Nerve (You'll Need It): A Royal Flush Short

Cardios
Kingdom of Gorlassar
Gorlassar Castle
Meeting Room

“I don’t want to do this.”

“Neither do we,” Alberto admitted. The King of Khloris had a torn look on his face as he glanced at the other Kings. “It’s deceitful, Nicholas. How could you have thought of something like this?”

“If you think I feel any better for coming up with this in the first place, then you are clearly wrong,” Nicholas snapped. The King of Raleigh’s face went from irritated to tired in a matter of seconds. “I am completely alright if you’re against the idea and would rather find another solution. Just take this as the very last resort. And before you blabber, Jacques,” he said suddenly, red eyes staring into the other’s amber ones, “I suggest you don’t.”

“I wasn’t thinking of saying anything,” Jacques defended. Arthur snorted after taking a sip from his tea, which resulted to Jacques throwing the other a very irritated glance of his own.

“You never do. Nicholas. Please tell me that you’re not thinking of pushing through with this plan of yours,” the King of Gorlassar sighed, pinching his temples. “While it may seem to work, do realize that we’ll be manipulating these four girls to our advantage.”

“I won’t stand for that!” Jacques snapped. Beside him, Alberto nodded in agreement. “For the love of – we’re human, not animal – only animals do that – what kind of people do you take us for, Nicholas?” Alberto tried to calm the other down, but Jacques shook him off. Jacques looked Nicholas in the eye.

“It was only a suggestion,” the dark-haired man responded quietly, punctuating each word with a pause. Arthur and Alberto gave each other apprehensive looks. “A foolish one, considering how the rest of you reacted to it.”

“Damn right it’s foolish–”

“So tell me, Jacques. Do you have any better idea?”

Silence fell among the four. Jacques had a stony expression while Nicholas regarded him calmly; the other two Kings were prepared to intervene in the case that things would turn physical. Finally (and to their relief), Jacques slumped back into his seat with a defeated expression.

“I can’t say that I do.” Nicholas’ look softened and he turned away, coughing awkwardly under his breath.

“I apologize. I know that it’s not exactly the best idea out there,” Nicholas explained, reaching for his beverage and taking a long drink. “But after Arthur introduced us, it just…came to my head.”

“Ah – just a question.” Everyone looked at Alberto, who was looking directly at Nicholas with a funny look on his face. “Why tell us when you could easily have the advantage?”

The King of Raleigh made a face. “We may be competing with each other, but I believe in fair chance for all.” Alberto nodded and Arthur sighed.

“So what exactly do we do about this?”

“Give it a week?” Jacques suggested. “Some time, perhaps. Who knows what can happen before the Fluschens make their visit.”

“…that might be for the best,” Arthur sighed. “Alright then.”

* * * * *

Gorlassar Castle
Castle Gardens

All four of them had finished the meeting with mixed emotions.

Arthur still felt dubious about the idea Nicholas had suggested. He wasn’t entirely sure if it was for the best, in all honesty – when it came to keeping the throne, Arthur never really wanted to bring in anyone else and potentially have them caught up in the process of the whole thing.

Jacques, obviously, was against the whole thing. The moment Nicholas had suggested using the four newcomers, he immediately put his foot down. He personally found that to manipulate others for one’s own good was despicable. As much as he loved his position on the throne, tricking others was never in his interest to begin with.

Alberto didn’t know how to feel about it. Being he newest of the four, he wasn’t sure if this trespassed the boundaries between right and wrong. Being the newest, he wasn’t sure where he could and couldn’t tread. After witnessing the earlier scene, however, he was sure that the idea was something venturing into the inhumane side of things. (Jacques showed that enough.)

Finally, Nicholas. The red-eyed King felt disgust bubble up in him immediately after he had thought of it, so much that he didn’t even tell Frederick, his most trusted confidante. No. That was definitely something for his own head, he had thought.

But he thought of the Fluschen clan and the reports that the heir was alive and willing to continue the family legacy.

The Flush.

Something in him pushed the King to share his ide with the rest of them.

And as expected, it didn’t receive the best reception.

Nicholas knew the others well. He knew that they were definitely not the type to exploit and use others to their advantage; similar to how a player would use his instructions to win the game.

But this, he ended up thinking, was more than a game.

“-cholas?”

The King looked up. He had been sitting on a stone bench in Arthur’s garden, musing post-meeting. His eyes met Astrid’s.

“Oh. Lady Astrid.”

“Just Astrid,” the other replied. She blinked and glanced away, Nicholas doing just the same. Her arms remained at her sides. “Er – I just came to tell you that supper is going to be served soon. A-And that your brother wants to see you.” She started to back off from there, but Nicholas stopped her.

“Astrid.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,”

“Just Nicholas,” he replied hastily, echoing her earlier request. “Please. Keep me company, it seems to be growing lonely here out,” the King admitted. Astrid blinked and Nicholas wondered if he overstepped his boundaries.

The girl looked at him steadily for a moment and then sat down, maintaining her distance. For a moment, Nicholas wondered if he did something to provoke her.

But he remembered her stance the first time he had seen her, and realized that out of the four, she had to be the most timid.

So the first step was to not overwhelm her.

Above them, the sun had started to set. Nicholas looked at Astrid – she was gazing at the sky, her face totally clear of emotion.

With a jolt, the King of Raleigh just knew.

There was no way in hell that he would gather the nerve to manipulate her.