A Story for Victoria

by YamiHeart

The land of Fabulacor is divided into four kingdoms: Hearts, Spades, Clubs, and Diamonds. Guided by their goddess, Fortuna, the subjects of these Four Kingdoms live, laugh, and love. However, hiding in the shadows of the past there are truths known only by a select few. Enter young Victoria (Monaco), who loves to hear her Nana's fantastical stories of a time long gone.

1. Bedtime Stories

Hello! Thank you so much for deciding to give A Story for Victoria a chance. I've planned this story (and many scrapped iterations of it) for at least five years, and it's taken me more than two years to write it. I know the Hetalia fandom is nowhere near as strong as it used to be, but it's okay because I think that in some ways this story isn't a Hetalia fic at all. This AU is so rich with little world-building details (some from within my own brain, others appropriated from what I've seen my fellow writers and artists do) that I genuinely think anyone can enjoy it. In fact, many of my proof-readers had little-to-no knowledge of Hetalia at all, and they still loved it! Their support kept me going, and they're the reason this thing is getting finished at all.

If you want to use my story to introduce people to Hetalia, go ahead! If you want to show my story to people just because you think they'd enjoy it, I'd be honored!

If you have no interest in reading the above block of text, that's fine, but this next section might be helpful to your reading of the story. I took some liberties with the human names of the Hetalia characters (most obviously Monaco), and so to erase any confusion due to spelling differences or the use of unfamiliar names, I'll list the names of new characters at the beginning of every chapter. In alphabetical order we have:

Alfred: America

Francois: France

Katyusha: Ukraine

Lili/Mutti/Nana: Liechtenstein

Mathieu: Canada

Michelle: Seychelles

Natalya/Babushka: Belarus

Peter: Sealand

Vash: Switzerland

Victoria: Monaco

Any additional notes on translation, word choice, context, etc. will be at the end! Please enjoy!

-Year 706 A.B.S. (After Blind Shuffle)-

"Oh, Mutti, I don't know how you do it."

Lili lingered a second longer on the view of her city twinkling in the twilight before turning her attention to her daughter, Katyusha.

"How I do what, dear?"

Katyusha went to the old rocker her mother was sitting in and knelt down by her side. In the privacy of Lili's bedroom nearly all formalities were dropped despite her status as Queen of the Diamonds Kingdom.

"How you attend so many balls and social functions at this court!"

Lili chuckled softly and ran her fingers through Katyusha's platinum blonde locks. "I can't see us Diamonds having that many more social functions than the Clubs. Does Mama Nat not put you through the same torture?"

"You know Mama," Katyusha replied as she leaned into Lili's touch. "She has no patience for chitchat. The King is the same."

"Well, they are siblings."

"Roderich hosts most of the events for the aristocrats. Mama says he does it to keep his ego big and inflated."

Lili sighed, a semi-sweet smile on her lips. "She never was a fan of Roderich…"

"Besides, the Clubs court is not very interested in me. I don't have a distinctive suit mark like the rest of them, and for most of them that makes me either a threat or a completely uninteresting person. Diamonds is so different! Everyone wants to meet me and talk with me because I don't have a distinctive suit mark yet I'm active in the court! Not only do I have to attend more parties, but I also have to do more talking and socializing! It's all so draining...how do you keep it up at your age, Mutti?"

"My poor Katyusha...hey!" Both women laughed at Lili's delayed reaction to her daughter's question. "I am not that old!"

"But you are a grandma now, Mutti. That makes you a little old, no?" Katyusha's head shot up and her eyes went wide. "Oh, my, Victoria! I need to put her to bed before tonight's final party!"

"Doesn't Vash wish to speak with you as well?"

Katyusha groaned and rested her forehead on the wooden armrest closest to her. "That's right, Uncle Vash wanted to discuss my agricultural studies tonight…"

A lighthearted laugh bubbled out of Lili as she sympathetically rubbed her daughter's back. "It will be alright, my dear. How about you relax for a bit before heading back into the Diamonds' social scene and I'll take care of putting Victoria to bed."

