So, this is the longest chapter I've written for this story yet. It covers a lot of ground. Anyway, hope y'all enjoy it. Read and Review. Remember, I don't own Hetalia and never will.
Warning: This is the worst chapter so far as far as the abuse portion goes. It probably will never get this bad in the future. Just be aware before you read it, it is fairly gruesome.
The next day, as he had promised, Roderich escorted his wife to town. They took his carriage instead of walking, so it didn't take long for them to arrive. A few minutes into the ride Elizabeta looked out the carriage window to find they were already passing through the marketplace.
"Oh, Roderich, could we get out here and walk around for a while. I love the market." she said giving her husband a hopeful look. He nodded and called to the driver to stop the carriage. Then, the two stepped out into the crowd.
The couple walked between the stalls stopping to look at certain items and making small talk along the way. In the back of her mind Elizabeta noted they were coming closer and closer to Gilbert's stall. She didn't voice these thought, however, seeing how her husband wasn't even aware of her friendship with the young merchant.
"Elizabeta!"
The young woman froze when she heard her name being called over the voices of the crowd surrounding them. Roderich looked down at her confused, having obviously also heard it.
The two both simultaneously turned to look for the person who had called her. Elizabeta's felt a smile tug at her lips when she saw her albino friend waving at her from a few stalls down.
"Who is that?" her husband asked cynically. His tone caught her off guard. She glanced up at him her smile fading from her face.
"He's an old friend from my childhood." she answered.
She looked back over at her friend who was looking at her slightly confused. She risked a small wave back at him which he returned with a large grin. Then, he sauntered over to the pair, still sporting the egotistical grin.
"Hey, Eli." he said.
"Gil." she greeted him. "I would like you to meet my husband, Roderich."
Gilbert's red eyes shifted over slightly to look at the aristocrat, smile fading away slowly, before focusing back in on Elizabeta.
"A pleasure." Roderich said with a stiff nod.
"Yeah, whatever you say." Gil returned with a cool tone of voice.
"I do, however, find it slightly inappropriate that you would address a lady as you did." the violet eyed man said mimicking the same tone. "And a married one at that." he added under his breath.
"Me and Eli have an original relationship, though." he protested with another smirk. "I wouldn't expect you to understand."
"What are you insinuating, little peasant?" Roderich asked, scowl present.
"Nothing at all, stuck-up pansy." Gilbert countered looking back into his eyes.
Elizabeta stared between the two for a moment. It appeared that the two men would continue to fight at this rate. "I do not believe it is very gentlemanly to argue with a simple merchant, Roderich." she interrupted.
The aristocrat scoffed and looked away, while the other looked down at her with a slightly hurt expression. She gave him an apologetic look which he responded with a look of understanding.
"You're right." Roderich finally answered. "We should be returning home anyway." With that being said, the man turned and walked away.
"Hey, Eli." Gilbert whispered, capturing the woman's attention. "Meet me tonight in the field, okay?"
"I'll try." she whispered back before turning to catch up with her retreating husband.
The two returned home and went on with the normal routine of their day. Roderich locked himself in the piano room and Elizabeta found a book and read for the rest of the day. They ate dinner together as usual and retired. This time, however, the young Hungarian didn't fall asleep.
After she was sure her husband was deep in the folds of unconsciousness, she stepped out of bed and quietly dressed. Quickly as possible, the girl left the room and made her way down the stairs. She left by the front door and started the trek to her planned meeting place with Gil.
After several minutes of walking, the field came into her view. She approached and saw her friend standing in the center of the field. He turned when he heard her footsteps and gave her a broad grin.
"You came!" he exclaimed.
"I said I would try to come didn't I?" she asked with a small smile of her own.
"I have no guarantees when it comes to you though."
Elizabeta looked down suddenly feeling a little guilty. She shook the feeling off, however. "I'm sorry, but I can't just leave on a whim. I have certain responsibilities as Roderich's wife."
"Oh, don't give me that excuse." Gilbert rolled his eyes. "Everyone has to have a little fun every now and then. He can't keep you locked up inside his little mansion forever."
"He doesn't!" she insisted. "Look, if you're just going to insult Roderich the whole night, I'll just go home." To prove her point the girl turned to walk away.
Gilbert grabbed her arm. "Wait, Eli, I'm sorry." he apologized. "I shouldn't have said that. Can we just, you know, talk for a while?"
"I suppose so." she smiled up at him.
The two sat down in the grass again. Gilbert sat directly across from the other.
"So, how have you been?" he asked seriously.
"Fine, Gil." she answered. "And you?"
"Awesome, as always." he smirked.
Elizabeta noticed that his red eyes seemed almost to glow in the darkness around them. As the breeze picked up a bit, she shivered as the wind cut through the thin material of her dress.
"Are you cold?" he asked. She started to reply but before she could get a word out he scooted over beside her and wrapped her in warm embrace. "If I had a coat of some kind I would give you that but I don't so this will have to do."
She frowned and pushed him away. He stared at her in confusion. "Gilbert that is not appropriate." she chastised.
He rolled his eyes at her words. "Oh come on, who's going to see us? It's just a hug. What's the harm even?"
"The harm is, I'm married now and there are certain things that I shouldn't do because of that marriage."
"And that includes hugging an old friend?"
