Disclaimer: The Hetalia characters and their personifications belong to Hidekaz Himaruya. 日丸屋 秀和

What Not to do if You are a Knight by Gilbert Beilschmidt:

3.) Do not torch villages in your wake when traveling... some may consider it rude.

The Servant and Her Mistress

[12 YEARS LATER… ]

It was a busy life, but a satisfying one (or so she told herself over and over again).

Kitty began her day at the break of dawn every morning. The 18-almost-19-year-old servant worked in the castle of a small Germanic kingdom just north of the great river Duna.

It was hard labor, constantly cleaning, lifting, and running about.

Every day was a jumbled sequence of dusting, sweeping, spinning, weaving, washing, churning, folding, watering and, most important of all, monitoring her mischievous little mistress, the princess.

But all hands helped out, and the place was full of life and movement.

And that was enough for Kitty.

But not enough for Lovina. Lovina, two years the younger of Kitty, was a feisty young Italian girl who always managed to wreak some sort of havoc within the castle's walls. She also happened to be Crown Princess to the throne of the recently-deceased king.

The late King Romulus Augustus, a prominent ruler originally from the Kingdom of Lombardy, married into the throne which headed the Holy Roman Empire. Though he ruled a Germanic kingdom, his two granddaughters were raised and educated in Italy.

When the king died, his orders were to have his eldest granddaughter brought to the kingdom where she would be taught how to rule properly by the Royal Council until she came of age to marry.

Kitty was purchased just before the king's death and was given to Lovina as a handmaid. Originally a beaten and broken servant-girl who had been traded across Central and Eastern Europe, too shy to even speak her name (or rather just unwilling to tell it), Lovina had given her the name 'Kitty'.

And just as King Romulus had hoped, the two girls bonded quickly.

During their younger years, when Lovina was about 12, 13, and 14, the green-eyed young ladies (one as shy as a wren in the hedgerow and one as loud and vulgar as a sailor with a stubbed toe) would chase each other around the castle, throwing rules and caution to the wind.

They comforted each other, laughed with each other (usually at other people's expense in Lovina's case) and taught each other all they knew. Yet, although Kitty devoted all the care and compassion she could muster to her dear princess, she always remained somewhat reserved. Kitty was mature beyond her years and steady in all she did.

Lovina was glad to have someone so close in age, especially with the king gone and her only sister half a continent away in some palace on the northern half of the Italian Peninsula. She also felt that Kitty was glad to have her. But as close as the girls became, Kitty would not speak one word about her past. Eventually, Lovina decided it was better not to ask.

When Lovina reached the age of 16, however, there were a few... complications.

1) Sixteen was the 'proper marrying age'. Lovina did not want to get married:

"Hitch me off to some 40-year-old pervert who only speaks Dutch? No thank-you! What kind of idiota do you take me for? Huh? I personally dare any of you f***wads to just try and-"

...

2) Truthfully, the Council did not want her to marry. I mean, are you kidding? Let that bitter dwarf and whatever mindless foreigner she chose to tie the knot with run the place? No, sir! If the High Council ruled the kingdom themselves, there was no immature, unruly princess to go through when it came to enforcing taxes and laws. It was more profit for them, more power for them, and, although they didn't want Lovina killed or anything, they all agreed it would certainly be nice to have that bratty Italian out of their lives and out of their hair.

However, Lovina, who had always been more clever than she let on, soon figured this fact out. So eventually she conceded and agreed to see the suitors who visited her kingdom, promising to choose one of them in three months' time.

3) All this lovely jazz was abruptly put on hold when one day, a report came to the castle. It became known that one of the most fearsome, ruthless hoards of religious knights was advancing from the north with an army of several hundred soldiers, and they were already burning houses, hay fields, and everything else that lied in their wake. They wanted to pillage the kingdom.

And the poor little kingdom, composed mostly of peasant-farmers, was, quite frankly, scared shitless.

