To Say, Or Not To Say

Separated from Gilbert, Ludwig retraced his steps, looking for when and where he possibly could have put those note cards down. He had not meant to mess this up, his brother was stressed enough as it was without Ludwig doing anything to make today horrible...

How was it that he could have misplaced his brother's speech? He was certain he had put them into his pocket. Which was when he remembered Feliciano asking him about hiccups. So he headed to that room. Feliciano was distracting him, that was the best place to look for anything he had forgotten. That was always the case. And as soon as he entered the room he could see them on the table where he had leaned against earlier.

Ach, I should have known! Relief sweeping through him he strode over and picked them up. Which was when he actually listened and heard the people talking in the adjoining room. It did not matter too much and Ludwig had turned to leave. Then he happened to look into that room.

Francis was French kissing Lovino.

Who was pressed against the wall.

Ludwig blinked.

Then he left.

It was none of his business. He should not have seen that. It did not make much sense, but it had nothing to do with him. Except it did. Was Feliciano in there as well? What was going on in there? Out of any day for Francis to pull of one of those pranks that he, Gilbert, and Antonio always seemed to do to each other (whether they were all here in Hearth or not), this was not a very good one. Especially to kiss Lovino.

Was Lovino kissing back? Probably not, it was Lovino, but Ludwig had tried not to look. It was none of his business.

Or was it? He had no idea. It was not his business, but the likelihood of this being kept away from Antonio was high and if he found out later... Ludwig had no idea.

"Hey! Did you find dem?"

"Here," Ludwig said absently, handing the cards over to Gilbert, who instantly took them, muttering some sort of response. "I hope you still get to say dis."

"Vait, vhat?"

Again, probably not something he should have commented on. Ludwig shook his head and quickly departed his brother, wondering what was the right thing to do. Not that he was likely to ask Gilbert. Gilbert's advice would probably be... Actually, Ludwig had no idea. What would his brother suggest? What would anyone suggest? Ludwig was not very good with these situations. Then again, he could not ask. No one else needed to know, except for those involved. Antonio was involved because of that. So he should tell Antonio. It was his duty to.

Dreading the encounter, Ludwig went to find Antonio. Before or after they got married? Did that matter as well? The sooner it was resolved the better, right?

He found Antonio pacing in another one of the rooms. Antonio wheeled about to look at him, a wide smile on his face. "Hello Ludwig! I'm getting married!"

Gott, I can't do this, Ludwig realized as he nodded. "I know. Congratulations."

"In a half an hour," Antonio went on to say. "Francis said he would be back by now, have you seen him?"

He could lie, but Ludwig suddenly saw Ludovicus' face in the back of his mind. Lying only prolonged what was wrong. Being upfront was the best way to solve problems. "He vas in Lovino's dressing room."

Passed that one, no lies. "Really?" Antonio said, as if it was not an issue at all. Ludwig decided he should probably take his bleeding morals and slink out of the room, but Antonio kept talking. "I wonder what he's doing there!"

I hate today. "He vas kissing Lovino. I'm sorry."

Antonio did not even turn to look at him. For all that Ludwig could see, Antonio's expression had not changed at all. "Ha! That's funny Ludwig. You know, I could almost imagine that happening too~ But what makes you say that?"

"Because dat's vhat I saw." Ludwig rather felt like he was a teenager again, back in the day even the carefree Antonio could intimidate him when he knew he had done something wrong. And suddenly he had decided this was the wrong path and that he never should have come here and said anything.

"You... saw it?" Antonio asked, curious and not at all angry. Ludwig still noted the shift. He had only ever seen this happen a few times, each of which stuck vividly in his mind. Antonio was about to be angry. Not angry, furious. It really did not matter what Ludwig said by this point, because Ludwig had already dug a grave.

The only thing he could do now was point at who should be buried in the hole, still alive.

Ludwig was not good at pointing the finger, only at stating what he believed in. And while he still had seen it, he did not want to believe it too much. "I'm sorry."

Antonio stared blankly at him. "Ah... I... I see."

Ludwig moved out of the way as Antonio passed him. He decided that if he did anymore damage toward anything within the rest of the year he would have to sell himself as a demolisher instead of any type of builder or fixing mechanics.

Finally he did what he figured he should have done a few months ago: get out of the way and just not look.


Notes:

This is a dilemma we as human beings face constantly. When is it or is it not our business? When is stepping in, saying something, when is it helpful and when does it hurt? Of course, as this is Hearth, you can assume whatever is done at first will be wrong. That will not always be the case, but it will be the most probable outcome. That is writing entertainment for you.