I Only Love My Greatest Enemy

Rozwiazly drank wine as he chatted with the crowd around him. Women gazed into his firey eyes while he gave them a seductive smirk. Those who spoke to Rozwiazly discussed topics of magic and healing.

"He's a commoner, but one demonstration of his ability, and he becomes the center of attention. Rozwiazly, I hope I don't have to assassinate you," Armand thought. "The first step is getting Rozwiazly to the chapel alone."

Eris watched as Armand approached the crowd. There was a small smile on her face.

"This shouldn't be hard for you at all, Armand," she thought.

The boy arrived at the crowd. Everyone there was taller than him. While Armand was an adult by his kingdom's laws, the reality was that few other places would consider him one.

Armand grabbed a nearby chair and pulled it over to the group. He placed it next to a noblewoman in the outer part of the crowd. The boy climbed up, whispering in her ear.

"There are plenty of places to hide in the courtyard, especially at night," he said.

The noblewoman turned so that she could look at both Armand and Rozwiazly.

"What are you implying?" she asked.

"I'm implying nothing. I'm saying that Rozwiazly is going to have sex with numerous women tonight. And you want to be one of those women," Armand answered.

The noblewoman narrowed her eyes.

"Do you really think that I would sleep with a commoner?" she questioned.

Armand shrugged.

"If you don't want my help, I'll talk to another noblewoman," he said. "I'm sure they'll be happy to be the first to eat Rozwiazly's sausage."

Concern flashed through the woman.

"What's your game in this? What's in it for you?" she asked.

"I want to speak to Rozwiazly alone. I can't do that with so many people here," Armand answered.

"If I'm not here, how can I seduce Rozwiazly?" the noblewoman replied.

"You don't need to. All you need to do is go to Rozwiazly's room and say that you want to have sex. Just look at him. Does he look like the sort of man that needs convincing?"

The noblewoman looked at Rozwiazly. She then turned back to Armand.

"You're right. So, tell me your plan," the noblewoman said.

"It'll be first come, first served. Go to the courtyard and find a good, hidden place where no one will see you two have sex. Then, wait outside of Rozwiazly's room. When he gets there, you know what to do."

She nodded.

"And how do you propose I help you clear these people out?"

"Just do what I told you to," Armand said.

The noblewomen left the room. Several other nobles saw her abrupt departure. They followed her out, trying to be as stealthy as possible.

"If Count Staufer's guards weren't enough to stop any assassinations, no one would dare try to kill someone with Marshal Ludwig here. They'll be safe," Armand thought.

He stepped off the chair and pushed it to another noble in the outer part of the crowd. This time, it was a man. Armand stood on it and whispered in his ear.

"Rozwiazly has the attention of a lot of the women here," Armand said.

"Yes, he does," the nobleman replied. "To think that a commoner would have such pull."

"It'll be a lot of pull and push tonight."

The nobleman chuckled.

"Yes, you have that right," he stated.

"Still, I think you should be careful," Armand said.

"About what?"

"Is your wife here?"

"Yes, she," the nobleman started.

He stopped as a realization dawned on him.

"I'm not saying she'll cheat on you. She might stay faithful. But why not spend the evening with her? And then, make sure she has such a great night that she never even thinks of Rozwiazly," Armand said.

The nobleman grimaced.

"And what's your game? Why are you giving me this advice? It's good advice, but what do you want?" he asked.

"I want to talk to Rozwiazly alone. I'm thinning out the crowd so I can get his attention better," Armand answered.

"Well, even if Rozwiazly is an exceptional commoner, he's still a commoner. Letting him fall under your influence is better than having my wife cheat on me. How can I help you?"

"Just go to your wife. That's all."

The nobleman nodded and did as Armand told him to. Other nobles saw him leave the crowd suddenly. They followed him, trying to make it look like they weren't spying on him.

Eris couldn't hear what Armand said, but she saw all this.

"Good job, Armand. Just a few more people and you have him," she thought.

At this point, the crowd around Rozwiazly was so thin that Armand could walk right up to him. Armand looked around. More people were approaching.

"Just as expected," Armand thought.

He grabbed a passing servant's leg. The man stopped.

"I think this party needs more wine," Armand said. "Make sure as many nobles have some as you can. Do this as fast as you can."

Armand tilted his head towards the approaching people. The boy pulled out several gold coins and handed them to the servant. He took it with a nod.

"Right away, my lord," the servant said.

