After the not so successful date with Lady Hamilton’s daughter, Alfred and Yao had to put up with the lower court members trying to interfere once more in the hopes to find their King a suitable consort. Apparently they were shocked that neither Alfred of Lady Hamilton’s daughter were interested in each other, believing that they were a sure thing, and now they were desperate to seek out another maiden for their young King to woo. They did learn that Lady Hamilton herself had just found out that her daughter was interested in someone else and was glad that the whole thing was called off, apparently she herself was just keen to get her daughter into a relationship.

That didn’t stop the lower court members from pleading with the Jack to aid them in finding someone else. Surprisingly Yao actually ordered them all to drop the whole thing and focus on more important matters, arguing that Alfred was still too young for a relationship and forcing him to date someone he didn’t like would only cause him stress. That and he was sick and tired of having to listen to them whine about the whole thing, claiming it was now giving him grey hairs. Alfred was just thankful that they were now going to leave him alone and let him get on with his personal life.

He was also feeling a little better regarding Arthur, though he couldn’t deny he was still a little worried about him, what with that man he apparently lived under and worked for. The stuff he said about being used to it didn’t sit well with him, and the fact that he turned down his offer to move out and live at his place also concerned him a little. How did Arthur end up in that situation anyway? Why live there with such a horrible landlord? He just hoped that whilst he wasn’t there the horrid man wouldn’t show up, and if he did he could only hope Arthur would take his advice.

To try and keep his worries out of his mind, Alfred decided to do some planning. It was late in the morning and he strolled around the palace grounds with Yao following close by, talking about a PR event they had planned out yesterday. Yao got in contact with a local school who were hoping on holding a fair on their school grounds, but the school was too small to hold one, so Yao suggested they hold it at the palace in one of their gardens. It would look good for both the school and for Alfred’s reputation, even though he was quite popular amongst his people. Still giving it a little boost wouldn’t hurt.

“It’s at the end of the week,” explained Yao as he looked over his notes, “which is good because the following week is when the other Kingdoms will arrive for the dinner party.”

Alfred whistled. “It’s already been two weeks?”

“Since you last saw the Diamond King?”

Actually he had been thinking that it had been two weeks since he had been going to visit Arthur, though of course Yao didn’t know that. “Yeah, I guess. I wonder how Francis is doing anyway.”

“You’ll find out at the end of the week,” answered Yao, “he’s coming the day before the school fair.”

Alfred almost forgot. “He did mention he was coming a few days early.”

“Yes, and then on the day after the fair is when the Ludwig will arrive and the day after him is when Ivan will arrive.” Yao flipped through his notes once more to find the information he needed. “As tradition dictates they will stay here until the dinner party and then return to their respective Kingdoms the following day.”

“We’re going to be busy,” chuckled Alfred.

“The rooms are ready to go, but can we inspect them the day before they arrive? We don’t want what happened over in the Heart Kingdom when they hosted it to happen here.”

“Oh yeah!” Alfred burst out laughing. “What happened again? The Heart Jack guy, he hid his lunch under one of the beds and forgot about it?”

Yao even smirked a little for he had been there and watched the whole thing unfold. “Apparently Ludwig had put him on a diet and he had been sneaking large pasta dishes into one of the guest rooms. Francis was the one who discovered it after he noticed the stench.”

“Well I don’t have to worry about you doing that.”

“I was actually worried you would.”

Alfred made a mock gasp of shock. “I’d never hide my food under a bed!”

“No, you’d stuff it down your throat.”

The pair of them shared a rare chuckle and they continued to plan out the upcoming events. Eventually the afternoon had arrived and after a quick lunch Alfred decided to take another walk but this time by himself. He wandered into one of the gardens and found himself comparing it to Arthur’s. Everything in Arthur’s garden seemed alive and breathing but here in one of his gardens it just felt like a large patch of green with neatly arrange plants. It just felt dull compared to Arthur’s, there was even a rose bush that looked just a pretty as the ones Arthur grew but they felt so... ordinary. Alfred couldn’t quite explain it.

Alfred then started visiting the other gardens and just like with the first one, he found them all boring despite being filled with gorgeous plants and exotic flowers. How did Arthur manage to make his garden, that was in a small place, feel like something out of a fairytale? That was the only way he could think of to describe it, Arthur’s garden just felt enchanted and full of vibrant life. Maybe he was just that good of a gardener.

