Summary: Berwald is a mysterious king who was cursed at birth by an evil sorcerer. His curse, that any who come near to him will instantly fear him. One day a brave knight named Tino comes and is somehow immune to the curse. Tino finds his way into Berwald's heart, but as they fall deeper and deeper in love, how much further does Berwald fall into the curse?

In the mysterious land of Ardis, there lived an even more mysterious king. Only a select few had seen his face, his eyes pools of sea green, hidden behind glasses and his hair was jagged blond. Most in the quiet king's kingdom feared their leader.

People are want to make up their own versions of the king they had never seen before. Some stories told of the ruler as a horrible monster, holed up in his castle alone. Others spoke of gentle but fierce eyes. The former being the much more circulated than the latter.

In truth, the King was wise and kind, but when he was born, he was cursed by an evil sorcerer that had wished to hurt the young prince's father, the late King Felix.

The sorcerer had announced that his curse for the baby was, that all who met him would be subjected to fear. Every person the young prince met, they would fear him, forever.

As the young prince grew, it became more and more apparent that the curse was no lie. Any who where within speaking distance of Prince Berwald would cower with fear, even the bravest of knights would want to run.

His father feared that an attempt on the young Prince's life would be made out of fear. So, he asked that his son remain in the castle, as cut off from everyone else as possible.

Now Berwald lived in the shadows at the request of his father, the late King Felix. Though he followed his father's dying wish of staying safe and hidden in the castle, he sometimes snuck out and walked amongst his subjects. He heard the stories they told about him, the whispers of fear and monsters.

The king was saddened by such cruel words from his own people. He decided it was time for change. He lamented going against his father's wishes, but felt it was necessary. He called his two most trusted advisors and closest friends, as well as two of the only few to have really seen him. These two had long learned how to push the natural fear they felt in Berwald's presence down and keep it hidden.

"So what is it you wanted to talk about, Ber?" Matthias said giving him a slap on the back.

King Berwald gave a sigh of annoyance and fondness. He sat down at his favorite table, small, but beautifully decorated by none other than himself, before the time he was king.

Lukas rolled his eyes but smiled affectionately at his lover. This fact, that those two were together, was only know by the king himself and neither worried about him telling anyone, he rarely spoke anyway.

"I know it goes 'gainst m' Father's wish, but... I want to throw a ball," he said quietly.

As soon as the final word left his mouth, he was immediately met with opposition.

"Ber no!"

"I seriously recommend against it, Your Majesty! You have made many enemies over the years, they would relish the chance to kill you! And what about the curse?!"

Berwald raised a hand, silencing them both. "I realize the danger, but I have heard m' subjects talking 'bout m' and don' like what I hear." He said simply.

"Come one Ber, who cares what they think?!" Matthias shouted.

Berwald stared at him as if he were an idiot. "I should, 'm their king. This is a chance t' prove that 'm not a monster. The people shouldn' fear ther' king." His fierce eyes turned soft and pleading, "Please," he said softly.

Matthias looked shocked at the gentle tone in his friend's normally less than soft voice. Lukas and Matthias glanced at each other and sighed. "Alright your Majesty," Lukas said and nearly smiled at how Berwald perked up.

"But-"

"But?" Berwald said suspiciously.

"We have to have protection," Lukas insisted.

Berwald crossed his arms stubbornly, "I don't need protection," he said like a petulant child. "'Sides, Alfred'll be ther."

"Look, I know Al's an awesome knight and captain of the guard, but he can be a little air headed at times. We'll only agree if, and only if, you have protection," Matthias said.

Berwald sighed, but knew they were right, "Who?"

Lukas nodded, "I know just the knight."

In all of his wildest years, young Sir Tino never expected to receive a personal letter of summoning, asking that he attend a private meeting with the King.

He had heard the horrible stories about the Ruler. About how he kidnapped people and kept them in the castle with him or how his eyes were cold and evil and his manner even more so.

Tino whined, "I don't want to go!"

He knew he had to though, the day he became a knight, he had sworn to always answer a summons to the castle.

He frowned and sighed, knowing he had no choice, he began to gather everything he would need for the day's journey. He gathered food and water and packed it all onto his horse. He gathered up his armor and thought for a moment of just packing it away, but decided to wear it. He was meeting the king for the first time, he wanted to look his best. Besides, it was still spring, not to hot not to cold.

He closed the little cottage door with a click of finality and hoped he would be alive to see it again.

He checked over himself to make sure he still had everything and when he was satisfied, he began on his way.

