Their footsteps fell into a thunderous sync as their boots clattered against the stone flooring. Father and son turned the corner at the same time.

King Edelstein had long been passed in height by his son. His face remained pulled into what was now a permanent scowl. His hair had grayed and thinned into a wisp. Wrinkles like the age of a tree were clustered close near his eyes, and his forehead crease. His powder blue eyes watched his path behind thick and much needed bifocals. He coughed violently into his violet overcoat before recovering as he ended his explanation. "I will be leaving this in your care. I trust you will not disappoint."

His son, the prince, nodded. He pushed up his own spectacles further up on the bridge of his nose. Unlike the ones worn by his father, Prince Edelstein's were merely for show. "I will do well in your place, father."

The older man smiled softly. "Your mother will be there to oversee you so fret not, Roderich. You will do fine," he said, addressing his son's unspoken fear.

Roderich bowed his head lightly out of respect. He held his father's gaze for a moment, blue meeting violet before they parted ways.

Upon reaching his destination, Roderich saw that his father had spoken the truth. His mother sat on her throne, violet skirts pooling at her feet. A golden crown had been nestled in her hair. She smiled softly at him. Age had been rather kind to her in comparison to his father, but a few wrinkles pulled at the corner of her lips. They were just visible in the light given off by the three chandeliers and the few candelabras that rested on tables off to the side. With a hand, she motioned for his own crown. Roderich approached her first. He bowed to Maria Edelstein and her backdrop of red, white, and eagle eyes before standing when she told him to rise. She stood as well. Maria retrieved his crown before gently setting it on top of his dark locks. Her lips slanted and she tried to flatten the stray hair that broke her son's sense of order by refusing to lie down. When she moved her hand, it bounced up once again. She sighed, defeated.

"Come forth!" Queen Edelstein commanded as she faced front again.

The grand oak doors opened as two men of the kingdom pushed them back. A squire hurried ahead of the men slowly filtering into the throne room. He was followed by his mentor, the captain of the guard. He was garbed in full chainmail armor. The warrior bowed before the two of the royal house before standing. "I have brought those who have been trailed and have withstood the taste of blade and time," he recited after removing his helmet.

"Then may they step forward to be given honor and duty that knows no bounds," Roderich replied, reciting the traditional reply.

The squire hurried to him. He carried a red satin pillow where several black iron crosses lay stretched out on chains. A name was called and a graduating student stepped forward. He would make his oath to the Kingdom of Österreich when called upon before Roderich would welcome him to the guard. The knight would be presented with his cross. He would then stand and fall back into line so that the next man could take his place. This continued until one cross remained. The honor of receiving this final cross was reserved for the star pupil of that year's graduates.

"I present to you Gilbert Beilschmidt. His will is strong and his sword mighty," the captain of the guard started.

The final student stepped forward with a snicker. He stuck out like such a sore thumb that Roderich could only wonder how he was unaware of Gilbert's presence until now. Crimson eyes mocked him, speaking of a silent triumph that only he and the prince before him would understand. He smirked as he lowered himself to one knee. He bowed his head so that Roderich was left gaping at a blob of white.

Now, the history between Prince Roderich Edelstein and Gilbert Beilschmidt was known by few, so few in fact that only two other people had knowledge of it. They did not speak for years after that day, but each remembered the other well. For one of them, it had been the first time they met someone not of their own world while the meeting gave the other a goal in life.

It had been a crisp fall afternoon. The trees in the surrounding mountains had begun to paint a new canvas of yellows, oranges, and reds. They smiled at Roderich as he stared at them from his balcony. His nanny, a corpulent older woman who adored and spoiled him, decided to take him out to the surrounding city in order to see the venders again, but she mostly felt the need to give young Roderich a chance to experience something other than his studies. She quickly dressed him before leading him out, her hand swallowing his.

As she talked with the people she knew from the outside and the venders, Roderich would cling tightly to her apron. Everyone stood so tall around him as they bustled around, he was afraid that he may end up lost. However, his nanny would set a gentle hand to his head before trying to encourage him to greet whoever she had been talking to at the time. The person would always bow their head and smile fondly at their prince who would then hide behind his nanny.