“I bet if he worked in my gardens he’d make them all feel like that.”

He continued to explore every single garden that was in the palace, from the ones that were too big for him to explore entirely to the small ones that were used to entertain private guests, and he even ended up in the Elder Tree garden. From one of the balconies overlooking it he gazed down at the flowers that surrounded the tree, all of them in bloom with butterflies fluttering about. The tree itself was just as beautiful, with its silver bark and blue leaves that glowed even in the daylight.

There was still something off about that tree, but Alfred shrugged it off and continued with his walk. “I wonder if Arthur could grow one of those?”

As the day dragged on Alfred decided to go to the library to seek out a book about trees, hoping he could recognise the ones Arthur was growing.

“Maybe they’re those trees that grow in the Heart Kingdom,” he pondered aloud. “What were they called? Sakura trees? No, they have pink petals... or maybe the one he’s growing are a special type of sakura trees that have purple ones?”

Reaching the library door, he pushed it opened and walked into the very garden he had been thinking about, with birds and butterflies fluttering around him and the flowers looked like they were glowing as the sun hit them. Once more he had arrived in Arthur’s garden with no warning. He wasn’t even surprised anymore, it was like it was a part of his life now and he was beginning to doubt he’d ever find the reason why he was constantly coming here, not that he was complaining.

“Nice to see you again.”

Alfred looked over to see Arthur sitting at his garden table doing some embroidery, pausing to wave at him. Not even he seemed surprised anymore, as if he had just accepted that Alfred appearing in his garden out of the blue was now something that was definitely going to happen every day, and it didn’t seem to bother him.

“Ditto,” replied Alfred as he approached him. “How is the hand by the way?”

Arthur’s left hand now only had a single bandage upon it and from the look of his needlework it had been healing nicely. “Just a scar that will eventually fade,” he answered, “I’ve used herbs to speed up the healing process.”

That was good to hear at least and Arthur appeared in much better spirits. Alfred felt awkward for some reason the longer he stood there in silence so he glanced over at the fast growing trees and made another attempt to name them. “Ok, are they Sakura trees?”

That guess made Arthur laugh. “Good heavens no.”

“Dammit,” huffed Alfred, snapping his fingers.

“I always wanted to grow a Sakura tree but they’d take forever to grow,” sighed Arthur. “In the spring they’re completely pink and when their petals fall it’s like snow. At least that’s what I heard.”

Alfred recalled the time he went to the Heart Kingdom as a child and was shown around an orchard filled with nothing but pink trees, their petals littering the floor. It was as if the whole world had turned pink. “They are a pretty sight.”

“You know, there is an interesting legend surrounding that particular tree.” Arthur was smirking wickedly. “Did you know that the petal of a Sakura tree was originally white?”

“Was it?” As already established, Alfred wasn’t that knowledgeable about trees.

“Yes, until one day a Sakura tree was planted in a battlefield and its roots drank up the blood from the corpses of the fallen soldiers, turning the petals pink.”

Alfred took a cautionary step back. “W-What?”

“That’s way if you ever see a pink Sakura tree, it means that a corpse is buried underneath it.” Arthur was giving off a creepy aura as he chuckled. “Wouldn’t surprise me if they came back to life just to get their precious blood back.”

Alfred shivered where he stood, thinking back to that day in the Heart Kingdom, thinking about the hundreds of trees he saw and the thousands of petals that covered the ground. Did he actually walk through a giant graveyard where the trees drank the blood from the bodies buried beneath them? He even ate one of the petals out of curiosity. Did he eat blood!? His mind began to fill with thoughts of living corpses dragging themselves out of the roots, determined to find blood to fill their rotting bodies, dragging him into their graves where the roots would dig into his own body to drain him of his precious body fluids.

Arthur began laughing when he noticed how terrified Alfred looked. “It’s just a legend you silly idiot, it’s not true.”

“Argh, you meanie!” Alfred hated it when he was made a fool of. Still he was relieved that it wasn’t true, he wouldn’t be able to handle the nightmares from that.

“Sorry, but you’re too easy to scare.”

“That doesn’t mean you can tell me stories like that. I have a very active imagination.”

