Chapter 10: A Frog's Guest
"Ouch, it hurts! Can't you be a little gentler?" Eduard hissed in pain for the twentieth time when Arthur is giving him the 20th needle poke.
"Just hang on and stay still for a moment, it will be done soon." Said Arthur as he tried to be patient, slowly stiching up the huge cut on Eduard's cheek. "Unfortunately, it seems like the anaesthetic doesn't work much on you."
"Come on, dolls don't need whatever medicine to heal the pain." Eduard huffed. "I think that anaesthetic magic skill Lukas taught you is making the pain worse… Ouch!"
"I thought you asked me to have anaesthetic on you?" Arthur asked as he pulled the needle that holds the thread, causing Eduard to yelp in pain and silencing him in the process. Once he makes sure the wounds are not to be seen, he ties a knot at the end to seal the wound and cut away the remaining thread. "There, all done."
"That was rough." Eduard said.
"Yeah, but it feels so good to be recovered. I don't have to bear the fluffy and puffy wounds ever again." Ravis said as he happily flapped his wings, finally able to fly with his wounds stiched properly.
"Provided that Master Ivan won't hurt us again." Toris said before giving a genuine smile to Arthur. "You have helped us a lot, thank you."
"No need to thank." Arthur said as he twisted his wrist a little, eliciting a little 'creek' sound from the bones. He managed to recover in one night, thanks to Lukas magic skill that recovered his wounds, though some part still hurt. Though he was reluctant to be locked up in his room, Kiku has requested him to stay on bed so he could rest and recover. In the end, he asked for some embroidery materials so he could make use of his boring time.
"By the way, does your arm still hurt?" Toris asked in concern. "I heard that his highness has a raging fit again and hurt you quite badly."
"I'm fine. I just need some rest for the time being." Arthur said as he started to do some embroidery. "All I need for now is peace and silence."
"Then we won't disturb you." Eduard said as the three dolls left the bed and went off to a corner.
Arthur inhaled a breath as he closed his eyes trying to concentrate on his work but whenever he tried to, Francis will appear in his thoughts. He opened his eyes again as he looked out of the window, trying to see what Francis was doing in his room but the trees outside had blocked his view.
He tried to think what he actually saw in his dream. The moment he thought, he tried to make one of the plush toys he'd saw in his dreams but quickly dismissed it as he thinks it was disgusting.
Why would I bloody care for a frog?! He questioned himself once again, feeling the pink rising on his cheeks.
However, he remembered the incident that happened yesterday, so clear and yet so vague… In the darkness, he could see a person being chained as he made fruitless struggle to get out from the iron-like grasp. He wants to go close to him and help him but there's another person who blocked his way.
"Sors de mon chemin…" It's the same person! No, that person is just a shell of the chained man. His eyes, were not those calming blues of the sea but red like crimson blood and his tone of speaking (he somehow knew how does the true person actually speaks) sent chills up his spine.
"Run…" The man being chained uttered, begging to be left alone. "Or else you will be devoured…" He said before moaning in pain as the other man tormented him.
"Just shut up and watch, you tromper!" The red-eyed man said. "Don't you always like it this way?! You usually treated people like that, don't you?" He could hear the imprisoned man taking short, shallow breath.
"No… S'il Vous Plait… Don't hurt him…" The man pleaded.
"What do you said?!" The man said before laughing menacingly. "Isn't he beautiful, like what you always think of, the ideal perfection? His eyes could've made out from emeralds, charmant… Won't it be nice if you could consume him and make those eyes as yours?"
His thoughts was simply interrupted when there was a knock on the door. "Come in." He said.
The door opened and the little frog came jumping in as he tried to balance a tray of food on its hands. Arthur could notice the bandage that cover the frog legs but decided to act as if nothing has happened.
"Bonjour, ma Cherie." Francis greeted while trying to smile. "Did you sleep well at night?" When Arthur made no respond, he continued to ask, "Do you feel any better?"
"Same as you." Arthur said while avoiding eye contact. No way, he can't be bloody caring for a bastard frog!
"I had brought you breakfast." The frog said nudging the tray of food before him. "And you'd better eat all up and don't let the food go waste like before."
Arthur took a one good look at the well-presented food before him. He hated to admit, the soup smell nice and has been arousing his appetite. I will never eat a French frog food! He insisted.
