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Ludwig’s POV

“Damn it Ludwig, stop walking so fast! I’m tired, and if you keep walking fast then I’m going to make you carry me! This whole idea was your stupid plan anyway!”
I turned around to see Romano slowly walking behind me, struggling to keep up with me as I ran. As much as I wanted Romano to hurry up and stop walking so slow, I didn’t want to have to carry him, so I waited for him to catch up with me.
Once he was standing beside me, I continued walking at the same pace he was. I could hear him breathing heavily from the running we’d been doing, and I could see our breath puffing up into misty clouds in the air. It was freezing outside, and we’d been walking for days.
“We should be getting close to King Ivan’s castle now. Hopefully your parents, Gilbert, and my parents will be there.” I said.
I heard Romano angrily grumble, “You better hope they’re there.”
We continued walking, progressing closer to the castle.

*Flashback*

Romano’s POV

Ludwig has been quiet all day. Ever since we woke up this morning, he’s stayed silent. It’s kind of strange, the way he’s moping around. If anything, I should be the one upset, since my parents have to help that idiota Gilbert attack King Ivan’s castle.
I walked upstairs to my room and expected to see Ludwig sitting on his cot, feeling sorry for himself like he always does. When I walked into the room I noticed that Ludwig was sitting on my bed instead of his cot.
“What the hell are you doing on my bed?!? Just because I let you sleep there last night doesn’t mean I’ll let you sleep there again, or that you can start sitting on it! Go back to your damn cot!”
Ludwig sighed and got off my bed, and then he sat down on his cot. He sat there for several minutes, with his eyes focusing on the floor. He looked deep in thought, or something stupid like that.
I groaned and flopped down onto my bed. “I’m so bored; there’s nothing to do!” I sat up and looked over at Ludwig. “Hey idiota, think of something fun to do so I won’t be so bored!”
Ludwig’s thoughts were interrupted by my yelling, and he remained quiet for a long time. After a long pause, he started talking.
“…I’m really worried about Bruder…I’m thinking about going to the Snow Kingdom to help with the attack.”
“But mama told us to stay here while she, papa, and your brother attack! Idiota, if you go alone you’ll get killed! Not that I would care, or anything…”
Ludwig smirked slightly at my denial. Even if I didn’t want him to know that I actually would care if he was killed during the attack, he could tell that I was lying.
Ludwig got off his cot and walked over to my closet. He opened the closet door and started taking all my jackets and coats out, and he laid all of them down on his cot.
“Hey, what are you doing?!? Put those back!” I ran over to him and tried to make him put the clothes back in the closet, but he refused to.
“I’m going to have to borrow some of your jackets and coats. It’s cold in the Snow Kingdom, and I don’t have any of my clothes to bring along with me.”
“What?!? You’ve been living in my house, sleeping in my room, and I’ve even let you sleep in my bed, and now you’re wanting me to let you borrow some clothes? Hell no!”
Ludwig ignored me and continued to take coats out of my closet. He got out all the jackets and coats he could find, and then he started to put on several of them.
I angrily started to put jackets and coats on too. I didn’t like giving in to Ludwig like this, but I didn’t feel like getting in another fight with him, so I just let him have the clothes. Once we were both wearing several jackets and coats, Ludwig walked out of my room and started walking downstairs. He’d gotten to know the castle more yesterday, so he didn’t have to follow me around as much now.
“W-Wait up, idiota! I’m coming too!” I yelled after him. I ran down the stairs after him, and I finally caught up to him once we were both outside.
Ludwig heard me yelling at him, and he turned around. “I thought you said you weren’t coming with me to the Snow Kingdom?”
I crossed my arms and huffed. The stupid potato eater was trying to make me mad; he was rubbing in the fact that I’d changed my mind and I was agreeing to come with him on his stupid journey to the Snow Kingdom.
Ludwig could sense my anger, so he stopped asking questions and we both remained quiet. We left the castle grounds and we headed north towards the Snow Kingdom.