He left. Within a few moments, the approaching nobles were surrounded by servants offering them alcoholic drinks.

"This won't delay them for long, but it'll be long enough," Armand thought.

The boy dragged the chair over to another nobleman. This aristocrat was one of the people directly talking to Rozwiazly. However, the commoner's attention was divided between multiple men and women. Armand waited until it was fully away from the nobleman next to him before whispering.

"I saw your wife go into the courtyard by herself," he said.

"You...you what?" the nobleman replied.

He looked around. His wife was nowhere in sight.

"What would she be doing there?" the nobleman questioned.

"I don't know," Armand said.

"The courtyard...my wife...is she planning on cheating on me? Or, did someone lure her there? Is she in danger? Is our marriage in danger? Oh, gods, oh gods."

He rushed out of the room as fast as he could. Once more, several nobles followed the departing man.

"I'll tell Eris about this later. It'll be a good lesson about how to get people to make conclusions without lying, especially paranoid lunatics like Marquis Felix of Barboa. Though, if I told him that I saw his wife going to the courtyard before Rozwiazly arrived, he'd probably have run out anyway," Armand thought. "Still, paranoia has its benefits. If I wasn't a Moroi, Marquis Felix would probably outlive me."

He then got off the chair and walked over to Rozwiazly. Only a few nobles were still around him.

"This should be enough for Rozwiazly to break out of talking to," Armand thought before speaking. "It's good to see you again, Rozwiazly. How is Prodora doing?"

Sheer shock crossed Rozwiazly's face. Eris had moved forward just enough to see it. She struggled to avoid bursting out into laughter.

"I have no idea what Armand said, but look at Rozwiazly! I'll ask Armand about this later. I've got to know what made Rozwiazly make that face!" she thought.

Rozwiazly fixed his eyes on Armand. The boy had his full attention.

"She's doing fine," Rozwiazly said.

"That's great news," Armand smiled. "Tell her I said hi."

The nobles who had been talking to Rozwiazly turned their gazes to Armand.

"Yes...well, I'm sure you want to..." Rozwiazly spoke nervously.

"Catch up to you. The chapel is a good place to talk," the boy said.

"Yes, yes, I will speak to you there at once."

One of the nobles spoke up.

"Perhaps it could be later?" he asked.

"Oh, I'd love to talk to you more, but..." Rozwiazly started.

"But Rozwiazly is a good friend of the House of Concord. I'm sure you'll understand that old friends come before new acquaintances," Armand said.

He walked to the chapel at a brisk pace. Rozwiazly followed him, their speed cutting off any further objections. They got inside with Armand shutting the door fast and quietly. Eris walked over to the door. She leaned back on it and tried to listen in.

"I can't hear anything. Those walls really are thick. Well, keeping people from entering is the least I can do," she thought.

Rozwiazly's face turned dead serious. A flicker of fear passed through his firey eyes. Armand remained calm.

"Who are you, and how do you know my wife's name?" Rozwiazly asked.

"I am Lord Armand Concord, and I know a lot more than that," Armand answered. "I know that you have four children with her: Rozwiazly Jr., Sonya, and Peter. I know that you're from the Northern regions of Foldzar. I also know that you came here with your family on a pilgrimage, and they're currently staying at a holy site in this city."

Sweat trickled down Rozwiazly's brow.

"You know much," he said.

Armand nodded.

"I also know that you can do far more than healing. You can cast spells to instantly summon wind and you can take arquebus-shot at point-blank without dying. Most importantly, I know that you are going to die a few years from now."

"Is this a threat?" Rozwiazly gritted his teeth.

"It's the opposite. Rozwiazly, I'm from the future," Armand said. "And I don't want you to die."

"You're...from the future?" some of the man's fear was replaced with confusion.

Armand held his arms wide apart.

"Look at me. I'm 12 years old. You're not even from here. How else would I know so much about you?" he asked.

Rozwiazly's fear started to dissipate. He scratched his beard.

"You have a point, but a man traveling back here from the future? That's absurd," Rozwiazly said.

"Yes, it is. You're absurd too, Rozwiazly," Armand stated.

"I am?"

"You can cast spells that should take hours in the blink of an eye. That shouldn't be possible."

Rozwiazly thought things through for a moment. Armand didn't interrupt him.

"That is a very good point. Compared to what I can do, time travel's far more plausible," Rozwiazly said.

