Cardverse Hetalia ~ Kingdom Of Spades ♠️

Chapter 24 - True Feelings

In Chapter 23, Alfred saw Blackwell beat up Arthur on a few occasions and saw one incident that scarred Alfred from the sight before him. We now resume to the aftermath of the memory.

Alfred felt himself bolt up from the ground to see that he was on cold snow. He felt his body only to find he was still warm like he was out in the spring gardens. He felt a short sigh of relief but he got up from the floor shakenly. He had no words for what he saw. Everything now made sense. Why Arthur was shaky and found himself breaking down when trying to recall what happened... Why he fainted when he saw his former master at the welcome home ball...Why he had a panic attack from the nightmare...It was an awful memory he recalled. Mr Richard Blackwell was the worst master to Arthur. He beat him, hit him, cut him with anything he had and did the worst thing of all... he raped him. A few times to add to that.

Alfred felt his heart drop as well as his knees while carelessly dropping the book onto the snow. His expression showed distress and despair. He felt hurt all over to the point of tears. He soon found him himself covering his face with his hands and tears flowed out of his eyes. He never felt so hurt from what he saw at any point in his life. He was crying for a while before returning to the castle with the face of hurt and grief. He looked like how he was when his father died. Matthew soon saw his brother returning, bursting through the doors in annoyance at first but saw the expression on his brother's face and the anger seemed to disappear and morph in concern and worry. "Brother...? Where on earth were you?... and why do you look like that?..." He asked but got no answers. For once in his life, Alfred didn't know how to answer. He instead started crying again. Matthew immediately got him inside in a comforting embrace and called for help from Yao.

They were in the lounge with Alfred holding his head down. Matthew wasn't sure what could have happened for Alfred to feel this way. Yao returned with a hot cocoa with a side serving of a small pudding and placed the tray onto the violet coffee table before the men. Matthew anxiously tried to speak as comfortingly as possible while hoping to get an answer about his brother's mood. "What happened, Al? Can you tell me?" He asked. Unfortunately, the only response he got was silence. Only for a brief moment. "I saw a horrible thing..." He said in a low tone. Matthew raised an eyebrow before speaking again. "What horrible thing? What did you see?" He asked. Alfred lifted his head to show his eyes tinged with hurt and guilt all at once. "I saw what Blackwell did to Arthur. It was the worst thing I ever saw... He was stuck there with blood and he...wanted the suffering to stop..." Yao was confused but his eyes widened when he told the king about the incident in the cell. The man realised that Alfred somehow found out about that terrible assault that the king didn't want Alfred to know about. Except now, he knows what happened...

Matthew looked up to Yao, as he caught sight of his reaction. "Do you know what he means, Yao?" He asked. Yao couldn't bring himself to answer, not in front of Alfred. "I'm afraid I can't say while in his presence, aru." He said calmly. Alfred instinctively got up to leave the room without a word. Leaving Matthew confused and Yao sympathetic to the young man. Alfred was back in his room and was on the edge of his bed. He wasn't sure how to feel at this point. He just saw the most horrible incident that happened to Arthur and it makes him want to protect him even more. He feels something deeper. Arthur seems to not only be a servant and a friend to him. There's something more.

His thoughts were interrupted when Arthur enters the room. He was relieved to see Alfred and was caught offguard by Alfred's tight hug. The servant was confused at first but soon felt his expression dropped when Alfred started sobbing in the embrace. "I'm so sorry dude..." Alfred said in between sobs. Arthur wasn't too sure what his master would be so apologetic for so he had to ask him. "Why though sir? What happened?" He said. Alfred came out of the hug with his tear stained face, struggling to maintain eye contact as he spoke. "I didn't mean to, buddy...My curiosity got the better of me...I saw it...I saw what that bastard did to you..." He said in between his breaths. It didn't take long for Arthur to figure out what he was saying. His dark secret was found out as he feared it would. Something the king didn't want his son to find out about Arthur. Now he knows though, the servant had no idea what to do or say. When he saw that Alfred was crying again. Arthur hugged him and he couldn't hold back his tears either. They were both crying in their embrace.

Meanwhile in the lounge

"So that's what happened..." Matthew was speechless. Yao nodded in response as he continued. "He was in a very bad state, aru. He was begging for death and he didn't know what he deserved to be forced like that..." He said quietly but he continued with confidence. "But I must say this, Arthur has definitely been living a lot better since being here. I am glad he has found a new leash on life here, aru." He said. Matthew nodded in agreement. "Definitely. Alfred has been very close with him since I found out about him. He's a good man." Matthew said. Yao smiled and let a sentence slip in his happy state. "Your brother is what made him a good him. I wouldn't be surprised if things went to another level in their relationship." He said. Matthew looked up to Yao with a raised eyebrow. "What do you mean?" He asked.

Back in the bedroom, Alfred was leaning on the desk exhausted from the crying. "Are you feeling better, Alfred?" The servant asked. Alfred took a deep breath for a moment before answering. "Yes. Thank you. How about you, Artie?" He asked calmly with a smile. Arthur nodded before asking another question. "I was wondering about this for a while sir. Why were you so keen about knowing about me? Why did you need to know what happened? Why did it matter?" He asked. Alfred stood up before looking outside the balcony window. Alfred closed his eyes while answering in a blunt and honest tone.

"I wanted to know because I knew how much you mean to me...As a person, as a servant and as a friend. The one thing that makes me hurt is seeing you getting hurt. Besides, and I can't explain this myself. But recently, I felt something stronger when I've been getting to know more about you." He said. Arthur wasn't sure how to react to this statement so he ended up asking for a better understanding. "What do you mean sir?" He asked. Alfred turned around and faced his servant with a small smile. "Well, let's just say a gesture answers that one for you, Artie." He said as he approached the confused servant.

Arthur was not prepared for what happened next. Alfred pulled Arthur in and pressed his lips over Arthur's. Neither of them flinched from this position. A few moments later, Alfred broke the kiss and smiled at Arthur. The servant was bewildered from this, he really was speechless from this.

"Didn't see that one coming huh?" Alfred said in a playful voice. Arthur was flushed red. "A...Al...? Are you...?" He asked. Alfred chuckled in response. "Since you said you had a thing for me while I was recovering, it cleared the shadow of doubt in my mind about how I felt. Just a small thing, if you wanted to keep it secret. You have to do it where I can't hear when I sleep." He said with a wink. Arthur gulped nervously and felt his heartbeat increase.

"You heard all that then...?" He asked. Alfred nodded while grinning. "Every word. So...Wanna do it again?" He asked. Arthur was unsure at first but he nodded. Allowing Alfred to bring Arthur Arthur in for another kiss but passionate this time. His hands gently holding the man close to him and Arthur let his hands hug him to maintain this position. Their relationship seemed to be closer than friends, now that both of them knew they had feelings for each other, their path will be higher and brighter from here on out.

That night, Alfred and Arthur were cuddling in bed with the reassurance that they are in fact as close as they were hoping. On Arthur's shoulderblade, the small flower bud marking was morphing and shaping into a buddling small flower, in the process of blooming.

TO BE CONTINUED