Author's Notes: There will be OCs in this chapter, but only the named ones are countries; the rest are random Remuzzians.

Name Guide: Monique - Monaco, Basajaun - Basque Country

Place Name Guide: Soufflure - France, Monaco and Basque Country; Fortaleza - Spain and Portugal; Elysia - Greece


To Lovino, the most beautiful sight in the world was Feliciana's smile. It was the one thing that hadn't change, always warm and accepting when the rest of the world had turned cold and harsh. Even when he found himself doubting his own thoughts and actions, he only needed to think about her smile and everything would be right once more. Seeing her without it made his blood turn cold and his heart sink into his stomach.

The moment he had seen her frowning as she sat in at the head of the large polished table in the meeting room. He had wanted to go to her and do something to make her smile, but he thought better of it; it probably wasn't the best to show himself to his sister's guests given his current state. Instead, he continued to watch her from the slightly opened side door, his hands yearning to silence whoever had upset her.

"Do you even understand what is coming out of your mouth?" said a woman in a green silk dress with a voice like blade against a grinding stone. "There is no food. The drought had left us with nothing. How many times do I have to repeat that for you to understand?"

Lovino's fingers tightened around the shaft of his battle axe. He knew very well that Feliciana understood that there was a famine, although she didn't whine and lament about it like so many nobles who claimed to suffer with the citizens when their tables were laden with fine food and drink. Without a doubt the woman was probably one of those disgusting nobles that made his temper boil.

"I understand," Feliciana said in a defeated tone that made him want to charge into the room and slap the woman who had yelled at her. "We have no food."

The woman sat back in her large, cushioned chair. "So we finally understand each other," she said.

"But there has to be a solution," Feliciana said in a hopeful voice. She tapped her lips in thought, before folding her hands on the table. "We could buy food from the other kingdoms, like we have done before. We could do that, right?"

"If you may allow me to interrupt, My Queen," the treasurer said shakily, adjusting his spectacles. "Our treasury is low on funds. We cannot afford to buy food from the neighbouring kingdoms."

"We can borrow food, then," Feliciana said, her hands fiddling with her sleeves. "We can pay them back when we have the money."

"Which reminds me," the treasurer cut in again. "The Province of Soufflure demands payment for the shipment of grain made last year. The Houses are already threatening to raise their banners against you, My Queen."

Feliciana's shoulders slumped forward ever so slightly. "It's time to pay, again?" she said, her voice growing agitated. "We just paid last month."

"That was Avalon we paid, My Queen," corrected the treasurer, leafing through his books.

"Oh…" said Feliciana, sinking into the cushions of her chair, a tired look on her face. "I know!" she said, jumping to her feet. "If I could just talk to my Zia Françoise, we could settle this. We could ask for an extension."

"How many times do I have to explain this?" the woman in the green dress huffed. "Lady Françoise has no power over the House of Bonnefoy. She is married into the House of Kirkland of Avalon, beyond the reaches of our realm. She never had power in the House of Bonnefoy to begin with, being a firstborn daughter with no brother preceding her. We cannot rely on her to intervene for us."

"I'll talk to Zia Monique and Zio Basajaun, then," Feliciana suggested. "I know for sure that Zia Monique handles the financial matters of the House of Bonnefoy."

The woman in green slammed her hands down on the wooden table. "Don't you understand?" she yelled, making Lovino want to wring her neck. "You can buy us time, but talking to them won't make our debts disappear. It won't solve anything."

Feliciana backed down into her chair, seeming to drown in the plush cushions and in her voluminous dress. "I understand," she said, her eyes cast downwards.

"May I suggest raising the taxes, My Queen?" the treasurer said in a tiny voice.

Sighing, Feliciana turned towards him. "If there is no other option," she said tiredly.

"May I remind you that the people are already rebelling because of the high tax rates?" a tall man with a moustache said. "Won't this simply worsen the situation?"

"I have received news that there have been uprisings among the farmers in Elysia," a woman with spectacles added.

"Again?" Feliciana said, sliding down her chair a little, making her seem smaller. "Why can't we all just make pasta and get along?"

The woman in the green dress stood up suddenly. "Because we have no food!" she nearly screamed. "I've been repeating this for the past two hours and you still couldn't understand. I have had enough of this meeting!" Without even asking to leave, she was out the ornate double doors, the others watching as she left.

Feliciana slid her chair backwards and slowly stood up. "We'll continue tomorrow," she said softly as she headed towards the side door.

There were tears forming in her eyes she exited the meeting room and Lovino almost found himself running to find the woman in the green dress just so he could strangle her; as far as he was concerned, his sister was doing all she could to keep their country running despite everything and she deserved to be respected for that. She took immediate notice of him, unlike so many others who had taken to ignoring him, and ran into his arms, burying her face into the front of his coat. He enfolded her in his arms, taking note of how tiny she seemed underneath her voluminous gowns.

When she looked up at him, her tears were gone as if they had never existed at all and a small smile graced her lips; over the years, he had noticed that Feliciana had become adept at changing faces whenever she needed to.

"You're back, fratello!" she said as if what had transpired in the meeting room had never happened. "So, what did Ludwig say? When will he come over so we can prepare for the wedding?"

Lovino frowned and looked away. When she mentioned the potato-loving prince, even Feliciana could manage to sour his mood. Sometimes, he did lose his temper and yelled at her for bringing up his name, but, oftentimes, he tried to control himself for her sake.

"What did he say, fratello?" Feliciana urged. "He does remember that the wedding is this year, right?"

