M: Rowen smiled in thanks to Anglo, he hugged Johann for a moment more before having him go back to his chair so they could finish breakfast.

When they were done, Rowen had to get to work so he bid everyone goodbye and hugged Johann again before leaving.

"So what are we going to do today," Mandara asked, "Father would probably prefer that we don't stray from the castle."

"We can play World Domination again," Derogan suggested, then flashed Anglo a smug smile, "and since Silver Streak isn't here maybe you win this time."

N: "Well, at least I won't lose to a bird again, but seriously, her skills at World Domination are frightening," Anglo chuckled.

Since they were not there, England and Johann were confused as to what they were talking about, especially England about Silver Streak. "Fa, were you beaten by a bird? On a board game?"

"I'm telling you, that bird is on a different level, besides, your father here was also beaten by the princes in a pillow fight."

"Wait," England leaned so he can see Saxon, "is that true?"

"We don't talk about that," muttered the entity, making England and Johann laugh.

"If you are going to play again, may Sir England and I join?" Johann asked.

M: "I don't think we can, we lost Austria Empire so there is only British, French, Spanish, Ottoman, and Prussian Empire, that's five and there are six of us," Derogan said.

"We can share a piece," Mandara reasoned, "I'll go get it and we can play it here."

Mandara ran off without another word so Derogan just had to shrug, "so, who's pulling the short straw to play as Prussia?"

N: For a moment, Anglo, Saxon, England, and Johann glanced at each other, wondering who would volunteer themselves to play as Prussia. When he saw that no one was going to volunteer, England raised his hand, "I'll play as Prussia."

Although relieved, Anglo gave him a questioning look, "why will you?"

"It's simple. Faeder wouldn't play Prussia, no matter what, and I doubt he'll be happy if you play him, Fa, since what happened in ..." he trailed off a bit, but quickly went on track, "and Johann is not going to have Prussia, end of conversation."

He leaned back a bit as he gave space for the servant to take their plates away, "and who knows, I might play poorly so there wouldn't be an ounce of Prussian land in the end."

M: "Well, I don't want you to have a bad time just because of what piece you play, Mandara and I can play Prussia," Derogan said, "it's just a wooden figure after all."

"I found Austria," Mandara shouted when he came back with the board game, waving the Austria figurine in his hand, "he rolled underneath Derogan's nightstand."

He set the game on the table and took out the empire pieces, "I call Spanish Empire again."

N: "No, I insist," England said sternly, and he picked up the Prussian figurine and rotated it in his fingers, "besides, I won't have a bad time."

Everyone took their pieces: Anglo retook Britain; Saxon retook Ottoman; Derogan retook French Empire; Mandara retook Spanish Empire; England took Prussia, and Johann took Austria.

Holding up his piece, Johann asked, "how do you play this?"

"Watch and learn," Anglo replied, and he rolled the dice; however, his eyes widened when he got a pair of snake eyes, "actually learn from Derogan. He's much better at this than I am."

M: The brothers snickered at Anglo's luck, or lack of it, so they took the first game as a teaching experience so Johann and England knew how to play properly before they dove in headfirst.

By the third game, the two newbies got the hang of it and it was officially a winner takes all. Johann was surprisingly good for his first time, he had most of the board and had even knocked Mandara off of it."

"Are you sure you've never played this before," Mandara asked, "you're pretty good."

N: "I'm sure that I haven't, but it is similar to chess, no?" He moved his piece so he could protect his ports, "you can't afford to think in the short term so every move has to be thought out for the long run."

England studied the board; he had a decent amount of land, albeit not as much as Johann, and his goal was to only take land from smaller empires. Smiling, he moved his piece from his newly acquired Sweden and moved his way towards Scotland.

When he landed in Scotland, Johann cut off the country's only connection to mainland Europe, stranding a piece of Prussian land in Britain. England started in horror as his father Anglo then regained control of the island and now he was back in square one.

M: "I guess England doesn't share your line of thought," Derogan teased, "though you are on the money with that logic, but one thing you have to plan for is that the person you're fighting against will not follow your plans, causing them to change at a moment's notice.

He proved his point by capturing the country of Panama, effectively blocking Saxon's attempts of crossing into North America.

N: Johann hmmed as he took the new information in while Saxon was throwing a small tantrum. "What, how? I made sure that I- argh. Idiot," he facepalmed himself.

Anglo placed his hand on his shoulder, "it's alright Saxon. Don't overthink it; it's just a game. Besides, you still have land in South America."

"No you don't," England interrupted as he took over his father's remaining land on the continent from his outpost in Chile. Saxon stared at the board for a moment then looked up to England with narrowed eyes. "What," the country said, trying to act innocent, "I found some land and I took it."

M: Mandara and Derogan chuckled at the father-son shenanigans, then the older prince leaned close to Johann.

