A fabulous breakfast of eggs and sausage was set on two plates in front of Maria and Elizabeta. The queen frowned before ordering two – one more plate to be brought in. Sorrow engulfed her then at the absence of her husband. She picked at her scrambled eggs, forcing them around her plate without actually eating them or the greasy sausage.

Trying to shatter the obmutescent, Elizabeta asked, "Where is Roderich?" He was again absent from breakfast and while it seemed common practice for him to be late, it did not seem to fit in with his usual image. Her lush lips pulled into a frown.

Overhearing, Françoise snickered faintly as she poured them each a glass of water. She knew the prince's location, but she would not be yielding that information any time soon. Maria leered at her, eyes narrow slits. The French woman shrunk away after setting the pitcher in the center of the table for them. She hurried off to return to her element.

"Probably lost," the older woman finally answered as she peered at Elizabeta. Fork tucked in between her middle and index finger, she ghosted it above her meal, brushing the notion aside. "Or avoiding his cousins' arrival."

The princess furled her brows. "Cousins?" She had never heard about any living relatives aside from the queen and the king when she had asked Roderich. When she had inquired, she had ended up the one telling him about her second cousin, Felik, from Polska.

"Yes, Vash and Lilli Zwingli. Lilli is the cutest young girl I have ever seen and she and Roderich get along famously, but after hearing about how Roderich would be inheriting the throne when they were young, it created a... rift between him and Vash," Maria explained.

After an astute nod from Elizabeta, they resumed their eating. Maria retreated to memories of her husband, turning him into a mental ghost. A squire broke her from this as he barged in to share the new of Gilbert's release on Roderich's order. He failed to mention that there had been evidence that proved his innocence. The queen clenched her fist, allowing it to bite crescents into her palm as heat boiled in her veins. She would need to have a word with her son.

"Monsieur Edelstein, your bride is looking for you upstairs~" Françoise called. She smiled warmly as she waltzed over to the table before sitting down at the table that seated the hired help and their guests. More than enough food was always made so this was how they often spent their time during meals.

Glancing at the person next to her, the chef set a hand on the blonde's thigh. With the other hand, she pulled a napkin off the table. "You missed some, mon amour." Françoise dabbed at vibrantly red cheeks.

Matthew swallowed, coughing after. "Th-thank you," he stammered. His violets darted to his brother who sat on the other side of him as he asked for help in anyway the older twin was willing to offer it.

However, Alfred appeared to be preoccupied, playing a game that involved seeing how flustered he could make Arthur. It was their usual bickering, but the colonist clearly had the upper hand over the scarlet faced Brit.

Roderich gave a sigh. He did not need to go see Elizabeta, or rather, he did not wish to confront his mother. Gilbert sat between him and Isabel. He was busy cooing at Gilbird while feeding him bits of sausage that he had cut up from what was left of his breakfast. Even though they had basically been starved in prison, Gilbert had fussed over eating the eggs, claiming that he would not eat them because that would mean betraying Gilbird.

Isabel glanced around the table at the eight seats that were always at the table. They were all filled, which was normal, but she could not shake off the fact that they were missing something. She set her chin to her palm as she propped up her elbow on the table. The elbow pushed her empty plate aside. Her bottom lip jutted out in a sort of pout.

Françoise pulled away from Matthew to stare at her friend. A sigh came from the boy she had just been antagonizing. She frowned. "What's wrong, Bella?"

"Did Lovi wake you up this morning, Roderich?" Isabel asked, ignoring Françoise's question.

The prince shook his head. He had woken up on his own before immediately heading downstairs. Now that he thought about it, he had not seen his servant much recently, but he had been rather busy. Perhaps they had missed each other somehow.

Gears grinned outside of the carriage as pistons pumped up and down, allowing the mechanical and soulless creatures pulling them along to function and move forward. They still required a driver, but instead of reins, he was able to pilot them with simple commands, one syllable words. Not only could he drive, but he was also a skilled mechanic.

The blonde reached back to slid open a hatch that allowed him to peer in on his passenger. It was a young blonde girl with a silk pink ribbon in her hair. She was slumped to the side, likely asleep. Satisfied with what his sage eyes had surveyed, he slid the hatch shut before glancing up at the oncoming view of the castle.

"Halt!" he commanded. The horses, or rather machines, slow to a stop in front of the gates. He climbed from his perch to enter the carriage itself. "Lilli," he started, voice somehow managing to be soft while still maintaining a certain sternness. "Wake up."

