Jack of Hearts

"Y-You're retiring?"

"Sadly, I am, Ludwig," the buff, dark-haired (barely graying, he might add) man said with a sigh of regret. "It's funny. I always thought that I would leave the position as Jack of Hearts through the glory of battle and the honor of dying to defend the Kingdom, rather than peacefully stepping aside to live out the rest of my days in a state of purposeless do-nothing."

"B-But you don't have to retire, Jack Rome!" Ludwig protested, feeling himself on the precipice of some kind of panic that he hadn't experienced in years, "You're not required to leave the office, you can stay and still continue to be useful to the Kingdom-!"

Rome interrupted him with a definite shake of his head. "No, my young King. The disaster on our southern border near Dresden was what opened my eyes. Despite my still-youthful and lady-killer appearance, I'm just not as spry as I used to be. It wouldn't have happened when I was younger. You know I'm quite old despite my looks; I do have five grandsons after all," Rome pointed out and his copper eyes twinkled merrily very much like Francis's often did.

Ludwig's face flushed and his brow furrowed in embarrassment at being reminded again that the Jack of Hearts was his grandfather through his mother's line. Save for his mother, he hadn't ever been particularly close to his Diamond-blooded family, rather associating more closely with his father's Spadian half of the family.

"Yes, I know that Dresden was a mess, but… that was just the one time and you've been a superb Jack the rest of the time, as you've always been. Is one little incident really enough of a mark against your remarkable career record to cause your departure?" he asked.

He knew he was starting to sound desperate, but it was because he didn't want Rome to leave, and with good reason that had nothing to do with their familial connection. The Heart Kingdom was the most prone to invasion and as such, everyone who could defend the Kingdom was a valuable asset. They didn't have that many natural landscape defenses like the other kingdoms and the land wasn't as valuable as theirs either, most of it being swampland. Really, the only reason that the Hearts was attacked so much from the large southern border (at least Spade's Alpyren Mountains protected three-fourths of their western border) was because they stood right in the way of reaching the other three kingdoms, the true targets of the invading forces. Loosing someone as crucial and important as Rome, Ludwig was afraid to think of how quickly the Kingdom would fall without him around as the Jack, especially if any of those massive invasions like before, during Gilbert's reign as the King of Hearts, started back up again. In the few years he'd been King, he'd had to deal with a couple invasions, but he knew that these were small fry compared to the monsters his predecessor had faced.

"Ah, you're much too kind, my Rhineland grandson, and still very young yet," Rome said with a jovial laugh, "It's more the dishonor of the thing, but this old man knows when to quit while he's ahead. One little blunder now may eventually lead to an irreversible defeat later and doom all the Card Kingdoms. I would have retired earlier, but I wanted to make sure you knew everything that I could teach you about the art of combat before I left, so that the Kingdom would not suffer for my knowledge's absence. I'm afraid you gave me very little to do; your older brother had taught you well, you should be proud of him."

"I am. All the time," Ludwig said, a lightness spreading through his chest at the compliment paid towards his oldest brother.

It had been several years ago since Gilbert became a Joker and he'd succeeded him as King of Hearts, but even now, he still heard criticisms against his brother and his rule, and it always made him feel upset and self-conscious about his own decisions within the Tripartite. Many seemed to have forgotten all the improvements that Gilbert had done for the Heart Kingdom once he'd become a Joker. It was his brother who was responsible for the draining of a good portion of the uninhabitable swampland for farming, the reforms to the public education system which included the introduction of the merit system used in Spade to select the regular government ministers based upon academic knowledge rather than family rank and prestige, and also the investments in the various manufacturing industries around the kingdom to increase production efficiency in order to compete against the other three, more resource-wealthy kingdoms. His greatest achievement however was the way in which he revolutionized warfare with the rest of his Tripartite and how not once under his reign did any invading army even manage to cross their Kingdom's borders, despite their superior numbers.

