One Last Fairytale: The Loneliness of Solitary
"Alfred, open this door at once." Arthur knocked at the door for the hundredth time in a day. Yet, he received no response from the boy who remained locked inside his room for more than a week.
It has been a week since the tragic incident and the families were still recovering from the loss suffered by Main Hetalia. Matthew and Yao funerals were held not too long after the incident, their bodies now buried at the graveyard behind Main Hetalia castle.
Arthur was seriously concern about the children, Alfred and Ivan especially have been worrying as they kept themselves confined in their own room as if they have entered a sort of hibernation. Both children had been sort of entering a serious depression state, not willing to talk or come out of their room.
"Has he spoken a word, cher?" Francis came with Kiku by his side, holding a tray of soup to be served for the young prince. Arthur shook his head and sighed in defeat. "I guess he needs some more time to cool down before we can really talk to him." Francis went up to give Arthur a hug as a comfort. "Till when? It doesn't seems like he's giving up now." Arthur asked, deeply worried for their one and only son. Francis just hugged him tighter while letting a tear silently fall off his cheeks, "Someday he'll get over with it. He won't stay like this forever."
When the kings had walked away, Kiku came up to the doorsteps and placed the tray of food on the doorway. "Master Alfred, open up. I have brought you some food."
"Go away…" Alfred's muffled voice came out from the room, "I'm not hungry…" Kiku clearly knew that was a lie but didn't want to argue about it. He left the food on the doorsteps and leave the hallway.
Gilbert was also faced with the same problem but in a much complicated way. Gilbert knew that Ivan had a habit of shutting himself out from people but this kind of isolation was way colder than before. Before that, he would still receive some mischievous remarks from Ivan but now Ivan seemed to be as good as dead.
"Ivan, stop playing dead and get outta here!" Gilbert yelled through the doors. "You know you can't hide away from this forever! But this is reality, a cruel but the truth, you can't always live on in a false world." When there was still no reply, he finally got the end of it. "Just how long are you going to stay in that dream of yours?! You have to awake up and accept the truth no matter how painful it was."
This time, Ivan finally opened up the door and Gilbert winced at the sight of the boy. Ivan was not the Ivan he knew before. His hair and clothes tousled and messy. Red painted his usually violet eyes and heavy eye bags circled them, wrinkles can be seen on his skin. But most of all, his childish grin was no longer there but replaced by a deep frown instead.
"Are you enough with those?" Ivan asked irritatingly. "I had enough of you shouting at my doorstep."
Gilbert was not intimidated by the tall boy's demeanour. He went up to grab his shoulder, forcing him to face him eye to eye. "Listen up, how long are you going to live in that fake dream of yours? Just when are you going to accept the reality and move on? Everyone was worry about you!"
A sad smile appeared on Ivan's face before it faded again. "Why should I accept reality just when it was filled with so much sadness and lies and…"
"And pain." Gilbert continued the sentence from it. "And do you think that it is really that happy to live in that unawesome dream of yours?" He scoffed.
"I have no dream at all." Ivan said, "That dream of mine had died the moment Yao's dead. There's no other meaning for my life. After all, life is a foolish thing where you lose everything you treasure the most, leaving you alone."
"That's not it, Ivan. You still have a life ahead of you. Are you just going to let your life gone into waste?"
"I've told you. I have no more meaning to live in this world so I'm as good as dead, like Yao. I'd sooner join Yao rather than continue to suffer this painful life." Ivan said and turned his back.
"You'll lose all you have." Gilbert said, his voice was sad. "I already lost them all, what else do I still have?" Ivan ignored him and slammed his door shut at him, not willing to open up. Gilbert just stared at the barrier that had separated them apart, letting tearing sliding down his cheeks as his face was red with both anger and grief. "You may have lost them but you still have ME!"
As night crept up devouring the daylight, Kiku sat on his bed watching the full moon illuminating the city below. He was not in the mood to sleep. He missed his brother and his other playmate. Despite being sad, Kiku did a great job hiding his emotion, which is something unusual for a child at a mere age of eight. After all, no one would notice a servant and offer him any comfort, so he decided to keep it to himself while he mourned over their death by watching the moon.
