's amazing play in a Magift game three years ago. This would later become a part of Jack's motivation to attend Night Raven College--so he could become a great athlete, and, perhaps, get to play against or alongside that player that he admired so much. Even when Jack learns that Leona is playing dirty to eliminated Diasomnia from the interdorm tournament, Jack exposes that he believes Leona is capable of securing a victory by playing fairly. Maybe you could call it a freshman's naive beliefs, but Jack knows that Leona is better than this. What book 2 shows us is that Leona is willing to resort to underhanded tactics to come out on top--but he's also very skilled in his own right, both physically and intellectually, and even at his lowest points, he has people who trust him to lead them: people like Jack. But where does this faith and respect come from???????? For that, we'll have to dive into additional materials.

In many vignettes, such as Ace's PE Uniform and Ruggie's Outdoor Wear, we hear from other characters that the Magift Club members train rigorously (usually to the point of exhaustion). Ruggie, a fellow Magift Club member, confesses to his inexperience; he never played Magift before coming to NRC and he's not a born athlete. He seriously considered quitting the club due to their physically demanding practice and training. However, Ruggie credits Leona for the vast improvement he has made, citing that Leona would give him all kinds of assignments to hone his skills. More importantly, doing all of these assignments also taught Ruggie how to endure and persist in the face of adversity. Ruggie could have just lied here and said the training was easy to quickly and artificially inflate the numbers of new recruits he pulls in to please Leona (some of the new recruits would end up dropping out anyway) BUT HE DOESN'T. This leads me to believe that Ruggie is being honest about what it takes to be in Magift Club and is genuinely praising Leona's guidance as a part of why it's beneficial to join. "Leona makes every session worthwhile [...] He makes all the calls during our games, but otherwise lets us do our thing. Which means we can work out our problem spots for ourselves. He's a great captain!"

Epel, the other main cast member in Magift Club, has not yet joined at the time of the flashback in Ruggie's Outdoor Wear vignette. Upon hearing Ruggie's praise of Leona, Epel gets the impression that Leona is an incredible person. Post-joining the club, this impression continues. In his Birthday Jacket vignettes, Epel describes Leona as someone who is quick-witted, fierce-looking, and has a cool personality. He really admires Leona and wants to be like him someday, making him the second first year that has these sort of sentiments. Epel tells stories similar to Ruggie, saying that Leona has helped him out a lot during club and is generally good at looking out for others. He specifically mentions that everyone counts on Leona for his leadership during games and provides individualized advice to help each team member improve (details which supports what Ruggie initially told the freshmen). People outside of Leona’s reign also comment on this, such as Ace in Endless Halloween Night. He remarks that the first thing Leona thought to do was untie Epel; this leads Ace to conclude that Leona, does, in fact, look out for people despite how he usually acts 🤡

Epel also says that he "knows" Leona would help him study if he were on the verge of failing a class. AND YOU KNOW WHAT??????????? Leona actually DOES tutor Ruggie (who initially descibes his grades as being "in the dumpster") and gives advice and materials to him. Now Ruggie's grades are average, but passing. In his Labwear vignettes, Leona doesn't formally teach Epel, but he does make a voice-changing potion to help Epel out (although his own ulterior motive was to avoid Rook, who was the one that originally helped Epel). When Epel and Grim then beg Leona to show them his technique, he refuses and seems annoyed at their requests. In other words, Leona doesn't seem eager to teach others unless it serves a purpose for himself.

Leons is oftentimes pushing others to perform well, and in a way that serves a dual purpose of helping the individual out but also ultimately benefitting him. For example, Leona helps sand Azul’s contracts because he wants to as terminate an agreement he has with Azul. Additionally, he plots in book 2 not only to help his dorm mates be noticed by Magift scouts, but also to prove his own worth as a leader. In yet another instance, Leona shows students outside of his club how to efficiently mine for magestone so they can fulfill their goal and earn a Vargas Badge. This clears them out of the cave so he can nap there. Leona is working smarter, not necessarily harder. Relating this to Magift Club... As Ruggie and Epel have told us, Leona runs his members ragged during practice. As a rich kid and royalty, he’s said to have a natural inclination for being demanding and ordering others around—but there’s always some kind of compensation or reward for following orders well. Ruggie gets many perks from doing Leona’s errands and chores for him, so he willingly follows Leona. For the Magift Club, the intense training causes those unable or unwilling to keep up to quit, leaving behind the go-getters, the tough, and the willful. Not only are these the types of people most likely to do well in actually playing the sport, but they’re also the types of people Leona himself is seeking with play with.