These were the glorious triumphs of Gilbert's reign, and though the foreign invaders were held at bay, his brother had made many enemies among the nobles at home. Gilbert had no use for tact and hardly any patience for those who stood in the way of what was necessary for the efficiency of the Kingdom. The merit system and the redistribution of wealth were only a few of things that Gilbert had implemented that had angered many of the nobles. One of the many criticisms that he had heard even back then when his brother was King was how he'd squandered the royal treasury with all his expensive projects; a criticism that was only the result of uninformed individuals spouting out propaganda when they didn't have any data to back it up. It had scared him so much that he'd actually asked Queen Kiku about his brother's projects, which the man had shown him that though they had been expensive to start, the return outputs more than made up for the money invested into them. It had given him peace of mind in regards to the Kingdom's finances, but he'd been so worried about the politics that he'd actually confronted Gilbert about his tactics (or lack thereof):

"Gilbert, why do you keep on doing things that anger the nobles?" Ludwig asked his older brother one evening, "It's not safe, and it's bound to come back and bite you soon."

"Aww, you lookin' out for your awesome older brother, Lutz?" Gilbert asked as he set down the book he'd been reading, a heavy volume titled The Art of War, and beckoned for him to come and sit on his lap.

Ludwig obeyed, but stared fixedly at Gilbert, intending not to be distracted until he had an answer.

"When you become King, Ludwig, you realize that not everyone is gonna be happy with what you're doing. There's always somebody who's going to be pissed off at you and the more radical your actions are, even if it's for the greater good, the more resistant some people are going to be towards them, particularly if they don't benefit or if they view the consequences to have a negative impact on them. At times like that, it's better to simply roll right over them, do your own thing, and let the profits speak for themselves, even if nobody will ever give you credit for what you did to make things better."

"But that's not fair," Ludwig protested with a pout.

"No, it's not Lutz, but it's a pretty sweet payout going into the villages and hearing people sing my praises because they no longer have to pay a fortune on import taxes for food, or actually having money from that new job they got at one of the mills. It's all just a matter of perspective, Lutz, and who it is you really care about making happy: the kiss-ass nobles or the hard-working everyday schmuck. You'll get to decide that for yourself when you become King."

It never failed to amuse Ludwig that Gilbert was the only person he knew who could call someone a 'schmuck' and make it come out like a compliment. "But Gilbert, I can't be King; only the Jack can inherit the title from a family member. The King has to be chosen by the Electors."

"Hahahaha! That's right, Ludwig! You'll be so awesome that the Electors will vote for you anyways!"

Ludwig had never imagined that the public opinion of Gilbert would decline so sharply once his brother became a Joker, but he supposed he underestimated the reputation of the Jokers. Even many of those who had benefitted from Gilbert's projects began to question his authenticity and if there had been shady dealings going on behind the scenes that no-one had ever suspected. Oh, there were still some that believed that Gilbert had been a genuinely good King with the needs of the masses in his heart at all times, but so many horrible rumors had spread about his older brother that those people were very few and they would never admit it for fear of persecution from their neighbors. What hurt the most about all this was the fact that all the good he'd done for the Kingdom was either completely overshadowed or brushed aside as a small act of goodness to distract away from the bigger, more sinister schemes of the Joker King.

"You alright there, Ludwig?" Rome asked, a look of concern on his dark-complexioned face.

"Ah, I'm sorry, Rome. I was just thinking about Gilbert," Ludwig said quickly, attempting to compose himself again.

Rome gave an understanding smile. "I know. Perhaps in a few hundred years after we're long dead and gone, some historian will be digging through the history of the Heart Kings and his contributions to the Kingdom will be remembered. For the meantime though, Kiku and I will help remember your brother's legacy. But now back to retirement!" and just like that, the serious moment was over. "Since I'm a Jack, you don't have to worry about any kind of voting process, since my Ace will just inherit the title of Jack once I've left, so there won't be any government stand-still like there is when we need a new King or Queen. Come along this way and I can introduce you two 'officially' before we commence with the Jack Rites and his induction into the Tripartite with the coronation ceremony. You've met my Ace of Hearts, yes?"

"Um, I think so," Ludwig said uncertainly, "One of your other grandsons of the Messina family line, wasn't it? He wasn't the one that kept cursing me out, was he?" he asked, suddenly desperately hoping that it wasn't that foul-mouthed grandson who hated him on sight for seemingly no reason.

"Ahaha, nonono, Lovino's not my Ace," Rome said with a hearty laugh, "It's his younger brother, Feliciano, that's my Ace. He's the one with auburn hair that says 'Ve' and has his eyes closed most of the time."

