Hello everyone. It feels like it has been quite some time since I have posted. But here I am. So, this story is AU, and features a reverse tale of Cinderella, and for some characters, a bit of nyotalia. I really hope you enjoy reading this story, and please tell me what you think of it. Thank you so much for reading!

Disclaimer: Neither Hetalia or Cinderella belong to me.

Once upon a time, in a far-off kingdom, there lived a family. They lived in a large home quite a few miles from the city, far enough that they had considerable privacy, but not too far where a trip to the market would take several days. They were rich, but modest, having no servants, much preferring to do the cooking and cleaning themselves. The father was one the king's knights, loyal to his king and renowned for his bravery in battle. When he was just 20, he met his first defeat and only defeat, to a beautiful young maiden. She was kind and wild, believing in fairies and all different kinds of natural magic.

The two were married during the spring and by next year, they had a new addition to their family; a little boy named Toris. Toris grew to be as kind as his mother, as loyal as his father, and as humble as both. As he grew older, his father trained him to be a knight, planning for Toris to become a squire when he turned twelve. Toris eagerly attended his practices and long to be a knight. Almost every evening he would curl up on his father's lap and beg for a story about one of the man's adventures.

However, not all happy endings last forever. When Toris was ten, the kingdom went into battle with a neighbor. Though they won, the king's army suffered a loss of many of their bravest knights. Toris' father was one of them. His wife and son were devastated. Toris' mother fell into a depression; her husband was her whole world, but she still had part of him, and that was Toris. The new widow was determined to do everything she could to benefit her son. So, she muscled on and got a job working for a merchant named Ivan Braginsky. The man fell madly in love with her and a few months after hiring her, he asked for her hand in marriage. The woman knew her son needed a father figure in his life, and Ivan seemed every bit a gentleman. He also had two sons, Dmitry and Nikola, who were very close to Toris' age. It seemed to be a perfect option for her, and she agreed. Yet tragedy struck again. Her depression had weakened her immune sister, and she caught a cold. Try as she might, she could never recover, and a few months after her wedding, she died. Toris was left only with his new step-father and his two step-brothers.

Once his mother was dead, Toris life grew even worse. For reasons unknown to the little boy, his step-family hated him. After the funeral, Ivan moved Toris room to the attack, allowing him only a bed, blanket and a change of clothes. The rest of his belongings were either sold or given to his step-brothers. The Braginskys used Toris as their personal servant, ordering him around continuously and often going out of their way to humiliate him and mistreat him. On cold nights, or when he was too exhausted to climb the stairs to his cold attic, Toris would fall asleep in front of the dying embers of the fireplace. He was hardly ever allowed to bathe, so he became streaked with dirt.

To make matters worse, his dream to become a knight was crushed, Ivan said he wouldn't waste time or money on him, declaring the young brunette too weak to ever make a successful career. It was best he remained a servant, a more suitable occupation for someone like him. For years Toris was stuck in his step-families house, with no way to ever be free.

~Nine Years Later ~

"Toris! Toris! Toris Laurinaitis, get your lazy butt down here now!"

Toris groaned and buried his head under his pillow. "Toris, if you don't get down here in two seconds, I'm telling Father. And you know what he promised to do if you were slacking off again."

That created a reaction. Toris jumped out of bed. "I'm coming, Nikola!" he called, running down the stairs. Panting, he stopped in front of his smirking brother. "Well, there you are."

"Yes, what can I do for you?" Toris stared at the floor. Long ago he learned to be submissive to his family, and now it was a habit.

"Let's see…it's 8:00 in the morning. What could I possibly want? Or are you too stupid to figure it out?"

"Breakfast?" Toris asked meekly.

Nikola boxed Toris' ear. "Yes, you idiot. Now go and make it!"

