After the mess with Licht, Julius all but forced Alucard to take a break. "You've been busy for nearly two full years, hunting enemies of the Kingdom, and defending it from attack. Spend some time with Mimosa, take a beach vacation, do something other than fight for once." He'd told him one day in the castle after Alucard gave his report.
He'd objected until Julius flat-out ordered him to rest, so he did in his own way. Though he still trained every day, he now spent more time giving Yuno and Mimosa pointers in their own training, as well as accompanying Mimosa whenever she went to town. Mimosa, for one, was enjoying having him around.
When not training or on a mission, Mimosa spent all her time with Alucard. Taking him places to eat and shop, or spending time doing mundane activities. For years he'd been slowly dragging her out of her internal shell, now she felt it was time to do the same for him. She knew after years of being around him, both in public and in private, that Alucard had many faces.
Some were stern and harsh, usually coming out during training and when speaking to or about Noelle's siblings. He also had an 'official' face, showing deference to those who held certain positions in the Kingdom's hierarchy, people like Julius. She was the same, but one thing she'd noticed was that he never seemed to smile, not truly.
Yes, he always had a small grin when she did something silly, or when Julius was around, but she'd never seen him smile like he really meant it. She was also partially guilty of this (Unintentionally), and she hoped to drag out the real him, the one who liked watching the sunsets and stars with her and Mero by his side. The one who enjoyed quiet meals with family, or flying through the sky at high speeds.
Probably the only aspect she could complain about him was his attitude to battle, overwhelming force. She wasn't a frontline mage by any means, but from the battle reports she'd been able to dig up, her fiancé was ruthless. She'd seen a bit of that side of him when in the dungeon, when he'd effortlessly held back Mars, only to let Yuno and the others defeat him.
She knew he had more than one magic element, on top of having a four-leaf Grimoire and a downright unfair advantage. Yet he always took time to heal his allies and check up on her. It was why she loved him, underneath all the violence and false masks, he cared for her.
Of course, he would never say this out loud. Even now, as she dragged him to another clothes shop, he still kept the same expression. She did enjoy this however, as she was able to hold his hand and feed him when he let her. Small victories that were (hopefully) chipping away at his heart.
'If she drags me into one more clothes store, I'm leveling this entire town.'
Despite enjoying the exotic food of the seaport, Alucard disliked all the shopping that Mimosa was putting him through. Were it not for the express orders of Julius, he'd be trying his best to escape the three weeks of hell that had been his 'vacation'.
Thankfully, he'd finally found a distraction other than clothes as a pair of familiar mana signatures entered his sensing range. "Mimosa," He called softly as she pranced over, "I just sensed Noelle and what must be the other Black Bulls enter the port, let's go greet them." She nodded with a smile as he breathed a sigh of relief, ready to shed his heavy load of bags upon bags of clothing.
It didn't take them long to find the Black Bulls; Yami yelling at them certainly helped. "Noelle! Over here!" Mimosa called, as Alucard, shoved everything into his space pocket, flexing his aching arms. 'I could probably lift Yami over my head, yet this is what tires me out?'
He didn't waste much time pondering this as Yami walked over. "Sup, kid, what're you two doing in town?" He asked, taking a drag of his cigarette, and offered him one as well. "Mimosa would kill me," He waved it off as Yami shrugged, "Julius ordered me to rest, and Mimosa has been dragging me all over the place. What about you?"
Yami puffed and leaned closer, "Hunting for something under the sea, Fuegoleon had one, as you no doubt know." Understanding hit as he nodded, "We'll be in town the next few days if you need assistance." Yami nodded as they heard screaming and saw Asta on fire chasing Luck and some fire punk.
Mimosa then spent the rest of the day chatting with Noelle, Vanessa, and Charmy as Alucard enjoyed his time suntanning. Luck and Magna had tried to get him up to fight at one point, but he'd planted them in the sand up to their necks and promptly went back to sleep. At some point, Vanessa had dragged the girls away and returned with them in their bathing suits. Noelle finally got brave enough to reveal herself to Asta as the two blushed and stuttered before finally going out to swim.
"What do you think, darling?" Mimosa finally asked Alucard after Vanessa nearly shoved her onto him. "You look stunning, dear." He said without getting up as she pouted. She then ran over to Noelle, who was still stuttering with Asta in the water, and whispered into her ear. "No, absolutely not!" Noelle hissed quietly as Alucard cracked open an eyelid to check out Mimosa.
"Come on, it'll be funny." Mimosa grinned, eager to get back at her fiancé as Noelle shook her head, "He won't do anything to you, he might just kill me!" She refused for another ten minutes, long enough for Alucard to go back to sleep, before finally agreeing.
Alucard faintly felt the surge of mana a few meters away from him, but it was so small and unthreatening that he ignored it, until the water slammed into him. He shot up to Mimosa, laughing so hard she was crying, as Noelle and Asta slowly backed away deeper into the water. Very calmly, Alucard walked over to Mimosa, who was too busy laughing.
Noelle and Asta tried to get further away, only for the water to lock tight around them, not letting them go. "You look a bit hot, my love," Alucard said as Mimosa finally looked up to the massive water dragon behind him. "Let me help you cool off." With a gleeful roar, the dragon spat a stream of water at Mimosa, throwing her into the water before a wave dragged her back up, sputtering.
"No fair!" She whined as she turned to Noelle for help, only to see her cousin and Asta getting thrown around by a pair of water golems, as the rest of the Black Bulls laughed from the shoreline. Alucard finally noticed the rest of the squad as the tide suddenly surged forward to grab them as well.
Luck and Magna screamed as Vanessa clung to Yami; only Gauche, Gordon, and Grey were able to escape in time. "Stop using magic, idiot, you'll get us all killed!" Magna screamed as Luck zapped him again with glee. "What'd you think of my outfit~" Vanessa purred as Yami rolled his eyes, "You look the same as normal."
They didn't get to say much more as Alucard tried his best 'not' to drown them. Though he did thrash them pretty well, as they were happy to be free from the water and back on dry land. Now having spent some aggression, Alucard let Mimosa drag him around the beach, picking up shells to string together as they kept an eye on Noelle and Asta.
"Seems they've gotten pretty close. Should we be worried?" He murmured in her ear as she shook her head, "She seems to enjoy the attention from him. Besides, he's somewhat better than the rest of the Nobles; at least he can see past her physical traits." 'Just barely.' He thought to himself as Asta and Noelle walked down the beach holding hands.
As night fell, they finally parted with the Black Bulls, though not before Alucard was able to place magic markers on their squad robes, just in case. Now he and Mimosa found themselves eating dinner together in a pavilion, well, SHE was feeding him.
"Open wide~" He did so with a sigh as he wished she would at least feed him quicker. Though the food of this world was somewhat lacking compared to what he was used to, it still shone at certain moments. This was one of those times, the fish was grilled with a variety of spices that took him back to previous worlds.
As they ate, he casually sent out a pulse of mana, feeling the mass of mana that was the Black Bulls slowly leaving as they carried out the mission Julius had given him. Though it was a bit strange that they were going underwater, he didn't really care what they did, so he enjoyed his meal with Mimosa.
Eventually, he was able to drag her out after eating their fill as they returned to their shared hotel room. After months of sleeping in the same bed, they were now used to each other's body heat and usually cuddled at night. Well, mostly Mimosa leeching heat from Alucard. As he finally started to drift off to sleep, a frantic pulse of mana jolted him away as he realized Yami was calling for help.