Author's Note (UPDATED, as of 20/11/14): Hey there! Firstly, for those who have started reading already, I apologise for the mess-up of chapters! One of my very helpful reviewers, Silverwind10123 has kindly pointed out the really bad structuring, which I have amended and hopefully it's better now. :) Thank you Silverwind10123 for reviewing and giving me such constructive comments! I have changed the order such that the story opens with Lovino first, and then goes around the other Kingdoms so as to give you readers a clearer idea as to how the other Kingdoms are run (haven't touched on the Kingdom of Hearts yet though) and also the backstories of the Royals! Right now, the Kingdom of Spades chapter seems super short but I promise I will follow up soon. However, if you're still a bit confused, here's a brief "content page":

Chapters 1-2: Lovino visits his Kingdom, and his grandpa as well.

Chapters 3-5: Ivan and Elizabeta are introduced.

Chapter 6: Lovino writes a letter to Feliciano.

Chapters 7-8: Francis and Jeanne are introduced.

Chapter 9: Alfred, Yao and Arthur are introduced.

Chapter 10: Lovino and Antonio dance at the Kingdom's celebration.

A big thank you for those who have reviewed/favourited/followed/read/stuck around so far. :D

For those who have not read this story before, welcome! I don't have much experience writing fanfiction, hence I apologise if my grammar seems really bad or if the characters are OOC. But I really wanted to write a fic with a Cardverse AU so I hope it's suited to your tastes too! I've also added a Kingdom of Aces so I hope that's alright! It's important in the plot that I have in mind. Right now, I'm unsure if I should continue the story, so I would really appreciate it if you could favourite if you like what I've wrote so far or review and give me comments as to how I can improve my writing. Thank you and enjoy~~~

P.S. There will be character death. Also, if you're wondering about the title, I read that a King card is often dubbed as the "Suicide King" because of the sword that appears to go through his head. :) The title will make sense later in the story.

And yes, Lovino is the King of Aces :D

Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia and its characters, all rights belong to Hidekaz Himaruya.

King Lovino Vargas was preparing for yet another visit to his people. He was standing in the castle's large courtyard, watching his guards get the horses ready while impatiently tapping his foot. The King usually travelled with an entourage of five bodyguards, but at that moment the last guard had yet to show up. Lovino was not a patient man, and he wanted to set off as soon as possible.

"Is everything ready?" he asked Paul, the guard standing beside him. Unlike other Kings who normally had a lot more guards accompanying him to the Kingdom, Lovino preferred having a much smaller group. "Travelling light"; he called it. Though he enjoyed being King, there were times when he just wanted to feel normal and not have a huge group of guards breathing down his neck whenever he went out of the castle. Don't get him wrong, Lovino liked feeling special. It was something that he never felt much during his early stages of life and he never felt good enough for anything, or anybody. Perhaps it was how his grandfather never praised him, or how he could never do anything as well as his brother could, or how everyone seemed to think less of him than his brother.

When Lovino first discovered the capital "A" on his right shoulder, he had felt a mixture of feelings. Joy, fear and apprehension flooded his chest, but most of all he felt a rush of excitement – it was an opportunity for him to finally prove himself. To the world, to his brother, and ultimately, to his grandfather. It was a giant responsibility, but Lovino was going to fulfill it well even if it killed him. Heck, he was going to be the best King there ever was. So when the day of his coronation finally arrived, he had strode up to the chair of estate and sat down confidently with a swish of his new white and black robes, eagerly scanning the audience in the church for two familiar faces. Indeed, there was Feliciano, restless in his seat and upon catching his older brother's eye, waved vigorously. The latter cracked a smile and gave a small wave back. Stupid Feli, he thought. That idiot's more excited than I am.

But it was Romulus who drew Lovino's attention. His grandfather was sitting beside Feliciano but his eyes were merely staring through Lovino, who thought he had caught a hint of fear in them. Romulus' expression was frozen, and Lovino saw Feliciano wave a hand in front of their grandfather's face before he finally snapped back into focus. Lovino had dismissed his grandfather's odd behavior as doubt that his grandson would be a good ruler. In fact, he could almost imagine his grandfather laughing at him, "Lovino? King? HAH the day you pull that off will be the day Helena comes running to me begging for marriage!" (Helena was this woman Romulus had spent – no; wasted, according to Lovino – his youth pining after only to get rejected countless times. Not that Lovino was surprised. He often wondered what his grandmother had seen in his frivolous guardian.

Yet, the day Lovino had proudly announced to his family about his mark, Romulus had dragged him and Feliciano into the room they shared and face streaked with uncharacteristic worry, had told Lovino something so unbelievably stupid-sounding that if Lovino had not seen the dark look his grandfather had on his face, he would have simply stood up and left the room.