When your players are willing and able to train hard and by themselves (knowing what their strengths and weaknesses are, as well as how to improve), it encourages… independence. It means less work for the captain to do. It means having a group of people who are obedient and obey your every word. It means Leona can get away with napping during club practice. He's working them hard now so they can take care of themselves later and he has to do less. That seems to be the implication in some instances, as Riddle had noted before that, “it has been a while since [he has seen Leona] sincerely apply himself to his club activities.” (That's because Leona has already trained his team to be comfortable train on their own! This is demonstrated in the flashback of his Beastly Garb vignettes, when Leona instructs his club to do cooldown exercises "on their own while he heads off to nap.) And believe me, when he’s “applying himself”, his talent shines through (just as his intelligence does when he wants to employ it). As Epel and Ruggie say in Leona’s Halloween vignette (flashback), 5 people tried to get the disc away from Leona for 30 minutes and still weren’t successful while Leona barely broke a sweat. Part of the reason why Leona is able to afford bossing his team members around is because he can walk the walk. His own abilities, then, also serve as a point of motivation for the rest of the team. They want to be able to perform on the same level as him, want the honor to play with someone like that. We see one prominent example of this in his Dorm Uniform vignettes. In them, Jack is being bullied by Savanaclaw (senpai) mobs because they're annoyed with his athletic abilities and righteous attitude. These mobs also accurse Leona of being unworthy to lead them because "all [he does] is slack off during practice". They quickly learn the true magnitude of Leona's strength when he defends Jack from 30 mobs at once, not only demonstrating that he is fit for the title of captain, but also someone that has earned Jack's respect.

Though the Dorm Uniform vignettes ultimately frame Leona as siding with Jack, there is a lot of strategic thinking and wisdom in the advice he imparts to both parties involved in the quarrel. He argues in favor of the mobs "skirting the rules", which falls in line with his willingness to disregard morality so long as he achieves an end goal (see: his actions against Azul in book 3, and his actions in book 2 against Malleus). In this case, Jack preaching about playing by the rules is getting in the way of their goals (which will resurface in book 2). That's why he gets put in time-out to "think about his actions", and how he sees the world as black and white, evil and good. To Leona, it's not cheating, it's just playing smart and within the rules specifically specified (the mobs still acted within the boundaries set by rules) or what isn't specifically outlawed (they can't lose to Malleus if he can't play to begin with) to get what he wants. To this point, Leona also sees no shame in strategic retreats and surrenders. This is illustrated by him willingly turning himself into STYX when they approach, and passing on temporary leadership to Ruggie while he's gone. Again, he's just working with what he has in the systems that are presented to him, and he expects everyone else to be able to play the same game. While Leona tells Jack off, it's also true that Leona does have some code of honor as it relates to his own interests; he tells the mobs they're acting embarrassing by "punching down" and being jealous of a freshman. This doesn't come from a place of concern for Jack, or from worry about their attitude, but primarily from irritation that he has to clean up after their behavior. As we see in book 2, Leona himself has no issue with playing Magift against freshmen who are new to the sport (Ace, Deuce, etc.) when they've come unannounced into his dormitory. It's Jack who has to intervene there and call Leona out for picking on the small fry. Even Leona warning the mobs for using magic outside of Magift is a ploy to serve his own agenda. It's against school rules to use magic unless instructed; Leona is, therefore, against his students wailing on Jack using magic instead of fists because it could attract undue attention from staff (and thus cause issues for him, as their dorm leader). This is also why Leona wants to take on the Heartslabyul detective group in a game of Magift instead of just fighting them then and there; it's to avoid causing such a ruckus right before the big interdorm tournament. Leona has a problem with people challenging his authority and making unnecessary trouble for him to fix. When it serves his interests, he'll turn, and/or he won't side completely with one party. He can easily see the pros and the cons of both sides. If Jack is black and white, then Leona is all grey.