He was alone now, as what his brother said to him. He was not afraid, but then he missed the smell of his brother that reminded him so much of the refreshing tea. He had no memories of his mother as Yao told him that mother died during the collapse of the Old Northern Kingdom and he was still an infant by that time so Yao was his one and only relative. Now he has finally understood how Natalia felt and behaved, it was painful losing someone you're close with but refusing to show weakness to the others.
As he gazed at the moon, he felt something wet drenched his nightshirt and cheeks. He reached his hand to his cheeks to find tears sliding down his face from his eyes. He never realised he has been crying. "Nii-san… Are you alright up there?" He sniffed a bit, "I hope you're happy being there." Another tear streaked down his cheek and he reached his hand to wipe it. "Don't worry, nii-san… I will live for your sake… I'll be a good servant boy and take care of everyone in the castle, just like how you did…"
He wasn't in much of a mood to sleep. He let out a sigh, pondering what should he do to spend some time during this late night. Since he still had some freedom with him for now, perhaps he should go outside the gardens for a little stroll. Slowly, he got up from bed and retrieved his robe before going out.
The garden was quiet as any other places in the kingdom. Kiku paced around the garden aimless, occasionally stopping for a while to admire the flowers that bloom at night. A cold breeze blew through the gardens, but Kiku ignored the cold outside. He continued to walk in the dark until he came into another side of the castle. This was Alfred and Matthew's chamber, though it now belonged solely to Alfred. The window was opened, had Alfred forgotten to close it?
Speaking about Alfred, he was worried about him. Alfred has not left his room since the incident, save the part when Arthur tried to comfort him the day after Matthew's death. He decided to check on Alfred to make sure he was alright.
Making sure that there were no guards around the area, Kiku climbed up the tree that was not too far away from Alfred's room. For once, he admired Alfred's skill on climbing, there's no way he could fall or trip when climbing the tree. Kiku found it hard to keep his balance when walking on a branch. It was a good ten foot above the ground! Slowly, he approached towards the end of the branch where he could enter Alfred's room, only to notice that there was still a good distance between him and the branch. He dared not take the risk, but there were no other choice. Taking a few steps back, he ran and jumped towards Alfred's window. He barely made it, with his legs reaching the window panel but he quickly lost his balance and was about to fall off. He would have screamed aloud if someone haven't come in time to grab his hand.
"Hold on," Alfred said as he used every ounce of his strength to pull Kiku up into his room. Once Kiku managed to crawl safely into his room, the prince quickly shut the window to avoid suspicious from any guards.
"What brings you here, Kiku? It's damn one o' clock in the morning." Alfred exclaimed. Kiku caught the slight irritated yet solemn tone in the prince's voice. As Alfred turned to face him, he was shocked to see the usually sky blue eyes coloured red and surrounded him black eye bags. His hair was in a mess. And his usually sunny smile was completely gone, with streaks of tears marking his cheeks.
"I-I was just worry about you…" The servant boy said timidly.
"Go away…" Alfred said coldly. "All of you are the same. You all said that you are worried about me but in the end you didn't understand me at all…"
"M-Master Alfred… Please stop this… We didn't mean to be like that… J-Just listen to me…" Kiku tried to reason with the prince but Alfred cut his sentence short.
"I don't want to listen any of your nonsense…" Alfred said in a cold demeanour. "Just get out of here, or do you want me to force you out?"
Kiku backed off a bit, shocked at what Alfred said to him. Weighing among the two options given, he decided to get out of here since there's no use talking to Alfred as he was so stubborn. "J-Just… take care of yourself…" Sighing, Kiku reached for the door knob and walked out from the room. He watched at the ornate doors that has prevented him from entering. Kiku sadly left the room to return back to his room, deciding he should help Alfred some other time.
