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Something out of the ordinary was happening, Javier could tell. Just as the sun had risen, a messenger made his way into the Frontera estate with the most haste that his steed could muster. From Cremo, the swordsman could immediately tell through the manor window based on the man’s attire. It seemed that the messenger would not relinquish the letter to anyone but its intended recipient, and Javier had a hunch that it was none other than his liege, who was sleeping soundly on the bed in front of him.
There was a perfectly good reason for him to be in Lloyd Frontera’s room, of course. The night before, Lloyd had put Javier under with his magical lullaby, as per usual whenever the knight struggled to fall into slumber. And if it was like most other nights, Lloyd would stay up for even longer, continuing to work maniacally on whatever new idea he had. It was something which he always admir—wondered about, Lloyd’s newfound tenacity.
Javier glanced over at the other man. In his sleep, Lloyd just turned to his side, moving his long bangs out of the way and exposing the side of his face, snoring gently. Like this, he almost looked positively harmless.
The knight brought his face closer, in case could find something to tease Lloyd about later. A small smile formed on Javier's face when he noticed a trace of dried drool on Lloyd’s chin. He had to exercise all self-restraint to stop himself from pinching Lloyd's cheek. Just to rile him up and see him whine and grumble at having his sleep interrupted, of course.
"Master Lloyd..."
"Mmhh... Five more minutes, mom."
"..." As always, the knight kept his cool, though he made sure to sigh loud enough for Lloyd to hear. "It appears to be a messenger from Cremo, my lord."
“Cremo?”
Lloyd practically jumped out of his bed at lightning speed the moment he heard the name of the commerce region, which probably meant a new construction project to wheedle money out of. Javier could only roll his eyed as Lloyd began to cackle menacingly, and averted his gaze in time once the young master was done with his spiel and started to change out his nightshirt into something more befitting for the sudden guest.
“Alright, let’s see what they want from us this time around~"
Ugh... Javier groaned internally. There he was again, rubbing his hands together like a con-man and licking his upper lip in the most despicable way. But by the time they came down to meet the messenger, a perfect, businessman-like smile was already plastered on Lloyd's face.
The messenger bowed deeply. He seemed to be a strait-laced type on his first important assignment. "My deepest apologies for disturbing the Frontera manor so early today, my lord! I-It's an honour to meet the famed saviour of our city!”
“Uhhh… That’s all fine and dandy, but I’m Lloyd Frontera. The one you are speaking to is my knight.”
The messenger's face turned deep red like a tomato, but he tried his best to maintain his composure, the knight could give him that. “M-My deepest apologies for my transgression, my lord! I… I didn’t intend to cause offense…”
Although he didn’t show it, Javier was holding back his laughter. It was becoming a common occurrence for him to be mistaken as the master and Lloyd as the servant, but somehow it was never not amusing. That pathetic, crumpled-up face Lloyd was showing may be the main reason for that.
He recovered, anyhow. "None taken, none taken! We the Fronteras welcome anybody from the Cremo household with open arms. How could we be of service today?"
The messenger glanced over at Javier, then at Lloyd, then at Javier again, and after some hesitation, continued speaking with carefully chosen words. “… I’m afraid that it is a most personal matter, and I was informed that I must deliver the message to Lloyd Frontera, and Lloyd Frontera alone. If it would be possible…”
Javier's hand floated above the grip of his sheathed sword.
“Out of the question—”
“No, Javier,” Lloyd interrupted, “It’s fine. The House of Cremo is a trusted—” Revenue stream? Meal ticket? “—partner to the Frontera family. I would be happy to receive the message in private, so long as you do not mind if my knight stands watch right in front of the door…?”
“Not at all, my lord! Thank you for your understanding!”
The pitiful expression on the green messenger’s face made Javier feel bad if he pursued the matter further. He bowed, and just as he was about to take his leave from the room, he couldn’t help but notice the letter the messenger drew out of his pocket… definitely did not look like an official request for a construction project. The envelope was pink, for goodness’ sake.