"What's wrong? Does it taste bad to you?" The frog asked. "You should appreciate your meals that make you live."
"Same to you! You should stop fucking nagging and complaining about food tastes and eat them like a goodboy, you wanker." Arthur retorted back before clamping his mouth. Isn't what he said is just a scene from his dream? But why would he speak it out as if he knew the boy was Francis?
The frog was startled by his statement. He opened his mouth, figuring to say something but closed it back after hesitating for a moment before he focused onto something else.
"You are right…" Francis said after a deep thought. "We are considered lucky to have enough food to sustain ourselves." He continued as he stared outside the castle with glazed eyes.
"Once I was a prince who lived in a luxurious bed of life, I was spoilt and pampered during childhood by my parents and the people." He said with a sigh. "I thought I could have everything but then… If you don't know how to make use of what you have, you'll lose them anyway…"
Arthur held his empty spoon in midair, starring into his half-finished soup. He didn't really heard what Francis said as he finally unable to bear his hunger and started drinking his soup but the last sentence Francis said does makes sense.
"I can never understand people." Francis turned back to face him. "There's no way I can compare you with me. People said we are alike in a sense but I just don't see it…" He said forcing a sad smile. "It's a no wonder people never actually like me no matter how I look…"
"You know, it's never too late to learn." Arthur said while taking a spoonful of soup into his mouth. "We should always learn from each other."
"Vous l'esprit?" The frog jumped in front of him, making a pair of puppy eyes. "Pouvez-vous m'apprendre ce qu'est l'amour?" The frog asked pleadingly.
"What the bloody hell…?" Even Arthur did not understand what he said, but he knew that frog would speak French when he is serious. He found himself starring at the frog and bitting his spoon while trying to hide his scarlet cheeks.
"You look beautiful when your face is red, Angleterre." The frog said, before getting up and breaking the glance. "Why don't you finish your food first and I will meet up with you later." Francis winked at him before taking his leave.
What the hell am I doing? Arthur asked as he finished his last spoonful of soup, not leaving a single drop in the bowl. There's no way I'm going to fall for a frog… No way, no, no, NO!
"It seems like his highness has finally realised his mistakes." Eduard suddenly jumps up the bed with Toris and Ravis. "I'm sure glad that he has finally opened up."
"Yeah, that's right. I hope that we can be back as human before our time is up." Ravis said flapping his wings.
"Can't you all just stop it?! There's no way I am going to love a frog, that's impossible!" Arthur exclaimed. "You all are making me insane."
"It was you yourself that was making you insane." Eduard said. "You are just like Francis, too stubborn to admit what you feel."
"Moreover, you will never know what will happen if you never tried. So how can you say it is impossible in the first place while you never tried taking the risk?" Toris questioned him.
"I just don't want to! Don't you know that my country England is on cold terms with this country? There's no way you all could treat me with such hospitality as I'm your enemy. You all should have killed me since the start."
"Stop thinking like that, Arthur! That's not right!" Ravis stopped him.
"Ravis' right." Eduard agreed. "If you're the enemy of the country, you would've harmed us by now. If people said you are an enemy, then why would the servants tried so hard to get his highness sympathy on you? And what is worthy for us if we are to execute you? Does it give us any benefits?"
"You should stop thinking that way, Arthur. You may lie to us but you cannot lie yourself, it will only bring you misery." Toris advised. "You should be honest to yourself and take action before your time runs out. If you don't make use of the time you had, you will lost everything in the end."
Arthur was silent at their words. While he has never faced such a big conflict as well as something so emotional in his life, it's hard for him to make up a decision. He can actually felt his heart yearning to be close for Francis. There's no turning back now, he has to understand more about his relationship together with Francis.
"Well… I think I understood what you mean… Thanks for he advice…" He said placing the tray of food on the table and he took the napkin to clean his mouth.
"Hey Arthur, it seems like there's some handwriting under your napkin." Toris said.
With curiousity, he flipped the napkin to the back and noticed several lines of elegantly and neatly written cursives on the surface. He has never seen such beautiful words written in that way before. Who could have written it?
À mon bien-aimé Angleterre,
How do you like with the soup? I made it myself and it was the best of the castle that no one can say no to it. I suppose that you can't even resist the beautiful frog that made beautiful cooking, don't you? Ohonhonhon…
De toute façon, if you don't have much plan for the day, would you mind if we meet at the garden by noon? I have a surprise for you… être vous voir, chéri!
