Icy Highness | Yuzuru Hanyu

38.

The World Championships were very similar to what Athena remembered from the GPF. The biggest difference was that she was now carefully trying to look normal with jeans and a sweatshirt.

It was such a different outfit than what she usually wore that the princess felt a bit out of it, even if this was far more comfortable than any knee-length dress and heels.

Standing and ignoring the man that just a few minutes before was kissing her in bed was very hard, but he had to focus on the competition and his warmup and the last thing she needed was for things to go south because of her.

He had routines that she found hilarious. Something about Yuzu was that he could do the most serious thing with a stern face and people would take him seriously, even if inside, he was laughing like a madman.

Athena wasn't sure if this ability of his had anything to do with the politeness of Japanese people, but it was certainly interesting to see it unfold when you knew the true character of his personality.

The one other thing she didn't miss were the two tall men constantly lurking around her.

It would have been expected for them to be slightly more sneaky given all the training that a bodyguard had to endure to be granted permission to watch her, but Athena was always aware of their presence.

This wasn't unexpected, she figured that once the conversation with her dad was over that they would be deployed fast, but it didn't mean that she enjoyed it any better.

Constantly feeling watched was not at all a good feeling and unfortunately, this was something constant about her life.

She wasn't sure if people at the palace heard about her recent endeavors.

If she had to guess, Athena had a feeling that her dad was protecting her and keeping everything as under wraps as possible.

Her dad's protection wouldn't be enough after a while but the last thing she wanted now was to think of how it would crash down as soon as it happened.

Athena was definitely worried about him and how it all could end up bad and drag Yuzuru down with her. Her family wasn't particularly welcoming to outsiders, especially if they didn't carry a title with them.

Even if her dad assured her everything would be fine, she wasn't so sure it would be easy to keep it a secret long enough to build a good foundation for their relationship to survive the hardships of the cruel royal world.

Whenever she thought about it and looked at Yuzuru, Athena knew just how selfish she was being. If she wasn't thinking about herself in all of this, she would have cut off the Japanese from the start instead of gradually building a strong friendship or even something else.

The connection that they built now was too strong to break without people getting hurt.

She was having this inner monologue when someone touched her shoulder.

"Hello...do I know you?"

Javier...he had seen her at the GPF and was probably trying to make the connection in his head.

"Huh...I don't think so"

Athena had to try and avoid being recognized by the Spanish Skater. It's not as if she thought he could turn on Yuzu and go to the media, but it was better not to risk more people knowing about them.

"You look familiar."

"I don't know"

She shrugged off her shoulders and tried to be as convincing as possible, all of this while cringing inside when she saw his eyes widen in realization.

"Dios!! You're the princess"

Athena couldn't deny it, but it didn't mean that she was satisfied that she was recognized.

The guilty look on her face must have been enough for Javier to understand that he wasn't supposed to know about that detail.

"I'm sorry... I won't tell anyone" he quickly said making her release a breath she didn't even realize she was holding.

"Thank you. I don't need anyone recognizing me here."

The skater looked back and forth between her and his Japanese colleague with an intrigued look, he made the connection quicker than she expected but it would be very hard to hide.

"You... And..."

"Please don't...."

"I didn't expect that. He's not the kind to just date, let alone someone famous."

It almost made the princess wince. It wasn't easy to think of an answer after that.

"Huh... It's not like we expected or planned it either. This isn't easy for either of us."

"Well, if you're willing to do it, must mean it's serious"

Athena had found his comfortable stance around her very awkward. It wasn't that she was offended or anything, but he was very relaxed in the way he approached her.

"Yes, Mr. Fernandez"

Her short answer must have made him realize how the conversation was uncommon. The princess rarely spoke to anyone outside her close circle of people, and most of those didn't speak to her like this.

"Oh, shit!"

Athena understood his panic right away, it was a fairly common occurrence with her maid Joanna.

"It's ok."

"Your Highness...I..."

"It's ok, Javier. I don't mind."

Maybe calling him by his first name would be enough for the skater to understand that it was ok and she wasn't offended in the way he was treating her.

In the end, the one thing that made Javi stop apologizing was a hand on his shoulder and the recognizable smile of the Japanese man that Athena grew to love.

"Everything ok?"

The tension was still in the air, but Athena's reassuring smile at Yuzuru made him relax visibly.

"Yes, Yuzu. Go back to your warm-up or whatever you were doing."

"Come on, Javi. Brian is calling for you."