The next day, things were as dull as usual. The castle seemed to have lost its liveliness. Everyone tried to behave as if everything was just as normal as possible but couldn't help with the tense atmosphere that was clouding the castle. The kings tried to make the two princes to come out from their room but failed again. Eventually, they have given up trying to persuade the boys out of their room. King Arthur seemed to get sadden by the sudden withdrawal of his sons' attitude but tried to hide it anyways while he wondered if he had done something horrible to them.
Kiku walked down the hallway with a tray of food on his hands. He had planned to deliver Natalia's food first but Natalia mentioned that she will go to the dining to get her own food so he ended up carrying Alfred's platter. He wondered what should he said to Alfred if he meets him and how will Alfred behaved towards him? The young servant debated on leaving the food at Alfred's doorstep or bringing it in, which he decided to do the later because he hoped to see Alfred and gave him some comfort. He gulped for a while, trying to calm himself from his nervousness before knocking on the door.
"Master Alfred, I-I had brought lunch for you." He said while gently knocking on the door but there was no reply, just as he expected. By logic, he's supposed to leave the tray of food by the doorstep but the stubborn part of him had gotten him. He was not going to give up until Alfred finally stepped out from his room. Adamantly, the servant went to twist the doorknob, surprised to find it unlocked.
"M-Master Alfred… H-Here's your lunch…" He stammered. The servant boy took a cautious step into the prince's room while carrying the tray of food, something he had regretted for doing it later on.
The prince laid on his bed too big for a single person with his face down. Kiku placed the tray of food on the table while he went to open the window to let sunlight and fresh air in. He then went to the prince's bedside and tried to get out of bed. "Master Alfred, it's getting late. You shouldn't be sleeping by now." Yet, the prince laid on the bed like a piece of log, Kiku shook him harder, determined to get the prince out of his room. "Master Alfred, it's a good day today. You should get out of your room to have some fun outside."
At this point, the prince get out of bed with a grunt. "So what, it's not like I'm getting out of my room." Alfred grumbled. "Then at least you should eat." Kiku tried to reason with him. "Who do you think you are, my mum?" Alfred asked annoyingly.
Kiku did not backed off, instead he approached the prince in a bold manner. "Stop behaving like that, Alfred. Do you know how much people were worried about you? You should just let the pass go and move on."
Upon hearing those words, Alfred sat up straight on bed and glared at the servant boy. "Do you mean that I should just forget Matthew as if he has never exist?! We were born together, we were brothers so we should die together!"
"A-Alfred, t-that's n-not t-the point…"
"What about brother Yao? Isn't he your brother too? Why can you act so calm even after he's dead? Don't tell me you already forget about it? Is that what you really mean about moving on? I will never do that, I can never ever forget my brother which means so much to me!"
"M-Master Alfred… Please… This is not what I mean…"
"I had enough of these! All of you said you cared for me, but in the end you don't. You all just practically force me to eat, told me to forget about it and live on. You are all just the same!"
Kiku looked into Alfred's pain-ridden eyes sadly. For the first time, he saw Alfred being so despair and loss of hope. "Have hope, Alfred. Don't you remember what King Arthur had said? Don't you remember all those beautiful stories your father told you? You still have your own Happily Ever After waiting for you, so you must live on, live your life on Matthew's sake too."
The prince, however, got more agitated upon hearing those words. "Mattie… Mattie isn't dead! If… If you said I will have my Happily Ever After, then he will have it too… No way, this… This is not true at all! If there's such things like Happily Ever After, then why would Matthew…" He yelled back at Kiku in full force, "This is not true at all! You are all lying, LYING!"
"M-Master Alfred, s-stop it… L-Listen to me…" Kiku pleaded, but Alfred won't listen to him.
"Shut it all up. What everyone said are all lies, LIES! I hate you, I hate all of you!" Angrily, he pointed his finger at a despaired Kiku, "You are no longer my servant… I don't want to see you anymore. Get out of here right now!"
"A-Alfred… Please…" Kiku continued to beg, tears flowing down his cheeks but all his words did not register in the prince's mind as the blonde boy shoved him out of his door, out of his room. "I don't want to see you anymore. Get out! Get outta here!" Kiku watched in tears as Alfred tossed him out of his room and slammed the door shut at him.
