Cardverse Hetalia ~ Kingdom Of Spades ♠️

Chapter 5 ~ Uneasiness

The next morning, Arthur awoke to the beam of light illuminating the room. He looked around to find he was not in his own quarters but in his master's room. A ting of fear crawled through his veins and he jumped out of the bed, a cold sweat down one side of his face. He dropped to his knees and he kept rocking back and forth, apologising repeatedly and creating an infinite circle of repetitive behaviour. This wakes Alfred up from his slumber and he sees the hysteric servant in a maddening display.

"Whoa!" Alfred exclaimed. "What's gotten into you?! Why are you apologising to me for? You didn't do anything." He said, but Arthur was stuck. Patience seemed to have slipped by Alfred completely. "Arthur, enough!" he said as he slapped Arthur on the cheek irrationally to make him stop. Arthur froze and felt a sting on his face where he got hit. He felt the side that was pulsing in pain and it stung to the touch. Alfred felt guilt through his body as he pulled Arthur into his embrace; his eyes were close to shedding tears.

"I...I'm sorry...." Arthur winced. All Alfred could feel was annoyance to himself. "No, I should be apologising to you, Arthur." He said, trying to hide the sadness in his voice, but to no avail. "I didn't mean to. I don't know why I hit you. Forgive me, Arthur." He said with guilt. Arthur weeped into his master's shoulders as Alfred rocked his body back and forth in an attempt to calm him down, trying his best to hold back the tears in his ocean blue eyes.

Not too long afterwards, Alfred and his father the king were in the office. The young man tried his best to give his side of the story. The king wasn't quite himself but he still keeps going. "Son, please start from the beginning. Why would you slap your own servant?" he asked calmly. Alfred answered anxiously. "That's the thing, Father. I don't know myself." He said. "I really didn't mean to hit him. That's not me at all. I never hit anyone before." The king could only gesture his hands to his son. "Now, son. I know that's was an accident but you've got to remember that this was probably not the first time someone had hit Arthur in the past." He said. Alfred loses it mentally and within that moment. "I don't care why those skanks treated him or abused him like that. That was not the impression I wanted to do to him. That man out there was treated like shit and I don't want to be seen like those bastards out there!" He shouted with tears forming. The king got up to hug his son. "I know you're not son, but you can't do anything to change what happened back then. Just let it go and carry on." He said. Alfred breaks the hug and without another word, he heads out of the office.

The young man sat alone in the office with his head in his hands. The guilt and anger with himself was taking him over. His train of thought intertwined with a soft voice calling his name. "Alfred?" he heard. The second time was a little louder and finally Alfred broke from his trance. "Master Alfred?" Alfred looked to see his fellow servant standing there. A twitch of panic set into his veins from seeing him. "Is everything alright? You were staring into space for quite a while, sir." He said. All Alfred could do was get up from his seat and bring Arthur towards him in an embrace.

"I'm so sorry for what happened earlier, Arthur. I really didn't mean to." He said to his servant. Arthur rubbed his master's back slowly but reassuringly. "It's alright master." he said. Alfred clenched him tighter. "Please call me by my name. I'm not just your master. I'm your friend, Arthur." Alfred said with tears in his eyes. Arthur kept stroking his back, each time feeling Alfred gasp in between his breaths trying to hold it back.

Later that night, Alfred insisted on Arthur sleeping with him. The midnight blue sky was glowing with the moon shining as bright as a star, nothing but a still ambience in the air. The sound of peaceful silence was broken by a call. A call of softness but weariness. Alfred shot his eyes open and sat up on the bed. His immediate instinct tells him it's his late mother's voice, but his second is the likelihood of a siren's song. He tries to ignore it and sleep, but he couldn't even get a wink. The next morning, Arthur woke up to clean up without waking his master. Arthur paused for a while to observe the sleeping master's face. Such a youthful glow accompanied with a smile, much like a young child having a sweet dream. Arthur smiled and lightly stroked the master's hair without disturbing the man's sleep. As he leaves the room to prepare breakfast, Alfred wakes up to get changed, not saying a single word.

By the time Arthur returned with a delicious fruit salad accompanied with buttered pancakes, the master was at his desk. "Alfred?" The servant asked cautiously. Alfred looked up to see the tray of food and gestures his servant to set it next to him. Arthur was concerned about this vibe coming from his master. "Is everything alright, sir?" He asked again. Alfred sighed in response.

"Did you hear anything last night?" He asked his servant. His face was misleading, giving off a look of annoyance but not anger. Arthur wasn't sure how to answer such a strange question. "N-No I haven't sir." He answered. "Was I meant to sir?" He asked him. Alfred sighed again. "No no, it's nothing... don't worry about it." He said with a saddened tone. Arthur wasn't sure what to say next, so he decided the best thing to do is fend to his other duties. "I'll come back after I've finished my chores, Alfred." He bowed with his sentence and proceeds to leave the room. Alfred grabs his arm before he could move any further.

"No, Arthur. Please stay with me for a bit. I don't know who else I can turn to." Alfred said. Arthur was used to grabs like this but not one with this situation. If Alfred wasn't going to hit him, what else could he do?

Alfred just hugs him again and on the back of Arthur's hand, a strange shape was appearing in noir black, much like the colour of a tattoo. An unidentified disfigured marking slowly shifting and forming on the surface. Later that night, Arthur kept looking back to the deformed marking on the back of his hand. He couldn't seem to get his head around how it's forming on his hand let alone why. Alfred was sleeping peacefully next to him, but Arthur wasn't able to drift off.

Throughout the night, he kept writing in his diary in hopes of letting feelings out. His thought process was disturbed by a soft angelic call, like a saint singing in the night. Arthur quickly looked up from writing and soundlessly approached the window to hear the call again. Arthur could only think to himself. "Who is that singing in the night? was this the call he was asking about earlier?" he thought to himself.

As Arthur returned to the bed, he laid onto his back and focused on relaxing to drift off to sleep. Even in another realm though, the calls of the unknown voice echoed throughout the night.

END OF CHAPTER 5