Without making an active effort to eavesdrop, Javier could only make out a few words, but it seemed that the messenger was not to return until Lloyd could give a reply, which he promised to do by today. It didn’t take long for the conversation between the two to end, as he could already hear footsteps drawing near the door. Lloyd was the first to emerge.
"!”
Now that's a look I've never seen on him before.
Javier could see Lloyd tensing up as he stroked his vest pocket, presumably where he has put the letter of personal importance. I Was he… nervous? He was also oddly quiet, without the usual crazed expressions he would put on whenever the gears in his head were turning. How uncharacteristic of him.
Once the messenger had been escorted to another room in the manor to rest after his arduous journey, Javier decided to take the initiative to inquire. “… So? Is there going to be a new endeavour in Cremo, my lord?”
Lloyd didn’t answer right away and looked lost in thought. “Wha’—? Oh, um… Well, I don’t know if you can call it that.”
“Pardon?”
“Never mind. I’m gonna have to give this a bit more thought. Actually, I’m pretty sure at the time…” Unwarranted, Lloyd narrowed his eyes at Javier, in what looked to be annoyance, before heaving a loud groan, further perplexing the knight.
“… What is the nature of this message, my lord?”
“I guess… it’s a love letter?” Lloyd mumbled—is it bashfully? Again, Javier never saw that expression on him before. It seemed Lloyd noticed him looking intently. “Ugh! You should go. I don’t think I could deal with this with you around. Shoo, shoo. Go practice your swordplay or something.”
“Master Lloyd—” Not heeding his call, the young master disappeared from the corridor in the blink of an eye, leaving Javier even more confused, and most definitely agitated. While he wasn’t going to deny an explicit instruction from his master (talk about rude, though), Lloyd better not think that he was going to let this go. He curled up his fist.
I will wrangle the answer out of him, whatever it takes.
***
"... I'm coming in."
Lloyd seemed to have settled at his work desk and forgot that he basically told his knight to stay away from him a few hours prior. He didn’t give any reaction to Javier’s entry into his room other than a mumble, and Javier took that as permission to stay around.
It was fascinating to observe Lloyd when he was deep in thought like this. Whenever he was fixated on a project, the young nobleman would occasionally make unfamiliar gestures in the air, interact with invisible objects, or talk to himself in unfamiliar terms, but this wasn't it this time. Rather, Lloyd appeared to be stumped. When that happened, sometimes his forehead would crease in a certain way, which Javier eventually found somewhat endearing...
Wait, hold that train of thought. Javier mentally shook his head to return to his senses, and noticed that Lloyd was idly twirling his pen. The damned pink envelope next to the parchment in front of him, which was empty except for one word: Dear...
"Who is the letter from?" He couldn’t stop himself from blurting out, and could only try to make it sound as natural as possible.
“…”
I shouldn't have asked. Javier immediately felt regret over his decision when Lloyd stayed silent, the nobleman's back suddenly tensing up from behind. Alas, his worries were short-lived: just as the knight was about to reach for the other man’s shoulder, he came to a realisation that he ought to feel more concern for his own patience.
Lloyd was going to be so, so annoying about this.
The brown-haired man swivelled his chair and startled Javier with a face which had contorted into an expression that wasn't quite human. And the way Lloyd was cackling like a madman was filling Javier with a strong emotional urge.
“Sooooooo~~~ you're curious, right? You're wondering, who could be this incredible woman who had the guts to send Lloyd Frontera a love letter? Admit it!”
"... "
“I mean, you’re always the one getting all the attention from the ladies, so I bet you didn’t expect that there would be someone with eyes out for me, huh?”
Hold it in… Hold it in…
“Well, get ready, Javier, because who knows? Maybe we’re going to be a good match after all. And when we end up together as a ~couple~, as my personal knight you're going to have to join us on every single date. And you're going to have to feast your eyes on Lloyd Frontera, sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g~”
“…” By this point Javier was using up every last ounce of self-control not to react to Lloyd, who was puckering his lips and making kissing noises in the most infuriating way possible.