Toris rushed off to the kitchen. Thankfully breakfast was never hard to make, just cold cuts of meat, a little fruit, and bread. Toris bustled about the kitchen, frantically trying to get breakfast out quickly. He dreaded the possibility of starting off the day with facing the Braginskys' wrath. While he was placing the food on plates, a pecking sound reached his ears. Smiling he went to open the window. A little bird, with blue features, sat on the windowsill. "Ah, good morning Eduard. Are you here for your breakfast?" The little bird let out a tweet. Toris smile grew. He broke the bread into little crumbs and placed them on the ledge. "There you go!" Eduard chirped out thanks.

Toris grabbed the breakfast tray and his way to the dining room. Ivan and the others were already sitting at the large mahogany table. "G-good morning master." Toris stuttered, and nervously placed a plate in front of the Russian. The man eyed Toris critically. Toris fidgeted, trying to fight the rising panic in his chest. "I-is it t-to your liking M-master?"

"It is late Toris." He said simply.

Toris gulped. "I-I know Master, and I'm very sorry."

"Hmm." Was all Ivan said, and began to eat.

Toris stood awkwardly next to the table, not sure what to do since he wasn't dismissed, but wasn't allowed to sit at the table. He would eat the leftovers later, if there were any. His stomach growled loudly, which made the other three men laugh, and Toris blush.

When they had finished, Toris went to collect the plates when strong fingers circled around his small wrist with a bruising hold. "Father, do you smell that?" Nikola asked, holding Toris.

"Smell what?" came the reply.

"I don't know what it is, but it's disgusting. It smells like sweat and smoke." Nikola looked over at Dimitry and winked.

"I smell it too." The elder brother said. "I…" he let out a dramatic sniff, "I think it's Toris!"

Toris felt the blood race to his face, and he tried to tug his hand out of Nikola's grasp.

Ivan let out a chuckle. "I'm not surprised. I've caught him sleeping near the cinders in kitchen fireplace some nights."

Almost gingerly, Nikola traced a smudge of dirt on Toris' cheek. "I think he needs a new name. Like Cinderboy."

"Or Grimy Child." Dimitry joined in.

"Ash face," Ivan supplied.

"I know!" Nikola burst out, nearly jumping out of his seat in excitement. "Dirty Toris!" he exclaimed proudly. His family chuckled.

"Nice one Nikola."

"Dirty Toris." Ivan sneered at the boy. "I think that suits you."

"Take these dishes back to the kitchen Dirty Toris." Dimitry mocked. "And then come back up here when they are clean. No dawdling now"

Toris nodded mutely, collected the dishes and fled to the kitchen.

He stumbled into the kitchen, dropped the tray on a cabinet and sank to the floor. Without permission, a choked sob escaped from his lips. Surprised, Toris slapped his hand over his mouth, casting an alarmed look at the door. If Ivan or someone else heard, Toris knew he would be mocked relentlessly. But no one appeared in the door. Looking around, an image reflected in the bronze teapot caught his eye. The distorted face of a man with brown hair, and wide, tired blue eyes stared back at him. Toris closed his eyes but then forced himself to look. Dirt streaked his narrow and pinched face. Dirty Toris, he thought bitterly, I really am. Sobbing in anger and shame, Toris buried his head in his arms. I just need a moment, he told himself. Just one moment to compose myself. Then I'll get to work like nothing ever happened.

There was a soft tug on his hair, causing him to sit up. "Ah! Eduard, you're back." Toris' mouth curled into a small, sad smile as he reached his hand to his head. Eduard jumped onto the callous palm. "Back for more food? You're getting greedy," Toris told the bird good-naturedly. The bird pecked his hand and then jumped onto the table in response, making Toris laugh. "I'm sorry then. Why are you here?"

