Disclaimer: Don't own Hetalia.

Chapter 04

Even though Alfred enjoyed mingling with people, standing around in a full formal outfit with a bunch of politicians and officers was not his idea of fun. Pulling his collar in an idle attempt to loosen it, Alfred gripped the glass in his gloved hand tighter, taking a small sip of the glistening golden liquid within, feeling the warm burning sensation down his throat as he scanned the crowd for any who might approach him, which would be everyone within sight.

Upon hearing that he had only less than an hour left till the ball, Alfred, still in his half-frenzy had accidentally knocked over a stack of documents in his haste, and had spent a considerable amount of time picking up the papers scattered all across the floor. He didn't want to come back in the morning to clean up the mess he made again. The rest of the time had been a blur; picking out a proper outfit which as actually just a change from his black coat to a proper formal maroon coloured long coat and black formal pants, washing up, getting ready and rushing off as Wang Yao beckoned him to hurry. But now with a crowd of people standing in front of him like a swarm of hungry monsters, Alfred regretted not lingering around outside the door of the ballroom a little while longer.

Watching the crowd chatting enthusiastically at the sides and the rest dancing down at the middle of the ballroom, Alfred knew without a doubt that someone would approach him sooner or later, and drag him unwillingly into a conversation that he cared not in the slightest, but had to put up a front for. He didn't mind listening, but listening to them boast about their glamorous lives was so uncool.

Leaning against the smooth wooden edge of the metal railings, Alfred tried to get the attention of his buddies as subtly as he could, throwing them glances and trying to get their eye contact. If they came and talk to him instead, maybe none of these aggravating people would bother him. But all three of them were too engrossed with what they were doing to notice and come to his aid.

Antonio was busy stuffing himself while chatting by the bar at the far end much to the amusement of those around him, while Yao and Ivan were both busy talking to the Intelligence and Military Officials respectively. It was more like the Military Official nervously sprouting words out of his mouth while Ivan stood there smiling, Alfred realized. Alfred even hoped that Francis would come talk to him, but his brother was too busy flirting with some of the Oblitus Officials to come to his aid. Moreover, when he finally caught his brother's attention, the look that Francis gave him seemed cold and angry. Alfred guessed that he had heard that Alfred would be going to Urbis for the conference instead of him.

Sighing, Alfred took another sip, looking around to see if there was anywhere he could stand and have a better view. If he had a bird's eye view of the entire ballroom, he might be able to spot someone he wouldn't mind talking to. The best spot was currently taken by an elegant young man around his age wearing a pure white dress shirt with a long white bow around the collar, coupled with a royal blue vest and a formal long coat of the same colour that brought out his short blond hair leaning by the railings seemly glancing at his direction. Tilting his head in question, Alfred started moving towards the spot where the man was still glancing at him, though a little more frantically now. Standing there in front him, Alfred wondered why in the world did he decided to move here as an awkward silence enveloped them both.

"Would you fancy a dance?"

Alfred jumped at the sudden break of the silence. There was something strangely familiar about the man, but Alfred was pretty sure that he had never seen him before. He could tell that he was one of the officials from Oblitus, but whom exactly he did not know.

"Of course." Alfred replied quickly, trying to mask his surprise.

Alfred placed his glass down onto the tray of an approaching servant, turned back to the man and offered his hand, palms up to him with a perfect façade while wishing that he had a reason to reject him, before realizing that he had just offered the female position of the dance to the man, and was about to pull his hand back when the man in front of him just accepted it.

Now Alfred really didn't want to dance with him. It's not that there was anything wrong. The man was stunningly handsome as well, but his mind was on other things at the moment. But if they're really going to dance, Alfred decided should make the most out of it.

Walking down the imperial staircase while holding his hand, Alfred could feel the eyes of many various guests looking, studying, eyeing and gauging, making him edgy. Alfred liked being the centre of attention, but this time it felt strange and much more pressurizing than usual. Yes the both of them are guys, but this is common throughout the four nations. So what was with this atmosphere he was getting?

