A/N: Sorry for the late update! We will get the next chapter soon! Hint: Look it up tomorrow or the day after that. Edwin is Kugelmugel.

This side story is around the same time period as the last one. Sorry, I kinda lied to you because actually, by plotting out the chronology, these side stories are supposed to take place around chapter 16-18. Also, just to let you know in case it wasn't obvious, Arthur acts all super prissy when he is around crowds, so that's why he is more pleasant in this chapter.

Sorry if there were spoilers here that you didn't like to see. Also, this wasn't edited or made by "J" since she is super busy with finishing the new chapter. Do your best "J"! And thank you for reading this long Author's note.

Side Story: A Man with Everything

I woke up with a start because of the hammering and what other tomfoolery happening downstairs, and I heaved a sigh because I knew that I had to be the one to investigate. My hand, by reflex, patted the empty side where Marie would usually sleep at. She is not beside me.

What trickery is this? She is not an early bird, so I cannot comprehend why I am here alone. I propped my head up by my elbow to scan the room since the lighting from the open windows brightened the room. The curtains were hooked to their sides, and if I can recall, I did not assign a maid to prep my clothes and breakfast. How weird. Marie is not here at all.

Naturally, in our daily routine, I would wake up before her. Her hair would then be splayed across her face, making her head resembling to that of a mop rather than the head of the dignified princess (or should I say queen at this point) of the Lapiz Kingdom. Then I would use my finger to tuck some locks behind her ear as I ogle her porcelain face. Well, she does have blemishes here and there, but natural beauty is hard to find these days, considering how women these days powder their faces with make-up.

I close my eyes, imagining how I would sometimes scorn her eyelids since they are the reason why I cannot see my wife's marine eyes. They entice me, as if they can cast a spell on me, but that is too late; I am already bewitched by them.

I rolled out of bed and stretched and craned my neck to hear both of my shoulders popping in agreement that I need to work out soon to tone out my muscles. A king should not give himself away, correct?

I opened the windows, and the breeze flourished in my room, sending a few flower petals from the blossoming tree next to the window in. I shrugged. The maids can clean that up later.

Ah, I love peaceful mornings like this.

"How was your night?"

Kiku, wearing a tunic for this morning, was sitting with his legs crisscrossed, rubbing one flower petal with his hand, and smiled to see me. I did not notice him, which is why I seized my heart as if I was encountering a heart attack.

"Dear Kiku! Why must you show up at the oddest of times?"

"I apologize."

The rascal always loved sneaking up on my blind spot. This is his way of expressing his friendship to me, I guess, in his own facetious way. Kiku stood up from his post and bowed down to me, and by the looks of his clean face, he had a nice sleep like me, too.

"To answer your last question, my night was splendid. Thank you for asking."

I raised his chin to scrutinize his young face. Really, the man has to loosen up, or he will end up hobbling like an old man and bobbing his head up and down by the time he gets married. For someone who is only a year younger than me, he absorbs too much stress for his age. Even though he looks like a doll, behind that perfection is a killing machine, but at the same time, he is a man who wishes for the good days- like me. I thanked him again for handing me a wet towel for me to freshen up as I did my morning stretch.

My friend reported, "Hime is going out to the village with Tino-san to do some good works."

"Ah, I see."

In my head, I was thinking along the lines of, "What is with this 'Hime' business? Is that a pet name of some sort?"

Sometimes I question about those two. Not that I am giving any opposition against this.

"Remarkably, there is no paperwork for you." Kiku said ecstatically.

"…"

"Arthur-sama?"

I snapped out of it. Peaceful mornings can get me sleepy-eyed.

"I-I am sorry. It's just that- you- did you just pronounce your 'r's, Kiku?"

"…" Kiku thought about it consciously, "It appears that I have."

I smiled. After all these years of mispronouncing his consonants, he has finally achieved the full frontal of my language. I am proud of him.

"Congratualations." I patted his back while praising him.

"It seems that ever since the Jade Palace, I can breathe easier now knowing that Yao is not… you know."

"Yeah… You have been talking a bit more, too. I have been questioning myself how to force you to converse with me." I smiled again.

"Ah! I-I apologize for making you think of such things."

Kiku looked like he was going to ask Ludwig and Vash to pummel him.

"No. No Kiku, I am glad you are improving in life. Now that I think back on it, it looks like my wife did more to you than I did in the past."