Ludwig wanted to ask how it was even possible for him to see if his eyes were closed, but decided that it wasn't really a question worth asking, deciding instead to claw his way through his memory and see if he knew anybody that matched that description. "Feliciano… Feliciano… Felici- Wait, a minute!" Ludwig's light blue eyes suddenly widened in horror as he stared at his Diamond-born grandfather, "Feliciano's not the one who complains about always starving even when good food's available, and makes white flags when he's not running a million miles an hour in retreat from the enemy, is he? ! ? ! ? !"

To Ludwig's absolute horror, Rome laughed again and said, "Yup, that's my little Feli! I suppose he can be a handful sometimes, and he really loves art, cooking, and music, but he's got a sassy wild side to him that he inherited from his mother when he's really pushed into action. I think he will be a good Jack for the new Tripartite once I've gone."

As the Jack and King of Hearts walked down the corridor together, Ludwig's brain was working furiously to think of a way to tell the Jack that he did not think that Rome had chosen the best possible Ace (which was the title given to the future Jack, like the Prince title given to the heirs of the Kingdoms when they were ruled by only one monarch in ancient times) that he could have for the Kingdom without being too blunt. Apart from his two other eligible grandsons, the man still had eight other children that were just as qualified to be granted the title of Ace, for there was no stipulation of the Ace having to be a citizen of the Kingdom they would be serving like there was for the Kings and Queens.

"Rome, I, that is…" Ludwig started awkwardly, and it didn't help that he knew every step he took brought him closer to the future Jack, "You know better than most how difficult it is to be a member of the Tripartite and of the Heart Kingdom no less, the most frequently-invaded Kingdom of all the Cards. I'm not sure that your Ace would be able to handle that kind of work."

Rome only gave him a grandfatherly smile in response (he swore Francis must have picked up that same smile from him!) "You'll have to make necessary adjustments to your individual duties within the Tripartite once you have your first session, so you and Kiku will undoubtedly both become more responsible for the war aspects of the Tripartite's powers. Your Tripartite will be different from the one you shared with me and even from the one I shared with your brother, but don't discount Feliciano's fighting abilities just yet. Remember, I said he has a sassy, wild side that comes in to play, and when it comes to invasions from the sea- Ohoho! You'll want that kind of personality! In naval battles, Feliciano's a vicious little demon on the high seas with a skill level on par with those of any Club sailor I've ever seen."

Despite the man's tendency to brag about his own military prowess and accomplishments, much like Gilbert actually except with less frequent use of the word 'awesome', he was never anything but honest when making an evaluation of other peoples' fighting capabilities because he had that kind of mind that allowed him to sort through all that information and put everyone in the position where they would do the most good, so he couldn't really doubt Rome's vouchsafe for Feliciano. Still… it didn't feel right agreeing that this was a good idea when the first memory he had of the man was of him crying hysterically after being pulled out of an empty box in the kitchen, by Ludwig no less, and apologizing at the top of his lungs for claiming to be a Box of Tomatoes Fairy. Needless to say, it was not a very reassuring image.

"Ah, there he is, out in the courtyard painting! Feliciano!"

And it was too late to turn back now.

The auburn-haired young man sitting out there in the afternoon sunlight turned at the sound of his name and gave a wide, ridiculously happy (almost to the point of looking high) smile while waving wildly with one hand. "Grandpa Rome! King Ludwig! You're both here; that's perfect! I just finished this painting! Come and see! Come and see!"

This was him. His soon-to-be Jack. Feeling more than a little resigned to the situation, Ludwig followed after Rome to join the Ace of Hearts.

"Oh, that's magnificent Feliciano!" Rome gushed as soon as he saw the painting after having run over to hug his second oldest grandson, though Ludwig didn't know what it was of yet. "The lighting and the shadows are so realistic and I love the light brush strokes across the canvas here, and the many color differences in the folds of that little girl's dress and that boy's cloak; it really leaves the most profound impression of a gentle summer's breeze whistling through the fields. Feli, I think this one may be your best yet!"

"Ve! You really think so Grandpa Rome?!" Feliciano asked excitedly and then turned to Ludwig with that same smile. "What do you think of my painting, King Ludwig? Any thoughts?"

