Though Arthur promised to hold Peter a party, to call it one would be a slight exaggeration. It was closer to a grand dinner filled with things Peter personally liked more than anything; there was no music, it was held in a suite of an inn, and there were no more attendees than the five. After Peter had gotten his fill he went to bed almost immediately despite boasting on how much he wanted to stay up past his usual bed time. As curious as he was of Arthur's tale in another world in the beginning, he'd mostly gotten the gist of it and thought there was nothing else he could listen in on and turned in for the night.

"I can't believe you two would just let him leave." Yao, who earlier this morning had only come back to the castle, who hadn't even been briefed on what the hell was going on; was furious to hear the culprit behind it all simply left and his king and queen didn't do much of anything to stop him.

"Arthur let him leave, I was just... There!"

"Don't think you can get away from this Alfred, you were 'just there' letting him leave!" He pointed his fingers in the direction from where he heard Alfred spoke, slightly not far off from where he sat. "Oh it's fine because this temporary blindness 'wears off'? Did it occur to any of you to ask when that is? A week? A year even?"

"He did say he'll inject the poison again when it starts to wear off, and he said he'll do it when I start to miss you, or something..." Arthur had already mentioned this, even though he knew it wouldn't be enough information to help Yao's uneasiness. "I swear if everything still goes according to the guy's plan I'll miss you in about... L-less than a week?"

"I'm not defending him Yao, but-"

"That sounds like something you say before you defend his actions, Arthur."

"I'm aware, but listen. I think he left because he feels there's no need for him to be here anymore. If there was something he could 'fix' to amend the situation, I feel he would've done something."

"An apology straight to my face would be an amend! Again, did it occur to you that maybe he'd just forgotten about me as he left?"

"Well that's... I see it more as 'that jack's probably going to be alright so there's no need to pay him any mind'..." Arthur did his best to think in his shoes, even if a part of him still believed that the man's hatred for his jack back home was a factor he couldn't blindly ignore. "Sorry, I shouldn't be making excuses for this."

"I'll forgive you two if my vision comes back within a week. Any longer than that and you two are responsible for one, getting my eyesight back, and two, all of my workload from then on."

With everything that had happened, Arthur and Alfred thought that Yao would take the opportunity to rest up, however Yao had promised he'll do a share of his work the best he could with the help of a personal assistant of his to do his reading and writing of documents for him. He'd said that he was in perfect health and condition, and he said he'd rather not "use" this as a time for a mini vacation. Not when the three had gotten any proper work lately.

"Did I say I'll miss you in less than a week? I meant a little longer than that."

Yao couldn't help but slip out a chuckle at hearing that, ruining the image of his temper tantrum 'act'. Everyone else gave out a sigh of relief at the sight, further amusing Yao.

"All's well that ends well am I right?!" Gilbert, who didn't want to meddle in all the royal stuff (as he put it), opened up another bottle with a pop and served everyone a glass.

"There's one thing you hadn't explained Gilbert." Arthur asked before it slipped his mind again. "Was it really a coincidence that you were in the hospital then? Not to mention you said you should've left Spades."

"Oh yeah? How do you think?" He returned the question, as if it was something Arthur could figure out without a single hint. "Let's just say I can see some things that'll happen."

"Then you better not tell Alfred that, lest he bugs you at every little premonition you see whenever you're in town." Arthur whispered back in a low voice, making sure Alfred and Yao on the other side of the table couldn't hear.

"You're not gonna bug me about it? Like how it works, when I see it, what I see, how I see? Which one's fate, which one can be changed and all?"

"Not a can of worms I'd like to open, thank you."

Not at the moment anyway, Arthur thought; when everything had, as Gilbert said 'all's well that ends well'. If it were truly that important that he knew, he trusted Gilbert would do everything he could to help him the way he did. The fact that the two had never talked about it in the first place in the years they'd known each other was prove enough that things were fine the way it was after all.

"Hey what are you two whispering about?" Alfred inched in closer to the two who'd been at it for a while.

"I said I knew you were going to the hospital 'cause I'm awesome."

"...Sure? Arthur, a minute outside?"

The two left to the balcony; a space not so cramped enough to fit the two and Arthur couldn't help but notice how fidgety Alfred was being. Sure the weather was a bit cold, but he doubted that had anything to do with it at all.

"I wanted to apologize for what I said earlier."

"About how fast you thought you'd miss Yao?"

"What? No, not that!" He turned away embarrassed, somewhat frustrated he had to 'spell out' his apology. "You confessed and I kind of ran away from it. If it were me I would've punched you for not giving me a straight answer right off the bat."

