tis the rewrite oui
as always, i do not own the selection nor hetalia. these belong to kiera cass and himaruya hidekaz respectively.
"It's getting late."
Alfred raised his head to peer around the corner as Yao patted him on his shoulder, making him jump.
"Your Highness, your brother is already preparing to go to sleep," the Jack of Spades chided, tugging on the prince's ear gently. "You have a Deciding to plan, young man, and staring out into the gardens won't get those candidates chosen."
"Hmph, Mattie has it easy-and Yao, didn't we agree to not use the title?" Alfred said, but relented at Yao's words.
The Jack accepted this with a nod, taking one look at the gardens before walking with the prince, placing one hand on his back."Isn't it moving a little too fast?" Alfred asked, not dragging his gaze away to face Yao. "I mean, it's not coming soon, right?"
"Isn't it moving a little too fast?" Alfred asked, not dragging his gaze away to face Yao. "I mean, it's not coming soon, right?"
"I would say it is," Yao said with an expression that told of his many years dealing with the royal twins. "A time span of two weeks seems close in my book."
Alfred gave a start at this, but he shook his head childishly in reply.
"That's totally not near at all! Have the…things even come in yet?" he gestured awkwardly.
"First batch has already," Yao smiled, stifling a laugh at the teen's horrified expression. "It's all here for you to run your grubby hands through.""My hands are not
"My hands are not grubby!" Alfred protested. "And come on, can't this wait until morning?"
"Not if you keep on putting your sleep off, young man. Even your brother's brushing his teeth," Yao said briskly, leading him to his conjoined bedroom with his brother's on the left. "Sometimes I wish you cou-"
Alfred looked up at him, but his mouth shut tightly into a thin line and he shook out his thin ponytail.
"What were you gonna say, Yao?" he asked in a quieter, more subdued tone.
"No matter, Alfred." Yao replied quickly, ushering him into his bedroom. "But ask your maid to come for me before you go to sleep, please."
"Consider it done?" Alfred said in a quizzical tone, but smiled at his maid who quickly bowed and scurried to the bathroom to prepare his bath.
Whatever Yao wanted him to see could wait after his bubbles.
"I must say, Your Highness," Yao said, stifling a chuckle, "That could easily have been one of the longest baths I've heard you take. Or was it that your maid was slow in getting to me?"
"Of course not!" Alfred said quickly, pulling down his hood, the lumpy bear ears meshing with each other. "My maid hasn't done anything wrong. I was just tired, after all."
"Have the advisers been giving you a difficult time again?" Yao asked, frowning as he took a seat. "You really should tell me if anything like the meeting last Wednesday happens again when I'm not here."
"Yes, Yao," Alfred said quietly. After a few moments, the Jack pulled out a new contraption.
It was coloured a metallic silver, and had a slim, circular shape that was cool to the touch when Alfred held it. It was shaped similarly to the small cell phone that Yao occasionally carried around with him in the palace.
"This is so cool!" Alfred exclaimed, turning it around in his hands in excitement. "Uh, what is it?"
"Since I don't think it's the best time for you to be walking around the palace at such an hour, I decided to bring the handheld port instead of us having to slouch over to the port room. You won't be able to choose until we have all the entries, and I'm sure you'll be wanting to ask Matthew for the help.""So…this is just for me to look at?" Alfred asked as he took the port from Yao's gloved hands.
"So…this is just for me to look at?" Alfred asked as he took the port from Yao's gloved hands.
"Yes, well-it's been around ever since your great grandfather, I'm told. They used to have every single application mailed straight to the palace, but to save resources now they just enter it into a database for you to paw through. And-don't touch that, Alfred," he said exasperatedly as the prince jabbed at the 'select' button on a redhead's profile, "That's not available until Sunday, when the last entries come in. And that button's not something to be taken lightly."
"How many do I get to choose?" Alfred asked, his hands scuttling around to try to get a feel of the new interface.
