Sequel to Claimed. The ending wasn't that satisfying so… (: thanks anna for the reviews. ^^ this story is for you. Enjoy! People, state your dissatisfactions. (:

The Promise

Yuuri slammed himself hard stretching Conrad's opening wider making him yell his lungs out; he felt himself burning from the friction. The pain that surround him, filling him greedily caused him to shiver uncontrollably as Yuuri's trust became harder and faster. He wanted so much to escape from this torturing sensation haunting him every night, running away as far as he could…

Help.

He was bounded there, unable to neither move nor escape, unable to free himself from the pain.

Somebody please help me.

He felt his throat turning dry, his voice becoming coarse as he yelled and mentally pleading for help to reach him.

"Your majesty… Yuuri, please stop, I couldn't take it anymore… I couldn't---"

I couldn't…

"Conrart! Conrart, calm down, please wake up," Gwendal wrapped an arm around his brother's shoulders while the other wiped Conrad's sweaty forehead with his green sleeve. Trying his best to calm his lamenting brother, he whispered soft and soothing words next to the brunette's ears, "I'm here, it's alright, it's okay, I'm over here."

"Hah, hah, hah…" Conrad's eyes shot open and searched for the voice, the voice that was able to calm him in any circumstances, "Gwendal." He knew he has been gasping and speaking in his… dream. "Very well, it was just a dream. Nothing to worry about."

"Conrart." The brunette sensed the concern in Gwendal, "Really, I'm fine."

"I was this close to strangle him on the neck," he showed Conrad the small gap between his thumb and index finger, "and don't try to deceive me, Conrart, I know what you've been dreaming. It's that brat, isn't it?"

"Gwendal, he's our Maou, not a brat."

"He's a pervert, not innocent."

"He doesn't know what he's doing, Gwendal."

"He didn't take any action even after he knew what his other self did."

Conrad wasn't able to debate that. He simply turned his head away from Gwendal. "Why are you here? It's least expected that you'll be in my room at this late hour."

"I came to check on you, and here I found you pleading for help," Gwendal's stern eyes forced Conrad to look at him, "Conrart, you can't continue like this. It's going to haunt you every night, this nightmare."

The atmosphere turned from those cold to awkward, Conrad was really blunt to his words not knowing how to defend himself and Yuuri. He tried his best to forget about that incident. He tried his best to hide his inner feelings. He tried to convince himself that everything is in control and things would return like how they have been. But he just couldn't deceive his elder brother. Nothing managed to escape his eyes.

"I don't understand my feelings at all." Conrad buried his face in his hands, "For the first time in my life I really felt clueless of what to do. Whenever I see him, he's just the young and innocent Yuuri I've known for so long. I know he's busy and have a heavy responsibility hanging on his shoulders, so I've decided to let this slip, not wanting this to be a burden for him. But Gwendal, yet I couldn't forget what he had done to me. I couldn't bring myself to forgive him fully, at least not now."

Gwendal had his hand on Conrad's shoulder as he listened to Conrad's confession, "It's weird, I've liked him for so long, it's only normal for me to feel glad that he returned those feelings. It's only normal for me to feel grateful for someone like him to hold feelings for someone like me. But I, I am… afraid, Gwendal, I'm a coward. And the worse part is, I don't even know why I'm afraid of him. He used to be such a nice person to hang around with. He even said that he'll never leave me alone again. So Gwendal, why am I feeling like this? I'm really confused."

Conrart was scarred; it hurt Gwendal even more to see his brother like this.

"Conrart," the voice started, "You're not a coward, definitely no. You're hurt, and nothing can change that fact. Hurt from him actions, hurt from his insensitivity. It's impossible to stand alone in this matter, Conrart, you need to tell Yuuri your insecurities, you need to tell him your true feelings. What your heart really feels, what you want from him. You need protection, and he has the responsibility to provide you that, sufficiently. You cannot be the one always giving, Conrart, sometimes you have to learn how to accept."

Unconsciously, Conrad had his head leaning on his brother's firm shoulders as he listened to his words. I need… protection? He felt so comfortable leaning on Gwendal. "It feels very nice resting on you, Gwendal."

"I can only provide you my shoulder for a certain period of time only, Conrart. You need a shoulder to lean on, but the shoulder you truly need doesn't belong to mine."

Conrad merely stared ahead blindly thinking of his brother's spoken words, "I'm glad you're with me tonight."

"Hahaue went for her love trip again; therefore I shall take the responsibility to take full care of my own brother." A smile crept to Conrad's face before he drifted to sleep, this time free from nightmares.

Yuuri couldn't bring himself to concentration on whatever he is doing, his mind would wander off somewhere by itself. He felt so ashamed – like a jerk, he would call himself. He's a… rapist. He shrugged at that thought. Although he wasn't conscious of what he has been doing, whatever is done is done. In reality, he did take Conrad to bed. To make things even worse, everyone is treating him differently. Apparently Wolfram said that he'd forgive Yuuri's betrayal, but having his own fiancé cheating on him with his own brother proved it hard to digest. He'd be taking a long time, it seems. Wolfram's been avoiding Conrad and I since the day we broke off the engagement.

