My World☆

FERDIBERTWEEK2019 DAY 8 - FREE PROMPT

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He saw him for the first time when they were 4 and 7.

He came with his father, to be introduced to the imperial family. Ferdinand was asleep in his nanny's arms, looking so peaceful that he mistook him for a big doll at first. He was pretty like that. 

For some reason unknown to him, the son of the Prime Minister preferred to spend his time with him and Edelgard rather than with her siblings, even if, at the time, she only was the ninth child of the emperor. It was weird how he would not even approach the other princes and princesses if not impelled to do so by his father. As if he had seen their fate. As if he already knew that she would be the only survivor. 

Maybe it was true, in a way. Maybe the light that had always surrounded him, still so pure at the time, untainted by the horrors of war, unconsciously made him avert the aura of lingering death emanating from them, guiding him towards the glory of the person who would become the face of their revolution. 

Just thinking about him was enough to irritate him, when they were 17 and 20.

Why was he so obsessed with being better than lady Edelgard? 

To him, Ferdinand was just a spoiled brat with an obsession with tea and horses who never failed to bug his empress, as if she did not have more important business to attend to.

Tea was not even that good anyway.

He needed to learn that the World did not revolve around him, and Hubert was oh so ready to give him that lesson. But lady Edelgard told him that he could not just poison the son of the Prime Minister, and so he was forced to stand his foolish antics for a whole year. 

He was well aware of the fact that he had the trust of the other students, and he too recognized his skills in the battlefield. But did he always have to counter his strategies? 

He would hear only words of praise about him, when they were 20 and 23. 

Three years before, they had all gone in their separate, yet bound to meet again, paths. Ferdinand had gone back home to take care of his lands and his retiring father, occasionally fighting against the Kingdom in the northern front. Stories of his chivalry and glorious deeds were passed down the soldiers.

He thought that he too must have grown as the rest of them and he caught himself missing him sometimes. Missing even their petty fights, because even if they had usually been useless, sometimes they had exposed big flaws in his strategies. 

Maybe it was just because his light made the darkness he lived in more bearable. He had grown fond of him, in a way, and had given him for granted, but he had started to realize it only after leaving Garreg Mach. 

It could also be that he was simply worried for him. Good people were always the ones who risked their lives the most, after all. 

Hubert realised that Ferdinand had grown up to be his exact opposite, when they were 23 and 26. 

An angel and a demon.

He would always remember the moment in which he saw him again, fighting against one of the bandits in the ruins of the monastery. His long hair were framing his perfect face as he killed his opponent with graceful, silent movements. An angel of death.

It was in that moment that he realised that he was done for, that he was hopelessly, definitively in love with him. But how could he pretend to be worthy of a creature like him, when he had already given up his humanity a long time before?

A compassionate human and a merciless monster. 

He admired him for who he was, for how he made his people feel safe when they saw how much pain each death caused him. He admired him because he always chose to lead the front-line soldiers, he, who felt responsible for every life. Hubert's role was easier. He hardly ever lost a man, but not because he was better than him; he simply fought from afar, from where his men were safe. 

He admired his behaviour, but it worried him too. 

He saw him almost die at Gronder Field, for having hesitated to kill an old schoolmate. War was cruel and Ferdinand was not. Hubert's biggest fear was that, one day, the man's greatest perk would be the cause of his demise. 

He left the battle physically unscathed that day, but not mentally. 

And Hubert wanted to tell him that it had not been his fault, that everyone was responsible for their decisions. He wanted to reassure him, and to say that he was perfect like that, because killing other people should not be easy; that he was the one in the right; that he was the role model everyone should aspire to be. 

But, when he reached his tent he stopped, because he could not find the words. And of course, Ferdinand would never want to hear those kind of things from someone like him anyway. How could he pretend to have the right to, in the first place? 

That was why, that day, he decided that the best he could do for him was leaving him alone.

One day- he thought -one day, I will find the words.

And he did.

They got married when they were 24 and 27.

FERDIBERTWEEK2019 DAY 7 - HOLIDAY

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As many of his "friends", Hubert had not had a lot of free time to relax since he had started college, or, most importantly, to spend time with his new boyfriend. Yes, exactly, for some unknown reason, a miracle had happened, and Ferdinand was now his lover. 