Ludwig stood next to Rome to peer at the painting and his eyes widened in surprise. The painting was impressive! The style Feliciano was using was that new one that had started in Diamonds (surprise, surprise) when he was just a kid, Impressionism was what it was called if he remembered correctly, and though many conservatives among all four Kingdoms had disregarded it and criticized it as being half-formed muddled nonsense, Ludwig had always liked the Impressionist art style. He often found that it had a warmer, more familiar and friendly feel to it than the more rigid traditional art style. But it wasn't only the application of the Impressionist style that Ludwig found so admirable, the painting's content was also astounding. A gust of wind blew past a little blond boy dressed in black who was holding his hand out to a little red-headed girl dressed in green on a grassy hill under the early afternoon summer's sun.

"It's beautiful, Feliciano!" Ludwig breathed, and he truly meant it too. "Where did you even get the idea to paint this? Does this painting have a name yet?"

"I… I have some ideas, but I can't decide between whether I want to call it First Love or Sweethearts," Feliciano said, his voice sounding softer and quieter than before and his cheeks were a little red (probably from being out in the strong afternoon sun too long). "I actually got the idea to paint this from a story that my Mama used to read to me all the time when I was a kid. It's called The Princess's Promise; have you ever heard of it?"

"No, I haven't. I wasn't... ever really that big into fairy tales," Ludwig said, though the blush on his cheeks betrayed him somewhat about how true that second sentence was.

"Oh, that's too bad. It was my favorite story, though it's kinda sad. It's about a prince who asked the girl he loved, who was a princess from a different kingdom, if she would marry him and they would unite the two kingdoms as one to become a great empire. But the princess declined his offer because her grandfather had been the ruler of a mighty empire that had become too big and one of the wars to protect it had killed him. She was scared that the boy would be killed in a war like her grandfather was if he tried to recreate his empire. But sadly, it wasn't long before the kingdom found itself at war with some of its neighbors. He returned to his beloved's kingdom to give her his final goodbyes in case he should die in the war and never see her again, but before he left, she confessed her love for him and he confessed his too, and they shared their first kiss. He then had to leave for the war and she promised that she would wait for him, no matter how long it took. But when the war ended, her prince did not come back. He had disappeared sometime during the war and nobody knew what had happened to him, if he was even dead or alive. Over time, most people forgot about the lost prince, but not his princess who'd promised she'd wait for him, and wait she did. She waited and she waited. She waited her entire life for him, faithful to her first love until the very end. The story ends there, but Mama always used to say that after she died, she couldn't bear to go to the Afterlife without knowing if her beloved was there, so she wandered the land searching and waiting for her lost prince, hoping to reunite with him."

"That's… a really sad story…" Ludwig said at last, genuinely shocked that he had never heard of this fairy tale before and wondered if his own mother had even known about. What did Feliciano say it was called again? The Princess's Promise?

"Um-hm, but even if the princess is still searching for her prince after all this time, she's not bitter. Mama believes in the princess very much and says that such a person as her can never hate or begrudge those who've found love. I think Mama's right."

"Ah, your Mama always did like it when I read her that story as a young girl, Feliciano," Rome said tearily, "Such a beautiful story."

"Feliciano," Ludwig said to get the artist's attention and cleared his throat, "About the painting's name; may I suggest you choose First Love for it?"

"Oh? Yes, I can call it that, but why?" Feliciano asked innocently and then his face broke out into yet another wide smile, apparently the more permanent expression on his face. "Why do you like the idea of First Love better than Sweethearts, King Ludwig?"

"Well, because… I just think that First Love has a more noble ring to it. Sweethearts is a nice title, but even a married couple can still be called sweethearts, whereas First Love implies an innocence and enduring faithfulness, giving it a more timeless quality."

"You're right! It does! Alright, it's decided! I shall call this piece First Love! Thank you King Ludwig! That decision had been bothering me for a while now."

"Wonderful!" Rome said so loudly and so suddenly that Ludwig nearly jumped out of his skin in shock. Rome was so unusually quiet that he'd completely forgotten he was standing right there! "And guess what, Feli? Today's the day! Grandpa Rome's going to retire now and you'll become the next Jack of Hearts!"

"Ve! Really? Really? It's today! Right then, General! As soon as I get everything put away, I'll be ready for the Jack Rites and my induction into the Heart Tripartite!" Feliciano said with a zealous, snappy salute to the side of his forehead.

"Excellente! We'll be in the throne room waiting for you, Feli, so make haste."

"Yes, Grandpa Rome!" Feliciano responded and was already packing up all his materials with such speed when they left the courtyard that Ludwig wondered how it was physically possible for him to move so fast.

