One Last Fairytale (Bonus Story): A Girl Worth Fighting For
When she was just a child, Elizaveta proved herself to be different from other girls. She had more determination and strength and behaviour that normal girls don't. While tradition states that girls are supposed to be protected and took care of household chores with no other rights but obey their husband or family's will. Elizaveta was never the one to obey those said rules, because she believed she was a boy in the beginning. As a child, she is very athletic and would play fist-fight or involve in a duel with other noble boys. Her tomboyish and wild attitude was frowned upon by the noble society and many family refused to accept her as their daughter-in-law in fear that she will cause family violence.
Elizaveta's family is not a peaceful one either. Her mother was a cousin of a Main Hetalia royalty, twice removed. Though not clear, her maternal grandfather married a girl of the nobility and had her. It was also around that same time when the United Kingdom of Main Hetalia faced threat of war from the Magyar empire. In order to prevent the war from causing severe damage, her mother was wed off to her father, Duke Hedervary of Magyar.
The war did stop after her parent marriage, but her mother was not happy. Elizaveta would question herself why her mother was the chosen one instead of some other noble ladies. She did try to get an answer from her mother, who told her that she was chosen because she was the only unmarried lady who had relation with the royalties. As the king did not have a daughter, she was sacrificed instead. "As a lady, you must always put other people in front of you no matter what. Obey your family; when married, obey your husband, even if it means losing your future and happiness." That was what her mother would say to her since she was a little girl.
Elizaveta never liked her family. Well, the least she cared for her mother. She just… Doesn't like the way her father treated her mother. Of course, the purpose of their marriage is to stop the war between Magyar and Main Hetalia, nothing else. There is no mutual feeling or bond between the two of them. Her father only sees her mother as anything but a wife and things only gone worse when she bore him a girl, whom he deemed unfit to inherit his property. He wanted a male heir who was strong and powerful so that his family line can continued.
As a child, Elizaveta could never understand why her father hated her or her mother. But in the child's perception, she thought her father doesn't like the way she was. Unlike other girls, Elizaveta showed exceptionally great determination in hope to make her father proud of her because she always thought that she was a boy to begin with. Hence, she began training herself at young age. She learned to fight with a sword and sparing with the some of the servant boys, which many people of the nobility would frown upon her behaviour and attitude which was deemed inappropriate for young noble girls. Her mother did advised her and told her not to do it again but she is persistent and insist to continue with what she hold strong for.
But all her hopes were crushed on one day when her relatives came to visit her. They were the Wallachia family who was also a nobility of a lower branch. Though being lower status than the Hedervary family, they liked to show off their wealth and seemingly high status by wearing lavish clothes and spent their fortune on relatively expensive things.
Elizaveta went to greet them with her parents. She hated them at the first sight. She hated how their style of clothing and dressing outdid her plain, simple green dress. She disliked the way they talked and how they would boast every single possession they owned. But for least, Countess Wallachia seemed happy living this life, she has her husband attention and everything, which was something her mother don't.
The Wallachia family had a son who was a couple years older than her. His name was Vladimir and she hated him no less than she hated his parents. While in front of the adult, he was well-manner and was a good child but all that change when he was left alone with Elizaveta. He liked to bully Elizaveta by making fun of her gender and sexuality. At first, Elizaveta tried not to put that in mind, but over the time, Vladimir behaviour worsened and he would often physically injured her. Elizaveta hence decided to use this as a chance to strengthen herself.
Worse come to worse, at the age of eight, her father announced her engagement to Vladimir. She was infuriated and questioned her father, to which he replied that it was for the benefit of both family's survival. Enraged, she rebelled against her father by breaking the Hedervary vase, a vase which has passed down among the Hedervary line a long time ago. Her father was not happy with this and he punished her by locking her in her room for days. If it wasn't because of her mother who secretly brought food for her, she wouldn't have survived till then.
"Hey Erzsebet, I heard that you're bound to be my wife." Vladimir said mockingly to her several weeks after their engagement. "Isn't that great? We will live together and I will rise to a higher rank and have more fortune."
"I did rather not…" Elizaveta said, not wanting to have eye contact with him. "And tell me, why should I married you?"
"It's because you're a girl and your father hates you." Vladimir said without giving a thought. "He never loves you and wants to get rid of you, all just because that you're a girl."
Elizaveta felt tears welled up in her eyes but she refused to show them. "But that's…" She stuttered, "That's nuisance, it can't be true!"
"Oh c'mon, don't you get it already?" Vladimir smirked, walking up to stand in front of her. "He never has his eyes for you no matter how hard you try to succeed and he never cares for you. It's a pity that you are engage of at such young age, you could have lived a better life than this. But your father just don't want you to have that life, all he wanted was a legitimate son to inherit his lineage."
"Stop it!" Elizaveta yelled. "There's no way father would do this to me. He's never like this!" She denied, but her voice seemed to falter.
"And what will you do? Beg in front of him?" Vladimir mocked, "He would've understand how bad our relationship is, but since it is already done, just accept it."
"Bastard, you don't want this at all, so why don't you reject it?"
A devilish grin spread across Vladimir's face as he eyed her at eye-level, causing Elizaveta to shudder a bit. "I would have done so, but on a second thought, I think it's not a bad idea. A wife is meant to obey their husband and do everything what their husband said. You may be a good thing for me in the future."
"Like what?" Elizaveta had a bad feeling for this.
"Don't you get it? You're such a silly girl." After finishing his sentence, Vladimir ordered a young servant boy to come towards them. The poor servant boy did as he was told, not knowing what holds beyond him. Vladimir began first by giving a slap on the boy's face that he fell onto the ground, he then began throwing fists, punches and kicks on the boy. No matter how the servant begged him to stop, Vladimir just won't do it and continued to find pleasure in torturing him.
