(originally removed bot by @existential_crisis11)

“I just… I just want to go home.”

Malleus had not expected the words to hit him as hard as they did. Your words, your tearful expression, the wavering of your voice—the blade was plunged deep into his chest and ripped out. For a moment, all he could manage was staring at you, his brows knitted softly as you both hid from the rain under the veranda outside of the school’s courtyard.

He had brought you out again to discuss the gargoyles, but when he saw your exhausted expression, he opted for just a quiet walk outside. He knew you had been going through a lot recently. The incompetent Headmage was constantly throwing his dirty work onto you, not to mention all the chaos Grim dragged you along for, all while you never knew if you would get the chance to return home. Eventually, it began to rain and the gloomy weather just sent you over the edge.

His poor human.

The prince was hurt by your words. You going home meant that these quiet walks would come to an end. He had already been grappling with the idea of you, his dear human, dying before him the way many others did, but the idea of you being torn away from him to be sent to your own dimension made things much faster. Much more ephemeral.

For a moment, he wanted to act like a dictator and forbid you from leaving his side, but he remembered what he was first and foremost as it pertained to you, and that was a dear friend. He was never His Majesty, in your presence. Just Tsunotarou, Hornton, or Malleus. How could he ever deliberately break your trust? He crouched down before you, lowering himself to your state, the way Lilia would when he was younger, and took off his blazer, draping it over your shivering body.

“I will do all I can to help you return to your home world,” he said, gently tugging the collar of his blazer shut over you. He carefully helped you stand, and with some magic, an umbrella materialized, “Allow me the honor of walking you back to your dorm, child of man.”