"Now, which one of you hurt my Little Jean?"

…

The situation turned from bad to worst almost immediately. Wolf and King Alric were frozen on the spot in front of the giant water dragon. This water dragon was 10x bigger than the one they saw when Maximillien attacked their camp. 

This water dragon covered the whole Palace and could basically destroy everything in its path. 

[Holy frick! Look at the size of that water dragon! I didn't know that Maximillien could conjure such humongous water dragon enough to destroy the whole city and Palace.]

[Pupa: Of course, his power has also grown exponentially after twelve years of a time skip. Maximillien is the most talented water magic-user in this world anyway, so it wasn't difficult for him to conjure this. In fact, he could create a huge devastating tsunami if he wants.]

[Man, time skip be giving him the golden finger!]

The water dragon continued making drizzle and then heavy rain across the sky as Maximillien's anger stacked for each second of no answer from Wolf or King Alric. He glanced at Jean, who was still sitting on the bench. The rain had washed all the dirt on Jean's body, but it made the bruises were even more obvious.

Jean shivered as he was sitting alone there, looking like a pitiful kid who had been abandoned on the street by his family. He stared at his Big brother with his doe eyes, "Big brother…."

[Pupa: Ding! Maximillien Eau Saumont's Fatemeter increases to 80%.]

Maximillien's gaze turned even more vicious at Wolf and King Alric, and the water Dragon roared, ready to strike and kill everyone in its path. 

"If none of you talks, then I will drown you, brothers, inside that lake."

King Alric knew that he would be dead the moment Archduke Maximillien struck him with that giant dragon. But at least, he needed to take responsibility, not Wolf.

He braced himself and stepped in, "It's my, Your Highness. I'm the one who accidentally hurt Young Master. We had a duel, and he got thrown away by the explosion I made."

"A DUEL?! YOU BASTARD!"

Maximillien's wrath peaked as the giant water dragon soared up to the sky and lunged directly at King Alric without question. King Alric closed his eyes, accepting his fate, but Wolf didn't want his Big brother to die. He still had to rule the kingdom they fought for.

Wolf grabbed his Big brother's hand, wanting to pull him away from the water dragon. But Alric decided to stay, "This is my punishment! You leave now!"

"Big brother!" Wolf used all his strength to pull his Big brother away and dodged the first strike from the water dragon. 

The water dragon did a maneuver before it hit the ground and continued chasing Wolf and King Alric. 

[Okay, this is definitely dangerous, I can't let this go on any longer or Wolf and Alric will be dead for sure.]

[Pupa: It's your idea to challenge Alric in the first place.]

[Well, that's because you're never told me about the real answer for that question he had!]

Jean used all his strength to go in the middle, where his Big brother, Maximillien, was standing straight. He didn't move at all, but his eyes continued following Wolf and King Alric. 

No matter how quick Wolf dashed and dodged the water dragon, the water dragon could still chase him. It got even worse as the water dragon started colliding and destroying the walls, fountains, and trees around the Palace. 

The servants were too terrified, so all of them started yelling at each other to escape from the Palace as soon as possible because His Highness Archduke went mad. 

Jean rushed and hugged his Big brother, "Big brother, stop this, I'm here! Jean is safe!

Maximillien was unresponsive for a moment, then he circled his hands on Jean's waist. He pressed Jean deeper into his embrace as his body trembled in both anger and fear. 

"J—Jean... I've failed to protect you. I'm sorry…."

"No, no, it's okay, Big brother. It was me who challenged King Alric. I said that I wanted a fair duel. I'm okay now. It's just small bruises. I can heal it on my own!"

"But I've promised myself not to let you get hurt by anyone…." Maximillien said. "I… I shouldn't have allowed you to leave too far from the Palace. Now you start having strange thoughts."

"Big brother, this is my choice, and it's nothing serious. I just want to prove to Wolf's big brother that Wolf is important in my life!" 

"Do you love him?" 

"… I don't know, Big brother. But I feel like my feelings for Wolf is just as big as my love for you and Angel Raphael!"

"You… you have a love for me as well?"

"Un! I do!"

Maximillien's heart wavered as the water dragon's solid body started weakening, and soon after, the water dragon turned into a constant waterfall that flooded the whole Palace. 

Wolf, who was carrying his Big brother in his arm, fell after exhaustion. He was using all he could do to save his big brother, just like how Young Master Jean wanted to calm Archduke Maximillien. 

Jean was relieved that his Big brother finally gave up. He didn't know what would happen if his Big brother continued his rampage. That water dragon might have destroyed the whole Palace and also the city. 

Maximillien tightened his hug on Jean's waist and buried his head on Jean's shoulder, "I'm sorry, Jean. I really don't understand my heart either. I don't know what I want. Do you hate me for ignoring you?"

"Um… Jean is so sad that you keep pushing me away, Big brother. But I believe that you never have any kind of devious intention towards me. I know that you love me deep in your heart!"

Jean's words hit right in Maximillien's heart as he felt that his desire was abnormal, "I will… I will talk to you again after we finish these things. I want to tell you everything."

"But for now…." Maximillien raised his head and looked at Wolf and his big brother, King Alric. They dropped to the ground due to exhaustion, "What do you want to do with them?"