Five: A Crow's Caw

05 – A Crow’s Caw

“Gentlemen, we have yet to solve a small issue regarding all four of us.”

“Oh? What is it, Arthur?”

The blonde man sighed, raking his fingers through his hair.

“The Royal Flush.”

At the three words, the other three kings fell silent. Ludwig frowned, rubbing his temples at a leisurely pace. Antonio blinked, looking quite concerned. Francis was only able to sigh, murmuring something under his breath.

“I don’t know what Ivan is planning. Frankly, who does? Though we may be rivals in Kingdoms and such, I do not want to have an unfair balance of the system.” He continued sharply. “All of us require Queens. If we lack by the time Ivan gets here, we’ll immediately be swept out of the castle and Royal System, as well as the Knights.”

“Lovino will bombard me with anger if he’s reelected,” sighed Antonio deeply. “I don’t want that, or as Arthur had said, an unfair tip on the scale.”

“I have not found such woman,” Francis inserted, twisting a lock of his hair around his finger. “I do not want to force a lady in my kingdom to be my Queen. It is unromantic, as well as unfair, no? Though I don’t want Ivan plucking me off…” he scowled, “I wish to preserve the justice in Diamants.”

They turned their heads to Ludwig, who had remained silent.

“…the same as you all.” He said rather stiffly.

“So we’re all in the same boat.” Arthur concluded, crossing his legs. “Rather unfortunate…but we’re all in this together, as cliché as that sounds.”

“Ah Arthur,” Francis interrupted, “Let me just clarify. Those four ladies you’re allowing to stay…are they new ones in your kingdom, or new workers? They seem to be quite…bashful.” The other frowned.

“They…are not from here, Francis.”

“What?” Ludwig was slightly appalled. “Then where? You’re risking a lot if they come from the forest of Relisotai, you know-”

“They’re not.” The King of Spades had a slightly harsh tone now. “I assure you, they’re not of Joker spawn, if that’s what you’re thinking. If so, they’d have horns and tails, the lot of them, just like the people that got themselves into the forest in the first place.”

The rain started pouring outside.

“Calm yourself, friend.” Said Antonio, casting a wavering glance at the window. “The more it rains, the more the roads back would be blocked…”

“It doesn’t matter.” Ludwig said quite stiffly. “Gilbert and I will be staying the night. I’ve told Roderich beforehand.” Arthur nodded, massaging his temples slightly. “If it will be a bother for you, Arthur, we shall go somewhere else.”

“No,” he sighed. “Stay. It would be good to have some company around, I guess.” Francis cocked a blonde brow, leaning back.

“Hm~? So is it alright if Yao and I stay as well, Brows?” the other man twitched in his seat, scowling deeply at this point. Antonio merely blinked.

“Lovino and I would appreciate it, but we cannot leave Feliciano alone back at Tréboles.” The tan-skinned man smiled ruefully. “Another time, but not today.”

“It’s fine with me.” The King of Spades waved it off. “Moving on to another topic-”

“Gah, shoo, you damned bird!” hissed Francis, moving to the window and waving off something unseen to the other three. “Get out of here, now!” a loud, cawing sound was heard, and then the beating of heavy wings. Ludwig made a face.

“A crow?”

“Your Kingdom’s a zoo,” Francis huffed, sitting back down. “You have horses, crows, and a monkey for a Knight.”

“Let’s just continue, damn it!”

* * * * *

Alfred stood by Matthew, balancing the tea cup over another. The soft-spoken man was trying to get his half-brother to stop, but it was of no avail. Meanwhile, the other girls were conversing with the Knights. Rianne and Gilbert were sitting, appearing to be bickering. Yao and Reese were having an intense discussion, with Yao making faces here and there. Lovino and Tricia were laughing, the female more than the male. Elly just stood next to the Knights of Spades, taking notice of them all.

“How can you be so – so arrogant?!” Rianne demanded, crossing her arms. Gilbert merely smirked, leaning back against the chair.

“It’s called confidence, miss,” he teased, amused at the sight of her reddening face. “Something you should learn about, yeah?”

“I don’t need to learn anything from you, thank you very much.” She snapped. Elly was surprised. Normally, the green-eyed lady would be quite polite, rather than be snappy and irritated like Reese. She caught sight of the frustrated expression in her eyes, and wondered if she should step in and handle it.