"You're bringing this up now of all times?"

"I was... Distracted with Yao getting mad at us. Didn't think the mood was right." Almost immediately after the confession, they did come back to Yao's... Wrath of letting him go. They had the whole day afterwards doing a little bit of work, some catching up with the three, and the idea of holding the party that night came very last-minute.

All the while, it was enough time for Alfred to think for himself of what he really needed to say.

"You're right. There's no point in waiting for romanticism when we both know what the answer is."

"And?" Arthur waited, holding the urge to tease him any further than necessary. He couldn't possibly think that was enough as a 'confession' would it?

"I've loved you for a while now, Arthur." Alfred said in his most uncharacteristic whisper.

"That's the best you've come up with after an entire day?"

"Arthur don't be mean you idiot."

"Why don't you stop acting like a child and say that again to my face this time?"

"You didn't even say it to my face when you said it!"

"Fine, I love you." Arthur was far too distracted by Alfred's inability to keep a straight face to even feel embarrassed himself. Not that there was any reason he could feel embarrassed all things considered. "Come on, say it back."

"I..." Feeling Alfred break his gaze again, he cupped his cheeks together in his hands and Arthur made sure he doesn't turn away. "...love you"

"Much, much better."

What plagued Alfred's mind the entire day was why he hadn't confessed earlier. They were in a comfortable position where they knew they had feelings for each other, but never really said it out in the open, in a way. Once calamity happened, once the idea of losing the other was a likely possibility, the idea of saying goodbye before ever saying those words scared him.

It was the push they both needed.

Although they wasted time using the 'comfy' feeling as an excuse to not make a move out of fear that something may break between them, in the end a part of them also knew everything was going to be alright.

In a way, nothing of absolute substance had changed since he left. He'd expected some sort of punishment, at least from his jack of all people who knew he'd 'left'. All he received was a mere "Oh good, you're back before any sort of uprising came to fruition.". Then there was the joker that the other Arthur employed, for, what he guessed was a reward for helping him come back to his home. He came to his room, made sure he was the 'real' Arthur of the place, introduced himself, and like his jack from earlier, leave him to rest.

Perhaps his exhaustion was written all over his face, he didn't take the two's silence and brief visit as them giving him a cold shoulder. It was the most considerate thing he could imagine happen to him, not even a slap on the wrist for what he'd done. Neither of the two looked at him like he was a monster, only that 'it's good enough that you're back, let's talk later'; was how Arthur took it.

"...Alfred, are you there?"

He asked, knowing full well he wouldn't magically appear before them... But, he knew. If his own jacks came up to check on him, he bet his own life Alfred was there with him. What did he hope to accomplish by walking around his room and squinting at every corner? Maybe if the universe wouldn't give him some divine punishment, then maybe for once, it'd give him the ability to see his Alfred in the one moment it mattered.

Still, to no surprise of his, Arthur found nothing.

"I heard from that guy. He said you two talked all night long about our story together here." Arthur slumped down onto the sofa with his arms crossed, unsure how to proceed. "I wish I was there with you two when it happened."

"I think maybe your stories moved him enough... To beat me up and send me back home. Maybe if you hadn't said anything, it wouldn't matter to him whether or not I come back. So in a way, wouldn't you say you've done your part to save me? ...Thank you for that."

Arthur took some time to gather his thoughts. Alfred had so much trust in him, he didn't find it necessary to tell what was binding him to the mortal world. It was something he could figure out on his own, yet, Alfred had always said the same thing to him when he was alive. He had no regrets, and he'd lived a happy life; Arthur knew him well enough to know it wasn't a lie, so what kind of 'regret' was it? Could it be something that had happened moments before he died? Something he didn't even notice?

"Did you regret befriending me, knowing it'll lead to this? Did you regret bringing me food, and treating me more than the sacrificial lamb I was destined to be?"

The scene that had haunt his dreams for years came in a flash. Of all the things Alfred could've said to him, he asked if he had regrets and Arthur couldn't answer him, he never could've. He saw it as accepting defeat, even if was staring at him straight in the face.

And maybe that's all it was.

"Something that I couldn't even give you in your final moments... You wanted me to say, 'I've never regretted meeting you', don't you? You died in my arms thinking I regret ever meeting you at all. That even though you say you're happy, the one regret you have is knowing that somehow you were a burden in my life. You thought you were the reason I could never say 'I'm happy to have met you'."

