As expected, the Clubs and the Diamonds royals arrived on Wednesday with the usual pomp and circumstance. At the same time, things were markedly different – the atmosphere was much lighter, having been brought to the palace for a celebration and not a discussion about governing their respective kingdoms.

Arriving at sunset, Yao leading the Clubs and Matthew with the Diamonds, the cameras were more than eager to capture the fanfare. Bows were exchanged, royals embraced each other, and the Chosen from both kingdoms watched with fond gazes as Francis and Vash held Lili's hands through the golden gates and Roderich and Elizabeta's daughters came to envelop Feliciano and Alfred with big hugs.

The sunset dipped into inky black night, and the grand gates shut on the palace, affording some of their occupants much needed privacy.

Looking over his shoulder briefly, Matthew was assigned to assist Gilbert and Lili to access their rooms. Everyone else was being helped by Alfred, Katya and Yao, and Matthew couldn't help but thank the Fates that he was lucky to be largely alone with Lili.

After having been assigned to Diamonds, Gilbert had clearly grown as fond of the little queen as the rest of Cards. To be fair, she was the daughter of one of his closest friends', but it was wonderful to see Gilbert be less brash and outspoken around her.

Even now as the three of them walked down the corridor, he was speaking quietly to her, a light smile on his face. To his surprise, Lili looked over to where Matthew was watching the two of them, then extended her hand to his.

He couldn't help but ask. "Lili?"

"Could you two do a favour for me?"

Over the top of her head, Matthew and Gilbert exchanged a glance. "Depends on what it is, but I doubt I'll say no," Matthew answered for the both of them.

"It's nothing big, promise!" She gave their palms a squeeze. "Could you guys swing me around?"

"Miss Lili, hasn't your father and Vash already done that down the stairs of the train earlier today?" Gilbert replied, grinning a little. "I remember watching the three of you."

"Yes, Gilbert," she raised her chin, attempting to sound haughty. "But that doesn't mean I can't have another one! Matthew, you're on my side, right? You're the taller out of the two of you, right?"

Sliding his gaze over from him to Lili, Mathew let his expression relax. "Yes, I'm afraid, Joker Gilbert," he said, "We'll have to undertake the most important duty of swinging her around until we get to the room."

"Man…" Though his Joker had lost, he didn't seem to upset about it. "What's the authority of Ace to a Joker?"

"Above the curve of a Primary Suit when it comes to serving your Queen. Hold her steady, Gilbert."

"You don't have to refer to the rankings, Gil," Lili chipped in, now swinging happily from the two of them, "Maybe it's your close relationship that makes you listen to Matthew so."

Violet met pale red in the briefest of desperate, invisible touches. Lili had been joking…right? Surely she didn't know – what had they done since Gilbert had gotten here? The corridor where Matthew had kissed him time and time and time again had been secluded completely in the dark, and everyone else had been talking about dinner and going to their rooms. Did Francis figure it out? Did-

"What do you mean, Lili?" Gilbert dared to ask, failing to hide the shake in his voice.

"I mean, you two are friends, right? Even when you were the Queen of Hearts."

"Oh. Heh, we really have been, uh, friends for that long, huh." the sheer amount of relief in Gilbert's voice was mirrored in how Matthew's throat had closed up and his mouth had gone dry. "You're right, kiddo." The waver in his tone hadn't gone away, meaning that he still hated the fact that he had to lie to Lili. "Well, I will also admit that the awesome me is so cool and kind to listen to both of you."

Fighting back a giggle, the small queen kicked her legs, chrome yellow boots stark against the white and blue of the Spades palace. "Uncle Gilbert really is awesome, sometimes. Now keep on going!"

"Uncle? Hey, Lili, that's not fair, Matthew's not much younger than me!"

Yao's hands stilled in the corridor to the left of the Spades royals' bedroom, knuckles poking out of the violet fabric. "Ivan. Don't go any further. The dinner is in twenty minutes, and we don't have much time. Is there something you want to tell me?"

