So, here's the new chapter. Um... I don't think I write Ivan well, so I'm sorry.
And it's sort of... Urgh. Sorry.
Francis, Alfred and Ivan were playing cards. They had decided not to argue about Alice. They had also pulled lots to decide which order in which to present Alice with their presents or activities. Francis was to go first and he couldn't quite decide what to do: or, rather, how much to do.
As Francis played a card, still musing, there was a knock at the door. Two sharp knocks. Before anyone could move, Francis hissed, "Wait!" He turned to Alfred and Ivan. "If you can tell me who is behind ze door, I will concede Alice to you two."
Alfred grinned. "Sure! I say it's… Antonio!"
"Non, it is not," said Francis patiently. "Antonio is right here." He gestured behind him to the gathering of hovering servants. Antonio smiled politely while Matthew and Kiku looked on despairingly. Yao stood by, impassive.
"It is Gilbert, da?" said Ivan, smiling but looking a little unsure.
"Non!" exclaimed Francis with a short laugh of derision. He laid his cards on the table and stood, hurrying towards the door. "It is Alice!" he exclaimed as he pulled the door open.
Sure enough, on the other side stood Alice. She was wearing a navy blue dress. It was plain but one could see the quality of the material. It was not something a servant would wear. Considering the painstaking steps Alice had gone to in order to remain treated like a servant, this was odd. But Francis brushed this aside. He grabbed her hands before letting go, glancing down in confusion as he had felt something like paper in them.
"Hello, Francis, sir," Alice said, ignoring his attempt at greeting. "I need to give you this." She held out the thing in her hand. It was an envelope with the words 'Young Master' written on it in large, easy to read letters.
"Quoi?" said Francis, slipping into his native tongue in his shock. "Qu'est-ce que cela, ma chère?"
Not knowing exactly what he had said, Alice made an educated guess. "It's my letter of resignation," she explained. "My mother wrote me and said that she is sending someone today to take me home. Now, I will take my leave as I have to pack my bags." And with that she turned and walked away, leaving Francis gaping after her.
Francis finally turned to look at his guests. Alfred gave a small shrug. "Well, it looks like we'll be leaving, eh, Ivan?"
"Da!" said Ivan, cheerily.
Realising that the others could claim hospitality from the Kirklands as soon as Alice returned home, Francis panicked a little. "N-Non! Antonio! Stop anyone who comes to collect Alice!"
"Si, senor," said Antonio, hurrying out of the room.
Alfred shook his head as Francis began to pace up and down. "Dude. There's no way you can keep Alice here."
At the front door, a carriage had already pulled up. The driver was tying off the reins to his seat as the footman leapt off and hurried up the steps. Antonio, however, reached him just as he approached the door.
"Hola, senor," said Antonio. "I am afraid Alice cannot come to the door."
The footman, a skinny, young man with brown hair and a curl which stuck out of the left side of his head, blinked his hazel eyes at the Spaniard. "Ve? But I was told we had to come here, signor, and not to return without Alice." He began to fidget nervously as if he was afraid of having done something wrong.
"Vhat is wrong?" said a German voice. At first Antonio had thought it was Gilbert speaking. Then the driver reached the top of the steps. He was huge – with muscle, most likely. His blonde hair was slicked back, making him look more professional and his blue eyes pierced the Spaniard's green ones as though he could see the truth through them. "Vhat is the problem?" he asked again.
"Ah," said Antonio. "Well, you see…" He trailed off, trying to think of a suitable excuse for Alice not coming to the door. "Alice… isn't feeling well."
His nervousness showed which didn't help his lie.
Nor did the fact that Alice was standing behind him, her bags by her side.
"Hello, Ludwig, Feliciano. It's good to see you again. Kindly see to my bags." With that, Alice began to walk down the steps.
"Huh?" said Antonio before hurrying after her. "No! Espera!" Alice paused and half turned before he caught up with her.
"What is it?" she asked, giving him a blank look.
"The Young Master-" began Antonio.
