Work Text:
•••••••••••••••••••••••day 1•••••••••••••••••••••
It was in the middle of the reception that Isolde and Chion had seen their world coming crashing down.
The fateful moment started like any other. They had to come well dressed and assure everyone was well intended for the royal family, of course they could take interest in the festivities even if they were supposed to work. The king himself told them they could because he and his family were able to defend themselves, and there were other knights who could watch out.
So they did, well, it wasn’t their fault if their definition of taking interest in the festivities was to go find the prince and to discourage all of his groupies to make any sort of move to seduce him.
Finding him was easy, all of the people were talking about him, and when they finally found him, he was in elegant clothing : a beautiful white blouse with intricate details, a chunky blue belt looking a lot like a corset, and black trousers with blue embroideries on the sides. His long silver hair was put up in a sort of bun with small braids. He was magnificent. It was normal for the prince of Liones, but his platoon noticed quickly that all eyes were riveted on this fascinating creature.
A reassuring and glowing aura was emanating of Tristan due to his magic he let out freely.
Chion really asked himself how some people still wondered why 3/4 of the Liones' young population was in love with the prince. Everyone was attracted to this beauty goddess, girls and boys.
Isolde and Chion couldn't let anyone else have him ! And it wasn’t jealousy, just an irrepressible envy to keep their prince safe. Jade told them it was jealousy nonetheless. But it wasn't !!
Jade waved at him, wanting to go home quickly, and he knew he could if the two others were occupied with the prince.
When Tristan looked at them he was already happy, but a sense of contentment was perceptible to them.
He succeeded in going around most of the crowd in the room to join his friend, even if he had to shake a few hands when he couldn't escape.
“Prince Tristan ! You’re glowing tonight,” said Isolde, trying hard to not let her voice tremble as he was so close due to the fact the room was overflowing with people.
“I agree you look absolutely fabulous,” cheered Chion.
“Thank you both , it is a pleasure to see you are all having fun, the king likes to make a feast sometimes to make everyone eat as their fill,” answered Tristan, when suddenly he was pushed by a kid behind him.
Of course the platoon was panicked, and of course it was just a little push and Tristan had just to have balance to keep straight, and of course he had balance, because he was a knight of high rank, and kept straight.
But the small movement of his arms were enough to attract the attention of the three “protectors” in front of him on his hands, which were decorated with some rings, but the emplacement of one catched their eyes, and when they started talking again Isolde mentioned it.
“Prince Tristan, you surely didn’t know but you shall not put a ring on your left annular ! This finger is to keep free !”
“Free for what ?”
“Well, when you’ll get married,” she blushed, only thinking about the day when they could get married, “ the wedding ring is to be worn on this finger.”
“Yes, I know that, why are you telling me ?” Tristan asked, the most innocent expression on his face.
“If you keep your ring on the ring finger, people will think you’re married.” Isolde finished to explain.
“Yes, that’s the whole purpose of that ring ! That and “proving” your love,” He still didn’t understand why they were telling him all of this.
“So when you’re not married you put your rings elsewhere.” ended Chion.
“And since I’m married I have my wedding ring on my annular.” It was logical to Tristan, his parents had their wedding rings on their left annular, Diane and King too, he didn’t know why he shouldn't wear his ring here too. It was natural for him to wear his ring there.
But when he finished his sentence, his three interlocutors were speechless.
Chion gasped for air.
“You… you are… what ?” Isolde muttered, mouth popping open.
Jade had wide eyes, looking at him like he had seen the demon king dancing right behind him.
“Married, you didn’t know ?”
Tristan asked with such a sad look to know that his closest friends weren’t aware of such a thing, that they had to lie.
“Haaa, yes I remember now ! It’s just that it is the very first time we really noticed you wearing your ring soooo…..,” Jade hadn’t another idea, so he looked powerlessly at his friends, for some back up.
“Yes, that’s it !” Chion had to find something to escape this situation because Isolde was still speechless “ but I think we have to go do our patrol around the castle, we wouldn't want any intruder now !”
He grabbed Isolde and Jade, turned around and walked far away from his dear prince.
“Did we all hear the same thing back there ?”asked Isolde, still a bit in shock even if they walked ten minutes to find a quiet spot at the very top of the castle.
