Hey everyone~! I just wanted to warn you that I have decided to raise the rating of this story to M for violence and character death. If you don't like reading things like that then now may be the time to abandon the story.
Alfred sat next to Arthur in the carriage with Matthew sitting across from them. They all sat silently as the rain pattered against the windows. Alfred looked at his brother sitting across from him. The younger looked very uncomfortable although Alfred didn't know if it was because of the new clothes Arthur had gotten them or because he was still worried about the curse… Most likely the latter of the two.
Alfred also felt uncomfortable but it was mainly because of his three piece suit. Arthur insisted that he wore the suit saying it made him look "dashing". Alfred complied but absolutely refused to wear the sleeve cuffs.
The American leaned back in his seat and turned his attention to the raindrops as they ran down the window pane. He didn't realize the the weather in this country would be so dreary. Just like he didn't realize that Arthur and his family were very well off.
When they had gotten off the boat, a tall man with spiky blond hair named Lars was waiting with a carriage to take them to Kirkland Manor.
Alfred expected Arthur's house to be in a town or even a small village, but he was proven wrong as the carriage took them further into the countryside and away from civilization.
"It won't be much farther now." Arthur spoke to the two brothers. "Kirkland Manor should be at the end of this road."
"Are there any other people around this area?" Alfred asked as he tore his gaze away from the window.
"No." Arthur answered. "Before my parents passed away, they told me that our ancestors have always been recluses. They built the house as far away from civilization as they could. The only people you'll ever see are the servants… and my little cousin Peter."
"I didn't know you had a cousin." Alfred said in surprise.
"My family took him in after his parents passed away." Arthur explained. "He's a sweet kid, but he likes to try and act older than he really is."
"He sounds cute." Alfred smiled. "I'm sure we'll all get along great together. Right, Mattie?"
Alfred turned his attention to his brother who was still pouting.
"I'm sure we will…" Matthew said uptightly. "That is to say, if we're alive long enough to get to know him."
Alfred groaned in frustration while Arthur remained silent. The Brit was growing used to Matthew's accusations of him being cursed and ignored them but Alfred still felt very frustrated by it all.
Alfred opened his mouth to scold his younger sibling but was prevented from doing so when the carriage came to a sudden halt. Alfred slid off his seat, unprepared for the stop, and pouted when he realized he was the only one to fall.
"Looks like we're here." Arthur chuckled and offered Alfred a hand.
Alfred let Arthur help him back to his seat. A moment later, Lars opened the carriage door and held up a large umbrella. He silently assisted them off and helped them carry their luggage towards the house.
The Kirkland Manor was bigger than any house Alfred had ever seen. The stone structure was two stories tall and looked like it had a dozen rooms on the first floor alone.
When they walked into the grand house, a woman with tan skin and pigtails was waiting for them. The candle in her hand barely illuminated her serious face in the dimly lit room.
"Hello Master Kirkland." She nodded and did a small curtsy in greeting Arthur. "It's good to finally see you home."
"Thank you, Michelle. It's good to be home." Arthur gave her a slight bow of the head and rightened himself. He motioned to Alfred and Matthew before adding. "These are the two gentlemen I wrote to you about. They'll be living here with us."
She looked the two men up and down. Alfred gave her a bashful wave while Matthew stayed completely still. After scrutinizing the two newcomers of the household, she also have them a curtsy.
"It's a pleasure to meet you Master Alfred and Master Matthew." She spoke to them with the same amount of respect she did toward Arthur. (Alfred felt awkward being called 'Master'.) "Your rooms have been prepared for your arrival. Would you care for me to lea-"
"Jerk Arthur!" A youthful voice bellowed.
Everyone looked towards the top of the stairs where a young boy that strikingly resembled Arthur (from the messy blond hair to the thick eyebrows) was standing. Alfred could only guess that this was Peter.
He had bright blue eyes that twinkled mischievously. The boy was also wearing a three piece suit but it was very different from what Alfred and Matthew were wearing. It looked very similar to the uniform their captain wore on his ship, so Alfred guessed the boy was dressed like a sea captain.
Alfred's guess was proven correct when Peter picked up an oversized captains hat lying on the floor and put it on top of his head. The boy then ran down the stairs and threw his arms around Arthur.
"I missed you, you jerk!" Peter exclaimed as he burrowed his head into Arthur's chest. "You've been gone for too long."
Arthur patted Peter's head as pulled the boy away from him.
"I missed you too." Arthur replied. The Brit hooked his arm around Alfred's and pulled him forward. "Peter this is Alfred. He and his brother Matthew will be living with us from now on."
Peter looked disappointed that his cousin pulled away from him and that made Alfred feel bad. He figured the little guy was upset that he had to share his cousin with other people when the Brit had finally come home after all these years.
