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“Well, what does Your Majesty think?” the foreign merchant asked, turning to the kingdom with a low bow, “There are some of the rarest and most exotic carpets on the market. And that's the case not only in Europe. Rulers and monarchs all across the entire Old World would pay a hefty price for such handiwork. Such goods aren’t easy to come by, especially in such intricacy and high quality,” he boasted, motioning over to the many elaborate and detailed carpets that had been displayed in the entryway of the palace, “Each one is made with only the highest quality thread, specifically made to be used in making such detailed pieces. We take great value in our work and would be more than honoured if Your Majesty would agree that these fine tapestries would make a wonderful addition to his home,” the man continued, talking endlessly as he went on and on about how spectacular and well-made his imported products were, “If you turn your attention to…”
Prussia was no fool. He could tell that the merchant had much passion and love for his work. The products that he had brought over to show off and his obviously practiced speech proved that much. An honest man with real dedication to his craft. Not to mention he was confident too. Not many would be so daring as to speak to a personification of a country in such a direct manner. For that, Prussia could respect him, even if his extended presentation had long since bored him.
A gentle tap on the shoulder from who he presumed was Königsberg, drew back his attention to the man that somehow was still on his long tangent. He hadn’t even noticed himself once again losing concentration for what seemed to be the hundredth time that evening. Thankfully the merchant was much too absorbed in explaining in great detail how one of the specific carpets he had was made to have noticed that he had lost Prussia’s care.
Readjusting the way he was sitting to at least look more attentive, Prussia’s mind once again soon wandered. Disinterested eyes stared unfocused, his ears listening blindly. This had surely been going on for much longer than he had expected and planned for. As much as he would have loved to cut the presentation short, the merchant was soon to leave town and rescheduling would be a nightmare. He’d lose his mind if he had to sit through more hours of this again. The only plausible solution was to suck it up and deal with the man as miserable as it was for him to do.
Not even five minutes had passed before he’d zoned out once again. Soon after, another tap from Königsberg. Prussia’s face turned slightly, realizing that he had once again not been paying attention. Was his attention span really that weak? How awful.
The city leaned over from his place beside his nation, speaking lowly enough so that no one else between the two of them could hear, “Shall I take over?” he questioned, sensing that Prussia would likely be unable to handle anymore of the man's earnest yet dreadfully long speech.
The kingdom didn’t need to be asked twice. He looked at him, almost pleadingly as he gave his former capital a slight nod. Königsberg gave a stifled laugh at how desperate he looked and smiled, “As you wish.”
Without any further delay he rose from his seat, walking over to the merchant man and asking more about one of the carpets that supposedly had caught Prussia's eyes. The man seemed to light up at the city's words, practically dragging Königsberg over to the carpet and going into another full on monologue about anything and everything one could possibly think about when it came to talking about a carpet. What a drag.
Taking the opportunity to finally make his escape, Prussia excused himself from the premise, leaving the merchant in Königsberg’s capable hands. He’d need to properly thank him later for his, quite frankly, selfless act of sacrifice. Königsberg had always been much more patient than he was anyways. If it had been him, he would have likely bought the man's entire stock just to shut him up. Though it was likely that there was a whole other ‘thank you’ speech that would have been tagged on. The idea alone made Prussia cringe internally. Regardless, it was no longer his problem to worry about anymore.
Hastily, he began to make his way through the vast and empty halls of the palace. At last free from his final commitment for the day, he sought out to find something to take his mind off of things for a while. Time to relax wasn’t easy to come by for someone in his position. Whatever time he did get was to be used without delay if he hoped to loosen up for a while.
His mind drifted back to what had been distracting him all afternoon, soon finding himself standing in front of the door leading to the palace gardens. He pushed the door open and stepped outside, the cool gentle breeze sending a shiver down his spine. The more logical course of action would have probably been to retrieve a coat before making his way to the gardens, though he didn’t particularly want to waste any more time than he already had. Besides, there were more important matters to attend to.
Walking along the pathway, he took notice of the occasional empty or pruned plot. With the weather getting colder it was only natural that the out of season and dying plants were to be removed. Replacement and new growth was sure to soon follow from how the soil already looked turned over and prepared. It was nothing less than he would have expected from the garden staff. Carefully picked out blossoms and foliage, each part of the garden was deliberate and regularly looked after. Neglect was not an option. Not that it would have been allowed regardless. After all, Prussia took a lot of pride in how magnificent the palace gardens were. It was a delightful bit of scenery and a wonderful asset to show off to representations and foreign ministers. A true symbol of Prussian diligence and labor. And all was to be rightfully credited to the man who was responsible for the nook hidden away in the back depths of the garden. The same nook that Prussia found himself making an uninvited entrance into.
“Prussia, what a welcome surprise,” came a graceful voice, addressing him.
Prussia could not help but smile at the other, careful not to step on any of the tools that were scattered around the soft grass, “Good evening Brandenburg.”
“To what do I owe the pleasure of the King himself coming to see me?” Brandenburg asked, his crimson wings laying gracefully by his sides as he placed the trowel in his hand down.
“Must I need an outsiders reason to come see you?” Prussia questioned back, standing behind him to see what he had been working on. Much to his dismay, the plot was completely empty of any sort of life, “Is simply my desire to see you not enough?”
