Disclaimer: No own, no profit.

Against the elite of Grandbell's forces, they passed by the Grau Ritter and Beige Ritter and even Thracia's Dragon Knights.

By sheer miracle or mere luck, they finally made it this far to Phinora. By all means, they have every reason to be proud, to rejoice, for their victory is near. He ought to be happy the war would end soon... yet he can't shake off the feeling of dread that is building up in his gut.

He takes a deep breath as an attempt to calm himself down. Facing the sandy horizon ahead, he can't help but think on how close they are to his home. Just a bit further, across the desert lies Velthomer; where the Gelp Ritter would be waiting for them.

It somehow makes him feel sick to go against his in-laws, whether they aware of it or not, and he can only imagine how much harder this is for his wife. Despite what she says and the bravery she puts up, she is first and foremost a family woman. For her to fight against her own father... he shakes his head. No, he wouldn't let that happen. There is no way he is going to let that burden fall to her shoulders.

"Azel..."

Ah, think and she shall come. Somewhat amused, he turns around to see his wife looking down to her feet. This behavior is far from her usual cheerful appearance, it worries him, but at the same time he can understand the reason behind her expression. He would wear the same face if someone told him he would fight against his own brother.

"Tiltyu—"

"Don't go!"

It pains him to hear her pleading like this. She is a prideful woman who rarely asks to get what she wants and prefers to demand from him instead. But here she is, pleading for him to stay. As much as he wants to give in to her as always, he can't. It wouldn't be right for him to leave the army just like that; he owes everyone here too much to abandon them now.

"You promised me you'd head for Silesia."

"But..."

"I'll come back to you as soon as I can."

"But Azel..."

He resists the urge to sigh, he cannot waver now. He must not show hesitation or else she will keep pushing until he will relent to her wish. It's a familiar pattern he has recognized after being used from time to time on him. But he steels himself, her tactic wouldn't work for this time. Not today.

"You can't fight Freege's army. You wouldn't be able to help!" Seeing her opening her mouth to retort, he knows he has to cut her off before she can say anything, "What, are you going to kill your own father?"

The stricken expression on her face makes his stomach churn in guilt. That's a cheap shot he knows, but it has to be done. He has to stop Tiltyu from marching with them to Velthomer. He has to drive her back to Silesia.

"... N-no... but..."

Her voice sounds so weak and small, she looks fragile and he knows with one more sentence she will break. And breaking her is exactly what he does right now.

"Good. I'd have second thoughts about someone who'd kill their own father..."

Unable to watch her casting her eyes down to hide her tears, he pulls her within his arms. He rubs her back in silence and kisses the top of her head, wiping her tears off before whispering something to her ear and drawing away.

"Take care of Arthur and yourself, okay?"

Answering her broken look with his best regretful smile, he blinks back the burning sensation behind his eyes. He ducks his head down, letting his bangs to cover his eyes and mounts his horse before galloping away from her.

It hurts.

It hurts him to see her hurt like that. It makes it even worse since he knows he is the cause for her tears. But if that is what it takes for him to protect her from the guilt of staining her hands with her father's blood...

AN: I suppose the idea comes from when I was rereading Chapter 5 lover conversations. I love Azel and Tiltyu pairing, it's absolutely my OTP and Azel is such an adorkable sweetie. So what happened to the lover conversation then? Why did he suddenly turn so cold? Azel is an awkward character and I think you can't exactly take what he says on face value 100% (or at least that's my defense for him). So yeah, I decided to write his reasoning behind the said convo, hopefully I'm doing it right. :p