Bigger Army Diplomacy

VII

        France stayed sick for the better part of the week. The doctor concluded that she was bedridden with a sickness they called 'abdominal migraine', with no treatment. If you've buried your head in the sand, that means she dies. Or, she might have to wait it out a little bit. Anything works.

During this 6-day period, Britain acted strangely as though he... cared. Not as much as you'd think for one's engagement, but enough for a 'more than strangers' status. Maybe perhaps... friends.

But not the level Normandy wanted.

The female country paced around her lovely but cramped room, managing five paces before turning around, much too little to act on her thoughts.

She needed a plan, and fast. One that would include getting the alliance well underway, getting the others to trust her, and following her husband's orders like he did, all the way to the end. She was succeeding in none of them.

She had gotten used to daily life at the palace. Granted, the rooms definitely were not as gorgeous as her lavish ones back in Paris, but it was different here than back there, the hustle of here was strangely comforting, as back in Paris, the stone cold walls were occupied with only her and her daughter, and the servants waiting on call.

Still, though, she made an oath to her dearest beloved (actually not, it was an arranged marriage,), and she didn't plan on ever breaking it.

It was early in the morning, and Normandy wasn't planning on being underdressed when eating a morning meal.

She considered her options that she had brought over. A simple light purple dress that hugged her figure at the top with a fitted bone corset, poofing out in the bottom and having mid-length sleeves with slight poofs at the end. The other option was a white dress with a hint of a pastel yellow hanging at the low neckline. It looked almost the same to the purple one, except this one seemed more sophisticated and therefore, not acceptable for a day of walking around.

As she got dressed she thought about the thing that was plaguing her the most. Her daughter's engagement. She didn't know how to work out the loose ends with England, was more appropriate. The treaty they signed still had many catastrophic errors, that none of them was willing to fix. For example, Article Nine:

Both Kingdoms shall reduce their armies by twelve (12) percent.

Also, the entire treaty was in English, which was a horrible problem. She would have to jump on it later, but translating an entire 20 page treaty was not something she planned on doing in the near future.

The poor woman was stressed, her thoughts going a mile a minute. Much like another person, in a whole entire kingdom.

Germany.

On top of his father being a drunkard who wasn't fit to rule the Prussian Kingdom, (yes, I made Prussia the father. Deal with it.) diplomatic ties with Italy, Iberia, and Russia, he was trying to keep up with a war his father started years ago.

War was never his strong suit, though he had to deal with it for as long as he could remember. When he was younger, you would normally find his nose stuck in a book. Now, as a 20-year-old almost-leader of a country, he was mostly preoccupied with work, work, and more work.

A letter from The United Kingdom had arrived in the letterbox. While reading it over, he spilled a tad bit of coffee on the letter, which wasn't very important, but with him being a perfectionist, he read it as fast as possible before throwing it away.

Dear Germany,

How's life? Good? Bad? I do hope it's been good, I know how you've been stuck in the mud with Russia.

My father has finally made an agreement with Normandy, though not in the way you'd expect.

I'm getting married, Germany.

Pray for me.

Please write back, I'd like to know how you are doing.

Best wishes,

𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝒰𝓃𝒾𝓉𝑒𝒹 𝒦𝒾𝓃𝑔𝒹𝑜𝓂 𝑜𝒻 𝒢𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓉 𝐵𝓇𝒾𝓉𝒶𝒾𝓃 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒩𝑜𝓇𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇𝓃 𝐼𝓇𝑒𝓁𝒶𝓃𝒹

He threw away the letter after reading it over several times, all of them in shock. The youngest friend he had, at the mere age of nineteen, was engaged before Germany. Well, technically, he was promised to a nice little Belorussian girl when he was fourteen, but no matter.

The other country immediately wrote back.

Dear Jack,

Married? To Frankreich? France?

I'm. very sorry for you.

The war still wages on the northern front, though it seems that the southern side is slowing down.

I do hope that I shall be able to visit you before the end of the season, though I have a small feeling your mother does think I am a bad influence. What a shame.

My father has not gotten better lately, though his condition has settled into a flat, which is better than nothing, I suppose.

Nothing of interest has happened so far, though when counting crows I do imagine something is going to happen. I am not aware of what.

Kindest Regards,

𝕲𝖊𝖗𝖒𝖆𝖓𝖞

Jack laughed at his friend's subtle jokes hidden behind walls of guarded secretary. He didn't mind all the cloak and dagger, that was just Germany being Germany.

It was refreshing to finally hear something from someone through letter. He could imagine Germany's voice telling him about his father and the war, like they were still kids sitting under a tree again.

It was nice.

"Jack! Mom wants you!"

He folded the letter back up. This was going to be a very long day.