This is another notable quality of Leona's: he can identify and understand people's strengths and weaknesses, sometimes even better than they do themselves. His own club members can attest to how Leona gives them specific advice to improve their skills. In fact, we get to see one instance of it in Leona's Beastly Garb vignettes. Epel asks Leona for advice on how to better control the disc, since he's been missing passes and dropping them a lot. Leona responds by telling him not to worry about it and then walking off. A lot of people might look at this and say "he's just being lazy and shirking his work again". But later in the vignette, Leona explains his rationale: Epel's strength is his speed. When he's handling a disc as he's flying, that significantly cuts down on that speed and hinders his overall performance. If Epel tries to get better at all these things at once, he'll neglect his actual strength and not be useful to the team. Leona reasons that since making objects float is a fundamental skill for a mage, Epel will naturally practice it more and improve with time, so in the meantime he should dedicate his time in club to what he's already got as an asset.

This discerning eye is not just limited to club members, either. Leona has shown that, time and time again, he can key in on people. It was Leona who recognized Ace's craftiness and how Ace planned to use Leona's presence to his own advantage in Endless Halloween Night. Leona doesn't worry about the potential harm a wayward disc could have caused Riddle because he knows Riddle could easily deflect it with his own magic (in Ace's PE vignette). He alone noticed that Jamil's eyes "always glare" and senses his malicious intent against Kalim (in Jamil's School Uniform vignette). This is WAY before the events of book 4 ever came out too. Then, in book 6, Leona points out that Ruggie knows how keep to the strongest people to make up for his own deficits, how Jack knows how to adhere to a hierarchy, and how even Kalim has strengths in how amicable he is, and the wealth he was born into. He knows when people aren't meeting their full potential too, telling Jamil that he keeps making excuses instead of actually acting.

What makes the whole conversation Leona has with Jamil so great is that a lot of what is said is relatable for the two of them. Leona, too, knows what it's like to be in a situation where others shun his talents in favor of another. That's why he's able to speak so pointedly on the matter. It's that connection that helps to move Jamil and motivate him to finally act on his own to fulfill a support role for Leona that he needs later on. There's a parallel here with how Leona acted in book 2; he tried and tried and tried, and when he failed, he sat down and gave it all up, blaming his team mates and claiming he played along with their game. Leona was a quitter before. But now he's seeing that same behavior in others and he's calling it out, bluntly posing the question of if they're going to continue to wallow or if they're going to pick themselves up and move forward. It's the same lesson that HE had to learn for himself. If you consider that his Dorm Uniform vignettes play out prior to book 2, it becomes even more fitting for his growth since he tells Jack back then: "[...] guys who own up to their mistakes are all right in my book. Keep at it and model that behavior for the rest of Savanaclaw." This is Leona owning up to his own mistakes. He never openly and formally apologizes what his wrongdoings or promised to "be better" (then again, some OB boys just don't), but he's making up for his past behavior by imparting the wisdom he learned with his peers, whether subconsciously (like, out of guilt) or consciously.

This all goes hand-in-hand with the high standards Leona has set for Magift Club. Cater asks him for the details of his club's training (in Leona's Broomquet), to which the birthday boy responds with a story about how a team member didn't have enough stamina for a game, so instead of training them to pass the disc, he purposefully chucked the disc as far as it would go. It's to demonstrate to the club member that was lacking in stamina that this is the distance they need to be able to go, and this is their current disparity. It comes off as perhaps too harsh (and certainly a means to quit the club), but as Leona puts it, he doesn't want nor need cowards with him. His team should be full of people who get frustrated when they cannot meet their goals and will actively think about how to be better, then come back and try again and again. Think of it like how Mulan found smarter ways to tackle the challenges put forth by the army, rather than training the conventional way. That's what Leona expects of his club members, and it's the same mentality that drives himself. Tackling the same problem using creative solutions--it's like a game of chess. qbkhldyuFVYOwovyifS ;fslh ihof Aana dnAn thEN MCaER T SAYS smsethbha TH LIKE "waaaah~ Leona-kun is such a cool leader~" AFSHYJASVYOIFADOS AND THANE THAT FUCKE R LONA ' JUST G oeaS "this is to be expected of every leader, it's the basics" UNM???????? ??? ??? ???? ? BITCH EXCUSE YOU???? ???? ??? ? ? ? ? ? 😭 IW ANS'T EXPEC TING TO BE FUCXKIGFN A ATTACKED LKIKE THIS, CA T MAN