From the most beautiful frog in the world
That's me, Francis Bonnefoy
"What the fuck is this…?" Arthur yelled in embarrassment as his face glowed scarlet red again.
"My, I missed how romantic Francis was supposed to be." Toris chuckled a little. "It has been years since I saw those beautiful flowing cursives he wrote, I thought I will never see them again."
"Not only Francis cooked the most delicious food but he can also write the most beautiful words." Ravis chimed in.
"I don't fucking get what you guys are talking about! I can't fall in love with the frog because of his good cook and nice handwriting." Arthur retorted, trying to keep the dolls from laughing.
"But you can if your heart yearns to be with that person." Eduard said trying to suppress his laughters.
"What's the commotion in here?" Elizabeta walked in with Kiku and Feliciano behind her. "You three seem lively today." She gestured to the three little dolls, surprised to find that they are no longer puffy and fluffy with dirty, dusty cotton covering their body.
"The three of you look great today! And you all look as good as new." Feliciano exclaimed.
"Arthur is good in embroidery and he gave us cotton transfusion and stitched up our wounds." Ravis said.
"Ve~ you're amazing, Arthur!" Feliciano praised and Kiku smiled a little.
"You are so sweet, Arthur." Elizabeta said before she blew out a gust of icy cold wind around the room. The cold wind freezes all the dust and dirty things solid, allowing Elizabeta to clean with ease. She had everything cleaned up and excused herself.
"Anyway, his highness wished to see you at the garden by noon." Kiku said, bringing up the topic he had been avoiding.
"I don't think I will be going anyway." Arthur shugged his shouders. "I think that his surprise will only scare people more so who cares? Besides, I had my own job to be done…" He continued making excuses.
"Um… Arthur-san, I thought you already had magic lessons with Lukas this morning, so what other plans do you have in mind?" Kiku asked.
"Um… I just want to do my embroidery and go to the library to read some books…" He continued to lie.
"Ve~ Come on, Arthur. You can do that at some other time. You have already fixed the dolls and there's nothing else important, won't it be nice if you can have some time to relax?" Feliciano said.
"Feliciano is right. You must not work yourself too much, you still have to rest for your wounds to recover." Kiku advised. "Moreover, we are here to run an errand that only you can help for us."
An errand? What would they want from him? "If it's something I can do, then it will be fine for me…" He answered nervously.
"You know that his highness plan to meet you by noon and now he's making a fuss all over the place about what to wear." Kiku explained.
"Aren't you his groom, Feliciano?" Arthur shot a question to Feliciano. "I thought you could make the best costume and suits just for him."
"Yes, I do have everything with me but Francis complaint what I picked is a bit too plain." Feliciano explained as he shoved some cloth right in front of him. "That's why, I need those skilful hands of your to make some decoration for Francis' clothing."
"M-Me?" Arthur stammered as he felt heat raised his cheeks again. "I-I… Even if I am good in embroidery… There's no way my skilfulness could fit to his taste…" He quickly tried to cover up.
"Oh come on, Arthur-san. Quit lying." Kiku said, his tone becoming serious. "You should be proud that his highness appointed you for this job, I'm sure you can do it, right?"
Arthur bit his lip, unsure about the offer he was given. After a long pause of silent, he finally agreed to it. "… Fine, I will do it… For the sake of the bloody French frog just for his appointment with the person he loved in the awful garden…"
Kiku and Feliciano gave each other a knowing smirk before Kiku takes his leave.
It took him a few hours to decide what to do. Feliciano insisted him to sew a little white dove and a red rose for Francis clothing. There's a point when Feliciano got really serious and almost to the point of breaking down when Arthur did not do it properly for numerous times.
It was half an hour before noon when Arthur finally finished with his embroidery and matched to what Feliciano had demanded. "Ve~ You did it, Arthur!" Feliciano leaped in joy and slowly folded the clothing neatly back into place.
"Fratello will be here not long later. He will help you with your dress." Feliciano said before carrying the tray of cloth out of the room. Once again, Arthur was alone again.
