Brother's Protection

"Oui," Francis kissed him lightly on the cheek and tugged Antonio. "Antonio, I simply will not allow you to go in that hideous outfit, Toni." He started to lecture the other teen about fashion and grooming.

"Eh? What's wrong with it?" Antonio asked.

Gilbert chuckled a bit, pulling Ludwig along with him. "Come on, you have to go eat."

"No, he'll know and I'll be in big trouble!" The child pulled to get his arm free again.

"Maybe he doesn't know, you could be lucky." Gilbert offered, not really believing it himself.

Ludwig kicked a rock, "No I won't be"

Their bickering ended as the neared enough that there was a possibility of the becoming caught. "Few more minutes and swine would've been pleased." Wilhelm commented as he spotted his sons trudging in.

"Ja, ja." Gilbert grumbled. "You say that all the time."

Wilhelm raised an eyebrow, "Are you asking for me to go through with it?"

"Nien," Gilbert quickly said digging into his bowl of rabbit stew. The weather was just being to cool down and this stew was perfect for the season and delicious.

Wilhelm noticed the way that Ludwig looked at Gilbert before picking up his own spoon. It looked like the two were hiding something, and knowing his boys it had to do with the way he found his sword just a few minutes ago.

The man cleared his throat, "So, does someone want to tell me what happened in the woodshed?"

Both children stopped eating and looked at him a bit worried. "Nien," Gilbert answered unconvincingly. "I don't know what happened."

"Ludwig?" Wilhelm questioned looking at his youngest, he knew that look of guilt that was plastered across the younger's face.

"J-ja, me either." Ludwig stumbled in his response.

Wilhelm buttered his bread and simply said, "My mistake. I'm sure it couldn't have been either of you that took my sword off the wall and broke it on the rocks." Again he glanced at the two for their reactions.

Gilbert's eyes became larger and his grip on the spoon tightened, a sure sign that he knew what his vater was talking about. Ludwig in comparison avoided Wilhelm's look and poked at a carrot that was swimming in his dish.

Possibly it was a joint effort, but Wilhelm didn't believe that one bit. Rather he thought that one was covering for the other, it wasn't common for them to do that and he never discouraged it. The man liked his children having a strong bond, they would certainly need it later in life with the hard work of being nations. "Perhaps it was the raccoons that did it," Wilhelm said.

"Nien, Vater." Ludwig mumbled. "Raccoons don't do funny things like that."

"Oh, then who did?" Wilhelm asked the question they had been waiting for. Both children were extremely nervous, but the man had his doubts that it was Gilbert this time. The teen mentioned about a particular event coming up that night and he wasn't likely to jeopardize it, in fact, he had been rather angelic recently.

Ludwig looked at Gilbert, wanting his brother to do something. He wasn't sure what he wanted, just something that could stop him from being spanking. Tears were on the brink of falling from his blue eyes.

"Ludwig," Germania said sternly, his suspicions confirmed in his mind. "Why did you touch mein sword?"

The dam burst and tears rolled down the child's face. He managed to mumbled something, but what Wilhelm was finding impossible to understand.