I'd Give Up The World For You

Daisy was frustrated that she couldn't make much of a difference for the person that mattered most to her. She was already feeling terrible about not being able to give him what he wanted after seeing the look on his face earlier during the wedding ceremony.

Leo frowned as he sat up to look at her better. "Daisy, I don't need anything more from you."

He might not need anything more but he certainly wanted it. That was the problem. He would never pressure her though considering he hadn't even wanted to tell her about the possibility of working with flowers full-time before she brought it up herself because he was afraid she would see it as him pushing her to move closer to him.

He knew she wanted to live life on her own terms and was allowing her to do that even though they had to get married due to the confines of this world's societal norms. He would rather suffer in silence than give her a hard time about anything.

It made Daisy feel cherished…and very sad. He deserved more than that.

"But you want more," she pointed out. "What's something you want that I can do for you without dying of embarrassment?"

Leo snorted at her word choice before thinking it over more seriously. "Well…I suppose having you hug me more often would help lower my stress levels but I don't want to put you out. If you're too uncomfortable with that—"

"That's fine! I can totally do that."

Hugging was a perfectly normal, acceptable things for friends to do. If it would help him she didn't mind at all. She held her arms out and the first real smile she had seen all day appeared on his face.

"…you do realize you can't exactly hug me from this angle."

"Right. My bad." She stood and hugged him, leaning her head against his chest. "You can have a hug whenever you want one, alright?"

Leo laughed. "Be careful making that kind of offer. I'm going to take full advantage of it."

"That's kind of the point. Seriously, if you ever need extra support just say so. I love you and I want you to be happy. You don't have to do everything on your own all the time."

He went quiet after that but did end up stroking her hair until he finally let her go. It seemed he truly had been stressed and needed the extra contact so she let him. Honestly, it felt nice. She hadn't had anyone play with her hair in years.

"Thanks, Daisy," he said eventually. "So do you want to play cards or something?"

"Sure."

The tension of the moment passed and they were back to doing what they always did. Getting married hadn't changed anything so far, as promised. The real question was whether or not things would actually stay like this.

===

Rukelion took advantage of Daisy's invitation to hug her whenever he wanted often because his stress levels only got higher over the following weeks. People kept coming up and talking to him at work to congratulate him on his marriage that wasn't even real and it was seriously getting to him.

On top of that, the investigation into the crown prince's disappearance was ongoing. He wasn't worried about getting caught but he was concerned about taking the next step.

The king was on a rampage. It would be the perfect time to take him down if not for the fact they didn't have enough manpower or intelligence. When were they ever going to get another chance like this?

But there was nothing he could do. He was also concerned about the high possibility of there being a war with Zel even though he purposely ambushed the crown prince's party long before they reached the border to deflect suspicion from their country.

If war did break out he was going to lose his network for quite a while and there was a decent chance he wouldn't be getting a lot of them back since he wouldn't be there to protect them this time. Instead, he would be safely back at headquarters working on endless piles of paperwork.

Rukelion had so few people on his side. He couldn't afford to lose a single one of them but it would be suspicious if he volunteered to be sent to Zel.

For one, officers didn't encroach on each other's territory unless help was specifically requested. It simply wasn't how things were done. He had also just gotten married to someone everyone knew he was very much in love with so wanting to be apart from her when he didn't have to would be even stranger.

The only peace he had at all right now was when he was in Daisy's arms or the two of them were out working in her little garden. She was hoping for a small autumn harvest since she had specifically planted things that grew well in late summer.

"I'm going to plant so much more in the spring," she announced as they picked pea pods. "We're going to have so many berries we won't know what to do with them all. Tomatoes too! Basically everything "

Rukelion gazed fondly at her. She was so cute when she was determined about something.

"Sounds good to me."

"We might not be able to have everything we did back on the farm but I'm going to do my best. I plan on planting some fruit trees but it might take a few years for them to bear anything."

Daisy continued going on about what she wanted to plant in their yard. He was willing to bet there would be barely enough space to walk between patches of things growing but he didn't mind in the slightest.

Right now only about a third of the yard was taken up. They would need to leave enough space for the washtub and to walk for hanging things up on the clothesline but everything else was fair game. She would probably use every spare inch to her advantage.

She had already cleverly divided the different plants up using rows of small rocks since she didn't have enough space to do things the way she did back on the farm. Rather enterprising on her part.

The woman he loved was very adaptable. She could make virtually any situation work for her. It was one of the things he admired about her.

Rukelion had been forced to become adaptable in order to survive but that was different. Daisy seemed to genuinely find enjoyment in life no matter how much things changed in ways she didn't want. She could be happy anywhere.

Unfortunately, he could only be happy when she was around. If she found out what he was doing and decided to leave him over it…No. He couldn't think about that. As the only light in his life, if she left he would completely succumb to the darkness that threatened to swallow him before he had met her and several times while they were apart.

She was so beautiful and not only because of her physical appearance. She had a beautiful soul. The kind that warmed everyone who encountered it no matter how hopeless they felt.

He knew he wasn't the only one affected. That boy that Daisy took in felt it too based on the frequency of the letters they exchanged.

Rukelion repeatedly told himself not to be jealous because Ira was much younger than him and she couldn't even think of him as a man. Considering the fact that she was nearly twenty years older than him, she had to think of Ira as her own child.

Besides, she was married to him. She might not be in love with him but that fact was indisputable. She was there when he came home from work every day with a bright smile and warm embrace.

No one else could take her away now. Legally, she was his.

He tried very hard not to be possessive in front of her though because he knew she would hate that. No matter what he was feeling, he needed to act the way he always had around her so he wouldn't freak her out. He still had his long game to win.

At this point Rukelion was beyond used to waiting. His revenge had been seven years coming and was nowhere close to being accomplished. It might take another seven at this rate.

If he could wait for that he could wait for Daisy to be his completely. The time would come as long as he played his cards right. He already knew he was the most important person to her. All he had to do was get her to see that he wasn't a child anymore.

In the meantime it was enough to have her by his side. As she continued going on about what her dream backyard garden entailed he watched her with his heart in his eyes. Her enthusiasm had always been contagious.

Kissing here right there was highly tempting but he knew it wouldn't end well for him. So he continued listening to her talk as he helped her harvest peas, knowing there would be more time for them to spend together after these were washed and they got to work shelling them.

This was fine. More than fine, really. After so many years of being separated he was finally back where he belonged.

Since losing Katalya, Daisy became his home. He had been horribly homesick without her but now he would never have to feel that again.. She was here working side by side with him like before and wasn't going anywhere.