Elizaveta could only stare in shock as she watched Vladimir attacked the poor servant boy. Sure, she did hit some servant on some occasion when she used them as her training partner, but it never became this violent. He had never gone this far towards her and does this meant that she will be treated in that way after married to Vladimir? Anger surged through her body as Elizaveta found herself the strength to haul Vladimir away from the boy. Vladimir was taken by surprise by her sudden movement, but before he had time to react, Elizaveta slapped him hard on the face, leaving a burning red bruise on his cheeks.
"How dare you do this to me?!" Vladimir said after recovering from the shock. The bruise on his face glowed a nasty red and he desperately tried to cover and stop the bleeding.
"What was going on here?" It was a very bad timing as Countess Wallachia came strutting into the garden and witnessed the fight. That bruise on Vladimir's face is not going to be good. She grimaced at the sight of her son before giving a disgusted look at Elizaveta while Elizaveta could only looked down in ashamed. She didn't say or spat anything at her, though, she just took Vladimir away, but Elizaveta knew that she had been screwed.
"Elizaveta, what had you done?!" As expected, she got a lecture session from her father. "If it wasn't for us, the Wallachia would've break up the engagement." He grumbled while she was forced to kneel before him.
"It would've been better if the engagement had been called off!" Elizaveta retorted back in rebel. "I swear that I will never married to him, never EVER!" This only worsen the situation as she suddenly felt a smack on her face and she fell onto the ground, her cheek stung. What she felt right now must be ten times painful than Vladimir.
"Can't you behave properly like how a lady should be?!" He yelled at her. "If you dare to go against my wishes, then I'd bloody fucking end your life!" He heaved a frustrated sigh as he went to stand by the window, his back facing her. "It's trouble enough having you as my daughter, but it troubles me more when you just don't even know how to behave properly. Have you ever thought how the people will think about us when they see you behaving like this?"
"And all you think is about the family! Why can't you try to understand my feelings?!" Elizaveta shouted back, only to receive another smack from her father.
"Don't you talk to me like this!" He demanded. "People has high expectation of us and you are not allowed to defy your family orders. Obey your family will and wish, no matter what."
All while her father continued on his rambling, Elizaveta watched him with eyes clouded in tears, accompanied by hatred and sadness. It was as if something hit her hard on her head. Her father did not love her, nor cared for her at all. No matter how hard she tried to win his heart, he never has his eyes on her, because she is a girl, a girl whose destiny is to be wed off and having no other right in the family. "I will never obey and do whatever you wished!" Angrily, she yelled at her father one last time before running out of his room into her room.
She spent few days shutting herself in her room while weeping in agony. Her parents didn't came to see her, the servants didn't brought food for her, her father must have forbade them from doing so. She was hungry, thirsty and tired, but she refused to go out as she was still angry of her father. It was until the night of the third day, her mother came to her, sitting by her side hugging her. "You shouldn't talk to your father like that." She said gently while cuddling her.
"He don't understand…" She murmured among sobs. "Why should I married such a person? Can't I do whatever I wish?"
"It's just how things were." Her mother said. "This is the role of women in the society." She told her, her fingers gently wiped away the tears and hair on her face. "A woman is supposed to obey their husband and family no matter what. Their means of life is to behave properly so they could have good marriage prospect."
"Does that guaranteed they will be happy?" Elizaveta questioned sceptically.
"It's the honour they bring to the family, that is the concept of happiness for a woman. We married to strengthen the bond between families and countries, and sometimes restore peace and stop war, just like me." Elizaveta could remember how gentle her mother's smile were, yet there was something she could not comprehend. "You may not be happy now. But when the two of you grow up a bit, you all will reach mutual understanding and I believe by the time comes, you will love each other just fine." She ran her hair lovingly across Elizaveta's hair before gesturing the tray of food she brought in with her. "Eating something for the least, for my sake." She gave her a pat before preparing to leave.
"Mother…" Elizaveta called out, causing the said woman to stop in her tracks. "Are you happy…? I mean… are you happy marrying father and living in this family?"
That while, there was a moment of silence before her mother turned to face her. "What are you talking about, my dear? Of course I am." She said with a smile, though she could tell that smile seemed strained. "My marriage with your father manage to stop the war between our countries and your father is a great man too." She said before leaving.
Ever since that incident, Elizaveta dared not rebelled against her father anymore as she realized that he did not has his eyes for her at all. She still continued with her training though, since she has gotten used to it.
As she continued to distance herself from her father, the relationship between her parents continued to crumble. She knew her mother smile was a fragile one in the beginning as there was a hint of sadness behind it. Her mother and father was arranged to marry each other to stop the war between two countries. The war did stop, but neither were happy. Her mother said that the honour she brought to the family is her happiness, and yet she was nowhere being happy. Her father never loved her, her birth only worsen it as he viewed her mother as being worthless.
Elizaveta was worried for her mother, she was the only family member whom she cared about. Whenever her father was in a bad mood or gotten drunk, he would hit her mother. Her mother would just quietly let him hit her without any complaint, thinking that this would help in venting his anger.
"Mother, are you alright with this?" She asked one night while helping to clean the bruise her father left on her face.
"It's ok." Her mother would tell her with a forced smile. "I just done something wrong that made him angry." It's a lie, Elizaveta knew it but doesn't want to speak it out since her mother don't want to talk about it. So she just let it be.