"Specifically, my mind traveled back in time to my younger body. I'm from 13 years in the future," Armand spoke before thinking. "Not really true, but telling him about Chronos' involvement might make him suspicious. There's no way Rozwiazly doesn't know that Chronos hates humans."

Rozwiazly took a deep breath.

"So, tell me, how do I die?" he asked.

"A group of nobles assassinate you," Armand answered.

Rozwiazly nodded grimly.

"I suppose I should have expected that. I've already been thrown into politics. I'm certain that many nobles hate a commoner being here."

"It has nothing to do with you being a commoner," Armand said. "Well, I suppose that's not entirely true. But they won't kill you because of any bias against commoners."

Rozwiazly's eyes widened with shock.

"That's not why?"

"It isn't. But you being a commoner is partially to blame. Rozwiazly, do you have any experience with politics?" Armand asked.

"None whatsoever," he answered.

"And that is the issue. Rozwiazly, very soon, word of your abilities will reach the queen," the boy spoke before thinking. "Thanks to Eris, it'll probably be sooner."

Rozwiazly stumbled. He placed his hand against the wall to steady himself.

"Her Majesty? This is...all going so fast," he said.

"The royal family has kept this a secret so far, but their youngest son has the Orlock Plague. You will cure him, and then the royal family will come to trust you. They'll even start asking you to weigh in on affairs of state," Armand replied.

Rozwiazly shivered.

"I take it this will happen over a long period of time, not all at once?" he asked.

"Yes. You had more time to adjust," Armand answered. "But you gave the king terrible advice. This advice did so much damage to Foldzar that you were assassinated despite being his and her Majesties' favorite."

Rozwiazly pressed his back against the wall. A mixture of fear and resignation crossed his face. He gazed at Armand.

"Please, my Lord. Tell me, can we stop this disaster?"

"We can. You might be a drunken lecher, Rozwiazly, but I think your heart is in the right place. At least, it is deep down," the boy said.

He pulled out a journal and handed it to Rozwiazly.

"Take this," Armand spoke.

The man took it. Rozwiazly looked through the book.

"You wrote that there's going to be a feud between the Houses of Bargreth and Clairvone. I should tell his Majesty to not take a side even though House Bargreth is in the right?" shock crossed his face.

"It's unfortunate, but taking a side will make one of the lords bear a grudge against the royal family. It's better to let them fight each other over it. Well, it is in this case. There are some cases where taking a side is the better decision. I wrote those down too," Armand said.

Rozwiazly kept reading.

"A group of merchants are going to ask his Majesty for a charter. You wrote that I should tell him to refuse them?"

"Yes. I don't blame you for telling him to accept them the first time around. The merchants looked legitimate, but it turned out they were working with bandits. But you should keep in mind that this might not happen. In the future, it was part of a certain noblewoman's scheme. She might not do it this time," Armand spoke before thinking. "I really hope Eris doesn't."

Rozwiazly flipped through the pages.

"There are lots of things like this," he said.

"Yes. This should tell you most of what you need to know," Armand replied. "But things will probably change. If something comes up that isn't in this book, get in contact with me as soon as you can. If I'm not in the capital, send a letter. Make it as detailed as possible."

Rozwiazly nodded.

"Of course. Thank you, my Lord. Is there anything else I can do for you?"

"Yes. There are three things," Armand said.

"Go on," Rozwiazly spoke.

"First, get some apprentices. Your knowledge of magic cannot go to waste."

"Very well. I will find someone to teach my arts to," the bearded man promised.

"Second, when you get to the capital, try to not fuck every noblewoman you can. I'm not going to tell you to stop sleeping around, but be careful. Sooner or later, someone powerful might be angry that you slept with his wife."

"I will try to cut down my escapades."

Armand nodded.

"That will have to do, at least for now," he thought before speaking. "Second, I need you to talk to the crown prince and eldest princess about something. You don't need to get close to them, I know that you won't, just to complain to them. In fact, it would be best if you faked being drunk. It should be easy for you."

Rozwiazly nodded.

"Okay. Complain about what?"

"Go on a rant saying that Eris Hapsburg has no morals and will do anything for power. Tell them that her fiance, that's me, is completely henpecked and will do whatever she tells him to," Armand said.

Shock covered Rozwiazly.

"Why would you want them to think you're henpecked and your fiance's a power monger?" he asked.

"Because my plans involve them, and they think evil power mongers are useful," Armand answered.

Rozwiazly shivered.

"At one point, I was jealous of you nobles and all the luxury you live in," he said. "I'm not jealous anymore."