𝐍𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 - Wriothesley x Neuvillette

Patience can be rewarding (Chapter 5)

Wriothesley had shown Neuvillette all the letters and allowed him to bring them to Palais Mermoria. Not that Neuvillette was listening, as he was too busy staring at the Duke, who was standing much closer to him now. 

He brought the letters back to his office and started looking for a way to trace them back to their sender. While he worked, his mind went back to the Duke, of course only out of concern for his acquaintance. Because that's all they were, maybe coworkers at most, not friends or anything like that. He thought about Wriothesley purely out of concern. At least that's what he told himself.

Unfortunately, Neuvillette wasn't able to trace the letters back to anyone. But he didn't have to, as Sedene rushed into his office with a letter from the Duke. For a reason unknown to himself, he felt his heart race as he received the letter. The letter was short, too short. 

And as soon as he read the letter, he felt a heavy feeling inside, like his internal organs were being squeezed, and the worst part was that he could do nothing about the ache he felt. In the letter Wriothesley had told him to stay in Palais Memoria, await another letter, or in other words, sit and do nothing but hope.

The next few hours would either pass as a blip in his life or feel like endless hours of torture. He was sure of that. He felt it as an electric storm in his brain. That honestly was painful. It was different from a headache, more like a frozen panic with nowhere to go. Like he was stuck in a frozen lake in Snezhnaya. He remained calm enough to fool anyone who visited him in the following hours. But he was far from calm. He felt anxious, something he had not felt in a long time. The gloomy feeling hid beneath his eyes and his words.

Finally, he received the news, finally, Sedene came inside his office with the letter he had been waiting for, dreading actually.

Five hours ago Wriothesley had left the fortress of Meropide intending to find an old enemy of his. But apparently, Neuvillette was not allowed to meet said enemy as it was a criminal that escaped him, and Wriothesley respects him enough to not hand him over to the chief justice. But there had been a change of plans because now Wriothesley was asking Neuvillette to come immediately. And leave immediately he did. He was out of his office in a second, outside Palais Memoria in two. Now his heart was pumping and heart aching much more than when he was waiting. He looked at the letter once more. Wriothesley had to meet the man in the Beryl region, close to Elynas. More he hadn't told, to make sure Neuvillette wouldn't come crashing. But now he had to crash it. Now he had to find him. But where in the Beryl region was he now, five hours later?

He went to the Beryl region. Normally, he would have taken time to admire the remains of Elynas, the tall mountains that had been created by wind and erosion, and the beautiful lush mountain hills. But he had no time for that. He went to the Statue of the Seven first, as it seemed like an obvious place to meet with someone, but all he saw was a few armored crabs on their way down to the lake. He kept searching, going through the Beryl region quickly. He could lay back a lot of distance in little time, and he did not get tired. The benefit of not being human. 

He went to the top of Elynas, looking over the region, trying to see if there was anything to point him in the right direction. Then he saw a giant cryo blast in the northern part of the region, a cryo blast only the Duke would be able to create.

From afar it looked like a small local snowstorm in that area. Like a big cloud of snow had decided to hit just there, and it was an excellent way for Neuvillette to find him, he couldn't miss it, and Wriothesley clearly knew that. The closer Neuvillette got, the prettier it looked. Snowflakes danced around him, and the air felt much fresher. Cryo sure was a beautiful element.

There in the middle of the beautiful scene, was Wriothesley and another man, Marlon Lambert. Neuvillette remembered all trials and cases, and Marlon wasn't exactly difficult to remember.He had sentenced him to exile in the Fortress of Meropide for life. 

His case was one of the more disturbing. Marlon has kidnapped and tortured civilians and tourists for fun. He was not supposed to be free, but when they were going to put him down in the fortress, they had forgotten that he was an excellent diver. So when he jumped from the bridge and into the waters of Fontaine, none of the guards could follow him, and he had escaped.

And now here he was, fighting the Duke. It was impressive enough he had managed to keep up with Meropide's greatest fighter for so long. But now he didn't have a chance to even escape. He was in Neuvillette's hands now, and he would not spare him.

It happened in less than two seconds. He grabbed Marlon before he could even react and pinned him down on the ground. He looked up at Wriothesley, who looked just as startled as Marlon.

"Good to see you again, your grace."

"What the fuck!" 

Wriothesley exclaimed and quickly continued with questions, 

"Where did you come from? How did you find me so quickly? And how the fuck did you do that?"

"Calm down, and mind your language, Duke" 

Neuvillette said as he slowly stood up, dragging the now unconscious Marlon up with him. Apparently, he had hit him a bit too hard and accidentally knocked him out. Oh well, who cares?

"I came as soon as I received your letter and I found you thanks to the little local snowstorm you created."

"Oh."

"Yes, it was quite a good pinpoint seen from above."

"Above?"

"I went to the top of Elynas."

"Seriously?"

"Yes." Neuvillette said simply, not willing to explain how he got up there so quickly, nor the fact that it required no effort.

Wriothesley chuckled in disbelief, not understanding why the chief justice would go through such trouble to find him.

Neuvillette turned back to Marlon and practically threw him over to Wriothesley. 

"I believe you have unfinished business with him."

Wriothesley was beyond confused now.

"You're just letting a criminal go? Allowing me to take him?"

"I'm assuming you have a good reason for keeping him from me for so long. I trust your judgment."

Yes, Neuvillette's fingers itched to grab Marlon and throw him down in the Fortress forever, but if the Duke had gone to him for information, he had to trust he knew what he was doing, no matter how tempting it was to act on instinct.