"Kiku, what's going on here?" At that time, Arthur and Francis were coming to check on how Alfred was faring, only to find the poor servant boy weeping by the prince's doorstep. "Kiku, what happened to Alfred?" Arthur asked, concerned laced on his tone.
"M-Master Alfred… He… He shut me out… He don't want me to be his servant anymore…" Kiku whimpered with tears filled his brown eyes. Arthur went up to comfort the little servant boy while Francis gazed at Alfred's door sadly, finally giving up in persuading the prince to come out. He knew that it was hard for a child to accept their sibling's death but he never thought Alfred would turn into like this. The three left Alfred alone in his room, all in their wits end to make the prince happy again.
As his parents and Kiku left him to be, Alfred leaned himself on the door. The news slowly sank into his mind as he slid down onto the cold floor. Realization hit him that his twin brother was no longer here and he was all alone, alone. There will be no one to sleep next to him on bed, no one to argue and play with him and no one to be by his side when he was alone. And just recently, he had banished Kiku from his side, which means he was all by himself with no one by his side anymore, alone.
"Mattie… Mattie, why you have to die? It's so quiet… to be here alone…" The tears which he refused to shed days ago finally slipped down from his eyes down his cheeks. Alfred buried his face on his knees as he let himself cried shamelessly. It's okay to cry when nobody was watching, it's okay…
Gilbert fumbled with his travel clothes as he paced all around the room with his younger brother watching him but not knowing what to do. Things just happened too suddenly, too fast. He just received the news yesterday…
"What?! We're leaving, already?" Gilbert jumped in shocked when Roderich and Elizaveta delivered the news that they will be returning to the West Kingdom tomorrow. "Why so sudden? I thought we still have some time to go."
"We have been staying for quite a long time already and the kingdom still needs us to run." Roderich explained to them. "Moreover, from what King Arthur had requested, the castle of Main Hetalia will be close for several reasons."
Gilbert knew better than what Roderich was trying to say. The reasons must be the tragic incident that happened on the family which hurt the princes so much. King Arthur must have made a tough decision to keep the family away from the eyes of the public while giving his family some time to heal their scars.
"But…" Gilbert tried to interrupt but the look of Elizaveta silenced him as if she was saying, "If you ever dare to disobey us…" He backed off immediately and bowed his head, not in regret but in disappointment. "I'm sorry…"
On cue, Elizaveta seemed to understand what Gilbert was trying to say. She informed him, "Gilbert, don't forget the duties your father had entrusted on you. You are the heir to the West Kingdom throne and it's our job as your guardian to raise you to be the suitable ruler for the kingdom. I know you wish to stay longer but there are other things to be dealt with in the kingdom and you can't escape from your responsibility."
Those words were so heavy that it seemed to weight off Gilbert's shoulder. All this time he had spent his time in Main Hetalia in bliss while forgetting his work. And now everything was back like an avalanche, reminding him of his identity and role. He hated growing-up, something which a child would have delusional dream of innocence. But there's no way he could go against their wishes or what god made him to be. With a heavy heart, he silently bided his childhood and Ivan a farewell.
Elizaveta came into the Western princes' room, snapping Gilbert out of his thought. "Boys, please get ready. We'll be leaving in fifteen minutes." Gilbert decided to make use of his precious time rather than mopping around doing nothing. Slowly, he walked towards the door where Elizaveta stood.
"Gilbert, where do you think you're going?" Elizaveta crossed her arms at her chest, not going to let Gilbert slipped out without her noticing. "It's… nothing… It's just… There's someone I want to meet before leaving…" Elizaveta was about to protest but when she noticed Gilbert's expression, she decided to respect that little decision of his. It's seldom that Gilbert could behave this serious.
Gilbert ran down the hallway towards the familiar room he always visit whenever he was free. He squealed a little when Ivan's room came into sight. The door was as rigid as always, but then it was duller than usual.
"Hey Ivan, open up! It's me, Gilbert!" Gilbert called out while he knocked on the door. There was no reply, nor any response from the Northern prince. Gilbert knocked harder, as if he was going to break the door down. "Ivan, I just need to say something. I'm going to leave soon, so shouldn't you at least see me of?"
