Dominic Reno was being escorted back to his lonely shack by Arnold. The butler noticed Reno's silence all too well; the general mumbled not one complaint, not one curse, not even a huff of opposition. He just silently fumed all the way back to his... "home."

Arnold found Reno's lash out at the princess very...uncharacteristic of the general. Though Dominic Reno seemed aggressive, he would never hurt an innocent soul. Arnold knew this; Reno had saved his life once, despite the constant threats of ripping him apart.

And Arnold wasn't even royalty. He didn't even deserve to be saved and protected by the king's newly-chosen general. Of course, he was younger back then, but even so, he was not important. He was just a footman who liked to hang out with the prince. But then, the prince became king and appointed Arnold as his personal assistant.

However, back when Arnold was merely a footman, Reno had no obligation to keep him safe.

And yet, he did anyways.

So, it baffled the butler to see Reno follow through with his aggressive personality. As much as Arnold couldn't stand Reno's attitude, he wouldn't dare wish for Dominic to be beheaded. However, now, he might have a chance of being at least imprisoned.

"Why did you do that?" Arnold asked before he could stop himself. He could practically feel Reno's walls build- his defenses getting ready to push Arnold away.

Arnold prepared himself for a battle.

"It's none of your f**king business," the general growled, but Arnold could tell his heart wasn't in it. He must be tired, Arnold thought, and, yet again, wondered why Dominic needed so much sleep.

"I will not judge you for opening up, Dominic," Arnold continued, "I hope you know that."

Arnold watched Reno as they walked, waiting for a reply, but instead, Reno got even more defensive.

"Stop f**king staring at me!" the general huffed, then mumbled, "Can you not just leave me alone?"

The mumbling was new, thought Arnold. Arnold took that as a sign of Dominic showing his vulnerable side.

"No, not when you are acting like this. I have never seen you lash out like that, so what happened?" Arnold asked, "Why did you do it?"

Reno chuckled humorlessly. The laugh sent chills down Arnold's spine; not because it was alarming, but because it was the first time the butler had seen any form of a laugh from Reno.

"You obviously haven't seen me when I'm drunk or temperamental," the general replied, "Trust me, this isn't the first time I've had a violent episode...just the first time that someone noticed it."

Arnold felt embarrassed by that statement. After so many years of them living on the same ground, he too had never noticed any other violent "episodes" from Reno. He felt as if he should have noticed.

"And why do you have these episodes? Is it for the same reason that you don't sleep well?" he asked. Reno wrinkled his nose in distaste at the question, so Arnold assumed Reno was going to dismiss the question altogether.

But he answered it.

"Sort of, I guess," Dominic replied as they came upon the shack, "Now, no more questions, okay? Can you leave me alone, please?"

Arnold was too shocked at the fact that Reno used the word, "please," to object. The stiff, angry attitude of Reno was obviously quickly crumbling underneath his fatigue.

"Okay," he said to Dominic, "Sorry for the intrusion. I hope you have a nice rest."

"Great," Dominic huffed, then shut the door behind him. The door creaked as it shut, and Arnold winced as the loud lock on the door was heaved. Arnold wished that Dominic would take care of his house more often or live in the castle instead. Arnold wished he would take care of himself too- stop drinking alcohol and smoking cigarettes, start eating and sleeping more. Or...maybe sleep less, depending on his situation.

Arnold wanted more effort from him because he knew that the real Reno was somewhere inside of that angry shell.

And the man inside was in need of some desperate care.

~{()}~

The next day, the results from the pregnancy tests were rumored to be confirmed. Arnold had no idea whether the princess was with child, but he hoped not. It was one thing for Reno to threaten a royal's safety, but a completely different situation when that royal was a pregnant woman.

He heard of the pregnancy from Nathan, who told him directly when he asked what would happen to Reno.

Simply put, the king said that Reno would be punished in some way if the princess was telling the truth about her pregnancy (why the pregnancy determined this, Arnold was still not sure). However, Reno would come off scott-free if the princess was lying.

Which Arnold understood- if the princess was lying about being pregnant, surely she was lying about Reno being a "little monster." However, why the princess would lie about being pregnant, Arnold had no idea.