Satisfied with the amount of damage he inflicted, Lloyd leaned back on the chair and laughed. "Come on, I can figure out what you're thinking. You're always the one receiving end of these letters, so you're probably wondering, hm? What kind of messed up person would even want something like that with m—mmph!"
That’s it, Javier couldn't hold it back anymore. Sealing Lloyd’s lips with his own was the quickest way to shut him up and stop his teasing.
He didn't expect, though, that his master's lips would be so soft, and pliant. Javier half-expected resistance when the tip of his tongue pushed through to enter Lloyd's mouth but was instead met with an open welcome. It’s warm. A soft groan reverberated in Javier's mouth and he didn't know whether it came from Lloyd or himself. He steadied himself with one hand on the desk behind Lloyd, while he wrapped his other arm around Lloyd’s torso, making sure the other man didn’t slip away. It took some time, but finally Lloyd returned the favour and grabbed onto his knight’s waist.
After what felt like an outrageously long time (mana circles might have been involved there, because it felt like it was forever until he remembered to breathe), they stopped.
Javier felt a tinge of disappointment at how quickly Lloyd took his hands off him and brought them in the air, as if he was caught doing something bad (and when did that ever cause the hooligan concern?). The feeling was gone in a flash, as for the first time, he got to see Lloyd rendered speechless, flushed red all the way to his ears and neck.
I am seeing so many new sides of him today.
"Don’t…" Javier said in a hushed tone, as he bent down and placed his head in the crook of Lloyd’s neck. "Don't say anything like that again."
He could no longer get a read of Lloyd’s face, but he expected to hear a retort already, or for the man to push him away, or something . But instead, he could hear and feel a quiver in Lloyd's voice. “How could...”
How could the perfect Javier Asrahan kiss a fraud who replaced the son of the lord he's serving?
Javier's heart fell after getting a glimpse at Lloyd's complicated expression. How could what? Was it, how could a knight do this to the person he was supposed to protect? That must be it.
Javier abruptly straightened his posture and drew back from Lloyd, taking care to maintain his straight face, before giving a small smirk. "Apologies. It’s just that… Even though you may be human trash, you ought to know you still deserve to have someone by your side." At the very least, a loyal knight who can tolerate all your antics.
The jab seemed to be successful in bringing Lloyd out of a kiss-induced stupor, although he was still flustered. “Hey! Not nice.”
Javier tried to restrain his chuckle—now that was a reaction more like his master. He was ready to return to the usual banter that he'd get into with Lloyd on a daily basis, before he saw the corner of the pink envelope peeking through Lloyd's vest pocket and remembered the initial source of his frustration. "Just... tell me who the love letter is from," he asked, point-blank.
“Are you serious? You're still on about that?”
"What do you think?"
He’s way too close… Lloyd thought, feeling a lump build up in his throat. Javier’s silence and stern eyes felt overpowering, and although he averted his gaze already, somehow Lloyd couldn’t manage to come up with a lie on the spot. Damn him and his protagonist charms… "I-It's… y'know. Christine…”
Javier’s intense gaze was immediately replaced with a confused look, one eyebrow raised. “And Christine is… who?”
Lloyd scoffed. “Of course you wouldn’t remember, Mr. Popular. Count Cremo’s daughter? The one who gave you a letter by the bay? Doesn’t ring any bells?”
“???”
“... Well, whatever. I was planning on rejecting it anyway since I’m pretty sure her father put her up to it, but—Hey! Where do you think you're going?!"
So it wasn’t a real love letter…
He felt his heart racing with excitement, and some sort of relief. It must be because he could still torment Lloyd about not having received any love letters in earnest. Before Lloyd could see the uncontrollable smile that was forming on his face, he ran out of the room. Turnabout’s fair play, he thought. He’d rather be the one to leave Lloyd flabbergasted this time. And maybe, another time...
"Hey! Don't tell me you only did that to shut me up! Javieeer!"