*End Flashback*

Ludwig’s POV

Looking off into the distance, I could just barely see the castle. I was close enough to see the outline of its tall towers protruding into the sky, but it was still quite a distance away from where Romano and I were.
Romano must’ve noticed the castle too, because he picked up his walking pace and started running. I ran after him, and we both ran until we were at the castle.
Once approaching the castle, we could both hear the clinks of swords striking one another, and we could hear the wails of men. We warily walked over to a tree and hid behind the tree’s trunk.
We watched as hundreds of men fought one another. The fluffy, white snow that covered the ground was tainted red by the blood of the soldiers fighting.
It was then that I realized I hadn’t brought any weapons with me to protect myself with. Romano hadn’t brought any weapons with him either, so we were both vulnerable to our enemies. We would have to be extra careful not to be seen or caught by our enemies, because if we were, we’d be helpless.
I heard Romano whimper behind me, and I turned to see him crying.
Romano was always making fun of me for crying, and he always talked about how I cry too much. Now Romano was cowering behind me while he watched blood fly everywhere as men were struck with their enemy’s sword.
Of course, I wasn’t enjoying watching the men fight, and I was very scared too, so I felt bad for Romano and felt his pain.
Romano had shown me sympathy when I had been crying that one night in his room where he let me sleep in his bed, so I decided I should at least attempt to show some compassion to him. I took his hand and stepped closer to him, hoping that feeling my contact and having someone close to him would help him feel a little better.
To my surprise, Romano accepted me holding his hand, and he didn’t let go. Actually, Romano started to squeeze my hand really hard, almost like he was thankful for me holding his hand.
As I looked around, I tried to find a way for us to enter the castle without being seen. The front door to the castle was blocked by several soldiers fighting each other, so we’d have to find another way to get inside.
I noticed a balcony that was somewhat low to the ground, which had a door leading inside the castle. If we climbed up there, we’d be able to enter the castle without as much of a risk of being caught.
I led Romano over to the balcony. “Here, I’ll help lift you up to the balcony, and then once you’re up there, you can help pull me up, ok?”
Romano nodded and I lifted him onto my shoulders. He could just barely reach the balcony, but he managed to pull himself up. He turned around and held his hands out to me. I grabbed his hands and he pulled me up onto the balcony with him.
“Ok, let’s go inside now.” I told him.
Romano simply nodded and followed me as I opened the door and entered the castle. He was being very quiet suddenly, which was very unlike him. I assumed it was probably because he was scared, so I held hands with him again to make him feel better.
The two of us looked around the castle hallway we had just entered. The floor was made of gray marble, and there was a dark blue rug embroidered with silver thread covering most of the floor. The walls were made of the same gray marble as the floors, and there were huge mosaic windows on them. The sunlight casting through the windows made them radiate with bright colors, and they helped light up the almost entirely dark hallway. This entire section of the castle was eerily quiet, and it made Romano and me fidget uncomfortably as we progressed onward through the castle.
“…Hey, Ludwig?” Romano finally started talking again.
“Yes Romano? What is it?”
Romano paused for a moment, and then he started talking again. “…I didn’t see mama or papa outside fighting. I didn’t see your brother, either. What if something happened to them?”
Romano was acting so quiet and upset, he almost seemed to be a different person. He was acting somewhat nice, and I’d never thought it was possible for him to be nice. I could tell he was really scared; why else would he be acting like this?
We walked at a brisk pace, hoping we wouldn’t be caught. After walking to the end of the huge hallway, we saw several doors. We quietly opened one of them and looked inside.
The door was in the corner of what appeared to be King Ivan’s throne room. We could see him sitting on his throne, and thankfully he didn’t notice us standing in the doorway off to the side.
A huge set of doors across from us in the far side of the room opened. My eyes widened when I saw who it was.
Bruder!!!
I wanted to run up to him and hug him, kiss him, and cry. Bruder was alive! I wanted to shout out to him so he would see me, but I couldn’t. If King Ivan noticed Romano and me standing in the corner, he’d probably try to kill us.
Bruder ran to the middle of the room and unsheathed his sword. “I’ve come to save my parents! Let them go; I know you have them here!”
King Ivan shot an innocent glance at Bruder. “You’re coming rather late to save them, da? It’s been many years since I took them from you, so what took you so long to come?”
Bruder waved his sword closer to King Ivan. “I was too young to plan a decent attack back then, and my army wasn’t strong enough to attack! But I’m here now, and I demand that you let my parents go!”
King Ivan laughed. “It looks like you’re still struggling to make a decent attack plan, and your army is by no means stronger than mine. I’m not letting your parents go. You can live without them, da? You’ve lived without them for such a long time now, I think you can manage.”
Bruder growled in anger. “You better let them go, or else you’ll regret your decision to ever hold them hostage! Besides, why do you want them, anyway?”
“What would you do if I refused to let them go?”
“I’d…!” Bruder remained silent. He didn’t know how to answer the question.
King Ivan laughed again. “Your plan is worse thought out than I thought.”
Annoyed and embarrassed, bruder looked down at his sword. He watched how it reflected light as he moved it. It’s sleek blade was clean and didn’t have a single scratch.
Suddenly, bruder let out a loud yell and he ran up to King Ivan. He tried to thrust his sword into King Ivan, but King Ivan was able to dodge the attack. Bruder ran back to where he’d been standing before he tried to stab King Ivan, and he watched as King Ivan walked up to him. Bruder tried to stab him again, but King Ivan managed to dodge the attack. He grabbed bruder’s arm and pulled the sword out of his hand.
Bruder looked alarmed and tried to get away from King Ivan, but it was too late. King Ivan swiftly stabbed the sword into Bruder’s side.
I gasped and tears started forming in my eyes as I stared in horror at what had just happened. Romano did the same.
Bruder was gasping and his breath was elaborated. His body convulsed, and he collapsed onto his knees. Blood was quickly covering the floor and seeping into the blue carpet bruder was on. Bruder coughed and wheezed.
“I’m keeping your parents here because I want to take over the Teutonic Kingdom. I was waiting for the right time to attack your castle and kidnap you and your brother, but it looks like you got the chance to attack me first. It doesn’t matter though, because you’re going to die now, and your brother won’t be capable to rule your Kingdom. I’ll be able to take over The Teutonic Kingdom now, da?” King Ivan chuckled to himself.
The doors that Bruder had entered the room through several minutes ago slung open. Mrs. (Reader Name) and Mr. Antonio ran into the room. Their eyes widened in terror as they saw Bruder with blood coming out of his side, struggling to breathe.
Romano and I were crying hard, but we managed to remain silent. I hugged Romano close to me, and he hugged me back. He buried his head into my shoulder, trying his best not to watch what was going on. This was so unlike him, but I was happy he was being so nice to me now. It felt good to have him comfort me.
Bruder continued gasping for air for a few seconds, and then he turned his head towards Romano and me. He looked very surprised to see us, but he smiled. His trademark smirk was still on his face, like it always was. Even through all the pain he was experiencing, he still managed to smile.
His body convulsed again, and he collapsed onto his side. I closed my eyes and hugged Romano tighter as I tried not to notice Bruder’s raspy breathing and small whimpers of pain.