It was a beautiful day in the United Kingdoms of Diamond and Spades, a vast realm united by my friends, Francis Bonnefoy and Victoria Kirkland. They got engaged when I was the Ace of Diamonds, a commanding officer in Legio IX Hispana. This was during a time when the role of Ace of Diamonds was a proper one in our kingdom.
My name is Antonio, the former Ace of Diamonds and leader of the Fernández-Carriedo family.
I did not know this until I reunited with my late mother, Violeta when I was 15 years old. I was able to do this through divine intervention. Madre Vesta, our kingdom's former goddess of the hearth, helped me take a huge step forward regarding my fear of abandonment and I will always be grateful to her for that.
I took a deep breath as I walked into the old villa I used to live in as an adolescent. It hadn't changed since i had last gone there. The remaining members of House Vargas were hiding from Roger, the guy who threatened the other descendants of our former King including his heir.
Deep down inside, the house still held a lot of sentimental value as it represented the relationship I had with Sara Vargas. She was my first love and the mother of my first born child. I still care a lot about her to this day, even if we weren't meant to be together.
Why had I gone to that house in the first place? Well Sarita was finally working next door at her ice cream parlour after years of being involuntarily exiled from the kingdom; she had asked me to look after our son and her other children with her late husband Alboin Ferrum.
I watched as Dante, who looked a lot like his mother with frizzy auburn brown hair and hazel eyes walked toward me. He had a worried expression on his face, which kinda worried me a bit as well.
"Oh, hola Dante, you seem more troubled than usual, what's wrong?" I question as Dante became a little anxious.
I smiled at him and put my hand on his shoulder. "It will work itself out, hijo mío," I said. "Just tell me what happened. Aliche and Sebastian aren't bugging you, are they?"
"No! It's not that, you jerk!" He yelled. "You know why I'm upset!"
I really didn't know what was on his mind at the moment. It could have been anything regarding the short, but hard life he was forced to live because of his future role in the Kingdom of Diamonds.
The situation mostly scared Sarita and I because we had to hide him from his uncle, who I had an intense rivalry with. Dante didn't understand it but he did feel a little distant from his siblings because of it.
These anxiety attacks Dante had at the time reminded me of the same ones his mother had when we were younger. I didn't blame her even now since our forbidden love was not meant to last forever like we dreamed it would.
It's obvious Dante wants to tell me something, but what? I asked myself.
"You know," I begin again, "You know you don't have to hide things from me, Dante. Just tell me what's bothering you so we can fix it."
Everything seems to go quiet as Dante prepares to finally say something.
"There's no fixing…eh…this…" He finally mutters as he holds his shoulder awkwardly.
I'm a bit confused, so I press on. "'No fixing this?' What do you mean? What happened? What's-"
"Enough questions!" Dante snaps back.
I was caught a little off-guard. Was he really so upset that he was beginning to lash out? I asked myself again. It wasn't the first time this happened, but this occasion seems different to me.
"I'm your father, I just want to know what's on your mind Dante!"
It seems that Dante finally calmed down as his once red face began to go back to its regular light tanned colour. He takes a deep breath and begins to talk more calmly. "I just…I need your help. You know that whole curse thing?"
My blood runs cold. The curse? Deep down I wished that the curse would end with me, but it seemed that was not the case. As I found out when I reunited with my mother, the curse was cast upon my mother and the next two generations after her by the woman who took her life on the night I was born. It involves a fatal love triangle in which my future children and I would be forced to fight against someone else for the affections of the person we love. It also involves so much death and destruction, which will end in the third generation with the union of the Kingdoms of Diamonds and Hearts.
I know that Dante would be in the third generation of my family, and he is the future King of Diamonds. However, I don't think the last part of the prophecy would happen in the circumstances we found ourselves in at this moment. He has been getting quite friendly with that one girl, Catarina I believe her name is. Ever since they met, he seemed a bit happier and energetic.
Yes, I did appreciate that Dante has a friend like Catarina. However, I could not allow their friendship to go on. The reason why had its roots in my own fears as Catarina's mother was the woman who abandoned me soon after my mother died, and the need to protect my son and those that matter to me as Roger and his wife were slowly dragging everyone into the feud we'd had since we were kids.
I feel a bit of guilt for not telling him sooner. I understand that he needs to know the truth behind this curse, but I neglected to tell him for so long.
Would it have prevented him from opening up to anybody? I asked myself Would he have been doomed to be lonely like I thought I was? I don't want that for him, but he needs to know.
"Sit down, Dante. It seems that we need to have a little talk…" I say as I gesture for him to sit next to me.
His eyes widen in fear, but does what he's told. We sit in silence for a moment before I begin talking again. "I'm sorry for not telling you about this curse earlier. I just wanted you to have a happy life without the fear of such a thing weighing on your mind… but you're old enough to know, so I'll explain everything."
… Flashback to 13-year-old Antonio POV…
The Kingdom of Diamonds was a much different place when I was younger. It massed a huge empire, stretching from the coast of Judea in the east to gaul in the west at that time.
I would have had a much happier childhood and adolescence within it if it weren't for one woman. She was your grandfather, King Romulus's second wife and her name was Clotilde Bonnefoy. She was a more cruel version of Roger, who you already know as the "French jerk bastard" who ruined your life. So many words could describe her, but I'll settle for one: malicious.
