DISCLAIMER: Still don't own Hetalia...

Chapter Four: Secrets

It was another sunny day in Madrid. Antonio was in his room, picking his clothes for the day. Lovino was snuggled in Antonio's bed, watching his every move with a sharp eye.

"Don't you ever get bored?" Antonio asked. "I could ask my parents if I'm allowed a friend round for a while, then you'll be able to get out more."

Lovino shook his head, further burying his head into the soft pillow. "Nah, don't worry. I'll be fine up here; you don't need to go to the trouble." In truth, Lovino couldn't allow Antonio to reveal that he even existed. That would cause a lot more trouble that it was worth, and would almost entirely ruin the plan.

Antonio cocked his head to the side in confusion. "Really? I would hate to be shut up here all day..."

"I'm fine." Lovino said stubbornly. "Don't forget to bring me tomatoes."

Antonio sighed, nodding at the request. He then left the room, fully clothed. He wandered towards the kitchens, head filled with questions and worries about the Italian hidden in his room. Something was off about Lovino, and he wanted to find out what it was.

Reaching the kitchens, he entered, grinning and greeting the staff as usual. As usual, they all replied with smiles and waves or words of greeting. Antonio sat on his usual counter, a spare one near the back, and ate a tomato that had been left there. They then began to talk, as usual.

"Say, did you see the paper yesterday?" One cook asked, stirring some soup as he did.

"Yeah, really unfortunate thing, that." Another cook replied, making her way to the fridge and pulling out some ingredients.

"At least Scifo was alright though." A young dishwasher said, placing a wet plate on the rack by the sink.

"But why would someone want into the castle?" Antonio said, chewing thoughtfully. "It's obvious that was their intention."

The cooks were quiet, letting the only noise be the sizzling, bubbling or slicing of the food. Nobody answered the question, and he wasn't sure whether it was because they didn't know or because they couldn't say. Shrugging, he let them change the subject to something a little more light-hearted. He couldn't remove the questions from his brain, but he could at least try to ignore them for now.

After eating his tomatoes, he bid the chefs farewell, another two tomatoes in his pocket for Lovino. He would go to his room, leave the tomatoes for him then go back downstairs for breakfast. Perfect!

Antonio walked the oh-so-familiar halls of his home, never pausing to take in the freshly-dusted paintings or the newly-cleaned carpets. He merely continued on, even the carpet fibres giving way to their superior, his feet.

The walls, however coated with paintings they were, were not the thickest of walls. One could easily stand by a door and listen to an entire conversation, if they were careful about it. Most of the rooms were silent, with the occasional clock ticking away in the background. Some had the quiet steps of maids as they remade beds and dusted furniture. There was one room, however, that emitted a particularly different noise, loud enough that it could barely be heard through the oak door. Upon hearing the voices, Antonio walked over to the door, quietly standing against the wall beside it and concentrating on the hushed voices inside.

"It was 12 years ago Isabella, can we please let it go?" Antonio recognised this as his father, speaking to his mother.

"Fernando, what happened last year shows that it's definitely still a problem." His mother's tone was agitated.

"Are you even sure it's the same person?"

"Of course it is! How many people do you find with a name like that, even in Italy?"

"Isa, let it go. It's been 7 months since he got back, it's over. I'm sure we'll have nothing to do with that family ever-"

"And what makes you so sure?! What if he was the one who attacked Scifo?!" Antonio remembered that Scifo was the name of the guard who had been attacked. "I just think we should tell him, he's old enough now-"

"Isabella, it's over." Fernando's interruption was a sign of an ended conversation. "It is not a matter which has any meaning any more. The night anything comes up with that family is the night this kingdom falls, and that is not happening any time soon, I assure you."

Isabella made no attempt to recover the conversation, leaving Antonio to slip away silently. 'That family...12 years...7 months...' Just who were his parents talking about? What was going on, and why did it feel like everyone was keeping secrets from him? Antonio sighed, continuing his path to his room, his mind filled with endless questions that would probably never be answered.

At breakfast, he was quiet. He poked at his food, not partaking in the conversations floating around him, supported by only his parents and the occasional staff member collecting or serving plates of food. Of course, for someone as talkative as Antonio, this was easily noticeable.

"Antonio, are you okay?" His mother asked in worry. "You're not ill are you? Should I call the doctor?"

Antonio shook his head, mumbling that he was fine. This didn't seem to satisfy the queen.

"Please speak up darling. Something must be wrong; you're hardly ever this quiet."

His father spoke next, not seeming too worried about his son's condition. "Don't worry Isa, he's probably not fully awake yet!"

The tone of voice was fake, poorly concealing his opinion, which was the opposite of what was said; they all knew Antonio was very chipper in the morning, unlike many other people.

Five minutes later, he pushed his plate away, standing. He murmured something before beginning to walk away. He then took notice of his mother's words.

"Honey, do you not want to at least take a plate up? You might get hungry, and we don't want you to starve."

I can get more food for Lovino this way, he thought, backtracking to the table. He picked up his abandoned plate and put a few more slices of toast on it. He then forced a smile to his mother before leaving once more. Even though the toast was cooling quickly, Antonio was sure Lovino would enjoy it.

Author's Notes: Hello~

I hope you all are enjoying your holidays! It must be nice to not have to stress as much as usual~

I also hope you're also still enjoying the story! It's growing more mysterious now, I think, and perhaps a few of you already have theories about what's going on? Anyhow, thank you once again for all of the follows, favourites and reviews!

To anonymous1: I apologise, I wasn't aware of that! I'm afraid I don't have much knowlege of Hannukah, so I apologise if my comment was somewhat rude or ignorant-sounding.

Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, and I'll see you all on Sunday!

~Random