And years passed with everyday being the same manner. Her father continued to hit her mother while she was being laughed at by Vladimir. She watched her mother aged quicker than usual. The beautiful face that many young ladies admired began to scar and wrinkle under years to torment. She was once a woman full of spirit, and now she became quite a dull woman as if her spirit was gone, leaving just an empty shell of her mother. She noticed her mother would space out for a moment, and it only got worse as time went on. Elizaveta could only watch in despair as her mother continued to rot under the pressure of a loveless marriage, the so said honour she brought to the family.
The marriage treaty between her parents aims to strengthen the bond between Main Hetalia and the Magyar Kingdom and kept peace between them but with the crumbling relationship of her parents, the peace did not last long. When she was twelve years old, the war between the Magyar Kingdom and Main Hetalia broke out again. She was supposed to marry Vladimir around that time but that was postponed as Vladimir was assigned to join the war as well.
That was a time of turbulence. Her father went to lead the army, leaving her under the care of her mother. During that time, the Hedervary estate located not too far away from the battle camp. Some soldiers who on their way to war or camp would stay at their place for food and shelter. The soldiers would often came to them to seek for medical help for their wounded companion. Elizaveta would then spent most of her time helping her mother treating the wounded soldiers and bonding with them. At first she was reluctant, but over the time she found some enjoyment in her work and really took pleasure to it as she found herself having a nice time accompanying the soldiers who shared with her their stories in the battle field.
Her mother, however, was complete the opposite. Her condition deteriorated as the war went on. Probably the pressure of running the household by herself, watching so many soldiers died in the gruesome way also didn't help her emotion either. Elizaveta noticed it too, but there's little she could do to comfort her. She began to retreat further and further into her own shell beyond anyone's reach.
And so, it happened on a very normal day. It was a beautiful, quiet morning, unlike those previous days. Sounds of battles or raging fire were nowhere to be seen. So her mother decided to go out for a walk around the estate. Some maidservants wanted to accompany her in case things happened but she insisted that it will be just a minute and she will be alright. That was the last time Elizaveta saw her, by the time when the household went to search for her, she was gone.
Elizaveta was devastated at the news of her mother's death, her mother is the only family member who could understand her and now she was gone, all alone in this cruel, cold, fortified walls. After her mother's death, Elizaveta insisted that she cremated her body instead of bury it in the graveyard. She insisted that her mother never wanted to be here in the first place and she never wanted to be trapped in the Magyar Empire where all her unhappy memories were at.
Under Elizaveta's request, her mother's remains were cremated and she have it scattered at the sea, letting the wind and waves took away her ashes. For once, she was finally free, from the world where she obeyed without condition and sacrificed for everything.
The war continued on, obviously the mere death of a Duchess won't change a thing at all. Elizaveta continued to run the household in place of her mother but she can't find herself to do so. Living in the wall of the estate is driving her insane and there were too much unhappy things in here. It was one night when she finally can't take the pressure anymore that she snapped. She learned that if things continued, she will end up the fate of her mother. She don't want to suffer that.
"That's it, I'm getting outta here!" She told herself that night. It was a night when the war was called to a halt, everyone in the estate was deep asleep. She ran to the weapon storage room to retrieve a sword, using it to cut away her long brown hair until it was above her shoulder. She then collected some armoury and weapons before heading out to the stables to saddle a horse. Not even looking back, she mounted on her horse and galloped into the darkness full of uncertainty, away from the place where she grew up full of misery.
Elizaveta fled from the Hedervary Estate to the Magyar Castle where she volunteered to be a soldier under the name of Daniel. The armies gladly accepted her without a second thought since they were in need of soldiers to fend for their countries. She did wonder why she choose to do this. On another thought, she just wanted to escape an unhappy life, but later she figured out that perhaps she can make her father proud of her.
One day, she was summoned by one of the castle's general with the tasks that she will be joining their troops in raiding part of Main Hetalia. She decided to follow along.
The raid was successful at the beginning. They managed to enter the borders of Main Hetalia with ease and began their invasion by taking down the West Kingdom's castle. The soldiers cut down their enemies and entered the castle walls. But things began to go wrong inside, traps were laid everywhere and many soldiers fell into the traps.
Elizaveta managed to hold on and moved forward, until when they triggered another trap which released toxic gas on them. The soldiers in the castle took this as their chance to attack the soldiers who had their guards lowered. Seeing that the enemies had gained the upper hand, the general commanded that they retreat, but Elizaveta didn't catch his words and the smog blurred her way. She ended up being separated from the rest of the soldiers. By the time when the smog cleared off, she found herself surrounded by Main Hetalia soldiers. She tried to fight them, but inhaling too much gases made her weak that she can't do much. Elizaveta thought that she was going to be killed, until when she found a secret switch on the wall, revealing it to be a narrow escape lane. She quickly jumped into the escape lane, only to find herself landing somewhere else in the castle ground.
"There's one of them, after him!" Some guards passed by noticed her and began to give chase. Elizaveta gave a gasp of surprise before she began to run but the toxic was running in her system and she felt her body failing.
She ran down the hallway of several doors. Knowing that she cannot last any longer, she decided to just give in to her luck on one of the doors she picked.
"He won't run far away. Hurry up and catch him!" The footsteps of her pursuers are approaching. She quickly used the last ounce of her strength to slam into one of the doors.
Her sudden entrance in the room didn't go unnoticed, however, as there was people in the room. A person, to be specific. Said person let out a gasp of shock and surprise at the sight of her entering his room.
"Over there! Get him!" The guards called out. Elizaveta thought this was the end of her. She tried to stand up and run but she was unable to control her body, her eyes were blurry and her consciousness was slipping away. It was then she felt a pair of warm arms got hold of her.
"Hurry up, this way!" The person said and dragged her to somewhere she didn't know. "Just be quiet, everything will be ok." She heard the person said.