When there was still no reply coming from the room, Gilbert got impatient, and a little worry that Ivan might do something unexpected. He reached the doorknob and tried to open it, only surprised to find it unlocked. "Ivan?" The Western prince stepped into the room cautiously, crimson red eyes scanning around the room. Ivan was not in his room, and his room was in a complete mess. Gilbert winced a little at the sight of it, as if Ivan's world had collapse when Yao had died.
Mountains of books scattered all over the desk and floor. Gilbert noticed some of them to be fairy tales that parents would often told to their children. He continued looking around, noticing something familiar in a pile of clothes. In the dim lighting, Gilbert could noticed a piece of fabric laid scattered on the floor, followed by more of them like a river. But what caught his eyes, was a red shaped heart that was being stitched on the material. He gathered up the clothing, to find that it was the scarf Ivan always wore and refused to remove. It was torn into several pieces, broken, like how Ivan was feeling now.
"Bruder, what are you doing in here?" Ludwig suddenly appeared at Ivan's doorstep. Gilbert was shocked at his brother's appearance that he almost dropped the shredded scarf. "W-West, what are you doing in here?"
"I got worried about you…" Ludwig said in monotone. Gilbert had to give the little boy some credits for his good observing skills at such young age. "Well, er…" Gilbert stammered, wondering how should he told his brother. "I-It's just that… I want to say goodbye to someone before I left, but… but that person is not in here."
"Then why didn't you go and find him?" Ludwig asked, quirking his blonde brow. "It's… It's not as simple as you said, West. That person refused to see me, so even if I found him, there's no way he wants to meet me." Clutching the scarf tight to himself, he went up to hold Ludwig's hand in his. "Let's get going. Roderich and Elizaveta should be waiting for us already." Ludwig did noticed the depressed tone in his brother's voice but isn't going to ask on it.
Arthur and Francis went off to see the Western Family to their carriage. Everyone was silent throughout the walk, except for the little gesture like thanking them for visiting and staying during the time being. Gilbert and Ludwig waited in the carriage for their adopted parents to join them while the adults were busy bidding each other goodbye. Ludwig wanted nothing but just to leave this place as soon as possible. Gilbert on the other hand was looking out from the window, hoping to catch a glimpse of Ivan, but he didn't.
A few years passed in a blur, things continued to go on as if it was normal. Kiku had taken over his brother's duty all by himself, working day and night just for the sake of the royal family and his very own little meaning for living. Through this, he hoped to forget the scars that afflicted him during the past, especially Alfred. But yet, it was not enough. He can't forget Alfred completely. Every time whenever he ran past Alfred's room or doing errands in the garden, memories of the past will flash before him and he would reminded of Alfred's smile and those innocent sky blue eyes. It hurt him even more thinking that Alfred will never wanted to see him again.
During all these times, he ended up spending more time with Natalia, who seemed to stray even further from her brother. Natalia was slowly growing up into a young lady that she shut herself even more from her family, making the family seemed reclusive. Ever since that incident, Kiku was assigned to be Natalia's personal servant (though he still does servant job outside), which he was afraid of her cool and cold behaviour at first but eventually Natalia warmed up to him.
Alfred emotional outbreak had settled down eventually and he came out of his room quite often. Kiku was relieved but sad at the same time because from what he could see Alfred was not the Alfred he had known years ago. His blue eyes still shine but not with the determination he knew before and his smile was never directed at him, which disappointed him. But Kiku was never going to show his weakness in front of people, he was just a servant. He can never have the prince in his dream.
And now, Alfred was busy occupying himself with all the preparations a crown prince has to go through to be the future king. The moment when Alfred was out of his room was to have some tutoring or classes from his parents or mentors. If not, Kiku would caught the younger prince doing sword practicing at the courtyard outside. Otherwise, he would find himself serving a drink for the prince when he was learning to manage the political jobs his fathers had assigned him to do. All the while, Kiku devoted himself to Alfred but Alfred had never paid him any attention, which sadden him even more.