It was during one of her many verbal exchanges that he managed to stray from her. He could hear sweet music carrying itself through the different conversations traveling through the street. It was faint, but since it was close by, he was able to hear it. The sound caught his curiosity, and he released his nanny's apron.

Roderich found himself straying from her to wonder through the streets. The sound led him to an alley. Closer to the sound, he could now tell that it was specifically a flute being played. He started to enter hesitantly as it called to him. He jolted and stepped to the side as a blonde boy in rags hurried past him. When the boy disappeared further down, the music stopped. Thinking the two to be connected, Roderich chased after him.

"Kesesese~ Vhat did you get?" a white haired boy asked the blonde. The younger boy held up a loaf of bread. "Awesome! I got a few apples," the older boy told him as he motioned toward a sack tied around his neck.

Instantly, the prince knew that these boys were poor. Street rats, his mother had called their kind once. He hesitantly came closer.

"Oi!" the white haired boy addressed him. "Who ze hell are you? Und vhy are you dressed so fancy?" he questioned.

Roderich gasped softly at the curse word. He had certainly never heard that kind of foul language before. "I-I'm Prince Roderich Edelstein," he stammered when he had recovered.

"Prince? Aren't you a little girly to be a prince?"

The prince's face heated. He tucked his hands into his overcoat as he stared at the shiny buckles on his shoes. "Take that back," he cried.

The albino roared with laughter. He shook his head. "No can do, priss. Besides, shouldn't you be vorried about finding your vay home? Little far from the castle aren't ya?"

"I-I heard music," he mumbled, ignoring the fact that he really had no idea where he was.

The street rat blinked once before reaching back into the sack on his back. He revealed a shiny metal flute that looked in too great a shape to belong to the poor, let alone be well taken care of by a boy his age. "You mean zis?" he asked before blowing into it to play a few lines from a song.

"Y-yes," Roderich admitted sheepishly. "Y-you play beautifully."

"Flattery vill get you novhere, Prinzessin. The awesome Gilbert Beilschmidt is too awesome to be swayed by a priss."

Roderich frowned. He wasn't trying to get Gilbert to do anything. His eyes fell to the younger boy standing quietly next to Gilbert. "What's your name?" he asked.

"Ich heiße Ludwig Beilschmidt," the boy answered.

The prince blinked. He understood the tongue, but it was one only spoken by nobles. English was the vernacular of the common people. These two brothers who were clearly his age or younger could both somehow speak like him though. "Who are you?" he asked.

"I am going to be ze greatest varrior ever," Gilbert answered. "Luddy und I are going to be knights, your prissiness."

"An egotistical moron like you could never be a knight," Roderich cut with a huff. He was tired of being made fun of. "Street rats can't be knights."

Gilbert growled before spitting at Roderich's shoes, making a rather unattractive snort to gather snot beforehand. "Says you."

"Says the law. You'll never be a knight."

"You keep telling yourself zat. I'll show you. I'll become a knight and I'll be ze best zere is."

Roderich shook his head. "You can't."

Gilbert growled again before pushing Roderich to the ground with the strength of a boy twice his size. "Shut up!" he huffed. He turned to Luwig. "Let's go, Bruder."

Alone now, young Roderich sniffled. He immediately started to bawl. His nanny located him through the shrill and wheezing sounds that he made. She picked him up and tried to sooth him. She rocked him back and forth, but none of her efforts yielded any sign of him calming down. He kept crying because he knew he had lied to the other boy, because he dashed his chance of maybe having a friend for the afternoon. Anyone could be a knight...

"Call on him, Roderich," his mother hissed. His remembering had stopped the ceremony.

Roderich shook his head to clear it. "Will you leave your sword in my command so that you may best guard the kingdom?"

Gilbert gazed up at Roderich with a snicker. He instantly broke away from the proper oath. "Anything you want, your highness." His tone and another snicker suggested otherwise.

"Then may you bear your promise in this, the Iron Cross of the House of Edelstein," Roderich stated with a small scowl. He took the final cross from the pillow before presenting it to Gilbert. The metal chain fell around his neck before the albino stood.