"This is exactly what you want to happen," he said, "they are distracted with each other, giving you the perfect opportunity to catch them by surprise, for example-"

He moved one of the navy pieces to Spain, blocking England's navy from exiting the Mediterranean Sea.

N: Now it's England's turn to throw a fit, panicking as his lands in South America are up for the picking. Anglo took the opportunity to seize England's lands, which Saxon smugly smiled at, and for England to panic even more as now he is trapped in Europe.

He eventually saw his father's smile, "oh no, don't get too happy Faeder," he commented as he moved his troops towards the Ottoman Empire.

Thinking he was safe, the entity moved his piece so he was closer to England's piece, when suddenly the Ottoman lands near the Indian Ocean became Austrian.

Johann took Derogan's advice and decided to cut off Saxon's route to escape.

M: "You adults are really dramatic losers," Mandara commented, sitting on the sidelines since Johann knocked him off the board, "we don't throw fits when we lose."

"Says the one who cries when he loses a race," Derogan muttered.

"You always cheat because you can't fly as fast as me," Mandara countered.

Derogan rolled his eyes and just focused back on the game, "I think someone is getting a little too confident," he commented about Johann trying to take the American west coast, "why don't we knock you down a peg."

He moved his mothership piece from Japan and cornered Johann with it and the cannon piece on the continent.

N: Johann looked worryingly at the cannon piece, but then he got an idea. Although his navy was on the west coast, his army was still in Asia to block Saxon's retreat from England. Although moving them would mean Saxon could escape, he moved the troops through Austrian-owned Russia and placed cannons facing Japan.

"Let me join the party," Anglo said as he moved his navy from India towards Japan from the south.

While on mainland Europe, England was fighting his way through the Ottoman Empire as a way to escape Europe since he couldn't access the Atlantic. With the newfound route, Saxon retreated to the middle of the Middle East, but that allowed England to take Greece and Turkey.

M: "Upping the ante I see," Derogan said thoughtfully, "seems I could be in a bit of a pickle, hopefully, the dice are in my favor when I roll damage."

The older prince rolled the two dice, landing on double sixes.

"Yes," he exclaimed victoriously, then moved his cannon to smush Johann's navy piece, "one down, one to go."

N: Johann, who was drinking some water, instantly choked when he saw the double sixes and was further shocked by the obliteration of his navy. He snatched the dice and rolled, only to get two ones like Anglo got before. He glanced at the older winged country with an accusatory look, and the country raised his hands in defense, "I didn't do anything."

With the limited moves, he knew he couldn't do anything dramatic, so he backed down his troops from Russia, but not too far away.

Anglo rolled and, to his surprise, got two sixes. Johann now definitely was shocked, "Sir Anglo, are you using magic?"

"If I were using magic, wouldn't I control the whole board by now?" Anglo chuckled. He moved half his navy so that it controlled the seas around the Japanese island.

M: Derogan analyzed the situation very carefully, weighing his options and trying to come up with a plan of attack. He decided to finally put his original plan into action, he had been eyeing the British Isles and had been drawing Anglo's attention as far away from it as possible so he could secretly surround it and pin him down.

Derogan moved his last cavalry pieces into position, "and the French Empire has conquered the British Empire," he announced.

N: The English all stared dumbfounded at the cavalry piece, and each gave a different reaction.

"Huh, I did not see that coming," Anglo muttered as he thought about his next move.

"'The French Empire conquering the British Empire'? Now I've seen it all," commented Saxon.

And finally, the youngest English country glowered, "Fa? Seriously? 'You didn't see that coming?'" He knew it was just a game, but when it came to the British Empire, he didn't joke around.

Knowing that there was very little he could do to protect the British Isles, he decided to go on the defensive and defend the one place he could. He backed down his navy and protected the ports of India.

England, still frustrated that Derogan surrounded the British Isles, rolled and pushed towards France. "Ha, Prussia will soon control the French Empire," he crudely chuckled, but then was taken aback by Saxon's move towards Europe by taking Turkey and Johann's move to close on Prussia from the north.

M: "It seems like I have some reinforcements, Derogan said to England's premature celebration.

He predicted that the Prussian Empire would be too focused on Ottoman and Austrian Empire to attack French territories so he continued his assault on the last British land.

After a few lucky rolls and navel war, Derogan landed in India and placed a castle chip on top of Anglo's, claiming it.

"And the great British Empire has been officially defeated," he announced smugly.

N: "Well played," Anglo congratulated as he set the British Empire figurine aside,

In the meantime, England was having a hard time defending on two fronts but after rolling two sets of sixes, he was able to capture the capital of the Ottoman Empire. When he did, he snatched up the Ottoman figurine and waved it in front of Saxon, "look at this, Faeder, I got it now."

However, the entity shrugged and pointed at the board, and when the Englishman saw it, he realized that he was practically surrounded by Austrian land. Johann noticed that the country was eyeing his lands, so he said, "you were distracted with the Ottoman Empire so I took the opportunity."

