One random act of kindness at a time

“No no, not at all. You are not bothering me, in fact, it is quite the opposite. I relish the opportunity to entertain guests, if you are willing to be entertained,” she offered with a smile. 

“True,” he admitted before smiling. “Tell me about yourself then. Do you have any other siblings aside from my step-mother?” He asked, unsure of whether his relentless questioning would begin to unintentionally irritate the Queen. 

“I am afraid my mother is currently unavailable, but I am sure I can answer any questions you need to ask,” she said as she slowly descended down the staircase, her gaze fixed on the wooden steps beneath her feet. “Well, I assumed you had wanted to speak to my mother,” she added after contemplation, before she looked up and realised that the guest may have actually wanted to speak with her instead. 

“why would you want for anything to stay the same when you knew that the entire world was out there for you to learn about?” adalie asked. it was a belief that she truly held she always wanted to learn something new. “i suppose. but is that not in the hands of god? he who protects us?” 

“And you are certainly great at games,” he said with a grin, alluding to their chess game. “But I feel that you are being far too modest. We have been having a wonderful conversation thus far. You must speak about things to people, otherwise it would be a terrible waste of talent.” For it truly was a talent to keep Friedrich engaged in a conversation for so long.

⁽    closed starter for @queenalethea .  ⁾

––––– How strange it was to see a king - with hands made to brandish swords and command armies - now resolved to a life of papers and negotiations.  Dark eyes, tinged with a thirst for war, flickered to his wife, before dropping back down to the deeds in his hand. He lavished her with the wealth of their kingdom, even allowed her free reign on their voyages – but any could see she was a mere trophy, a vice to express his and Naples’ wealth ( and yet, maybe he also trusted her conduct more than his own ). It was never more blatantly clear how stark a contrast the pair were than when together - and how unfortunate a reality that was: her, with naive eyes, warm hands and pious words – and then, there was him, sullied and cold and cruel ( how far could one man stray from God? ). After a moment, the king let out a heavy sigh, sounding bored ( or aggrieved ) as a calloused hand paused mid-scrawl - though he didn’t care to look her in the eyes. ❛❛ So, mia moglie, when is the Habsburg boy to visit us? I hear you became acquainted with His Highness in Sweden, and I should like to know when one can expect to have the Germans running amok in our borders. ❜❜

Friedrich smirked, perhaps he would have laughed had he been more familiar with the Queen. He struggled to imagine that he could ever trust his brother to do the right thing when he would eventually and tragically rule Germany. “I suppose so,” he murmured, stern gaze lowered in contemplation. “Let us divert our attention then. Do you have any topics you would like to discuss?”

He briefly smiled at her comment. It was true and he supposed he did not have anything left to say on the matter. Friedrich first responded to her words on the wine by flickering his gaze towards his full goblet. Indeed, the wine continued to flow even when one did not request it. “I suppose they have to be. How else would they keep this interesting and try to divert our attention- which is so clearly only focused on one thing.” A smile crept onto his lips as he spoke, but his words retained all their sincerity. The meetings his father and brother attended plagued his mind. He knew he should be there instead, but there was very little he could do about that.

“i see that you are quite religious no?” bergenia asked. there was no way that a person whose reaction to the concept of having a soul was to claim that people didn’t have enough religion. that was a strange reaction, but no matter. religion was in her opinion a waste of time, but that was her opinion. “there are some like that. though you seem reasonable, and he is fool for ignoring your council.”

“i do not know, i think that we learn so much each and everyday, it seems believable that we will only learn more,” she said. “yes, because of god we are safe. and all of that lives, will be.” 

“well…i don’t know. probably other worlds much like our own,” she said with a shrug, “maybe there other planets all made by god as well? though he is still there watching over us in the future.” her eyes tracked up to the sky, and she was not sure what she saw, if anything. there was probably a god up there, even if he was a strange fellow. 

His gaze momentarily dropped, as though it replaced a sigh Friedrich would have given had it not had the potential to be interpreted as rude. He knew he must have previously known of the connection, having heard of it in countless discussions before his father had decided to marry Caroline. He did not think Alethea looked anything like her sister. “Forgive me,” he finally said after a brief moment of silence. “Of course you are. Perhaps the wine has gone straight to my head.” Though in reality, nothing of Caroline’s connections or personality had a particular impact on him. He had not cared to get to know her, as Friedrich had personally been against the marriage.

He bowed his head to signify his gratitude. The semblance of an invite was most appreciated, one which Friedrich would be grateful to accept. Germany was to become strong allies with France, but he wanted to know what his kingdom was getting itself into. Louis did not conceal his dislike of the Napoli but Friedrich wanted to be the judge of that. If unnecessary aggression with Naples was going to impede on Germany, then it would have to be discussed with the French. “Where are you originally from, if I may inquire, Your Majesty?”

Everything was beautiful, something Alexandrina liked. She stood right next to Alethea and tried to enjoy the show of the dresses and wealth, but it bored her just a tiny bit. “Are you alright?” she asked, a bit worried. “Do you need anything? Water, wine, anything?”

Well if there was one thing she could compliment her husband on, it was his ability to manage to turn every situation to his advantage. This time was a show of wealth, and whilst the dresses were indeed beautiful, they were becoming a little hard to breathe in. Or perhaps that was simply the amount of people in the room.

He briefly nodded at the mention of his mother in-law. She was a kind woman and seemed to make his father happy, but Friedrich could not claim to know her intimately. “Thank you. I must confess that I have never visited your country. I certainly plan to.” He had never visited, but he knew her husband as though he had personally met him- if the rumours were to be believed. 

He reached forward to distribute the cards between them as a servant began to clear away the chess board. “It certainly shows,” he said with a smile as he double checked the number he had given to her and himself. “I do not believe we have had the good fortune of meeting until now, Your Highness, but am I correct in believing you to be the Queen of Naples?”