End of 19th century
At the Austro-Hungarian palace. A small room filled with sheets, drapes and other materials. Someone is tinkering with the sewing machine with tiny tools. SAH stands near him quietly chatting. The door is open. Serbia walks by, sees them and pops her head to say hello.
"Hey there what are you doing here?" her twin says and hugs her when she comes closer.
"God bless. I'm waiting for my meeting with Austria. It was scheduled for noon and it's 1 o'clock now, so I figured I have a few hours before he decides to show up" Serbia replies.
SAH turns to the black-haired, slightly tanned man and introduces him: "This is the Swaba minority. The new nation addition to the palace."
He cleans his oil-covered fingers with a cloth and shakes hands with her. "Nice to meet you. I see Austria has finally found the time to make representatives of all minorities" she says carefree. "Funny, you don't look like his brother."
"Well" Swaba says "I suppose that was Austria's practical joke. Something like 'the black sheep of the family' type of joke" he says, taking a displeased look at his tanned hands, still working on the machine.
"Really? But your people are so nice" Serbia replies.
"Exactly" he replies jokingly. They all laugh.
"Good timing to. With all these new machines, we definitely needed a good handyman" SAH teases to which Swaba chuckles. "I like machines. Learn their parts and how they work together and you will always, no matter how complicated the machine is, know how it will behave under any circumstances. Unlike people who can be so unpredictable...Especially females. Am I right Freeland*?" he states.
*{A nickname Serbia had at the time because you could buy land and not worry about the local feudal lord. I think the name for the micronation of Liberland was inspired by it}
The two girls glance at each other with a knowing smirk. "I absolutely agree" Serbia says, "They are the worst."
"Well, then. I'll leave you two burly men to your burly men things. I have some hand sewing to do" SAH says smiling and leaves with a few folded pillow cases.
Next scene: Austria is walking the halls looking for someone. He hears a conversation from the room with an open door.
"You see. This machine is different from the previous because it has a falling shuttle instead of a rotary one" Swaba explains standing while Serbia is in his heat listening.
"Do I really need to know all that. I mean, I appreciate the history but I would like to learn how to fix this one first" she replies as Austria listens in. He loudly clears his throat to have his presence known.
Serbia flinches and stands up: "Oh, I apologize. I wasn't expecting you'd be out so soon" she says a little worried.
Austria, looking extremely serious, signals her to come with him. Serbia does so quickly.
Next scene: At his office. "What am I going to do with you" Austria says annoyed to Serbia.
She looks at him confused. "Don't give me that look. I know you've been meeting with other empires behind my back. Is that the thanks I get for everything I did for you" he says arrogantly. Serbia's eyebrow involuntarily raises. She takes a deep breath and starts: "I understand you are hurt but you have to understand that I am an independent country and I need to make my place on the political map of Europe."
"And what a country you are. Disorganized, old-fashined and filled with corruption. You are like a small child demanding to stay up late and participate in a poker game" he says with his arms folded.
Serbia bows her head.
"I am sorry, my boy, but I am telling you this for your own good. If you want to survive among the most powerful empires in the world, you first need to be organized and structured. You need to watch your manners and have the proper mindset" Austria says slowly, emphasizing every word.
Serbia stays quiet with her head still bowed. "You know, you've been telling me these things for a long time now. Every time I try to do something for myself, you ruin it by making me feel like sh*t" she says hurt.
"There you go again. Language Serbia, language" he says irritated.
"But I don't think you do it for my own good. Not at all. Every time you critisize and ridicule my actions, it is because you want to gain something from it. You want me to feel bad so you could feel more powerful. You want me to hate myself so I would think highly of you, give you more money, more influence, more privileges..." she says as her voice breaks.
"If you truly wanted me to improve, you wouldn't be so demanding and possessive. You would let me figure things on my own and be there to guide me when the problem is too big for me to solve properly" she says staring him straight in the eyes.
"But that is not your goal, is it? You are telling me all these terrible things because you want to manipulate me into submitting to your will. So I would unconditionally obey your every command."
Austria is quietly trembling from anger. "Is that what you think" he says through his teeth.
"That is not what I think, that is what I know. That is an undeniable fact of our relationship" she bravely states. Austria takes a deep breath. "Get out" he growls.
She bows and swiftly turns in the opposite direction wiping away her tears. A minute after she leaves, Austria still stands. A dramatic fast violin solo is heard in the background. He thinks to himself: "You better watch your step you disrespectful swine herder. Punishing you for speaking to me in such a disrespectful way is beneath me. But be assured, if you make one false move, one miscalculated step, or antagonise me in any physical way, I will destroy you. That is a fact." The frame sharply turns to black with a screech of a violin.