Yuuri stole a look at Gunter under his Shin Makoku History book, even Gunter starts to isolate himself from the king, and his daughter wasn't an exception. Yuuri knew it was selfish to claim that this incident wasn't fully his fault, and everyone's trying to act as if nothing happened or so it seems, but it just doesn't work out. He needs to do something to banish this uncomfortable awkwardness in this family.

"Gunter, I'm sorry to interrupt your lesson, but could you come to Gwendal's office with me? Ah, please bring Wolfram along as well." Gunter paused for a second, then, "Yes, Your Majesty."

Gunter just said: Your Majesty.

Yuuri didn't like that. "Then, see you there."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Yuuri disliked the formality. He headed towards Gwendal's office; he needed to sort this out as soon as possible. He knocked on the wooden and received an 'enter'.

"Gwendal."

"Yes, Your Majesty." He didn't even lift his head to face Yuuri; his hands kept working on signing the papers. "Is there anything I can help?"

"I need to talk to you, about Conrad."

The general's hands momentarily paused and he had his face tilted to face the king, "What is it that you'd like to talk about Conrart?"

"He's been acting like normal but I know he feels different in the inside. He's not telling me anything," Yuuri's voice toned down.

Putting his feather pen down, Gwendal walked towards Yuuri, "Then Your Majesty, why do you think he isn't telling you anything?"

Yuuri sensed the challenge in the older man's voice, but he wasn't sure of what to answer him, "I, I don't know…"

He reached his limit; Gwendal was just plain pissed at the young king's irresponsibility that he grabbed Yuuri's collar in his fist, "Because he was hurt! My brother's trying his best to mask his insecurities because he's worried and doesn't want to be your burden, don't you understand his feelings?! I'm warning you, Your Majesty, I wouldn't want to see Conrart being more hurt than he is now!" It took a few seconds for Gwendal to recall what he had said to his king and to realized that he was grabbing the Maou by the collar, "Sorry," Yuuri's collar was freed, "I accept my punishment for being rude."

"No, Gwendal, you don't have to," Yuuri wasn't surprised to find Gwendal in this state, "I know I'd been an irresponsible person, trying to deny the fact that I actually assaulted the person I loved the most. That is why I came to see you today, Gwendal, I need your help to cheer Conrad up, to bring back the old Conrad. I want to do everything I can in my power to beg for forgiveness from him. I might take weeks, months, or even years, but I'm willing to do anything as long as he accepts me again willingly, with his consent. Please give me a chance, Gwendal, I'll officially propose to him."

Gwendal remained silent before he asked, "What are you planning on?" Yuuri promptly smiled, "Gwendal, thank you for giving me the chance! But I'll need Gunter and Wolfram's help as well."

"Wimp, can't you just handle things by yourself?"

Yuuri turned his head to find his best friend by the door, "Wolfram!"

"Hmmph."

"Ah~~~~~! Heika~~~~! Such responsible words! As expected from the 27th Maou of Shin Makoku, our reliable leader---"

"Ahahaha, Gunter," he tried to run from the fleeting advisor, "I'm happy you'd be helping."

"Then, Mina-san, let's plan a proper proposal!"

"Huh? Yuuri wants to see me?"

"Yes, in his room, right now," the blonde replied. Conrad was starting to worry again, why would Yuuri summoned him to his own room at this hour? If he had anything to say to Conrad he would have just said it during dinner, isn't it?

The journey to Yuuri's room didn't take long when his mind was trying to guess of what Yuuri's trying to tell him. He knocked the door and entered upon Yuuri's approval. He was shocked to believe what he saw in front of his eyes.

"Yuuri…"

The Maou's chamber originally holds a very plain and clean wall, but now it was decorated with pieces of coloured papers, each one neatly written in Mazoku language, 'Please forgive me.'

"Conrad," Yuuri walked slowly towards Conrad, aware of Conrad's uneasiness every time when Yuuri apologized, "Please forgive me." He stopped right in front of Conrad, but the brunette merely smiled, "Yuuri, I'm really alright, I wasn't angry anymore, really."

"I forbid lies, Conrad. I don't want you to keep to yourself about what you think, I know you're still disgusted by what I've done, am I right? I know you have not forgiven me. I need you to tell me the truth, Conrad, I need to know what you're thinking."

There was an awkward silence within them; Conrad then turned away, his back facing Yuuri, "It will be a lie if I said I've totally forgiven what you've done to me, Yuuri. I'm sorry to tell you this, but if it's the truth that you want to hear then it couldn't be helped. It hurt me when you couldn't remember anything about assaulting me on those nights."