“Did either of you know he was-”started Chion.
“Don’t say it.” interrupted Isolde.
“Ok.. I don’t want to say it either…”
“The real question is not if we knew or not,” declared Jade, regaining the attention of his partners, “ it’s to know who and for how long.”
“You’re right !” Exclaimed Chion, “ we still don’t know who stole, probably with some sort of dark magic, our dear prince’s heart, and for how long has he suffered quietly !”
“He didn’t look like he was suffering,” Jade stated.
“How do you explain that we never saw him wearing that ring before if it wasn’t because he felt so comfortable with us that he would find the courage to escape the devil who trapped him !” quaked Isolde, it was obvious for her that the prince wouldn’t want anyone else to see he was in danger, maybe because of a sort of pride.
“I saw him wear his ring before,” answered Jade.
“No, I always looked at his hands and there was nothing !” Chion didn’t realize how creepy this sentence was, but his team, being used to it, didn't mention it.
“Not on his hands, he wears gloves when we are on duty, but when we change at the end of training I always see a ring on a little chain around his neck,” Jade sat on the edge of the stone wall, “It’s probably because he doesn't want to damage it but to still wear it, and if he doesn't want to damage it, it’s because he cares for it, so he wasn’t trapped.”
“So you’re saying he’s happy in his marriage ?”, trembled Isolde between two cries.
“Yes, I think so.”
A silence followed his words, the only sound was the uncontrollable sobbing of Isolde. Chion finally regained consciousness by hearing those, he was absent minded since Jade finished his tirade about the prince.
“But we still don’t know who it is ! We have to go back in there and find out !”
“How ? We already told Tristan we knew he was married,” replied Jade.
“We just have to observe what princess is basically always with him,” whined Isolde, a bit more calm than before.
“Ok, we will find her !!”
They cheered a bit, just so much to bring Isolde back to her usual self, and walked back to the ballroom.
They didn’t exactly walk back, they stayed on the little platform around the room, this way they had a perfect view of everything and everyone. But especially a perfect view of Tristan who was speaking and laughing with his mother.
“I already see a girl approaching him !”
“No, it’s princess Tatiana, she’s already married. So she couldn’t marry the prince.”
“And this one ?”
“Taken.”
“Why do they keep staring at the prince if they’re already with someone ?”
“Having a lover is common in the royalty, not in the one of Liones, but when it’s arranged marriage. I don’t think it’s the prince’s case, he grew up with a good example of love.”
“If the king wasn’t groping the queen every now and then it would be even better.”
This comment was only justified by his actions on other days, he was calm right now, maybe overwhelmed by all the noise and diplomacy he had to show. They saw him leaving the room for at least 10 minutes, but not much longer. Maybe to greet his daughter in law ?
No, he came back alone after.
They continued to search all evening, until Tristan was allowed to retrieve to his bedroom. No other girl followed him and he made it back to his chambers safely according to Chion.
They had to stop the first failed attempt of this mission at this instant because Jade wouldn’t let his two other friends break into the prince’s bedroom ( I mean how unfair !)
When Tristan finally entered the place we're nobody could judge him, a sigh of relief was heard. He could just be himself after such a long day of social duties. His head was pounding by all the noise and voices of the evening. The first thing he did was to put his pajamas on, which were a lot more comfortable than his formal clothing. He was used to it, but it still was not as warm and pleasant as his pajamas.
The second thing he did was to let his hair down. The simplicity of how he could undo his bun was voluntary, because the person who brushed his hair knew he would want to go to sleep fast.
When he was finally ready, the same fox who did his hair was waiting for him, half asleep, on his bed.
“You could’ve come to the reception, it was boring but it would’ve been less boring if you were with me.”
“No, there’s too much noise and the voices of everyone’s heart go straight to my head. I would have been overwhelmed even before entering the room,” answered Lancelot, already opening his arms to the demon in front of him.
“I know, but I missed you anyway,” replied Tristan before getting into bed and straight into his lover’s strong arms.
“I missed you too, this mission was endless and just by seeing how your father was so glad to step aside from the ballroom and to hear my report, I already knew I wouldn't see you for a while. And I was right”
“Sorry, this reception too was endless.”
