Before I get into how Prussia fits into Hungary and
Austria’s relationship dynamic (platonic or romantic), it’s important to
briefly go over Prussia’s background, as it allows more insight into his
behaviour.
In one of his character notes, it’s stated that he’s never
had to marry. It would follow, then, that Prussia’s narcissism likely derives
from the fact that he’s long grown accustomed to fending for himself. He
doesn’t rely on others.
Yes, he’s been subordinated by other nations before (i.e.
Poland, France, Russia), but the point here is that other than Germany, Prussia
hasn’t formed a meaningful and trusting relationship with another nation.
It’s not just a lack of intimacy either; Prussia’s lonely
and desperately craves company.
In the 2007 Christmas event, he tells [lies to] himself that
he’s happy being alone. Likewise, he attributes the tears welling in his eyes
upon seeing couples spending time together on the holiday to this happy mood.
The strip then pans on Hungary and Austria acting seemingly
couple-like, where Austria buys Hungary a hat. Pretty romantic if you consider
how stingy Austria is.
The fact that Prussia cries at the sight of Hungary being
with Austria hints at an unrequited romance. I’ll touch on this again soon.
Prussia’s alone because he lacks the skills to socialize and
develop relationships with others. The most obvious evidence of this is where
he attempts to read a book instructing him on how to socialize with people,
only to get bored and quickly abandon his commitment to learning from it.
Buon San Valentino also touches on how relationally-stunted
Prussia is.
Just a quick refresher: Germany reads a book about dating
and marriage, thinking that Italy has romantic feelings for him. Austria has
also read this book.
The comedic relief in the strip, is that after failing to
propose to Italy – given that Germany had misread the situation – the scene flips
to Hungary making a remark on the absurdity of the romance book.
Austria gets flustered, keeping that he had also read the
book a secret. He and Hungary then set off to the book store to fix this mess.
Notice how the scene deliberately shifts to Prussia. On cue,
he claims how happy he is to be alone. He then secretly watches from afar as
Hungary and Austria ask the store owner if they have a book on how to comfort
someone who’s “been rejected in his romance.”
The store owner doesn’t appear to have a book of that kind, so of
course Prussia takes things into his own hands and pulls a prank on Austria by
forging a fake book.
I would like to thank @shirokage218 for correcting my original misinterpretation of this part. I really appreciate it.
Take note of the title.
“How to properly comfort a German man who has failed in love.”
Here, it seems like Prussia might be projecting his own insecurities, even in something as trivial as a book title.
With all this in mind, I want to end by pointing out that
Prussia isn’t entirely alone either. He, Austria and Germany have lived together before, likely during Germany’s annexation of Austria.
Lack of romance aside, Prussia is close enough with Austria
and Hungary for them to be considered family. Yes, he does tease Austria by
referring to him as a “lesser German”, but they still spend their holidays
together.
That said, the irony in Prussia’s
life is that he feels alone and depressed despite being surrounded by others.
Ellawritesficssometimes 