Katyusha lifted her head back up. "Really? Are you sure, Mutti?"

"Of course I'm sure! Allow an 'old lady' the pleasure of putting her granddaughter to bed!"

Katyusha's laughter was a mix of amusement and relief. "Thank you. I just need a short rest, and then I'll be ready for all of Uncle Vash' questions."

"All of them?" Lili slowly rose from her chair, Katyusha only helping her to keep her balance as the chair rocked impatiently at her calves. "I'm afraid I don't think that's possible no matter how much sleep you get. When you get Vash onto a subject he's interested in, the questions never stop."

"I got through all of Victoria's questions when she was smaller. I think I can manage Vash."

Again, the two women laughed. The outwardly stubborn and prickly Jack was an easy target of teasing for his sister and niece, but all the jabs they made were made without malice. Vash was a hardworking, dependable, and loving man, no matter what the crueler gossips of the land of Fabulacor whispered.

Katyusha walked with her mother to the bedroom door, but once the door was opened she backed away with a curtsey. The moment the outside world was able to see Lili, decorum had to be recognized. That was one of the many weights that accompanied the Q on the back of her right hand.

"Where is Victoria," Lili asked.

Katyusha picked her head up, but stayed four steps behind her mother. "Oh, she should already be in her room. She fakes interest better than me sometimes, but I could tell she was bored at dinner, so I asked Michelle to take her to her room and play with her until bedtime."

"I see." She smiled back at her daughter. "Have a lovely rest, my dear."

Katyusha placed her hands over her heart and bowed at her waist. "May Fortuna smile upon you, my Queen."

"...May Fortuna smile upon us all." Even after all of the years she had seen, Lili still found it hard to make her smile earnest when she responded to the traditional parting phrase of the land. Fortuna had given her so much happiness, but that happiness had only been given after Lili had given up so much.

Lili quickly shook off the phantom shadows from her smile as she went in the direction of Victoria's room. The room wasn't that far away -perhaps five minutes for her when she was walking comfortably- but every person Lili came across had to be acknowledged, even if only to give Fortuna's blessing. These bows and talks added some time to her journey through the marble halls of Diamonds Castle.

When she did arrive to Victoria's room and opened the door she found a small banquet laid out on the floor attended by stuffed rabbits and bears as well as Michelle and Peter. At the head of the banquet was Victoria wearing a replica of the King of Diamonds' crown. Lili appeared to have interrupted some play speech, but, luckily, Victoria seemed to lose what she had been saying once she saw her grandmother enter the room.

"Nana Leelee," the six-year-old cried as she jumped to her feet and ran to her grandmother.

The corners of Lili's green eyes crinkled with the growing of her warm smile. "Hello Victoria."

Victoria grabbed the fabric of her grandmother's dress and beamed up at her. "You're just in time, Nana! We need a Queen!" Her hands moved from the dress to one of Lili's hands, and before Lili could even try to stop her, Victoria pulled her grandmother further into the room. "Michelle was going to be the Queen, but you'll be much better."

"Ah, but then what will Michelle be," Lili asked, playing along.

"She can be the Ace instead."

"Oi," exclaimed Peter. "Then what does that make me? I thought I was the Ace!"

Victoria snorted. "Michelle will make a much better Ace. She can actually fight, unlike you. You're much better suited for sitting around all day and counting money like Uncle Vash."

Peter huffed and playfully crossed his arms over his chest. "But that's so boring!"

"Too bad," Michelle replied with a shrug and a smirk. "I just went from Queen to Ace."

Lili turned her attention back to Victoria. "I guess that makes you the King, then?"

Victoria nodded. "Of course. You can't replace the King!"

Peter moved his arms up to behind his head and leaned back. "If I can't be the Ace, then I'd rather just be myself."

Victoria turned to glare at Peter. "Yourself? But that's way more boring! Come on Peter! Please!"

"Actually," Lili knelt down besides Victoria so that they could be face-to-face. "Peter and Michelle have to go, Victoria."