And Hubert was unable to say no to him. 

That was why he had to bid farewell to his four weeks of tranquility and to spend his summer holiday with their circle of "friends", who were actually more acquaintances than real friends. Honestly, he only liked Edelgard and, obviously, his boyfriend, and tolerated one, maybe two more. 

That was it. 

Ferdinand, on the other hand, was a ray of sunshine and, of course, he was a friendly person. People were attracted to him like moths to a lamp, which had made Hubert feel very jealous in the past. However, now that he had him all to himself, it only made him feel lucky, blessed, because he was the one who he had chosen. 

Hubert did not even like the sea. He hated how the sand always managed to find its way in every bag and to stick to all his clothes. He did love his boyfriend though, as he was reminded when he fell asleep leaning against his shoulder on the train. 

"Hey Hubie~ why is my Ferdie so tired? Did you keep him up tonight~?" Dorothea, his boyfriend's best friend, asked. 

Goddess if he had been jealous of Dorothea. She had known Ferdinand for years and they were always together: in class, theater club, parties. They also always ate every damn meal together and everyone just thought that they were married or something.

Jokes on you Dorothea, he is mine now. 

"Now, I don't think that this is any of your goddamn business, Dorothea," he answered with a smirk. 

From his left, he heard Caspar's obnoxious voice. "HAVE YOU HEARD THAT LINHAAARDT?" 

But Linhardt, in fact, had not, since he had fallen asleep as soon as he had sat down.

"G-guys...you shouldn't say those things...y-you're making Hubert a-angry."

"Don't worry Bernardetta, he is innocuous right now. Our Hubert is actually a big softie and would never wake him up just to kill someone," Edelgard said, proving once again that she was the one who knew him better than anyone else. 

"Kill??? He is killing one of us?"

"No Petra...it's just a figure of speech. I'm sorry, I should have spoken more clearly." 

"Oh no, it's good. I am thanking you!" The girl said, writing something on the notebook she always had with her. 

The others started laughing but Hubert did not mind. He slowly moved his arm, careful not to disturb his boyfriend, and wrapped it around his waist. The man was not bothered at all by it. He actually looked happy about the sudden change of position and snuggled more against Hubert's side, successfully making his heart melt.

Goddess, he loved him so much. 

Hubert had never liked cuddles. He remembered that when he was little, he would always get fussy whenever someone who was not one of his parents tried to hold him. He had never questioned it and always thought that it was just part of who he was. 

Hubert the introvert.

Hubert the loner. 

But there was something about Ferdinand that always managed to make things better. He was like a sun, whose rays never failed to cast a bright light on everything that surrounded him, chasing all of Hubert's shadows away. 

That was why cuddling with him was not just tolerable. It felt good. It felt like home. And Hubert was growing addicted to it, and to him in general. 

Having him asleep on his shoulder like that, was thus not uncomfortable at all, and as he caressed his beautiful locks, he thought that he could have easily spent an entire day like that. 

An entire year.

An entire life, even.

Eternity, if he were given the opportunity.

And that was why he had accepted to spend four weeks of his precious time like that. Because he loved his boyfriend more than he hated the sea and Ferdinand's happiness was what he had chosen to devote his life to. 

FERDIBERTWEEK2019 DAY 6 - ENEMIES-TO-LOVERS

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When they were kids, he thought that Hubert was the coolest person in the World.

As the future Prime Minister, he visited the imperial residence quite frequently, and he had known him and Edelgard for as long as he could remember. Hubert was the older kid, kind of a surrogate big brother to the other two. He was the one who was allowed to do grown-ups stuff, like holding real weapons. He was the one who always managed to reach the cool books that were kept in the higher shelves, the ones about swords and fights, that Ferdinand was too short to get. 

He remembered that he smiled a lot back then. It was not that bad, his smile. Time really changes people, uh? 

When they were students, Hubert was definitely the most annoying person in Garreg Mach, if not the entire World. 

He always had to get in the way whenever he tried to challenge Edelgard, as if she needed protection. Ferdinand was not stupid; he knew that their house leader was an exceptional fighter. That was one of the reasons why he wanted to test his own strength on her. By winning, he would prove himself worthy of being the Prime Minister of the Empire. 