The silent did not last long though. Not long after Feliciano left, Lovino barged into the room, trying to balance the tray on another paws clumsily. "That stupid potato bastard taking my time for so long. Even that stupid frog is so picky on getting proper attire for our guest to wear…" He continued to mumble and blame people for overworking him. "If I had a choice, I'd rather get out of here so I won't get work overload…"
"Er… Are you alright, Lovino?" Arthur asked in concern as he looked at the brown and white stripe racoon.
"No, I'm not!" Lovino literally shouted at him. "If it wasn't of those fucking people asking me to do this and that, I would have killed them."
Arthur snickered a little at the little racoon statement. So he tried to change other topic to lighten up the little creature mood. "So, what do you bring for me? I hope it's not too fancy."
"I think it will be just fine on you. Francis picked it out especially for you." Lovino said handing him the tray of clothes. "And you'd better wear it, or else Francis will be mad at you."
"Ah, thank you." Arthur thanked politely as he examined his outfit, they looked alright to him and perhaps it may fit him well enough. "Is there anything else?"
"Oh yeah…" Lovino somehow remembered something and handed to Arthur a single red rose. "Remember to wear this on your coat." He reminded.
Arthur finds it weird that he has to wear the rose on his coat but he didn't complaint. Seeing how Arthur unusually patient today, Lovino decided that he don't have to talk much.
"I will take my leave here." He gestured. "Please be at the garden by noon."
At the other side, Feliciano was helping Francis in his attire. "Parfait!" Francis said heartily as he looked into his reflection in the mirror.
"Ve~ You look good, your highness." Feliciano said as he tied a waistband on the frog's little body. After hours of hard work, Arthur commitment really paid off. Of course, it would take up a lot of effort to make something that small to fit on a frog.
"Remember to behave yourself in the garden. We don't want you to mess up everything." Ludwig reminded him. For once, Francis felt like he's a child getting lecture from his parents.
The servants excused to leave, leaving Francis all alone in his room. He sat in the table facing the mirror as he twidled his fingers among the fabric, keep on reminding himself again and again.
~Flashback~
"Look what have you done, your highness." That night, after Arthur was taken to rest. He received another good ear lot of lecture from Ludwig regarding his behaviour towards Arthur.
"I'm sorry…" The frog simply replied, not daring to say another word.
"You shouldn't apologize to us. It was Arthur you should say sorry to."
"That's right. What if no one was there to stop you?" Roderich was there with Ludwig as well. "You could've kill Arthur with your own hands. Why can't you hold yourself back?"
"I-I just can't…" Francis said.
"Then how are you going to break the curse if you don't know how to hold yourself?" Ludwig questioned.
"I… I just don't know what to do…" The frog said as he buried his face in his front feet. "I felt something strong inside myself… But it was stinging pain… The more I think of it, the more I will hurt myself…"
"That's because the demon inside you is trying to take its control on you." Ludwig explained. "That person is the older self of you who was merciless and care for nothing. He is trying to stop you from the inside so that you won't love Arthur in order to keep the curse intact."
"And that thing has already taken its full control over you, aren't you aware of it?" Roderich asked him. "The more you desire to be with Arthur, the more it will tried to oppose you. So you should do something in order to suppress yourself."
"No… I can't… I have always been in my weakest state during the full moon." The frog shook its head.
"That's why we told you you have to hold yourself." Ludwig said. "Because you surrendered yourself to the demon, it can freely take over your conscience. You need the will to go against it if you want to get rid of it."
"Say Ludwig, I got something to ask you…" Francis said while turning his body.
"What is it?" The hakutaku asked patiently.
"Recently, I have been feeling something aching in my chest." Francis said as he clutched his chest. "It does feel pain but somehow I don't want to pain to go away."
"And that is?"
"Whenever I see Arthur, I felt something I has never felt before was spreading within me. It felt warm but at the same time, hurts… I just don't know why…"
"That means you might have feelings for Arthur." Ludwig explained. "But not as the relationship like how you are with us but a feeling more than a friend."
"A feeling more than a friend…" Francis repeated.
"That demon inside of you could be testing you. If you can be honest to your feeling, that can actually lessen your burden you are facing." Roderich explained. "Because you don't want to admit your feeling for Arthur, the person will continue to taunt you…"
"Be honest to yourself…" Those words echoed in Francis' mind.
"Well, I guess it's late. We should get some sleep for now." Ludwig said as he prepared to take his leave. Roderich greeted him good night before vanishing like thin air.