“Nothing wrong with that.”

“It is when I’m trying to get a good nights sleep.”

Alfred huffed and sat down opposite Arthur as he continued to sew away. Glancing at the stitch work Alfred couldn’t help but marvel at the pretty patterns upon the white material. Now that he thought about it, Arthur seemed to have been brought up exceptionally well. He had vast knowledge of many things, had skills with reading, writing, sewing and gardening, spoke with a dignified voice and wore clothes that only nobles would wear. If Alfred remembered correctly Arthur stared that he lived in a forest in his youth, and he was now curious as to how Arthur became this way.

“Didn’t you tell me you lived in a forest as a kid?” asked Alfred, wanting to know the full story.

“Hmm? Oh yes I did,” replied Arthur, “for a little while at least.”

“What happened after a little while?”

Arthur continued to sew as he answered Alfred’s query. “I told you that I sold firewood to make a little money? Well when I was around ten years old I caught the attention of the owner of a local library. He took pity on me so he allowed me to live in the library as long as I kept everything neat and tidy.”

“So a roof over your head in exchange for a little labour.”

“I enjoyed it actually. He was old anyway and he couldn’t handle all the work nor afford to hire anyone. He even made me some decent meals from time to time. When I wasn’t cleaning or organising I got to read all the books I wanted. Those books were my teachers and I learned a lot from them.”

“I take it they didn’t have a section on cooking?” Alfred snorted at his own joke.

“They did actually,” huffed Arthur, scowling a little, “I just happened to be more interested in the history section. Anyway I practically owned that library, though I did go to the forest every now and then to visit the faeries.” Arthur ignored the way Alfred rolled his eyes at that comment. “They even had this special class where boys from a local finishing school would visit and I used to spy on their lessons, I learned so much from those sessions. I really enjoyed that place, it was probably what I’d call my first true home.”

As Arthur began to loose himself on the nostalgia of his memories, Alfred was kind of glad he got to learn more about him. It did explain a few things at least, he was self taught and that was kind of admirable. He himself had tutors to teach him and he hated it.

“So... how did you end up here?”

Arthur paused his work. “Oh... um... it sort of happened out of the blue. I was eighteen years of age and I was walking back to the library with some new books from the post office and then... I had to leave.”

That’s it? “What do you mean you had to leave?”

“I... just couldn’t work there anymore.” Arthur now looked sad. “I then came here and been working here ever since. It’s not exactly the same... well at least I have a garden, back at the library I could only grow some flowers on my windowsill.” He then lowered his embroidery and stared into space with a frown.

From the way he spoke it sounded like he didn’t really want to talk about it anymore. He couldn’t really fault him on that, he had a decent place to live and then all of a sudden he had to leave it all behind for some unknown reason, and it sounded like he didn’t want to leave it. Maybe the library burned down or maybe the old guy who ran it died and the new owner didn’t want Arthur working there anymore. Whatever the reason Alfred decided to drop it and change the subject.

“Hey, I’m actually hosting a fair at the end of the week,” declared Alfred, the school fair being the first thing to pop into his head, “it’s for these schoolchildren and we’re going to have all sorts of rides and games and stands that sell delicious snacks! It’s going to be a blast!”

At first Alfred wondered if this was actually a good topic to bring up after that sort of bitter tale, but Arthur looked intrigued. “I always wanted to visit a fair,” he stated with a smile. “The place where I used to live didn’t host any and nearest ones were too far for me to walk to.”

“We’re going to have all sorts of things, like cotton candy machines, and entertainers for the kids, and in the evening we’re setting off fireworks!”

“Sounds like fun.”

“Oh it will be,” promised Alfred with a broad grin, “I’m going to make certain those kids have a party that they’ll never forget. It’ll be a party they’ll tell their grandkids.”

Arthur chuckled at Alfred’s overbearing confidence. “You sound like an eccentric host. I’m certain those children will have the time of their lives if you’re in charge, just don’t eat all the cotton candy.”

Alfred would’ve retorted against that, but he couldn’t help but notice that Arthur wasn’t trying to invite himself. He did just state that he always wanted to go to one, so why wasn’t he asking Alfred if he could come along. In fact, why didn’t he think of that before? A light bulb just lit up in his mind and it was as if it was lighting up the whole world with how brilliant the idea was. He should’ve just asked Arthur if they could meet up for real, instead of him continuously warping to his garden. He doubted Arthur lived that far away, from the looks of the weather he lived somewhere in the south, maybe near the Diamond Kingdom. This was a great idea!

