My hands were sweating because of my nervousness. I was inside the royal palace along with nine other journalists, all from different nations, who listened attentively to a palace manager giving us directions on where we would be directed, I was too stunned and surprised by the mere fact of being present, that I was not paying attention at all, I still could not believe it, I was inside the palace of Sweden about to interview Prince Frederick Kallenberg.

As if that wasn't enough, my urge to pee increased because I drank so much water on the way to the palace, in those moments, I felt like I was five years old again and I had told mom that I didn't want to go to the bathroom before I left the house.

I must have gone to the bathroom before entering the palace. I bit my lower lip hard, how long had it been since we entered, fifteen minutes? Well, it felt like an hour had passed and during all that time, my urge had increased.

I cursed myself for it.

The group moved forward and I did so along with them somewhat hesitantly, we were to be directed to a room that was set up so we could all take a seat and wait for the prince, each of us journalists had been given the opportunity to ask him three direct questions, which is a great advantage since an opportunity like this doesn't come along every time and even less so when dealing with a member of royalty. Most came with notebooks where they had written down their questions, I hadn't brought any of that, I was relying on my memory which just at this moment was at a crucial point between asking the prince about anything interesting about his life or asking him about the nearest toilet in the palace, which seemed to be miles away from where we were.

To my bad luck, we were lined up before entering the room, and one of the employees, who was even at the front, was handing out bottles of water to each of the journalists. I'm not going to hold it, I thought, biting my lower lip again, and since I was the last in line because I was distracted, I took that opportunity to address one of the men in an impeccable black suit a couple of meters behind me.

"Excuse me, do you think you could tell me where the bathroom is?" I asked in a polite and calm tone. The man in front of me seemed to analyze me for a few seconds, maybe he must have thought it was some kind of plan to get me beyond those corridors and meet another royal besides the prince, I would think that way if I were him, so I decided to tell him why I wanted to go to the bathroom. "Look, I drank two big bottles before I came in here because I was nervous and excited about the fact that I had a chance to be in the palace, unfortunately I didn't measure the consequences that could cause me and I understand that you think I'm just trying to excuse myself to explore the palace, but I swear it's not like that, if you want, you can wait for me at the bathroom door, I have no problem with it. Besides, I feel like I could really pee myself here, I really need to find a bathroom as soon as possible and believe me, I understand perfectly that you think I'm lying, but I swear that's not the case, I'm not, I promise I have no intentions of sneaking through the corridors and harassing a member of the royal family, I'm not that kind of girl, I swear. I promise that..."

I think he must have seen my desperation on my face because the corners of his lips almost turned up into a smile before he interrupted me.

"Walk straight down this hallway and then turn right, there you will find one of the nearest restrooms in the palace."

"Thank you."

I replied before almost running in the direction he told me to go. I had no problem finding the bathroom, as it was the only door that could be found and there was a sign indicating that it was the bathroom.

I swear I breathed again when I finally had a chance to relieve myself, I took the opportunity that the bathroom is only for one person, of course, I locked the bathroom just before I entered, not wanting to have any incident with anyone, you know, that kind of awkward incident where you open the bathroom door for a stranger when you are sitting on the toilet. I made sure to wash my hands thoroughly with soap and inspect my appearance in the mirror, my makeup still looked good, it was sophisticated and I think it somehow brought out my blue eyes, my short brown hair was styled in perfect waves, I had made a little effort to look good, I smiled at the reflection of me in the mirror and in my mind I cheered up a little, telling myself that I would get the best grade of all.

I sighed.

"I can do it; this is a great opportunity."

I spoke to no one in particular, except my reflection. The idea of being in front of the prince made me nervous, but I knew I could do it, I just had to tell myself that it was an ordinary interview, that I have done this before, as I had interviewed some local celebrities, although it was always accompanied by some intern and never on my own and I think that somehow, somehow, managed to sneak into my nerves for the second time.

I took almost a minute standing there, contemplating my reflection, and when I finally got up the courage to leave, I felt more lost than ever.