It's true. I suck at showing my feelings of kindness. What kind of friend am I?

Kiku blushed, probably from hearing her name or genuine embarrassment from the praise, but he shook his head.

"No Arthur-sama, you have done much for me, and that's why I am eternally in your debt."

He bowed once more and vanished, leaving a whirlwind of flower petals to be picked up to circle him and enshroud him as he makes his exit without a trace.

He doesn't get it, I thought. I did nothing.

I got out my top hat and my contemporary cane leaning on one side next to my desk and stripped off my clothes in exchange for a white collared shirt. I can take a shower tonight. It is a beautiful morning, so why not walk out since I have only a few sheets of paperwork?

"You shitty bastard! Why did you add a fucking tomato into my desert?"

And of course Feliciano's Lapiz brother has to ruin the peace and quiet in this castle.

"But Lovi~ I chopped them into itty bitty pieces just for you~"

"Shut up!"

"But!"

"Shut up," Lovino growled, "Or I will sabotage your garden!"

Antonio gasped, "B-but! My garden is full of five different types of tomatoes!"

Those two are as rowdy as ever.

I went forth, technically outside, not knowing where I was wavering to. Life is so bland. Life is so tasteless. I have everything a good man needs: a best man, a golden reputation, an athletic body, an intelligent mind, a strong and reliable kingdom, food beyond your imagination, money the entire world can offer, everything. I have everything.

Yet, I have nothing at the same time. Really, I have done nothing. To summarize what I have pretty much done ever since I was twelve, I have only erased and destroyed. I have burned crops and killed men with no remorse. I am like a harbinger of war, ruthless and bloody. Sometimes I wonder if I am just a pathetic human with no worth except his name.

"Arthur? You look spacey over there. Are you looking for something?"

It seems that my wife has returned from helping the community. Tino was nowhere to be found, so I assumed that he went off to find his mate. Marie had a bouquet of flowers, which she carried with the crook of her arm, and properly greeted me like any competent lady should greet.

Can I believe it that just a few months ago it was the same woman who crushed my feet with hers by dancing a simple waltz? I cannot be exactly sure that she has matured, though. She still has her quirky moments, but lately the village accepted the maiden with gratuitous amounts of acknowledgement ever since. You can see that with those flowers. White zinnias, I thought, how befitting. She is like an embodiment of goodness.

If I had my charm turned on, I would have plucked a flower and snug the stalk inside her hair, but my body begged to differ. Marie smiled her impish smile and looked at me questionably, as if asking me if I am in a better mood than yesterday.

"I am not looking for anything," I said, "Why can a king not enjoy the scenery here?"

"I don't know," Marie answered slowly, looking up at the skies that are less bright than hers, "You tell me."

We both stood there until an obnoxious brat tackled my tailbone like a rugby player, and by the sound of his spoiled laugh and the look of his raggedy hat from the corner of my eyes, it is my younger sibling, Peter.

Ugh, Peter. That bloke always refuses to sit at the kiddy table and would sneak into the training camps to be a soldier, reasoning to me that he is the king of the world. I laugh at his insolence. As long as I'm alive and can run a mile in six minutes, he is stuck as a brat. Brats deserve to stay as brats.

"Hello ol' jerkface!"

"Geh, Peter."

"Geh?"

"I-I mean, why hello Peter, what an unexpected visit!"

Close call there, I thought. It is difficult to act like a good role model in front of a child; even though it's impossible, I wish I had no children. I would only be a bad parent.

"Hello Peter," said Marie. "What brings you here?"

"Marie!" Peter squealed in delight. He jumped into Marie's arms as she swung him around like an airplane. How the devil did she tame him?

"Ahem."

A young girl with violet eyes and, from what I can presume, dyed white hair kept in two long pigtails, coughed for the purpose to be noticed. She had a mole under her right eye. A red beret was on top of her head and from what I can see, a very long strand of hair dancing out of it.

"Ah! Sorry Edwin!" Peter jumped out of Marie's embrace and introduced, who I have horribly mistaken as a girl, Edwin.

"Arthur, this is Edwin Lipburger, and he's an artist. He really loves your rose maze and would like to ask for permission to paint it."

"Well, as long as you do not cause trouble, I can-"

"Art!"

"… Excuse me?"

"IT'S ART! ART!"

"…"

Peter scratched the back of his head nervously.