I remember it so vividly. I lived in the imperial palace with Romulus and Clotilde for as long as I could remember.
The more I thought about the situation I found myself in, the more it made me feel guilty because my mamá died as soon as I was born. Of course, that's what I thought and the only people who knew of that great fear I had were my three best friends.
I remember this one day when I was 13-years-old and had been walking through the castle. I wasn't paying much attention until I had bumped into Clotilde by mistake. My heart sank almost immediately as I looked up, and could already see her looking down at me with pure malice.
"Watch where you're going, are you blind or something!" She hissed as she began to tower over me. I was frozen, anyone would be if you got to know her. "And look at yourself, it's like you walked through the entire city backwards. You're just as lazy and incompetent as your mother!"
At that time, I didn't dress as neatly as the rest of the royals did. I was happy wearing what suited me best. an Iberian style tunic and Roman sandals. However, it seems it was never enough for Clotilde.
After that she began to hurl insults at me. It seemed like it would never end. "You'll never be true royalty, you're nothing but a little-" Clotilde's words were cut off when someone shoved her away from me.
Francis was the person who saved me from her storm of nasty words. Believe it or not, he was one of her sons. I know, he turned out nothing like her, and I'm grateful for that.
"Are you okay, Antonio?" Francis said as he looked at me. His gaze was full of worry, and his face was red with embarrassment from his mother's actions.
Clotilde's eyes were wide as she realized that her son was the one to defend me from her.
"Francis!" She screeched as she held a grip on his arm. "How dare you treat your own mother like that! Do something like that again, and you'll be sleeping in the streets, got it?" Her last words were growled through gritted teeth. Francis had no other choice but to nod his head shakily.
Satisfied, Clotilde let go of his arm and stormed down the corridor. Francis fell to his knees, but I quickly lifted him back up.
"Thank you, Francis" I breathed as we quickly walked out of the castle.
It was terrible how she would treat her own son so horribly, but it seems that she had never truly shown compassion for anyone before.
"It's nothing, Antonio," Francis replied, shaking his head. "Hey, maybe we should get some training in, let's just forget about all of that."
I nodded in agreement. I really wanted to forget about what just occurred in the place I should have called home.
… Later that day…
Francis and I enjoyed our military training. As soon as we had made it to the training camp we had put our gear on and were ready to take on the day. Our favourite thing to do was spar with our swords. I had done it so often that each swipe and jab had become almost instinct. Of course we couldn't battle for real, but it was close to the real thing in our eyes. As Francis and I did our sparring, a crowd began to form around us. It seemed that the other trainees were very impressed with our ongoing match. Cheers were heard as the others started to bet on who would win the fight.
The cheering and yelling made me lose my focus, and my hand slipped, giving Francis an opportunity to "stab" me. The crowd roared as the match finished. Then, as soon as it formed, it disappeared.
Francis dropped his sword and gave me a pat on the shoulder. "Good try, but maybe you would have won this time if you weren't so focused on the people cheering your name!" He laughed as he ran off to put his equipment away. I rolled my eyes and chased after him.
After training was done, we headed off to meet with another one of our friends. We had spotted him sitting in a large apple tree. Picking the fruits that were fresh, and tossing the ones that weren't. We had to watch where we stepped, or we could have gotten apples all over our sandals.
"Hey, Gil!" I shouted as I slapped the tree, trying to get his attention.
Finally, Prince Gilbert Beilschmidt poked his head out through the thick leaves. His striking white hair and bright red eyes were hard to miss, let alone forget.
"Ohhhh, hi guys!" He laughed as he made his way down the trunk. "You guys look like a mess! I guess training went well?" He questioned as he took a bite of an apple.
We nodded and Gilbert tossed us each one apple. Francis and I told him about our sword showdown, which he found very amusing. We also told him about our encounter with Clotilde. His face scowled as he spit out an apple seed.
"Seriously? What does Romulus even see in her? If I was king, she would be out the moment I heard that she did anything!"
We admired his courage, but we just shook our heads.
"It's not that easy" I frowned. "Romulus trusts her and is madly in love with her. In his eyes she can do no wrong."
"That's stupid" Gilbert laughed as he tossed his apple core. "Forget about Clotilde! Have you seen any cute girls around lately?"
Francis and I gave each other quick glances as our faces began to turn red.
"Not… recently…" Francis muttered, putting his head in his hands.
Gilbert smirked and turned to me. "What about you, I'm sure girls are all over you! They can't resist royalty!"
I groaned and shoved Gilbert away. He dramatically rolled on the floor and began to laugh hysterically.
"I'm joking, guys! No need to reveal your love life to me!" Though he found it amusing, we certainly didn't. Francis turned to me and looked over at the pile of apples on the ground. I looked too, then nodded. In an instant, Gilbert was fighting against two apple-wielding legionnaires-in-training.
"I'm sorry!!!" He sputtered as he tried to climb back into the tree. Our assault ended as soon as he apologized. Then, we were the ones laughing.
"I gotta get home…" Gilbert mumbled angrily as he ran off.
The day didn't start out so great, but having my friends around turned it around for the better.