ANWAYT THE PoINT OF AL L THAT WAS FOR ME TO SAY I WANT TO MCMURDE R AYNONE AND EVERYONE IN THE MAIN CAS qta THAT AH AS HEL D L*&ON A UP AS AN ADMIRABL E SE PA I AND CAPIUTAN THAT MEANSE YOI9U AC 3 GG EPELSAUCE CATy KYn rUGGS JACKI EBKJ;AEBDU; THey'r eALLLK OBN YM SHIT LIS T NOW I.'M HOLDLIGFN A AG GRUDEG AGAINSET THEM FOR PRAISIU GN COOL M EN TOR GOOD SENPA I L EONA SANNBPNNnNndj LBFSPUIBsibuFSBIfspygfqetuovfebqbotw86gq9pgw /..;,ml'k[psn[noadgbu9advby9zdvbypaeft7fqet8ovadbcsmvbhlvnjc:vhSVIYFctiyqvofacvihcabiacscasn;c n;dv;dan;klabdlihvequpaqvebihp

HNNNNNGNNGHHGHHHHHGHHGHHGHHHHHH HH H H H H H TNHSI ZISZ SO XiCK ASND TWIS tTED, I'M LitTERALLY GOINAN BE ViOLETNTLY ILL 🤢how DARE he BE wm lik. QE THSI , HOW DARE

c'meree COMEW hgER ERE C'MENEEGHHGEHEHEHEHEHHEHRHEHEHEERHHRRRREEEEEEHEE, YOIU ASI LI TL MEOWMOEW I'LL AS HKA E TYA TIL Yoasuy FE EL as ASICK tO YOUR STOMACH BNH L AS I DO

shakahehwhjahskaghsjghasksgsajaegejhagshgshaskashShshskGsjshHaxhhShzhkSHSKEHKAGkDHGEKGSDJDSHDKJSHJSKHKN CKZXCKHCHBLZXBIHLCHCOUDBHIZXGSSHZKDHZJDGDKDADGHDKZDGHAJZCJAHSCKZCHZDJHZJFKBADIYO I';MP BNOIB SO NOREMLA YI';M NB SO NORMAL LABOYUT AHtEHIS sAsxkjKHLBxbhlHLBSbhlslhbBSLSSSSSsSsSsssssSsSs

I'AMSD Rr ReALLY OUTR HESR RE HAVE ING A WHOEL EXISSITENTIAL CRISIS AND AND AHGALF BECUAA SEO F L I O N M A N OTL I'M OWED MONETY FOR EMOTIUAONL DAMAMGES YOI'LL BE HEARING FROM MY LAWYER, K I NG SC HO L AR

P.S. I'M SO SCARE D THAT HE'S GONNA OUTRPAVE ROOO K ON MY FAOVRIRTS LIST I'M SOC UFKC IUNG SCARED

#twst #twisted wonderland #Leona Kingscholar #Cater Diamond #Ruggie Bucchi #Savanaclaw #Jack Howl #Epel Felmier #disney twisted wonderland #NOT L*ONA ROT #notes from the writing raven #to clarify: it's NOT that I think Leona is a bad leader; he is very clearly charismatic and intelligent and perfectly suited to lead #MY BRAIN JUST GETS SO MUSHY WHENEVER I GET REMINDED ABOUT IT AND THE OTHER CHARACTERS POP OFF ABOUT HOW GREAT HE IS #not me mclovin' it whenever his good points get acknowledged as they should be OTL #BUT ALSO NOT ME HATING IT BECAUSE I DON'T LIKE HAVING TO CONFESS TO LIKING IT #why is he. like this.#Megara voice) I won't say I'm in love #just when I thought I was finally done with my Cat Boy era 🤡#twst analysis #twisted wonderland analysis #twisted wonderland character analysis #twst character analysis #THIS WAS MEANT TO BE 'NOT ROT' BUT IT ENDED UP BEING KIND OF AN IMPROMPTU ESSAY #me: I’m over my cat boy era! I’m done with kemonomimi!! I’m moving on to bigger and better things than meowmeows!!!#leona:#I swear to you I'm NOT down bad

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rosietrace · 10 months

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『 So this is love..? 』

Characters: Victoria Shard, Clarabella, Aldrich Edelweiss (@revivemyreverie)

Pairing: Victoria Shard x Aldrich Edelweiss

Mentioned: Lady Larissa, Valentine Edelweiss

Synopsis: Love can come in many different forms. One of which involves blood soaked fingertips.