"Nice to meet you Peter." Alfred greeted the young boy with a smile.
Peter looked at Alfred for a few moments, scrutinizing him just as Michelle had done. For some reason, Alfred felt more uncomfortable under his gaze than he had under Michelle's. Perhaps he felt that way because Peter was a blood relative to Arthur and Michelle was not, so his opinion meant more than hers.
After a few moments, Peter cracked a smile and skipped over to Alfred.
"It's nice to meet you too, Alfred." The little boy chimed as he linked his arm with Alfred's free one. "You look fun! I'm sure we'll get to be extra close friends."
Arthur beamed at the two of them.
Alfred sighed in relief that Arthur's cousin had accepted him so quickly.
Matthew rolled his eyes.
"I'm happy to see that you've taken a liking to the new members of the household." Michelle addressed Peter. "But you should run along now and get ready for dinner while I show Master Matthew and Master Alfred to their rooms."
Peter pouted but relinquished his hold on Alfred. "Alright." He then flitted over to Arthur's side and clutched the Brit's hand tightly. "I'll show Arthur to his room then!"
"Peter, I do believe I can still find my way back to my room." Arthur told the young boy.
"But you just got back and I want to spend time with you!" Peter insisted.
Arthur sighed and gave Alfred an apologetic look. "I think I'd better go with him. I'll let Michelle show you your rooms. I'll see you at dinner in about an hour."
"O-oh. Ok." Alfred replied awkwardly as Peter pulled Arthur out of his grasp. He was hoping the he and Arthur would be sharing a room but maybe the British man wasn't comfortable with doing something like that yet. "See you at dinner."
Alfred waved as he watched Arthur and Peter disappear down one of the dark hallways. This left Alfred and Matthew alone with Michelle.
"Well now…" Michelle spoke up. She began walking towards the stairs in a dignified manner and held the candle high. Alfred didn't know why she did this seeing as it didn't shed any more light into the room as it should have. "If you'll follow me, I'll show you to your rooms."
Alfred and Matthew followed Michelle up the stairs. Alfred looked every which way trying to take in the decor of the house.
There were many painting hanging on the walls. Most being of family members (this was obvious due to the people's blond hair and thick eyebrows) but others were of nature painted in an overcast setting. The wallpaper was a faded yellow and white striped color and every few feet there was a candelabra hanging on the wall. Again, the light coming forth from the candles did little to illuminate the inside of Kirkland Manor. Alfred also noticed that there were roses placed on every table they passed.
"The roses looks nice." Alfred commented. As the passed their fifth table of roses. "They're so red they almost look black."
"They are black." Michelle replied without looking at him.
"Seriously?!" Alfred said impressed. He paused to take a closer look at one of the roses and, sure enough, they were indeed black. "That's amazing! How do they grow like that?!"
"It's a Kirkland family secret." Michelle answered as she turned to look at Alfred. Even Matthew had paused to look at the roses with interest. "The Kirkland Manor is famous for its black roses."
"If they're so famous then why aren't there any other people here to see them?" Matthew muttered, earning him a glare from Alfred.
"The Kirkland family has always enjoyed their privacy." Michelle answered.
"Humph…" Matthew crossed his arms. "The only reason why people would choose to stay so far away from civilization would be because they are trying to hide something."
"That's not true Mattie." Alfred grumbled at his brother. He turned to address Michelle with an apologetic look. "You'll have to excuse him. He wasn't all that thrilled about leaving home."
Michelle looked between the two brothers before settling her eyes on Matthew. She grinned for the first time in front of the brothers and said, "You're a smart one. You just might do alright here."
She turned on her heel and continued walking down the hall. Matthew looked a bit proud at the compliment but Alfred felt confused.
Arthur wasn't hiding anything from him… was he?
"Here's your room Master Matthew." Michelle halted in front of a mahogany door. "And Master Alfred's room is the one right next to yours. Master Kirkland suggested that you both have rooms close together. And your rooms overlook the gardens, so you should enjoy that."
"You know…" Alfred spoke up and scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "You don't have to call us Master. Just Alfred and Matthew will do."
Michelle gave Alfred a bored smile. "As a servant living in the Kirkland household, I am obliged to refer to you as such. You will get the same treatment from Lars and Bella."
"Bella?" Matthew inquired.
"Lars' sister. The cook and another servant living here." Michelle replied. "You will meet her at dinner. Speaking of which…" Michelle paused to look at a watch on her wrist. "Dinner will be served in precisely one hour and ten minutes. I suggest you use this time to rest from your long trip. I will be back in an hour to lead you to the dining room so that you won't get lost in an attempt to find it."
Without another word, she curtsied before turning to leave the two to explore their new living arrangements.