"They deserve to know, Yao. About the two of us."

"No," the reply was lightning fast, "Alfred is currently in the process of completing his Deciding. This would disrupt it."

Ivan's too wide smile faded slightly. "Ah. Alfie again? Why are you so devoted to him and Matthew, Yao? Don't I matter?"

"You know why," Yao hissed. "Alfred and Matthew mourned with me when you couldn't. I don't blame you for that, but we've been family ever since, and it has been an honour to raise them along with your older sister. It would be impossible to change those bonds now."

"Haven't I been there for you enough? What else do you want from me?" Ivan's fingers wrapped around Yao's index finger, holding onto it as if he were a sailor clutching onto an anchor. "I'll end my Deciding for you. Roderich and Eliza expect me to find someone to love, but how can I do so?"

"End the…what? You're not serious. After all that effort-"

"I love you, and you know that," Ivan insisted, shutting his violet eyes. "I have, ever since you helped me from the snow that night. You've always been so good at getting everyone out of a tricky situation. If you hadn't taken me into your home that night, one of the guards would have caught me, and Uncle would have sent me back to the Easterns. You saved Alfie from going there. Can't you save me from a Deciding I've never wanted in the first place?"

Yao's breath hitched; he wasn't sure how to deal with the sheer amount of heartbreak in Ivan's face. "As the King of Clubs – as royals – we have to do things we don't want. If you…if you need help with increasing media coverage, I can confer with Roderich-"

"You love me, don't you?" Ivan sounded as if he were on the verge of tears now as he surged forward, shoes stumbling on the marble as he gently held Yao's forearms, too small in his own large hands. Yet he held the Jack as if he was made out of jade – there were no angry red fingerprints, no demanding squeezes.

Though the King of Clubs had a reputation for being forceful, even violent, Yao found it hard to believe any of those rumours. Said rumours had almost certainly been spread by his uncle, and it wasn't as if they hadn't had a foundation of truth to them, but at his core, he knew Ivan wanted to be gentle, a truly benevolent ruler, to correct the horrors of his predecessor. Now he had opened his eyes again, the hurt in them was raw, the colour of wisteria to Yao's wisteria seeds.

He mouthed his question once again, the words barely audible. "You love me, right?"

As much turmoil as their separation and different duties were putting them through, Yao knew the answer – he had found it all those years ago, underneath a counter clockwise growing wisteria tree. His pencil had worked its skilful way across Ivan's babyish features, immortalising his physical scars when there was still an angry, poorly bandaged red weal on his right cheek. Yet his sketch couldn't capture the scars in his mind that still rippled throughout to this day – the way he so desperately clung onto everyone he loved.

How he was still afraid to do anything without Elizabeta and Roderich's aid. How he still needed Yao, even after all those years training in both a military setting and a royal setting. How heavily he was tinted with the desperation of a deep love.

Ironic how he and Alfred hated each other so, even if they were so alike.

Looking into Ivan's eyes, Yao nodded, knowing how much power the tiny jerk of his chin brought.

But there was still something else…"Are you still afraid of the Joker rebels?"

Ivan flinched, the tension in the corridor dissipating slightly. "A little. Not just because of them, though…if I have to end my Deciding, they might use that against me."

"They will."

"I know. That's why I'm glad my sisters are safe, here – that's something else I owe you for. Natalya…" he trailed off, looking at the light at the end of the corridor, "Is she happy here? Does Alfie know?"

Yao dodged the question, hoping to distract him with a preposterous scenario. "I'm surprised you let her apply to Hearts. If you wanted her to stay in Spades and win the Deciding, wouldn't you have let her apply as your sister on purpose? It could spell the beginnings of her being very valuable, diplomatically. It could be an arranged marriage, yet easier, allowing the two of them to fall in love."

Shifting in his position, yet not backing away from Yao, Ivan spoke. "I do not want my sister to be unhappy. I feel that she already resents me from sending her away from me, but she does not understand that a potential rebellion might take her and Katya up, even as a leader. And…as much as Alfie and I do not get on, I understand."