Warning(s): Implied murder, Aldrich being Aldrich, mentions of Aldrich killing a girl, me not being normal about them, how did this oneshot even get conceptualized, potential ooc

[ Apologies for any out of character ]

[ Reblogs > Likes ]

♝•°•═════ஓ๑【 ♛ 】๑ஓ═════•°•♝

▹ †𝆤࿙๋࿙࿚⊱【 ♛ 】⊰࿙࿚๋࿚𝆤†

↳ Victoria Shard, the beautiful manipulator

It was a beautiful night in the Edelweiss empire. The imperial family had taken great lengths to make sure that tonight's gala was one nobody could forget.

Aldrich was not among them.

He found the event lifeless and mundane, not to mention the number of witches in his midst didn't make it any better.

Aldrich began narrowing his eyes at his younger brother, Valentine, whilst he was mingling with the other nobles.

The servant beside him hesitated in pouring him another glass. “My lord,” they called out. “You seem to be in a sour mood. Might I pour more refreshments into your glass?”

Aldrich shook his head. “No,” he replied bluntly, little to no expression on his face. “That won't be necessary.”

Pursing their lips, the servant beside him gave him a curt yet nervous nod before backing away to give Aldrich his space.

The fact that I'm required to participate in such events is already a pain as it is…. Aldrich thought, leaning against his father's throne - The one he was ‘destined’ to sit on as the heir.

He clicked his tongue in annoyance. And there's quite the number of witches in appearance…. If I'd had my knife with me, I would've….

He chuckled sinisterly at that thought. “I'll put that into consideration. In case…. One of them is enabling my already putrid mood.”

His words easily disturbed the servants nearby, as well as the other guests. Alas, that didn't seem to stop the numerous princesses, duchesses, or some daughters of a marquess or viscount from ogling at him.

He slouched ever so slightly, his frown deepening.

“If only you were here, my savior…”

▹ †𝆤࿙๋࿙࿚⊱【 ♛ 】⊰࿙࿚๋࿚𝆤†

“So this is the girl?”

“Yes, my lady.”

Clicking her tongue, Victoria placed her hand over her hip, glowering at the poor girl looking up at her - Tied to a chair, mouth covered by rags and slightly bruised.

“Give me information,” Victoria ordered.

The servant beside her - Clarabella - nodded, unbothered by the muffled cries of the girl.

“Name, lady Larissa. Daughter of viscount Larissa,” Clarabella continued, keeping her eyes closed. “An avid churchgoer, and strikingly similar in appearance to the girl prince Edelweiss had once searched for upon said girl's death.”

A hum left Victoria's lips. “I see….” she looked back at Clarabella. “Anything else?”

Clarabella shook her head. “Not much, your grace. However, it should be worth noting that Lady Larissa's presence should upset Prince Edelweiss.”

Or rather, both Edelweiss princes. Victoria knew that much.

She also knew of her lovely Aldrich's little secret. He killed that girl from the choir, all because she had been - in some way - involved with his brother.

And yet she didn't care.

A smile fell upon Victoria's face. One as sinister and bone-chilling as Aldrich's. How endearing…

From the nearby table, she picked up a knife. One that she had ‘borrowed’ from Aldrich.

With a simple motion, she grazed the edge of the knife against Lady Larissa's jaw. “You did nothing to me…” her jaw clenched. “And yet you continue to be such a nuisance.”

She let out a breath once blood was drawn from the jaw. Neither Clarabella nor Lady Larissa could tell if it was out of satisfaction or exasperation.

Suddenly, she pointed the knife at Clarabella. “This girl has no sense of importance to me,” Victoria spoke bluntly. “And yet…”

Clarabella bowed her head, beginning to leave the room - Well aware of what her mistress was about to do.

Leaving her with Lady Larissa - tied up, weeping, in her final resting place.

“Some part of me wants to tear you apart, myself…. If not for me, then for Aldrich.”

▹ †𝆤࿙๋࿙࿚⊱【 ♛ 】⊰࿙࿚๋࿚𝆤†

His mood dampened as the night went on. Nothing seemed amusing enough, it seems.

The longer the night prolonged, the more witches came his way. And alas, Aldrich had not brought his knife with him.

Hell, he didn't even seem to hear the sound of trumpets blaring when it came time to announce the entrance of a guest who arrived.

That is…. Until their name was uttered.

“Presenting, lady Victoria Shard, heiress to the house of Shard!”

Aldrich shifted in his seat, eyes suddenly wide with his lips parted. In the distance, Victoria looked back at him, a radiant smile donning her face.

She was gorgeous.

When she finally approached, Aldrich took in every single little detail of the features of her face, body, and even the gown she wore.