Of course, she never accepted one of his challenges, no matter how insistent he was. While Hubert, on the other hand, never failed to threaten him. Every single time. 

Not that he was afraid of him, of course. He had only one fear, and it was not war-related. But something in Hubert's menacing aura unsettled him.

Ferdinand thought that trust was essential between comrades, especially in battle, since you needed to put your life in their hands. However, during his school year, he was never really able to completely trust the dark mage and he knew that he was not the only one to feel like that. 

He was the only one who dared to question his strategies and to fight with him, though. And they fought a lot; at any given chance; at any minor inconvenience. 

They fought over choir practice, which Hubert hated. 

They fought over horses, which Hubert hated. 

They fought over tea, which Hubert hated. 

See? He was not the one who was being difficult and spoiled. 

When Hubert killed his own father and they all went their own ways for five years, Ferdinand thought that he was a monster. 

He heard terrible rumors about how he supposedly dealt with enemy prisoners and the way he convinced people to talk. Those rumors unsettled him, because he had grown up since when he was a student, and he had realised how much of a brat he had been back then and how many things he would have changed, if given the opportunity. 

Ferdinand was now mature enough to see that they had both done a lot of mistakes in the past, and had hoped to put their differences aside and start over. But how could he do that, if Hubert turned out to be the demon people said he was?

When they were soldiers, he thought that Hubert was to be admired, and that he could trust him completely. 

War was cruel. 

Soldiers were required to be cruel as well. 

It was as simple as that.

Too late did Ferdinand realise that by being cruel with your enemy, you had the possibility to reduce losses among your lines. 

Too many times, he could count the number of his survivors on the fingers of his hands, while Hubert's battalion always came back almost unscathed. 

Too many times was Ferdinand hesitant to kill his old friends from the monastery . He was supposed to be a good general. He was supposed to be strong, like Hubert. But he was not. 

He was weak.

He was the one who could not be trusted, unlike Hubert. But still, people kept following his orders, his soldiers continued to put their lives in his hands. 

As if they had not seen him completely breaking into a million pieces after the battle at Gronder Field. 

As if his hesitation had not caused the death of dozens.

As if he had not failed them all. 

When they became Marquis Von Vestra and Duke Von Aegir of the new Empire, Ferdinand thought of Hubert as his equal. 

Something had blossomed between them during the years of war, during their many coffee or tea breaks. 

Respect, as they had helped each other overcome the darkest moments.

Trust, as they had learnt not to hide their vulnerability when they were together.

Love, as, when they went back to their respective homes after the end of the war, they realised that they could not live without the other anymore.

DAY 5 OF FERDIBERTWEEK2019 - RAIN

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It was raining, on the day Ferdinand died. 

He remembered it clearly. 

Every agonizing second of it. 

He could recall the crippling fear he felt when he saw his fiance go limp on his horse and fall to the ground, gracefully, without making any sound. He remembered rushing to his side and cradling him in his arms, desperately pressing his free hand on the gaping wound on Ferdinand's abdomen as his angel stared at him with the saddest expression he had ever seen in his face, still so beautiful, even on the brink of death, until the brightness that had never, ever, failed to sparkle his eyes left them, forever. 

And Hubert cursed himself for not being by his side.

He cursed himself for not being able to perform healing magic. 

He cursed himself for falling in love and, immediately after, for having wished to have never fallen in love just a moment before. 

He cursed himself for what he was about to do, because there was no way he would give up on Ferdinand. 

Tampering with the dead was a taboo that not even Hubert could break, but something could be done. He had no proof that what he was about to do would work, but he had nothing to lose.

It was raining, on the day Hubert gave up everything to have the possibility of meeting him again, in another life.

Reincarnation was a shot in the dark, but it was his only hope. With forbidden magic, he did what he could to try and have them been reborn in the same place and time, sacrificing his own life and betraying lady Edelgard, the only other person, apart from Ferdinand, he had sworn to serve and protect, and walked alone down the path of darkness, never looking back, like the selfish man he was. 