Arnold got a glimpse of his king and rushed up to talk to him. The king was talking happily to his soulmate, which the butler didn't know whether or not to take that as a good sign.

Arnold paused to look at their happy lovey-dovey bubble, before popping the bubble immediately after.

"Pardon me, your majesty," he asked politely, "I was just wondering if you had found out the outcome to Princess Mary's test. I know it is none of my business, but surely we should celebrate if she is with child?"

Nathan smiled widely, "Yes! A celebration would be perfect. But this time we should invite fewer people." He looked to Queen David, who smiled and nodded in agreement. Arnold's heart sank in his chest at his words.

"D- Does this mean she was telling the truth?" Arnold asked, more concerned than excited.

"Yep! I'm going to be an uncle!" the king beamed, "I don't want to go into detail because it is her personal life, but I'm considering allowing her to be queen."

Arnold's heart was crushed. If Mary was to become queen, she would surely behead Reno as her first order of business.

"What?! I- I mean, why, your majesty?" Arnold stuttered. He had to warn Reno. He didn't know if it was treason or not to warn Reno, but the general had saved Arnold's life before.

It was about time the butler repaid the debt.

"Like I said, it is for her own personal reasons that I shouldn't disclose," Nathan replied.

"And General Reno, sir?" Arnold asked, very concerned now for Dominic's further wellbeing.

"He's already serving his punishment," the king said vaguely," He has gone too long without proper consequences for his actions-" Queen David frowned at this, as if unaware of Reno's punishment- "Anyway, we were about to have brunch in the dining room with my sister. Since it is an important day, would you like to join us?"

"I apologize deeply, your majesty, but I need to check something- it is very important," Arnold rushed, and, without waiting for a reply, quickly made his way to Reno's shack, hoping the general was in there.

But when Arnold opened it, it was barren. It looked the same. Nothing broken, no signs of struggle, which meant that Reno either went willingly or was drugged...or was killed. A million scenarios were forming in Arnold's head, making his breath quicken. When was he taken? Arnold wondered. What severity of punishment is he going through, right now?

Arnold slid to the floor as his breath quickened. The smell of cigarette smoke seemed to suffocate him. He pressed his back against the wall, trying to gain a sense of reality.

He hadn't had a panic attack like this since he was young. Which made him think of Reno saving his life.

Back then, he was busy having the worst panic attack of his life when William Kain's soldiers raided the castle. Young Arnold couldn't breathe, let alone move. He just prayed that the soldiers wouldn't find him because he knew he couldn't fight back. He was tall for his age and smart, but he lacked strength and mentality. Also, he was breaking down with panic, so he didn't stand a chance.

He remembered his whole body finching and his panic increasing when the door burst open. He remembered a dark, blurred figure hovering over him. At first, the thought it was a soldier about kill him. However, once the figure spoke, he recognized the voice as a nominee for the position of captain- the extremely small one with scars on his face. The oddball of the nominees.

"It'll be alright," the voice said, "I need you to breathe. We need to get out of here, but I can't help you unless you calm down."

"I-" Arnold could barely speak from breathing so hard and fast, "-can't."

"Yes, you can," the boy had said. Arnold felt a calloused hand grab his, and then he felt a muted heartbeat against his fingertips. The heartbeat was calm, smooth, as if it had no fear. Arnold had wondered afterward how a man so small could hold no fear in such times as that.

"Calm down," he ordered, "Take deep breaths. In. Out. In. Out. You are safe."

Everything the boy was doing for Arnold was bringing peace to his mind. It was as if the general knew exactly how to handle panic attacks; he was guiding Arnold away from the crushing stress of panicking.

Then the door burst open again.

"Can you walk?" Reno had asked. Arnold frantically nodded and stood up, feeling Reno's arm go around his waist as he led them both. Yells coming from behind them signaled soldiers were entering the room that they were exiting. They picked up their pace.

The kingdom didn't lose to the soldiers that day, but many servants had died.

And Arnold would have been one of them, if it were not for Dominic Reno.