It was the 18 January1887.
It was Germany's sixteen birthday and Gilbert had thought of a very special gift for the young Empire.
Finding a present for his little brother didn't prove difficult at all. Young Ludwig was a quiet, and intelligent kid. At only sixteen he was already very cultured and spent most of his free time alone in the house's library.
Prussia knew that nothing better than a book could please his charge.
But, even though he knew Ludwig liked Historical or Philosophy books the best, Gilbert had decided that his Ludwig was almost a man and needed to be acquainted with a more...Adult kind of literature.
And how priceless was Germany's expression when he unwrapped the gift. Prussia, of course, had needed to laugh his lungs out before he could even try to explain his brother what the peculiar gift was about.
-" This is porn, West. This is a book for adult men, and I think you are now old enough to have one of your own!"
Ludwig looked at him quizzically. It was certainly the first time the young man ever learned of that word 'porn'. Gilbert had never judged necessary to explain that sort of things to his little brother before. Ludwig had had much to learn during his first years as part of a new Empire, that there had been no room for other, more human, lessons of life.
Tentatively, the blond turned the first page of the book. He promptly let out a high pinched gasp and almost dropped the leather-covered publication. It was hard to find a detailed illustration book at that time, but Gilbert had wanted the best for his brother. The book was...very realistic.
-" There are naked people in there!'" Ludwig declared in a low voice, cheeks tinted pink and eyes looking anywhere else than at Gilbert or at the book.
-" That's what porn is about, kid!" Gilbert grinned. That was awesome how innocent his young brother was! It was cute in a most sexy way.
Young Germany picked the book up and opened it again...Only to close it back almost immediately with a loud clap of paper.
-" ….The people inside the book...They are doing...Weird things"
Prussia couldn't help. He snickered loudly and ruffled the teen's hair.
-" That's called 'sex', West! That's how human reproduce, but it also feels awesome!"
-" I-I don't think I want to know" Germany looked at his shoes, face crimson up to his ears.
-" Of course you want to know, everybody does eventually. And real men certainly do! Keep that book in your bedroom, kid, it'll be useful when you're bored at night!"
-"...T-thank you for the present, bruder" Ludwig said, not forgetting his good manners.
He would go to his room then, and hide the evil book deep inside a drawer. Certainly he wouldn't want to ever look at those naughty images again.
Or so he thought.
A few months later, during a cold winter evening, Germany was looking for a particular science manuscript he wanted to read again but couldn't find. With an old oil lamp as sole source of light, he went through all his personal belongings, knowing the publication couldn't be anywhere else than in his room. He searched his shelfs thoroughly, going as far as looking inside his other manuscripts to see if the one he was looking for wasn't lost in between, and eventually opened his bed table drawer.
His eyes widened when they fell on his brother's "gift" which he had gladly forgotten.
He didn't know what had compelled him to do so, then, but his hand reached for the shame-inducing illustrated book.
Ludwig, then, placed the lamp on his bedside table and sat on his bed, the book in hand.
Gilbert had said that it was a book for grown men and, like any other boy of his age, the blond German longed to become a true, manly, man.
Maybe his eldest brother would be right, maybe this book would make a man out of him, and it would be stupid of him to refuse to give it a try.
Under the pale light of his oil lamp, he started flipping through the pages, his face getting more red with a deep feeling of shame as his widened eyes travelled across hot erotic scenes.
Soon, he felt himself react to the realistic pictures. Heat pooled in his midsection and a certain part of his lower body started to swell and extend. That particular reaction didn't startle him since it happened on a regular basis, mostly in the morning after he wake up. He had never paid much attention to the phenomenon before, because it never lasted long and always got back to normal after a short time.
This time, though, it was entirely different. The change on his body was accompanied by an almost uncomfortable warmth and a weird sensation of tickling, the most annoying thing was that he didn't know what to do about it.
He did nothing, and the strange reactions didn't subside. He knew that he needed something but didn't know what and it was really frustrating. It made him uncomfortable and he wondered if that was what it took to become a man. He thought back of the time he was having growth pain and remembered how his body ached all over. Maybe the unpleasant sensations he was going through were only the necessary inconveniences preceding his transformation into a full grown man?
No longer worried but nonetheless relieved of his physical uneasiness, Germany placed the book back in the drawer, well hidden under the science manuscript he didn't even notice, and laid down to sleep.
That night was a long one for the young, confused, Empire.
The next morning, the sensations were gone, but he was still bothered by the last night's events. He watched his reflection closely in the bathroom mirror but found absolutely no change in his features, he checked his height and it was still the same than one month before.
Ludwig sighed, a tad disappointed, but told himself that maybe the results wouldn't be visible just yet, maybe he had to wait a little longer, maybe he had to read the book more in order to become a man.
Confident in what Gilbert had told him about the strange book, Ludwig resigned himself to patience.
Months later, Germany was yet to go through any physical change. Yet, something was definitely different, and he realized this mostly during the sword wielding and fight training Prussia dispensed him.
The way he looked at his brother was no longer the same.
Ludwig often caught himself staring too long at Gilbert. At his muscular body whenever the Prussia fought bare-chested, at his firm behind when he wore tights, and at any other part of his big brother's body he seemed to find interesting.
The young blonde didn't understand why his brother had become suddenly so...intriguing to him, or why, sometimes when he was reading 'the book', Gilbert's face appeared in stead of these men's on the pictures.
Maybe he was simply envious of his brother's manliness? What else could it be? After all, he had been reading the book, the one which was supposed to turn him into a real man, to no avail. He was envious, nothing more, and Gilbert had always been his model as a man.
Twice already, he had found himself standing in front of his big brother's door, ready to knock but not daring to. He wanted help on that matter that had become too confusing for him. He needed answers about the effects the book had on him, he needed Gilbert to explain him the way of becoming a real man.
And he still hadn't found a clue on what to do about the reactions the book was giving him.
A certain night, he had been reading the book again, and couldn't find sleep because of those weird effects the book had on him, he decided to take a walk down the kitchen, Certainly a glass of fresh water would help, even if only a little.
But as he passed his brother's bedroom, he glimpsed a pale light coming through the crack under the heavy wooden door, and stopped in his track.
TBC