"Understand?" Yao felt his shoulders relaxing. Though he knew the Fates could detect meddling in a Deciding process, no one could ever be sure of their practises. "What exactly?"

"As irritating as it has been over the years to hear him want to have a Deciding for love, I understand," Ivan said. "It is intoxicating to be able to be with the one you love without everyone else looking in. I remember you told me how in the old kingdoms before Cards, a king's bride would be a queen?"

Yao winced, not liking where this was going.

"Of course, it is not the case anymore. Feli and Ludwig are married, and Eliza and Roderich, but it still happens. Francis and Jeanne were king and queen."

"Even if they didn't have a Deciding since it was so soon after the war to be spending on something like that."

"Yes. At the same time, maybe that is what Alfie wants, after all. To recreate that perfect love story, that old tale of king and queen. He is happy, no?"

"I think so. Even though the advisorship has been giving a hard time."

"I see," Ivan's words was quiet. "I understand that too. When the queen is found and Spades gets a full Primary Suit, they will be discarded. Losing power is something people wouldn't take kindly to. You know why my uncle sent me to the Easterns."

"To kill you," Yao said bitterly – yet with his liege in mind, and all the comparisons in his head, something else pushed past the haze of the summer solstice. "…he sent you there to die."

Ivan nodded, fingers still holding onto Yao's as he noticed the Jack's focused expression. "Yao?"

"He sent you to the Easterns to die," the cogs were turning in his mind, sending him back into the court where he'd watched Alfred's shoulders square and his grip tremble on his notes. "That was the entire purpose."

"…yes."

"They told me that he had been selected in the draft, but…they must have known what your chances are in the Easterns. Then when I was with my mother in the hospital, they attended the last day of the Meeting that year in my stead, then they campaigned to get the duty of assigning the soldiers to the region," Yao was counting off the points as he spoke, not noticing the increasingly sorrowful expression on Ivan's face, "Then Alfred turned sixteen that year…"

"Do you think they sent him there to kill him on purpose?" Ivan asked gently.

"I wanted to doubt it, but lately…lately their demeanour's been falling through the cracks. Since he's been closer to completing the Deciding. I've been trying to be there for him, but now more than ever I realise how outnumbered we are, even with Katya's help."

"Yao," Ivan said again, but instead of frenzied pleas to run away to Clubs with him or begging over the port for reassurances of adoration, his tone had evened out. In these moments, where the King of Clubs was his rock in an ever shifting world, the Jack of Spades loved him the most. "Though Alfie and I do not see eye to eye, it would be a tragedy if Spades was lost to them."

Yao didn't know what else to do, so he settled for leaning slightly into Ivan. "What can I do?" he said, shutting his eyes, no longer caring if someone caught them. "Alfred is stubborn and fights for his pride when he wants to, wanting to stand alone. Yet what is a boy king meant to do against an advisorship who knows their time is running short?"

Ivan rotated his pose so he could hold Yao's shoulders closer. "Alfie loves you like he loves a parent, I'm sure," he said, "But he is young, and young uns don't listen."

Fighting back a snort, Yao answered him. "I know. Everything hinges on this Deciding. I don't want to rush him, but I want him to find someone he truly loves without any distractions."

"It is intoxicating," Ivan admitted. "To be able to choose someone above all. Choosing someone is one of the strongest magics in Cards, I think."

Realising he was looking at him as he spoke, Yao remembered their original point. "Ivan, I cannot command you to continue to hold your Deciding," he began slowly, shoulders relaxing as the younger man slumped into his wiry frame, "But Clubs needs their Ace. Eliza and Roderich know this. I know they care for you, but there is a reason why."

"Please," Ivan whispered, trembling in Yao's arms, "Let me choose you. You don't even have to come to Clubs to be with me anymore. I won't ask you to give up caring for Alfie and Matthew. Just don't let make me continue with a Deciding. I don't want to choose someone then tell them it was all a lie."