Seconds after that, the guards were already at the doorstep. "Midlord, are you alright?" One of them asked. "We saw a suspicious looking person entering your room, did you see him?"
She heard that person said, "Yes, he entered here moments ago."
"Where is he?" The guard demanded.
"H-He… He jumped out from the window." The guards heard his answer left the room immediately to chase for that so-called suspicious looking person.
"Young master, please be careful." One of the guards said. "The castle has been raided. Please be alert at all time." That was all she heard before she lose her consciousness.
When she awoke again, she found herself laying on bed and her armours were removed. There was also gentle music in the room. Groaning a bit, she sat up from bed and looked around the room. It was nicely made and well-kept too. She turned around to see where the source of the music came from, a piano and there's someone sitting on it playing it.
Slowly and quietly, she tiptoed behind the person and glanced at the sheet music, Für Elise. While she didn't understand a thing at all about the piano and the sheet music, one thing that attracted her is the melody itself. She stood still and quiet as she felt the lively music ran through her veins and gave her some sort of comfort in it. Without realizing it, she felt herself being taken into the music itself as she began dancing around.
But then, the music stopped. Elizaveta snapped herself out of her trance, realizing that her movement must've disturbed the person. She turned around sheepishly to find herself facing a pair of dark violet orbs behind a pair of glasses. She blushed a little at the sight of the person, his jet black hair and well-toned skin. She'd heard someone addressed him as 'midlord' or 'young master', so he must be someone of higher rank.
"I see that you're awake." He said politely, but there was a hint of distrust in his voice as he probably knew that she was from the enemy's side.
"I really appreciate your help and I couldn't thank more." She said solemnly. The pair would have continued their staring contest if it wasn't for someone to enter the room.
A boy about the same age as them barged into the room and began his yelling fit, "Roderich, you have been holed up in your room for days. Just when are you coming… out?" His sentence was cut short when he noticed Elizaveta in the room as well. He quickly pulled out a sword and pointed towards her while threatening, "Who are you?" Elizaveta gulped and backed a bit, she can't just attack out of the blue, that will trigger the guards' attention and she's done.
"Wait stop, Vash." The other boy stood up from his seat and went to shield her. "You don't have to hurt him."
"Is that so?" The boy known as Vash questioned sceptically. "I've heard that some soldiers from the Magyar Kingdom attacked the castle two days ago. One in particular managed to enter your room, could it be this guy they were talking about?"
"You may be right, but he's injured." The boy said. "Moreover, I hid away his armours and weapons, so he's not much of a danger at the moment."
"Did you talk to him? Did you questioned anything about his motive?" Vash asked.
"No."
"Then why did you trust him? He could've been a traitor."
"If he was, he would've done it now." He fought back, "Besides, we might have to hear his side of story to decide whether we can trust him or not."
"Whatever," Vash let out a sigh and closed the chamber's door to avoid any attention. "If I find out he was on the enemy side, I will send him to the dungeon, no remorse."
Elizaveta was just stunned at their conversation. Yet, she could felt hope clinging on that boy who choose to defend her. Perhaps she could keep herself hidden for the time being.
"My name's Roderich." The boy who played the piano and defended her said, he faced her with a gentle smile. "May I know your name?"
"E…Eli… Daniel. My name's Daniel." She replied, remembering to keep her secret intact. "And since you already know, I'm a soldier from Magyar." She paused for a while, wondering what kind of story should she made up so they could trust her. "I… I was forced to join this war by my family. Of course I don't want to, but they insisted and put me into the military anyway." She eyed the two of them, seeing them remained silent assured her to continue. "I was assigned to attack your castle, but… but we were attacked… and that's how I'd end up in here."
"See, Vash? I told you that he meant no harm." The boy called Roderich said. Vash just huffed.
"Who knows? It could've just be a made up story." He took a step closer to take a better look of Elizaveta before asking, "So what are you going to do with him? Are you going to keep him?"
"I will take him in. But his presence in the castle will probably go unnoticed since some of the guards would've recognized his face." Roderich paced around considering about it before coming up a plan. "Why don't made him a servant? But since being a man will made his identity revealing, so why not made him dress as a maid instead?"
"A-Are you really… Are you really gonna do that?" Vash asked in disbelief.
"It's just to keep him safe."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever, just don't get yourself into trouble." He said before leaving the room.
And so, in order to keep her identity a secret, Elizaveta has no choice but to obey what Roderich had dictated her to do. She found herself dressing up in a maid attire (not that she cared) and having to work for Roderich. Roderich was not a bad person to be said, although he could be strict sometime. During those time living under Roderich's roof, she spend most of the time together with Roderich since he was the only person he can trust in the castle, Vash is secondary. Roderich would made her his training partner, but only to get defeated in surprise when Elizaveta easily took him down. Occasionally, she would sit behind him as he played the piano or violin while she quietly took in the beautiful music he played. She enjoyed accompanying him to the garden full of beautiful flowers. And then, he would teach her things about their kingdom. As time goes on, she found herself drawing towards him, though she was still wary about her identity, but she admitted to herself that in fact she had fallen in love for the boy.
But then, things don't last long. Just a few weeks of her stay in Main Hetalia, the castle was attacked again by soldiers from Magyar Kingdom. This time, being more aggressive and offensive. Roderich's father was killed in the fray and the castle was burned to debris. She along with Roderich, Vash and Liech managed to escape but they were caught as captives and were taken to the palace in the Magyar Kingdom.
The young children were kept in different cells during imprisonment. Elizaveta managed to escape from her prison by knocking down the guards before disguising as one of them. She then tried to find her way to the dungeon underground in hope to save Roderich and the rest but she was not familiar with the place that she ended up running into Vladimir.