Lilli stirred, lifting her head up. She rubbed one of her pale green eyes. The billowing sleeve of her rosy dressed fell further down her slim arms. "Bruder?" she questioned, really asking what he needed.

"We're there," her brother explained. He stepped out of the carriage before offering to help her down. She was almost weightless as he picked her up underneath her arms, setting her down gently afterward. Lilli blushed, feeling a great deal like a child when he had done that.

Vash pulled his jacket off of his seat, handing it awkwardly over to Lilli. "Here," he started. "Wait for me inside. You shouldn't be out here alone." He always did worry about her. She was so impressionable at her young age and serenity was how she was naturally perceived.

She took the jacket, slipping it over her shoulders with a nod of her head and a thank you. Lilli started toward the castle itself then while he climbed back up to order the horses off to park the carriage.

Her finger nails clicked against the arm of her throne like an impatient clock. She leered at the double doors before her at the end of the rug as if they had done her some great injustice, but no, it had been her own kin taking the side of a killer and then freeing said guilty man.

Maria found her focus broken as Lenhard strolled into the throne room with a batch of parchment in his hand. He held it up as he approached her before he leaned down to hand it to her. "I thought that you might find this to be important, milady."

She sighed. "If it's more of your poetry..."

He chuckled before shaking his head. "No, it isn't that, but if you would like I can compose some for you later," he offered. Lenhard quickly grew serious though. "They're eyewitness accounts baring testament to Gilbert Beilschmidt's innocence. Your son is quite the determined detective."

She furled her brows before glancing down. Her eyes skimmed the papers for keywords as she pulled each one back until she had made it to the bottom. As she gave them a gander, the wooden doors were pulled open.

"I bet you flail like Arthur," Gilbert teased with a snicker.

Roderich frowned. "I won't be sharing my drinking habits with the likes of you," he replied, smothering the next reply as he bowed to his mother. "You wanted to see m-" the prince started before recalling that she had asked for both of them. "Us."

Maria paused to gape at them both before she gave a shaky nod. "I did. I wanted to... apologize for wrongfully accusing you Gilbert and for not seeing that you were right Roderich."

Gilbert grinned smugly, puffing his chest out proudly. This made it official that he was a free man once again. He repeated what she had told them to Roderich and the musician rolled his eyes.

"Is there... anyway I can accommodate you?" the queen asked.

The albino paused to think. He knitted his brows together as the many awesome decisions he could make crossed his mind. "Can I get back to you on zat?" he asked.

Maria mirrored his previous action before nodding slowly. "Of course..."

Elizabeta giggled. It was a rich and full sound that she did her best to cover up with a hand. When she was done with her small fit, she slipped into a pleasant smile. Her mouth opened as she posed to speak, but her attention turned from the person she had been speaking with to the door. "Roderich," she greeted brightly. "How did the meeting with you mother go?" she inquired.

"Fine," Roderich answered as he entered. Gilbert tailed behind him.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, quick to shift moods. "Shouldn't you be getting ready for the gallows?"

Gilbert grinned impishly. "No can do, princess. Didn't you hear? I vas released." He patted Roderich on the back, startling the prince who nearly jolted out of his skin. A glare passed out of the corner of Roderich's eye then, but Gilbert could only laugh. "Thanks to Roderich," he added for good measure.

Elizabeta frowned before lifting her head up as if her high nose would push him underneath her and back into his place. "Would you like brownie points? If it weren't for Roderich, you would be dead," she growled, not sparing him in her bluntness.

"Actually, I vould." The albino seated himself next to her. "They taste like awesome and chocolate," he teased with a snicker.

Roderich sighed before moving to occupy the seat next to Gilbert. He froze though the moment he saw who else had been with Elizabeta at the table. His violets regarded the blonde coolly. Vash bore at him in the same regard. Lilli smiled softly from next to Vash. "Hallo, Roderich. Wie geht's?" she asked.

The prince softened as he shifted his glance to her. "I'm well," he answered. He paused to glare at Vash for a second longer before sitting down next to Gilbert.

"Roderich, you never did mention your cousin. He's quite charming." Elizabeta beamed as she bowed her head some in acknowledgment.

A brow quirked before Roderich gave a small nod. "I'm sure he was," he seethed.

"Now, Vash, I don't think you got to finish your story. What were you talking about?" she urged, no longer seeking to irritate anyone as she had a genuine curiosity.

Both the knight and the prince easily tuned them out. Roderich choose to read the book titles behind Elizabeta's head while Gilbert stared blankly on, watching lips pronounce words while they lacked any real sound. The latter propped his chin up then as that grew boring. He swung his one foot back and forth, tapping Roderich's own ankle every so often unintentionally due to the angle he had placed himself in. Roderich frowned before scraping his boot across the ground, the noise audible. Gilbert perked up for a moment before smirking. He started up again, this time intentionally tapping his toe against an ankle at odd intervals.

