Corrupted Power [A Hetalia Cardverse Fanfiction]

Chapter 2 - Proposal

February 17th, xxxx, Spades

     Arthur sat in the parlor, sitting a cup of tea and thinking about the time they had in Hearts at the festival. That kingdom out did themselves every year and Arthur enjoyed all the sweet moments he got to spend with Alfred. But when he thought back to it, he rarely saw Alfred that day and it upset him. What really bugged him was he had no idea why Alfred kept disappearing. He had been to Hearts many times before yet he acted as if it was his first time.

     Arthur snapped out of his thoughts when he felt someone tap on his shoulder. Arthur looked up and saw Alfred smiling down at him. Arthur saw the eagerness in Alfred's eyes causing Arthur to grow curious about what Alfred so excited.

    "Arthur, I just had the perfect idea!" Alfred exclaimed excitedly as well as quickly. "You know how we are the kingdom of power right? Well, we are also the smallest kingdom, just this tiny little island so I was thinking, to show our power we could...expand."

      Arthur didn't like the way Alfred said 'Expand.' The way he said it was very sly, as if there was something terrible implied with it. Arthur raised an eyebrow curiously at him.

     "What do you mean expand?"

     "Starting a war." Something flashed in Alfred's eyes when he said that. He had a smirk on his face, making him look much crueler then he usually was.

     "Alfred, that's absurd! There are other ways to acquire land."

     "Arthur, we don't have kids to marry off and no one would want to combine land with a small island, they have nothing to gain. But we are really powerful and a war would be the only way. We'd get to expand our land and maybe even get to run more experiments." Alfred's smirk changed into a grin as he thought of all the possibilities. 

     "You don't need a war to try out new experiments, you know this."

     "Arthur, you are missing the point! This is chance for people to know who's boss! We could use the extra space Arthur, can't you just see it? If we had more space we would no longer need to rely on trade."

     "But then we would completely wipe out a kingdom and we wouldn't be as powerful because then we would have to distribute our magical ore." Arthur watched as Alfred furrowed his eyebrows at the possibilities of Arthur's words, as if it didn't cross his mind before.

     "They would still keep their ore, then our kingdom would have two types of magic, double or triple size and we'd have more people! We could train them and have an even bigger military, no one would stop us," Alfred's voice grew desperate and quick as he was speaking to Arthur, he wanted Arthur to see his side, he needed Arthur to agree with him.

     "Alfred, I don't want you starting this war! You are glorifying something awful, we are lucky to have held peace for this long. Please don't start it," Arthur was begging that Alfred would listen to him. He hoped and prayed.

     Alfred sighed before nodding. "I understand Artie, I won't go and start this war." And he left the room disappointed, unlike how he entered.

      Alfred walked into his office and started at the date marked on a calendar. On May 18th, there would be a meeting in Clubs with all four kingdoms regarding things to keep the peace between the kingdoms and it would be the perfect day to give his gift. Alfred smirked to himself about his plan.

    Arthur was pulled aside by Yao after lunch. Arthur stared at Yao and raised an eyebrow, wondering what made Yao look so worried.

    "What is it Yao? You seem very worried?"

    "It's Alfred, he seems very...out of character," Yao said, keeping his voice low.

     "I understand what you mean. He came to me earlier, glorifying a war between the kingdoms. That's so unlike him, he always talk about how the peace between the kingdoms has allowed us to prosper."

     "It's strange but I say we keep a close eye on him, who knows what else could change."

     Arthur agreed. The two would keep a close eye on Alfred and observe the changes in his behavior. Over the next few months they became more and more apparent. Alfred was no longer this child-like king. He handled things with more maturity and severity. He was more sly and cunning. He was no longer loving with his touch or when he held Arthur. Arthur would rarely see Alfred anymore, as he would be in his office making drafts and plans for something that he would never give details on anymore. When Arthur did see him, Alfred rarely talked and rarely paid attention to his queen, which was very unlike him since he always acted like a puppy begging for attention.

May 17th, xxxx, Spades

      Arthur walked out towards the training grounds for the knights where Alfred was. Arthur kept thinking about how different Alfred was being and how he could fix it. He stopped close to where Alfred was talking to a group of around 20 knights who where dressed for battle, ultimately confusing Arthur, so he listened closely.

     "Remember your order men. Don't do too much but make it obvious we were there, we want them to know this gift is from us. You are dismissed, come home soon." And with that last sentence Alfred started walking back to the castle, where he saw Arthur waiting and listening.

       "What are you sending those knights to do?"

       "A formal apology in gifts for Diamonds and Hearts for my strange behavior the last visits I made," Alfred said, wrapping his arms around Arthur and kissing his cheek. Arthur believed him because the touch didn't feel loveless. It was almost as if he had his Alfred back but this was far from the truth, he just adapted to faking it.

      That night they made their way to Clubs for the meeting and were there to attend in the morning. No one at the table paid attention to the weird behavior Alfred displayed. Alfred was smirking that entire meeting and no one knew why.