"Sometimes duty doesn't let us choose," Yao replied dully, yet he couldn't help it – he hugged Ivan closer. "Think of the kingdom. You must always think of the kingdom."

At dinner, with all the new royals having arrived, the Chosen were allowed to find seats by themselves. With the sole exception of Kiku, who sat by Arthur, the Chosen from both kingdoms mostly kept to themselves.

"Sir Kiku Honda, was it?" Sakura's usually calm eyes were full of curiousness as she spoke. "It is nice to meet your acquaintance."

"It is nice to meet yours as well," Kiku replied, and the two of them bowed to each other as they took their seats. "Are you Lady Sakura Honda?"

Leaning over Arthur's shoulder, Emma spoke. "He's your friend, right? Back at the holding facility?"

"Er, yes."

"Seems more like a business meeting than a reunion. Have they known each other before?"

"I'm not sure," Arthur said, "But then again, Kiku's from the same Hearts House as her, I think."

"Oh, so they let you go because you organised a trade for securing deals during the summer?" Sakura's pink lips pursued in slight jealousy. "I wish I had thought of that."

"I promise you, Lady Sakura, it was not easy, but…" Kiku turned around briefly, "I was fortunate to meet Sir Arthur there, as well as come to the Hearts palace. It has been a very long time since I met anyone else of House Honda."

"Oh…I have not been able to speak to them as well," Sakura admitted as the servers strode into the dining hall with the appetizers, "Perhaps they will be looking on my successes and see that I am all right."

"You know, you two are right," Leon whispered, "It really is totally a business meeting."

"That's so cool though, it might come in handy in the future," Emma said before she took a sip of her water, "I mean, look! The cameras are eating it all up."

"Maybe they should have eaten up the fact that Arthur spent all night chatting with Sir Kiku…"

"Okay, listen, it's been awhile since we saw each other," Arthur couldn't help but flush pink, "So I do hope you'll understand."

"Well, I get it, but…you should bring him up to mine to play cards tonight! Or we could go in the Drawing Room. There's enough cards in your set to play with five, right, Leon?"

"Drawing Room? But I haven't been there since the date."

"Don't worry, if Marianne starts anything with you because she was so jealous about how well it went, I'll beat her up."

"Emma…"

"Anyways, actually. Art, do you wanna ask him?"

As the conversation between Kiku and Sakura wore down, Arthur asked him whether or not he would be interested in playing cards with the four of them. In a way, he'd never imagine his current world and his past world colliding with each other, but it was a pleasant change.

Kiku's answer was the same. "Yes, I would love to get to know you all better," he said with a polite smile, "Arthur has written a lot about you in our correspondence."

"Not…not that much," Arthur mumbled past his bite of bread, garnering giggles from the group. "Listen, Kiku, you've always teased me about how prickly I've been around others…"

"Prickly?" Leon leaned forward, "We have to, like, totally hear about this now."

As the group of five continued with their chatter, Arthur didn't realise Alfred's gaze searching for his, dropping quietly as he watched Arthur and Kiku interact with an unmatched ease.

Things didn't let up on Thursday, either. Alfred was out with Thomas and Clare as his last outside date, but not before a practise drill that split all the inhabitants of the palace up into four. In an event of an emergency, the prince and the Chosen were not allowed to travel together, meaning that Arthur couldn't steal any time away with him.

That afternoon was spent sitting on the floor quietly with his friends, that is until Leon held up his fingers and taught them to play a game of Chopsticks. Though it would have been a dull game with just the two of them, with five of them in the ring the time between entering the uniform, grey safe room to when Jack Yao clapped his hands and announced that the drill was over felt incredibly short. Since both Leon and Emma were from Diamonds, where apparently the game was very popular amongst schoolchildren, they initially dominated the games, but after around two to three rounds, the other three managed to catch up.

