Young Royals: the story continues

Wilhelm: The end of an era

With my hand holding the song I head for the palace gates followed by my bodyguards where my mother and father are waiting for me at the main entrance, their assistants and employees as well; next to her are my bags already packed.
-Son, how was your trip? I hope you enjoyed your vacation," she says as she approaches me, almost adding: "because from now on your responsibilities will increase.
-Yes, everything is fine, thank you.
-I'm glad Wilhelm, your bags are ready to be taken to the limousine, if you think you need anything else from your room or to get ready you have half an hour, go.
I nod and leave, thanking everyone. Arriving to my room I place the sheets on top of my bed and lie down while I think about the courage and courage I will need to talk to my mom and dad about all the plans I have to make way for the new reforms once I am crowned.
My crystal statuette with the prince inside is still there on the bedside table, I grab it and when I look at it now its meaning has changed for me, it is no longer a simple frog trying to be a prince but a real prince who wants to show himself as he is without any more complexes; me in these moments, although wanting to be myself was not easy since that included my counter position to the ancient beliefs of the morarchy. I wonder if Erik were still here would he have done or said something about my video to make things change?
No doubt I would; I would finally put my statement in the public eye which would basically be to disavow not being the one in the video; the when and how I wasn't clear yet but I wouldn't hide anymore.
Simon had mentioned how gratifying it will be to see boys, girls, young people and even adults follow the figure of a king to whom making a difference does not mean any problem but rather that it will mark a new era; and yes, it was what I really wanted, now that the future of my land would depend only on me I would take advantage of my power to make changes that are already necessary. And although the possibility of making the slightest mistake terrified me, I would not allow myself to be dominated by fear again.

Before traveling I get into the marble bathtub and let my body float away from the surface, there is so much to do I think, but all that weight would only diminish with Simon by my side; I had not mentioned him but another of the things I will do when I get to Sweden will definitely be to eliminate the law that requires someone of the opposite sex as a compulsory royal companion, because just as I know that there were many kings who rejected their happiness putting as a priority the duty and that they will surely come after my reign.
And if life allowed us to stay together, I would love to rule in Simon's company. But there was still a long way to go and until that happened I had to be prepared.

I have not yet read what Simon gave me because I wanted to dedicate time exclusively to his song. I had never received anything of that kind, always my mother, my father, the staff, even the loyal followers of the royalty gave me objects that no matter how expensive they were had no special meaning except this statuette of the frog prince that Erik gave me when I was 7 years old after I had asked him for it because I had seen it in the showcase, now it was one of the few things he had in his memory.
With this Simon was giving me a sincere part of him and if he hadn't given it to me before it was because in reality the lyrics of the poem encompassed something intimate about him, his essence that he was afraid to share; I couldn't be more grateful for giving me the opportunity to get to know him better.

There are only 15 minutes left to go so I take advantage of the warmth of the water enveloping me to go over everything that happened the previous days that were not remotely possible in my head a few months ago because with each passing day my hopes of ever having anything with him again were lost. I dipped my head and flashbacks of the night at the river came flooding back.
That night with Simon we didn't want to talk about anything other than having us both, I didn't want to bring up the subject Phillipe and neither did he, but of course the next day we talked to me sitting on the sand with the sun beating down on our faces and he told me everything that was going on, he told me what his name was (I finally know), he also told me how confused he was; of course he understood how much he must be and it was no reason to upset me although he was quite nervous talking to me about all this.
-I don't want you to feel that you are guilty of anything Wille. It's not like that, if my relationship with Phillipe will not continue it's because of me, I have decided it that way, now I am very clear about what I want and I would not want that relationship for Phillipe's and my sake to continue or much less be taken as an obligation.
And I said again that just as one day he told me to take as much time as I needed to know what I wanted, I expected him to do the same, I was not forcing him to do anything.