"I don't give a toss what Francis wants," said Alice, her tone snappy. "He will not stop me from going home!" With that she turned and walked down the rest of the steps. Feliciano hurried forward to give her a hand into the carriage while Ludwig passed by Antonio, all of Alice's bags in his arms. He piled them up on top of the carriage before climbing up himself and sitting on the driver's box. Feliciano shut the carriage door and was helped up onto the box also and, with a slap of the reins and a yell from Ludwig, the horses pushed forward, pulling the carriage away, along the drive and out of sight…
At the Kirkland manor, Alice was met by her entire family on the front steps. Her father hugged her tightly, claiming to have missed her terribly. Her mother appraised her and yelled at the servants to fetch some bath water and have it ready for her. Her brother smiled ever so slightly at her and welcomed her back, looking genuinely relieved that she was safe.
Alice sighed in relief as she walked up the steps and into the huge house. The dark stone used to build the house beckoned her in. The gargoyles on the roof looked over the gardens, glaring down at anyone who approached. The red roses around the front door, once proof of their status now only reminded Alice of Francis – she glowered at them as she went in, making her way to her room and a long awaited bath.
No-one was aware of the shadows who watched the family re-enter their old home…
Ludwig watched Feliciano fidgeting on the chair opposite him. He sighed – couldn't this Italian sit still for more than a minute? "Feliciano," he said to him in a quiet growl. The younger man stopped fidgeting and sat up straight.
"Ve, will they come soon?" he asked nervously.
The German sighed. "I don't know, Feliciano. But ve vill stay here until zey do." He glanced towards the silk divider which separated Alice from the rest of the room.
Feliciano suddenly stood, beginning to pace. Ludwig sighed and put a hand to his forehead. Was there no way to get the Italian to stop moving? He glanced up at him again – just in time. He gave a yell and launched himself across the table, his sword already in his hand. There was a clang as the assailant's sword banged into his, stopping just short of the oblivious Feliciano.
Ludwig glared at the intruder and pushed him away with his sword. The man was wearing all black and his long black hair was pulled back in a ponytail. "Yao," muttered Ludwig with an annoyed yet determined tone.
Yao didn't speak, only backed off to stand beside his master who had just stepped out of the shadows. "Privet, Ludwig," he said, cheerily.
"Vhat are you doing here?" asked Ludwig while Feliciano huddled behind him, still trying to calm down from his near-death experience.
"Alice comes with me, da?" said Ivan, his smile broadening. "I will not let d'em have her."
"Neither vill ve," said Ludwig, glaring at the Russian. "Ve are under strict orders to guard our mistress."
"Ah, so you are her bodyguards, da? I have heard of you."
"Ja. Ve vill not tolerate zis intrusion!" And with that, Ludwig engaged Yao who responded with a leap backwards and a swing of his own sword. They clashed and Yao pushed, causing the German to stumble backwards. He regained his footing just in time to stop the overhead swing from Yao.
Meanwhile, Feliciano backed away slightly, scared. He wasn't very good at fighting – instead he was supposed to grab Alice and run in these sorts of situations. However, Alice's recent orders were firm and Feliciano had nothing to do.
Suddenly, a hand grabbed Feliciano from behind and he yelped, distracting Ludwig who took a kick to his knee for his trouble. Feliciano twisted round to see who this new assailant was only to discover Alfred, a gun at Feliciano's head.
"Yo, dude! I need to save Alice from this guy. You gotta let me go through, okay?!"
Feliciano shook his head. "No!" he exclaimed miserably, terrified.
Ivan glanced over at the disturbance, noting Matthew and Kiku with swords and guns. "You came to fight me?" he asked, calmly.
"Yep," said Alfred with a grin, pointing the gun at Ivan. He ignored Feliciano's struggling.
Meanwhile, a concerned Ludwig was frantically trying to get to his friend. However, Yao was pushing him back, gaining the upper hand, relentlessly crashing his sword down on Ludwig's. Ludwig stumbled but quickly got to his knees to deflect Yao's next blow. Finally, though, Ludwig's sword clattered to the floor and Yao kicked it out of reach. Ludwig braced himself for the killing blow. Yao lifted his arms high, about to use all his strength to run through the German. Feliciano cried out. Alfred froze, not sure what to do.
