A Game of Chess

Chapter 9: Lying

He blinked tiredly at the sky. Thoughts move less faster in his mind than usual. Fatigue slowed them down, allowing him to hear those thoughts much clearer through his mind. Was this how he was going to live out the rest of his life? Who was he kidding, of course he was. He couldn't complain, couldn't fight back, this was the only way he could get stronger. But still despite that thought, the icky feeling of despair still lingered. Pep-talks couldn't help him in this type of situation, of course they couldn't. He was in too deep to be able to crawl back out anymore. False hope was overshadowed by the hole he had fallen into, and by every passing day, the hole only grew more and more impossible to crawl out of. He couldn't think of any way to get out.

"Alfred."

"Huh?" He muttered, snapping out of his immersive thoughts. He looked to the left of them, spotting Ludwig standing a bit behind him in front of a large bustling building fit snugly between two other large buildings. It was bright, light shining from the large window panes that were mantled on to the building. Inside, there were round tables covered in snow-white cloth while servers ran around the room with plates being held in one hand and the other being tucked away neatly behind their back. Alfred squinted at the building, shielding his eyes a bit with his hand. The lighting was just so intense, it felt like his eyes were burning just by looking at it.

"We've arrived." Ludwig said monotonously. "Hurry up, you said you were hungry right?" He turned around before motioning Alfred to follow along with him. He didn't hesitate to listen.

They entered the building, immediately being greeted by wait staff and a smiling lady standing at reception. She beckoned them to come closer as she picked up a clipboard and started to flip through the pages.

"Hello! How may we help you today?" She asked cheerfully. Although it was already nightfall, she seemed to have a lot of energy after a long day of greeting customers.

"Ah yes, do you have the private room open tonight?" Ludwig asked her. Alfred looked at him strangely, although the look was ignored.

"Yes we do, would you please tell me the size of your party and when they will arrive?"

"It'll only be us tonight." Ludwig said, absentmindedly.

The lady paused for a moment, and looked back up at him and then to Alfred. He shook his head in confusion and just shrugged at her. It's not like he knows what Ludwig was planning either.

"I'm sorry sir, but the minimum number of guests is at least 6 people. We can seat you farther away from the guests if that makes you more comfortable."

Ludwig rumbled out a deep sigh, causing the reception lady to flinch a bit. "I rather not have any distractions in our business meeting. I'd very much appreciate it if you could please just give us an exception tonight."

She nodded slowly, and began to write on her clipboard. "O-Of course sir, but you'll have to wait around 5 minutes for us to get everything prepared, will that be alright?"

"Yes, thank you." He gruffed, loosening his tie slightly tiredly.

Alfred softly tapped him on the shoulder. He didn't want to ask questions and just make the German more annoyed than he needed to be, but he really couldn't help but listen in on the conversation though he could only understand snippets of their german dialect while he was looking at the plants.

"Hey Ludwig, dude?" He said, tapping him on the shoulder.

Ludwig turned around to face him as waiters started to roll out a long dining table from a room with large golden doors behind him. He ignored the workers in the background, unlike Alfred who was staring at them. "Hm?"