I didn't wake the next morning until Marinette came into my room and pulled open the curtains, causing the light to stream into my room and right into my eyes.

"Good morning, Miss!" she sang brightly. "Your breakfast is in the sitting room and then we have to get you ready for the day."

"We're sorry to wake you." Olivia trailed in behind her. "We left it as long as we could. You have a meeting with His Royal Highness and members of household staff in just over an hour. Would you like us to select an outfit for you?"

I rubbed some sleep out of my eye and nodded. "Yes, please. And is there any coffee?"

"Yes, Miss." Marinette curtseyed and walked into the sitting room, returning moments later with a cup of coffee. "Janet insisted you get some coffee before your meeting."

"Bless her," I mumbled, inhaling the delicious scent of caffeine in the morning. I blew on the coffee until it was cool enough to drink and then downed it in one gulp.

It was not cool enough to drink. "Ow!" I shouted, waving my hand in front of my open mouth and breathing out in quick pants, trying to cool it down.

"Water." Olivia pointed out the door and Marinette dashed out without curtseying. I guess they're allowed to skip those in emergencies.

"Here, Miss." Marinette flew into the room and handed me an ice cold glass of water.

I drank the water while Olivia and Marinette watched me from the foot of my enormous bed.

"I'm okay," I said, hoping to mask my pain. "I just burned my tongue a little."

Owing to my burnt tongue, we didn't speak much as I ate some toast, drank a lot of cold water, and got dressed to start the day. Just as a guard arrived at the door to escort me, Olivia handed me some pain medication and a glass of water. Thank goodness for these two.

The guard led me into a part of the palace I didn't recognize. Though there were a lot of parts of the palace that I didn't recognize. Like all of them. So it was hard to say exactly where we were compared to everything else.

When we got to our final destination, Clarence opened the door before we knocked.

"Thank you, Benjamin. You may go now."

The guard bowed and left.

"You're late," Clarence said before turning around and returning to an ornate wooden desk in the center of the room. The window behind him had a stunning view of a field blooming with multicoloured flowers and a mountain peak.

"Why do you face away from that when you work?" I asked, pointing out the window.

"Because I'm here to do my work, okay?" He put his head in his hands. "I'm sorry," he said after a moment. "I'm just tired of everyone thinking I don't care about this country because I'm..." He waved his hands around as if searching for the words. "I don't know. Bad with women?"

"Bad with women?" I quipped. "Is that what you call what you've been doing?"

"It's not what it looks like." He walked around his desk and sat in the large leather chair. "I was schooled mostly at home and then an all boys boarding school. No one thought to teach me how to talk to girls, I guess."

I drew my eyebrows together and tilted my head a bit. Sure, that's the problem.

He looked up at me and threw his hands down on his desk. "But why should anyone believe me when there're tabloids about, right?" He rubbed his temples and stood, pacing the floor behind his desk.

I tried to be careful with my words, taking a second to think before I spoke.

"It seems like they're printing a pretty likely explanation. And they have photographs." I winced and drew back slightly, hoping he wouldn't hit back. When he didn't, I continued, "But if you say it's not like that, I'll choose to believe you. Though I must warn you Janet has told me a lot about your antics. And I definitely believe her. So don't go trying to feed me any lies, buddy."

Why did I say buddy?

He chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. "Okay, it's a little bit what it looks like. I spend a lot of time at clubs, but who doesn't in college?"

"Those of us with bills to pay," I said, emotionless. "But for the sake of argument, continue."

"Fine, well I'm not the only one going to clubs." He stopped and pointed at a big leather chair. "Will you please sit? You're making me..." He waved his hands around, searching for a word again. I'd never seen him more flustered. It's kind of funny.

"Nervous?" I offered.

"Yes! You're making me nervous."

I stepped around the chair and tried to perch daintily on the edge, making a mental note to learn how to cross my ankles delicately the next time I had time to myself. I looked up at Clarence and saw the smallest crack growing in his always confident demeanour.

He took a deep breath. "Well, I go to clubs a lot, and I do get photographed with a lot of girls, but I'm not like-" he searched for the words with his hands again. "It's not like I'm dating them or whatever. And it's not like we're hooking up, either," he added, noticing my glare.

Did he just say 'hooking up?' I didn't think that was a term I would ever hear come out of a prince's mouth.

"It really isn't like that!" He finally sat down in the chair beside mine, forcing me to turn towards him.

"Then what's it really like?" I asked, settling into the back of my chair and giving up any hope of appearing proper.

"It's all kind of scientific, I guess."

I tried to disguise my laugh with a snort. "No, go on," I said when I noticed his glare.

"I mean, I meet them. I take them out on a date. I realize it isn't going to work. They leave. I never call them again."

"How do you realize they aren't a good-" I searched for the word- "candidate after one date?"

"A good candidate?"

"Yeah, you know." I struggled to form words in my mouth. "How do you know she isn't someone you want to date or bring home or whatever?"

He gestured around the room. "Because of this."

"Oh," I said, struggling to understand how the palace would be a drawback to potential suitors. "Oh, yes. It must be really hard to keep someone around when you're outrageously rich and good looking."

I snapped my jaw shut and put my hand over my mouth. Why had I called him good looking? What is wrong with me?

He carried on as if nothing had happened. "I mean, dating me isn't just dating, you know? It's all of this. Every single woman I've ever dated has either wanted it too much or not enough. It's hard to find someone who's willing to be a queen but also wants a relationship with me, crown or not."

He has a point. I'm not sure I'd want to run all of this. It's overwhelming.

He sighed and shook his head. "Sorry. I shouldn't have said anything."

"It's fine," I whispered, staring at the floor. Finally, I looked back up at him. "But in future, you might try finding girls at places other than clubs if you're looking for someone with the aptitude to be queen and the desire to live a quiet life with you."

"That's awfully small-minded of you," he said, raising his eyebrow. "I mean, I met you at a club and here we are."

"Just continuing a trend." I tried to smile, but couldn't make it reach my eyes. "I just meant maybe branching out a little bit. There are plenty of smart and capable women at the club on any given night, but there are plenty who aren't there, too. That's all I meant by it."

We sat in silence for a moment, me staring in my hands to avoid looking at him. Finally, I broke the silence. "And Clarence?" I asked, looking up at him. "Maybe lower the bar a little bit. I don't think many of us are ready to be a queen without some training. It's not really a feasible life goal for, well, anyone."

His face dropped a little. "I thought all little girls dreamed of being princesses."

The way his eyes searched mine, I knew he meant more than he was letting on. It was like he was begging me to say there was someone out there who might want the job. "I..."

"It's all right." He smiled. "I know."

I stood up to leave and then remembered I had nowhere to go. "I mean, being a princess is more than fancy jewelry and dresses. I think that work part probably takes time. Not all of us are trained from birth, after all."

What am I doing?

I could feel my face getting warmer the longer our conversation lasted, so I was endlessly thankful when Janet strolled through a door I hadn't noticed before and saved me from continuing my explanation. Trailing slightly behind her was a bright-eyed young woman with short, black hair.

The two stopped a few feet from us and curtseyed. I returned the gesture.

"Genevieve." Janet pointed to me. "This is Semret, your personal assistant."

Semret and I nodded at each other.

"Hello, Semret." I smiled, trying to keep my voice from shaking.

"Well, that's that, then." Janet said, walking over to Clarence's desk. "Let's begin, shall we?"

I stood there, staring at Semret, unsure of what to do next and hoping she would tell me. 

A/N: I love this chapter and the conversation between these two. I hope you also enjoyed it. As always, thank you so much for reading. Your votes and comments are always appreciated :)