Wrong Prince || Loki

Chapter 3

That day went by uneventful, like the following day. Elsa wasn't very comfortable around the royals yet so she spend most of her day in her room, reading. It was one of her favourite things to do, especially when she felt stressed or pressured. It was her way to escape reality and forget about her problems for a bit.

The next day, on Elsa's fourth day in the palace, the queen invited her for a walk in the garden which she attended happily. After that she went back to her room and around the evening of the same day, she had already finished the three books Loki had picked out for her.

Her lady informed her that both the princes had gone out with their friends so she saw it as an opportunity to return the books and also explore the library. She got there with some directions from a guard that she came across in the hallway, who offered to help her carry the books but she reassured him that there was no need to since they weren't that heavy anyway.

When she walked inside, she gave herself a second to take a good look around. The room was full of books, both on the walls and on bookcases. Right across from the door, was a fireplace and in the center of the room, in front of the fireplace, were two couches and a table in the middle of them.

Elsa sat the books she was holding on that table and stared walking around. She looked at each shelve closely and her eyes scanned the titles of the books displayed. Soon, she spotted her favourite poetry book and reached to take it. She could tell that it's been often used by the yellowish colour and soft edges of its pages.

"Good taste" she hears out of nowhere and almost jumps. She turns around and sees Loki leaning against one of the bookcases with his arms crossed in front of his chest
"Sorry, but I kind of meant to scare you" he admits

"Well, you did" Elsa chuckles and he smiles in victory. His smile caused her to smile as well.
"I was told that you were out" she says

"I was. I just returned to pick up something but I see that you got it first" he says and his eyes fall on the book she is holding

"Oh, I'm sorry, your highness. Of course you can have it back" she apologizes immediately

"It's alright. And as much as I enjoy you calling me that, I know that my mother would be angry if she heard that I didn't correct you. So, please, just call me by my name" he says as he walks closer to her.

Her eyes follow him and as he approaches and leans over her. The top of her head only reaches his jaw so his height made her feel even more intimidated than his royal title did.

"You smell like strawberry cake, it's adorable" he says

"It's my shampoo" she replies and he smiles. To make this a little less awkard, she takes a small breath and looks down at the book.

Loki reaches for a higher shelf and gets another book in his hand.
"If you like the one that you are holding, you should definitely try this too" he says as he offers the new one to her

"Thank you. And yes, this is my favourite actually" she admits

"Like I said, good taste" he repeats his earlier line.

She looks down at the book he gave her and takes a quick look. Loki looks down at the book too, and because of the movement, pieces of his hair fall by the sides of his face. With his fingers, he places those strands behind his ear, a move that Elsa caught with the corner of her eye.

"Shortcake..." he chuckles as he comes up with the perfect nickname for her

"What?" she asks

"Shortcake. It suits you" he explains.
"Would you like to sit down?" he suggests