“Its more than enough,” Brandenburg assured him, pulling off the thick gardening gloves off his hands, “Have you finished with that merchant that from earlier? I heard that he wanted to meet with you rather eagerly.”
“He’s still here,” he huffed, settling himself in the grass next to Brandenburg, “Talking to Königsberg.”
“To Königsberg you say?” Brandenburg repeated, turning his attention to the kingdom, “I would have assumed that he would have been long gone by now.”
Prussia shrugged, “He’s a good man but much too talkative for my liking.”
“Never thought I’d hear that coming from you,” he snickered, earning him a huff from the other, “A little ironic of you ask me.”
“Ironic or not, that man sure has a talent for long, boring speeches,” he emphasized, poking at the other's arm. Now free, he could hardly imagine how he had sat through hours of pure dullness, “How blessed you are to not be burdened by such pointless responsibilities.”
“You’re forgetting that this is all a result of your own will, Prussia,” Brandenburg reminded, paying little mind to the persistent poking.
Prussia’s expression soured, the poking coming to an abrupt end, “Whatever does that mean?”
“Such tasks are usually appointed to a royal consort, rather than the monarch or emperor himself,” Brandenburg explained, “I’m sure you recall how your fathers wife would deal with most of the household matters, including furnishing and decoration,” he hummed, meeting Prussia’s eyes that looked at him in slight confusion, “And as you are still formally unmarried, you’ve burdened yourself with the responsibilities that would have been your wife's.”
“Unmarried? A royal consort? A wife?” Prussia spluttered, eyes going wide at the implications. No. He could not be serious. Brandenburg out of all people should have been the last to spew out such terrible nonsense.
Brandenburg smiled sweetly, then adding, “Might I also remind you that you’ve yet to have an heir as well?”
Prussia’s face burned at the words, quickly shifting his gaze to avoid the others, “All…all I’m hearing is that it should have been you instead of me in that constricting room,” he stammered in response.
“Oh?” the other mused, “I was unaware of my new title as royal consort. I’d need to address that title change with Königsberg.”
“Brandenburg! That is not what I meant!” Prussia quickly interjected, waving his hands almost frantically, “A royal consort? Seriously?”
“Whatever else could you have meant?” he considered, finding amusement in Prussia’s little frenzy.
“Forgive me for being fateful, but the last thing I’d even think of doing is to marry some lady for the sake of lessening my responsibilities,” he explained, almost pouting as the words came out. He seemed genuinely distressed at the implications of the words, feeling rather offended on the other’s behalf, “And you are most certainly not a royal consort! What sort of mocking title is that?”
“Glad to know that your status change didn’t affect my own,” Brandenburg smiled.
“Of course it wouldn’t,” Prussia lamented, crossing his arms, “Something so trivial never would. Besides, I’ve already got a spouse.”
“Oh, do you now?” he asked, unseriously, “And who might that be?”
Prussia’s expression turned cheery, pretending to consider for a moment on how he should answer the proposed question. It was an obvious ploy on Brandenburg’s side, but one that Prussia didn’t mind falling into over and over and over again.
“Well… It’s someone you know,” he began, picking out his words carefully.
“Ah- So a familiar face I assume?”
“One could say that,” Prussia laughed, rolling his eyes, “He’d be familiar to you.”
Brandenburg’s expression shifted, “He?”
“Yes. He is in fact a man,” Prussia nodded, showing off the ring on his right hand, “I’ve got myself a husband!”
“I see,” Brandenburg murmured, looking at the ring with consideration. His own right hand moving out of view, hiding the matching pair to the silver band, “Tell me more about this mystery lover of yours.”
“Gladly!” Prussia agreed, the joy on his face apparent, “He’s someone I’ve known for a long time now. A very respectable and noble man. A man with seemingly endless charm and charisma. The type of man women could only dream of having as their spouse.”
“Sounds like quite the gentleman,” Brandenburg commented, his eyes flicking to meet Prussia’s dreamy ones.
The other nodded in agreement once again, “He most certainly is! Not only that but he’s also humble, dependable, thoughtful, loyal, and observant. And incredibly handsome and instantly talented in anything he picks up. Especially gardening.”
“Quite the catch,” Brandenburg pointed out.
“Truly,” Prussia gushed, “He even plants all the flowers I adore in a garden just for us.”
“Out of curiosity, have you got a favourite?” he questioned.
“Why, blue cornflowers of course!” Prussia remarked, ecstatically, “I assume you will be growing them for me again next spring, my dear?”
“If that is the desire of my king and his royal consort, then of course,” Brandenburg explained, earning him a fuming glare from his lover.
“Well then,” Prussia exhaled, displeased about the mention of his nonexistent royal consort again, “As I’ve clearly played the role of the royal consort of this kingdom of ours; Brandenburg, as your royal consort, I request that the garden be filled with blue cornflowers, grown by the king personally.”
“A direct request from the royal consort?” Brandenburg blinked, catching onto the little flip of roles Prussia had done. He beamed, taking hold of his lover's right hand and kissing over the silver band, “Your wish is my command, my Queen. I will personally see that your garden is blooming with blue cornflowers as per your desire.”
Not expecting Brandenburg to go along with it, Prussia’s face warmed up, flustered. The title was ever so wrong, but Prussia couldn’t help but feel fond towards the misleading name.
“Good,” he breathed, the corners of his mouth tugging upwards sheepishly, “Good.”