"Make sure the invitations aren' too forceful, but direct," he told his planner Feliks.

The younger blond man shivered a bit in fear, but regained from the urge to run, "Like, Ok, but, like, who do you want to invite, your majesty."

Berwald sat back and thought for a minute, "I want everyone in the Kingdom t' have the option of comin'," he said.

Feliks nearly dropped his pen, "E-Everyone!" He cried. "Your majesty, can we like, afford that?!"

Berwald glanced to Lukas, the Kingdom financial advisor(among other things). Lukas nodded and Berwald waved a hand, "Yes," he paused for a moment. "I would also like to invite the neighboring rulers."

Feliks recovered from his shock and readied his pen to write down the names.

"Le's see..." Berwald tapped his finger to his chin, "There's The ruler of Feris, King Ludwig and his husband King Feliciano," he waited a moment for Feliks to write that down. "Also The twin Kingdom of Teris, ruled by Ludwig's elder brother, Gilbert and his fiancé Mathew."

"Your Majesty, maybe you should think again about inviting Gilbert, you know he can get with a little alcohol," Lukas added.

Berwald bit his lip, but shook his head, "No, still invite him. Now...There's also Emperor Wang Yao of Harolis. King Antonio of Balis and his husband Lovino. Then there is King Francis of Welris," he thought for another moment while Feliks scribbled, "That should be all."

Feliks studied the list, "Alright your Majesty I'll have these out as soon as possible." He flipped the notepad to a new page, "Now, Like, what about food?" And on it went.

By the end of the day Berwald was exhausted with all of the planning, he thanked God for his mother who taught him everything about how to plan a proper party.

He gazed out at the darkened sky and down to the market as people milled about after dark. He desperately hoped this improved his image. He wanted so badly for his people to realize that he wasn't a monster. It wasn't his fault that he scared everyone he came into contact with.

His thoughts were drawn away when he saw the gates of the village open. It was to far away for him to see clearly but he did catch a glimpse of a man riding a horse.

The King shrugged and sat in his chair and picked up his book.

Tino had to admit, the castle was impressive. The town seemed to be prosperous as well, the market still bustled with business, even after dark.

He rode up to the entrance of the castle where a young man, clad in armor and with golden hair and glasses waited.

The man smiled to him and greeted him as Tino jumped from his horse, "Hello, My name is Sir Alfred but you can just call me Al. I'm the captain of the Guard for his Majesty's army and I'll be helping you protect the King," he smiled warmly and held out his hand.

Tino smiled, taking a liking to the boisterous man, and shook his hand. "I'm Sir Tino, but you can just can me Tino. I was wonder what I'm supposed to be defending the King from?"

Alfred beckoned him into the castle, after ordering the servants to take Tino things to his room and his horse to the stables. The knight frowned, "Well... Don't tell anyone this, but when King Berwald turned one, a sorcerer cursed him as revenge for the King killing his sister. Heard she was an evil Bitch though so..." he trailed off.

"He's cursed?" Tino cried.

Alfred nodded, his face looking strange without the smile, "Yup, Anyone that come into contact with or in the presence of Berwald is instantly gripped by bone chilling fear."

Tino gulped, but didn't fail to notice the use of the King's first name with no other title. "Are you scared of him?"

Alfred stopped, "It's hard to explain but... when ever I'm near him, for about ten seconds, I forget that we've been friends since we were born and I want to run away and hide forever." He turned on Tino, "If you ever tell him that, I'll kill you," and Tino knew it was no joke. "Don't hurt him either. Ber's so sensitive about his appearance and reputation," they continued down the halls of the castle, "That's why he's having this huge ball. To improve his image."

"Then why am I here?"

"To protect him of course," Alfred laughed, "Look, the people don't know anything about their King and that scares them, there are those that think the Kingdom would be better off with a different King." Alfred shook his head, leaving it at that.

The two walked in comfortable silence until they reached a door. Alfred burst in without even knocking, to Tino's surprise.

"Hey Ber! Sir Tino's here," he announced.

Tino walked in cautiously behind him, having no idea what to expect.

What he didn't expect was to be met with sea green eyes that danced intelligently behind clear glasses and beautiful light blond hair. Tino felt his stomach flip, for reasons he couldn't understand, but his mind was going strangely blank.

'He's the most beautiful human being I've ever seen,' Tino sang in his mind.

Tino was so wrapped up in the King's eyes he didn't even notice, he had not felt a shred of fear since he entered the room.