“Why don’t you come?”

That request made Arthur miss a stitch and he glanced up at Alfred with a surprised look. “Me?”

“Who else,” chuckled Alfred. “It’s at the end of the week. I know it’s for kids but I have another friend around your age coming and you two might hit it off.”

Arthur seemed to appreciate the idea but he didn’t appear overly enthusiastic about it. He placed his embroidery down and drummed his fingers along the table. “I-I don’t think I could make it.”

Alfred felt his heart sink at that response. “Why not?”

“I’ll... probably be busy... with work. No, I will be busy with work. Sorry but I’ll have to decline. Plus I doubt those children would want a bore of a man like me around.”

That sounded like an excuse he made up on the spot and Alfred could not help feel suspicious about it. “Well how about another time? We can meet up, can’t we?”

“I’m... er... that is...” Arthur couldn’t seem to form a sentence and he was looking around frantically. “Oh! I forgot, I g-got to water Beatrice over there! If y-you’ll excuse me.”

Watching him scramble off and snatching up a nearby watering can, Alfred was now certain that Arthur was making up excuses, it was ridiculously obvious. Why though? Did he not want to meet up? Why not? It didn’t make sense. Determined to get an answer Alfred followed Arthur, finding him watering some flowers whilst trying desperately to ignore him.

“Don’t you have a free day at all this week?” he asked.

“Did you know these flowers only bloom in certain conditions? You have to grow it with a particular fertiliser otherwise it won’t reach its full potential.”

Alfred scowled, annoyed that Arthur was now trying to change the topic. “Don’t you want to meet up? If you can’t afford to travel I can send you out some money.”

“Money isn’t an issue,” stated Arthur with a nervous laugh, “oh, I got to water Duncan, excuse me.”

Alfred sighed as Arthur dashed off again so he continued to follow him. “So then why don’t you want to meet up? We should’ve done it ages ago, I think we can arrange it.”

Arthur drummed his fingers along the watering can, biting his bottom lip as he tried to think of a reason. He wouldn’t even look at Alfred as he spoke. “I live in an isolated area, too far away from anywhere, it would take me days to reach any major city.”

That sounded like another terrible excuse. “I can send out a vehicle,” retorted Alfred.

“I need to tend to my garden, it could wilt away whilst I’m gone.”

“You’ll be gone for a day at most, it’ll be fine.”

“Y-Yes, but I have rare plants here that need constant attention.”

“Surely you can get someone to watch it whilst you’re away.”

“I can’t just let anyone tend to my garden.”

“I’m sure anyone could handle it.”

“I don’t think they could.”

Alfred couldn’t take it anymore, no matter what he said Arthur continued to come up with insane reasons as to why he couldn’t go. “Why don’t you want to come?”

Arthur didn’t look at him and he fiddled with the watering can in his hands. “It’s not that I don’t want to... I’d love to but-...”

“But why not? I want to meet you!”

That made Arthur look up but he appeared confused. “But we always meet-...”

“I mean for real,” explained Alfred desperately, “I want to meet you in person.”

Hearing this from Alfred made Arthur’s face suddenly glow a bright shade of red and he dropped the watering can, the contents spilling onto the grass. At first Alfred wasn’t certain why he was making such an expression or why he dropped the watering can until it suddenly dawned on him what he just said. His own cheeks began to flush and he opened his mouth to say something but he couldn’t. Why did he say that? Well it was what he wanted to say but now that he thought about it, it sounded really embarrassing. He meant it, he really did want to meet Arthur for real, but why did he feel strange about admitting it? His heart was beating so loud that he was afraid Arthur was going to hear it he had to say something, he had to clear the air up, he had to get rid of this awkward tension.

Just as he was about to open his mouth, another voice rang through the garden. “KIRKLAND!”

The pair of them looked up and Alfred glared at the individual who was approaching, the horrid man from before. Glancing over at Arthur he could see the dread building up in his eyes and at how tense his body got. He knew that he had told Arthur to stand up for himself but he also knew that it wasn’t enough, he was going to need some moral support.