Romulus had started off with Lovino and Feliciano's parents' deaths. Immediately, Lovino had felt a sting in his heart as if his grandfather's words had rubbed salt over the old wound he had had for his eighteen years of living. Since he was a child, he had grown up without parents and had watched in avid interest after school as his classmates all ran towards their mothers and fathers. His eyes would rest on their linked hands, his own palms feeling oddly cold and bare, and whenever Romulus came to fetch Feliciano and him he would always only hold Feliciano's hand; never Lovino's.

Lovino had realized that his family was different, and there was this huge gap in his life that he had not been able to describe until he was much older, and that was that he lacked someone who could truly understand him, someone who truly loved him. Sure, he had Feliciano, but Lovino was always putting his brother first. He himself never quite knew why, he had forced himself to admit that he was jealous of Feliciano because Feliciano was better than him at everything and often gained praises, but his brother was even more airheaded than their grandfather and sometimes ended up being a bit of a pushover. Hence, Lovino occasionally had to step in to protect his brother from being taken advantage of. It might have also been due to the fact that Lovino never wanted his brother to have to experience the same loneliness he had lived with while growing up, so he did his best to ensure that his brother felt loved despite not having parents.

If Lovino was honest, he had to admit that one of his main motivations behind his dedication to the Kingdom was to fill in any voids anyone had in their lives. He might be unable to interfere with his people's personal lives, but he could ensure that all of their needs were met. No one should ever be left behind, he often told himself. Though he would rather throw himself off a cliff than admit that aloud. It just sounded so cheesy and superficial.

Anyway, Romulus had told his grandsons that their parents had been on their way to the Kingdom of Hearts when they disappeared. They had told him that they would be gone for a month, but after two months had still failed to return. A search had been carried out for Adriano and Enrica Vargas, but when even the Kingdom of Hearts reported that the search on their side had yielded no results, the couple was declared to be most likely dead. "Bad luck runs in our family. My brother got mauled by wild animals on one of his hunting trips, and my mother never returned from her research expedition," Romulus continued gloomily, wrinkling Feliciano's bed sheets with his grip on the fabric. He turned around to look at Lovino, who was perched on top of a stool behind him.

"Now, if this is another one of those "Lovino Vargas, you are bad luck to our family because you have no talent at all" talks, I'm not going to sit here to just fucking listen to you go on about how useless I am!" Lovino snapped, his words coming out harsher than he had expected them to be.

"It's not like that!" Romulus had yelled back, pounding his fist onto the mattress and startling Feliciano, who sat on the other end.

"Grandpa calm down, I'm sure Lovi's just a bit moody today…"

"He's moody everyday, Feliciano."

Lovino stood up, ready to leave. "If that is all you have to say, I'm getting the fuck out of here."

But then a hand had lunged out and grabbed his wrist, causing Lovino to yell in pain. Romulus was looking at him with surprisingly pleading eyes, and the voice that came out from his lips was entirely different from the loud, booming one Lovino had grown so accustomed to hearing. "Lovino, please listen to what I have to say. It's important. Please."

Lovino decided to give his grandfather another chance, especially when it was not every day that he was this serious and he sat down again, but not before crossing his arms to show that his patience was running out. Romulus took that as a sign to resume his talking. "Have you heard about the Vargas legend?" Both Feliciano and Lovino shook their heads, Feliciano's eyes widening in wonder and Lovino's frown deepening.

"I thought I wouldn't have to ever tell you about it, but now that Lovino's going to be the next King I think the circumstances leave us no other choice," Romulus told them grimly. "You see, our family line is special. In every generation, one of us will be special."

Lovino waited for his grandfather to burst into yet another line of praises for Feliciano, for "special" was synonymous with "Feliciano", but Romulus pointed at him and said in the same solemn tone, "You are special, Lovino."

"Me?" Lovino pointed at himself, looking at Romulus incredulously.

"Or rather, your heart is special. You see, it has the ability to heal any illness."

For the next few seconds, Lovino stared at his grandfather dumbly, opening then closing his mouth. "Huh."

"Wow! That's really cool, Lovi! So you can heal anyone?"

"I visited this witch when you were born. She… She's been around for a long time and I asked if she could help. She told me that she would be able to tell if she tasted your blood, so I took a leap of faith and let her take some of your blood. And she tasted it and told me you were the one. It was no surprise to me, just acceptance, because my brother had it and so did my mother. And so did your father." Romulus took a deep breath and moved both his hands to his lap.

Lovino was dumbfounded. He could not believe his ears, everything sounded like one big, stupid fairytale. When he spoke, his voice was cracked, "So… Our dad suffered the same fate as the rest of our family?"

"I don't know, Lovino. All I know is that those who've had the heart haven't had a happy ending. I'm sorry."