He was sure his empress would understand, but if she had not, at that point, he wouldn't have cared. He could do without forgiveness, but he, who had always lived in the shadows, could not live without his light anymore. 

It was raining, on the day Hubert, the medical student, remembered everything. 

He was in his new house, studying for an exam, when he looked outside the window and saw two little girls playing in the mud. Nothing was out of the ordinary, until the sight of the younger girl, who had long ginger hair, tripping and falling face first in a puddle with a burst of laughter, made something click in his head. And suddenly, a wave of images and sounds flooded his brain, bringing back memories of a long forgotten past, of another time, of another life. 

And he remembered everything.

His past.

His purpose.

Ferdinand.

And he could not hold back his tears, because he felt, once again, the pain of losing his loved one, but also because reincarnation was real, and maybe he had another chance. He believed in his past-self abilities. He had to. Ferdinand had to be somewhere, in his same world, at his same time.

The sun was shining, on the day he found him again.

He was walking down the street that connected his house to the clinic he was doing his internship at, when he felt the sudden urge to look towards the park. 

And there he saw him, right in front of the entrance, staring at him in all his shining glory. 

He walked, and walked, without even realising it, in trance. He did not dare to blink, in fear that if he had, his beloved would have just disappeared again. His hand reached for the place he remembered the fatal wound to have been and rested on it, just like the last time he had seen him, to make sure that, this time, nothing was going to take him away from him.

He grabbed his shoulder to take a better look at his beautiful face, and the man tilted his head up, watching him with those sparkling bright eyes  he had loved for two lifetimes. 

And everything, every sacrifice, every betrayal was finally worth it.

DAY 4 OF FERDIBERTWEEK2019 - REINCARNATION

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The last thing Ferdinand needed at the moment was having hallucinations. Maybe it was the college student life that, after a year and half, was finally starting to make him go insane. Maybe if he slept more he wouldn't have these visions, or maybe it would be even worse, since, in most cases, they came to him exactly when he was dreaming. 

If only he had not listened to his friend's advice...

Everything began three weeks before, right after the winter holidays. The month of January and February had always been critical for him, because every time he saw his father his obsession with body, hair and skin care became even worse than usual. That year, he got particularly annoyed at the only flaw of his perfect face: a little but evident scar just above his left eyebrow. 

He remembered getting it when he was five or six; he remembered that while they were playing, one of his friends had pushed him off a tree. Now, Ferdinand wasn't one to hold a grudge, but that didn't mean that he didn't want to know who to blame. 

He just knew that it had been Dorothea anyway, but he needed evidence. He needed to remember. 

And was there something better than meditation to remember long-forgotten memories? No, according to Linhardt there wasn't. But Ferdinand had realised too late that he had just been played by his so-called friend, who just wanted another excuse to nap. His idiot past-self believed him though and followed his advice, signing up for a class in his college. 

He should have never done that. He wasn't one of those people who believed in ghosts or other stupid paranormal stuff like birthmarks actually indicating a deadly wound of his past life. He had a big one right below his navel, and so what? Did that mean that his past self had died after being shot, stabbed or whatever right there?

That was just stupid. 

However, even though he did not believe in that stuff, he somehow decided to go to this meditation class, just to remember who had ruined his perfect face 15 years before. Yes, he was petty like that. 

The first lessons were kind of useless, even if he had to admit that he had been more relaxed in the last few days. However, after two weeks, something happened: he started to see something. 

It was confusing at first. He could only hope that it was something related to the accident. However, that was not the case.

As the fog that was clouding his mind was slowly being blown away, he started to see colors and shapes, and then, the face of a man had finally appeared. He had never seen him before, he was sure of that, he would remember a face like his. As the days passed, he managed to grasp more and more details, like the light-green color of his eyes, his unusually high cheekbones, the little blood stain on his chin, or his sad expression. 

And yes, what he saw in these dreams, or visions, was creepy and unsettling, but it was nothing compared to the physical pain he felt and the whirl of emotions that never failed to build up in the pit of his stomach. 

Emotions that he had yet to understand. Emotions that, maybe, he didn't even want to understand. 

And it was all Linhardt's fault. Why did his friends have to be such assholes?