"Are you sure this is the right thing to do?" Things will soon have to happen anyway…
"I'm sorry, Arthur. I know you treasure Natalia like she was your own daughter. But don't forget, she was also Katyusha's daughter, her successor and the heir to the Northern Kingdom. She must return back to where she belong and rule her country." Vash told Arthur.
"But… Is she ready for this?" Arthur questioned, worry laced in his tone. "She is just only fifteen."
"We have no choice." Liech said, "She was named Crown Princess since she was born by Lady Katyusha. She still have to inherit the throne sooner or later."
Francis gently nudged Arthur by the shoulder as an attempt to comfort him. "What they said is right, cheri. Natalia belongs to her own birthplace and the throne and kingdom is where she belongs. The sooner she return the better, there's many things Liech and Vash has to teach her before she could rule the kingdom." Arthur let out a heavy sigh. With a heavy heart, he made his decision, for the sake of Natalia.
Kiku was busy arranging Natalia's stuff in her room while Natalia went to meet her 'fathers'. Once again, he felt as if he was being betrayed. First his mother, later his brother followed by Alfred, and now Natalia is going to leave him as well. He's alone, all alone in this cruel world, where he has to spend his entire lifetime being a servant and slave to this castle, forever! Why is fate so cruel to him? He'd rather die than continued living with endless sufferings.
"Kiku, is everything in place?" Natalia suddenly entered by the door, enough to regain his consciousness. "A-Almost done, lady Natalia." Kiku replied curtly as he quickly arranged the books she planned to bring along so they looked presentable. "W-What did King Arthur and King Francis told you?" He asked, trying to stick up a conversation.
"It's nothing, they just reminded me to be a good girl and take good care of myself when being in the Northern Kingdom." Natalia just shrugged her shoulders. "I did went to find Brother Ivan, but he won't open the door for me." Kiku knew that Natalia cared about her brother deeply, like how he does for his brother, but then their relationship seemed to have strained since that incident.
"Kiku," Natalia called the servant boy. Kiku whipped his head to face the princess who now sat on her bed idling. "Yes, my lady?" Kiku asked with utmost politeness.
What he did not expect was a request from Natalia. "Will you come with me to the Northern Kingdom?" Kiku was taken aback by the request, but his heart was tugged with hope that perhaps he can follow Natalia away from his unhappy life in here now. "W-Why? C-Can I r-really follow you t-to the Northern Kingdom?"
"It's just that… I feel the need to have a company…" Natalia mumbled while biting her lips. "Everything will be a stranger to me once I left here. At least if you come with me, I won't be afraid that much…" She added, "Moreover, Prince Alfred had rejected you, don't he? I suggested that you leave this place and start anew in my place."
"But… What if Arthur and Francis…"
"I have talked to them about it just now. They said you are allowed to come with me as long as I keep you safe." Natalia reassured him. "You don't have to worry about it. I'll make you my personal attendant and make sure everyone treats you properly."
Kiku pondered about what Natalia had said, and decided to go with her since there wasn't anything much to be remembered here. Natalia dismissed him once he finished packing her stuff and she let him went off to pack up his stuff. But the moment he left her room, he suddenly remembered about Alfred. Widening his eyes in shock, he realized that he was going to leave Alfred alone in this castle. While Alfred had refused to see him, part of him still cared for the prince. But there's no way to turn back, he has promised Natalia to come with her. Perhaps he could do something for Alfred before he left this place…
Several days later, Natalia was going to embark on her journey back to her birth place, the Northern Kingdom. As she stood at the garden outside preparing to leave, she could feel the aura from her homeland, its power surging through her veins, as if it was calling her back.
Vash and Liech were busy loading some of the things onto a carriage. From today onwards, they will be Natalia's mentor. She'll be given the proper training to be crowned as the future High Princess of the North Kingdom.
Kiku came down not too long later, his face void of expression as always. Arthur and Francis came behind the servant. Both had tears flashing in their eyes, though Francis was better-control than the other. While Natalia do not have much interactions with them, she still cared for them deeply because they were the ones who raised her in place of her deceased mother. She missed the time where Arthur would tell them some wonderful fairy tale that she always dreamed of and those delicious pancakes Francis would make for her during breakfast.