"E-Eli? What are you doing here?" Vladimir gasped in surprise when they met in one of the castle's hallway. Elizaveta cursed herself a bit, it seemed like her look is not enough to fool Vladimir. She shushed him and dragged him to a corner to avoid any attention.
"I wasn't expecting this. But what are you doing here, twerp?" She asked.
"That should be my question instead, bitch." Vladimir retorted back. "You are not supposed to be here. You should stay at home instead."
"And what's with stayin' home? It's because that's a woman's job?" She rolled her eyes at the thought. "Never! I will never be that hell of a borin' woman my father said. I'd rather be in the battlefield kickin' butt."
Vladimir let out a sigh, "You're still the same Eli." His eyes darted around the room to make sure that no one was around eavesdropping their conversation.
"It's Daniel. I'm a boy for now." She declared proudly, as if she has become a hero or something. "Speaking which, you somehow has turned into a coward." She snickered at her little remark.
"Suits you, your breast is too small for my taste." Vladimir said, faking a face of disgust. She would've punched him if she could, but Vladimir brought up the topic. "So what brought you here?"
She bit her lips a little. Weighing on her choices, she decided that she would have to trust Vladimir so that he could help her navigating through the castle. She also wants to know the upcoming news about the war. In the end, she told him about what happened to her during the past few weeks until her capture and her plan to save the prisoners from Main Hetalia. Of course, Vladimir won't take it.
"Why are you planning on helping the prisoners of the opposite side? They are our enemies and nothing good will come of you helping the enemies. They will see you as a traitor." Elizaveta had expected such reply, she clutched on the clothing she was wearing on before trying to reason with him. "If that was the case, then they wouldn't have helped me in the first place and I won't even come back alive." It was then she realized that she truly has feelings for Roderich. "Besides, they helped me when I was in trouble. And is that how I repay their kindness? They are children, like us, growing up too young. Are you willing to see them died?"
Vladimir pondered about her words and realized that it made senses too, so he decided to help her rescue her saviours and have them escorted back to the Hedervary Estate. On their way to the dungeon, they walked pass the throne room where a conference was held. Elizaveta stopped dead in her tracks suddenly when she overheard her father's voice.
"The raid at Southern West Kingdom is a success. We managed to kill the High Prince's brother." One of the general said, marking the map they had just invaded.
"It bothers me though, General Anjou." She heard her father said, "What is the motive of attacking the castle? Our troops had not fully set foot on Main Hetalia and yet you are attacking the castle already. Isn't it a bit too soon?"
"I'm getting a bit impatient." The man known as General Anjou said. "It's been months since the war began and little progress has been made."
"Obviously, Main Hetalia is a rather large kingdom. It's rather impossible for us to take them down single-handedly." Another general commented. "We may succeed this time, but it will be rather short lived."
"That's why we have to plan our next step here and now." Anjou said, his fists slamming on the tables. "The royals will probably be angry at the news of our attacks, so this time we will have to play defensive in the case they send armies into our kingdom."
Elizaveta wanted to continue on listening their conversation but Vladimir tugged her, urging her to leave the place or else they will be caught or something bad happen. She followed him meekly, seeing that Vladimir was not in a good mood as well.
"That was General Anjou, he was the head commander in this war." Vladimir told him, "but not everyone in the castle liked him. They said he was rather ambitious and intend to do anything just to get what he wanted."
"That sounds nasty enough." Elizaveta grimaced at the thought of their war being controlled by an iron fist. She don't dare to think much about it either, that person who was in command of her father… He was just too scary.
The duo managed to sneak into the dungeon without much problem. They knocked out the guards who was standing guard the prison and stole the keys. They then proceeded to release the prisoners in the dungeon and that included her saviours. Once everyone was out, they decided to use the secret passageway to escape from the castle. Everything went on smoothly in the first place, all the prisoners escaped quietly through the underground tunnel until the children were left. Liech was rather scared of her surrounding. The poor young girl must have suffered too much about adulthood that will probably scarred her entire life. Vash tried to comfort her as much as possible but little could be done. When it was Liech turn to jump down the secret passage, she was too scare to move, so Vash decided to go along with her. That was until when they jumped, Liech's screams caught the guards' attention.
"They're escaping! After them!" And soon, soldiers started running in and out of the castle. Elizaveta and Vladimir knew there was not much time left, so they along with Roderich quickly jumped into the secret passage and ran all their way until they reached the end, just outside the castle. But the terror was not over yet, guards were stationed every corner in and out of the castle. They noticed the escaped prisoners and began pursuing them. Elizaveta led in front while Vladimir guarded at the back.
However, the children were too tired to run much and the guards were closing in. Arrows were shot towards their direction in hope to slow them down. Vash wrapped his arm protectively around Liech while trying to avoid the arrows and ran as fast as he could. Elizaveta whirled her head around trying to gauge their strength, but they were outnumber and fighting back isn't a good idea at all. It was then she noticed one of the soldiers shot an arrow towards Roderich.
"Roderich!" She called out, quickly lunging towards him to shield him from the attack. The arrow hit her back instead.
"Daniel!" Roderich and Vladimir called out in unison. She tried to stand up, but the pain wasn't cooperating, so they ended up having to let her leaned on them as they continued to run. Her weigh was slowing them and they could have been caught at any moment.
It was until someone pulled the children into a bush that temporary kept them away from the soldier's sight. They stopped for a while to catch their breath while trying to treat Elizaveta's wound. Vladimir looked at the person who caught them and smiled a little. "Oh, it's you, Aleksander."
"Yep, did I came at a wrong timing?" The young soldier asked.
"No, you did it just perfect." Vladimir grinned before his face turned serious again. "But we have no time to talk. We have to escort these children to safety."