Inbetween games, though, Arthur couldn't help but observe how happy Leon was, in this moment. Though he would have to go home, it might not be as happy as when Arthur himself would have to go. Since the end of the outdoors date, he hadn't been able to spend any one on one time with Alfred, and that was all right because it meant that there would be more time with Kiku, but now the day had slowed down and they were sitting in the safe room for the drill, he had time to think.

Had Arthur's behaviour in the date somehow upset him? Had Alfred wanted to go public with their relationship? Now he was in the safe room with so many other Chosen, he started to think about it more. Some people definitely had more to offer; with many of them not being from the holding facilities, surely their families had more power and influence to offer Alfred than them. With the monarchy being weak, in terms of members, perhaps Alfred wanted to choose someone who could make the monarchy feel much powerful afterwards.

But was that true? One of the few flaws of the crown prince was that he wore his heart on his sleeve, Arthur thought as he watched Emma get tagged out after him with a disappointed sigh. Not only had Alfred told him how desperately he wanted to find love, but there was the matter of the other Chosen – surely they also knew what a dogged romantic he was. Some nights, especially after their date, Arthur had lay in bed, wrapping his arms tightly around his bear, thinking about whether or not he could truly give Alfred the love he deserved. Someone like him, who didn't have a prestigious family, or an extremely worldly upbringing educated by the best of the best, or-

"Art?" Leon was glancing at him now, pulling him out of his turbulent thoughts. "You doing okay?"

Just like that, the wandering thoughts of what prestigious family Clare probably came from or how much Thomas had to offer in terms of his skills faded away. Leon was leaving soon, meaning that the competition would be cut down – though technically it would mean less people to fight with, Arthur was losing his closest friend in the palace. All of a sudden, his confusion about Emma losing her friend during one of the earliest eliminations morphed into clarity – somewhere along the lines of the competition, it had faded.

"Yes, I'm all right." Rearranging his legs, he sat back into the circle, "Who's left in the game?"

Then again, frustratingly, his feelings for Alfred had done the opposite, meaning that there was now a pool of uneasiness about the prince's absence and lack of seeking out his company that Arthur couldn't ignore as easily. Even now, there were still ten or so Chosen he had to contend with, meaning that as much as he was still riding off the elation of their outside date, not everything would be going as smoothly as he'd hoped. He knew what he was in the competition for now, but perhaps Alfred had taken the outside date into consideration when planning his next move. After all, he had undergone a big elimination after the last major event, Arthur thought as his gaze lingered on Natalya sitting close to the Clubs king, her posture perfect, so nothing was set in stone.

Perhaps this week would be a week off, then. Enjoying one last precious weekend with Leon before he went home and spending as much time as he could with Kiku before he had to go home, and enjoy the summer solstice with his friends. Going to the Drawing Room, facing the music, and spending time with Alfred could wait, even for a little.

All that seemed to go out the window when Alfred returned back from his date, completely out of breath but smiling from ear to ear as he helped Thomas through the foyer. Since Marianne sounded the alarm, she was leading the Chosen, accompanied by the Hearts Chosen, whose interests had been piqued.

To their surprise, in addition to Jack Yao, who usually waited for Alfred to return, it seemed as if all the royals had showed up, eager to see what the fuss was about. By the time all the Chosen had arrived, however, it was too late – most of them were in their sleepwear in front of a dozen of the most powerful people in Cards.

Arthur, of course, was clad in a set of blue buttoned up shirt and pants, compared to Kiku, who seemed to have at least put on a set of red robes. With that in mind, he could only awkwardly nod, standing slightly behind Kiku.

Thankfully, the royals didn't seem to mind much. "Where is Rod, hm?" Joker Gilbert was teasing Queen Elizabeta already – Arthur remembered studying about a time whilst they were still younger and the Joker was still Queen of Hearts, where the trio of them had been friendly – "Has he gone to bed already?"

"Yes, in fact," came the cool reply, "He stayed with Vienne and Elly and was reading them a bedtime story. I don't see you reading one to Lili."

"I'm not her father, though," Gilbert retorted, shooting a glance at Francis, who merely shrugged.

