I'm surprised a few people remembered Elizabeta during this part of the story, and all of them were asking how she is doing and what's going on. You should realize that she is the Cinderella of this story, so while all of this is happening, the original Cinderella story is happening back in her part of the house. As for Natalya…that's a secret ;D

/=+=/

The soldiers could not tell them where he was. The nobles seemed too scared to mention the name of the man. It was almost as if Gilbert had fallen off the map and out of the plane of existence. Each step that they went forward, Ludwig started to worry about the condition of his brother. What was going on…?

"I'm scared…Gilbert's not one to disappear like this." Feliciano looked at him. "Unless…something happened to him…?"

"No, I doubt it. I would've noticed it if it did." Ludwig answered. "He was one to announce when he was going to do something stupid."

Roderich, in the meanwhile, felt horrible. His one duty was to protect the prince, the heir to the throne, and yet here he was, unable to find him, and the whole castle unwilling to give him any answers to his pounding questions. Why was the castle not telling him anything? Did Gilbert do something that horrible to them, or worse…?

"Why don't we find your father?" He finally forced out. "He would most definitely know what is going on with Gilbert."

"All right." Ludwig nodded. "Feliciano, stay close."

"Yes."

/=+=/

"I never understood why I trusted you all this time."

Gilbert looked up from his prison cell and saw the king standing there, with an angered look on his face. The guards all stood at full alert, knowing for sure that he was capable of taking all of them out if he ever decided to charge his way out of the cell. He couldn't help but wonder how many backup men were stationed outside.

"You were the son of my brother, the one that my kingdom hates…that I detest." He continued. "The blood of the father goes into that of the son."

"So you're saying that I'm corrupted."

"A disgrace to my entire kingdom…I'm glad that I'm still alive when I learned the truth, or else my line would fall into ruin." The king said sternly. "Your execution will be tomorrow morning, and it will be as painful as you have inflicted on me."

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

The king glared at him in anger before turning to leave the prison, telling the guards not to switch out in case Gilbert tries to charge forward or someone tries to come in from the outside. He seemed sure of what he was doing, unafraid of the consequences that might befall on him in regards to his son…the actual heir to the throne.

"Hey, pops. You wanna know how you trusted me this entire time?"

He turned around.

"I wished for it. Wishes go a long way, you know."

"Goodness…I just wish for you to be quiet until the time comes."

"I can do that…"

/=+=/

"Uwaaaa…we checked everywhere!"

"Where could that bastard go…?" Ludwig shook his head. "Maybe he went into the town?"

"Now why would he do that?" Feliciano blinked. "It's mid-noon!"

"That's what worries me."

Roderich seemed to get paler by the minute. He didn't want to think about what was going on with Gilbert. As more people denied telling him anything, he began to wonder if this was even about Gilbert in the first place. His mind began to wander…perhaps the one that cursed Feliciano was the one behind this…a failsafe, perhaps?

"Roderich? What's wrong?"

"…I have a bad feeling about this."

"You're not the only one, but I think you're the one who figured out what's going on."

"What are you talking about? I really don't have a clue, Ludwig."

"I know you don't…but you have a good guess, don't you?"

"Ludwig? What are you talking about?"

"…it has something to do with Feliciano."

"Eh?"

"I mean the one who cursed him."

Feliciano's eyes literally widened as the realization crashed onto him. Arthur did this. He was the one who took Gilbert away. But why? Why in the world would he do something to such a man? Was it because he took care of Feliciano while he was recovering? Why not take it out on Ludwig, or Roderich, or…?

"…look. I'm only guessing at this point. I don't know if that's literally the reason why he's missing. Let's just keep looking for him, all right?"

"Why don't we split up? We'll cover more ground that way."

/=+=/

Feliciano had no idea where he was. In all his years in this place, he never once noticed this hallway leading into the darkness. As he walked through the stone pathways, he couldn't help but notice the amounts of soldiers surrounding the grounds. Was there someone here that they shouldn't be seeing? Was this a prison?

I…I shouldn't be here, shouldn't I? He shivered. But Gilbert…he must be here, isn't he? If Roderich is right?