When the messenger delivered the news that the small army was marching through the Northern Mountains, the Council's immediate action was to protect the princess.

"NO IT'S NOT!" Lovina had shrieked. "You just want me out of the picture until one of you pompous old dipwads can worm your way to the throne! KISS MY ASS!"

"We assure you, Your Highness, your well-being is our greatest concern, and you know as well as we that you will be safest if we quietly relocate you until the danger passes."

"Screw you."

"If our forces at the border of the kingdom fail, we can't be certain that there are enough guards at the castle to hold the enemy off. If worse comes to worse, you will be safest hidden at the fortress in the woods."

"Well screw you twice. Man, I knew you guys were stupid, but I didn't know you were deaf too."

"Princess, please, it's a very secure stronghold, I assure you-"

"I'm not impressed~"

"It's not really a decision you get to make, Princess. You will be allowed to bring whatever trusted castle members you desire and of course whatever comforts you feel are necessary to-"

"Comforts?" Lovina suddenly snapped. "You want me to just hide out there like a coward, sipping wine? What happens if they DO attack my kingdom? Huh? What am I supposed to do while MY people are raped and murdered? Am I just supposed to sit there in the middle of the-"

"THEY'RE NOT. YOUR. PEOPLE." the eldest Council member roared. His white beard shook slightly. "You are not the ruler of this kingdom. Not yet. You are a weak, naive little fool. One that needs to learn the limits of her power. Until you marry, or until you step down, we, as your advising council, are more apt to give orders than you, Princess."

Lovina stared at him with blazing eyes. For a long moment, she did not speak. Finally, in a dangerous tone which broke the silence:

"I want this man dismissed."

"Are you sure you only want to bring me? No other guards? There could be thieves on the road; assassins, spies..." Kitty brushed her mistress's hair methodically in the dim candle light later that evening. They sat near the bed; the low tones of their voices were the only things to penetrate the soothing silence around them.

"Yes. And I don't care," Lovina pouted.

"It is safer there," Kitty compromised.

"Hmpf."

"At least I'll be by your side. I know it's scary to leave... I know your obligation and your desire is to stay, but... this is how it has to be."

"Until I'm Queen."

"Until you are Sovereign Queen."

FYI: Just a reminder that Kitty is not an OC. In fact, after this point in the story she is only referred to by that name when being shown through Lovina's perspective because she is our stubborn little Italian ;)

Historical Notes

* Marriages were the ultimate political alliances; therefore, it was not uncommon to see people from Italian kingdoms mingling with people from German kingdoms or people from France gettin' together with someone from Scotland, or... whatever.

* The Kingdom of Lombardy, where Romulus (Rome) is from, was a real kingdom in Italy. Politics in Italy were shaky during the 13th and 14th centuries, so Romulus would have sought to secure his power by further allying himself with the Holy Roman Empire. Plus, as you should know from Hetalia, the Holy Roman Empire was always seeking to secure its ties to Italy.

* Geheimrat was the title of the highest advising officials at the Imperial, royal, or principal courts of the Holy Roman Empire. The English-language equivalent is the Privy Council (also High Council or Royal Council). The first notable Geheimer Rat (High Councilor) was Nicholas Remy (1530-1616).

* If you are wondering why I chose the name Kitty, I don't entirely know myself. I guess the inspiration for the name came from Alexandre Dumas' The Three Musketeers because Kitty was also the name of the handmaid to Milady de Winter in that novel... and if you think about it (especially later on), the story here is vaguely similar to The Three Musketeers in certain aspects.

Also, Hetalia has a special relationship with cats... so Kitty seemed fitting as an alias!:3

* It's purposely difficult to pinpoint an exact location for this story's setting. Because it is a 'fairytale' I suppose it doesn't have any real location. Although, Duna is Hungarain for Danube, which implies that that is the river which runs near the kingdom. In German, the Danube is called Donau and in Italian it's Danubio.