Completely forgetting about that strange moment between them, Alfred jumped in front of Arthur, knowing the horrid man couldn’t see him. He snapped his fingers to get Arthur’s full attention and gave him a smile of confidence. “Ok, relax. Remember what we talked about? Don’t let this guy walk all over you, both figuratively and literally. Get angry if you need to! Scare him.”

“But-...”

“No buts!”

“Again with this farce?” The horrid man now stood before Arthur and he was looking particularly fed up. “Why is it that the moment I turn my back, you’re playing pretend yet again? This is your last warning Arthur.”

Arthur squeezed his own arm and tried not to cower. He quickly glanced over at Alfred, who gave him a couple of thumb ups of reassurance, before looking back at the man. “Apologies,” he said politely. “I was just thinking out loud.”

The man raised a single brow, he seemed to notice something was off. “Now, I’m having a special visitor coming. I take it I don’t need to tell you what I need?”

“Yes, of course,” replied Arthur, doing a good job on keeping calm. “I just need to go get-...”

“No need.” The man then pulled out a pair of scissors from one of his pockets. Arthur made an “Oh” sound and reached for them but the man didn’t hand them over. “You don’t give me enough, I think it’ll be best if I take what I need from now on.”

Alfred noticed the mortified look on Arthur’s face. “Tell him no,” he demanded. “Tell him to go to hell!”

“Not now,” spat Arthur, forgetting the man was within ear shot.

“What do you mean by that?” The man looked irritated. “You know damn well why I need this.”

Arthur straightened himself out. “I-I mean, I’d prefer to cut my own hair if you don’t mind.” Alfred once again have him a thumbs up.

The man looked angered at the subtle comeback and at first Alfred was worried he’d do something drastic. Thankfully he didn’t and he calmly handed over the scissors without uttering another word. So far it seemed to be going well, but Alfred had a hunch that this guy was unpredictable and he might do something in the next second, so he remained on his toes. He watched as Arthur snipped off some of his hair and reached out to hand it over.

However, just as the man took both the hair sample and scissors from Arthur with one hand, he used his other hand to grab Arthur’s wrist. “I see this healed up quickly,” he muttered, inspecting the hand that he had injured the other day, twisting it around and ignoring how uncomfortable it was making its owner.

Arthur was trying to hold in a wince of pain and Alfred knew that needed to quickly change. “Take your hand back! Pull it away! Punch him with it if you have to.” At first Arthur didn’t listen to him for he was too scared of the consequences, but when Alfred noticed at how tight the man held his wrist he shouted at Arthur once more. “I told you to pull it back,” he cried, right into Arthur’s ear.

It did the trick and Arthur flinched from the sudden scream in his ear and jerked his arm back, surprising the man. “Don’t shout in my ear,” hissed Arthur, discreetly glaring at Alfred.

“What did you say!?” The man was now angry with Arthur’s behaviour and stepped a little closer.

“Tell him to go screw himself,” instructed Alfred, who was now getting carried away and smiling like a madman. “Tell him his breath smells like mouldy cheese and dog crap mixed in a bowl of rotten eggs.”

“No,” snapped Arthur, who seemed to forget that only he could see and hear Alfred.

“No what!?” The man now looking both mad and bewildered.

Before Arthur could explain himself, Alfred jumped in again. “Tell him his nose is too big!”

“No way, now go away!”

“What did you just say to me!?”

“Say his hair is looks like a dead animal coated in grease!”

“You’re being ridiculous!”

“Ridiculous!? Me?”

“He really does look ridiculous, right Arthur?”

“I swear to god if you don’t stop-...”

“What is wrong with you Kirkland!?”

“He should look in the mirror and ask himself that.”

“Shut up!”

“Did you just tell me to shut up!? How dare you!”

“Aw, I think someone’s a little cranky! Ha, ha, ha, ha!”

Arthur went red with rage, unable to deal with that wretched voice in his ear any longer as well as trying to focus his attention on one of them, and Alfred’s laughter only made it worse. “Shut up you idiot,” he shouted, stamping his foot down. “Why can’t you just shut your damn trap for one second! Can’t you see I’m in the middle of doing something? Do you not have a brain in that thick skull of yours? Do you have any idea how annoying your voice is!? It’s unbelievably rude what you’re doing and I swear to god if you do it again, I’m going to curse you with the darkest curse I know, and it’ll be so bad you’ll be wetting the bed out of fear every single damn night, you complete and utter idiotic twat!”