He wandered through the crannies, surprised that the guards were not seeing him at all. He snuck through the crowd and noticed that the soldiers were switching for guard duty. Next to them was a prisoner staring at the guards and not saying a word. He turned his head and noticed Feliciano, familiar red eyes looking back at him.

Gilbert…!

Feliciano ran in the shadows, hidden from the light, and clung onto the bars, staring in shock at the man behind bars. Gilbert was shocked that he saw him at all, before crawling forward and holding his delicate fingers. He hated how broken he looked, tears rolling up in his eyes as the boy leaned onto the bars shaking.

"Your brother's looking all over for you…why are you here? What's going on?"

Gilbert didn't say a word, holding onto his fingers as if to tell him something that he couldn't understand. The young boy looked up as realization crashed on him.

"Is this…because of me? Did you all do this for me?"

He closed his eyes and started shaking his head to assure him, hurting the poor boy more than it should be. Gilbert hated that; he hated how easily broken he is.

"I'm so sorry…this wouldn't have happened if I had come here…"

"At least you already realized that."

Feliciano's eyes widened and turned to see a familiar figure standing next to him, familiar green eyes piercing deep into his soul. Gilbert froze, noticing what was going on, and was furiously shaking his head to tell him the truth. But he couldn't see him. Feliciano was fixated at Arthur, scared at what was going to happen.

"It was either you, or him. And here he chose the one unworthy of life incarnate."

"B-but…"

"If you never came here, Gilbert wouldn't be here. He wouldn't be dead by tomorrow's sunrise."

"N-no! You can't do that!"

"He already made that choice. All for your sorry soul…"

Feliciano found himself shaking, holding his head and sobbing openly. Ludwig had just saved his life, and now he was going to lose his brother all the same. Why did so many horrible things have to happen to him? To everyone else around him? Did he really deserve any of this punishment? Did he deserve even the slightest bit of happiness…?

"C-can we switch again?"

"Hm?"

Gilbert's eyes widened, and he grabbed onto Feliciano as hard as he could, making sure he doesn't get away. He quickly tore himself away from him. He had made his choice. Family does not go above friendship…above him.

"I'll…I'll go back to sleep like before…just please return everything to what it used to be. Give Gilbert back the throne, and please don't hurt anyone else again…"

"…as you wish…eternal sleep for his happiness."

Gilbert tried his best to block him, but Arthur quickly threw him to the other side of the room. His screams caused all the soldiers to charge into the room, aiming their spears at the strange new figure and realizing that Feliciano was at his mercy. Yet Arthur was making them unable to move, his glare literally freezing them in place.

"This will be painless."

Feliciano closed his eyes and shivered, imagining that Ludwig was by his side, holding his hand and telling him that it was going to be all right. Everyone watched in horror as Arthur reached into Feliciano's chest, rummaging for something as the younger boy screamed in pain, trying his best not to make any more noises and failing miserably. Slowly, Arthur's hand pulled away, holding a small white flame before the young boy, who stared at it curiously before collapsing onto the ground.

"Goodness…sometimes you have to do it yourself, huh?"

Arthur instantly vanished, the memory of him going with him. Gilbert blinked for a few minutes before realizing that he was inside a prison cell. He ran to the bars and started shaking it profusely.

"Hey! What the hell am I doing in here? That's totally unawesome!" He looked down. "Hey-!"

Instantly, there was a great movement. The king charged forward, confused on what was going on and wondering why in the world his stepson was in a prison cell. He instantly ordered for the guards to let him go, and Gilbert couldn't have sailed out of there any faster. He turned his head and saw Feliciano on the ground, unmoving from the screams.

"What the hell is Feliciano doing here?" He blinked. "I thought you were still asleep in your room…well, better make sure to bring you back before bruder flips."

/=+=/

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England: Please don't tie me up again. I barely survived that.

Mitsuki: Eh, I probably won't.

England: *phew*

Mitsuki: Cause I'm gonna kill you myself.

England: EH!?

PITCHFORK TIME!