Regular font indicates the present, particularly through Matthew's perspective.

Italic font indicates flashbacking, a lot of which may/may not be in Matthew's perspective.


"-I'm telling you, Prussia, mon lapin is only allying with Austria so he can prevent my navy from getting supplies to my other colonies! Where has our amour gone?" The blonde Frenchman expressed dramatically, grabbing his heart as if he was mortally injured and splaying himself against the ledge of his outside balcony where the two nations talked.

The personification let her infamous 'kesesese' laugh lose at the sight. "It was never there to begin with," She smirked, resting her head on her hand. "I think we should form an alliance to prevent Roddy's precious Theresa from claiming the Habsburg throne. Salic law prohibits a woman from taking the throne anyway, so that could be our excuse to challenge Habsburg power. I bet I could even convince Spain to join us, considering he's been butting heads with Eyebrows since 1739, not to mention he could establish control over Northern Italy in place of Sissy Austria."

"What would I gain from this? I know very well that you would have something to gain, otherwise you would not have proposed this idea." Francis remarked as he sat back down in his seat, lightly swishing the wine around in his glass while admiring the way the light made the alcohol glimmer like blood.

Julchen shrugged, setting her white long boots on top of the table she and France conversed around, ignoring the fact that it was bad manners since they conversed in France's own home. "If you agree to help me defeat the piano-pansy, I'll pull some strings so that Frederick the Second casts a vote for Charles Albert of Bavaria instead of Francis Stephen for Holy Roman Emperor. Not to mention that when we win, it'll be another victory for you against Eyebrow, restoring the status quo ante in the process."

The personification of France only raised an eyebrow. "'When we win'?"

He nearly jumped in surprise when Julchen's boot was suddenly against his throat, her crimson orbs half-lidded in amusement. "I find your lack of faith in my awesomeness disturbing, Francis."

"Excuze-moi, Prussia. And yet you still haven't told me what you want from this." The blonde added hastily, mentally sighing in relief when the pressure on his adam's apple lessened and the albino's foot retracted.

"I want to prevent Augustus the Third from possibly taking over Silesia, which, according to the 1537 Treaty of Brieg, rightfully belongs to me! Not to mention I want to prove that both Prussia and Frederick the Second are forces to be reckoned with!" She exclaimed, her eyes sparkling like the wine he was drinking, her usual smirk replaced with a confident smile.

The blonde across from her only took a small sip of his wine, chuckling lightly. "It is strange to see you place so much assurance into a mere human, Prussia."

Julchen leaned back in her chair, her hands behind her feathered ('Prussian Blue') war hat. "I can tell Freddy's going to be great, someday. He has a lot of potential, he just needs to put down the books and pick up a sword."

It was around then that she noticed a familiar figure lurking near the door of the balcony, the sight of the person causing her usual smirk to return.

"Eavesdropping on us, aye Birdie?" Julchen winked teasingly towards Matthew, whose face erupted into fifty shades of red at such a fast rate it resulted in her 'kesesese'ing again. "What brings him here, France?" She questioned when she recovered from her laughter.

"Ah, Canada managed to sneak past mon lapin to discuss smuggling supplies into some of my other colonies. Though I didn't realize he was listening on us until now…" Francis admitted, wondering why he was unable to notice him until now.

"That's awesome, Birdie!" She exclaimed happily as she walked over and slung an arm around Matthew's shoulder. "Now that you're here, you can make me some pancakes worthy of being consumed by the awesome Prussia!" Julchen grinned, ignoring how badly the Canadian was blushing or how much the Frenchman across from the two was 'honhonhon'ing at the sight of 'young amour blossoming before his eyes'.


(Author's Note: God, you wouldn't believe how many times I posted this chapter only to take it down a few seconds later due to error. Again, I apologize if my history is off. And yes, this entire chapter is in flashback.

*This conversation is taking place shortly before the War of the Austrian Succession, which began under the pretext that Maria Theresa wanted to take the Habsburg Throne after the death of her father, Emperor Charles the Sixth of the Holy Roman Empire.

*One of the main advantages England had with being an island nation is that he could easily block France's trading route and prevent him from sending supplies to his colonies, especially under times of war. On the other hand, France preferred to let his colonies fight for themselves, anticipating that they would lose. Spain ended up joining with France and Prussia because of the reasons Prussia mentioned earlier.

*The 'Salic Law' in which Prussia and France mention was a series of law governing civil law, inheritance and the like created during the Middle Ages, which the two countries used against Maria Theresa as an excuse to prevent her from taking the throne.

*Frederick the Second (a person with whom Prussia mentions a lot in this particular chapter) would later be known as Frederick the Great of Prussia (she, unbeknownst to even herself, makes a reference by saying that 'Freddy's going to be great, someday'), who created a good reputation for himself during and after the War of the Austrian Succession. 'Put down the books and pick up a sword' refers to the fact that Frederick preferred education as opposed to warfare. As a part of a defensive treaty set up shortly after Prussia and France formed an alliance, Frederick the Second agreed to vote for Charles Albert of Bavaria instead of Francis Stephen for Holy Roman Emperor, since anyone was a better option for Holy Roman Emperor than Francis Stephen, who was the husband of Maria Theresa.

*Augustus the Third was the Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, who Frederick the Second feared would violate the 1537 Treaty of Brieg by taking over Silesia. The Treaty stated that Brieg, which is the capital of Silesia, would be inherited by the Hohenzollern Dynasty which consisted of Prussian, German and Romanian royals.

*Pancakes were supposedly invented in the 17th century by the Dutch. No clue when/how it got to Canada or when Canadians perfected the art of making pancakes.

*Typical of Prussia to break the Fourth Wall by (somewhat) making a Star Wars' reference.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter (I did A LOT of research to make it possible, though I'm not sure if Wikipedia counts as research), I'll try to update soon