"Lili's a grown girl now, as you know, Eliza," he said, ruffling Lili's head. Probably due to the excitement of the day, she was still clad in her jacket and pants. "Besides, she's been itching to watch the outside dates from the Deciding."

"Yes, she wrote to me the other week about them," Elizabeta replied. "I won't lie, I've been quite eager myself. Though, in terms of the romantic factor, I'm not sure anyone could top the one last week."

"Last week? With who?"

"Him," Lili piped up, nudging her chin in Arthur's – who was speaking to Kiku and Leon – direction. "Sir Arthur."

"Oh? Lili," Elizabeta bent slightly to speak to her, "Is he your favourite, too?"

With a small nod, Lili stood closer to her, wedging herself between the queen and her father. "Mhm!"

"The eyebrows are too thick for my taste, no?"

"Francis, that's not very nice," Vash hissed, stepping forward. The light in the foyer made his expression seem even more imposing, though it looked as if he had lost the large beret, making him look slightly shorter. "They're standing only a little ways away, so I hope for your sake they're not listening – ah, Lili-"

"Vash, who do you like?" she asked with a stout nod. "Eliza, Vash was listening to me talk about it a few days ago, and I think I got him really interested?"

"I see," Elizabeta couldn't help but hold back a giggle, amused by how the Jack flushed. "Vash, there's no need to worry about liking something as romantic as the Deciding."

"Pah, it's…it's untoward for a former captain of the guard," he mumbled, relenting a little as Lili stuck out her bottom lip. Though she was capable of being queen even at such a young age with support, it wasn't fair to expect the behaviour of a full grown woman every time. "To be involved with these sorts of things. Besides, Alfred could use less pressure when it comes to these functions."

"Surely you must have a favourite. Even Feli tells me Lud has a favourite."

"Truly? Well," Vash pursued his lips, "Whatever Lili likes, I suppose. Especially if you're happy about it as well, Miss Eliza."

"Attempting to flatter me, hm?" She placed a motherly arm around him, beckoning him forward. "Go on, don't be shy."

"She's right, you shouldn't like something just because I do!"

"That's not true, I…" Trailing off, Vash's eyes cast over the throng of Chosen. "…Perhaps Lady Avie. She and Alfred seem to be quite close, and it'll be a good thing for someone from common birth to become a queen."

"Ooh! She got the first kiss on camera, right?"

Vash shrugged his shoulders, looking completely defeated. "That's what Lili told me, so that's all I know. I'm just not very interested. Alfred's love life should be private."

"No need to be shy, Vash," Francis patted the shoulder of his Jack, "There's nothing wrong with following a Deciding. If he'd wanted to fall in love privately, maybe he wouldn't have insisted on having one."

"Or," Gilbert interjected, "Telling literally everyone who wanted to listen. Which is a lot of people."

"I suppose," Vash said, making a noise caught half between a snort and a snicker. "I expected him to be hardened after training in the military, but it seems as if he wanted it even more. Though he's grown up, some things still never change."

Clare emerged from the doorway, followed by the guards and the cameramen, Alfred leading up the rear as he exchanged a few words with Yao. There was clear envy in the eyes of his fellow Chosen that Arthur could understand – here was Thomas and Clare, flushed and dressed to the nines on their date, and there was the rest of them clad in their nightgowns.

To his credit, Alfred didn't seem to notice it. Instead, the encounter seemed to turn into a meet and greet, the royals easily breaking rank to speak to him, Thomas and Clare. The Chosen milled around uncertainly, not sure what to do – at least, Arthur would have done the same if he hadn't been talking with Kiku so fervently, the two of them engrossed in a conversation about the elimination of the latest Hearts Chosen.

So fervently, in fact, that for yet another time in the week, Arthur failed to realise Alfred staring at him across the foyer silently, eyes trying to communicate what his lips were too hesitant to. Once it became apparent that Arthur was too engaged in the conversation to look for him, he dropped his gaze, mingling back with Ludwig.