"Yes, if that old friend happens to be a man."
"You're taking this out of proportion."
"No you're oversimplifying the situation."
The albino crossed his arms and looked away, visibly annoyed at her insistence. "Fine, freeze for all I care. It's not worth that much to me anyway."
For some reason his words cut her deeply. She flinched a bit and looked away. "I'm sorry, Gil. I just-"
"Don't bother, Elizabeta. I know what you're going to say. He dismissed her, and then continued in a horrible imitation of her voice. "Roderich wouldn't like it, and I live to please him now."
Silence fell over the pair. Elizabeta gripped a few blades of grass beside her and started tugging on them. She didn't even notice when a tear slipped from her eye and ran down her cheek until Gilbert leaned over and wiped it away with a gentle finger.
"Why are you crying?" he asked in a confusion laced voice.
"I'm not." she denied, quickly rubbing the back of her hand over her eyes where more tears were forming. "It's just the wind blowing stuff into my eyes."
Gilbert didn't buy her lie for a second. "I didn't mean what I said. I'm just upset with his attitude is all."
"Why? Because he called you a peasant?" she asked.
"No, I'm used to that. It's just the fact that he acted like he owns you or something. I hate that, I really do." He grimaced.
"It's not that. He's just acting like a husband does."
"Or like a slave owner does." Gilbert added in a whisper.
"Gilbert!" she protested.
"Okay, I'm sorry. No more talk about him, I swear."
"Thank you." she sighed.
True to his promise, the two did not bring up Roderich for the rest of their conversation. When the first rays of the sun showed on the horizon, they parted ways and Elizabeta ran home as quickly as possible.
She arrived and rushed through the door. She started to walk up the stairs just as she was frozen in place by an all too familiar voice from behind her.
"Elizabeta, where have you been?" her husband asked.
She slowly turned around to look into his burning violet eyes. He glared at her over his glasses. Her hand gripped the stair's railing tightly.
"I…" she trailed off uncertain of how to explain herself.
"It's a simple question."
She hung her head. "I was with Gilbert." she answered honestly. "He asked me to meet him so I did."
"And you thought this would be a good idea?" Roderich asked. "What could you possibly want from that merchant that I can't give you?"
"It's not what it seems." she said quickly. "He's just a friend. We just talked."
"I'm sure…" he said menacingly. "And this 'talk', was it enjoyable for you? Did you enjoy your little romp with the peasant?"
"I can honestly say that, yes, I enjoy his company. But you're still jumping to conclusions. We did nothing but talk."
"Don't bother with your pathetic lies, Elizabeta. I can see the grass stuck in your air. You're still flushed. The evidence is as clear as crystal."
"No, Roderich. The grass is simply from sitting in a field. I'm flushed because I ran all the way back here. Please, you must believe me."
The fuming Austrian simply grabbed her arm and dragged her the rest of the way upstairs to their bedroom. "I'll show you why you shouldn't lie to me Elizabeta." he whispered.
"I'm not lying!" she almost shouted. His threat sent shivers down her spine.
He ignored and slammed the door closed behind them. She started backing away from him. He stepped forward and grabbed her shoulder. "You can't run, Elizabeta. Like I said before, you have to learn to respect me and my rules."
"I will, I promise!" she said, starting to cry. "Please, don't hurt me, Roderich."
Her pleas fell on deaf ears and he landed a blow to her face. She fell back, only to be ripped up by her furious husband. Pushing her back, she tripped and fell against the full length mirror. The glass shattered and cut into her back and arms.
She slid to the floor and waited for the next onslaught but it never came. She looked up timidly and found that Roderich had already left the room. She forced herself to stand and walked into the washroom. She carefully slipped out of the dress and dropped it onto the floor. She took a deep breath and started to examine her back in the mirror.
She winced at the sight of the torn skin and bloody wounds. Further examination showed her arms were just as bad if not worse, especially the right one that had been slit open from the elbow down. He pressed rags to the cuts she could reach in order to stop the bleeding.
Through the whole process, she tried to control her sobbing but soon gave up and just let the tears come as they pleased. Flinching at the pain, she wiped her eyes quickly. Suddenly, another set of hands had grabbed a rag and pressed it to the wounds on her back. She uncovered her eyes to see Roderich behind her. His face was its normal emotionless rock.
She jumped slightly as he pressed against the cut too hard causing a shot of pain to run through her nerves. He didn't say anything as he washed the blood from her back and arms, then started to bandage the cuts more carefully than before.
"I don't want you to see him anymore." he said after he was finished.
"What?" she asked, wiping her tear streaked face again.
"The albino. I forbid you to see him again. I'll let you continue as you were if you promise to no longer associate with him."
"Yes sir…" she whispered, her heart sinking in her chest.
"You understand why I must do this, right?" he asked. "To protect both of our reputations. How would you like your family to know you had an affair with a merchant in a field no less?"
"I already told you, nothing happened." she whispered.
"That's not the point. The point is it could have happened." Roderich sighed and rubbed his eyes. "I'm going to the piano room. You should probably sleep the night off and we can talk more about this tomorrow."
He didn't wait for an answer and simply left. Elizabeta slipped on a night gown, careful not to move too much for fear of pain or disrupting the bandages. Then she slipped into bed and cried herself to sleep.