There was a clang as sword met sword.
Alice had suddenly appeared, a pale green nightgown covering her white nightdress. Her legs were bare from the knee down and she was holding a sword which had stopped Yao's. She gave him a blank look and, after hesitating, he backed off.
Alfred, meanwhile, was gazing at Alice's legs, a blush appearing on his face. His jaw had dropped as he contemplated how pretty they were. "Alfred," she said, and his head snapped up to look at her face. "Let Feliciano go." Alfred did so immediately, obediently. Feliciano scurried to Ludwig who reluctantly hugged him in comfort.
Ivan had only glanced at her legs before returning his attention to her face as she turned, staring at him blankly. "I have told you before, Ivan," she said. "Do not attack my servants. Especially not my bodyguards."
"You did not run d'is time," he said, pointedly.
"That is because I want to make sure you all understand just who I am and why you will never be able to 'win' me in any sort of contest." She looked up at the door of the room. "Come out of the shadows, Francis," she stated, fully expecting him to do as she said. And she was correct. He, with Antonio and Gilbert, stepped into the light from the candles on the table.
"Cher, I-" he began but Alice cut him off, completely ignoring him.
"Now, look here!" she exclaimed. "I am not some sweet little girl you can take home on your arm! Nor am I someone who will willingly let you have a claim to any land I own. And I can definitely not be bought with flowers! I am a Kirkland! And Kirklands are not people to be messed with!"
"Huh?" said Alfred, looking completely lost.
Alice sighed. "The Kirklands are not exactly a clean family. We roam the country silencing those who would… upset the Queen. And I shan't have all this stupid controversy over who is going to marry me – none of you will! I don't like any of you enough to marry any of you! So stop bothering me!"
Alfred stared at her, shocked, his brain still working to figure out what she meant. Ivan wasn't smiling any more either. Finally, the American figured it out and found his voice. "D-Do you mean… Have you killed… someone?"
Alice stared at him impassively. "Yes. On numerous occasions. Now, get out of my bedroom!"
Alice watched them leave. First the shocked American was ushered to the door by his servants. She stared after him as she remembered all his affections through the years. She had always been glad of the attention but he always seemed so distracted and it had averted her own affections from him.
Ivan calmly left with Yao, not speaking. Alice remembered the first time she had met him. She had not been able to practice her sword skills properly as her father and brother were too scared of hurting her and her mother was not trained in this skill. So Ivan had provided Yao to use as a sparring partner to her leisure. She had been grateful to him but, otherwise, he scared her a little. She was glad he was gone.
That just left Francis. Who wasn't moving.
"Did you not hear me?"
Francis blinked and glanced at her legs before he moved forward, producing a red rose. He handed it to her and she begrudgingly took it as he leaned towards her. She almost jerked backwards out of reach but he held her gently by the wrist. Then he whispered in her ear.
"Je t'aime, Alice. I will always love you, cher." And, with that, he turned and, with a gesture, ushered his servants out.
Alice stared after him. After a while, she realised that she was clutching the rose tightly to her chest. For a brief second she wondered why but she almost immediately answered herself. Her heart had swelled at his comment – she had been so scared that people would hate her once they knew about her secret lifestyle.
And now, with him having left, she could feel her heart aching. It annoyed her. Why was it doing this?
Finally, she sighed and put the hand still clutching her rose to her head. "This is so inconvenient. Why him?" She turned and walked back towards the divider beyond which was her bed. "Get out," she said to Ludwig and Feliciano. Feliciano looked confused but bowed and skipped out. Ludwig, however, was red-faced and trying not to stare at her legs, pointedly. He bowed and quickly left.
Alice breathed in the scent of the rose before putting it on the table. "Je t'aime…?"
So... Alice has "certain feelings" towards Francis, huh? Won't this be fun? :)