Disclaimer: Hetalia's not mine.

Alfred chuckled as they approached Francis; at the look of wide-eyed surprise. It had been a last-minute decision, accompanying Matt when he said goodbye. He would probably be an unwanted guest on their last day together, but oh well.

Alfred tried to picture what Francis was thinking, tried to imagine Arthur randomly showing up with two of him, and a giggle escaped, earning him an annoyed look from Matthew. "Um, nothing." Well, he supposed Mattie had been right about how good-looking the fellow was, ridiculous semi-beard and all.

Francis smiled, looking back and forth between them. It probably didn't help that they wore wool hats pulled down low against the chill. "Hmm..." Francis rubbed his stubbled chin. "Whose ass do I grab?"

"Um, I'm Matthew," he said, raising his hand slightly. "And now I'm kind of afraid of what your answer is..."

"Don't be silly." And Francis pulled him into a deep kiss, and sure enough, gave his butt a squeeze. Helplessly watching, Alfred rolled his eyes.

"So, Alfred! We finally meet." Despite Alfred's attempt to back away, Francis tugged him close, and kissed his cheeks. "Thank you," he murmured. "I'm sure it is difficult, but I've taken good care of our Mathieu."

Alfred sighed, shaking his head with a chuckle. "I wish you guys would stop assuming I'm going to be this raging overprotective monster. I'm happy for Mattie! Seriously!"

"Ah, sorry, sorry." And Mattie was right about that, too. He did have a nice accent! "But yes, I see now. You have blue eyes, not violet."

"Yup." Alfred tapped his glasses. "It's very rare, I've never seen anyone else with purple eyes. Right, Matt?"

Matthew tilted his head. "Right, but Francis says the King of Clubs does."

"Oh..." Well there was a downer. "I'm sure yours are better!"

"I think so, too," Francis said. "Well, I suppose we should all go out to eat before I have to leave?"

Matthew nodded. "Sounds good."

"Yeah!" Alfred nudged his brother. "Don't worry, I won't stick around the whole time. You two will have time to go at it like bunnies."

"Al!" Matthew sputtered.

"Thank you," Francis said without batting an eye.

Matthew coughed, and quickly changed the subject. "Are you sure you have to leave now?"

Francis grasped his hands. "I'm afraid so, I have already been away from home too long. But I will always return to you."

Alfred had only been around them for a few minutes, and he was already starting to feel nauseated from the fluff. "Hey, come on you two, I was promised food!"

"So that wasn't too bad." Francis put an arm around Matthew as they watched a happily full Alfred depart. "I'm kind of surprised. I did not think he would be a raging overprotective monster, as he put it, but after taking care of you for so long, I still expected some reluctance to let go."

Matthew smiled, understanding exactly what Francis meant. "Yeah. But I guess, because I was sick for so long, and we both thought I'd be confined to a bed for the rest of my life, he's still thrilled I can have a life now. I'd bet anything that he'd think less of you if I'd never gotten sick."

"That might very well be." Francis sighed. "Though I'm sorry to say that my carriage will be here soon. I do not think we have time to return to my room."

"That's okay." Matthew clung tighter to his lover. "We'll save it for next time. It's not all about sex."

"No, that's just fun." Francis cupped Matthew's face and tenderly kissed him. "I will be back in time for your birthday."

"You'll be back in the summer?" Matthew bit his lip.

"I will try and make it back sooner, but no promises. I will for sure be here for your birthday, though." Francis hugged him tight. "You won't give up and find someone else, will you?"

"Don't be silly. Will you?"

"No." Francis wiped his cheek. "Don't cry."

Matthew nodded, but as they said goodbye, he couldn't help it.

Alfred wasn't entirely sure what to think about becoming something of a celebrity. After the dance, people around the palace started recognizing him more! Gossip was flying, and everybody was curious about him. He was rather pleased to – so far – not encounter any cruelty or jealousy. Though it raised the question, what sort of palace was this? What was a palace without intrigue and backstabbing all over the place?

His first encounter was the day after Francis departed. A pair of girls, not much older than him, came giggling over to him.

"Aren't you the Queen's dance partner?" the blonde asked.

"That's right." Alfred flashed them the winning smile that had been one of his important weapons in acquiring enough money for Mattie's medicine in the old days. The girls giggled some more.