Alfred used the hour to get accustomed to his new room. He opened the curtains in hopes that it would add more light to the darkened room. But it didn't do much seeing as there was no sunlight in the overcast weather to stream through his window.
Soon, but not soon enough, Michelle came to collect Alfred and Matthew to take them to dinner.
Arthur was waiting for them in the dining room with Peter, who looked like he had yet to relinquish his hold on the older man's hand.
"Alfred." Arthur grinned and removed himself from Peter's hold to stride towards his American lover. Peter seemed to pout when Arthur pressed a light kiss on Alfred's cheek. "How do you like your room?"
"It's great." Alfred beamed back. He was glad that the lighting was dim, otherwise everyone would clearly be able to see his blush. "It's twice the size of Mattie and mine's old room. Right, Mattie."
Matthew didn't answer, making things feel a bit awkward.
"Why don't we all sit down?" Arthur broke the awkward silence and motioned towards the long dining room table.
"I get to sit next to Alfred!" Peter piped up as he latched himself onto the American.
Alfred was a little taken aback by Peter's sudden clinginess, but he accepted it. Alfred let the small boy lead him to the table.
Arthur was about to take the other seat next to Alfred but Peter stopped him.
"Wait Arthur! I want to sit next to you too!" Peter exclaimed. He grabbed the Brit to pull him into the other seat next to him.
Arthur looked over Peter's head at Alfred, as the young boy took his seat in between the two. He looked at Alfred apologetically, but Alfred shrugged to show he was ok with it. The American was enjoying the attention.
Matthew sat next to Alfred since it was the seat furthest away from Arthur.
Everyone chatted a bit more (everyone but Matthew) until a girl with short blond hair came in balancing four plates.
"Hey Bella! Let me help you out there." Peter jumped out of his seat to grab one of the plates.
"C-careful Peter!" Bella exclaimed as she almost lost her grip on one of the plates. She quickly rightened herself and adjusted her grip on the plates she still held.
"Peter…" Arthur said in a stern scolding parental tone. "You shouldn't be so impatient. Bella will serve you."
"I know she will." Peter said innocently with a blush as he held onto the plate. "I just wanted to serve Alfred since he's my new friend."
Arthur's stern look softened and even Alfred had a strong urge to "aww" at the adorableness of Peter's gesture of kindness.
"Thanks little man! That's really sweet of you." Alfred thanked Peter as the little boy placed the plate in front of him.
"I'm not little." Peter pouted. But the complaint fell on deaf ears as Bella set the rest of the plates down.
Their cook gave a small curtsy. "It's good to have you back Master Kirkland. And it's a pleasure to meet you Master Alfred and Master Matthew."
Alfred felt awkward being called 'Master' again but gave her a nod of acknowledgment anyways. He figured it would take some getting use to the customs of the Kirkland Manor.
Bella left the room with another curtsy and a smile. Alfred was about to start digging into his food with the others, but stopped when he felt something rubbing against his leg.
"Oh awesome!" Alfred exclaimed when he looked down to see what it was. "Arthur! You never told me you had a cat!"
Alfred picked up a large fluffy white cat that had brown scruff.
"Is that Niblet?" Arthur inquired aloud. "He was just a kitten when I left… by god! He's gotten fat."
Niblet meowed and his tail swished back and forth angrily as if he was offended by the fat comment.
"Aww, he's not fat!" Alfred defended the cat as he stroked its fuzzy mane. "He's just fluffy is all." Alfred picked some food off of his plate and let the cat eat it from his hand.
"Alfred, don't let the cat eat your food." Arthur scolded. "It'll spoil him and he won't want to eat his cat food."
"It doesn't hurt to let him have a little treat now and then." Alfred laughed lightly. Arthur opened his mouth to argue again but was cut off by a sickening hacking noise.
Everyone snapped their attention to the cat, who would not stop it's grotesque coughing noise. Alfred tried to see if the cat was alright, but Niblet scratched his hand and stumbled onto the floor where it continued his hacking.
"I-is he alright?!" Alfred asked worriedly. He ignored the pain in his now bleeding hand as he looked at the cat. "Is he trying to cough up a hair ball?"
"Niblet's never done anything like this before." Peter said as he watched the cat with wide eyes.
Niblet began convulsing. The feline arched it's back in obvious pain as it coughed out a mixture of foam and blood.
No one knew what to do to help the poor creature. They could only stare in horror as the cat let out heart wrenching sounds of fear and pain.
Then it became very still.
Niblet's form went limp as it fell to its side. It's eyes remained wide and unseeing.
The cat was dead.
Poor Americat! QAQ I'm so sorry I killed you! But how did he die?! Ya'll are gonna have to find out next chapter.
Also, I just want to thank all of you following this story and leaving reviews. You all make me super happy when you do that! (^/u/^)
