Francis and Arthur could only stare at each other in a mutual silence, both unable to comprehend what the King had just admitted. Despite the excruciating awkwardness, a wave of relief embraced Francis, the words rolled off of his tongue despite the pain they caused him,
"I love you."
"Y-you can't…" Arthur gasped as he released his grip on Francis' throat, and began to step back, his green eyes widening and his lip trembling.
Francis hated the sight of Arthur in such a state, of course he knew that his confession was going to be a bad one, however, he didn't expect silence to be so harrowing.
"I know… But, I can't hide it anymore; it's eating at me, like a wolf at a carcass…" Francis muttered as he stepped off of the wall, walking towards the queen. "I don't expect anything from you-"
"Good, because you won't get anything," Arthur spat, defensively crossing his arms over his chest, desperately avoiding eye contact with Francis. "I… I can't believe this…"
"I have been struggling to hide it for the past couple of days… it's been destroying me… I'm sorry. I don't want you to see me as a threat or anything!" Francis explained as he placed his hands on Arthur shoulders, before lifting them because of the fear of appearing too interested…
"I didn't know how to contain it, and it's spiraling out of my control… You're just…"
"What?" Arthur asked, finally looking up at the King his eyes narrow with a mixture of anger and shock; as though the queen himself was unsure of how to handle this confession, "what did I do?"
"Nothing, actually…" Francis murmured, scratching at his neck, "You were just… you, I suppose… you're beautiful, your eyes are as green as a forest in spring, your skin is soft and you step with elegance and grace." Francis began to ramble and as he continued he watched Arthur's expression slowly begin to change… "Your voice is soothing and refined, you care so much about your kingdom and everyone around you and it is just so beautiful how you—"
"Stop it…." Arthur hissed, tightening his hands into fists, "Just… stop…"
"As soon as you stepped out of the carriage…" Francis murmured.
"STOP!" Arthur snapped before he bit his lip, "I am possibly the worst person for you to claim to be in love with!"
"I'm not claiming! I've been trying to push it away, but it is haunting me!" Francis replied, Arthur groaned in response, the sensation felt as though the Queen may as well slam his boot into the King's ribcage.
"I'm the queen of another Kingdom, and on top of that: I am married," Arthur hissed, flashing his hand to Francis, bringing to attention his golden ring.
"I know; that's why I chose not to act on it!" Francis pointed out.
"Not to act!? You said you loved me without thinking that I'd figure it out!" Arthur exclaimed, "And Alfred… Alfred…" Arthur frowned as his eyes widened at the realisation, "he already knows… Doesn't he?"
"Yes…" Francis admitted.
"Oh no…" Arthur moaned as he rubbed his forehead with his fingers, "and I yelled at him for being rude to you, but he was right all along…"
"I'm sorry…"
"You have no idea what you're doing! This is an absolute taboo, you cannot be in love with me, or feel anything for me! This is… This is… Unthought-of! Scandalous! This could destroy us, as well as you!" Arthur snapped as he struggled to find the right words to describe his outrage, "You're putting your entire kingdom at risk with in relation to the spades!"
"I know!" Francis replied, "That's why I accepted the deal!"
"The deal?" Arthur asked, "Did Alfred blackmail you…? Is that why you accepted that terrible agreement?"
"He was being a King, and I don't blame him…" Francis replied. "My kingdom means everything to me, and if it means staying silent about my feelings for you, then it's a fate that I alone will suffer…"
"You haven't done a very good job," Arthur spat.
"I let my selfish desire overcome me for a moment, and it exposed me and my desires… worse than that dream did…"
"What dream?" Arthur growled, "in fact, I don't think I want to know what you've been dreaming about!"
Arthur took in a deep breath as he straightened his back, his eyes narrowed towards the King, sending a shiver down his spine.
"We can't risk losing you as an ally… so I'm afraid that you will come to see us a lot more rather soon… I'm not sure how I feel about that..."
"Do you honestly think I can't control myself?" Francis asked, feeling insulted by Queens remark.
"Excuse me for feeling uncomfortable if a man who claims to be in love with me is going to be my Kingdom's closest ally! I don't understand why Alfred loves me, let alone you as well… this is going to drive Alfred insane as well; this has already hurt him we have argued because he thought that something was wrong! My marriage means everything to me!"
Francis was unsure about what to do; his heart was aching in pain as he watched Arthur whimper. "I don't want this... I can't… There is too much dishonesty and shame… I'm annulling the deal!"
"Arthur!" Francis cried as Arthur marched past the King, in shock, Francis reached to touch Arthur's arm, however, before he could tighten his grip, a firm hand struck the Diamond King across the cheek.
Francis hissed in pain as he pressed his hands against his reddened cheek, staring at the hand that struck him and the shocked look on the Queens face…
"Arthur…"
Arthur tightened his face and took in a deep breath, as though he was composing himself internally, "I'm sorry."
Without another word Arthur turned his back to Francis and ran out of the tea room, leaving the King alone in shock, his beating heart raging beyond his control: to the point of pain. Francis felt as though he was about to fall to his knees and scream… He knew better, but yet… He still did… He still thought of Arthur, his heart still ached for him. But because of this: he has put his kingdom at risk, the one thing he was born to serve and protect…
The noise of slow clapping echoed through the tearoom, sending a shiver down Francis' spine… because he knew exactly who it belonged to.
