Praesidium (WMMAP Fanfic)

Chapter 4

"Felix, You're still here? And what are you doing outside, it's chilly out here" Rabia said as she reached Claude's office and saw Felix who was standing outside the door with a sad look on his face

"Your Majesty" Felix's sad expression perked up and looked at her with hope in his eyes "Your Majesty, please convince the Emperor to take a rest. He's been here working non-stop... he threw me out when I tried to convince him to rest for the night" comical tears streamed out of Felix's eyes

"There, there. Go and rest, I'll take care of the stubborn idiot" Rabia said with a sympathetic smile as she patted Felix's shoulders

"Really, your majesty? Thank you very much!" Felix said in gratitude before bolting away happily, he can finally get his much needed rest

Rabia entered the room and saw Claude diligently working on a large amount of paperworks, it should be a crime looking handsome and elegant like that while working hard

"Your nagging is annoying me. I already told you to stay outside, Felix" Claude said evenly while still continuing to look down on the report he was reading

"Sorry to disappoint but I'm not Felix... I already sent him away to rest, like what you should be doing in this late hour"

Claude's eyes snapped towards her, eyes wide in surprise. Not expecting her to be still up at this hour in the night

"I thought you were already asleep" Claude put down the pen and paper in his hands to give her his full attention

"I had to catch our son in the middle of his late night study session for him to stop neglecting rest in favor of learning and I had a feeling you are doing the same. I was right" Rabia said as she swept her eyes on the paperworks needed to be done and looked towards the clock making her frown at the late hour

"come on let's get you to bed, those will still be there in the morning. You need rest to function properly"

Rabia pulled Claude off of his chair by the hand and towards his bedroom and he let her without any kind of protest. When they reached his bedroom, she sat him on his bed and was about to turn and leave when Claude grabbed her hand stopping her

"Stay" Claude said as he stared at her with those jeweled eyes of his that reminded her of the deep blue ocean surrounding Gaudin

"Just this once" Rabia said in assent as she crawled under the covers followed by Claude and an awkward silence followed soon after

"What do you think about Ambrose wanting to learn in Arlanta?" Rabia asked in an attempt to diffuse the awkwardness and Claude let out a sigh at her question

"I don't want to send him far away, but if it is really what he wants I can't say no without a proper reason... He does whatever he sets his mind to, just like you" Claude said softly before pulling Rabia closer to him and putting his chin on top of her head

"If he goes to Arlanta, I will be going back to Gaudin in the meantime to take care of father and deal with Azrael" Rabia said as she snuggled deep into Claude's side

At Rabia's revelation, Claude frowned in silence. It seems like people precious to him always leaves him behind

"Silly Claude, we won't leave forever... I'll be back once everything in Gaudin is sorted and Ambrose will be back here during breaks... We can't keep him in our arms forever, we need to let him find a path he wants for himself" Rabia poked his forehead suddenly making him ease his frown in surprise "There we go, we can't have our handsome Emperor have wrinkles so early in life"

"You won't have to deal with Azrael if you marry me" Claude said seriously but was only answered by a loud laugh from Rabia, making him give her a slight flick on her forehead as retribution for all the times she poked his

"Ouch, this is abuse you know" Rabia pouted as she rubbed her forehead and glared at Claude's smirking face before turning serious "Marriage for me is something done between people in love... somewhere in your heart I know you cherish me and I do love you Claude... I love you but I'm not in love with you"

Liar. Rabia thought to herself as she closed her eyes and pretended to sleep and Claude's arms around her tightened momentarily before relaxing. She wanted to badly accept Claude's proposal to her, live beside him as his Empress and watch Ambrose grow into a great man and eventual Emperor of Obelia... but that fantasy was crushed by the dream of the future she saw.

She would never ever forget the glimpse of the future that was to showed her. Claude meeting a talented dancer and being enchanted with her, them spending time together with Claude smiling happily and him begging with tears in his eyes to that same woman for her to stay and choose him. The pain in his voice breaking Rabia's heart into a million pieces. Claude will never beg anyone earnestly like that unless he loves them with his whole heart...

Right then and there Rabia realized she would never compare to the woman she saw, she didn't want to take away his chance at happiness no matter how short it is... she has already seen her very own end, it's better this way

The Gaudin family Line is said to be born from a God and a Seer, granting their descendants strong mana and the ability to see the future but with the passage of time the ability to see the future became weak that the only thing they can see are an event in the life of their most beloved and their death