#julius fluff

“And that’s why I really really need your help!”

Julius was practically on his knees outside your door, eyes wide with desperation. Your brow was furrowed as you tried to wrap your head around this situation.

“She really gave you an ultimatum about marriage?”

Julius nodded with a sigh, shoulders drooping. “Yes, she did. And since I lied and said I had a girlfriend already I need someone to play the part.”

You nodded slowly, pointing at yourself. “And you decided to go with me?”

He nodded eagerly, “Yes, we’re already so close I figured you’d be willing to help in my scheme.”

You studied his face in the ambient torchlight from the hallway, he looked so desperate, and so cute, how could you say no?

“Fine. Just let me know when I need to be ready.”

“Oh thank you, thank you!” He pulled you into a hug, heart light with relief, “You have no idea how much of a lifesaver you are.”

You awkwardly patted his back and he let you go with a quick goodbye, leaving you to stand in the doorway alone.

-

The gravity of the situation set in soon after he left, as it often did after he managed to pull you into one of his harebrained schemes. Collapsing on your bed, you shook your head at the ceiling as you thought about what this would involve: you’d have to pretend you were in love with him, which wouldn’t be hard because you definitely already were, you’d have to do a good enough job to fool his parents, which hopefully wouldn’t be hard since your acting skills were decent, and the final and most difficult part would come afterwards. After the dinner, you’d have to come back here to the castle, and you wouldn’t have Julius’s hand in yours anymore and you’d have to pretend that you were fine with it.

You rolled over and groaned into your pillow, “Oh Julius why did you have to choose me for this job?”

-

The day of the dinner soon arrived and Julius came to pick you up. You took one last look in the mirror, smoothing your clothes before you opened the door. You’d picked out what you hoped was a suitable dress, and you packed enough clothes in your bag for a few days if need be. From what you’d heard about Julius’s mother, she was quite pushy and since it was the holiday season you might need to keep up this charade for a few more days than originally planned.

“You look lovely darling,” Julius said jokingly as he walked with you to the carriage. You smiled and hoped he couldn’t see the hollowness of it, you could already tell that this would be more painful the longer it went on.

-

You stared out the window and watched as the towns became villages became countryside, and the cobblestones became dirt roads. It’s just one dinner. It’s just one dinner.

“Can we go over the plan one more time? Just to make sure we’re on the same page?” Julius asked, breaking your empty stare.

You blinked, returning to the real world and the imposing walls of the carriage seemed to grow closer. “Sure.” You said hoarsely, swallowing even though your throat was dry.

“Okay,” Julius leaned in closer, “So we need to pretend that we’re dating, hopefully just for tonight. But if not, and we end up having to stay for longer and things get desperate I’ll call Marx and have him set up a fake emergency for us to attend to.”

You nodded, “Okay sounds good.”

He placed his hand on yours and you resisted the urge to jump. “Thanks again for agreeing to this, I appreciate it more than you know.”

You smiled softly, “No problem.”

The carriage came to a stop outside a huge manor in the countryside, it’s sprawling lawn was lush and green, and there was a rose garden that could be seen through the iron gate.

Julius squeezed your hand, “Just for tonight.”

“Just for tonight.” You repeated. Maybe that’s the problem. a pang of sadness stabbed through your chest as you stepped out of the carriage, there’s no going back now.

-

The manor had a huge oak door, complete with a brass grimoire door knocker in the center. Julius had barely touched it when the door opened, revealing an excited woman and a slightly more subdued man standing in the doorway.

“Oh! It is so wonderful to meet you.” You said, extending a hand to the woman before you. She confusedly shook your hand before realizing you had mistaken her for Mrs. Novachrono, “Oh my, I’m sorry. I’m just the maid, the lady and master are in the parlor awaiting your arrival.”

You grimaced, you’d only just arrived and had already made a mistake, this didn’t bode well for your stay. Julius escorted you to the parlor, hand touching your lower back gently.

The parlor was filled with white furniture, the walls a dusty powder blue. Two people, presumably Julius’s parents, stood when you entered the room. The woman strode over to you and took your hands in hers, “Oh, it is so wonderful to meet you! You have no idea how long we’ve been waiting for this moment. I’m Marie and my husband over there is Julian.” She gushed, heat creeping up your neck at her words.

“It’s lovely to meet you as well, I’m Y/N. I’ve heard so much about you it’s nice to finally meet you in person!”

Marie gasped happily at your words, “Oh so you’ve been gossiping about me have you Julius? All good things I hope!”

Julius raised his hands in defense, “Yes mother, all good things.”