Arthur’s surprise rant stunned both Alfred and the horrid man, causing the pair of them to take a step back, his voice still echoing off the tall walls around them. Arthur himself just realised what he did and slapped a hand over his mouth, his face still red but now from embarrassment. He glanced over at Alfred first before looking at the other man, who was completely and utterly speechless. Nothing happened for a good minute and Alfred was a little worried as to what the man might do, starting to regret for pushing Arthur too far.

The man then scowled and raised a hand at Arthur. “Don’t you ever speak to me like that again!” And with that he stomped off.

Alfred watched him leave and couldn’t help but laugh, noticing that he was walking very fast. That was it? That was his retort after hearing all that? Arthur’s rant must’ve scared him or at the very least it shocked him so much he couldn’t even form a proper threat. It was prove that the man was clearly all bark and no bite and now that Arthur showed off his fangs, he took off with his tail between his legs whilst trying to maintain whatever dignity he had left.

Turning back to face Arthur, he couldn’t help but snort when he found him with his hand still plastered over his mouth and looking completely stunned after what he did. “Look at you,” chuckled Alfred, “you did it, you stood up to him.”

“I can’t believe I said that,” mumbled Arthur, still in shock.

“Did you see his face? He looked like he wet himself!”

“I can’t believe I said that,” repeated Arthur.

“And you scared me too! I thought you were being serious about the whole cursing thing!”

“I can’t believe I said that.”

“I knew you could do it! Nice going Arthur, I could hug you!”

Then without warning, Alfred opened his arms and tried to embrace him. Arthur flinched when he noticed the oncoming hug, but instead of grabbing him Alfred just phased through his body and fell flat on his face.

“Argh... I forgot,” groaned Alfred as he pushed himself up, remembering that he couldn’t touch Arthur.

It was then that he heard laughter. Looking up from the ground he found Arthur was no longer in complete and utter shock but he was now laughing his head off. Alfred wasn’t sure if it was to do with what he said to the horrid man or if it was to do with the fact that he failed to hug him, but seeing Arthur laugh like a child set him off, snorting before he exploded into a fit of giggles. The pair of them laughed louder than they ever had before, and they continued until they forgot what made them laugh in the first place.

—————————

Finishing his dinner, Alfred wiped his lips clean before he stretched out his arms and yawned. The sun had already set and the palace was starting to become silent as the staff finished up for the day. It had been a long day and despite not doing much, Alfred was now very tired and his belly was full, the young King now craving his soft bed. He thanked the stewards for their excellent service, requesting them to thank the chef on his behalf, and then took off for an early night.

He did take a book from the library with him, one that contained a vast knowledge of trees. Alfred was determined to figure out what trees Arthur was growing but there was no real rush, plus he kind of enjoyed the little game. Maybe he’d read it little before going to sleep if his eyes permitted him to do so.

“Going to bed already?”

Alfred bumped into Yao, who had a bundle of papers in his arms. “Are you still working?” snorted Alfred, a little concerned that Yao never really took a proper break. “You need to relax once in a while Yao, I can’t have my Jack getting overworked and stressed on me.”

“Oh these?” Yao held them up with a proud smile. “These are my recipes that I’m planning on publishing. I’ve just finished them.”

“I didn’t know you could cook,” gasped Alfred.

“Of course I can,” gloated Yao, “it’s my stress reliever believe it or not. Speaking of which, what have you been doing to relieve your stress?”

“My stress?”

Yao shrugged. “I’m not sure why but these past couple of days you seem to be more relaxed than you were a few months ago. Well whatever it is, I hope you stick to it.” With a yawn of his own, the Jack excused himself and went to retire for the evening.

Alfred bid him goodnight and as he continued to walk to his room he thought back to his time in Arthur’s garden and what Arthur said to him before he returned to the palace.

“Maybe one day I’ll come visit you. I don’t mind the meetings we have now, but I too would like to meet you in person.”

Remembering those words made Alfred smile and he looked forward to the day when he and Arthur would meet in person, and when they finally did he was going to give him that hug wether he wanted it or not.