Arthur closed his eyes and imagined himself in his lover's shoes. If somehow, he was the reason Alfred couldn't be happy, if he's the reason he had to experience so much hardship in his life, if Alfred couldn't say he's happy to have met him,,. Even if Arthur's lived a happy life, the guilt of being such a burden to the one man that mattered would cancel all of that blessing. It'd make him think he doesn't deserve to be happy at all, not at the cost of making Alfred so miserable that he'd resort to everything Arthur had done the past week.

"Of course I could never say to you that I've no regrets, not when I know what's in store for the both of us. Not when I know we could be living like... Them, you know? But you know what? They're not us, and I was a fool to think I could be content with that... I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything. I'm sorry for ridiculing your happiness. I'm sorry I never noticed how painful it was for you to see me like this. If I could do it all over again, I still want you in my life Alfred."

Unable to hold it all in, Arthur let out all the pain he'd bottled up the second he'd called out to him in his room. He thought he could remain his composure, something he thought wouldn't be too difficult because a part of him still believed he was just talking to nothing, nobody. Maybe his other self lied just for the heck of it, but suddenly it mattered not whether Alfred was listening. His confession made him realized he'd done so much wrong with no way to redeem himself, not when the damage had been done.

All he could do was strive to be better.

From everything he'd heard, he could tell 'that' Arthur wanted him to be better. Better relationship with his jack, patch everything up with Alfred; he made it sound so easy, even if he knew full well he wasn't in the wrong to think that way. Ever since Alfred had died, he'd changed course in his research to the existence of parallel worlds. It had twisted his views to such an awful degree, made him forgot what he'd spent most of his life doing... Saving Alfred. He had something worth fighting for and he'd lost it, but was it really gone? If he couldn't save Alfred, wasn't there something else worth saving? It struck Arthur like lightning, a breath of fresh air for once.

"...Just because you're gone doesn't mean it's over... Why did I think that? The next queen after me... They'll have to experience the same thing we did and I... I don't want to die until I know for sure this worthless human sacrifice tradition ends in my reign."

Arthur had seen it, a peaceful world where magic isn't needed for a kingdom to prosper. That was a world he wanted to make, even if Alfred wasn't there with him. There was still time for him leave a mark in the kingdom, to be remembered as the queen who ended a gruesome needless tradition.

"Alfred I don't know if my words will be enough but, I'll prove it to you."

As if Arthur hadn't experienced enough array of emotions, he jumped in surprise when the door to his room was abruptly and noisily opened with a bang.

"Hey boss, feeling better?" His loud, new white haired jack asked with a cheery smile. "Oh am I interrupting something? Sorry, I heard talking so..."

"Know your place jack, please knock next time!" Had Arthur not promised he'd be a better person, he would fire the man on the spot.

"Looks like you're well enough to walk around and yell at me, so wanna go get dinner? Better than eating alone in your room right?"

"Get dinner...? You mean in the dining room?" Gilbert gave him a weird face, and Arthur covered his, realizing what an odd question he must've asked. He'd never eaten with anyone in the castle, it was rare of him to eat outside of his room outside of special occasions; even then he wasn't much of formalities.

"Hey the nicer queen said it's better if we're all friends right? Nothing's gonna change if you don't start now, and food and beer's the easiest way to bond don't you think?"

The nerve on this one to call his other self the nicer queen, Arthur sighed to himself. He didn't like that he wasn't wrong, but he wasn't so petty that he'd let a 'bonding' chance slip away when it's served on a silver platter as convenient as that.

"Maybe you're right."

"I know I'm right, you're welcome! So, finished talking and ready to go?"

"At least give me a moment to change, I'll be there with you soon enough."

Despite being pushed the hell out of the room, Gilbert was surprised to see how fast the queen was to agree to his sudden dinner invitation; not when all he'd heard was nothing but awful things about the man, there was much more to learn about him. It was important to be good buddies, he needed it to keep his 'job' and... It looked like the queen could use a friend too.

"This queen's kind of an asshole, huh?" Gilbert said to the blonde man Arthur had just spoken with.

"He's not that bad once you get to know him. And to be fair... You were interrupting an important conversation."

Gilbert had seen the man from time to time in the short while he'd stayed in the castle, but he'd never really taken the time to say hi to the guy. He was surprised to see him in the queen's room when he barged in there twice. Judging by their expression they must've had quite the talk, he almost felt bad he came in the way he did.

"Sorry. Anyway, I'll see you around?"

"I think it's about time I leave, actually." He smiled, looking pretty happy with himself. It made Gilbert feel a little bit at ease knowing the conversation he and the queen had earlier must've ended well; he didn't think it would when he saw the two with tears in their eyes.

"Good seeing you then."

As the blonde man left his field of vision, Gilbert realized a nice conversation starter for dinner later would be to ask what their story was.