Marie nodded her pleasure, and led you to the couch. Julius sat next to you as you shook his father’s hand.

“Shall we have some tea while we wait for dinner to be prepared?” She asked. Before anyone could nod, she was calling the maid in to bring a tea tray.

“So Y/N, I want to hear all about you! How did you meet my darling boy? Has he been treating you well? I’ll smack him if he’s not, he may be the Wizard King but he’s still my son!” Marie said, watching you intently.

Julius could sense you were overwhelmed and grabbed your hand, squeezing it reassuringly.

“Well you see, I’m an archivist that works in the castle, so that’s how I met Julius. Don’t mention this to Marx but he has a habit of sneaking off to places he shouldn’t when he’s supposed to be doing paperwork.”

“Hey! That’s an unfair judgement!” Julius protested, but there was no hurt behind it.

“It’s a true judgement Julius!” You gave him a teasing grin before turning back to Marie, “Your son does indeed treat me well, he’s one of the kindest, most caring people I’ve ever met, and I fall more in love with him every day.”

Marie seemed pleased with your answer and was soon distracted by the tea that was set in front of them. Julius and his parents made small talk until dinner was announced, giving you a bit of respite from Marie’s rapid fire questions. You couldn’t help but smile, here Julius had ditched his cloak, and you got a peek at what his childhood had been like. It was interesting, watching interact with his parents, they seemed overbearing and aloof at the same time, and you wondered how they had raised such a decent man.

Julius took a sip of his wine near the end of dinner, the taste tangy sweet in his mouth.

“So Julius, when are you going to ask this girl to marry you? If I were you I’d have put a ring on that finger a long time ago?”

Julius started, the wine hit the back of his throat, sending him into a coughing fit. Once he had suitably recovered, he took a deep breath, “Well,” He considered his answer carefully, “I haven’t thought about it yet, I don’t think either of us want to rush things.”

You swallowed, nodding in agreement. “With the state of the kingdom, we weren’t sure if it would be a good idea to jump into such a serious commitment so soon.”

Your answers were deemed satisfactory and you excused yourself to go to the bathroom. You leaned on the sink and rested your head in your hands, you swallowed down a sob. This was harder than you could have imagined, not the lying, not the acting, just the fact that this wouldn’t last buzzing around in your mind. It hung over you like a cloud, this is a lie, it’s all a lie to him.

You took a deep breath, splashing your face with cold water, before returning to the table. “I’m awfully tired Julius, do you think it’s time to leave for the castle?”

Julius gave you a kind smile, “Yes, we can make it by morning if we leave now.” Marie tried to protest, but Julius won her over and you were soon saying your goodbyes in the foyer.

“Well, it was lovely to meet you. I do hope you come again soon.” Julian said, shaking your hand once more.

You nodded, pushing down the sadness that was welling in your chest, threatening to spill over. “Yes, until next time.” There won’t be a next time.

Julius’s shoulders sank with relief as soon as you were back in the carriage. “That went better than expected!” He said brightly, sinking back in his seat.

You could only nod, fearing if you spoke it would reveal how you were really feeling.

-

You arrived back at the castle as dawn was breaking in the sky. Julius helped you out of the carriage, dropping your hand as soon as you were down on solid ground.

“I must say, your acting was impeccable Y/N.”

That was it, that was the stone that broke the dam and tears spilled onto your cheeks.

Julius was taken aback at your reaction, he’d never seen you cry before and he was completely at a loss of what to do.

“Y/N? What’s wrong? Is something the matter?” He asked, studying your face frantically.

You blinked at him, eyes narrowing. “Is something the matter?” You repeated, “Is something the matter?! Julius, you must be denser than I thought if you’re asking me that question.”

You turned on your heel, rushing down the stone hallway to your room. Julius’s footsteps echoed behind you as he ran to keep up with your pace. He truly didn’t know what was wrong, and that only made you angrier.

You paused at your door and Julius caught you, hands resting on your shoulders.

“Will you please talk to me? Was it something I said?” He asked softly, purple eyes soft with concern.

You only sobbed harder, sinking into his chest. He wrapped his arms around you gently, as if he was afraid to break you.

“Yes! No! It wasn’t something you said per se, it was this, all of it!” You exclaimed, chest heaving and hands shaking.

Julius’s frown deepened, “Oh. I’m sorry Y/N, I didn’t know this had been so hard for you.”

You couldn’t stifle a laugh at his apology, “Hard for me? Of course it was hard for me. I meant what I said, it wasn’t acting,” your voice broke painfully as you took a deep breath to continue, “I mean it, I’m in love with you Julius.”