Once Ludwig left, Francis slumped back on his pillows as he wondered what they have told him. His heart ached again but he ignored it, enjoying how it tore his heart. He had never felt this before… Could it be that he really has feelings for Arthur?
~End of Flashback~
"Oh, it's almost time…" The frog snapped out from his thought as he noticed the clock and head off to his destination.
"Just nice, it suits you well." Bella said as she fixed a mantle over Arthur's shoulder.
"Thanks a lot." Arthur said politely as he examined his outfit before a full-view mirror. He was wearing a white dress shirt with a dark blue vest over it. He wore a matching dark blue slack for his lower body. The red rose hung on the pocket of his dress shirt.
He then looked out of the window to notice that the leaves had gotten dry and crispy with an orange and red tint on it. He has lost track of time since he got here, it's been a while since he spent time at outside.
Weird. He thought to himself. What month is it when he first arrived France? Is it April or is it May? He remembered it was just the beginning summer in his country and he had just celebrated his 18th birthday so how can it be autumn so fast?
"What day is today?" He asked Bella as he glanced outside.
"It's the 15 of May and is near the season of autumn." Bella answered him.
"It can't be. It's too early for autumn." Arthur gasped in surprise at Bella's answer.
"For France, winter took up almost half of the year… Because of the curse…" Bella explained to him, with a little awareness at the end of her statement. "Usually it will be winter already when it's around July."
"That's awful…" Arthur said with a scowl as he looked outside.
"That's why we'd hope the curse would be lifted while time is still available, not only for us but the country as well."
Kiku came in not long later after Bella took her leave. "Are you ready, Arthur-san?"
Arthur wasn't in any good condition. He can be seen twiddling his fingers among the fabric he's wearing and his breath quickened as Kiku entered.
"Relax, Arthur-san. There's no need to be so nervous of." Kiku tried to calm him down.
"Are you sure this is going to be fine?" Arthur asked nervously.
"Trust me. I know Francis-sama can be quite a pervert sometimes but he didn't mean any harm at all." The kitsune said to him with an assured smile.
Arthur then followed Kiku out the hallway and down the stairs to the garden. Arthur looked around the place but did not catch any sight of the frog.
"Just went to the riverside." Kiku told him. "Michelle will tell you where Francis is." He left after telling Arthur what he is supposed to do.
Arthur did as what he was told and met Michelle who was resting at the riverbank. When she noticed Arthur, she greeted him with a smile. "Good morning, Arthur. Did you rest well?"
"I'm fine for now. Thanks for your concern." Arthur replied before asking. "Do you know where that bloody frog is?"
Michelle giggled a little before answering. "He is waiting for you. Let me take you to him."
"Wait! What the… You want me to fucking get into the water? You already know that I can't swim…"
"Then let me take you." Michelle said calmly.
"Don't tell me this is part of the plan…" Arthur mumbled and cursed under his breath for being foiled by the frog again.
"This garden isn't as romantic as what you thought, is it?" Michelle asked him back. "After all, there's a more romantic place being set up by Francis himself."
True. Arthur thought to himself. How can people have dating in a place like THIS? This garden isn't in any perfect condition for meeting.
He took in a deep breath before jumping into the water. Michelle then carried him against the flow of the current. The surrounding soon became dark and Arthur figured that they could be swimming under the castle or somewhere.
He didn't know how long he'd swim in underwater. When Michelle brought him to resurface, he found himself in Francis' room, almost in the same state as last night. Michelle let him get his breath before continueing. She swam across the waterfall that was in Francis' room into the depth of the cavern. Arthur could felt himself being carried by the tidal. A whirlpool sent the two of them sliding out from the waterwork.
When Arthur opened his eyes and met the light again, he found himself in a different place. This is also a garden but unlike the garden, this place was well taken care of.
"Where is this place?" Arthur said as he looked the surrounding.
"This is Francis' secret place, his secret garden." Michelle told him. "He is waiting for you so you better not be late." She said before leaping off into the water and swam away.
Arthur dusted his clothes, surprised that it is not wet at all. He then takes a better look at the garden. It was somewhat a greenhouse. The surrounding is coloured with lush green trees and roses of different colours can be seen blooming all over the place. The sunlight was filtered from the top and shone onto the ground. Arthur couldn't help but gasped in amazement at the scene before him. It was just too real to be a fairytale place.
