The thin curtains did a poor job of filtering out the sunlight, letting it spill across the carpeted floor of the bedroom, shadows from the trees outside casting interesting shapes.

Matthew was still fast asleep. Or, so it would seem. He was lying on his side with his eyes closed, one arm under his pillow. His breaths were soft and even, much like if he were actually asleep. But Gilbert knew better.

With a smile, he wrapped an arm around Matthew's waist, searching for his hand and interlocking their fingers when he finally found it. "You see that?" he whispered, pressing a light kiss to the nape of his husband's neck. "It's like the spaces between my fingers where made to be filled with yours."

Matthew couldn't help the chuckle that escaped his lips. "Are you going to wake me up with cheesy lines like that every morning?" he asked.

"Aww, c'mon." Gilbert sat up, running his fingers through Matthew's hair. "I thought that one was sweet."

Over the past two years, Gilbert had developed the habit of whispering the most sickeningly sweet things he could think of into Matthew's ear every morning.

It's not that Matthew didn't appreciate his husband's attempts at romance, but these where the sort of lines from romance novels that he used to laugh at.

Finally opening his eyes, Matthew pulled himself up, stretching his arms above his head. "What time is it?" he asked.

"About time to get up."

Matthew groaned quietly. "Can't I go back to sleep for a few more minutes?" he whined.

With a frown, Gilbert put an arm around the queen's shoulders. "Are you still feeling ill?" he asked, stroking Matthew's bed-mussed hair out of his face.

Matthew bit his lip. "A little." he responded, hugging his knees to his chest.

Over the past few weeks, Matthew had spent the majority of time in bed due to a stomach bug.

"Then go back to sleep." Gilbert gave a soft smile, pressing a kiss to the queen's forehead.

As Gilbert got up and ready for the day, Matthew lay back down, curling himself in the covers and closing his eyes.

With a quiet chuckle, Gilbert sat beside him on the bed and kissed his forehead once again. "I'll send one of the girls in with your breakfast in about an hour." he whispered.

Matthew made a small noise in his throat, already half asleep.

Gilbert stood and exited the room, closing the door as quietly as possible. He barely took three steps before running into Alfred.

The American was wearing the same faded denim jeans and baggy t-shirt that he had on the previous day. His hair was unbrushed and his shoes were untied. He had 'walk of shame' written all over him.

"Good morning, Alfred." the king greeted.

Alfred look up, a little red-faced. "Oh, mornin' Gil." he replied. "Is Mattie still sleeping?"

Gilbert nodded. "He wasn't feeling well, so he went back to sleep." He gave a knowing smirk. "And Arthur?"

Every shade of red known to man coloured Alfred's face. "Why would I know that?" he asked, avoiding Gilbert's gaze.

"I'm not stupid, Alfred." Gilbert chuckled.

"Please don't tell my brother!" pleaded Alfred. "He'd freak!"

Gilbert raised an eyebrow. "He knows." he replied.

Alfred almost choked on his own saliva. "H-How?" he stuttered, eyes wide.

"Because he's not stupid, either."

If it were possible, Alfred's face would have darkened. He muttered to himself for a moment before shrugging and going back the way he came.

Gilbert assumed he was going back to Arthur's room. He smiled. He liked the way that Alfred and Arthur balanced each other out. They were perfect for each other.

Shaking his head, Gilbert chuckled and got on with his day. Unfortunately, his day consisted of boring meetings and boring paperwork, but whatever.

An hour later, there came a timid knock on the king and queen's bedroom door.

Matthew sat up, rubbing his eyes. "Come in." he called, feeling for his glasses on the bedside table.

In came a small blonde girl, pushing a trolley. "Good morning, your majesty." she greeted with a curtsy.

"Lili, please." Matthew sighed. "I thought I asked you to call me Matthew."

Lili frowned, shaking her head. "I'm sorry, your majesty, I can't do that." she responded. She pushed the trolley further into the room, stopping at the side of the bed. "I brought your breakfast." She picked the tray up off the trolley and placed it across Matthew's lap.

"Thank you, Lili." Matthew smiled, picking up his cutlery. He was glad it was Lili who'd come up. As much as he loved them, he didn't think he could handle Elizabeta or Michelle so early in the morning.

With another curtsy, Lili went to stand against the wall, waiting for Matthew to finish. "King Gilbert said you were unwell." she said, clasping her hands together in front of her.

Matthew sighed, brushing his hair out of his face. "Lili," he muttered, placing his cutlery back down on the tray. "Can I tell you something?"

Within a few minutes, Lili had left the queen with his own company and returned to the kitchen. She was shaking, hands barely able to hold onto the trolley as she wheeled it back into place, taking the tray over to the side and dropping the dishes into the sink.