His grandfather's words barely reached him. So he was going to end up like his parents? Dead because of his heart? Oh, the irony. Something that was keeping him alive would bring him death one day. Lovino almost laughed out loud. He never got the luck, did he? Feliciano got all the luck. Feliciano, who was now sniffling, his eyes moist and filled with what Lovino saw as pity as he looked at his brother. Lovino averted from Feliciano's gaze, disgusted. Feliciano was not the one dying, he was.

"Lovi, you can't die!" Feliciano cried, while Romulus only looked away, unable to bring himself to meet his grandson's eyes.

"Well, is that all? That I'm going to die earlier than most people?" Lovino remarked sarcastically before standing up and brushing imaginary dust off his pants. "And just when I thought I was special!"

This isn't a family legend. It's a fucking tragedy.

But before he left, Lovino stopped at the door and added, barely audibly, "But don't worry, Feliciano. I won't let myself die. I've got a Kingdom to rule."

"Your Majesty! I apologise, I was having trouble… Erm…"

The curly-haired man who had been running towards the group stopped abruptly in his tracks when he finally noticed that everyone was staring at him. Well, not everyone. Lovino was sending him a death-glare so intense that the poor man sweatdropped and shifted from one foot to another.

The auburn-haired King ahem-ed loudly and eager to make up for keeping the King waiting, the man hurriedly adjusted his black and white surcoat and bowed deeply to Lovino. "Your Majesty, I am Antonio, the new guard standing in for Henry. Well, until his leg recovers."

Antonio stole a glance at his King, and saw that he was still under the mercy of Lovino's silent but deadly evil eye. He realized that he had unknowingly stuck his hand out to the King, as if he was meeting someone for the first time.

True, it was probably the first time Antonio had seen the King from such a close distance, and he had to admit that damn, his King was good-looking up close. Not that he would ever tell that to Lovino. He had to respect his sovereign after all, no matter how much of a crush he was starting to develop on his young King.

Antonio suddenly felt embarrassed for behaving like such a teenage girl, and he mentally waved his inappropriate thoughts away, grinning apologetically at Lovino and withdrawing his hand before quickly mounting his horse. Out of the corner of his eye, he witnessed Lovino shaking his head before getting onto his own horse. He had heard from the other guards that when the Queen told Lovino to ride in the carriage "because whoever created the Kingdoms and chose the Royals would want the King to travel most comfortably", Lovino had scoffed back, "Well, I'd tell whoever created the Kingdoms and chose the Royals to shut the hell up because I'm not going to sit in a carriage like Cinderella! I'm a man, dammit!" And apparently his cheeks had turned bright red, something many of his subjects often joked about behind his back but something Antonio had never seen with his own eyes.

As they travelled through the castle's gates and began the journey along the long path that led to the Kingdom, Antonio realized that he had ended up right behind Lovino and despite himself, found himself staring at the other man's back. He noted the way Lovino held himself with poise, how his posture and the slight tilt of his chin exuded confidence and how he reached up and carelessly swept his hair back into place when the wind messed it up. In a way, Antonio was thankful that Henry had given him the chance to take his position while he was unable to do so, because it allowed Antonio to get to know Lovino better, and it was something he was really looking forward to. Then again, he had to tell himself repeatedly not to get too disappointed for all he knew, he was just another lowly subject in the King's eyes.

Antonio was lost in his thoughts until a voice interrupted him, "Hey! Are you listening?"

It was Lovino. He had his horse in a trot, and his upper body was turned around to face Antonio. "I asked you a question," Lovino repeated, the irritation obvious in his tone. "How is Henry doing?"

"He's alright, Your Majesty. I'm unsure when he will get well, though. In fact, I'm not sure why he recommended me as his substitute, I don't think I'm as good as him hahaha," Antonio rambled, ending off with a sheepish laugh and scratching the back of his head.

"Yeah, I'm not sure why he would pick you," Lovino commented nonchalantly before turning back around to face the front.

Ouch, Antonio thought. It had been less than an hour, but Antonio had already learnt that his King was not a man of kind words.

That's all for now! So okay, just some stuff I wanted to say...

Firstly, I'll be basing Lovino's castle a little off the Caerlaverock Castle (It's in Scotland) just to have a reference, but as I'm still reading up on the layouts of castles and all that, my information might be a bit off, so do feel free to correct my knowledge! Secondly, I hope Lovino and Antonio have been portrayed alright! I had a bit of trouble trying to figure out how I was going to write their characters, and the road's still kind of bumpy for me, so do feel free to give me any suggestions and areas I can work on. :) I really want to improve my writing! Thirdly, the reason why I made Antonio a guard is because I think it was mentioned by Himaruya that Spain has "two faces", so my headcanon is that while Antonio might seem absent-minded and clumsy normally, he's extremely deadly when in battle, especially when he really believes in what he's fighting for. So yeah, hopefully that's alright!

Thank you for reading ^^