They giggled at this, the Liones' receptions were always endless, representatives of different kingdoms were invited and all of them wanted to see this pretty prince every other person was talking about.
“I thought I saw your friends somewhere on the top of the castle when I came back, didn’t they come to keep you occupied ?”
“Yes, they came at the beginning, we talked a bit then they left as fast. I didn’t see them for half an hour after, but when they came back again, they stayed on the platform around the ballroom.”
“Well maybe they finally took their job more seriously.”
Tristan hit him with a smile on his face, not strong enough to actually hurt him, but just to make a point : his friends were taking their job very seriously !
“What ? If they were supposed to make sure security was applied they shouldn’t have talked to you in the first place !”
“So if it was you, you wouldn’t come talk to me ?”
“It’s different! You’re my husband, if I want to talk to you, I will.”
Tristan hummed, he wasn’t totally convinced but he was incredibly tired.
“Sleep, you’re probably exhausted after your mission.”
“I am, but you come first.”
“Goodnight Lanc’, I love you.”
“Goodnight Tris’, I love you too.”
••••••••••••••••••••••••day 2••••••••••••••••••••
The second mission to try to find the wife of prince Tristan wasn't very successful either. When they met up for training the day after, they were determined to see if it was the same ring he was wearing the day before.
So when they went to change Isolde told the guys to take a good look at it and to analyze the shape, the colours, the material and the stones which could be on it. Neither of them remembered correctly if there were stones but better safe than sorry.
In the changing room, Chion and Jade were incredibly attentive to the prince. When he removed his gloves, no rings could be seen. But when he removed his chainmail and undershirt it was there, on a golden chain. They tried to memorize as much as they could before he put his day to day shirt on, it was difficult but they remembered as much as they could.
By the time they got out, Isolde was waiting for them. They didn’t need to tell the prince they had something to do because he was already needed elsewhere.
Isolde immediately started to interrogate them.
“What’s that ring ?”
“First of all, he had it around his neck on a chain just like Jade told us.”
“Second of all, it was a gold ring with leaves on the sides of two moons which were surrounding a deep blue stone. Is it the same you saw yesterday ?”
“Hoo, goddess, it’s exactly the same,” whined Isolde. She still had hope that her theory was correct and that the ring on the chain was the one of his parents or something like that. But no.
“With such details it’s sure those symbols mean something.”
Isolde, already panicking, didn't quite hear what Jade said, but Chion did.
“You’re right, the leaves must mean that it’s a princess of a kingdom close to the forest in any kind of sense : geographically, spiritually, racially or other.”
“Yes ! Except Benwick there is no human kingdom with a close relationship with fairies, does Lancelot have a sister ?”
“No, he's an only son, every time he’ve come when we were children it was only him.”
“Geographically, there’s no realm which is entirely or mostly in a forest.”
“No human ones, yes.”
“And there is no realm with a vegetal symbol.”
Isolde joined the conversation, still a bit distressed after her hypotheses were so roughly thwarted.
“What if it isn’t a human ?”
“With the leaves it’s probably a fairy.”
“Our research is going to take forever !”
Tristan had to leave directly after his training because he had to meet up with Lancelot. Not for a mission or something knight related but just because sometimes they needed to be outside just the two of them together.
And it's what they did. In the royal gardens, Lancelot was waiting hidden from any indiscreet looks, sitting with his back leaning on a tree, with a direct view of flowers.
His eyes were closed, not needed to hear Tristan coming, even if he was extremely quiet with his steps.
“Hello darling.”
“We saw each other right before I went to train the others, you don't need to say hi again,” remarked the demon, already settling against his lover’s chest.
“I know but I like it, are the knights you’re training good ?”, added the fairy, starting to stroke the other’s long hair.
“Yes, could be better, sir Edmond could improve his defense.”
“Did anything weird happen ?”
It was a usual for them to ask, by asking this they could know if some of Chaos was following them. Also to know if there were some sort of enemy after one or both of them. Or just to know.
“Hummm, Chion and Jade were staring at my chest when we were changing.”