"Linhardt I can't sleep anymore!" He told his friend as soon as he saw him come out of his dorm  room.

They were used to walking together to the main body of the school, as they attended more or less the same classes and they both needed to grab a coffee before lessons started. 

Linhardt yawned. He had clearly just woken up. Ferdinand was fuming. How dared he?

"Well, that sounds like your problem," the other said as he walked outside.

Ferdinand ran after him. "What?? It's your fault, you know????" He shouted, stopping right in front of him, preventing him from entering the park that they crossed every morning.

"Why? Did something happen at meditation? Did you remember that someone cursed you with the bald when you were little?". 

Oh. 

That was it.

Ferdinand was about to kill a bitch. 

However, before he could do anything, something else caught his attention, or better, someone else, as, on the other side of the street, he saw the man of his visions. Suddenly, he was unable to tear his eyes off him. He would have liked to, but he simply couldn't, there simply was some greater force that prevented him from doing it.

He looked at the man as he noticed him, looking back at him with an unreadable expression on his face.

He watched the man crossing the road.

He stared at the man as he walked right up to where he was, stopped in front of him and grabbed his left shoulder to take a better look at him.

FERDIBERT WEEK DAY 3 - VAMPIRE AU

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Hubert had to admit that being a vampire was not always easy. Yes, he was immortal, and that was very useful. On top of that, not being forced to interact with humans was not bad either. However, after centuries of peace and tranquility, and after finishing the last book on Earth that was worthy of that name, he started to get bored. 

It wasn't that he was feeling lonely, absolutely not. The routine was what was killing him, figuratively, of course. He always got up at 7 p.m. and had breakfast half an hour later, it did not matter the season he was in, it wasn't necessary to open the curtain of his bedroom to drink some blood and get dressed after all. 

Then he read until 10 o'clock, the hour at which he could get out of the castle in July and August. When he was younger he used to change his routine every month, but he got tired after just a few decades, and settled on a schedule he could follow all year. 

He then went outside to tend to the garden and to feed the fish of his pond. He was really proud of his fish, some of his koi carps were over a century old, and one of them had been alive for exactly 214 years and 3 months.

After taking care of everything, he headed to one of the nearby towns to collect some blood. He was a very meticulous vampire: he knew exactly whose blood he should collect to avoid getting caught, and he never went to the same village more than twice a week. 

After that, he went back to his castle and climbed on the higher tower. There, he stargazed until 4 a.m., or cloudgazed. Perhaps raingazed. Sometimes he even snowgazed. Really, he couldn't be bothered to change his routine. 

At 4 a.m. he went back inside, closed all the curtains and had dinner, keeping some blood for the following day's breakfast. He then read some more until 6 a.m., when he eventually went to sleep. 

Now, it was true that his life was not very exciting, but it had not always been like that. He had been a human once and he had tried living like one even after becoming a vampire, but he had soon realised that it was impossible. Lately, he had felt again the sudden urge of doing something different once or twice, but he had not seriously addressed the feeling. That was, until the day he finished the book. 

He stared at it, dreadfully, as he processed that it was still 9:45 and he had nothing else to read. He had to break his routine. He put the book back in its shelf, and sat down again. Maybe waiting for 15 minutes without doing anything was his best option. Things probably would just go back to normal. 

Silence was something he was used to, after all.

However, the silence was not absolute. From outside, he could hear the loud sound of water hitting the trees of his garden. It must have been raining heavily. So heavily that it took him a while to notice that there was another noise. An unusual one. A noise that he had not heard for many years. 

Confused, he got up and walked downstairs. The sound was unmistakable: someone was knocking at his door. He was bewildered: such thing had never happened before, and he considered ignoring the knocking and pretending not to be there. But then he remembered that he had nothing to do anyway, and that his routine had already been ruined. 

He did it. He opened the door. 

"Excuse me sir, my name is Ferdinand Von Aegir and I am seeking help," said the man who was standing in front of his door, completely covered in mud from head to toe. "My horse decided to drop me and run away after hearing a thunder. I am deeply sorry to be disturbing you at such a late time, but I am in need of shelter for one night. I can pay well."

Hubert eyed him suspiciously. He had never let anyone inside. Never. And he also was in a bad mood already. 

