The stranger's second visit

The Hearts Kingdom

Being parents of a newborn sure isn't easy. Being parents of newborn twins is twice as not easy. Even with the extra help of Feliciano, the Heart King and Queen weren't having an easy time.

While yes, they could ask for more servants to help, both King Ludwig and Queen Kiku wanted to raise their children by themselves. Well, and with their boyfriend as well.

No one knew how was their own council even able to provide children for the couples that were of the same gender. There were many theories, but it was undeniable that the children resembled their parents, and the twins weren't an exception.

A girl, who they were told was born first, and a boy, the second one to be born. Their kingdom allowed for female monarchs, so that definitely wasn't an issue.

Their heir was quite a pretty girl: she had hair as black as coal, inherited from Kiku, and beautiful sea blue eyes, which were from Ludwig. Her brother was a handsome young boy, with hair as blonde as the sun, and brown eyes like the Queen . Their parents were absolutely delighted with the pair.

And of course, both were also tired: even by taking turns watching the children, it wasn't an easy task. Queen Kiku would often have the babies during the day as his husband was busy overseeing the business affair of the kingdom. Feliciano would often accompany the Queen to help him, and it was also a good excuse to skip the trainings the king would order him to perform.

But the Jack hadn't been able to help the Queen that day, having excused himself after receiving a letter from his cousin, the Diamond King.

Feliciano had to admit it simply looked like a common letter: it wasn't usual for his cousin Francis to write him once a while. But, despite his usual light hearted spirit, he read the content well: as expected of the Diamond King, there was a secret message. Why else would the Diamond king use his favorite pigeon to send an otherwise innocent note ?

His dear grandfather had taught all his grand children, legit or not (he was the first case, for example, and his cousin Antonio was the latter ) the art of hiding messages in a message.

The Jack of Hearts decided to do something unusual in him: for the rest of the day, he spend his time carefully reading the letter, seeing any hidden detail that was on it.

For the common eye, it was just King Francis asking the Hearts Jack when would the children arrive. For Feliciano, it was an urgent message he had to send to the Spade kingdom. A passionate and skilled artist, he carefully used his inking skills to reveal more, slowly as he copied the original letter as it was, making sure none of the original details were missing. Hours and more hours passed as the Jack carefully completed a message meant for the Queen of hearts' brother and the family he served.

The stranger admitted he was marveled: Feliciano wasn't particularly known to be hard working, or even a cunning Jack in the first place. After sitting and observing him so his job so neatly, it seemed like his message had gotten across the Diamond King and his Jack.

Queen Kiku spend the rest of the day taking care of their twins: he wasn't exactly unfamiliar with children, being the second one of his siblings, but he wasn't an expert either. Even with the help of the wet nurses, the babies wouldn't stop crying that day in particular.

That also meant the Queen of Hearts wasn't able to attend his usually meetings, meaning it was up to his husband to do twice as much work, specially since the Jack couldn't be found.

Queen Kiku felt bad for it, but there wasn't much to do: after an entire day of taking care of the babies, trying to calm them and attempting to manage some affairs in the castle, he was tired. Of course, as soon as he got to his room and after leaving the children in their cribs, he went to sleep.