From the day he was born, he was always nicknamed 'The Brat Prince'. Being born into the ruling family of Deutschland automatically made him 'important' and, therefore, allowed him to grow up rather spoiled. His older brother, Gilbert may have the throne to himself for now at least, but Ludwig had to be cold about it. He thought his bruder did a horrible job of ruling over most of the German states, and now that there were other entire countries involved with the empire now, he became increasingly concerned. Even he had to admit, the power that came with holding the current throne was tempting to him in multiple ways, but he couldn't bring himself to do such a thing to his bruder… not now, at least.


Right now, he was occupied doing rather un-princely things. In particular at the moment, running an errand for his 'majesty'. He sighed irritably. Gilbert was far too full of himself to properly rule over this place. But, he didn't exactly have a say in the matter. After their father had passed a couple years back, the only one who could take over was the eldest of the Beilschmidt brothers, of course. Some would call it jealousy, he preferred to call it… well, what did he call it?


Almost entirely focused on finding an answer to his newfound question, he never noticed you carrying a rather large crate of assorted fabrics that had just come in. A clash was, in this case, inevitable. The young prince, unknown to you of course, was caught up in his thoughts until he suddenly hit an obstacle in his path. Stumbling back, he snapped heatedly at where he'd hit, "Mein gott! Do you not pay attention to where you're going, dummkopf?!"
He paused in his rant and he looked down at the pile of soft fabrics that had spilled out of the crate when it hit him. And there you were. Half-covered by the foreign products, you didn't move from where you sat while trying to understand what had just happened so suddenly. You glanced up at the young boy, barely 15 years old, with straight-cut short hair that appeared almost silken in appearance, and brilliant blue eyes that held slight concern as he looked down upon your form.
To his surprise, a scowl suddenly crossed your face as you stood up and dusted yourself off, "Look who's talking, dummkopf. You were the one who knocked me over, not the other way around." You quickly shook your hair out of your eyes and looked down at the silks that had fallen on the ground with disgust, "You also just ruined most of this box of silks we just got imported from the East. I hope you know you'll be paying for that, fool."


Ludwig's face contorted with frustration, "I-It wasn't my fault you couldn't see over that pile of fabric, fraulein! Do you not know who I am?" As much as he disliked using his title to influence and barter with others in an attempt to intimidate them, this was a slip out of a mess of thoughts at the moment. You however, remained unfazed and replied calmly, "Ja. You're the boy that just cut our profits for today in half. Danke for being you, brat."


Now, Ludwig was just angry at the insults you, a young girl barely as old as he, were throwing his way, "N-Nein, you idiot! I'm Ludwig Beilschmidt, Prince of Deutschland and all that it rules over. I-I can return your lost profit, but I won't put up with your slanderous and petty insults."


Finally, some form of a reaction. You blinked and tilted your head slightly out of curiosity; an odd expression crossed your face, "Prince? You're the Prince of Deutschland?" You shrugged without a care in the world, "In Austria, we never really heard about you much… we heard more about your bruder-"


"Mein bruder is a dummkopf…"


You frowned at his dislike for his brother, "Uh, right… well, I guess I couldn't tell what status you had because of your attire. Forgive me." You bowed slightly in respect. Ludwig, however, wore a sour expression, "You don't have to bow. I'm out running errands for mein bruder right now… I'm not exactly a prince at the moment." You straightened up as his expression softened lightly, against his own will of trying to stay upset at you, "What's your name anyway?"


A pout formed on your face, "___________   _____________. "


"That's cute." He held a straight face.




Before you could protest against his comment, he turned to the side slightly as he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a sealed letter. Noticing your glance at the neatly pressed envelope, he voiced your thoughts, "What is this, right?" You nodded in confirmation of his suspicions, and a smirk slipped onto his lips. He waved the document teasingly in the air and while taking a step back from you, mocked in a sing-song tone, "This is something peasants like yourself shouldn't get involved in~"
He noticed your irritated glare and added, "It's just something mein bruder wants me to give some stall owner in concerns to his monthly taxes. It's boring business, _______, so it's best to just keep your nose out of it as best as you can."


"Like you do?"


A look of surprise crossed his young features, "… J-Ja…"


Your brow creased slightly in concern, "What's wrong, Ludwig?"


He blinked a few times before his face turned red, whether out of anger or otherwise you couldn't tell, and shoved the letter back in his pocket. Quickly turning on his heel, he quickly walked away after quickly stuttering, "I-I have to go deliver this letter now. Stay out of trouble."


You stood there, still over the silks that had been forgotten by now, confused at his sudden change of attitude.


Was it something you said?