Lancelot didn’t answer right away, mostly because hearing that colleagues of his husband were staring at his chest was making his possessiveness wake up. But also because, and I quote : ‘what the heck ?’
“What do you mean ?”
“When I removed my undershirt, they immediately looked down, and they weren’t discreet at all, and since I panicked, I put my shirt on fast. Didn’t even put my ring back on.”
He got up and put his shoulder onto Lancelot's, close enough for half their body to be touching but up enough for Tristan to get the chain under his shirt, take off the ring from it and put it back on his finger.
The fairy still thought about it for a while, putting his head in the creak between Tristan's shoulder and head. He already knew Isolde was in love with the prince, and Chion was… weirdly obsessed with his cousin, but if Jade started too ? Didn’t he already fall for the tall girl ?
He did go back to the platform of the ballroom yesterday, and saw those three looking at the prince. At this moment, he thought they were keeping him safe, but what if they weren’t ?
He’ll keep a close eye on this case.
Anyway, Tristan’s team wasn't there. It was only them for now, and he was going to use this information for good.
Encircling the angel’s waist with both his arms, he raised his head to start to kiss the other smiling boy. Kissing his face, his hands, his ring, his arms.
“What is all this affection all of a sudden ?” smirked Tristan.
“You’re my husband, I have the right to kiss you, don’t I ?”
Tristan laughed loudly, “Yes, you do.”
They stayed together, unable to keep their hands off each other, just chatting about their first hours of the day, kissing, hugging, staying silently with just the presence of each other and the heat of their body.
••••••••••••••••••••••day 3••••••••••••••••••••••
Just by knowing their enemy- humm, target- was maybe not a human, their mission seemed impossible. But they were determined, so they followed Tristan everywhere for an entire day, because he would see at least once his wife, whoever she was, right ?
Getting up on the roofs of the city, the team was ready to stalk their prince.
He started by going to the market, buying different vegetables, making small talk with the sellers who were happily surprised to see him.
Ten minutes into the mission, Chion tripped and would have fallen if it weren’t for his incredibly fast reaction. He called one of his spirits who kept him on the top of the tall house they were on.
Fortunately, Tristan didn’t hear the little scream he let out when falling.
“Do you think maybe his wife is one of the sellers of the market ?”, asked Chion.
“Almost every woman seller has at least 7 years more than him, so I don’t think so,” answered Jade.
What they weren't aware of, was that Lancelot, worried about this chest case, was following the team who was following Tristan. And that first sentence really started him.
They were searching for his wife ? What wife ?
Deciding he heard enough to mess with them, he jumped off the tree he observed them in and walked to join Tristan.
“Lanc' ? What are you doing here ?”
Tristan wasn’t becoming aware of Lancelot, he already sensed him, thanks to his overdeveloped sense of smell, but it was better for the people around to not know that.
“Did you notice something ?”
“Except Isolde, Chion and Jade observing me from the roofs ?”
“So you saw them ?”
“I’ll make them work on their discretion in training next time, Chion almost fell, and they are not talking very quietly, enough for someone to know their there but not enough for me to understand what they say, ”stated Tristan, picking up an apple and lightly squeezing it.
“That’s because you have the sense of hearing of a demon, humans wouldn’t hear them.”
“Surely.”
“Do you know why they are following you ?”
“It probably has something to do with yesterday's incident.”
He put back the apple on the trail.
“I know what it is, would you let me mess with them a bit when we go cooking after that ?”
“Do you think they’ll follow me even in the kitchen ?”
“Hoo, yes they will.”
“Then why not.”
“You have to promise me you won’t talk about what we just said after.”
“I promise.”
And just like that, Lancelot’s plan was already starting.
When Tristan finished buying all the ingredients for the cake, they walked back to the castle side by side, still with the three stalkers behind them. It was kind of strange, usually the fairy would always hold his hand, even in public, to chase all of the potential freaks from touching the other, but right now he didn’t for some reason.
“He didn't talk to anyone who could be likely to be his wife !” whispered Isolde, jumping from roof to roof to keep the distance they voluntarily put between them and the prince.
“Maybe she’s some sort of introvert and she’s not leaving the castle, that would be why we didn’t see her at the reception two days ago,” replied Chion, more careful since his (almost) fall.