"You got along pretty well with him, I see," Rome said first once the sunny courtyard was out of sight.

"Hm? Oh, yes well… he's definitely a born Diamond and hopefully his artistic influence will inspire more of such art from within the Hearts citizens. However, I must confess that I… still have some serious doubts as to how well the three of us will manage to work together to keep the Kingdom safe in war times."

Rome clapped him on the shoulder as they walked and squeezed it for extra reassurance while he talked; a smile ever fixed upon the patriarch's face. "You've a good head on your shoulders and you will be a brilliant King. I would not leave if I felt that the new Tripartite would be incompetent. You have been trained by both your brother and myself, two of the most brilliant war tacticians you could ever have as teachers. Feliciano will be your top-of-the-line strength in the naval battles and is very good about coming up with escape routes, spontaneously even, which can be used to make effective tactical retreats to more strategic locations. And you haven't yet had the opportunities to really see Queen Kiku's best weapon in action since we've only had a few minimal border skirmishes, but he is one of the best strategic minds I've ever met. His mind is his war machine and he has a certain degree of intuition about tactics the enemy is most likely to use and where they will strike; he is not often wrong. I have no doubt in my mind that the three of you will cooperate well together to govern and protect the Heart Kingdom. Would I lie to you, my King?"

"No, you wouldn't. It's just that… you have so much faith in me that I sometimes wonder if it's even deserved or not."

"Of course it is my Rhineland grandson!" Rome replied, the broad more cheeky Gilbert-like smile back on his face within a millisecond, "Because I mean every word I ever say ever! Well! Now that we've settled that and you're not gonna have a mental breakdown upon my departure, after today, it'll be just you young'uns in control (though I suppose I shouldn't be calling Kiku 'young'), but if you have desperate need of me, I'll still be around. I don't know where I'll settle down for my retirement, but I'll definitely be traveling around first, checking in on all my children and my other grandsons, and that sort of thing. Maybe I'll settle down in Spades and bother your old man Wilhelm while I'm there!"

Upon this last declaration, Ludwig felt a sudden horrible sense of dread spread through him that told him that if Rome did decide to live in Spades with his father, it would be the last time he ever saw his grandfather alive in one piece.

Ah! Much better! The first time I wrote this chapter, I hated it, but I like it much better now! I was actually pretty good with the first half, but the second half needed a serious rework because Rome and Germany were just getting to be too OOC and repetitive (it needed Italy to liven things up! :D). ALSO, I GOT TO MENTION CHIBITALIA STUFF, SO POINTS FOR ME BECAUSE OMG, I DID NOT ORIGINALLY WRITE THAT IN THERE, BUT I'M GLAD I DID! ! ! XD Also, I believe… that this is my first time writing anything that may possibly be construed as the basis for shaping the growth of GerIta! :D I feel so proud of myself (because OH MY GOD, that ship is hard! AusHun [non-OOC AusHun even, as too rare as it is] is easy and natural, but GerIta, real non-OOC GerIta. Is. Freaking. Hard! O.O) because I wanted to do something with GerIta sometime for my best friend since it's one of her Hetalia OTPs! SO I HOPED I DID OKAY WITH THAT! ! !

Eh-heh, I ended up talking about Prussia a lot in this chapter, but my goal with that was to convey the similarity of relationship between the countries of Germany and Prussia (not the personifications) after WWII, because even though Prussia had done so many wonderful things for Germany (including freaking unification), in light of the then-recent events with the Nazis, those things were overlooked if not completely forgotten and ignored and only once time had distanced people from those events had it all been viewed more objectively, I believe (it seems that way to me, though I may be wrong).

Well, this chapter also takes care of the last of the Tripartite, and so the Jacks are the only members who inherit their position from their families. It's not discussed in this chapter because there was no way to mention it without it feeling out-of-place, but if you remember from previous chapters, women can inherit the position as well because both Roderich's and Basch's mothers were the Jacks of their Kingdoms. Also, to make it more clear, just in case, the Jack can choose any family member to be their Ace, so it doesn't necessarily have to be the eldest child hence why Romano wasn't the Ace of Hearts (lol, can you imagine him and Germany being together in a Tripartite? :P).

I may be done with all the members of the Tripartites, but I've still got one more chapter left. Don't forget that I still have to explain how Sealand is a Joker too. :)