He could hear them whispering to each other fervently, which puzzled Alfred slightly, as a dance was fairly common, especially so for a prince. Glancing down at the orchestra by the pond underneath the staircase, which had abruptly changed the music they were playing to a soft melodic tune fit for a slow dance, Alfred could feel the man squeezing his hand softly as if assuring him, or maybe him himself instead.

"If I may, I believe I have not gotten your name." Alfred said with a smile, as the man before him placed his rigid hand on his shoulder as the music started.

Alfred could see a slight shock in the man's emerald eyes at his question, before he answered with a cool and respectful neutral tone. "My name is Arthur Kirkland."

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Arthur." Alfred said carefully with a smile, feeling like he had heard of that name somewhere before, though he couldn't remember.

The dance went by slowly, with neither of them talking. But Alfred could feel Arthur constantly staring at him ever since they had started dancing. He didn't think much about it at first, but now it was starting to gnaw on his nerves. Furthermore, the way Arthur was staring at him with his eyes narrowed, now made Alfred really uneasy. Finally, Alfred under the constant pressure of the stare, preoccupied then surprised by the sudden closeness due to the dance step, flinched.

Realizing what he had done, Arthur immediately apologized. "I am so sorry. It's just that your eyes, they're tinted with silver. I've never seen that before."

Laughing, Alfred waved off the apology. "Don't worry about it. You're not the first to have asked me about it. Though no one knows why they're of this colour."

"Unless, could you by any chance have been blessed by the Goddess?"

"No I believe not." Alfred gave a short reply, coming so close to snap at Arthur as he clutched his teeth down hard in an attempt to control himself as he looked at the man in front of him. The mention of the goddess stirred an unsettling emotion in the pit of his stomach, and he hated it. His mother was a Sacerdos, a priestess of the Goddess, and yet she had let her die. "I do not believe nor do I have any recollection of ever being blessed."

"It is said that when one favoured by the Goddess does a deed of great courage, the Goddess Spera, touched by this great act might come down upon the person and bestow upon him or her new life and power." Arthur said, oblivious or maybe plainly ignoring that long face Alfred was trying but failing to supress. "Those blessed by the Goddess are said to be much more sensitive to magic, and have eyes tainted with silver."

"Maybe you did but just couldn't remember." He added, with an apologetic smile at Alfred who forced a slight lopsided smile in return as he unwillingly gave him another twirl.

Of course the Goddess Spera was the almighty Goddess, and he respected her for the entrustment of the Astral Crystals. But that did not meant he liked her. Father had often told him not to blame the Goddess for what happened, but how could he not. The Goddess was said to give favour to her priestesses, protecting them from harm, but still his Mother had died, and the almighty Goddess had chosen to do nothing.

All he could remember of his mother was that warm smile and that soft embrace she would give him whenever he was feeling down. But even now all those memories of her that he so desperately wanted to hold onto were fading. He couldn't even remember his mother's face anymore, except through the few photos he had of her when she was still alive.

The dance ended soon after much to Alfred's relief. Bowing to Alfred who returned the gesture in kind, Arthur walked off regally back up the stairs towards the crowd, his blue long coat flowing along the motion as he made his way seamlessly between guests with a wayward glance back at Alfred before disappearing into the crowd of people.

Alfred watched as Arthur disappeared into the crowd before turning to the pond, looking down at his reflection on the water. "As if the Goddess would bless someone like me. Even if she did, she might have decided to leave a curse as well." He muttered, gripping his left arm tightly where the corruption was, squeezing it.