Her shaking hands didn't go unnoticed.

"Lili?" Elizabeta, a girl with brunette hair that was tied into a neat ponytail, placed her hand on the smaller girl's back. "Are you alright, dear?"

More than anything, Lili wanted to tell Elizabeta, or anyone, what the queen had just told her. But, she made a promise. Her lips were sealed. "I'm fine." she responded with a small smile.

Elizabeta frowned, staring hard at the blonde. "Don't lie to me." she grumbled, folding her arms.

Lili bit her lip, wringing her hands. "Eliza, please don't press this!" she muttered. "If you do, I'll break and tell you, and I promised Queen Matthew that I wouldn't!"

With a sigh, Elizabeta backed off, going back to whatever it was that she was doing before.

Meanwhile, Gilbert was chatting to the prince of a neighbouring kingdom, and old friend of his who had arrived hours too early for a meeting.

Thus far, the prince, Francis, had been content with idle chitchat, but Gilbert could tell what he really wanted was to get business out of the way so he could go home and enjoy the rest of his day.

"This meeting," said the prince, a French lilt to his voice. "when does it start?"

"Not for a few hours, I'm afraid." Gilbert frowned. "I wish I could keep you company until then, but I seem to have fallen behind on my paperwork." He reached a hand up to awkwardly scratch the back of his head.

Francis sighed, sweeping a hand across his face to brush back his blond hair. "Ah, but what this world really needs is more love and less paperwork." he said with a smile.

Gilbert responded with loud laughter. "I'd love to hear you say that to Matthew."

At that moment, Matthew rounded the corner, fiddling with his own fingers and looking awfully worried about something.

"Speak of the devil." chuckled Gilbert.

Matthew looked up with wide eyes, taking a shaky step back and sweeping any invisible dust from his person as the two men walked towards him. "G-Good morning." he greeted with a smile.

"I think you mean 'good afternoon'" Gilbert replied, smiling as he watched Matthew start to worry about sleeping in so late. "Don't worry, Birdie. You're sick, it's alright." He gestured towards the visiting prince. "Matthew, you remember Prince Francis? He's here for the meeting." he introduced.

"The meeting?" Matthew raised an eyebrow. "You're a little early."

Francis sighed. "Oui, it would appear so."

Gilbert lay a hand against the small of his husband's back. "Do you think you could keep him company while I finish my paperwork?" he asked.

With a smile, Francis caught hold of Matthew's hand, bringing it to his lips to lay a kiss against soft, pale skin. "Why don't you give me a tour, my queen?" he suggested.

"Certainly." replied Matthew, smiling back as he lead Francis down the hall.

A little over an hour later, and Matthew and Francis had reached the maze in the gardens.

Matthew moved confidently though the twists and turns of the old maze, leaving a worried Francis to trail behind him.

They eventually reached the pavilion, Matthew dashing up the steps and running over to the farthest bench. With a smile, he stared over the maze and towards the palace.

Francis smiled at the dreamy look on the queen's face and sat down beside him. "This place holds such good memories for you, doesn't it?" he asked, softly.

"It does." replied Matthew, without even looking up. He began to trace patterns on the stone bench with his finger, humming that song—their song.

"Are you happy, Matthew?"

Rather taken aback by this question, Matthew shot his gaze up to meet Francis'. "Of course I am." he replied. "What on earth made you ask such a thing?"

Francis sighed. "That expression on your face." he replied, only further confusing the queen. "You and Gilbert seem so perfect, like nothing between you could ever go wrong. I had to know if it was real, or just a front." he sighed. "It makes me so envious. I really wish I had what you and Gilbert have."

Giving a gentle smile, Matthew lay his hand against the prince's shoulder. "Someday, you will." he promised.

Francis reached up to lay his hand atop Matthew's. "Thank you, my queen." he replied with a solemn smile.

They sat there for a while, not really speaking, just looking out over the maze.

"Oh, my!" Matthew exclaimed, suddenly.

Francis turned to find the queen staring at his watch.

"It's almost time for the meeting, Francis." he said, catching hold of Francis' sleeve and leading back through the maze.

Soon enough, they were back inside the palace, rushing through the halls.

With a loud gasp, Matthew came to a sudden stop, leaning against the wall.

"M-My queen?" Francis caught hold of Matthew's shoulders, holding him up.

"I..." Matthew was breathing heavily, eyes screwed shut. "I feel unwell." he announced.

Francis frowned. "Let me escort you back to your quarters." he offered, putting an arm around the queen's waist and holding him upright as he led them back to the queen's bedroom.