"Enough!" Roderich finally snapped without having to actually raise his voice. Three heads that weren't already on him turned to see what had been the matter. He flushed before inching down some in his seat.

"I didn't think Lilli's dance lessons were that boring," Vash muttered.

"I-" the brunette started to defend himself before realizing that the damage had already been done. Gilbert burst into laughter, failing to contain it in any longer. Ignoring the outburst, Roderich decided his question. "May I ask why you are here Vash?"

Vash grimaced. "He was my uncle," he explained.

The world paused for a moment as the thought finally dawned on Roderich that his father had yet to have a proper burial. He had been too worried on clearing Gilbert's name to think too much on that. Although, he may have heard his mother mention it once or twice, he had been tuning her out more and more recently to block her menacing tones from his ears. The prince frowned. Even if they buried him, Joseph would never rest in peace until the real killer was found.

"Vhere am I supposed to sleep?" Gilbert whined as he followed Roderich down his wing, something that the prince had been able to find without assistance for once. Then again, he had not touched his piano at all that day. While Gilbert had started and tried to prove a theory when he was younger that music had eaten the prince's brain, he had never thought his proof would come to him in a black and white photograph that burned itself in his memory.

Roderich sighed. "You're supposed to be alert," he muttered, basically telling Gilbert that he should never have looked forward to having his own bed.

"Ja, but how am I supposed to vatch you if I'm not even in ze same room as you, little master?" the guard asked.

There was a legitimate point there. If Gilbert was too far down the wing, than he would never be able to react in time if a threat were to come in the middle of the night. "You may abide outside of my chambers," the prince bargained.

Gilbert shook his head. "Nein, by ze time I open ze door, you could be dead," he pressed. His reflexes were better than that, but that was not the point of his side of the argument.

"Then were do you propose you sleep this evening?"

"Dein Bett~"

Violets widened before their owner recovered. A trace of pink fell onto his cheeks. "Nein," Roderich growled.

Shrugging, the knight did not seem to bothered about it. It made the prince pause though in confusion as he grew curious as to why Gilbert was not pressing the issue. The request had caught him off guard at first, but it seemed like something he wanted. Deciding not to press the issue, Roderich entered his room before closing the door behind him.

Gilbert plopped down in front of the door. He crossed his arms and tilted his head back against the door. The albino waited for a rather long time before turning the knob and sneaking inside. With the stealth of another world's warrior, he settled onto the bed, pausing as the weight caused it to shift. Roderich shuffled in his sleep, grumbling something as he rolled over, back facing Gilbert. A small snicker came that almost seemed to cause another stir. Gilbert froze before finally slipping underneath the covers.

"Gilbert," Roderich scorned. "Kindly refrain from putting an arm around me."

The albino pulled the arm back before he caught an absence of words in the command. "You don't mind if I stay here?" he asked.

Roderich never gave him a proper answer, but Gilbert was in no mood to argue otherwise. He sprawled himself out as best he could without bothering the person he was sharing the bed with. His crimsons glanced at Gilbird who had landed on the end table next to Roderich's glasses. The bird stared at them before picking them up in his beak by the nose piece before flapping off. Gilbert snickered, earning himself a rough elbow to the side before he muffled the sound against an extra pillow, slipping off into sleep a short time later.

Translation Notes:

Hallo - Hello

Wie geht's? - How are you?

Dein Bett - Your Bed

Authors Notes:

I apologize for how long it took for me to get this up. I've been busy lately with school and the holiday. It made it really hard for me to find the proper muse. I hope that didn't reflect in my writing. This was another one of those filler chapters, but I tried to add the usual comedy that I have. Really, I only wanted to give Vash and Lilli their own chapters as they will likely appear later on.

Matthew and Alfred had more appearance than they have recently. It sometimes hard to fit them in due to the roles they have. Although, it was rather fun to mess with Matthew via Fem!France. He's just so easy to make blush and that's one of her many talents. (Insert stereotypical French laugh here.) Gilbert also had his chance to mess with Roderich, which is always a happy day for him. I hope it doesn't seem like I'm moving them along too fast, but I felt that the bed scene had to be done because honestly, Gilbert's the type of watch dog that likes to sleep at the foot of your bed and not outside your door.

Thank you for being patient with me. I hope this chapter was worth the wait. The next chapter should be out soon.