Victoria frowned. "Awww, but why Nana?"

"Because it's somebody's bedtime." Lili punctuated "somebody's" with a small tickle to Victoria's tummy. The young girl couldn't help but giggle.

"Is it really, Nana?"

Lili nodded. "I'm afraid so. But if you help Michelle clean up your toys fast enough, Nana just might have a bedtime story for you."

Victoria gasped. "Really?"

"Really."

"Okay!" Victoria detached herself from her grandmother and stood with her head held high. "As the King, I request that Michelle help me pick up my toys and I order that Peter go away!"

"Victoria…"

Peter tried to fake hurt, but his wide smile broke the entire illusion. "No, it's fine, your Highness. I can't fight the King." Peter had barely gotten to his feet before he disappeared in a cloud of black smoke.

Victoria was completely unphased by the Joker's dramatic exit and instead went right to helping Michelle clean up. Their combined efforts had all of the rabbits and bears and fake food in their places in no time. While Victoria tried to find her nightgown, Lili went up to Michelle.

"Thank you, Michelle. Would you mind standing guard for us outside of the room?"

Michelle held up her hand in a proper salute. "Of course, your Highness. Goodnight, and may Fortuna bless you."

"Nana!" Victoria came over, her nightgown slightly crooked on her body, and held up an emerald green brush. "Can you brush my hair when you tell me the story, too?"

Lili took the brush and smiled. "I would love to. Now, let's get to bed."

Michelle left the room and took her post just outside the door. Meanwhile, Victoria hopped up into her bed and under her covers. She scooted away from the pillows just enough for her grandmother to sit behind her, and once the two of them were situated perfectly, Victoria went right back to talking.

"What type of story are you going to tell me, Nana?"

"Do you want me to read one of your books?"

Victoria shook her head, which forced Lili to hold the brush just above the young girl's head. "No! Babushka always makes up stories for me when she puts me to bed!"

"Oh? What type of stories does Natalya tell you?"

"Um...stories with dragons and armies and swords and-!"

"I, er, don't have too many stories like that. Is that okay?"

Victoria tilted her head back to look at Lili. Lili was quickly discovering that brushing her hair was going to be close to impossible. "What types of stories do you have?"

"Well...I have stories like the origins of the Four Kingdoms of Fabulacor."

"What's that one?"

Lili gently pushed Victoria's head back down and finally started to brush her hair. "A long, long time ago, a group of people ran far away from the same sort of fighting your Babushka was telling you about. These people all had red marks in the shape of hearts on their left arms, and so when they finally settled down far away from the fighting they called their new home 'Fabulacor' -or 'the story of the heart'."

"That name's confusing."

"Well, I suppose they saw the new land as the start of a new story for them and for their families. The land was rich in animals and fields for planting. They believed that some power had led them to Fabulacor, and eventually this power revealed herself as the goddess Fortuna."

"Nana, is that why people believe the Jack of Hearts can talk with Fortuna?"

"Exactly. The Jack of Hearts is known as the High Dealer precisely because the Hearts' connection to Fortuna dates back so far."

"When did you and Babushka come along?"

Lili chuckled. "Do you mean when did the Diamonds and Clubs begin?"

Victoria nodded. "Yeah!"

"Well, the Spades came first. One day, a bunch of people in Fabulacor noticed that their red hearts rested on top of the big, blue vein on all of their left arms. These people banded together, and they fought the Hearts for a kingdom of their own. The war was long, and very bloody. You can ask your Babushka for the details, but just know that things had to get completely out of control before both sides realized they were being silly and compromised. Fabulacor got split into the Hearts and Spades kingdoms. After some time, people with collections of freckles taking on the shape of a diamond -like I have on my right arm- demanded independence from the Hearts kingdom, while people with big freckles on their right arm's green vein -like Babushka has- demanded independence from the Spades kingdom. The Hearts had learned their lesson, and let the Diamonds go rather peacefully. The Spades had a harder time letting go, and after the Clubs got independence the two kept fighting."

