Hetalia is owned by Hidekaz Himaruya, this fanfiction is owned by me.
When it was decided that Prince Antonio of Spain would be married, a great deal of nobles from across the globe had come seeking his hand. But it seemed that the young prince wanted absolutely nothing to do with marriage, as he had so far rejected every princess, noble lady, even beggar that had come looking to marry into the Spanish royal family.
He had no interest in the powerful Lady Monika Beilschmidt, or the beautiful Princess Francine. In spite of many people agreeing that the young lord should be married to Princess Lovina of Italy, he'd refused her on the spot too. Not even Princess Manon of Belgium, whom he was very close friends with, was taken as his bride, and now the Prince Antonio's advisors were growing impatient.
"My lord, as the successor to the throne, you absolutely must find a suitable bride! How long do you plan to play around like this?" the prince's chamberlain enquired, as Princess Manon was leaving.
"I plan to 'play around' until I find someone I'm sure I want to marry," Prince Antonio said coolly. Given that frivolities like 'dating' and getting to know people were out of the question for nobles like himself, he had to make the enormous decision of who he would spend the rest of his life with based entirely on first impressions. And if he was completely honest, the young prince was terrified by the thought of getting that decision wrong. For all he knew, the woman he would accept as his princess could turn out to be a complete bitch once he got to know her.
"I do so hope you will make up your mind soon, my lord. The English royal family will be visiting tomorrow, I wonder if their Princess Alice will impress you."
"What? Tomorrow? Can't I take a break from trying to find a bride for a little while?" Prince Antonio huffed childishly.
"Nonsense, my lord! It would be terribly rude of us to turn them away at the last minute!" the chamberlain informed him, "No, you will grant the English royal family an audience in the evening, understood?"
It was times like this that Prince Antonio was reminded how little power he really had over his life. "Very well." He responded affirmatively, regaining his composure. "Have the audience chamber prepared."
"I'm glad you understand, my lord. Should we prepare private quarters as well?"
"Do so only if you think that will be necessary," Prince Antonio told him. After he met each prospective bride, the prince was given the opportunity to spend some alone time with her, if he wished. But only a few of the ladies seeking to become his princess had even made it that far.
The following evening, the English royal family arrived, ready to present their offering to Prince Antonio.
"May we present to you, her royal highness, Princess Alice of England!"
A crash and the squeak of doors could be heard as the royals made their way into the room. A pigtailed woman, clothed in a frilly blue dress, supported by a ridiculous amount of petticoats walked over to the lavish throne Prince Antonio was sat in, curtsying deeply at his feet.
"I am pleased to make your acquaintance, Princess," he said obediently, taking a minute to note the hopeful looks of her parents and brother…whose appearance he found strangely attractive.
"The same to you, Prince, I mean, Principe. Is that it?"
"Our princess has been going to the trouble of learning your language, your highness," someone blurted out.
Prince Antonio turned in the direction of the 'someone', and studied them carefully, as though he were observing some grand work of art. Judging from his clothing, he was Princess Alice's brother, and the other heir to the throne of England. The powder blue of his jacket made his alabaster skin shimmer, like a polished pearl, and his eyes were but a shade darker than Prince Antonio's own gentle green ones.
"Will you come forward, Prince?" Prince Antonio asked.
"Why do you want to see me?" the other prince enquired, cocking his head to the left. "We came here hoping you'd agree to marry my sister, you don't need to look at me!"
A smile worked its way across Prince Antonio's face, breaking the courtly mask he put on for guests. "I'm somewhat intrigued by you, Prince. Can't blame a man for being interested, can you?"
"Whatever you say, then," the other prince replied meekly, walking towards the throne.
Prince Antonio inspected the creature he'd found himself admiring once more, becoming all the more satisfied the closer the other prince got to him. He gently raised one of his gloved hands and pressed it delicately against the other prince's cheek.
"Tell me your name," Prince Antonio purred gently.
"Arthur. His royal highness, Prince Arthur," the other prince told him softly, cheeks becoming scarlet.
With that, Prince Antonio got up from his lavish throne, and gazed deeply into Prince Arthur's eyes. He was satisfied that this one had passed the preliminary round…
"Javier! Would you escort myself and Prince Arthur to my quarters?" he commanded, whipping around to find his chamberlain.
"M-my lord, are you quite serious?!" Javier cried in shock.
"Completely. Do not make me repeat myself. Understood?"
"Y-yes, my lord," Javier agreed, taking them both there, while Princess Alice looked on in shock.
The two princes were left to themselves in the lavishly decorated room, filled with the finest riches Spain had to offer.
"Funny thing, isn't it? This whole marriage business," Prince Antonio mused, freeing himself of the thick gloves and cloak he had on.
"Suppose it is," Prince Arthur began, delicately placing himself next to Antonio, being careful with the bedsheets. "Look at us. We're nobles, if we just say the word, we can have anything we want. Except the chance to marry someone we're sure we love." he said miserably.
"If I can't get to know anyone well enough to marry them based on love, I want to at least marry someone I really like," Prince Antonio added.
"And do you like me? Is that why you bought me here and not my sister?" the prince in blue enquired.
"Of course," the other prince snorted. "I dare say, I find you rather attractive."
Arthur found that being attractive to the other man made him rather happy. A little too happy, perhaps.
He went over his companion's features, liking the warm glow of his skin and the gently-tousled look of his brown hair. Wow, he's really what they mean when they say handsome prince.
"So, do you plan to go back down there and tell my family you want to marry me, and not my sister?" Prince Arthur remarked.
"No, not yet. I want you to spend the night with me first," Prince Antonio replied gently. "I don't plan to have sex with you, I just want to talk to you a little more, and maybe later, if you wanted to, we could cuddle for a bit? Then we can talk about whether or not I will marry you."
"I suppose that's ok," the other man agreed.
One night of sweet-talk, cuddling, and even a kiss or two later, Prince Antonio announced that he wished to be married to Prince Arthur. At first, their families were worried about them not being to bear any heirs to their respective thrones, but then they remembered that they could adopt instead, and agreed to let them be wed. And so Prince Antonio of Spain and Prince Arthur of England were happily married…
Happy SpUK day everyone! Hope you liked this little fairytale I came up with! Oh, and if you don't know about it, you absolutely MUST check out hethetli's YouTube channel, there's plenty of SpUK goodness on it! See ya later~
Kitty x