"Where are you from?" the brunette asked.

"I'm originally from Hearts."

"Ohh!" she cooed. "So far away! I've heard that's a lovely place."

"What's the palace there like?" her friend said.

Alfred scratched his head. "It looked about like this one. Probably more red inside."

"I've heard the King is nice!"

"Yeah, I've heard that too!" Alfred laughed. "We were never at war with anyone, so at least they get along with the other kingdoms."

"Um, right." The blonde exchanged a glance with her friend. "So, what about you and the Queen? What's going on?"

"He probably doesn't want me answering that..."

The girls' expression brightened. Despite the lack of answer, they seemed pleased, chatting and giggling together as they walked off. Alfred waved as they left.

After that, every day at least a couple nobles approached Alfred with questions. Some seemed more satisfied than others with his attempt at non-answers. He asked Arthur what he should do about them, and he was thoroughly unhelpful, telling Alfred to keep it up and not be too specific.

Several of them weren't so much curious about their relationship, as eager to hit on Alfred, males and females. That was a bit more awkward, though flattering. Alfred's polite rejection just seemed to make them gossip more about his and Arthur's relationship.

The most forward was a smoldering woman in a low-cut gown who cornered him one afternoon. "You're the prettiest arm candy I've seen the Queen bring in," she said, backing him into a corner.

"Oh yeah?" Alfred smiled nervously, trying to find a safe zone for his eyes to land on.

"Have you grown tired of only being with a man?"

"Um, not really..." Wait, had that been too explicit? But he couldn't very well answer in the negative, either, or she'd... yeah...

"Are you sure? The Queen does not have these." And she grabbed Alfred's hand and pressed it to her generous bosom.

"Oh, yeah!" Alfred laughed awkwardly. "Look at that. Very nice, ma'am. But I really should go."

She lowered her eyelashes, though in her case it did not come across as particularly coy. "Keep me in mind when the Queen starts to bore you."

"I sure will!" Alfred managed to escape. "Um, goodbye!"

For some reason, both Matthew and Arthur found that story hilarious. Why the hell did he tell them about that?

A few weeks after the dance and Francis' departure, Alfred was showing a new helper how to help care for the horses. "You used to be able to entertain yourself with nothing but books," Alfred said as he brushed Princess. "Now you get bored if you don't have somebody to boink."

"Will you stop talking like that?" Matthew huffed. "I'm just lonely, I miss him."

"I know." Alfred paused, watching Matthew haul a bucket of water to the trough, smiling.

"What?"

"You! I'll never get over it, look at you go."

Matthew grinned back at him. "I know..." He poured the water, humming. "Well, enough moping about my love life. How's it going with Arthur?"

"He's nice." Alfred concentrated harder on brushing the horse.

"Okay. And...?"

"And what? He's not treating me like he used to. He's nice. You asked me when you first found out, if I liked having sex with him, and I said no and you cried, and... Well, now I do, so it's not so bad, and sometimes I guess he's kind of thoughtful, and he's pretty and I'm getting used to the eyebrows, and I guess he's... well, yeah. He's nice."

"I see." Matthew smirked at him.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"What?" Alfred stared at him, baffled.

"Nothing."

"You drive me crazy." Alfred set the brush aside and gave Princess a light smack on the rump. "What do you think of him?"

Matthew shrugged. "I like him better than I did when he was using you. I don't want to kill him anymore. And you're both... um..."

"What?"

"Nothing."

Alfred gave him a flat stare. "Stop that."

Matthew cleared his throat. "And why does everyone have weird reactions when they meet us? It's like they've never seen twins before."

"Well, two hot guys is more impressive than one. I thought it was funny, the way Arthur was afraid to even touch me, as if I'd turn out to be you."

"I suppose his look of panic was rather amusing..." Matthew grinned. "So weren't you supposed to see him in his study soon?"

Alfred hesitated. "Yes. I remembered."

Matthew did not seem to believe that. "Go wash up."

As long as he was waiting, Arthur picked up his embroidery hoop. He couldn't remember the last time he had found the time to work on it; he used to have free time at night for that sort of thing, but lately... yeah. Definitely better than embroidery.

A knock came at the study door, and Arthur let him know he could enter. Alfred peeked his head in before stepping fully inside. "Hi!"