The gown, the most. Intricate lace-made sleeves, and lovely ebony silks. Subtle, simple.

Yet breathtaking.

In the corner of Aldrich's eye, he catches a glimpse of red on the hem of Victoria's skirt. Visible enough to make it seem like a deliberate design choice, but not large enough to be the first thing anyone sees.

He knew better than to assume it was a deliberate design choice on his savior's part. Of course he would.

Kissing the back of her gloved hands, Aldrich looked up with a dashing smile. “My savior,” he said. “Care for a promenade in the gardens?”

Chuckling, Victoria removed his hand from hers to lift his chin. “In the gardens? Rather scandalous, don't you think?”

He giggled, relishing in the sound of her voice like it was a sound from Apollo's lyre. He nodded, wrapping an arm around hers and escorting her out of the ballroom, and into the gardens.

In doing so, he advised his brother to take over as ‘star of the show’. Much to his dismay.

▹ †𝆤࿙๋࿙࿚⊱【 ♛ 】⊰࿙࿚๋࿚𝆤†

“In the shining moonlight, you continue to bewitch me with the dazzling gleam of those lovely sapphires in the sockets of your eyes, my darling savior.”

She giggled while he guided her around the garden. “Oh my,” she replied. “Do I take that as a good thing, or a bad thing?”

His smile widened a little. “Take it however you'd like, my dear. You shan't escape my grasp now after months of being together.”

Victoria smirked. “That I am aware of, my prince,” she spoke, kissing the top of his head.

Hearts seemed to appear in Aldrich's eyes at that moment. My prince. Sevens, that sounded incredible when she said it.

“My prince,” Victoria called out. “Don't you think this is a bit scandalous? Two of us, promenading here, unchaperoned?”

He chuckled, knowing full well that this was her way of teasing him. Nodding mischievously, Aldrich walked slightly ahead of her and turned around - The moon illuminating his silhouette behind him.

“Do you hate such a thing, my dear?”

Crossing her arms, Victoria shook her head in amusement, smile softening. “Oh, I could never.”

Very quickly halfway through their walk, Victoria noticed how Aldrich guided her throughout the garden.

It was almost like he was maneuvering her around to avoid running into something. Was he perhaps hiding something from her?

That shan't be the case. But then again, knowing Aldrich, Victoria knew that the possibility of avoiding a recently rotted corpse wouldn't be out of the question.

Besides, she'd do the same. Regardless, she thought it'd be good to bring that topic to light.

“Aldrich,” the young man in question soon found Victoria by his side once more. He looked up at her, tilting his head in curiosity, wondering what she was going to say.

“Are you maneuvering me around the garden?”

Aldrich paused, slowing down as he walked.

“My savior…” For a moment, and only for a moment, Aldrich's expression darkened. “Whatever do you mean?”

In tandem, Victoria matched his energy. Only this time, she didn't falter her now darkened expression.

“You shouldn't try hiding the truth from me, my dear,” she now stood in front of him, lifting his head by its chin just as she did moments before. Only this time, it was for a different reason.

“Please, my dear, do tell me the truth.”

She soon moved her hand from his chin to his cheek, eyes softening. In response, Aldrich placed his own hand over Victoria's.

“I have not a clue what you're on about, my savior,” he replied, leaning into her touch.

Eyes narrowing slightly, Victoria inched closer to his face. “You need not hide the truth from me, Aldrich.”

It was odd, really. Her own way of saying: I don't care what you do, I'd still love you, anyway.

Sighing, Aldrich leaned his forehead against hers. “You know me far too well for my own good, my darling.”

That essentially confirmed all of Victoria's suspicions. And she didn't need to know any more than that.

Slowly, in an attempt to ‘beg’ for her forgiveness, Aldrich removed her gloves. He kissed the back of her bare hand now, almost far too passionately than he had originally intended.

And when he pulled away, he looked back at his beloved, smiling.

He didn't utter a word about her blood-soaked fingertips. Because he couldn't give a damn.

In their eyes, they can call whatever they see - As love.

♝•°•═════ஓ๑【 ♛ 】๑ஓ═════•°•♝

Taglist

🥥 @starry-night-rose @windbornearchon @nem0-nee @authoruio @fumikomiyasaki @sakuramidnight15

@revivemyreverie @revolllutionary @spadecentral @geminiiviolets @oseathepebble @twsted-princess @vaporvipermedia @vivaresmala @celiica @grandi-flora

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