"Thirty. You can go back to the desktop here," Yao said, Alfred handing him the port and demonstrating, "To see a wider overview of twenty to thirty applicants, you can just go here, but if you want to zoom in, you click the picture. Got the hang of it yet?""Yao, I'm very good with electronics, unlike you," Alfred smiled, not wanting to take a moment off teasing his guardian. "Remember the last time you tried to send a message to Clubs and it ended up with Hearts instead?"
"Yao, I'm very good with electronics, unlike you," Alfred smiled, not wanting to take a moment off teasing his guardian. "Remember the last time you tried to send a message to Clubs and it ended up with Hearts instead?"
"Yes, well…" Yao trailed off, looking slightly embarrassed. "I prefer postage to the new-fangled things everyone seems to be trying to use. There's something much more valuable with a letter than a little message on a port. Besides, the ports are far too big to be of a convenience. Until we can make them do more things and make them smaller, we're going to have to keep going with your penmanship lessons."
Alfred huffed and stuck out his bottom lip in a gesture that the Jack was familiar with since childhood, and then went back to looking at the pictures.
"Is there a number of people for each Kingdom? I mean, do I hafta choose a bunch before the system lets me move on or something?"
"Alfred, these aren't like one of the games you read about when you were supposed to be brushing up on history. You don't have to choose a set number, but it's a good thing to have an even spread. But the thing with Hearts…you know what," Yao said hastily, looking at Alfred's dismayed expression, "Just go with your instinct, I should say. After all, it'll be over quicker if you find a group of people you really like instead of people you really can't stand."
"…that was what the advisers were arguing about last week."
"What?" Yao said, his gaze whipping around to meet Alfred's. His tone was calm, but Alfred could see behind his cool brown gaze to see the fury in his eyes.
"Something about a handful of people that they'd already picked out for me…" Alfred said in a small voice. "They were pretty insistent, but I managed to, um, hold them off until the next meeting."
Yao huffed angrily, running a hand through his hair before facing Alfred and placing his hands on his shoulders.
"Look, Alfred, if I could make them stop I would have already done so. But only a Queen or a King can put them down, and until you've chosen your queen we can't do anything about that. But you must stay strong, my boy, while I do everything I can. We'll start with attending each Meeting together if my schedule allows me." Yao said, closing his eyes for a moment before patting Alfred on the back and sitting back down on the armchair. "Duchess knows how they even got the list before I had a chance to show you. They've ruined the surprise of the process."
"No, I didn't really remember anything about them," Alfred rushed to reassure his guardian, fumbling with the device. "But I would totally appreciate your help."
"After the petition I should have excluded them completely, but as a Jack there's not that much that's in my power. I'll have a word with Matthew, since a Jack and an Ace is still slightly better than just one person of the Primary Suit."
"What about the part about queens having to bear a child before…?" Alfred began nervously, but Yao shook his head and waved his hand dismissively.
"That, well, I will try to undo as soon as possible. Since you are interested in both genders, my boy, it'll be a little harder for a male to bear a child. So if that ends up happening, I will arrange for the circumstances as best as I can."
"But doesn't that mean I'll have to try marrying a girl for better chance?" Alfred said, powering the device back on and swiping haphazardly on the screen, past pages of smiling faces. His feet started tapping on his dark blue carpet in nervousness, and his fingers moved more frantically.
"Don't think about the advisers for now." Yao soothed, folding his hands together in his lap. "With the Fates on our side, they can be kept in control for now. Because after all, the only person that can choose the true Queen of Spades is you, Alfred."
Alfred looked up at Yao, who was rising to leave the room. The Jack of Spades looked fondly at his bright blue eyes, and he couldn't but help think of the eight year old that wandered into his office and tugged on his robes and begged him for a bedtime story, the fifteen year old that had squealed in excitement when his dog had been presented to him as a present, and now, well...
"I'd actually thought you'd never grow up to be as mature as you are now." Yao said, half to himself.
"Have I done you proud?" For the first time in the whole night, Alfred's eyes carried a lining of hope, and there was a pang in Yao's heart for the eighteen year old-his posture had been stiffened, his voice not quite a tenor but not the high pitched laughter that the Jack still remembered-that had been forced to grow up far too fast.