"Why won't you leave me alone?" Francis moaned as his head fell into his hands, "can't you see that I am in pain? Are you here to mock me? Here to haunt me?"
"No, to warn you," The Joker admitted, "Heh, you've done an amazing job."
"Go away…" Francis grumbled.
"No, no, let me finish…" The joker exclaimed, "You've done a good job at heading down the path to a 'Bad Ending'."
"I can see why…" Francis sighed as he finally looked up, his eyes reddened from fighting the presence of forming tears, to see the Joker sitting comfortably at the table, holding a teacup. "I'm heartbroken, and any hope of the Spades forgiving my Kingdom is severed."
"Not only that…" The Joker chuckled, "you have single handily managed to destroy the Kingdom of Spades…"
"What?!" Francis snapped.
"You have no idea how crucial this deal was to the Spades… You were going to guarantee food for their people…" The joker explained as he took a sip from the teacup. "You see, currently their kingdom is much closer to famine than they are willing to admit… even as we speak, anger and chaos is rising in the Kingdom of spades… Arthur, Alfred, Yao and Matthew are going to return to anarchy… and if they return without a solution, imagine what horrors await them…"
"No…" Francis gasped, seeing mental images of fire and bloodshed plaguing the beautiful palace of the Kingdom of Spades.
"There will be fire, angry people, broken promises… the last monarchs left the Kingdom in such a state is disarray; it was as though a curse had been placed on the new young monarchs… and now all of that anger that was felt towards the last King and Queen… is now aimed directly at Alfred and Arthur…"
"What…?" Francis gasped in disbelief.
"They are trying their hardest to bring back hope to their Kingdom, so imagine what will happen to them when they bring back nothing to a pack of starving wolves…" The Joker continued, "Congratulations, you have turned the Spades industrial revolution, into a political one… Arthur will spend his two year anniversary as the Queen hanging from a rope, right next to his husband before screaming crowds and fire, only for the Kingdom to fall into chaos and political terror…"
"No…" Francis gasped, overwhelmed by the shock of his mental image.
"They think that the deals that they've made with the Hearts and Clubs will be enough to buy them more time to sort out what else they can do, but it won't be enough…" The Joker continued, "What are you going to do about it?"
"I've got to stop them…" Francis gasped as he began to step back towards the door, "I can't let that happen to them! I need to warn them!"
The King quickly ran out of the tea room and down the hallway, desperate to find someone to help, he yelled at servants to find the Spade monarchs as well as ordered guards to remain vigilant for them.
Francis no longer cared about his selfish feelings; his mind had become preoccupied with the mission to save the Spades, as his feelings for Arthur had turned into a jolt of bravery. He knew that he had to save him, despite the fact that Arthur would never have any feelings for him in return…
Eventually Francis made it to the hall where all of the monarchs had met, following their private meetings, Francis immediately noticed the royal blue and violet coats of Alfred and Arthur. Francis ran down the staircase, desperate to reach the Spade monarchs, not caring if he caught the attention of any other King, Queen or Jack, all he could think of was that terrible image of Arthur gasping for dear life at the end of a rope.
"Arthur, Alfred!" He called out as he made his way towards them, only to be greeted by their narrow stares.
"MATTHEW!" Arthur roared when Francis got close enough to slow down, and before he could speak; a sword came between he and the monarchs.
People gasped with shock, as the ace of Spades drew out his sword, and placed himself between Francis and the Spades, determined to defend his monarchs. The once humble smile that Francis saw from the Ace had changed into a glare of determined protectiveness.
Francis stepped away, absolutely shocked by the Spades actions, however, he couldn't be shock for very long, as Antonio stepped between Francis and Matthew, drawing out his own sword.
"How dare you?!" Antonio hissed as the Spades and Diamond swords crossed.
Everyone stepped back in shock as the two Aces faced each other, giving them space to square each other off… the two Aces stepped back as they began to circle each other.
"I follow the orders of my King and Queen…" Matthew explained.
"I defend my King to the death, so if you want to harm him, you will have to get through me," Antonio hissed.
"Lovino, stand by the spades!" Francis heard Ludwig order to his ace, "we can't afford to have them regret their vote!"
Suddenly the Ace of Hearts ran to the two Aces, his sword at the ready, and before the King of Diamonds could assess the situation, the Ace of Clubs had joined, and all four Aces stood before each other with their swords at the ready, awaiting any further orders.
It was as though the situation could not get any worse, it was as though the entire system or order was crumbling before his eyes, and he was powerless to stop it.
"DON'T FIGHT!" A voice cried as a figure in yellow forced herself in the circle of aces, falling to the marble floor and her flowing dress falling around her.
"LILI!" Vash cried as he forced himself past the crowd, running to join his sister.
"EVERYONE STAND DOWN NOW!" Elizabeta ordered as the Aces seethed their swords and retreated back to their Kings, however, the tension remained potent throughout the hall.
Francis glanced over at Arthur, to see the Queen already glaring in his direction, unremorseful for calling the Ace of Spades to duty...
Despite this hateful gesture… Francis knew that he was not going to allow Arthur to die, for despite everything that had happened: he still felt nothing but adoring love for the Queen of Spades…
