"I'm sorry, Feliciano. They won't let you have a small taste just yet."
"Ve…that's all right. I'm not that hungry; I can wait."
"Are you sure?"
"Uh-huh."
"If you insist…" Ludwig looked a little worried.
"Ve? What's wrong?"
"…you just look a little…thin. Have you been eating at all?"
"You sound like my mother."
"I can't help it. Someone has to worry for you."
"Why? I'm perfectly all right."
"Sorry. I guess old habits do die hard."
"Yeah…you always love to worry about me, don't you?"
"I-I don't love worrying about you. I have other things to do in this castle, like helping mein bruder work his way to taking my father's throne."
"Eh? You're not going to be king?"
"I've already tried to prove myself worthy…and I failed." Ludwig was a little embarrassed. "Gilbert passed with flying colors. The thing is that my father deems me to be better off as the head of the Royal Army."
"That sounds like a big responsibility."
"Yes…I'm practically destined to be my brother's right hand in politics. Though I will admit that I prefer following orders than issuing them…"
"Why?"
"I-I don't know either…perhaps I'm a better soldier than anything…"
"It doesn't matter, Ludwig. It just means that Gilbert can place his complete trust in his army!"
"Feliciano…"
"No one can destroy the army with you in charge! You're the best commander I've ever met!"
"Feli, I'm only a knight. And I'm the only future commander you know!"
"Oh…well, you're still the best out there…" Feliciano shyly started drawing circles on the ground with his toes. "Really!"
"Well…thank you for your confidence in me." Ludwig answered. "Hearing it from you makes me feel a little better."
"Eh? Why?"
"Cause unlike everyone else I know, I have to prove to you that I'm a good knight. You've never seen me in battle, correct?"
"No…and I really hope I don't. I don't want to see you get hurt."
"No one does, Feli."
"True…true…"
They stood together in a strange silence, already done telling each other their stories and were now wondering what they should be doing right now. Suddenly, a knock of the kitchen door startled them, and they turned their heads to see that the chef had poked his head through to them.
"In case you two are curious, we are about to serve the food."
"Oh, right." Ludwig smiled. "You're still hungry?"
"Oh…I almost forgot…"
"How can you forget being hungry?"
"I-I don't know." How did I forget…?
Ludwig walked forward back to the party hall, Feliciano following him like a dog and laughing the entire time (leaving Ludwig rather confused on what was going on). The entire time, Arthur was standing away from sight, watching them and shaking in disgust.
My goodness, he really is a man, with no sense of masculinity at all. And why is he so close to him like that, it's almost as if they're lovers. Arthur stuck out his tongue. That's sick. Men shouldn't be that…feminine.
/=+=/
It didn't take long for the feast to be finished and for the midnight ball to arrive. Feliciano and Elizabeta didn't bother; they quietly fixed her hair to normal and snuck back to their rooms. Since Elizabeta and Feliciano were separated, he thought it was only necessary for him to escort her to her room.
"No, really…you don't have to-"
"It's my duty, Miss Hedervary." Feliciano laughed. "Don't worry about me."
"Seriously, I have to worry about you sometimes. You're too nice for your own good."
"Isn't that better than being too mean, Miss Hedervary?"
"No, not re-"
"Please, just rest for today. Francine is not going to bother us as long as this festival goes on, so you have all the time to rest."
"…if you insist."
Elizabeta lightly closed the door behind her, allowing Feliciano to wander around the halls toward his room. He hadn't seen this place before; perhaps it had been created when he was absent? The unchipped marble at his feet seemed to indicate that.
"Wow…this whole place looks so beautiful…I guess the castle really has changed."
How long has it been since he had been here? When he was a child? If he remembered his birthday, that would make him…twenty now. He was taken away when he was eight. That would make it almost twelve years since he had seen anyone…including Ludwig.
"Ludwig sure had changed…" Feliciano chuckled. "I don't remember him being so…muscly."
The last time that he had seen the prince, they were almost the same height and around the same body mass…scrawny and fragile. Feliciano couldn't help but wonder if he would've been as muscular as Ludwig if he had stayed with him in the castle. He stared at himself in the window sill and couldn't help but imagine him with the same muscles as Ludwig. It scared him, so he stopped thinking about it.
"But he's still just as kind as he used to be…almost as if he didn't change at all..." He paused. "He didn't change? He did change? I'm confused now…"
Feliciano started thinking about it as he headed back to his room. If anything, Ludwig sort of looked like he had aged accordingly…and the only thing that changed was how he combed up his hair. Now he was curious about what he looked like now with his hair down…
"Veeee…why am I thinking so much about him?"
He started mumbling something to himself as he headed back to his room, rubbing his hair and trying to distract himself with what he should be doing now. Unknown to him, Arthur was watching him the entire time, and was a little weirded out by what he was saying.
He was blushing when he was talking about Ludwig…only girls talk like that…unless he's falling in love with him… Arthur cringed. God, no! Only girls should fall in love with guys!
He paused, seeing Feliciano head back to his room.
Well, let's not judge him too quickly. He's probably confused from living with girls for so long… Arthur nodded, heading to Elizabeta's room. He'll have to live around men for the rest of this month for him to regain his masculinity…yeah, that's what he needs.