Okay welcome to another point in the lives of Elsa and Anna. Oops sorry I mean Gilbert and Ludwig! This is the problem with combining stories you often forget who's story you're telling. Anyway, our young princes are now 11 and 6. I doubt I need to tell you who's who, and if you really are that stupid just ask a friend to explain. In the meantime let us continue da?

"Ludwig! Ludwig!" Gilbert called. The two of them were playing hide and seek in the palace gardens and Ludwig was definitely winning. From the moment Ludwig was old enough to play with Gilbert the two had been inseparable, sure Gilbert could be egotistical and he was hiding his true appearance. And Ludwig was overly serious about everything and liked everything to be specific. Basically Ludwig saw the world as black and white while to Gilbert it was just one colour, which one he didn't know, though he sometimes suspected red. They were very different but still they got along, because they both did the one thing the other had always wanted someone to do: love each other no matter what. They had to study hard, being princes, but they were still young and allowed time to play. During their current play session they'd decided on a game of hide and seek as Ludwig said it was a classic game appropriate for their age bracket, and Gilbert hadn't cared. Though he cared a bit now, he'd wandered through the rose garden five times and still no sign of his bruder. He was on the verge of giving up, when he heard a gentle rustle from the tree adjacent to him. He smirked and walked over to it. With a swift kick to the trunk he succeeded in shaking his bruder out and into his waiting arms.

"Hey, you could have killed me!" Ludwig cried.

"Hey!" Gilbert defended. "I caught you didn't I." He placed the youngest prince on the ground and ruffled his hair. "The awesome me would never let anything harm you. I'm too awesome to."

"Really?" Ludwig asked, looking up into his bruder's eyes. Gilbert nodded, his tone had upbeat and arrogant but inside he knew he really did mean what he said. He'd sworn to himself to be a good brother to Ludwig and never let anything bad happen to him. He didn't want his baby bruder feeling unloved as he did. He knew that despite how well he'd been getting along with his parents since Ludwig's birth, they were still ashamed of him. All the staff in the palace were simply paid to care for him, not about him. As for those he was close to, like his brother and the knights, who'd started teaching him a few things about combat and letting him hang out with them when they had some time, well, he knew they loved him sure. However he also knew, that if they saw what he really looked like, they see him for the monster he was. He tried his hardest to convince himself he wasn't a monster no matter what he looked like, but deep down inside something still kept him doubtful.

"Aren't you coming?"

He looked up from his thoughts to see Ludwig waving from the door. With a quick sigh he ran to catch him up...

After a quick trip to their rooms to make themselves look more presentable, and so Gilbert could check his wig and contacts, the two princes joined their parents in the grand dining room for dinner. It was the usual feast of all the finest foods, and like always the king sat at the head on the table with his wife on one side and sons on the others. However this time they had another member seated at the table. An incredibly tall man with greyish blond hair, and violet eyes. This was rather unusual for an eye colour but compared to the piercing red of Gilbert's it wasn't that strange.

"Children." The queen addressed, noticing the stares of confusion her sons were giving the man. "This is Ivan Braginski," She gestured to said tall person. "He's going to be looking after you while we're away."

"Oh, you never said you were leaving." Said Gilbert, as he and Ludwig sat down in their usual seats.

"We have to visit a neighbouring kingdom." Said the king. "Don't worry we won't be long, only around two weeks."

"So we'll have two weeks of fun da?" Said the man, now know as Ivan. Gilbert and Ludwig noticed he had a heavy Russian accent and a rather... sadistic smile... it left them both somewhat unnerved.

"Why must he take care of us?" Ludwig asked. "Surely we can do so ourselves."

"Don't be silly, you are merely children, even if you're quite mature for your age." Their mother replied solemnly.

"Well the staff and knights will still be here." Gilbert pointed out.

"They're paid to be here." Said the king, "Ivan is a family friend, we'd feel better you were cared for by someone we trust."

No one had anything to say after that, so they all ate their dinner in silence. All the while Ludwig and Gilbert kept getting bad vibes from Ivan, and Gilbert was certain he was staring at his hair on more than one occasion when he didn't think he was looking. He discovered why when his parents caught him on his own after they'd eaten and explained that Ivan was aware of his Albinism. They said another reason they asked Ivan to look after them was because they wanted someone with knowledge of his... problem... to help keep an eye on him. This new information, if anything, made him feel even more unnerved than before. In fact he almost tripped up when he passed Ivan on the stairs, the latter simply smiled at him, although Gilbert could see it didn't quite reach his eyes.

Two days later the royal couple departed for the neighbouring kingdom, not knowing they wouldn't return. On the trip back their ship was caught in a storm and sunk. Leaving both Gilbert and Ludwig alone. Neither prince wept for their parents, Ludwig was too practical, he thought it would be pointless to cry over what was already done. While Gilbert simply didn't have the energy to cry, he just spent most of his time lying his bed staring into space. Meanwhile, it was decided that, as the only one qualified, Ivan was to take run the kingdom until Gilbert was old enough to ascend the throne. He also became the princes official guardian and took over Gilbert's studies personally.