Arthur continued to explore further into the gardens. There was a fountain located at the centre and he noticed the frog was sitting on top the fountain grinning at him.
"There you are, mon cher. You sure keep me waiting." The frog said as it landed before his feet. "What do you think about my charmant garden?"
"It's beautiful…" Though he hated to admit, Arthur was quite honest for the statement, much to Francis' surprise. Francis takes a better look at Arthur from head to toe, admiring his beautiful slender body even if he was a man. The frog himself was dressed elegantly in a frilly blue dress (?). The clothing had the ornaments Arthur had crocheted for him this morning.
"I'm glad you like it." The frog smiled. "And you did a great job. You made my dress look so beautiful."
"You are a man, aren't you? Why are you wearing such sissy clothing?" Arthur shot a glare as he noticed what the frog was wearing.
"Oh come on, this is my country culture." The frog twirled around in his dress which the English prince did not admire at all. "So, shall we spend the whole day to ourselves?"
The two of them had their time spent at the garden during the entire afternoon. Francis takes Arthur a tour around the garden and introduced him all the flowers that bloomed in his garden, which Arthur was quite amazed with its beauty.
"I never expect such a beautiful place would exist in a fallen country like here." Arthur said.
"I bet your place is as beautiful as mine." The frog fought back.
The two continued to bicker among each other like two little children playing in the garden undisturbed by other people. Once they had gotten tired, the prince and the frog sat on the smooth grass and started enjoying lunch which the frog claimed to have made it himself.
"Seriously, I never thought that a frog could make good food." Arthur said as he chewed on the deliciously made beef stew.
"Oui, I love to cook. And my cook is the best in the castle." The frog said proudly.
"You should consider yourself lucky that you don't have to eat any bugs." Arthur joked.
"Now where did zhat come from but oui, you'd reminded me how grateful am I even being a frog."
"Even if I lived as a commoner, I never knew how to cook and always ended up burning my food." Arthur said as he took a sip of his tea.
"Now that's weird." Francis suddenly caught his words. "I thought I heard my servants keep on saying that you're a prince from Angleterre but why you said you are a commoner?"
Arthur was caught off guard. He'd never realised he had spill things in front of the frog. He kept silent for a while, wondering if he should tell Francis the truth or not.
"Vous n'avez pas à me dire si vous ne voulez pas…" Francis said in a calm tone, not like he's forcing Arthur to go through it.
Arthur felt his cheeks flustered. Feeling that he could trust the frog, he decided to tell him about his story. "I was once a commoner…"
With that, Arthur told him everything, almost everything. From his life with his mother until he was taken into the castle. He then talked about his broken relationship with his brothers and how he got betrayed and escaped all the way to France. He didn't even notice tears started to streak down his face as he related his story.
"Don't cry, mon cher. There's no need to cry…" The frog comforted him as he gently brushed away the tears that stained the prince's face. And now, he felt guilty stung him even deeper, for what he had done to Arthur in the first place, and how Arthur ended up being treated badly by he himself.
"Je suis désolé…" The frog said in a low voice. "I had never been in a situation like you yourself… So I actually never understand the people around me." He said as he reminisced the past. He had always been living in a bed full of roses and borned with a silver spoon, he thought he can have anything he wanted and he thought everything will go his way but after listening to what Arthur had said, he can't help but feel sympathy towards him. He has never experience a life like Arthur did.
"I don't need your comfort." Arthur lied as he quickly wiped away the tears on his face. "If you could understand me, then there's no reason why your country is in such a desperate state."
"Oui… I understand…" Francis replied bitterly. "I have never learnt to love a person before. I just don't know how to express my feelings for you."
Arthur's face got even redder at what Francis said. No way! That frog couldn't have feeling for me, could he? He quickly shook those thoughts off. When he came back to reality, he yelped in surprise as Francis gave him a blue rose.
"Je t'aime, Arthur…" The frog mumbled softly, audible enough for Arthur. He then lightly pecked Arthur on the cheek. At this point, Arthur's face has become like a tomato.
"They did it! They finally did it!" Back at the bottom, the two were unaware of the servants who were watching their every single movement from the image projected by the water mirror. Matthew had to remind Alfred several time from squealing aloud. Elizabeta and Kiku (tried to) refrained themselves from taking pictures of the two. The rest of the servants gave out a sigh of relief, the romance between the two of them has finally bloom! While some smile at the scene, glad that Francis has finally found someone he could confide in.