"Of course," Yao said sincerely, Alfred getting to his feet and following him to the door. "You're very strong, my boy, and I know that you'll do very well in your Deciding. I have faith."
Alfred cracked into a childish smile, which made Yao relax as well.
By the Fates would Alfred never truly change, and remain himself against all odds.
"Goodnight, Alfred-no, it's all right, you can keep it for tonight," Yao said quickly, pressing the port into his hands. "Do some research tonight, but don't sleep too late. There are more coming in the next few days, so please be prepared."
"Goodnight, Yao!" Alfred said, and did a quick bow before he closed the door and watched the Jack go back to his office, no doubt.
Drawing his curtains closed and peering worriedly at his dog Hero's empty bed, he leapt onto his bed and powered on the port, letting his breathing relax and his legs stretch out as he scrolled through the names and the faces of his future Chosen.
The next morning, Alfred bid good morning to his maid, skipped out on his morning bath and started to prepare after he ushered his maid out for some fresh air. He let his fingers trail across his massive wardrobe and went for a loose shirt and deep blue pants for the quiet, summery morning. Putting Yao's port in the back of his pants, he wiggled his feet into a pair of simple canvas shoes before making his way to breakfast.
"Good morning, Your Highness," his butler said, smiling as Alfred sat on the chair right in front of the large dining table. He smiled back awkwardly as he asked for his usual breakfast, then fidgeted with the cloth on the table as he waited.
"Orange or apple juice?" another maid asked, offering him two glasses. He took the one with the apple juice inside, taking a long, hearty sip before he looked up and realized that the maid was still there, patiently waiting for him to finish. Gulping the rest of it down quickly, he asked for another glass, feeling self-conscious.
"Good morning, Alfred," his brother Matthew said, sliding into the chair next to him. That would usually have been reserved for the princess or queen, but since there was neither Matthew-being a full fledged Ace-took the spot for the time being.
"'Morning, Mattie!" he said, just relieved to have a distraction from the luxuries of royal life. "What's up?"
"I just finished talking with Queen Elizabeta," Matthew replied, waving shyly to a maid for his usual morning breakfast of pancakes. "She was thinking about adding a few more exports to try to improve our trading and things. All in a day's work, eh?"
"Yeah, I guess," Alfred said. Quickly turning his attention to his steaming plate of bacon and eggs, trying his best to not snort at his brother's horrified expression as he scarfed them down.
As the day turned from dull to dreary as rain came upon the palace mid morning, Alfred decided to spend some time with his brother after trying to tend to the horses and being unceremoniously shooed off. Of course, Matthew had his own work to do, but with such a important task at hand he felt like he would swallow his pride for once and ask for assistance.
"Come in." Even before he had finished his sentence, Alfred came charging in the room, noting his brother's sharp inhale and his back suddenly straightening.
"What's wrong, bro?"
"Nothing, I just thought you were Yao," Matthew said, putting down his pen. "He's prepared some documents I need to look over later. What do you need?"
Matthew had started sounding busier than ever since the last Solstice taking place in the sweltering heat of the early summer. He had asked both him and Yao about this, but they had both dismissed him, saying that they had other things to attend to. Of course, Alfred being Alfred, he had snuck into Matthew's small office and searched, but only managed to get away scot free with a tiny bit of time manipulation.
"Uh, you know about the Deciding?" Alfred blurted, making sure to shut the door behind them with a fling of his hand, sending the door flying.
"…can you just stop trying to break my door, first of all? I just managed to bring it back to its normal spot, and I had a pretty bad headache after," Matthew said irritably.
Unfortunately for him-and very fortunately for Alfred-his magic would never measure up to his brother's. Magic was dictated from birth, and due to a bitter six minutes Matthew had been declared the Ace and had been forced to watch his brother leap and bound in front of him as the future King. Of course, that meant lonely days sitting in front of the fire as their parents watched proudly as Alfred started levitating and slamming objects into each other, nights where Alfred smirked at him with his taller height and a series of books that Matthew knew he would chuck out the moment Yao's back was turned.