The rest of the evening went by just as Alfred had expected. He joined Antonio by the bar for a few drinks before finally sulkily entered back into the crowd of people who were eager to talk to him despite his apparent sour state of mind. He had wanted to reconcile with Arthur again, but every time he saw him standing here with that inviting smile on his face, he was held back by some guest who wouldn't stop yapping about some event that happened to them that Alfred had minimal interest in, or to ask him silly questions. All the while the King watching his every movement.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity to him, the ball ended. Alfred collapsed onto the soft armchair in his spare room while pulling off his red silk tie, throwing it onto the floor. He felt as exhausted as when he had just finished that sparring session earlier that afternoon.

Closing his tired eyes, Alfred felt himself already slipping off into a deep slumber when the sound of the door opening forced him to snap them open. Pushing himself up, Alfred turned groggily to see Francis standing by the doorway with a huge smile on his face.

"Great job with that dance little brother." Francis smirked as he swung himself down onto an armchair next to Alfred. "I can't believe you of all people manage to invite the prince." He continued on, punching Alfred on the shoulder painfully with a laugh.

"What prince?" Alfred asked with a frown, rubbing his sore shoulder puzzled and slightly annoyed.

"Come on, don't act dumb." Francis said, tweaking Alfred on the forehead. "That handsome guy you were dancing with, with that blue long coat of his. What was his name again? Arthur Kirkland, if I remember correctly."

It took Alfred a good five seconds before it hit him. No wonder his name sounded so familiar. He had been dancing with the prince of Oblitus and he didn't even realize it, not even they were the obvious centre of attention. Moreover, Father had told them to be on a look out for him during the ball at breakfast.

And to make matters worse, he had been a little rude to him during the dance. Yes it was partly Arthur's fault for making him uneasy with the mention of the Goddess, but still he should have contained his emotions a little better. Alfred felt like the greatest idiot in the world. Clasping his face in his hands with a groan, Alfred could hear his brother laughing aloud at him.

"You didn't know! You were dancing with the prince and you didn't know! I can't believe it!" France roared in glee as Alfred held his head in his hands in pure embarrassment, hoping that his brother would quieten down and leave him to wallow in his shame.

"Who did you think it was?" Francis asked breathlessly while wiping away the tears from his eyes.

"Just some random official from Oblitus." Alfred muttered truthfully, his voice muffled by his hands.

"Well now you know. Oh and congratulations on being appointed to be the representative for the summit by the way." Francis grinned standing up, as Alfred looked up at his brother surprised.

"Father told me about it this afternoon. Believe me I was angry, but I'm glad that he chose you instead. Now you finally have some real responsibilities little bro." Francis said, shuffling his younger brother's hair furiously before heading to the door. "Oh and did you know that the Arthur is going to be travelling with you to Urbis? Seems like Lady Luck is by your side. Or maybe, it's fate. Alright, seeing how tired you are, I shall leave you to rest." Francis shuffled his brother's hair one more time before closing the door behind him.

Alfred sighed out loud as he leaned back down onto the armchair. He was surprised yet glad that Francis was fine with him going to Urbis. It had him wondering what was with that cold look he got from his brother earlier on during the ball, but that didn't seem like much to Alfred. Maybe Francis was just having a bad mood at that time.

Now he wished more than anything that he could stay put. It made sense that Arthur would be going for conference in Urbis, though he wished otherwise. He just hoped that he had not strained their relationship with how his first meeting with him went. He wanted to forget all about the ball, especially the things that Arthur had said. But his words kept repeating in his head.

Alfred refused to believe in the idea that the Goddess might have blessed him but there really was nobody else with silver tinted eyes like him. Moreover the photos of him when he was a lot younger, when his mother was still alive, all depicted that he had deep piercing blue eyes.

At least with the short amount of time left till the departure to Urbis, he'll be kept busy with the studying of all the documents waiting for him in his study. Ivan would most likely be working him overtime in training, in case of some unforeseen circumstance where he had to protect himself, or maybe just because Ivan wanted to. He had to make sure that everything was in order and preparations were made before leaving as well. Closing his eyes to try and sooth his already dead tired mind, Alfred found himself drifting off to sleep once again. This time nobody came and bothered him.