Hello everyone, thank you so much for the support!

In case it was confusing or if you didn't read the summary, Arthur is the one who will be turned into a swan.

Chapter 2

When they pulled apart Alfred stared into his love's eyes a moment longer before turning to the crowd around them with his thousand watt smile.

"Arrange the marriage!"

The servants and royals cheered with happiness, Roderich the conductor starting up the band to play cheery music.

But Arthur didn't feel right. "Wait.." He spoke at a normal volume but even through the cheering and music, he was heard by everyone in the room. Everyone turned their attention to the younger prince, the room quieting down quickly.

This was moving too fast. The Brit was willing to admit that he did like Alfred more than he did when he was younger. And that maybe this was developing into something deeper. But was he sure he was ready to marry him? Absolutely not.

Alfred looked at the other confused as to what could possibly be wrong after such a moment. "What? You're all I've ever wanted..you're beautiful."

"Thank you..but what else?"

"What else?"

"Are looks all that matter to you?" Arthur crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow, waiting for the other to answer.

"Um.." The taller of the two looked over to his mother for help.

She tried to urge him on, wanting to hear his answer as much as everyone else. "Alfred..what else?"

He looked around more for someone to help him, anyone, but when no one did he panicked and blurted out something he would later regret.

"What else..is there?"

Roderich made a rejected buzzing noise and pointed his thumb down.

Arthur looked down, sad and disappointed in his answer.

Elizaveta tried to contain her tears and Scott sighed, knowing this was the end.

With their plan ending in failure, Scott and Arthur prepared to leave, mounting their horses. Elizaveta stood by to see them off, trying to hold in her tears, with Alfred by her side. The rejected prince kept his eyes to the ground, not wanting to see what kind of expression Arthur wore.

As Scott lit a cigar, he turned to the queen struggling with her emotions. "Well..no one can say we didn't try. Arthur, say goodbye," he said, hoping his son would maybe change his mind. Maybe he would see how upset Alfred was, or maybe he would give some sort of farewell message that held something for the future.

Arthur held his head high, not looking at the prince he spoke to. "Goodbye."

"Goodbye?" The king couldn't believe it. That's it? No 'it was nice spending these summers with you' or 'it's a shame it had to end like this' or 'I was stupid and I change my mind, marry me right now'?

Elizaveta elbowed her son, silently telling him to say something, too.

"Mother.."

"Alfred." She knew that if she had to say anymore, the dam would break. It was almost surreal, having to push him to speak to the guest prince, just like when they were children.

He forced himself to look up from the ground at his now ex fiance, barely managing to get his next words out. "Goodbye, Prince Arthur.."

Once they were gone, Elizaveta let her emotions run wild. She let the tears loose and stormed back into the castle. "All these years of planning...wasted!"

One might think Arthur was being heartless about the situation. He hardly said a word to his ex fiance, didn't even look at him. It wasn't that he didn't want to, but that he couldn't. Arthur had always been good at containing his emotions, hiding behind a mask, but at this moment he felt that mask cracking.

The weather quickly turned for the worse, the clouds dark and thunder crashing every now and then. Alfred had moved inside after his mother. He was now playing a game of chess with Lovino, though hardly paying attention when he cheated and stole a pawn, while listening to Roderich's ranting on how badly he messed up.

"What else is there? He says..'Are looks all that matter' and you say..'What else is there'?!"

Roderich was his councilor, as well as his mother's, and was almost like a father to the prince since his real father had died when he was young. He was his tutor, his trainer, his adviser, and a very talented musician and dancer to boot. He's pretty great.

"I know, it was dumb, I messed up..How unheroic."

"You should write a book. How to Offend People in Five Syllables or Less."

"Your turn, Al," Lovino caught the other's attention long enough for him to make his move, then turning his back on the game board again.

"I just didn't know what else to say. I was pressured! Everyone was staring at me waiting for me to answer, and you know I'm not good with words.."

"Obviously."

Behind the prince, his sneaky friend stole another one of his pieces. "Look, Al, you've lost your queen~"

"That's twice in one day! Come on, give me a break."

Roderich tapped his index finger to the blonde's head. "Think about it, there must be something you like about him other than his appearance."

"Of course there is! I grew up around him, Roderich, surely there's something else. Like..." He made some hand gestures trying to think and find the words he needed. "He's...I mean, he's got..and then.."

His two companions in the room simply stared at him with looks on their faces that said 'That's all you've got?'.

"I-I don't know how to say it! Hm..I'll just have to prove it to him. I'll prove my love!" He said it like it was going to be the easiest thing in the world. Boy did he have another thing coming.

Alfred only glanced back at the chessboard before making his final move. "Checkmate!"

Lovino rubbed his eyes and blinked a couple times to see if he saw that right. Even when he cheated he still lost. He must really suck at this game.

Arthur and Scott rode in a carriage, on their way to the harbor to get on a boat home. Scott still didn't understand exactly what went wrong. Yes, Alfred had said a stupid thing, everyone knew that. But he wanted to hear his son tell him exactly why he rejected his betrothed. He's known him almost his whole life, he should know better than to expect something deep in that situation.

"What did you want him to say? You know he's not the type to say something mushy."

"I just wanted some kind of confirmation that he loved me..for more than my appearance. What kind of marriage can last without anything more? I want love, not a political partnership."

"You mean to tell me that after all these years you feel nothing for him?"

"No, it's not that..I mean, I don't know. I don't know if I can say I love him romantically. And it's obvious he can't say it either..Or maybe I shouldn't have put him on the spot like that.."

Before Scott could respond, the carriage stopped. He looked to the door confused. They shouldn't be at the docks yet, so why would they have stopped? The redheaded king opened the door and stepped out to see what was going on.

He felt dread sweep over him when he saw the reason they had stopped. Standing a ways ahead of the carriage in the middle of the dirt road was a man. A tall man with very light, almost white, blonde hair wearing black robes and a long black scarf around his neck. But what really made him worry was the familiar violet eyes staring back at him.

When Arthur tried to see what his father was looking at, Scott held his arm out to stop him.

"Stay inside, Arthur.." He sounded slightly defensive, trying to stay calm and figure out what to do. It had been years since he had seen the banished man, just after Arthur was born. He didn't know what to expect, not even sure if he was a threat. But even when thinking the worst, nothing could have prepared him for what happened next.

I know this chapter was much shorter than the first, but I felt this was a good place to stop. A good cliffhanger is always nice and agonizing. But with how fast I update, I'm sure you won't be too hurt for too long.

If anyone is interested, my Tumblr is Hetalian-Haruka-Jaeger.

I'll see you all again with a chapter 3 soon!