Chapter Text
“There you are!” Hubert looked up from his book to see Ferdinand’s face pouting, arms crossed. “I’ve… I have been looking everywhere for you!” He looked around, suddenly confused. “Where is Edelgard?”
“Lady Edelgard is playing with her younger sisters right now.” He immediately went back to reading his book. “Leave her in peace.”
Ferdinand sat next to Hubert, and it took all of his willpower not to sigh. If it were not raining outside, he would have happily gone to his usual secluded spot to read, mostly because Ferdinand had yet to discover it. “You may sit there as long as you like, but even if you manage to find her on your own in this vast dwelling, I doubt you would play with them.”
Ferdinand’s arms crossed again as he huffed. “And why is that?”
Hubert turned another page, uninterested in Ferdinand’s presence. “Her younger sisters are only two and three years old.” He felt a smirk cross his lips. “On second thought, maybe you’d get along with them better.”
Ferdinand took the book from him and closed it on the table. No matter, I recall the page number. The short red-haired boy was mad now. “What do you want, von Aegir?”
“I want you to play with me.”
“I thought I already told you that your games do not interest me. Find a book to read if you insist on gracing me with your presence.”
Ferdinand’s eyes grew a little wider as another pout formed on his face. “I have been reading what my tutor requires most of the day, Hubert. I do not care if we play games or if we just walk around the palace… Please, Hubert? I am bored.” Hubert could see tears forming in the corners of his eyes, and he just knew that Ferdinand was trying not to cry.
“Fine, I will walk around the castle with you for a while, but once we make our way back here, I plan to read.” He left his book on the table of the library as he made his way to the door, Ferdinand following close behind. He held the door open for the smaller boy.
Ferdinand’s smile was brighter than Hubert had ever seen. After Hubert crossed the threshold, he felt Ferdinand’s hand grasp his sleeve. “I saw some servants hanging up decorations for Yule, some of which I’ve never seen! Let’s go!”
So they made their way to the dining hall, watching the servants from afar. Ferdinand pointed to some sort of green plant with white berries hanging over a doorway to the kitchens, with a red bow at the top keeping it together. “What is that, Hubert? I have never seen it before.”
Hubert recognized it immediately from his botany books, but he had no idea why the servants would hang it above a doorway in celebration. “That’s mistletoe, a parasite that grows on trees and shrubs… It’s actually poisonous.”
“Poisonous?” Hubert could hear Ferdinand gulp. “Why would they put something poisonous so close to the kitchens?”
A maid walked by, and Hubert got her attention. “Greta…” She stopped in her tracks and looked at Hubert as though she were prepared to be scolded. “Why is there mistletoe hanging above the doorway to the kitchens?”
She relaxed and smiled. “Do you not know, sirs?” Hubert and Ferdinand looked at each other. “If two people find themselves under the mistletoe together, they have to kiss… Otherwise, it’s bad luck.”
Hubert felt his face flush. “Thank you. You’re dismissed.”
She curtsied again with a small, “Sirs,” as she made her way to the kitchens herself.
As Hubert and Ferdinand were admiring the trees decorated so far, they overheard a few servants chuckle and looked in the direction the others were staring.
A man and a woman, both barely adults Hubert guessed, were caught under the mistletoe together. They were both blushing, trying not to look at each other.
One of the older servants, a washer woman named Gertrude, called out to the girl. “Better kiss him, Susie, or it’s bad luck.”
Susie blushed but grew brave as she grabbed the sides of the young man’s face and gave him a kiss. His face grew even redder, and Hubert turned to see Ferdinand was smiling at the exchange.
The other servants went about their business again, but Hubert could feel that the mood had lifted. He and Ferdinand had started making their way out of the dining room, having looked over all the decorations.
“I think it’s time I get back to my book, Ferdinand. My tutor will be displeased if I don’t finish it before the day after tomorrow.” Although Hubert wasn’t entirely lying, he knew he was almost finished with it.
Ferdinand started to pout but straightened up his frown as he followed closely behind Hubert. “Could you help me pick out a book? Preferably one with a nice story?”
Hubert kept walking but didn’t make eye contact with Ferdinand. “I don’t know many stories, so you’ll have to settle for one Edelgard mentioned recently.” They head back to the library, and Hubert takes Ferdinand to a far corner to pick out said story.
He’s scanning the titles with his hand hovering over the spines, Ferdinand next to him quiet and patient, which Hubert considered uncharacteristic. “Ah, here it is, Along Dark Roads.” He takes the book and holds it out to Ferdinand.
“Is it a good story?” Ferdinand started to flip through it.
“Lady Edelgard mentioned reading this book, about a knight fighting a dark sorcerer to save a princess. She said it wasn’t a bad story, but she didn’t understand why the princess couldn’t save herself.” She said the villain reminded her of Hubert, and she didn’t like that either since the sorcerer was supposed to be the bad guy, but Hubert wasn’t bad. “She also said she kept reading because the sorcerer reminded her of me and the knight reminded her of you.”
Ferdinand perked up immediately, eyes shining and dimples in his cheeks. “Really? She said that?”
“Mm, she did. I haven’t read it though, so I can’t agree nor disagree.” Hubert, unfortunately, didn’t have any other ideas about a story Ferdinand might like, so a damsel in distress, overly noble knight, and stereotypical dark wizard villain story it is. “I’m afraid most of what I read is educational or nonfiction.” “Fiction will cloud your mind, son,” he could hear his father say.
“I’ll… I will try reading this, Hubert. Thank you.” A smile still plastered on the young redhead’s face.
They headed back to the nook Hubert usually read in, but they had barely turned a corner when Ferdinand had looked up. Hubert’s eyes shifted to see what Ferdinand was staring at. Mistletoe.
Who would hang mistletoe in the middle of the library, in a corner that hardly anyone would probably pass through during Yule? Hubert was absolutely baffled.
Hubert was about to grab a ladder and take it down himself before Ferdinand grabbed his sleeve. Hubert had barely turned around before Ferdinand had grabbed him by the face with one hand to pull him down, got on his tiptoes and pecked Hubert quickly on the lips. “We better not take any chances.”
Ferdinand, completely unfazed, immediately turned to go back to their previous spot, where he had found Hubert to begin with. Hubert, on the other hand, was entirely frozen in place as a blush crept upon his cheeks.