Which hallway was I supposed to have entered through? Ah, yes! From the right, I remembered and walked along the right side of the hallway and turned right again, however, I did not remember having been on that side of the palace.

There was more than one door leading to different rooms for sure, unfortunately, in that hallway there was no one around whom I could ask where the rest of the reporters were, I remained static in my place, I had gone down the wrong hallway, that must be the answer to why I didn't know where I was and didn't remember that hallway. I took a big breath of air and thought well, the man told me to go straight and then turn right, I had walked straight down the hallway and turned right, but it wasn't the right I should have taken, not because of the position I was in, so I tried to go back towards the bathroom, ─I was determined to go back─, but the sound of voices at the end of the corridor put my nerves on edge and I remained static in my place, they were voices of a woman and a man having a conversation that I could not hear clearly, even so, their voices echoed in the place.

Come on, I have to hide. It was the first thing that came to my mind.

In front of me, there were four doors, all closed, I doubted if they were locked, so I rushed to the first door, when the voices increased because they were getting closer. It was locked, I went to the second one, it was the same situation, the same thing happened with the third one, I went back to the first one and I frowned when I managed to open it. Didn't It have a lock? I thought.

In the distance, I spotted a woman turning the corner and I rushed into the room and closed the door, I put the lock back on, the lights were off, and I wanted to turn them on because I didn't like the dark.

The voices increased and I held my breath, I prayed to myself that they wouldn't try to open the door, it took about a minute before the voices were lost in the corridors and confirmed to me that they were gone. I let out a heavy snort and for some strange reason, an absurd chuckle escaped me as I thought I almost got caught.

"We ran lucky, don't you think?"

Asked a male voice about inches away from me, my instinct was to scream and shudder in my place, yes, I was screaming like a five-year-old girl who has an extremely high pitched voice. As quickly as I tried to open the door to flee, I felt hands cover my mouth and clasp my body to his to corner me against the door and him. He was muffling my screams with his hand, and they were barely audible, I twisted between his body and the door in an attempt to escape.

"Sh," he tried to shut me up, "Sh...."

Murmurs from outside were heard again and that succeeded in shutting me up. They were the same voices of a woman and a man minutes ago, they were walking back down the hallway to who knows where they were, before they passed.

"If you try to scream, they will discover you and you will be in trouble," the man muttered above my head, he was tall, my body reached exactly to his chest, which was firm as a rock. When he was sure that there was no one in the corridors, he slowly moved his hand away from my mouth and I stifled a scream and turned to face him.

Where the hell did, I go? Who is this man and what is he doing here? Maybe he was one of the other journalists eager to sneak into the palace, that was one of the first things that crossed my mind.

"I-I-I-I..." I stammered. Even though I couldn't see his face, I felt his gaze fixed on me. "Y-y-you..."

"I..." he said in a mocking tone because of my stuttering.

I was scared, my heart was pounding so hard in my chest that I was surprised I hadn't had a heart attack, I tried to calm myself down by taking a breath of air and then expelling it, I closed my eyes tightly while thinking.

What am I supposed to do in cases like this? I forced myself to think of something, I should get out, it was the most reliable option I had, but they could find me and who knows what would happen to me for hiding inside the rooms of the royal palace. Hiding in the royal palace was a crime.

Come on Beth, think of something. I demanded, a grunt escaped from the man, and I realized I had stepped on his foot, which made me react back to reality and do what my survival instinct told me to do: punch him.

I made a fist with my hand and gave him a good punch in the face.

"Ouch!"

He exclaimed and from the tone of his voice as he complained, I confirmed that it had hurt.

"Who are you?" I managed to formulate without stuttering, although I was still scared.

The man in front of me answered a few seconds after letting out a whimper.

"Who are you?"

He countered. His voice was thick, which made me nervous.

"I asked you a question first," I said crossing my arms over my chest protectively, his body was still close to mine, I blinked a couple of times so my eyes could adjust to the darkness, I lifted my chin a little and saw a somewhat defined jaw, but I had no more indication of his face because he was holding the bridge of his nose.