The human boy rolled the dice and got a four and a five, but it was enough to close in from his lands and take over the Prussian Empire. "The Prussian Empire has been defeated by the Austrian Empire," he smiled.

M: "Hazzah," Mandara cheered, Derogan clapping along.

"Very good Johann," Derogan complimented, "that means it's just you and me, but just to warn you, I didn't teach you everything, I still have a few tricks up my sleeve."

"Well stop monologuing and use them then," Mandara insisted. "we're anxious to see who wins."

"War isn't about rushing in swords flailing, you need to take time and analyze your situation and options," Derogan said as he moved a soldier piece across the Bering Strait from Alaska to Russia, "you need to be crafty and keep the enemy second-guessing."

N: Johann only silently listened to Derogan as he studied the board, resting his chin in his hands. His eyes glanced from one part of the world to another, then back at the prince, trying to somehow guess his plan.

Suddenly, a lightbulb turned on in his mind, so he rolled, and moved a soldier piece from Russia to China, essentially running away from Derogan. They continued this pattern, whenever Derogan would go near Johann's piece, he would move away. Eventually, a quarter of the Austrian army landed in Australia.

M: Derogan had a fairly rough idea of what Johann was doing, he was luring him away from critical points to conquer the unprotected territories, so what the prince did was chase Johann with a few of his stronger naval pieces and the rest were guarding his most important territories.

"You're in a tight spot Johann," he stated, "you're risking losing Australia and a fourth of your army, what's your next plan of action?"

N: "This," he smirked, as he rolled the dice. Derogan's naval pieces were dangerously close to the Australian coast, near the Indonesian islands. He knew that he could knock down a ship with his single cannon with the army on the island, but the rest of the French navy would obliterate his soldiers. Instead, he had another quarter of his army in the Philippines with another cannon, so that he was able to take out all the ships that were in the area with his cannons.

After that, he split up his army again and moved around so it was never in one place.

M: Derogan was quite impressed with Johann's play, he couldn't believe he didn't see it. Now with most of his strongest ships taken out he had to be careful about attacking.

The game went on for several minutes after that, both parties would lose land as fast as they were gaining it so it was almost constantly stalemated.

"Can't one of you lose already," Mandara whined impatiently, "you're taking forever."

N: "Patience, patience," the human boy muttered, partially to Mandara but also to himself, reminding himself to not rush. He rolled the dice and his face scrunched up when he got a one and a two.

It was no way enough to move against France itself, but he used it to move a cannon from China to Nepal, right on the border of India. However, his soldier didn't move from its place and the rest of the pieces remained separated.

M: Derogan was starting to get a little impatient himself, the game had gone for so long that Mandara had gotten himself a sandwich for lunch.

Eventually, Derogan decided he was going to be nice and let Johann win, though he did it as inconspicuously as possible so no one would pick up on it, and pretty soon he was pinned down to mainland Europe."

"How, I was doing so well," he said with mock surprise, "how are you winning?"

N: "I-I don't know," Johann replied with surprise in his voice, but he was glad that he was as it allowed him to commence a plan that he thought from the beginning.

After rolling, he arranged his soldiers so that they surrounded the continent of Europe, four cannons on each side. As the game progressed, he performed a pincer movement, moving in from all sides until Derogan was trapped in the Kingdom of France.

Cannons poised at the nation, the human gave a choice to the prince, "Prince Derogan, you now have the chance to surrender peacefully and prevent the destruction of your kingdom, or," he tapped on the cannon figurine, "kaboom."

M: "Looks like I have no choice," Derogan said, flipping over his figurine to symbolize his defeat.

"Huzzah, the Austrian Empire rules the world," Mandara cheered, Derogan again clapped respectfully.

"Great job Johann, not a lot of people are able to beat me," he congratulated

N: The English also clapped, and Anglo commented, "You played wonderfully, Johann. Now the next person you have to beat is Silver Streak."

"Maybe later," added England, who was still sour from losing. He guesstimated that it was lunch from the sun and from Mandara eating, "let's eat since I'm sure some of us are hungry."

Saxon nodded; however, he glanced at Derogan as the prince tidied up the game. Since being a Head means that he has to pay attention to many things over continents, he noticed that Derogan had allowed Johann to win. Of course, the entity was happy that the boy won, but it didn't sit well with him that Johann was given the false sense that he won.

Anglo saw Saxon's troubled face and asked what was wrong. When Johann had left with Mandara to return the box back where it was before, the entity told the winged country in German so no one understood except them two. At the end, Anglo also glanced at Derogan and commented, "remember, it's just a game, unless you want to admit your defeat to the Prussia Empire."

The entity shook his head, then he turned to Derogan, "since we showed our specialty for breakfast, what is the specialty of the Kingdom of Mandoria?"

"Hopefully it doesn't have spice," muttered England under his breath.