"It seems like it's getting late." Francis said after the tense silence between the two of them. "Let's go back. It is going to rain tonight." Arthur looked outside to note Francis' words. He was right, dark cloud can already be seen covering the evening sky.
Francis brought Arthur back to his room before he himself returned to his own room. Once he entered his room, he quickly slams the door shut.
"Mon dieu, what am I doing?" Francis asked himself as he sat on the floor in deep thought. He thought he'd confess to Arthur at the garden but that's not what he had planned. Is he doing the right thing? Arthur has never show any response to his confession just now, did he confess in the correct way?
"Why am I so worried about this anyway?" He asked himself again as he stood up. Never had he once jumbled up in thoughts, perhaps this is actually what people said about being a grown-up and you started facing problems that you may find yourself being too worry or in the brink of depression.
He decided to get himself a glass of wine to relief himself and later he'd swim in the waterwork to forget everything. But then, something shiny caught his eyes. He noticed an object lied on the floor. It sparkled a green light whenever light hit it. With amist curiosity, he went to pick it up and discover that it was a green rosary. He don't remember having this, whose could this be?
Francis did not show up during dinner time, which Arthur was disappointed a little. He somehow had already missed Francis' cooking and his delicious food.
Why would I care for the frog? Arthur asked himself as he gulped down the last spoonful of soup. The rain has been beating on the windows rather harsh tonight. He decided to go to the library for some tranquillity seeing that it was still early so there are a lot of things to be done in the mean time.
Was it an hour, or maybe two hours… Or maybe three hours when Arthur realised it was time to get to bed. He had spent some time training with Lukas while in the library. He then picked out some books he'd plan to read in his own room.
He went back to his room and sat on a chair gazing into a mirror. Many things did happen today. He smiled to himself a little at what Francis told him at the garden.
"Hey Artie, are you in there?" There was a knock on the door. Arthur recognized that voice, it was Alfred. What is he doing in the middle of the night?
"What are you up to in the night?" Arthur went up to open the door and was greeted by the two little birds, the yellow-headed one is Alfred and what is the name of the other one again? Both of them looked terrified.
"W-We are s-scared of the… The storms…" Matthew cried. Alfred was trying to suppress himself from crying but failed.
Arthur holds down his laughters at the two little boys' childish behaviour. They claimed themselves to be 15 years old but they are still a child in heart. "Now, why don't the two of you come in and sleep with me?" He said letting the boys in.
"Really?" Alfred perked up and dragged Matthew into his room. The two stumbled on his bed and waiting anxiously. Arthur smiled at their behaviour, it reminded him of his childhood and his mother.
It wasn't hard getting the two of them into their dreams. Alfred and Matthew had drifted off somewhere while he was telling them a story halfway.
Arthur ran his fingers along their head and took a piece of cloth he'd make for his embroidery to cover the twins body. He then looked out of the window to see that the storm continues to rage on but the castle is still intact and the two little ones were fast asleep under the covers.
Arthur then yawned before realising how tired he was. He then went under the cover and slept next to Alfred and Matthew who were snuggling with each other. He then closed his eyes and fall into a deep slumber as well.
TBC…
xXx
The weather has been hot lately and I got sick, the worst! But I still have to do update whenever possible. My college will be starting again after the weekend… Urg, damn it! I just hope I can cope with my studies.
What do you think? Francis and Arthur's feelings for each other have finally bloomed but this is just the beginning. So what should the servants do to make sure they fall in love?
And if you wonder, time isn't that important in this story. It is just use as a guideline. As England is now in a rising heat, so Arthur could have spent a longer time in France, maybe a year, I guess. Anyway, the time frame for this chapter is May so I think I would do some time skip for the next chapter, perhaps July and do you know what is about to happen? Make a guess.
As always, don't forget to leave a review so that I can write more. Thx.
Translation:
[French]
Sors de mon chemin: Get out of my way
Tromper: fool
Vous l'esprit: If you don't mind
Pouvez-vous m'apprendre ce qu'est l'amour: Can you tell me what love is
À mon bien-aimé: To my beloved
De toute façon: Anyway
être vous voir, chéri: Be seeing you, darling
Parfait: Perfect
Vous n'avez pas à me dire si vous ne voulez pas: You don't have to tell me if you don't want to