"Heh, heh… Sorry Arthur. Sometimes, when Edwin sees something inspiring, he gets a bit eccentric. Don't mind him."

"Peter, why did you bring him?"

His eyes sparked; they literally sparkled.

"Because we're friends!"

Damn that kid, using the friend card. He knows that I am an old sap about friendship and all that.

"Go ahead," I flung my hand towards the direction of the rose maze, "But if I see one dead rose over there, I will cut your allowance." I said lamely.

"Okay!"

The two boys went inside the maze, and Marie and I were alone again.

"Want to have another round?" Marie smirked, daring that I should train with her again.

"Two out of three?" I suggested.

"You're on."

Whenever we are not sleeping next to each other or fighting over a small issue, it seems that I would train with her to blow off some steam. She has been rapidly improving. I guess my advice earlier strung a cord in her heart since she has been practicing more and more. However, she is not good enough to defeat me as I parried her tactic to hit my blind spot, making her lose her grip on the wooden sword. She dropped it as I tapped her wrist with adequate strength.

"Your loss," I said as my long stick was pointed at her face.

Wearing her dress must be heavy on her, but in order to strengthen her attributes, she must withstand the superlative weight.

"Darn it, I almost had it."

"No close enough, my dear Marie."

We both laughed it off as I slumped down to wipe away the sweat with my sleeve. Even with this light clothing, the sun was beating down on both of us.

Marie asked with anticipation, "Did I got better?"

"I believe the word is 'get'." I corrected.

Marie harrumphed.

"Fine. Did I get better?"

"Yes, remarkably, you did."

She punched my arm while blushing.

"You know I don't take flattery well."

"And who said that I was flattering you?"

She flopped down onto the soft grass, tickling her cheeks with their blades, and I followed along to smell that nature smell, enjoying this rather than the toxic smell of ink and paper. Marie laughed her sincere laugh, and I turned my head to look at her eyes again. Everything about her is wonderful, but today, I am focusing on her eyes. I deftly stole her glasses, catching her inattentive glare, and put them on. The focus is strong, which is why I hissed and quickly returned them back to her while massaging the corners of my eyes.

"Why did you do a stupid thing like that?"

I slowly opened my eyes to see her beside me and folded her glasses to hook it to her neckline. I paused.

"Maybe I just wanted to see what your eyes can see."

Because you can see everything with those eyes.

"You're such a weird, old man."

We took a nap, loving the spring breeze flinging our hair, but we still have that gap between us because both of us are not willing to slide a bit closer. Peaceful mornings like this are precious.

"-thur… Arthur…Arthur!"

I woke up, and I see Peter above me.

"Look at what Edwin drew!"

Marie was gone, so I mumbled incoherent words while rubbing away my sleepiness to see what Peter's friend had drawn. I see him, sitting on a rock and hugging his knees, and in front of him, was a colorful canvas with reds, yellows, blues, and other contemporary colors. Is that what my garden is like in his eyes?

Peter explained, "Well, Edwin and I were hungry, so we got out of the maze to look for you. Then, when we did, you were sleeping, and out of nowhere, Edwin was screaming about art again! Thanks to you and Marie, he was inspired to draw! Lately, he has been having a block in his artwork, but by seeing you two, he drew this!"

Indeed, instead of the rose maze, there was Marie and I sleeping, facing each other, and the boy did not edit anything else in there; all of it was there- the grass, us, and the sky. It was… beautiful. I could not describe it in any other way because no other word would fit with it.

"This… is a masterpiece. I am honored to be painted like this."

Yes, I was vulnerable in it, but I could not say that the painting was disgusting and ugly; I liked it, knowing that each stroke of paint was meant to paint Marie and me.

"If you like it so much, sir, I can give it to you."

"Really?"

I stroked the edges of the canvas, painting it into my mind.

"Because of you, I have seen real art."

I blushed.

"That… is a kind compliment."

"Well, Jake should be here to pick me up. Good-bye!"

Peter grabbed hold of Edwin's hand as he sang about art, and they disappeared to be picked up.

It was the painting and me now. Sure that the painting is not dry, I observed each line and brush the paint did.

"That is a nice picture." Marie has returned by my side and handed me a glass of lemonade.

I nodded.

"Yes, that is a good painting."

"Where should we hang it up?"

"… I'll think about it."

I smiled as she rubbed the same edges I did. For a man with many things, I guess you can say that this is the first possession I have that was meaningful to me.