"I had that covered as well." Aleksander said, he led them out of the bush where a carriage was just outside there. "Ride on it and escape to your destination. I will keep them distracted for you to escape." With that, he went back to where the soldiers are searching, giving them the wrong information of the children whereabouts in order to mislead the soldiers and letting them escape. With the soldiers distracted, the children were able to make it to the Hedervary estate in safety.
By the time they arrived at the estate, Elizaveta was slowly drifting into unconsciousness. They had managed to remove the arrow on her back but the bleeding won't stop no matter how hard they tried. Carefully, Vladimir lifted Elizaveta on his shoulder and led them into the estate. The servants were shocked to see their young lady being carried into the household. One of the servant quickly showed Vlad her room so that she could laid down.
"I will help to treat his wounds." Roderich, who felt himself responsible for her injury requested that he do it instead. "No, you can't." Vladimir desperately tried to come up with a reasonable excuse. "Eli… D-Daniel's wound is very serious. We should call a doctor instead." He argued, but Roderich was persistent. "It's my fault that he got injured. I have to help him."
"No… Wait!" But it's too late, Roderich already had his hands on Elizaveta's chest and he gasped in horror. Realization soon hit him that this Daniel person… is a girl. Everyone in the room went still for a moment until one of Elizaveta's nurse barged in and shooed everyone out of the room before proceeding to nurse her wounds.
Elizaveta has been unconscious for two days being bedridden. Her maidservant forbid anyone but her from entering her room. During this time, Vladimir filled Roderich about what he knew about Elizaveta and tried to reason with him from suspecting Elizaveta of doing something.
On the third day, Elizaveta finally awake and the nurse approved visitors to enter her room. Roderich was the first person to come to see her. When he first entered the room, he saw a girl, not a boy or a soldier, sitting on the bed looking distantly far away. He cleared his throat, getting Elizaveta's attention and she turned around to face him.
"Da… No, you're Elizaveta." Roderich said awkwardly. The moment their eyes locked, Elizaveta felt heat rose in her cheeks before realization hit him that Roderich had knew who she was.
"So you knew after all…" She managed a weak smile. "To see me like this, you must've hated me for fooling you all this time, don't you?" She said trying to be bold in front of him.
"Vladimir told me about it." He said, trying to avoid eye contact with her. "And no, I didn't hate you." At that, Elizaveta was stunned. How could he…?
Roderich closed their distance and went to sit by her bedside. "The truth is, I'm really glad I met and trusted you." He said. "It's all thanks to you. We managed to escape out of imprisonment."
"Roderich…" Elizaveta blushed, "I just did what I think was right… After all, you had helped me and can't leave you alone to see you die…"
Silence followed again after that. This time, the two saw each other eye-to-eye for the first time, as if they finally got to understand each other. "Does your back still hurt?" Roderich was the one to break the silent, "I'm sorry that you got injured because of me."
Elizaveta smiled a little as she added on, "And I'm sorry too, for fooling you and causing you so much trouble." She thought for a while to come up with some sort of a distraction. "Hey, can you play me a music? I want to listen you play."
"Do you have any other instrument other than a piano?" Roderich asked. "I violin, maybe." With that, Elizaveta summoned a servant to bring in a violin. Roderich checked the strings to ensure that it is in perfect condition before he began playing it for her. She listened attentively to the music while observing Roderich focusing on playing the violin to the utmost perfection. It was as if Roderich was telling her about his story, beautiful yet a hint of bitterness. She listened on, until she fell asleep halfway of the music, letting the melody brought her to her sweet dreams.
Once she recovered from her injuries, Vlad brought her news he received from Aleksander who was working as a spy in the castle. From what Aleksander has heard, armies from Main Hetalia soldiers are advancing their way into the Magyar border when news of Viscount Edelstein was killed in their raid. But there's more to that as well, General Anjou planned to assassinate the king when the soldiers invaded the castle so that he could put the blame on them and had himself ascended to the throne.
"Had he lost his mind or something?" Elizaveta asked in shock, she had almost chocked on her tea at the news.
"Aleksander had confirmed it. All the plan was strictly confidential." Vlad said, calmly sipping his tea. "In fact, General Anjou was behind this war all the time. He started this war with fake news that the Main Hetalia kingdom was breaking the contract and raided a war and the attack at West Kingdom… It was all his plan…"
"To kill the king and had himself crowned king." Elizaveta continued for him. "Why would he do that?"
"He must've thought he is better at ruling and wanted the power. Since he is the distance relative of the king as well, and he was the king's right-hand man, a war advisor." Vlad let out a sigh, "And the king trusted him too much."
"This is bad, really bad." Elizaveta said, "If he really ascended up the throne, Magyar will be doomed."
"But what can we do?" Roderich who was sitting aside have been listening to their conversation for quite some time interrupted. "You are just mere soldiers, how can you ever get close to someone like him?"
"Then we need another plan." Elizaveta said and they began to come up a plan to thwart Anjou's plan.
It all began as a rumour, about a plague or some sort of new disease being discovered in one of the village. At first, no one cared about it but just shrugged it off as a rumour. A week later, news began spreading that an epidemic broke out in one of the village at the border, those seriously infected were the soldiers and it had spread to the villagers. The news continued to spread like wildfire that caused panic in the capital to believe that a plague was spreading throughout the kingdom. When news was sent to General Anjou's, he got panic and ordered that the castle to be closed off to public in hope that the disease won't spread to the occupants in the castle.
