The Three of Clubs

The first thing that Ivan did when he was sworn into the position of the King, was he sent letters to all the other Kingdoms saying that he wished to have peaceful relations with them. Sure, while it had been the Spades that started the war, there had been moments and places in history where The Cloves hadn't been the best behaved. Ivan hoped that with this letter, he could look forward to great relations with the other Kingdoms.

He liked his companions as well. He had no interest romantically in either of them, and that wasn't unheard of. It had been known for the King and Queen to very well hate each other at times. Other times the King and the Councilor would get together, or the Queen and the Councilor, it was whatever the Royals felt like. The Clubs had been the only Kingdom that throughout history, the King and Queen had never liked each other romantically. The time of Ivan's rule would be no exception to this.

It was obvious from the moment that they all met though that Elizabeta had feelings for the Austrian. It was seen by the way that she always stayed by his side, how she looked at him when he wasn't looking at her, and how she just wanted to make him happy. Ivan was happy for the both of them. For now, all that Ivan wanted to do was watch over his Kingdom and make sure that everything went alright.

Roderick had feelings for her as well, but he was so much more subtle about it than she was. It was the way that Roderick would do little things to make her happy, how he would always play her favorite things and when he would cook he would make her favorite meals. Neither had no idea about the others feelings, and to Ivan it was quiet funny how they both felt those things and didn't know that the other did as well. They had only been Royals for about a week, but Ivan already knew.

Ivan was happy to be the King and nothing more. He could feel the love from every one of his subjects, even if some were afraid of him. Roderick was determined to recreate his image, to make Ivan seem less scary. They worked on everything from the way that he smiled to his stature.

"I didn't think that I would ever say this to anyone, but try to slouch. You tower over people when you stand up straight," Roderick ordered. Ivan slumped his shoulders a bit, but he was still a lot taller than Roderick. Roderick looked displeased, but it was better than nothing.

"A bit better. Now your smile, it's very creepy at times. Try something softer." Ivan smiled just a little, just so that the corners of his mouth turned up. he made sure that his face muscles weren't to tight.

"No that won't do, smile a little more." Ivan did as he was told. After a couple more times Roderick finally deemed it alright and said that they could stop. Ivan felt like never smiling again with how much his face muscles hurt.

It wasn't long after that they were presented to the people, just like the Spades Kingdom. They were welcomed with a warm welcome, but their previous Royals had left a missing hole of grief. The excitement of new Royals had ended, and now there was just the hole that the previous leaders had been. It was Ivan's, Elizabeta's, and Roderick's job to fill that hole. The people had welcomed them though, and that was enough. It always takes time for the Kingdom to adjust to the new Royals anyways.

Thinking back, after the ceremony had ended, Ivan thought about when not only him but his sisters met Roderick and Elizabeta. Katsuya had been more than eager to meet them, but Natalia had never been more scared in her life. She hated meeting new people, she always had and she probably always will.

"I am Katsuya! I'm Ivan's older sister. This is Natalia, Ivan's younger sister," Katsuya said to them brightly, shaking their hands. Natalia hid behind Ivan, just barely seen as she peeked her head out from around him.

"Natalia say hi," Ivan whispered to her. She gave him a look that said 'don't make me' but Ivan gave her a hard look.

"Hello. If you ever do anything to hurt my brother I will hurt you a lot more," Natalia threatened as if she was talking about the weather. Roderick and Elizabeta blinked for a moment before they started talking to themselves. Ivan and Katsuya looked at each other, worried, the last thing that they wanted was for Roderick and Elizabeta to be scared of them. After a minute of talking to each other, they both turned to Ivan and walked towards him and Natalia. Natalia pulled out a knife and held it to them, a hard look in her eyes.

"Natalia, my name is Roderick Edelstein. This is Elizabeta Héderváry. No matter what happens, we will not hurt your brother. Actually, we are here to protect him just as much as you are."

Natalia and Roderick stared at each other, neither moving and both trying their hardest not to blink. Natalia still held her knife in front of her, but her hand was shaking, making the knife quiver in the air. Slowly, like he was afraid of making her run away, Roderick extended his hand out to her. It took longer than anyone was comfortable for Natalia to shake his hand. Yet when all through her life there had been people taking advantage of their family, Ivan could not blame her. Eventually though, she did lower the knife and shake his hand. Roderick smiled gently at her.

"I think that we are all going to make this country great together."

So they all began working together. Natalia no longer stuck to Ivan's side, but she did get along with Elizabeta very well. Katsuya and Natalia were more than happy to accept her in, happy to have another sister in the family. Roderick and Ivan got along like brothers, when Roderick wasn't working on making Ivan more 'presentable' to the public. Together they would run the country together and make it better than it ever was before.

Together, as a family.