Silence. Ever since he was little all he had ever known was the silence. Because of that it never bothered him. To him he was normal it was everyone else who was different. Some of his earlier memories are of his best childhood friend teaching him to speak. His Hand on her throat as she spoke words and he tried to replicate them. He would read her mouth and try again. It was a long process but thankfully Eli was very patient with him. Another early memory is of his Vati teaching his older brother Roderich to sign. It was strange for him to think that there were people in the world who didn't use hand words. He watched fascinated as the dark haired boy struggled. Thankfully they had longer lifespans then normal people. If they hadn't the two would have never properly communicated. Unfortunately the moment he learned to speak he realized he was different. No one else spoke like him and they made fun of him constantly. That's when he realized that there was something called noise. After another incident with Poland he went home to his vati and instead of speaking like they had been encouraging him to do he signed 'father? What is noise' that was the first time he saw his vati cry. The years passed and while Eli and Roderich signed to him he used his voice practicing and practicing till he was perfect. That was when he asked them to stop signing to him. They complied and he started to pretend he was like everyone else and when he couldn't hear someone he pretended he was just ignoring them. Then he met Francis. Francis loved him unconditionally and it didnt take long for Francis to figure out the truth. One of his happiest memories is of Francis coming up to him and signing 'you think I care? You are my best friend deaf or not' from that moment on they were unseperatable and Francis would often act as an interpreter. Around this time Antonio went through his purge the world of devils faze and albinos were the first thing on his list. This was when he learned that his appearance was different as well. He knew he didn't look like his friends but he didn't see a lot of people francis looked like either. He had just assumed he was unique. During this time he was hidden from the world by Roderich and he rarely saw the daylight. This caused him to rebel against his brother. Eventually Antonio fell out of this phase and he became the third in a wonderful trio of friends. It took him longer than Francis to figure out that his friend was deaf. When he did he was stunned. He acted so normal! He learned sign language but rarely used it instead encouraging him to become completely oral. This caused quite a few fights between Francis and Antonio, Francis thought that his friend should embrace it and be who he truly was. Then holy Rome was born. He was such an adorable child that he fell in love with the boy instantly. Sadly the boy was raised so strictly religious that he hated his older brother. It all went down hill from there. After that disaster he had his great king. Old fritz was a genius. He just looked at his albino nation and new there was something different. As a child he observed him and by the time he was ten he knew he was deaf. By the time he was fifteen he could sign fluently. By twenty they were in love. Fritz taught him that it was ok and often they could be found fluently conversing in sign trapped in there own little world. When fritz died it was the most devastating thing that could have happened to him. He mourned him for years. Eventually though he found west. The child was perfect and he new immediately that he had to be the perfect big brother for this child. Which meant he couldn't be deaf. In order to tell when the chil was upset or crying they slept in the same bed until he was ten and then the child would come to him when he was sad or upset. As the years pass ludwig grows up with the belief that his brother is excessively loud an irresponsible. It wasn't until after world war 2 that ludwig realized it. The Berlin Wall had just fallen and he was holding his precious bruder in his arms. He was extremely weak with bruises littering his body. Ludwig carried him home and took care of him constantly talking to him in order to make him feel better. His brother rarely responded. Ludwig thought that he was simply tired. After a week or so russia came to visit under the guise of Making sure his precious friend was daring ok. In order to avoid more fighting ludwig let him in. Later on he would be glad he did because of the information he learned that day. Russia was watching him take care of his bruder chatting to him softly and russia began to laugh

"Oh your poor thing he can't hear you! He has never heard you!" He leaves laughing and ludwig brushes it off not believing. But as the days pass he starts to notice little things. Like how everytime a loud noise sounded their dog berlitz would go over and kind of guide his bruder to the noise. And how he never responded to queries when he wasnt facing him or when his eyes were closed. Things that once ludwig assumed was his bruder being obstinate and rude started to make sense. When ludwig finally asks about it his bruder burst into tears. The charade was over he had fought so hard but not his bruder would hate him like all the others had. Ludwig pulled his face around to his making sure he could see his lips and whispered because there was no need to say it loudly

"Nien. Ich liebe dich mien bruder." He then leant over and kissed him softly face flushing but reassuring him that he was still the most precious thing in the world to him.

The next year ludwig bought him his first set of hearing aids and programmed everything in his house with subtitles. He installed flashing doorbells on all of the doors and did his best to make sure his bruder felt loved. Ludwig slowly learned sign language going to Francis and Antonio for help reluctantly. They were thrilled and more than happy to help. Things steadily got better and soon it wasnt a secret anymore. Everyone knew that he was deaf. They were all amazed tht he had managed so many years and wars fooling them all. He started to wonder why he had hidden it. Ludwig made sure he was always safe and loved. There relationship was sketchy sometimes but he found himself thrilled that russia has exposed his secret because now his life was much more wonderful.