The bird twittered intently, while Toris listened, scrubbing the breakfast dishes. Unexpectedly the bird stopped and flew towards the kitchen door which led out to the garden. Setting down his dish, Toris followed. When he opened it, a tiny bunny hopped onto his foot. Toris scoped him up and started petting the rabbit's soft fur. "Hello, Raivis." He said softly, so he didn't startle the easily skittish animal. "Thank you for coming by, you…you guys must have realized I needed you." Though he didn't have much time, Toris took a moment to pet his animal friends, his only friends in the world actually. Once he felt like he had control of his emotions, he put his friends aside, giving Eduard a little more breadcrumbs, and Raivis a tiny piece of leftover apple. Then he finished the dishes and hurried upstairs.

"There you are, Dirty Toris," Ivan said. "I was thinking that I might need to go and fetch you, you were taking so long."

"I'm sorry sir," Toris replied softly.

"You're always sorry, but you never change. We are going to have to work on that. I heard from Nikola that you slept in today?"

Toris bit his lip. "N-not on purpose Master, I promise!" he cried, feeling sick, thinking about what Ivan might do to him.

"Well, we are going to have to make sure that such things don't happen again. Perhaps I shall add another chore for the early morning?"

Toris wanted to protest. He already had so much to do, gather water for the day, feed the animals, milk the cow and make breakfast all before eight in the morning, which was when his family woke up. But, he remained silent, knowing it was not his place to back-talk Ivan.

"From now on, I want you to let Natalia out, so she can hunt. See, I can be lenient. That's not a bad chore, da?"

"N-no master." Was all Toris could say. He almost wished Ivan had given him a harder chore than to send the cat out. Ivan owned a fluffy white cat named Natalia, who hated everyone but her owner. She had a special dislike for Toris, and it seemed to him that the cat when out of her way to torment him with bites and scratches.

"Good, I'm glad that is out of the way. Now, onto business. Today we are going out into town, you'll come too. We're going to the tailor, while you need to pick up food at the market, you know what we need I assume, and I've heard that one of the washerwomen has an old dress or two, so we pick those up. Yours is getting ridiculously threadbare."

Toris turned bright red at the mention of his clothes. Nervously he played with the folds of his skirt. "M-master, I have been really good lately, and-"

Nikola let out a snort. Toris shot him an upset glance but continued on. "Do you think maybe, I could ware m-men's clothes? Please?"

Ivan cupped Toris' chin and forced the younger man to meet his eyes. Toris adverted his and stared at the giant's rather large nose instead. "Now, now Toris, are you complaining about your clothes?"

"N-no Master! I just-"

"Because if you don't like them tell me. I won't make you wear them." Ivan's tone was sweet and concerned. It made Toris shiver. Ivan continued, "You could go around naked if dresses upset you so much."

"No Master, please!" Toris whimpered. "I, I just wanted to have a p-pair of pants. Why must I wear a dress?"

"Because we are not completely sure you're a man," Dimitry said, causing Toris to become even more distressed.

"Please Master." He asked pitifully.

Ivan, still holding Toris' chin, let out a laugh. "Oh, silly Toris. We have this conversation every time we get you new clothes. How about this time you tell me why you have to wear the dress?"

In a rare bout of bravery, Toris remained quiet. I will not humiliate myself more than I have too, he firmly told himself.

Ivan sighed. "You forgot again." He said, in a voice that clearly indicated he knew Toris was just being stubborn. "You really are stupid. You wear a dress because you are weak. Pitiful. You live completely off of my charity, and must be reminded of your place."

"But-"

"Hush! The less one hears of you the better. You are lower than any servant, nothing but a disgraced orphan, and wearing pants would give you an opportunity to try placing yourself above others. Really, I do it for your own good. If you went out in the town, tried to fit in, make something of yourself, they would laugh at you. The dress keeps you safe because it reminds you that you must stay here, where it is okay that you are stupid, lazy, a fool and ugly. Here, we can accept that and work past it, out there, not so much. Do you understand Dirty Toris?"

Toris nodded his head frantically, unable to make a sound. A sob was tangled in his throat, desperate to get out, but Toris refused to cry in front of these people.

"Good." Ivan gave his head a pat as if the boy were a dog. "Now, go ready the horses and let us be off!"