Cardverse Hetalia ~ Kingdom Of Spades ♠️

Chapter 6 ~ Loyalty

The next morning, Arthur was already up and dressed. Because he spent the night with Alfred, he awoke before the dawn broke to tidy up the master's quarters quietly. The last chore was to open the curtains, the light felt strong but quickly died down after the blueness of the sky shone in the morning scene. Arthur felt a smile grace onto his face, a feeling of happiness enlightened his soul. A spark of motivation to get on with his duties for the day.

He heard a small moan behind him. Arthur turned around to see his sleepy master wake up from his sleep, a little dazed but not drowsy. The servant goes over to the silver jug that contained fresh water and poured up a cup for his master. He passed the cup to Alfred. "Good morning, Alfred. My apologies for waking you. I will be back in a bit with some coffee and some breakfast." He said. Alfred gulped the whole cup down and tried to rub some of his sleep from his face. He returned the cup to his servant, admiring how he glowed in the morning light. "Thank you, Arthur. Damn, I feel like I sleep too much for my own good." He said, with a small groan at the end of his sentence.

Arthur chuckled lightly from hearing that. "You can never sleep too much, master. You need all the sleep you can get." He said and he was heading for the door. "I will be back with your coffee and breakfast, sir." he said as he opened the oak door from the lit room to a cooler lit hallway. After Arthur left, Alfred gets out of his bed and noticed the book by his bedside. In his mind, he recalled that this is the same book he gave to his new servant to help get some worries and fears off of his chest. Alfred looked up to the door and back to the book. He's debating if it's worth have a small look into the book. Arthur will take a while to get the breakfast and coffee together, given how Alfred usually likes it, it's not exactly a quick job for his servant.

Alfred's temptation took over and picked up the book, opening it up slowly. The first entry had a date that went back to about 15 years ago. Coming to think of it, Alfred never asked Arthur how old he is. He's never really asked about Arthur at all, he only knows that he was a slave for a while and his name was Arthur. He never thought to ask anything else. He skimmed over the first entry, expressing how the first one was a rich family who never saw any redeeming qualities in slaves. Arthur was the only one there in a family with two spoiled kids and he never got fed, looked after or washed, just beaten and whipped. Eventually a friend of the family found out and got him out of the abuse, but it wasn't long until his next owners bought him out.

Alfred felt his stomach churn, he couldn't believe Arthur referred to his previous masters as 'owners'. Alfred's breathing quickened and he put the book to the side. He got up and in a faster pace than usual, he stomped to his wardrobe and he put on his usual clothing. He went over to the glass doors to open them and stand out onto a blue balcony, overlooking the kingdom. He saw bakers selling their bread, and stalls selling essentials to the residents. Both rich and poor were roaming the kingdom this morning.

Alfred didn't know what to feel, there was no smile on his face and his messy hair was blowing in the breeze. He didn't even notice Arthur come in with a silver tray with a fresh coffee accompanied with delicious smelling waffles with syrup and cream. "Breakfast is served s-" He said and noticed Alfred hunched over the balcony. He carefully placed the tray onto a table situated by an old grandfather clock. He approached Alfred cautiously.

"Master Alfred? Is there something the matter?" He asked. At first, Alfred didn't respond. Arthur slowly stepped towards the balcony edge and sees the whole kingdom below. Arthur took a deep breath of crisp fresh air. Aside from the sound of cheerful residents below, there was silence between the two men. Arthur turned his face towards Alfred whom appeared to be lost in thought. "M-Master Alfred, I goi-" "What did I say about using that word towards me when we're alone." Alfred interrupted mid-sentence, Arthur stepped back a little bit but only for a brief moment before sighing. "Sorry, Alfred. Forgive me." He said, the servant didn't want to make his new master angry so he thought to himself, the best thing to do is to leave him to it and attend to his duties. "Your breakfast is on the table inside, If you need anything, just ring the bell and I'll come." He said. He bowed and headed for the door, retrieving his book. Alfred turned around to see Arthur leave.