"Now, you fight and protect as men of the crown, for it, our land, and the people."

Each new knight bowed before standing again. They left in single file and the doors were closed behind them. Roderich sighed before removing his crown. He hung it from the back of his chair.

"Something wrong?" Maria asked.

Roderich shook his head. "Nothing," he answered. He excused himself then to travel to the nearby music room.

The prince entered the room, and his attention was instantly drawn in by a piano. He seated himself at the bench, hands shifting to remove his coattails from underneath himself. They fell to rest on the side of the stool. His slender fingers pushed back on the lid to reveal the shining ivory and ebony keys. A faint smile came to his face as he posed his fingers to play. He pressed down then, letting the instrument sing the first note before he let the appendages dance up and down the keyboard.

After breaking off from the rest of the group, Gilbert set out on his search for the royal. Never would he pass up the chance to gloat about something like this. His ears honed in on the first few notes of pleasant melody, and he cackled. Following the sound, he slowly came to enter the room. Roderich had left the door open, which was something that he never had the chance to regret until Gilbert joined him. Every time though, he left it open for him to sneak in. There was a crack left this time, a small improvement from usual. Gilbert tried to sneak in as quietly as he could, but the door creaked.

"Gilbert, go away," Roderich ordered. He never faltered in his playing, and his eyes remained closed through the command.

"Come on, Priss. It's my special day and you von't even be nice to me," Gilbert whined. Despite the order given to him by the royal, he sat down on the bench beside him.

"Don't you have somewhere you should be?" the prince asked.

Gilbert smirked, ignoring the question. He reached out to press down one of the black keys. It sounded sour in the piece. Roderich huffed, opening his eyes. "What do you want?" he asked.

"You vere thinking about me~" the knight teased. "You vere zinking about how I, ze awesome Gilbert Beilschmidt, have proved you vrong."

Roderich raised a brow as he continued in his playing. His fingers transitioned into a new piece, one that the albino actually recognized. The prince always seemed to learn a new set every week so he never really had much of a chance to keep up with him. "I don't remember you proving me wrong about anything."

Gilbert's grin faltered. "You know vhat I'm talking about." He reached a finger out again to tap another key, which resulted in a clench of Roderich's jaw.

"I recall nothing."

With a huff, he leaned closer toward the musician, causing him to shift away. Gilbert's hand rested on a number of keys, interrupting the whole piece and forcing Roderich to stop. Roderich pulled his hands back away and set them in his lap, glaring at the knight all the while. "Street rats can't be knights, remember? Vell, guess vhat, zis street rat is official now." Gilbert tugged the Iron Cross out from underneath his poet's shirt before holding it up proudly. "Und you vere ze vone who knighted me. Kesesesese~"

"Shut your mouth," Roderich snapped. He tried to play again, starting up on one of the new pieces he had learned.

Gilbert's brows drew together. "You're playing zat vrong."

"What?" Roderich asked, his own brows coming together in confusion.

Gilbert pushed him to the side again so that he had full control of the piano. He paused for a moment, pressing his tongue to the roof of his mouth as he thought. Pairing what he had seen Roderich play and what he remembered his uncle playing when he had been a child, he started to play the piece. His fingers moved similar to how Roderich's had moments before, but he made a slight change in a set of chords. "Like zat."

"How do you- When did you?" Roderich stumbled, trying to ask when Gilbert learned to play piano and how he somehow knew the piece better than he did.

The albino roared with laughter. He stood up from the bench before starting to head to the door. "I'll catch you later, priss. The girls und I are going to celebrate," he called over his shoulder as he saluted him, two fingers from his forehead. As he walked down the hall, Roderich could hear his loud laughter, which only managed to infuriate him more.

Translation Notes:

Prinzessin - princess

Ich heiße... - My name is... (Literally, I am called...)

Bruder - brother

Author's Notes:

I'm spamming this site with PruAus, but I do so love that pairing. One day the idea came to me to do a Knight!PrussiaxPrince!Austria fic and this is the result, another multichapter fanfiction. I wrote my first flashback and I rather liked it. Yes, I stole the flute luring from my last PruAus, but I love that idea. Anyway, hoped you enjoyed.