"Please? It really is raining a lot and this is the only place I've seen in a hour"

He sighed and let him in. The night was ruined already anyway. 

"Thank you very much! May I know the name of my savior?"

What a filthy ruffian.

Interesting.

"Hubert."

"Oh! That's a nice name, thank you Hubert!" 

Or perhaps he was just stupid.

He led him to the bathroom and gave him some towels. He didn't do it because he was nice, just because he didn't want the stupid human to get mud all over his place. Then, he changed the dusty covers of the bed in one of his spare rooms, left him some clothes and went back in the living room. The only thing he didn't have in the castle was food; he could only wish that his unexpected, and unwanted, of course, guest was not hungry. He was though. He would soon have to head to the town he had chosen for the day. 

"Hubert! I left my clothes in the bathtub, I'll take care of them tomorrow, okay?"

Hubert nodded, finally able to properly see the man who was in front of him and, believe it or not, he had not felt so human in centuries. 

"You can use that room over there, I left you some clothes inside."

"Oh that's perfect then! Thank you! See you tomorrow," he said, waving gingerly and winking at him before disappearing in the room and closing the door behind him.

It was then that a gust of air carrying the man's scent reached his nose, and god, if it smelled delicious. Maybe he wouldn't have to leave the castle after all.

FERDIBERT WEEK DAY 2

----

"Why are we doing this again?"

Ferdinand groaned in annoyance. "For the hundredth time, my father told me in his last letter that if I didn't bring a woman home for Christmas he was going to arrange a marriage between me and some random girl." 

Hubert stared at him as they got down from their horses. 

"Stop glaring at me! It's just for two days! We go in, I introduce you to my father, we spend the night there and tomorrow we go back to Garreg Mach."

"Don't you think that your plan has a...terribly big flaw?"

"My plans have no flaw."

"I'm not a fucking woman, Ferdinand."

That much was true, but he was not afraid of his father's judgment; he knew better than that.

"It won't be a problem, I don't think he will care as long as it is beneficial to our House. And after all, the heir problem is something that can be resolved outside of the marriage."

Hubert sighed. "Why am I even doing this?"

"Because Edelgard told you to."

"It's 'Lady Edelgard', show some respect. And I still can't comprehend why you chose me."

Ferdinand realized that he had to end the conversation right there, if he wanted to prevent it from going in a dangerous direction. 

"Are you questioning Lady Edelgard's decision?" He asked, finally managing to make him shut up. 

He got in his family's estate, and sent one of their butlers to inform his father of their arrival. 

"This is the last time I help you."

"Nah, Edelgard needs me. She can't have her best general so far away from the front for something as trivial as a wedding." 

"Lady Edelgard."

"Yes, yes. Lady Edelgard."

They were then interrupted by his father, who, as he had expected, was really surprised to see a tall man, who towered over him in full-back robes, instead of a cute girl. However, after the initial shock and after learning who said man was, he immediately warmed up to Hubert, and insisted on giving him a tour of the mansion. Ferdinand smirked at the other man, pleased to having been proven right, and followed his father, staring with growing fear at his dreadfully bald head. 

After two, or maybe even three interminable hours of showing portraits, listing names and bragging, the three of them finally reached a more welcoming wing and stopped in front of Ferdinand's room. He looked at the door: he had missed his bedroom. The one he had at Garreg Mach was nice, but it was so bland compared to this, so ordinary and outdated. Ferdinand was a man who appreciated beauty in things, and he was not ashamed of it.

He snapped out of his thoughts when he felt Hubert's dead cold hand grabbing his. Pretending not to be risking having an heart attack, he immediately looked at him to ask for an explanation, but his father turned around, and Ferdinand could only follow the other man's lead and hope for the best.

"Well boys, your luggage has already been carried in this room. You can use the whole afternoon to get some rest, you must be very tired. I will see you at dinner," Duke Von Aegir said before looking at their joined hands. "I just ask you not to be too noisy, I am waiting for guests," he then added, leaving them there.

"Uhm...we will try?" Ferdinand answered, very confused by his father's words. 

He did not remember ever being a loud child. He would usually just read in silence, or train, but he wouldn't describe himself as a noisy person. Then why did his father say that? 

