Tomato Fields

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As soon as the carriage reached the dirt road where Feliciano and Lovino's farm was, Lovino's heart pumped a little harder. He didn't know why, but he felt embarrassed having the literal King of Spain driving him to his shack in the middle of their tomato farm. 

"We're here." Lovino shouted to Gilbert as they reached the edge of the tomato plants, revealing the brother's tiny wooden house. Lovino peered out the window of the carriage to spot his brother sitting on the deck, curiously staring at the nice carriage that had just rolled up on their tiny dirt road. Lovino nervously tapped his foot as Gilbert stopped the carriage and hopped off the driver's seat to open the door. Antonio smiled as his eyes scanned over the fields of tomatoes. It reminded him of home. 

As Gilbert opened the door to reveal Antonio and Lovino, Feliciano locked eyes with his brother and bounced up from the porch, running over to the carriage. "Lovino! Lovino! Where have you been?" his brother asked worriedly, completely ignoring Gilbert and Antonio as he pushed through the door of the carriage.

"Feliciano-" Lovino warned, gritting his teeth.

"Are you okay?! Who hurt you?! What's wrong?!" Feliciano blurted.

"Some bastardo hit me with his carriage and broke my arm." Lovino explained, flinching as he mentioned his broken limb. Gilbert grimaced at the Italian and Antonio chuckled. Feliciano's mouth dropped open in shock.

"What about the farm? If you break your arm we won't be able to eat! All the tomatoes will go bad. I can't do all this work by myself!" Feliciano cried, his eyes watering as he examined his brother's arm. Lovino's eyes suddenly widened in realization. Feliciano was right. Without Lovino, they'd both starve, even if it was only for a couple months. 

"Is this true?" Antonio questioned, a look of genuine concern plastered across his face. Lovino nodded gravely and the Spaniard let out a little gasp. Not once had Antonio faced the predicament of not having the necessary materials to survive. He'd never heard of a family running out of money just because of a broken bone. As a prince, his world was incredibly censored. Now that he was king, he noticed not everything was as perfect as it was in his family's castle. 

After a few seconds of silence, Lovino grew sick of the pitiful look from the handsome king who was hovering over him. Shifting himself up a bit, Lovino tried to slide out of the carriage as painlessly as possible.

"It doesn't matter. I can just work with one arm." Lovino grumbled, his feet landing on the dirt beneath him as he hopped off the carriage. 

"No, I won't let you do that." Antonio spoke, sliding out of the carriage after him. 

"So, what are you going to do? Unbreak my arm?" Lovino shot back, shooting him Antonio an angry glare. At this point he didn't even care that he was in the presence of royalty, he was annoyed. 

"I have a proposition for you." Antonio began, his face shifting from obnoxiously happy to deadly serious. Lovino stared into the man's green eyes with interest, wondering what the king of Spain could possibly offer him to make up for their inevitable starvation. "I know you'll want to discuss this with your brother, but, I want to offer you a job at my palace."

Lovino wasn't expecting that. Turning around, Lovino glanced at his brother for advice, but Feliciano just shrugged. He wasn't expecting it either. A job at the royal palace? That would definitely ensure a better life for him, but what about Feliciano? A job at the castle would be a life without stress, a life without constantly worrying about surviving. Was it worth it?

"What kind of job?" Lovino inquired, turning back around to face the king again.

"The royal gardener. As soon as your arm heals you can start. In the meantime, you can just lounge around with me." Antonio spoke, giving a little wink at the end of his explanation. Lovino's face turned red for a moment but he composed himself after deciding what to do.

"I'll accept your offer, with a few exceptions. I'm not leaving without my brother. I'm also not leaving without saying goodbye to my country." Lovino spoke confidently, knowing for a fact he would not be leaving Italy without Feliciano. 

"You want to be a gardener at the castle too?" Antonio questioned, the friendly smile returning as he offered the job to Feliciano. Before Feliciano could answer, Lovino interrupted.

"No. He's an artist. Make him your royal artist." Lovino demanded, challenging the king with fire in his eyes. 

"Deal." Antonio responded, surprising the fired-up Lovino. With the way Lovino was demanding things, he was surprised the king hadn't arrested him for challenging a superior. Any other king would've scoffed and kicked him to the ground, but Antonio was different. The King had allowed a peasant to walk all over him. It was weird. 

"You have one week. I have to make a few more appearances in this country before heading back to Spain. So in the meantime you can do whatever you want." Antonio spoke, hopping back into the carriage as Gilbert assumed his position at the front of the carriage. "Adiós Lovino" the Spaniard said, shooting the Italian one last wink before closing the carriage door.

"Adiós." Lovino muttered to himself, his eyes locked on the door of the carriage where the king had stood a few seconds before. That guy definitely loved winking.

This is 100% not edited so I apologize for mistakes. I'll fix it later. Thank you for reading!

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