"Like now?"

Lili stopped for a moment, shocked by her granddaughter's perception of international affairs. "...Er...no, not quite. Right now the Clubs and Spades are just throwing tantrums, like Peter did earlier when you said he had to be the Jack. They won't go to war."

"Hmm…" Victoria took a strand of her hair and twisted it around her finger. "I'm not tired yet. Please tell me another story Nana!"

"Another one?" Lili laughed. "Goodness, I'm sorry. Let me try again. What type of story do you want to hear?"

Victoria hummed in thought again. The sound of the brush going through her hair filled the silence comfortably until she was ready to speak. "Tell me...oh! Mama's going to another ball tonight! Tell me a story about a ball!"

"But you've been to so many. Aren't you tired of all those dances?"

"I'm tired of the ones me and Mama go to, but surely Nana has gone to fun ones!"

Lili hummed in thought. "Let me think…"

Memories bounced in and out of Lili's mind until a very, very old one presented itself to her. Just thinking about the memory made her heart grow warm. Yes, this would be a perfect story for Victoria.

"I have one, but it's not technically my story. Someone told it to me a long time ago."

"What's it about?"

"It's a romance."

Victoria sat up a little straighter. "Babushka's stories never have any romance in them!"

"Babushka's funny about that sort of thing, yes."

"Who did you hear it from?"

"You know Mathieu, don't you?"

Victoria whipped her head around to face Lili, and only Lili's quick reflexes kept the girl from getting smacked in the face with her own brush. "I know Mathieu! He's very nice and cool and sometimes when Michelle is busy he'll take me out to the garden to play! He told you this story?"

"A very long time ago. He probably doesn't even remember it now, but it's a true story nonetheless."

Victoria turned back around and began to bounce. "Tell it! Tell it!"

Lili gently placed her hands on Victoria's shoulders to get her to stop bouncing. "First you should know that long before you were born there used to be a very strange way of discovering who the next King and Queen of each kingdom would be."

Victoria understood her grandmother's silent command and stopped bouncing. "What was it?"

"In every kingdom, twenty-six people at the age of thirteen would get either the mark of the King or Queen. The children would then be taught everything they needed to know until both the King and Queen candidates were at least sixteen years old -and this sometimes took a while because while all the Queens were the same age and all the Kings were same age, all the Queens and Kings were rarely the same age. When the youngest group was sixteen, the Kings and Queens began to be paired together, and by the time the youngest of the two was eighteen years old, only one King and one Queen would be left with their marks."

"That's crazy," Victoria exclaimed with a giggle. "Why would they do all of that?"

"The Kingdoms didn't want to. Fortuna gives and takes all of the marks of the Kingdoms."

"Fortuna can be so silly sometimes."

"Indeed." Lili put the brush down and turned Victoria around in her lap. "Do you know how the Diamonds paired their Kings and Queens?"

Victoria's eyes lit up hopefully. "With a ball?"

"Right! Or, to be more precise, a series of balls that happened every night for a month. The only event that beat it in extravagance was the party that followed the coronation of the King and Queen."

"How do you know all of this Nana? How did Mathieu know?"

"Why, because he was there, Victoria. He was a Queen."

-Year 1,036 (14 B.B.S/Before Blind Shuffle)-

The warmth of hundreds of candles and playful music enticed everyone to enter the extravagantly decorated ballroom -everyone except the young man standing hesitantly in the doorway of the great hall. No one had even noticed that he had lingered behind the other twelve Queen candidates, or, if anyone had, they just didn't care.

Mathieu couldn't blame everyone for already disqualifying him as a potential Queen of Diamonds. For one, he didn't really match the Diamonds aesthetic. The Diamonds Kingdom was all about elegance, and so all the men and women had a delicate beauty about them. Well, all of them except for the six-foot-tall farmboy who had never wanted to leave his parents in the first place. Since most Diamonds Kings looked for the smallest, daintiest Queens to be by their sides (to emphasize whatever "masculine" traits they possessed), Mathieu was, to put it nicely, not often asked to dance. In fact, one week in and he had only been asked by one King on two separate occasions. All of the other Queens had been asked by at least six Kings (or, at least, that's what they all giggled about when the Queens retired for the night).