Weird. Very weird.

However, he had other things he needed to take care of before worrying about that.

He opened the door and shoved Hubert in. "Hands? Really?" 

"Well, since we have to keep up this buffoonery, let's do it right at least." 

"Whatever."

Ferdinand hated to be in uncomfortable situations. Being under pressure made him sweat, and sweating felt disgusting, especially now that his hair were very long. He walked over to his bedside table to get a ribbon when he noticed that his bed looked different. After a closer inspection, he realized that even though his beautiful pillows and covers had not been touched, the bed itself was way bigger than before. 

"Oh," he said softly, blushing madly as he understood the meaning of his father's words. "I...I said: 'we will try not to'"

FERDIBERT WEEK DAY 1

---

Hubert was so tired of people. How many more so-called princes would he have to fight before the universe decided that he had endured enough? His only wish was to stay inside the castle, reading or helping lady Edelgard when she needed his assistance, and, most importantly, without being forced to stay outside, under that annoying, burning sun.

However, apparently, a woman, when combined with an isolated castle in the middle of nowhere, became a powerful prince-magnet, and being the guardian of said castle automatically made him appear like a bandit who had kidnapped the princess.

"I'm here to save the princess!" They all said, "get ready, you monster! I'm gonna kill you and take her away from this place!"

Hubert was so, so tired of people. 

This situation was stressing him a lot. He was losing more hair that he would have liked to, and even though he was only 23, he looked at least 30. Now, he didn't really care for physical appearance, but being stressed also gave him terrible stomach aches, on top of the various wound he often got from fighting random princes.  

They were not entirely wrong though; Hubert was definitely not a good person, and your standard human being might have defined the things that were going on, or being decided, in that castle as 'evil'. However, lady Edelgard was not there against her will, and even if they had managed to defeat him, it would have been completely useless.

"Hey!!!" He heard a voice say. 

As always, it was a young man's voice. Hubert sighed, putting down the book he was reading. He got up, opened the curtains and looked down, only to see a human figure at the gate of the castle. 

"Yes! You! I was looking for you! Come down!" He heard the man say. 

Unluckily, he couldn't ignore him, even though he was the second man to show up that day. 

Hubert was so, so, so tired of people. 

He closed the window and walked to the gate, trying to take a look at his soon-to-be opponent. 

"It's such a shame that you have not tried to sneak in," he started, but then he saw him, and he suddenly found himself unable to speak. 

The guy who was standing in front of him was stunningly beautiful. He was handsome, trim and in excellent physical shape. His ginger hair was even longer than lady Edelgard's, and he seemed to be shining, as if he was the one who was emitting light in lieu if the sun. Now, that was how a prince was supposed to look like. Compared to him, all the "heroes" he had seen looked as bland as a rock that has been put next to a gemstone. 

Fortunately, he collected himself just in time to hear the man's words.

"I am wise enough not to touch unknown magic, sir." 

He had noticed the magic circle then. Not bad. 

"You're wiser than expected, and here I thought you were this land's fool of the day."

"A fool?" The man gasped, "sir, I suggest that you be more careful when you choose your words. I am no fool, I am Ferdinand Von Aegir!" 

Now, that was not an unknown name. 

"And what is Duke Von Aegir doing in a place like this? Wait, no, don't tell me, let me guess. 'I'm here to save the princess, hand her over, you beast!'. Am I right?"

Ferdinand looked unexpectedly confused though. "Princess?" He said looking at the castle behind him, "is there a princess in there?".

"You're not here for her?"

"No?"

Hubert studied his expression, but he did not seem to be lying. 

"I'm actually here for you?" Ferdinand continued. 

He definitely, definitely did not expect that. "For me?" 

"Yes sir, for you. I've been watching the area for a few days, and I saw you giving food to some children, and since this castle has a very bad reputation I figured out that you must be being kept here against your will. But fear not, my scary-looking friend! For Ferdinand Von Aegir is here to save you!" 

He could not believe what he had just heard. "So...I would be the one who is being held here...against my will."

"...yes?" 

Hubert laughed like never before in his life. Maybe he wasn't tired of all people, after all. 

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