"Natalia, come here." Arthur gestured towards her. Natalia followed his instruction obediently and closed their distance. Arthur then enveloped her into a hug which she would miss a lot. "You've grown so big already. When I first saw you, you was just a baby." Arthur said tenderly, kneeling to eye-level at her while he spoke. "And now, you have become a brave, strong girl and with a kingdom to rule, just like what your mother had said."
Tears glistened in the girl's lilac eyes while she fought them as she saw tears streaking down Arthur's face. She had never cried before in front of other people, not to let anyone see her weakness. But this time, she finally gave in. She melted into his embrace and cried shamelessly. Francis saw this joined the hug as well. This was supposed to be a brief reunion if it wasn't because the group was missing one member.
"Don't cry, ma petite fille." Francis soothed her, running his hand down her long platinum blonde hair which had grown to reach her waist. Natalia faced the two kings with teary eyes while sobbing, "W-Will you s-still… l-love me… even if I-I'm no longer… with you? D-Does t-that mean… I-I will never return h-here… anymore?"
Seeing Natalia's crying face wrenched their heart even more, Arthur gently reached her temple and brushed some of the tears away. "Silly, we will still love you no matter what, because you're our daughter. And someday, we are going to meet again. You are always welcomed to return home."
The three of them embraced for a while when Vash suddenly called out. "Lady Natalia, it's time to go. The journey to the Northern Kingdom is long and we have to hurry if we don't want to be late." Natalia rubbed off the tears that was on her cheeks. She released herself from her parent's embrace and went to step inside the carriage where Kiku was waiting. Just before she stepped into the carriage, she lifted her head to the window where her brother's room was supposed to be. The curtains were drawn open, which was unusual for him. Giving one last glance at the window, she entered the carriage, somehow a bit disappointed that she cannot see her brother eye-to-eye for the last time.
All the while when Kiku sat in his carriage, he would always shifted his eyes towards Alfred's room. Sadly, the window and curtains in Alfred's room were tightly shut as always. He looked down at the crumpled paper on his hands as a tears slid down his face. In his heart, he silently bid his prince a farewell while realization sank in that he will never see Alfred again.
Ivan watched through the windows as the carriage left the castle ground. He had wanted to say a proper goodbye to his sister but decided not to since there were too many people outside. He wished Natalia the best of all while ruling her own kingdom. He watched as the carriage slowly disappeared in his sight, only then he closed his curtains. Somewhere in his mind, he knew that Alfred must have never noticed that Natalia and Kiku were gone since he has not met them since the incident. He was glad that Kiku and Natalia have finally left, it was just too much of a pain to love someone, and he promised to protect Alfred from all possible trouble…
xXx
I'm sad not because Alfred and Ivan does not received any review of comfort but it's because I feel so bad for Kiku that he was completely shunned away by the person he cared the most. And I was so bad to worsen the situation by getting all the characters separated so badly. Is this just the end? Well, if you actually squint and read through the first few chapters again, you might get some hints for the future chapters.
This is also where a little plot from the first chapter comes through. I actually debated on whether to write the scene of Ivan comforting Alfred. In the end, I decided not to since chapter one has already show that part. And if you wonder when it happen, it should happened sometime after Gilbert had left and before Natalia's leaving for the North Kingdom throne. So this could explain why Alfred came out of his shell but change in behaviour, it's because of Ivan's influence.
The next chapter will be in the present time arc where all the kids had finally grown up into adults. The past would then repeat again and chaos rise one after another. What will happen to Alfred and Kiku? Will the other characters get their very own Happily Ever After?
Can I have a little review? I have been running out of ideas recently and Alfred is sad that no one comfort him, Ivan's gonna beat you with a pipe if you don't. Moreover, I have not received any reviews ever since I continued this story with my own writing. I know my writing style may differ with the original author but your support is the reason I continued writing, so can someone at least give me a little encouragement? I will be waiting. 3