As he made his way to a table filled with treats while trying to attract as little attention as possible, all he could think about was how much he just wanted to go home already. No one wanted him at the balls, and he didn't want to be at them, either. Harvest time was just around the corner, and his parents could surely use his help on the fields. Their little farm, right on the border between the Diamonds and Spades Kingdoms, had felt blessed when his twin brother, Alfred, had gotten the mark of the King of Spades on his shoulder blades. The thought that their little farm could create a King had tickled his Nini pink. However, when Mathieu woke up with a Q on his right hand a few months later, his father looked so worried. The longer Mathieu was in the Diamonds Castle, the longer he was being a nuisance to both these people and his family.

Just as Mathieu was about to take a bite of the fig bar he had grabbed, he felt a tap on his shoulder. Mathieu turned and found the same King that had asked him to dance twice before bowed at the waist before him. Three times? Really? Mathieu was surprised by the woman's persistence in a pleasant way. He didn't want to be there and he knew most other people didn't want him there, either, but it was nice feeling like someone did want him there, like someone was interested in him even though he didn't fit the look of a perfect Queen..

"May I have your first dance of the night?"

Adrienne (Mathieu was pretty sure that was her name) was very kind not to mention she was probably offering to be his only dance of the night. Telling himself he had nothing better to do, Mathieu nodded and held out his hand for Adrienne to take. The next thing he knew, he was out on the ballroom floor, waltzing in the company of three other couples. The height difference must have been awkward for Adrienne (even in her heels Mathieu was a head taller than her), but she didn't let any discomfort or frustration on her part show. Mathieu appreciated that.

They danced without talking for some time. Mathieu had never been very good at small talk (a trait he had inherited from his father). As it had been every time they danced, it was Adrienne who broke the silence.

"Do you have your eye on anyone here, Mathieu?"

This question, however, was more forward than Adrienne's other conversation starters.

Mathieu lowered his eyes. "Even if I did, I would be a bit stuck, since only Kings can ask Queens to dance, and no one is really jumping to ask me after we're done."

"Oh, so if I asked you to be my Queen, you'd say yes?"

Mathieu's eyes shot up from the ground. "What? Um, I mean...what? Why would you ask me?"

Adrienne pulled Mathieu closer so that she could whisper to him. "Can I be honest with you, Mathieu? I'm a bit too average for the Queens here. They'll all agree to dance with me, but they all have their eyes on someone else. Call it love if you like, but I call it...er...dumb. I know you don't want to be here, it's obvious, so why don't you and I pair up now, and when you inevitably lose your mark at the same time as the King you were supposed to match up with loses theirs, I'll snag their Queen. Everyone wins, right?"

Adrienne's plan gave Mathieu everything he wanted. If he paired up with her, he'd be able to stop coming to the balls, and once he lost his mark he'd be free of this royal world forever. It was perfect, but every time he thought it all over, he felt a bad feeling well up inside him.

"But...what makes you think you aren't the King I'm supposed to be matched up with?"

Adrienne snorted. "We're being honest here, remember, Mathieu? I may be average, but average is still better than you. You're probably supposed to be with Raymond, who couldn't even be bothered to learn all of the laws of this Kingdom."

Mathieu's cheeks flushed. "What do you mean by that?"

Adrienne pulled back to shoot Mathieu a cruel smirk. "Look, Mathieu, I know you're from some hick farm, but you can't possibly be this slow. You can dress up a pig, but it will still be a stupid pig. You don't have the background or the brains to be-"

Mathieu pushed Adrienne away from him and then took another three steps away from her for good measure.