With the epidemic outbreak as their cover story, Elizaveta and her allies began with their plan. Aleksander continued to spy on General Anjou and his motive. His letter also brought some good news, some of the generals and commanders opposed to Anjou's plan that they decided not to obey his orders. They were currently gathering forces from soldiers who were against Anjou so that they can had him removed from his position. Roderich and Vash were able to secretly communicate with their families at Main Hetalia and told them of the situation and about their plan so that they could combined forces to overthrow the person who started all this unnecessary war and broke the rules.
A month after the invasion at Roderich's castle, Main Hetalia army entered the borders into the Magyar Kingdom and Elizaveta along with the soldiers who was on her side informed them about her plan and how they should carry it out. They will attack the castle tomorrow, so she urged everyone to retire early. On her way back to her room, she was surprise to meet Roderich in the hallway. "Hey." She smiled a tired smile.
"Are you sure you're doing this?" Roderich asked.
"I will had the head of Anjou for sure." She said, both her hands tightened into a fist. "He broke the peace contract, killed so many innocent people and started this unnecessary war just for his selfish needs."
"He's a general." Roderich stated, "Are you sure you can take him down by yourself?" Elizaveta shook her head sadly.
"I… I just have to…" She said softly. "I will avenge those who died, your father, especially." Though tears glittered in her eyes, she managed a weak smile before saying, "Besides, you can't even defeat me in combat. I always take you down easily, remember?"
"And you're still talking about this at this time?" Roderich laughed a little at her little joke. "It seems like you will not change your mind." He then handed a white flower to her. Elizaveta raised her eyebrow in confusion, she tried to look at his expression but he kept it hidden under the dim lighting. "I guess… I will have to spill it all at once then."
"Roderich, what's the meaning of this?"
"Elizaveta, I love you. I love you more than my love for Chopin and Beethoven. It's your courage that gave me the will and strength. I know that we may not be together, or if we ever got to meet again. I just want to tell you my feeling before everything was too late." Roderich said, his eyes met hers shyly. "Take this with you," He said shoving the flower closer to her. "It's just a flower, but if you planted it in your garden, perhaps you will remember me, always…"
"Roderich…" She accepted the flower. She tried to speak up, but was too choked up to do so. When she finally found her voice again, Roderich had turned his back at her and left down the hallway.
The next day at the battlefield, Elizaveta didn't saw Roderich anywhere. She brought along the flower he gave her, wearing it on her hair to show that she is a girl who will not bow to her fate. The troops marched into the capital and had the castle surrounded before attacking.
One by one, they sliced down Anjou's men in their path. One of the generals who sided with Elizaveta informed her about Anjou's whereabouts and led her the way.
When they arrived at the throne room where the king was, General Anjou was trying to escort him out of the castle via the secret passageway, but Aleksander had got that covered up secretly. "Get away from him, your majesty." The general said.
"What are you talking about?! The castle is attacked, it's my job to escort the king to safety." Anjou said, faking confusion.
"LIAR!" Elizaveta yelled back. "All you wanted to do is to have him killed so that you can fucking claim the throne to yourself."
General Anjou was soon at the loss of words. A malicious grin spread across his face as he unsheathed his sword. "Since you all knew it, then I will have to do it the hard way." He then grabbed the king hostage while threatening them not to come any closer or else he will kill the king. Elizaveta, however, boldly attacked at him, knocking his sword away from the king's throat and lunged the enemy onto the ground. The two then began to engage on fist fight while the general tried to take the king to safety.
But of all timing, her father barged into the throne room. "Your majesty, we have to leave…" His sentence was cut short when he saw chaos broke out in the throne room, especially the heated fight between General Anjou and one of the rebels. He went over to split up the fight by pulling Elizaveta to his side. Elizaveta trashed and yelled as she tried to struggle free.
"Let me go! I have to fucking kill him before he…" She gasped in shock when she saw the man's face, her father. He had caught him red-handed. "F-Father…" She stuttered, trying to come up with an explanation. But before she could do so, another fight broke out between Anjou and the other general. They watched as Anjou easily subdued the general and charged for the king. The king tried to run away but got cornered, Anjou then kicked him hard that he laid on the floor wincing in pain. He then raised his sword ready to deliver a fatal stab.
"NO!" was all Elizaveta could said as she saw the crazy man lowering his sword to kill. But in the nick of time, her father rushed to the king and shield him instead as Anjou's sword sank into his right shoulder. And then, everyone in the room went still. Elizaveta could only watched in shock until she noticed blood flowing out from her father's shoulder where Anjou had stabbed him.
Letting out a roar of anger, she found back the strength to stand up. Anger fuelled her heart and her blood veins were fully pumped with a sense of justice. Anjou took a step back upon seeing Elizaveta unleashed her anger. He attempted to draw his sword to fight her, but her father managed to hold down his sword and used his remaining strength to deliver a kick so that Anjou would lose balance. Elizaveta then took this as the opportunity to kill him. She just did it, with a slash, without any remorse.
After all of Anjou's man was arrested and the chaos stopped, the Main Hetalia soldiers led by High Prince Roman and High Prince Germania said their thanks for stopping the war. Everyone rejoiced at the announcement that the war was finally put to an end.
"You did well, Lizzy." Roderich said, putting a comforting hand on Elizaveta's shoulder, another hand stroking the flower on her hair. It had grazed a little and some petals had fallen off during the fight, but it was still intact.
The two knew that their time was short. There was many things they wanted to say, but they were too hurtful, so they just decided to keep quiet and let time lingered on. "We will meet again, someday." Roderich told her, as if he was trying to comfort her. But she knew too well, it was impossible for them to be together.
"Roderich, it's time to go." High Prince Germania called out to Roderich. Since his father was dead, he will be living under Germania's roof for the time being. The two of them said a silent goodbye before the Main Hetalia troops left the Magyar border.