"And I asked you a question later," he paused, "Ouch, you really hit hard! Why you did that?"

He continued to complain about the blow. I bit my lower lip.

"You scared me. I'm sorry."

I apologized, I had done it without thinking, I had reacted out of high school, I was about to tell him that, but he hurried to speak.

"Don't worry, it wasn't so bad after all. I guess I deserved it after scaring you," he said without any hint of annoyance, to tell the truth, he sounds relaxed and calm.

Since I didn't know what else to say or if I should apologize again, I decided to pick up on his question from a few minutes ago and introduce myself.

"I'm Bethany Danielsson."

Oh, Bethany, you're giving who could be a kidnapper or rapist your first and last name, that's.... That's great! I scolded myself.

Again, there was silence and she seemed to no longer complain about the blow. Lucky me.

"Bethany Anderson," he repeated, and I grimaced.

"Danielsson, not Anderson," I corrected, and he clicked his tongue as if it was of no consequence.

"Anyway, what are you doing here?"

I bit my tongue to avoid answering his question, he evaded mine a few seconds ago.

"What are you doing here?" I countered just as he had done. A short, throaty chuckle came from him.

"I'm hiding," he replied indifferently. "What about you?"

He was still frowning, who thinks of hiding? I thought.

You and him, my head confirmed.

"I'm hiding too," I replied, "I got scared when I heard voices in the hallway."

He laughed; it was a low, short chuckle.

"Well, we have something in common," he said, unconcerned with grief, it seemed as if having hit him had been completely forgotten. "Tell me, what are you doing in the palace?"

Since when did you become an interrogator here?

"I am here to interview the prince; I am one of the selected journalists."

I answered proudly.

"And how did you get here?"

"I wanted to go to the bathroom, I asked a man where the nearest bathroom was, he pointed to one of the hallways and said to turn right, so I did, but when I came out of the bathroom, I think I got lost. That explains how I ended up here."

I confessed and I could tell he was smiling. I don't know what was funny and I didn't know at what point the embarrassment on my part was lost because I was fraternizing with a stranger who had given me a heart attack scare.

"What about you? Are you also one of the journalists?" I asked and he let out another snap.

"No."

He said dryly. Again, we were back to seriousness in a matter of seconds.

"So, what are you doing here?"

"I told you, I'm hiding," he answered leaning a little towards me, his closeness made me nervous.

"From whom?"

"Don't you think that's too many questions?"

He shielded himself. I raised an eyebrow.

"Says the one who has been questioning me mercilessly."

"I have not been questioning you mercilessly."

I sensed an amused tone in his voice; again, the seriousness was gone.

"Okay, will you tell me who you're hiding from?"

"From my parents," he answered after a while, I frowned again.

"Your parents?"

"That's right, my parents, the people who gave birth to me─"

"Yes, I got it," I cut him off. Your parents. "Mom and Dad."

"Good."

"Why are you hiding from them?"

I asked and again felt like he was analyzing me. I noticed he put his hands in his pants pockets and shrugged.

"I wanted a few seconds alone," he replied.

A chuckle came out of me, I wanted to ask him why he wanted a few minutes alone, but I didn't, I kept silent. I thought about how everyone must already be in the room with the prince, harassing him with thousands of interesting and creative questions while I was here, locked in a room with a stranger ─and the lights off─, I had to go back to wherever the interview was.

"Uhm, I think I'd better go," I saw myself saying. "Someone might be looking for me."

I didn't know if that was really happening, I hoped it was.

"Okay."

He just said.

I nodded and remained silent just like him, I didn't move from my place either. I didn't have enough courage to leave the room, to tell the truth, I could stay there for a while longer to control my anxiety and nerves before meeting the prince, that sounded like a good kind of option. Besides, being there, for a strange reason turns out to be pleasant, even when there was a stranger in the way. As crazy as it sounded, the guy had a nice vibe.

"You're not leaving?" I dared to ask him and he was slow to answer.

"Oh yes, sure. I have important things to do besides hiding from my parents."