Judging by the look on Gilbert’s (that must be her name, she guessed) face, though, he seemed to be taking it quite normally, like he was used to it.

“Alfred,” tried Matthew. Alfred laughed loudly, soon putting back the teacups.

“Calm down, bro! I’ve got them safe and sound on his table.” He snorted, and took notice of Elly’s gaze on her friends and the Knights. “Elly, what’re you watching?” she merely shrugged, brushing a lock of hair away from her face.

“Just my friends – is Gilbert really bigheaded?”

Matthew chuckled.

“One of the most arrogant people I’ve come across.”

“That explains a lot,” she sighed. “Rianne is getting irritated.” Alfred laughed once more.

“She should chill out!” he chortled. “He usually doesn’t mean anything. Unless he’s serious, this happens rarely.”

“They don’t bite, except for Gilbert.”

“Does he bite?”

“Eh? What kind of question is that…?”

“King Arthur said something along those lines a while ago.” Alfred snickered.

“He exaggerates things, I tell you.”

While the three talked of the King, Rianne gave Gilbert a frosty glare.

“Why don’t we do both of us a favor?” a silver brow quirked. “You leave me alone, and I won’t punch you in the crotch.”

“I dare you, kleines Mädchen.”

She lifted a hand and prepared to strike, but he quickly grabbed her wrist.

Green eyes met a very amused red.

“Jeez, frau, I didn’t expect you to actually try!” he barked a laugh. “I like that.”

“E…Excuse me?”

From afar, Lovino and Tricia watched them. The olive-skinned knight looked angry, and Tricia was only very, very pleased at the sight.

“They sure act like cats and dogs,” she remarked. Lovino snorted.

“If you think he’s this bad, wait until you see him with Elizabeta.”

“Eh? Who’s she?”

“A lady in the Kingdom of Herzen.” He sighed. “As far as Antonio tells me, she and Gilbert have been rivals since their childhood.” A sadistic smirk came to his lips. “It seems he has unrequited feelings for her, as she’s partnered up with Roderich, a local musician in the same Kingdom.”

“Interesting…”

“Also, Roderich and Gilbert are rivals. Enemies, I’d say, but…” he shrugged. “They’ve calmed down, at least. For now.”

“Well, how about you, Lovino?” he blinked in surprise. “Do you have siblings or anything of the sort?” he cleared his throat, eyes darting away.

“I do. His name is Feliciano, and he prefers to stay back in Tréboles.”

“Is he a Knight or anything?”

A snort came.

“Feliciano, a Knight? Hah! The little idiot can’t do much…” he sighed. “He likes to cook and paint. You see that painting over there?” Tricia turned her gaze to a painting mounted on the east wall. It was a picture of the Spades Kingdom; it appeared, in many hues of blue. Sunshine mixed in silver and golden colors shone upon the town.

“H-He made that?”

“Yes. He made it and sold it to Arthur after the King showed a lot of interest in it. After that, he was known as a painter around the surrounding Kingdoms.”

“Oh – what does he cook?”

“Pasta all freaking day and night!” Lovino erupted into a rage. “Can’t he cook anything else, for the love of God?!”

Tricia didn’t know how to respond to that.

“Aiyah, it sure is embarrassing to have a lady taller than me-aru.” Yao told Reese with a sheepish expression, both of them sitting down. “Don’t get me wrong, you’d usually see those around five-foot-five inches, but…” he frowned. “Why do I have to be so small-aru? It’s irritating!”

“Calm down,” Reese told him. “Personally, I don’t like my height. My friends envy me for it, though.”

“You should be thankful,” he sighed. “I’d do anything to be tall.”

“That’s what they all say, Yao.”

“What do you think of Cardverse so far?” she pursed her lips in thought. Such a direct question all of sudden…

“It’s…” she struggled. “Odd. I’ll take some time getting used to it.”

“Ah, not to worry. You’re staying with Arthur, anyway, so you’ll get used to the place pretty quickly. If the weather clears up, I think you can even travel around.”

“Thank you for the offer, but I’d rather stay in. It’s going to be a bother finding a way back home, you know.”

“There’s no difference among worlds, you know.”

He was now staring out the window.

“W-What…?”

“Even though our worlds are different, we still gaze at the same moon.”