Yuuri noticed Conrad's hands curling into fists, "I felt humiliated, Yuuri, at those times I felt as if I was merely a sex pet for you to gain pleasure from my body; I felt like a toy. But I had really strong feelings for you, and I've wanted you for so long, longing for your presence. That was one of the reasons why I didn't stop you from assaulting me. In a way, Yuuri, you have my consent to do so."

Yuuri felt numb hearing those words. He let me have my own way on him?

The double black hastily fished for a piece of paper he had prepared earlier. He cleared his throat:

I'm sorry for the times you cried,
and the loneliness you felt inside.

Yuuri started his first paragraph of his poem;

I'm sorry for the way things were,
and the selfishness that you endured.

I'm sorry I wasn't there to show,
the deepest love you'll ever know.

I'm sorry for the empty days,
and the loneliness that you still yet pay.

I'm sorry for the heart I broke,
that shattered with the words I spoke.

I'm sorry for the days that passed,
Our love now will surely last.

Yuuri held on both Conrad's hands in his from the back;

I'm sorry it took so long to vow,
to love you forever here and now.

When he finished he felt his own fingers freezing and all sweaty, but he didn't care. He swallowed the collected saliva in his mouth in a gulp, "Conrad," her gathered his courage, Conrad deserves something better than this, "I love you, please marry me."

"Y-Yuuri," Conrad turned to face Yuuri…

Slap!

Conrad felt his left cheek burning, "Yuuri…"

"Conrad, please give me a chance. I know I've done many things to disappoint you; I've scarred you deeply, but please. Conrad, please grant me a chance to heal your scar and wound. I might not be the perfect other half for you, but I'll do my very best to bring you happiness and assurance. I promise in the name of Shinou that I wouldn't hurt the man I love the most, I'll do everything in my power to protect and cherish you. Therefore Conrad," Yuuri's hand brought Conrad's right hand to his lips, gently sucking on his knuckles, "Please accept my proposal."

"Yuuri---"

"Please don't say anything about being half Mazoku or isn't a noble or whatever similar stuff," he knew exactly what Conrad would say, "Give yourself some time for you to fully forgive me, just don't force yourself. I know you've not forgiven me, not that I had forgiven myself. But no matter how long it takes, I'll always be beside you. That's a promise."

Yuuri looked at Conrad for his answer, but all Conrad did was keeping silent. "Ah," Yuuri spoke in a sudden; Conrad thought he actually sounded disappointed when he turned his back to Conrad. Yuuri wiped his sweaty palm onto his pants, "So I was rejected. Never mind, I'll keep trying till I finally get your hands…"

Conrad pulled Yuuri from the back, capturing him in his strong arms; they remained quiet till Yuuri was back to his sense, his hands holding onto Conrad's arms, "I'll take that as a 'yes'." The teenager tried to control his smiling lips from cracking. How he hoped that time would stop on that second, being embraced by his loved one whilst sweet and masculine scent of his lover filled his nostrils; he felt like the luckiest person alive.

Yuuri felt Conrad shifting from his position, his heart thumped loudly when he saw Conrad's lips getting nearer and nearer to his, he tilted his head slightly to meet with Conrad's…

"Ah! What a wonderful pair~!"

Conrad released Yuuri from his arms. Gunter burst through the door followed by a blushing Gwendal and a smiling Wolfram. "I'm glad you've finally opened your heart to someone, Weller-kyou," Conrad heard his younger brother say, "There's no way to deny anything anymore, we've heard everything."

"H-Heard everything?"

"Yes! Hey wimp, where's your engagement ring?"

"Ah! I, I…" Yuuri struggled for words, "I don't have a ring…"

"Hennachoko! How could you propose without a ring, you wimp! You don't want Weller-kyo to end up like me, do you?!"

"Ah, Wolfram, I'll get a proper ring for Conrad after I return to Earth," he looked at the smiling Conrad, "But I do have an engagement present for you." The Maou ran to pick up a brown box from the underneath of his bed. He placed it on the table and opened the box.

"Yuuri, what's inside that box?" Conrad dipped his head inside… "Eh?"

"Hah! Conrad, I bought both of us ducklings," Yuuri carefully lifted both the yellow ducklings in his palm, "Conrad, you'll keep this one," Yuuri handed Conrad the bigger of both ducks, "And I'll be keeping the other one." Apparently Yuuri's duck had a black spot on the head.

"E-Eh…?"

The three of the audiences stood there looking dumb, certainly they'd never expected someone to gift a person a duck for engagement. Yuuri Shibuya would be the very first one in history.

But Conrad knew. That yellow duckling was in fact the best present he had received; it was the very first gift he had received from Yuuri years back; the gift that connects the both of them. The rubber duckling nevertheless still remained in his bedroom.

"We'll grow them together, alright Conrad?"

His only answer was a sweet peck on his cheek from his wonderful knight and catcalls from Gunter.

Life can be so beautiful, only if you know how to enjoy it to the fullest.

The End

A/N: Read and Reviews please..? The poem doesn't belong to me. I found it on the internet and I think it's really touching.. So I've decided to use it in this story.. ^^