"Yeah, okay, whatever," Alfred said, pulling up a chair and flashing his brother a bright smile. "So can you help me with this choosing thing? I don't know what to look for in a person."
"That's what you said after you decided to try to romance my maid and caused me lots of embarrassment, eh?" Matthew teased, but pushed away from the desk so he had more space. "Magic word is please, brother."
Alfred grumbled and fidgeted as Matthew watched amusedly, fiddling with his watch as a reminder that Alfred didn't have all day. When Alfred did swallow his ego and asked for help, Matthew thrust his fist into the air in an uncharacteristic declaration of success and whooped loudly.
"Okay, okay, I get it! Here's the stuff," Alfred said, shoving the port into Matthew's chest.
"Isn't this a brand new thing that Yao mentioned?" Matthew questioned, turning the object around in his hands.
"Yeah, it's a handheld port. That's how I'm choosing?"
"They haven't all come in, right?" Matthew said knowledgeably, tapping on his calendar that was adorned with bears. "You should just probably laze off on your fat ass by then."
"Hey, I ain't fat!" Alfred protested. "And how do you know all about my schedule?"
"More like you should know more about me," Matthew retorted, but noted that Alfred had brought his chair around to directly face him and had quickly composed himself, peering closely at the screen. "But anyway, this thing can't take notes. Bring some paper, and we'll see which ones you fancy for now."
The two brothers spent the afternoon going through the applicant system, which had one new batch coming in every other hour. They had sectioned off the candidates into the four kingdoms, although the system did have issues and did not section off the ones that came from the holding facilities and the ones that didn't.
They hardly noticed the Jack's absence from the castle until he joined them for a late dinner, all breathless and flushed as he put down his usual stack of documents and asked for a bowl of soup before Alfred bombarded him with questions and Matthew dug up the piece of paper to show him.
"I'm sorry, boys," Yao said after he asked the maids to leave the trio alone. "There were a few issues with the military drafting. We've just received our military assignment. I trust that you're ready to speak tomorrow night, Matthew? The speech isn't too complicated, I hope."
"N-no, Yao, it's completely fine. I haven't had much time to run through it today specifically, because Alfred needed some help with getting through selecting a few candidates." Matthew said, showing him the paper. "We did a little research into what and who he'd pick."
"Well, nothing wrong with a little head start. Good work, you two." Yao praised, putting down his spoon. "We only have a week between announcing the candidates and the Deciding actually starting, so we have until the Broadcast for you to choose, Alfred. Do you need help with other duties then?"
Alfred, who had been deep in thought and nursing his chicken leg, jumped as Yao's cool gaze fixed onto him. Loosening his tie, he nodded readily.
"It's not like I really have a lot of duties, anyway." he muttered under his breath as he bid goodnight to his brother and guardian. Going up the stairs into his bedroom, he paused before deciding to wander around the vast halls.
Judging from the day, there was so many things going on for the two of them that Alfred could not help feeling excluded. Of course, their work didn't sound fun at all, but at least it gave some purpose to their day. For him, however, he was just stuck as a crown prince before he could find his princess. Then the job, the responsibilities, the power…it would be all his.
Matthew was already an Ace. Yao had been the Jack ever since he and his twin had been born. He still came across articles and books talking about his parents' glorious rule as king and queen before they had both died, and how they had brought Spades to become a more prosperous kingdom than it had been before their joint reign. What kind of legacy would that serve for him to live up to?
With a pang, Alfred touched his cheek, remembering how his mother used to kiss his chubby face goodnight and how his father's beard used to brush against his rosy cheeks as he told him jokes. Now it had mellowed out into a more handsome face and a strong jaw, but what would he not give to have it softer and more rounded like it was in his childhood. Far from the mould of being perfect, like he was always seen, how he was always shown in the media.
Dithering in the first floor south corridor, he paused for a moment before deciding to turn west and go up the large staircase back into the path of his room.
After all, he had a week. A week, to make his life change for the better.
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