"Mathieu, what the-"

"I don't want to be here," Mathieu shouted. Some people began to stare. "And I know most of you don't think I belong here, but it is not because I am stupid! It's because all of you are so shallow that you care more about how strong you look instead of how strong this kingdom can be with the right King and Queen! I'm not saying I'm the right Queen, but all of you don't have the right to say that, either! And, you know what Adrienne? Pigs aren't stupid! They're actually more intelligent than you!" The music stopped. "I…" Now everyone was staring. "I-I have to…" Oh, Fortuna, he had to get out of there!

He bolted past bodies that made no move to stop him in his desperate escape from the grand ballroom. He wanted to go where no one else could find him, and there was only one place like that that he could think of. When he had first arrived to the castle three years ago an odd, red-eyed man named Gilbert had shown him a portion of the Royal Garden completely hidden from view by hedges. The unseen clearing was small and had only a concrete bench and a very young maple tree, but it was the perfect place for Mathieu to be alone with his thoughts. His feet took him to this spot practically on instinct.

It was a dark night with the moon little more than a white sliver on a star-dotted black expanse. However, even in this darkness Mathieu could make out a black silhouette sitting on his cement bench. In three years he had never seen anyone else in his secret garden clearing, but sure enough tonight was the night someone had to be there.

"Gilbert…?" He called out pitifully, hoping it was just that strange man he hadn't seen since he was first shown the clearing.

"Eh….no….?"

Mathieu fell to his knees. It didn't matter who this person was because Mathieu couldn't hold back his tears any longer. He had been insulted and mortified in less than a minute, and he just wasn't strong enough to go through that without breaking down into tears when he was "alone".

Except, he wasn't alone, and his collapse and crying made the black silhouette understandably distressed. What Mathieu didn't expect was for the total stranger to kneel down next to him and wrap a comforting arm around his shoulders. Since the time he had been forced to leave his home, no one had extended such a tender touch his way, and so he couldn't stop himself from clinging to the front of the stranger's shirt. Continuing their kindness, the stranger didn't ask any questions when the tears were pouring out of Mathieu's eyes. Mathieu wouldn't have been able to get out any logical thoughts, anyway. When all that was left of the episode were dry hiccups, the stranger helped Mathieu to his feet and got him to sit down on the concrete bench.

"Are you alright," the stranger, a man, asked.

Done crying about what had happened in the ballroom, Mathieu now had a brand new reason to be embarrassed. "Yes...er….well, no, not really, b-but I do feel better, so thank you."

"Of course. It...may not be any of my business, but what is wrong?"

"I…" Mathieu reasoned that this person had held him while he was crying, so the least Mathieu could do in return was tell him why he had needed the comfort. "At the ball, the only person who has been asking me to dance basically told me she was only doing so because she thought I was stupid."

"What?! How horrible!"

"Yeah...so I yelled at her pretty loudly about how all of the Kings are shallow and care more about how they look than what the kingdom needs, a-and after I called her dumber than a pig the music stopped and everyone was staring so I ran away." Just saying it all out loud made Mathieu want to cry again.

" 'Dumber than a pig'?"

Mathieu scrunched his face in anger. "She told me that dressing up a pig doesn't stop it from being a 'stupid pig'. She was referring to me."

"Then she deserved far worse than being called dumber than a pig!"

"Definitely, but…" Mathieu sighed. "Insulting every other King there is going to make the next few weeks even worse than they already were."

"You were just telling the truth. Us Kings are horribly shallow in this whole Queen-choosing process."

Mathieu's eyes widened and his cheeks paled. "W-Wait...you...you're a…?"

"Allow me to introduce myself properly." The stranger stood up and his black silhouette bowed before Mathieu. "My name is Francois."

Mathieu was shocked into silence. This couldn't have been the Francois that all of the other Queens giggled and cooed about the most. Oh goodness, he was the most popular King candidate of them all!

"Cher?"

Mathieu stiffly stood up. "I-I can go! I'm sorry for troubling you!"

"What?" Before Mathieu could escape, Francois had grabbed his arm. "No, no, no. You do not have to go anywhere, Mathieu."