“The prince may have bought those ingredients to give to her, what if she’s one of the royal cooks ?”
“And what if she’s not even in the kingdom ?”
“You’re both taking it way too seriously. If prince Tristan is happy with his situation, who are we to interfere between him and his wife ?”
Apparently, the perfectly valid question of Jade wasn’t good enough for the two people in front of him, so instead of just leaving the prince to live his life like the (almost ) adult he was, they kept following him.
“Why is Lancelot with him ? Isn't he supposed to be on a mission ?”, asked Chion.
“I don’t know, but what if Tristan doesn't go see his wife if he is with him ?”, answered Isolde with a question of her own.
“We’ll know only if we keep following him,” said Chion.
And they did. Eventually, they finished by arriving in the castle, and hunting Tristan was easier.
“Are they going in the kitchen ?” asked Jade.
“That’s what I said ! She’s probably a cook !” answered Isolde, happy her theory was ( maybe) right.
“Where do we hide ?”
“Behind the door Lancelot just closed, they won’t look at the door if the prince joins his wife,” said Chion.
“If he’s joining his wife, why is Lancelot going with him ?”
The platoon was more than mortified when they saw that the paroles of Jade were right. They didn’t expect that, at all. They still hid behind the door to see WHY he was going with him.
They saw the prince unloading his bag of ingredients, Lancelot taking some plates and bowls out of the different closets but no one else was in the kitchen with them.
Tristan finally took a big book out of his bag and opened it on an annotated page.
He started to read out loud :
“225 grams of softened butter, 225 grams of golden caster sugar, 4 large eggs, zested lemon, 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract, 225 grams self-raising flour and a splash of milk.”
He verified if all the ingredients he didn’t already have were on the table. Once satisfied, he washed his hands, he grabbed a bowl, the butter and the sugar.
“Beat the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy,” read Tristan, doing so while saying it, “ Lanc’, when I’ll finish to do that you can crack the eggs in one at a time.”
His mother’s recipe book was filled with dishes and pastry of different origin, from demon's to goddess’, giant’s to fairy’s, and as might be expected, human’s. All of those were excellent. And cooking them with his husband was the best thing of all.
Lancelot took the eggs and did exactly what was expected of him. Tristan continued to whisk well, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition.
“Now you can add the lemon zest and the vanilla, I’ll go get the flour and the milk,” said the goddess, walking in the direction of the door, “And add a pinch of salt please.”
The three panicked, seeing Tristan approaching the door that hidden them.
“Tris' I already have the milk and flour, I took them out when you went in.”
“Well, thank you.”
It was the very first time Chion thanked Lancelot, in his head to not be caught, but nonetheless !
“Tristan ?”
“Yes Lancelot,” said the prince while whisking until everything was combined.
“Do you think your wife will like the cake ?”
Jade, Chion and Isolde looked at each other, almost saying in their mind ‘it is starting to be interesting’. But they weren’t prepared for the answer of their Prince.
“What are you talking about ? I don’t have a wife.”
… It wasn’t what they were expecting. None of their scenarios was that the prince lied to them. Then why was he saying he didn’t have a wife ?
“Then why are you keeping that ring on your left annular ? It’s the ring finger,” insisted Lancelot.
It was exactly the question the three were asking themselves. Why would he lie to them ? They were his friends !
“Because you’re my husband ! Have you gone mad ? Are you sick ?” said Tristan, putting a hand on the other’s forehead while using some of his healing magic on him.
Lancelot laughed, unable to keep his hand to himself after such a reaction. Hugging his husband, he said :
“No I’m not, don’t worry !”
“Then why are you asking me all that ?”
“You can break our earlier promise now.”
“Ho, it had something to do with you three following us in the market ?” He was now looking directly in the direction of the door.
Lancelot was still laughing his ass off, Chion, Jade and Isolde were reprimanded by a certain son of Wrath but it all worked out in the end.
The princes had explained to Meliodas and Elizabeth what had happened during their meal, finished by the cake they had made earlier. Apparently it was very funny to the parents.
When the night came, Tristan and Lancelot got back to their room. And shared some more heated moments before going to sleep, to celebrate their 1 year marriage anniversary.