Lovino looked down at his sister, trying to figure out how his voice should sound when he told her. "He said that he wanted to postpone the wedding," he said, a hint of glee unintentionally mixing with the sedate tone he had chosen. "He said that his grandfather and brother wanted time to sort out the problems Tysk had been encountering."

"I understand," Feliciana said in the same defeated voice she had used inside the meeting room.

"But I'm sure he'll change his mind and come rushing here to marry you," Lovino said with what little enthusiasm he could muster, although the thought alone made his heart sink to his stomach.

Feliciana suddenly brightened and hugged him again. "You really think so?" she asked.

"My sorellina is kind and beautiful," he told her, his voice much softer than it usually was. "If that potato-eater has any brains in that thick skull of his, he would see that."

His sister pulled back with a smile, but frowned when she noticed, in the dim light of the corridor, the red stains that now covered the front of her dress. With suspicious eyes, she opened his black coat and took an uncertain step back. Her hands, however, lingered on his coat and shirt.

"You have blood on you, fratello," she said. "Are you hurt? What happened to you?"

It wasn't the first time that Feliciana had seen him come home in bloodied clothes, but she always reacted with the same concerned voice.

"I'm fine," he said, buttoning his coat once more. He really was fine this time; most of the blood wasn't his anyway. "I just had some business to attend to."

He would never tell her how, each time he had come back drenched in blood and sometimes when he didn't, he had gone out to silence her enemies. She could wonder why all who had stood against her were soon no more, but she would never know that he had spilled their blood with his own hands. He had ended more than a hundred lives just to keep her safe, but she didn't have to know; it would only distress her.

"I should still check you over for injuries," Feliciana said, pulling him towards their bedroom.

She had never really asked too much into what business he had taken care of. She would simply tend to any injuries he may have sustained, smiling warmly as she did. To keep that smile on her face was the reason he had killed so many.

"It's good that it was only a few scratches," Feliciana said when she had finished dressing his wounds. "I still can't imagine how you managed to bleed so much from those tiny wounds."

"I don't know either," Lovino replied although he knew the blood had actually belonged to a rebel leader in Fortaleza. "You probably shouldn't worry too much about it." He lied back on the bed, sinking into the soft mattress. "So, do you want to do anything since your meeting ended early?" he asked, trying to forget the screams of the slain man's wife that still echoed in his ears; she had nothing to do with the rebellion, but she saw him and she had to be silenced. "Do you want to go out and ride Giosetta?"

Feliciana lied down beside him. "I was thinking we could take Giosetta out and go visit Mamma, Papa, Nonno and Zio Lars," she said, smiling. "It's been a while since we've visited them. We've been so busy lately. I'm sure it would be nice to go out and have a picnic there. We could light some of the candles that Zia Françoise sent us for when we pray the rosary."

"That sounds nice," Lovino said, sitting up.

"You remember when we were little and we used to play there?" Feliciana said, pulling him back down on the bed. "When we used make garlands from the wild flowers that grew there?" She put her hand over his and entwined their fingers. "Do you remember when I made crowns from everyone?"

Lovino nodded and looked at her, surprised to see that there were tears beginning to form in her eyes.

"I remember that, back then, I thought I would have all of them with me when I became queen," she said, her fingers tightening around his. "I didn't think that I'd lose them so soon. I thought they would be here to tell me when I'm doing something wrong and tell me what I had to do when I'm confused." Her tears began to roll down her cheeks. "Sometimes, I think that they're probably disappointed of me. I mean, it's my fault that Remuzzia is suffering. In four years, I've managed to ruin everything our ancestors had worked so hard to build up. That's probably why Ludwig doesn't want to marry me anymore. I ruin everything. It's a surprise nobody had come to kill me yet."

Unable to bear her tears and words anymore, Lovino sat up and bundled her up into his arms. Those words did not belong to Feliciana; he was certain he heard them, but he refused to believe they were hers. Feliciana was supposed to be cheerful and optimistic, always bouncing about and smiling.

"It's because I won't let anyone hurt you," he said, a slight tinge of anger in his tone. "I will always be here to protect you."

Feliciana looked up at him, smiling despite the tears that stained her cheeks. "I know you will," she said.

Lovino smiled along with her. Feliciana was supposed to always smile. It doesn't matter how many others he had to kill to keep it on her face. He would make certain that a day would come when she would never need to frown or cry. He would do everything just to keep her smiling.


More Author's Notes: The annoying woman in the green dress is based on my sister's classmate, who loved to have meetings but ended up angry and storming off. I used to be so annoyed when I came to fetch my sister from their class play practices and see him yelling at her when I peeked through the window. Romano's reactions are almost the same as mine. "Giosetta" is the Italian variant of "Josephine", Rin's horse in Daughter of Evil. Also, I mentioned praying the rosary since they are Italian and I assumed they would be Catholic.

Additional Information: French names, like "Monique", are used in Monaco, so I gave her a French name. "Basajaun" is a distinctly Basque name that means "lord of the forest" and is also the name of a mythological, hairy humanoid creature in Basque Country.

"Soufflure" is a French word which means "honeycomb", "blister" or "bubble". France is also known as "l'Hexagone", or "The Hexagon", and honeycombs also happen to be hexagonal in shape, so I chose that name. "Fortaleza" is the Spanish word for "fortress" which I chose simply to reference Spain and Portugal's rich military history. "Elysia" is derived from Elysium, the abode of the blessed dead in Greek mythology.