Julius’s hands dropped from your sides in shock, his face was a mixture of surprise and sadness when you met his gaze. Of course, the realization hit him like a ton of bricks, of course, you were in love with him, and he had been too dense to notice.

“I-- I’m sorry.” He stammered, and you took your chance to run into your room, slamming the door shut behind you.

You sank against it, too exhausted to stay standing. You heard footsteps receding and fresh tears rolled down your cheeks, of course, he was leaving.

A few minutes later there was a knock at your door. “Y/N, can we talk?” A soft voice asked, it was Julius.

You weren’t certain you wanted to talk to him, but you opened the door anyway and let him come in.

“Y/N, first of all I want to apologize. I was too dense to realize that what I had asked of you may have caused you hurt, and I’m sorry for that.”

You stared at him, “Okay.”

Julius ran his tongue along the inside of his cheek, debating on whether he should say what was on his heart. “I also need to confess something, if that’s okay?”

You nodded, studying him carefully; you dared not get your hopes up, but somewhere in the depths of your heart, there was a small tiny glimmer of hope.

Julius sighed, “The truth is, I only asked you to do this job because I love you as well. Maybe this was my selfish way of getting to act like a couple without telling you how I felt because I was scared of how you would react.”

You sucked in a breath, “All along?”

Julius nodded, eyes tinged with sadness, “All along.”

“Well, it’s freezing in here. The least you could do is come and wrap me in your arms.” You said, the ghost of a smile on your lips.

Julius bowed a greeting and you smiled, accepting his hand lightly. “Hello, my name’s Julius.” He said, ears tinged slightly pink at the amused look on your face. “Hello Julius, my name is Y/N. It’s wonderful to meet you.” As you twirled together across the floor, time itself seemed to stop. 

“You’re quite a good dancer Julius.” 

He laughed, a melodious sound that you tried to memorize in case you never got to be this close again. “Why thank you, you’re not so bad yourself.” 

The conversation flowed easily, it was almost like you’d met before, in another life perhaps. The song ended and it felt too soon, you didn’t want to part so easily, not when it felt so right to be in his arms. “Hey,” he whispered, “Want to get out of here? Balls like this are so boring.” 

Your lips twitched, it seemed the rumors were true, Julius really was eager to get out of his duties when he could. You nodded and he whispered a plan to you, he’d go “to the bathroom,” and you’d merely disappear into the crowd; then you’d rendezvous on the roof to chat away from all the prying and jealous eyes. 

The two of you sat up there till the sky was tinged with pink and ever since then you’d been head over heels for each other. It was a marvel how easy it was to love him, even on the bad days, or the days where you had to be apart, you knew you were loved and cherished by him. 

Marx could already feel a headache coming on. “Sir, I don’t think you recognize the flaw in your plan. How are you supposed to remember what the plan is if I remove the memory?” Julius’s face fell as he realized Marx was right, he couldn’t exactly surprise you if he didn’t know what the surprise was about. 

Seeing Julius’s crestfallen face made something stir in Marx’s heart. Sighing, he pinched the bridge of his nose, “Alright. I will help you, but I’m not erasing your memory.” Julius looked up at him, eyes sparkling with excitement once more, “You will?!” “Yes, I will.” 

And with that, Marx helped Julius plan every meticulous detail, and then forbid him to speak a word of it. “If you spoil the surprise, no outside privileges for a month.” He threatened, foot tapping loudly on the marble floor. 

It worked like a charm, every time he almost spoiled the surprise, he remembered Marx’s words and became quiet or changed the subject. 

For your part, you were charmed by the fact that he was trying so hard to keep a surprise from you, but you also were trying not to laugh. Julius looked like a sad puppy when he suddenly became silent, eyes downcast and lips in a pout. 

The fateful day arrived, and you were whisked away to a secret destination after being told to pack a bag. You arrived at a mountain hot spring resort, the whole place rented just for the two of you. Your eyes were as wide as Julius’s smile as he showed you around, whatever you had been expecting for your anniversary it certainly wasn’t this. 

Julius is a man of many words, but he never really spoke his love for you in public. You figured tonight, the night of his birthday ball was no different. Many people approached you throughout the night, asking how you could be okay with such a thing, but you simply shrugged your shoulders and smiled. “Honestly, I’d never really thought about it. Words aren’t as important as they may seem.” You replied, and you meant it. Some people who asked were genuinely curious, but others were just jealous of your status and sought to drive a wedge between you. Either way, you shook the comments off, Julius always showed his love with his actions, not his words.