I nodded. Again, there was silence, however, he stretched out his hand, which brushed my arm, as he unlocked the door.

"Go ahead, you can go."

He prompted me and I nodded again.

"Good luck with your parents."

I said as a farewell, but I didn't leave, I stayed in my place just as he did. It was as if neither of us agreed to leave the room.

"So, you're not thinking of leaving?"

He murmured, snapping me out of my thoughts. I didn't answer, and he was amused.

"I'll tell you what," he said, and I raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to speak. "It's clear that we both can't spend our whole lives here, so how about we go out at the same time?"

He had a good point, even though that place didn't seem as bad as it had minutes ago, sooner or later we had to leave.

"How about on the count of three?" I asked.

"All right," he placed his hand on the plate, and I moved to the side, my body was next to him, my back colliding with his chest. "One."

"Two."

"Three."

We said in unison. The door opened and it was me who came out first, it took him a few seconds. I turned around so I could meet his face just as I heard him close the door, he turned around and his gaze met mine, a little scream escaped me, and I held my breath.

"Frederick Kallenberg," my voice was barely audible, due to the surprise. "You are..."

"The prince?" he asked amused. My body was so paralyzed that I didn't move a muscle, I was seeing him in person, I must have had an astonished expression, and I must have looked like an idiot because he seemed to be amused.

"I-I-I-I..."

"Back with the stuttering?" he asked amused. I cleared my throat in embarrassment, my cheeks had gone red.

"I... uhm... no...." I couldn't formulate a sentence clearly, I was more than surprised. I was in a kind of amazement where you freeze and don't know what to do, you can't speak clearly let alone think and as if that wasn't enough, I recreated our strange encounter in my head.

Oh my God, I hit the prince!

I opened my mouth immediately to apologize for what I had done; it was a crime to hit a member of royalty and I had had the nerve to do it and not even apologize for it and on top of that act as if nothing of the sort happened between the two of us.

The prince took a step in my direction, his body stayed close to mine just as we were in the room, the distance becoming scanty. I tried to find the right words to apologize, but I was in some kind of shock for what I had done, the prince's eyebrows were raised and he had a somewhat sly smile on his mouth, which opened to say something, but closed immediately when voices coming from the hallway started to be heard, he cursed under his breath and pulled my arm to lock me back in the room with him, he locked the door again and covered my mouth with his hand.

"Don't even think about talking or we'll both be in big trouble this time," he said. "Do you promise not to yell or anything like that?"

I nodded and he removed his hand from my mouth.

"Your Highness, I uhm...." I wanted to tell him that I was very sorry for not addressing him with respect and having the nerve to hit him, for no matter how I looked at it, I had corrupted the laws by hitting him. "I swear to you─"

"Please stop with the apologies," he interrupted. "There's no need."

"Okay, I uhm...."

I wanted to insist on apologizing to him, I didn't want to go to jail or be beheaded for hitting him, however, the prince seemed to be so calm with that situation that he didn't seem to mind having hit him, rather, he seemed more mortified by the fact of being discovered than for having hit him.

"Don't speak," he shushed me, "Someone is coming."

The plate began to move from one side to the other, someone was trying to open it from the outside, my instinct was to move away from it and approach Frederick, who did not flinch and pulled my body to his as security, whoever was on the other side, was about to catch us.

I turned my gaze to the prince, who looked at me with an incredulous expression, the door let out a creaking sound indicating that the lock had been removed. My body tensed and I felt my blood freeze, why did this have to happen to me? They were going to catch me with the prince in a room, when I was supposed to be waiting for him next to many other journalists, and if I thought about it, it was one of the many things they told us before entering, "it is forbidden to try to have contact with the prince before or after his interview, unless you want to be in trouble". Yes, I had no escape, as soon as the door opened, I would be in serious but very serious trouble.

****

So, Chapter one is here!!! What are yout thoughts about it? Did you like it?

This prince is always surprising us so expect a lot of drama with his crazyness hahah i hope you all liked the first chapter! Thank you for reading it :)

Also, thank you for the +100 readings in this story! I appreciate it ❤️