Life went on as normal after the war. Elizaveta once again return back to the dull estate of hers which she dread. Her mother was gone, her father seemed to take it calmly, though Elizaveta could tell that he was sad. His attitude towards her had changed as well. Although he never showed it through words and emotion, he no longer saw Elizaveta as something unwanted or just a piece of trash of the family. In fact, he was proud of Elizaveta for stopping the war and how she brought honour to the family.
Vladimir had also changed as well. He informed Elizaveta that he decided to break off their engagement as he found someone whom he truly love. Not that Elizaveta wanted to argue, she was more than happy to have the engagement called off. He also introduced his boyfriend, Aleksander to her. He told her how Aleksander made him change to be the Vladimir today. She inwardly squealed at their relationship, grateful of Aleksander who taught Vladimir to be more gentle and caring for others instead of being a spoiled brat. She briefly saw them holding hands walking in the market street one morning when she went to the capital. And that was the last time since she saw them.
She tried to live on her life as normally as possible, but she couldn't shake off the feeling of emptiness in her soul. After Roderich had left, she felt as if something was taken away from her together with him. She tried playing the piano, but it only added salt to her wound when she thought of the beautiful music Roderich would play to her. She would take a stroll in the garden in hope that will soothe her broken heart, but she would come across the flower bush Roderich had given her before the last battle. She had planted it in the garden so that she will always remember him, but seeing it makes her feel painful that she quickly retreated back indoor.
Her father tried his best to comfort her. He gave her more freedom so that she can manage her boring time. Occasionally, he would introduce some young noble man in hope that she will accept their hand of marriage but she would reject them all, claiming that her heart has already been taken.
When she thought that her life will continue on as dull as before, the rays of hope has come to her one day, about a year after the war has ended. It was any normal day Elizaveta was in her room making a dress when a servant knocked on her door informing her there were guests in the reception room. She sighed placing her embroidery, thinking it was another engagement her father had tried to introduce to her. But what surprised her was the sight of Roderich in the hall, she couldn't believe her eyes.
"R-Roderich? I-Is that you?" She asked unbelievably. The young man walked to her and made a graceful bow before taking her hand and planted a kiss on it.
"I'm glad to be able to see you again, Lizzy." He said with a smile. "How have you been doing lately?"
And then, she couldn't hold herself anymore. In mere seconds, she broke down and was soon in the arms of her beloved. "I missed you…" She said between sobs.
"I missed you too. I dreamt of seeing you every day. And every time I played the piano, I realized that you're not there listening." Roderich said, wiping her tears.
Things went in a blur after that. But she remember the longest and warmest conversation she ever had with her father. He had specially invited High Prince Germania and his nephew to their estate in hope they could talk of an engagement. He mentioned that Vladimir had told him about their relationship. He also said about his unhappy marriage with Elizaveta's mother had caused her death and made his realized that everyone deserved happiness. "I'm proud to have you as my daughter." He said to her, the words she had always been hoping he would said to her. It was the happiest moment in her life, knowing that her father acknowledged her and she will carry on the Hedervary's name and her marriage with Roderich will continue on strengthening the bond before Magyar Kingdom and Main Hetalia. And so, the engagement was set and the pair married a year later. Elizaveta inherited her father's property when he died a few years after the marriage.
"Lizzy, Lizzy!" Elizaveta snapped out of her trance and found herself meeting the eyes of her husband. "Roderich? What's wrong?"
"You have been spacing off for a while, what's in your mind?" Roderich asked, sipping his tea.
"Well, it's nothing." She shrugged her shoulder. "Do you remember the time we first met?"
A nostalgic smile spread across his face. "Is that why you're spacing off?"
"It's a tough road after all. But now we're together and livin' happily ever after, it's all worth it." Elizaveta commented. "Those two boys must be struggling on searching the love of their life as well, especially Gilbert."
"I thought you never care much about them." Roderich laughed a bit, "After all, they have grown up."
"Grown up, yes. I'm sure they can make their own decision good enough, though I hope nothing bad happens to them." She thought for a while before continue, "But of course, the journey of love can never be easy. They have to try hard to get it."
"As long as they are alright and happy with their choices, it's fine. We don't have to worry them much, they're Germania's sons after all." Roderich said, finishing his drink before going back to the piano. "I finally composed a new music, it's called Hungarian Rhapsody. Do you want to hear it?"
Elizaveta made a soft squeal. "That's amazing, Roderich! I would gladly hear that." And so, Roderich began playing the piano again as she let the music brought her back into memories.
xXx
And another long chapter. This bonus chapter took me quite a while and it tires me out having to write it out. So basically, this story is loosely based on the adaptation of Mulan and I think you understand how it goes. Also, I introduced Elizaveta origin as the Magyar Kingdom that was the origin of Hungary. In the second chapter, it was mentioned that Elizaveta married Roderich at 14, and it's consider common in that time. Also, Elizaveta's family status is higher than Roderich. I hope you all enjoy reading this story and tolerating all those crappy plot and grammar mistakes I made. Free time is not what I have much.
The final chapter of the story will be next. I already had the story in my mind and now I just have to write it out. It could take a week, even months though, so please be patient and forgive my inconsistent updates. What will happen to Alfred and Kiku? The fate of Gilbert and Ivan? Stay tune!
Eqa Skylight: I bet you're not expecting that scene to happen, don't 'cha? Whether Gilbert live or not, it will be in my hands. Muahahaha, but anyway, you should know that I'm not so bad at all. Thank you for being patient while waiting me to update this story.
Thebigeyedpanda: You made a good guess about the young man who danced with Natalia, but the answer is already there. Is that Ouran High School reference? I'm glad you liked that part where Alfred and Kiku reconcile. Have a nice stay and enjoy reading this story.