"You know who I am?"

"I figured out who you were by process of elimination, yes." He released Mathieu's arm. "I am sorry for what Adrienne did to you. I had been under the impression that she was genuinely interested in you. If I had known that she was going to insult you to your face…"

Was Francois...shaking? "No, um, don't worry about it. She surprised me, too." Maybe he could try changing the subject. "What are you doing out here, Francois?"

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"A-A lot of things, I guess. Why aren't you at the ball, and how'd you find this place?"

Francois sat back down and Mathieu followed suit soon after. "You know Gilbert, yes?"

"The really pale guy with red eyes? Yeah, he was the one who showed me this place a few years ago. He said no one else knew about it."

Francois chuckled. "Funny. He told me the same thing a few weeks ago. Perhaps he'd forgotten that he had told you?"

Mathieu sighed. "Figures..."

"Gilbert showed me this place so that I would have a place to hide if I did not wish to go to a ball one night. He had predicted correctly when he said that my experience would be very...exhausting. I am honestly not trying to brag, but it is very hard to enjoy yourself when every Queen is looking at you expectantly, hoping you will ask them to dance."

"Oh, yeah, I'm sure it's crazy tough being so popular." The comment was a little snarky, but it was mostly very playful. Mathieu didn't enjoy being unwanted, but he also wasn't into the idea of having everyone's attention on him (that was Alfred's department). Was it so hard to find a happy medium?

Francois returned the playfulness with a huff. "Obviously you were not one of the people watching me all the time, since you did not even recognize my voice."

"I can't even watch you now. It's too dark."

"Oh?" The black mass next to Mathieu became a somewhat defined face as Francois leaned in close. "Is this better?"

A hesitant laugh bubbled out of Mathieu as he pushed Francois back. "Not really, no. Focusing on blurry parts of a face just gives me a headache."

Francois hummed. "Ah, I see, I am sorry. Would you care to go somewhere with better lighting?"

Mathieu felt his stomach crumple. The last thing he wanted to do at that moment was be seen by anyone. "Uh...n-not really, no…"

A silence fell between them that twisted Mathieu's already ill stomach into knots. He was about to ask if he had done something wrong when Francois laughed. Though the sound was pleasant, Mathieu didn't know how he should react to it.

"Francois…?"

"Oh, cher," a hand reached out and grabbed Mathieu's own. "Again, I am sorry. You are simply unlike anyone else here."

Later, Mathieu would learn that Francois meant it was unusual for someone not to swoon at his obvious flirting (and that Mathieu's unusual behavior both intrigued and frustrated him). In that moment, however, when Mathieu asked what Francois meant, the King dismissed the question and stood up, releasing Mathieu's hand.

"I think I will turn in for the night. What about you, Mathieu?"

"Well, there's no way I'm going back to the ball tonight, so I guess I'll do the same…"

Mathieu was reluctant in getting to his feet. He didn't want to risk running into anyone on the way back to his room, and he especially didn't want to hear the excited chatter of the other queens as they returned to their rooms as well. Just as his mind was about to descend into a whirlpool of worried thoughts, Francois snapped him into the present by stepping in front of him and into his personal space.

"Do you think that you will be going tomorrow night?"

"I…" Was this guy serious? Mathieu didn't even want to think about having to face everyone again tomorrow. Being ignored because he didn't have the right look for the Queen of Diamonds was too shallow of an insult to sting him once he fell asleep. However, now that he gave everyone a reason to hate and ignore him as a person, going to the ball was going to be a waking nightmare. He didn't want to dump all of that on Francois after everything he had already done for Mathieu that night, so in the end Mathieu said, "I'm not sure. I'm pretty sure going isn't something I get to choose, but..."

"If you do not go to the ball then...then come here instead."

"Here?"

Francois' shadowy form nodded. "I wish to meet and talk with you without having you cry. Would you mind?"

Now Mathieu's head was spinning for a brand new reason. "Ah, um, n-no, I guess n-not, but-"

"Perfect! Then let us meet here instead of going to the ball tomorrow!"