Meanwhile, in the board room, Gilbert and most of his guests were waiting to start the meeting. However, with four missing members, that wasn't happening.

"Who exactly are we waiting on?" asked Natalya, a princess from Eastern Europe, who was attending the meeting in place of her elder brother, Ivan.

The Lord Chamberlain cast a glance around the room, then down to his book, taking attendance. "The missing parties are Prince Francis, Prince Sadik and Lord Lars, my princess."

Natalya scoffed. "What world allows princes and lords to settle the work of kings?" she grumbled.

Gilbert offered her a smile. "With all due respect, my lady, what king sends a princess in his place?" he replied.

With a glare, Natalya went back to reading over the papers on front of her, mumbling vehemently about how busy her brother was.

Before anything else could be said, the doors were pushed open and in stepped Francis with a polite smile. "I'm sorry for turning up so late." he said, moving towards his seat. "Queen Matthew was feeling a little ill, so I escorted him back to his chambers."

"Is he okay?" Gilbert questioned, getting to his feet.

"He is fine, your highness." Francis explained. "He is resting."

Gilbert nodded slowly, sitting back down. There was no real need to worry about Matthew. He was just a little unwell. Gilbert made a mental note to check on him after the meeting.

After a few more minutes of waiting, the decision was made to start the meeting without the two missing participants. Much to Princess Natalya's delight.

It was moments after the start of the meeting that Lord Lars strolled through the doors with an apology. Prince Sadik, it would appear, was a no show.

The meeting went on for much longer than Gilbert would have liked. Nothing all that important was discussed and nothing interesting happened, so it was really just a waste of everyone's time.

After bidding goodbye to everyone, including a tired, irritable Natalya, Gilbert headed to his room. He had every intention of making sure Matthew was okay and going straight to sleep, paperwork be damned!

He pushed the door to his bedroom open, shedding his suit jacket as he crossed the threshold.

His breath caught in his throat as he noticed the empty bed. He inhaled deeply, telling himself to calm down. Matthew was probably just in the bathroom.

Gilbert shook his head, as if to rid himself of stressful thoughts, and folded his jacket neatly over the back of the chair that sat in front of the dresser. "Birdie?" he called, making his way over to the bathroom door and lightly rapping his fingers on the wood. "You okay?"

He started worrying again when he received no response. "Matthew?" he called again, louder this time. Still nothing. He pushed open the door, staring into the empty bathroom. "M-Matthew?"

The king turned on his heel, exiting his room and moving briskly down the hall, not stopping until he reached his brother's room. "Ludwig!" he called inside, banging on the door. "Open up!"

The door was pulled open after a couple of moments of muffled complaints, Ludwig fully ready to rant at his brother about the noise level. He stopped short when he caught sight of Gilbert's worried expression. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Do you know where Matthew is?"

"I thought he was sleeping." Ludwig frowned.

"So did I." replied Gilbert, running a hand through his hair. "But he's not. And he's not in the bathroom, either."

Ludwig could physically see his brother starting to panic. "Calm down." he instructed, placing a hand on Gilbert's shoulder. "Go and see if Mutti knows where he is and I'll go see if Lord Chamberlain does."

With a shaky nod, Gilbert turned towards his mother's quarters.

Within minutes, Gilbert had the entire palace's occupants searching for the missing queen. With each passing moment, the sense of dread grew.

An hour passed. Then two. Then three. Gilbert was on the verge of tears, having to physically stop himself from shaking.

It got worse when Alfred entered the sitting room. Alone. His worried expression said it all. "I just called my parents." he stated. "He's not there."

Gilbert's upper body fell forward, his head falling into his hands as he swore under his breath. "Chamberlain." he muttered.

"Yes, your majesty?" Arthur stood up straight, awaiting the expected order.

"Call the guards." the king replied. "Tell them that Queen Matthew is missing and I want the entire nation searched!"

Arthur bowed slightly. "Right away." he said, leaving the room and closing the door behind him.

End Note: It seems I start off most of my end notes by saying "Sorry for the wait" or something along those lines, but I seriously am sorry! I have a new laptop now, with a fully functioning space bar. So yay! I'm also sorry for skipping over the meeting, but it would all be filler, so I'm sure you aren't too mad, oui?
Do you guys remember, in my end note for chapter one (probably not, it was over a year ago, haha. God, I'm a terrible author.) I mentioned I had toothache so bad that I couldn't even sleep? I have toothache again and it's killing! I want to cry!
Also, if any of you would like to add me on snapchat I am hetaliantrench.
The song for this chapter is As The World Falls Down by David Bowie.
~Lolly xXx