"Hello." Arthur swallowed thickly. He didn't want this conversation to happen, but he had been thinking a lot lately, and... it pretty much had to.

Alfred's brow furrowed as he stepped closer. "Are you embroidering?"

"Yes." Arthur held the hoop closer defensively. "I know what you're thinking."

"You do?"

"I don't have all sorts of free time. I'm busy quite often, you know. It just might seem that way because the only time you see me is when I'm free."

Alfred laughed nervously. "Oh. I wasn't thinking that. I know you're busy."

"Ah." Awkward silence. "What were you thinking, then?"

Alfred shook his head. "Nothing!"

"You were thinking something. What?"

"No, really." Alfred waved his hands.

"Tell me."

"Okaaay... I was thinking that I'm pretty sure you've got a penis, since we've used it so many times, but..." He eyed the embroidery.

Arthur stuffed the hoop into a desk drawer. "Insulting the Queen's manhood should be an arrestable offense," he muttered. "But I did ask..."

"Yeah, you did." Alfred looked around wildly, presumably for an escape. "Oh, hey! I haven't seen that before." He hurried over to a large painting. "Is that you?"

"That's me."

"Look how cute you were! What are you there, ten?"

"Twelve." Arthur smiled slightly. "It was commissioned after our formal engagement."

"Oh! So the other boy is...?" He focused on the redheaded boy beside Arthur.

"Yes, that's him."

"Wow." Alfred sighed. "So you... were you in love?"

"No. We didn't love each other. We liked each other, though, so that was something."

"You were related, right?"

"Distantly." Arthur shook his head at the memories. "He picked on me something awful when we were little. Our parents thought that would just get worse when we found out we had to get married, but... it didn't."

Alfred turned to him with a frown. "They were planning on making you marry even if you hated each other?"

"Pretty much, yes." Arthur shrugged. "So it could have been worse. None of the royal couples of the other kingdoms is lovingly married."

"Oh, I know. I was telling Mattie about that the other day!"

Not surprising the boy was soaking in palace gossip. "In at least two kingdoms that I know of, one of the royals is sleeping with the Jack."

Alfred's jaw dropped. "Really? The Jack?" One could practically see the gears turning in his head, and Arthur knew what was coming next. "Are you and Yao...?"

"No, not me and Yao."

"I was just kidding!" Alfred said, a little too quickly. "So... Oh yeah! You wanted to tell me something?"

Shit. Arthur had pleasantly lost himself in the stupid banter. "That's right." He wiped his suddenly damp palms off on his trousers. "Um..."

"You don't normally summon me during the day." Alfred winked.

"Y-yeah... And that's actually what I wanted to talk to you about."

"Doing it during the day?"

Arthur grit his teeth. "No! It's just... um..." He took a deep breath. "It doesn't feel right anymore."

"What?" Alfred blinked.

"Our arrangement. I l... I like you. I just don't feel right having you come to my room each night like that anymore. You aren't my whore."

"O-oh." Alfred stared at him, eyes wide.

"So you don't have to..." Arthur couldn't look at those huge blue eyes anymore. He stared down at the scattered paperwork on his desk, wishing he hadn't stuffed his embroidery away. No, that would be rude to do. "In fact... Well, if you want, you can have your own house... A nice one, near the palace. Tino makes rounds to the nearby homes, he wouldn't even be going out of his way to care for Matt. Or you could have a house further out if you prefer, there's other good physicians, right?"

Alfred was tightly gripping the back of the chair near him. "You mean it...? Our own house?"

The eager look was like a knife in the heart. "I mean it."

"That's... I... wow." Alfred shook his head in wonder. "I don't know what to say. Thank you, Arthur."

"You're welcome." Arthur's eyes burned as he watched Alfred, looking almost giddy, turn and run from the room. That was it, no goodbye or anything. He had been freed from his end of the bargain, and he shot out like a bird with the cage door open.

His heart skipped a beat when Alfred rushed back in. But all Alfred did was hug him, gushing about how nice Arthur was and how happy Matthew was going to be, and then he was gone again.

Arthur couldn't help but remember that saying Matthew had reminded him about. If you love something, set it free. If it returns, it's yours; if it doesn't, it never was. The last part echoed in his head.