"I-I don't think we can do that. Really, I-"

"Oh, then we can simply show up at the ball for a little bit and then sneak away when no one is looking!"

Hadn't Francois said himself that everyone was always watching him at the balls? Mathieu sighed. It didn't really matter. The Kings of Diamonds were all impulsive, flighty creatures. Francois would probably forget this impromptu plan by tomorrow morning, and after tomorrow Mathieu would find a way to sneak out of the castle and go back home.

"Sure. Let's meet here again tomorrow night, Francois."

Lili looked down at the young girl who was curled up in her lap and smiled when she saw that Victoria's eyes had drifted shut. Lili stopped the gentle carding of her fingers through Victoria's hair as she tried to figure out how she could move the girl to the bed without waking her up.

"Nana…"

The soft murmur caught Lili by surprise, but when she responded her voice was soft and even.

"Yes, dear?"

"Francois...didn't forget...did he?" Victoria sleepily rose her head and cracked her eyes open to look at Lili. "He couldn't have been mean like everyone else, right?"

A warm smile spread across Lili's face. "He didn't forget at all. In fact, the next day he couldn't stop thinking about Mathieu for a second, and that night he couldn't help asking Mathieu to dance."

"Did Mathieu say yes?"

Lili resumed running her fingers through Victoria's hair. About halfway through the story Lili had the idea that her fingers would probably make a better brush than the green brush she was holding, and Victoria seemed to like the gentle touch. "He did, but he was hesitant. He thought that Francois might have been trying to trick him like Adrienne, or, worse, was just pitying him after having seen him cry the previous night."

"Did they kiss after the dance?"

Lili's body shook in silent laughter. "Not right after, no. I believe their first kiss was about a week later, but Mathieu did tell me that their first dance is when he fell in love with Francois because he didn't see pity or mockery in Francois' eyes as they swept across the ballroom."

Victoria let out a small yawn. "What did he see?"

Lili leaned down and kissed Victoria's forehead. "Boundless love."

"For Mathieu?"

"For everyone and everything."

"I don't see that in the King's eyes now."

Lili's smile lost some of its strength as Victoria's innocent (and surprisingly attuned) observation pierced her heart.

"It...may not look like much to you right now, but believe me when I say that our King has made great strides in learning to love again. These years are the brightest I've seen his eyes in a long, long time."

Through Victoria's exhaustion, the young girl was able to find the energy to sit back up in Lili's lap. "What happened, Nana? Where did the King's love go? Why is it coming back now?"

"Oh, my Victoria, I'm afraid that that is another story for another time."

Victoria groaned and fell back onto her grandmother.

Lili could only laugh. "I'm sorry, my dear, but you need to get some sleep. You can hardly keep your eyes open!"

"Nanaaaaaaaaa." Despite the verbal fight, Lili helped her granddaughter lay down on her bed without any real physical struggle.

"I've already kept you up so late. Your mother is going to scold me for sure."

"I won't tell on you, Nana."

"I appreciate that, dear."

Lili pulled the covers up over Victoria and kissed her cheek.

"Goodnight, Victoria. I love you."

"I love you, too, Nana."

Nini (pronounced, I think, "neenee"): a gender neutral term meant to replace "mama"/"papa". In this case it refers to Tino (you'll find out more about them later).

The use of "Highness": About a year into actually writing the story, I read that "Highness" is actually used to refer to princes and princesses and not kings and queens like I use it in my story. I started using "Highness" because I was thinking of card games when Jacks and deuces and such can be "High", and because of that I decided, ultimately, that I would continue to use "Highness" in this story with the understanding that its context and meaning in fictional Fabulacor is different than that of our world. If anyone caught the disparity while reading, I hope they weren't too mad or confused!

If you have any questions or (and perhaps I'm hoping for too much here? hahaha) fanfiction/fanart inspired by ASfV, feel free to send it to me either through , Ao3, or my tumblr (my username is the same on all three).