Scars of Conquest; Germany x Reader

Chapter 18 - Born Without a Home

READER

Rye gives a low whistle as you finally step out of your room. You push your hair out of your face, glaring at him. He only smiles that ridiculous smile and hides his hands behind his back.

"Lookin' good, Y/n."

"Good," you reply, walking past him, "I think that's the point."

Rye follows, dressed in a simple black tux. "So you wanted to talk to me about something?"

You adjust the cuffs of your suit before checking the knives you had hidden along your hips, one on either side. You were wearing a black penguin tuxedo with a sapphire blue dress shirt. The tail on the jacket was stylized to have a few frills and to drop lower. So, if Kameil gave you crap, you could always bring up to your defense that it was 'dress like'. Besides, you were walking into a nest of vipers, you weren't going to do that in heels and satin.

Your face burns slightly as one of your main reasons was you didn't want Ludwig to think you were trying to impress him.

"Y/n?" Rye asks, snapping you out of your mental monologue. You tug at your sleeves again, looking to Rye. "You wanted to talk?"

"Oh" – you swallow, banishing your other thoughts to one question you had since yesterday – "yeah. You said a while back that the South was run by people calling themselves the Wolves. Where'd you get that information?"

Rye rubs the back of his neck with his hand. "Well, maybe I was a little too emotional –"

"If they aren't the leaders, then what are they?" Rye flinches away from you.

"They're a nationalist group," Rye mutters. "They've been behind a lot of the propaganda attacks again us."

"But why? There are northerners who are part of that group."

Rye bites down on his lip as he casts you a scared look. "I just...I think it's also an anti-Germany group, and there are lots of people who want to unite the South and the North."

"But why side with the South?"

His eyes drop to the floor. "Because they're stronger. I see it every day in the capital. You've been doing a lot more traveling across the country and spend your free time at your home, so you haven't seen it. But a hospital shows the true horror of war, and I've seen a lot of them when we go up to the front lines to talk to some of our generals." His voice is so small. "We're losing this war, Y/n. And sometimes I think the sooner we merge with our other half, the sooner we can deal with Germany on a united front."

"I've seen the hospitals."

"But you haven't seen the mass graves. You haven't helped bury hundreds of soldiers in shell pockets."

You look away from Rye, mouth curling in disgust. This couldn't be happening. This just couldn't. You see Gilbert appear from another hall. Not even bothering to excuse yourself, you move over to Gilbert.

He looks up from his phone, a smile on his face that quickly falters when he sees you coming towards him. You grab a fistful of his collar and pull him after you, picking the first room you could find – which just happened to be a storage closet.

"Woah, Y/n, watch the awesome suit." You throw him forward, shutting the door to the closet before you. Gilbert tries to laugh, but it falls flat. Your expression wasn't helping. "What's goin' on?"