Cardverse Hetalia ~ Kingdom Of Spades ♠️

Chapter 4 ~ Mixture of Feelings

The next morning, Arthur was washing away the restlessness in this face in a marble sink. Not long afterward, he caught himself in the mirror and his mind immediately replaced the image of what he sees of himself right now with a memory of his dirty face, messy hair and burlap sack for clothing. He quickly pushed the thought out of his mind and finished getting dressed.

All the servant could do was think in his mind. He never would've imagined going from a fragile helpless slave to a well respected servant in a matter of days.

"It's odd feeling this way. It was something I wanted to feel in a long time. Now that I do feel it, it's like I'm too happy for this life I'm now living." He thought to himself. A chime of a small gold bell was ringing, breaking Arthur's train of thought. The bell ringed a soothing chime over a plate reading "Alfred's quarters". Arthur got up and headed straight for the room, lurking outside the door and knocking three times.

"Come in." Alfred called and Arthur let himself in. Arthur gulped as usual. "You wanted to see me, sir?" Arthur asked, trying to hide the shakiness in his voice that still hasn't lessened since his arrival. "Yes, I did." Alfred said, he seemed to have a serious tone. Arthur braced himself in case the worse were to happen. "I've heard you were in acquaintance with my father. Despite him initially disagreeing with my choice, he's come to warm up with you more. Not many servants were able to do that the first time they came here." He continued. Arthur felt his stomach turn. "W-Was I not suppose to, master? He did want to see me..." Arthur said. Alfred didn't expect this response from his servant. "No no, that's not really what I'm saying. Don't feel like that. What I'm getting at is that I had a feeling there's more to you than scars and shackles. You stood out to me because there was something about you that made you...different from the rest. I can't seem to put my finger on it." Alfred explains.

"M-Master Alfred... I'm only a ... servant sir. I'm not really important to anyone. All I've been was a punch bag, a slave, the floor scrubber, the lot." Arthur said as if his own view of himself was from the masters he had before. Alfred felt a twinge of anger in him. "Don't Arthur." Alfred gritted his teeth. Arthur looked up in confusion. Alfred turned around, his brows furrowed. "Don't you dare say that kind of bullshit about yourself, okay? You are important as you are with us now. You will never be treated like that from scums out there who think they are better than everyone else!" He said, trying to prevent his anger from boiling over. Arthur stood emotionless, fighting the urge to run away.

Alfred turned away again. The anger subsided and his tone softened like an angel. "You need to let go of what happened in the past, Arthur. It's the only way you'll be able to look into the future under my wing. Consider yourself lucky that you were saved from the brink of death from that prison." Alfred said. Arthur bowed to him. "Forgive me, Alfred. I will do what you ask as punishment for speaking out the way I d-". Alfred jumped in. "No. I forgive you for what you said, but you won't be punished. We do not encourage such things in this castle. Not then and not now. Please go and fetch me some coffee. I have work to do." Alfred said.

Arthur bowed again. "Yes sir." He said as he leaves the room. After returning with the coffee, Alfred sends Arthur back to his room to rest. Arthur found Fritz changing up the bedding and clothes in his room. "Fritz?" Arthur spoke softly. The older servant smiled to him.
"Hello Arthur. Don't mind me, I'm just refreshing the bedding for you and arranging your uniforms in your wardrobe. The young master asked me to give you this." He said, handing over an oak brown hardback book full of blank beige pages. "For me?" Arthur said. He was never given anything from his masters before. The smell of the book was a pleasant scent and the carving on the front spelled his name.

Fritz finished freshening up the clothes and bed. "Yes sir, the young master wanted you to have this old book to write all of your thoughts. His great grandfather always said that releasing your feelings and memories within the pages help those expand their stories for more events and chapters of their lives. Quite fascinating to me. The young master believes this would be beneficial to you to be able to release all the burning feelings from within." He explained. Arthur placed the book onto the dark wooden desk which had candlelight, a feather with noir ink and blank paper in a small compartment. "Thank you, Fritz. I'll be sure to thank the master soon." Arthur responded and the older servant left the room.