Icy Highness | Yuzuru Hanyu

52.

As with everything in her family, the trip to Korea was unexpected. It was still very much welcome nonetheless.

Athena felt overwhelmed by her father's kindness and will to help her with this knowing that it could get him in trouble as well.

A king is only as powerful as his subjects allow him to be.

In this case, as much as the royal family allows.

Still, she wasn't going to miss the opportunity to once again see Yuzuru and surprise him.

The words to be discrete lingered in her head. It was just that being discrete was hard for someone who had always been taught to stand out.

She figured that dressing more casually would do the trick, or so she hoped.
What were the chances of her being recognized in Korea?

It wasn't as if she was from the British Royal Family... They were the famous ones.

Athena got on the Royal Plane like at any other event with a small entourage. Usually, she traveled with Joanna and her bodyguards and this was no different.

The idea was to make it seem like any other event to avoid suspicions.

Obviously, her mother was naturally more aware since the Olympics was an event that everyone knew about.

There was no doubt to anyone that her trip to Korea was no coincidence. The goal was to make it look as if it was impossible for her to have gone anywhere but Seoul.

For this to be successful, Athena had to trust Joanna once again.

The maid started instantly making plans when she heard of the trip. Even before the princess informed her of the plans to go to Yuzu, the other woman was already rambling away the possibilities.

Having Joanna was for sure a blessing for Athena and she wouldn't take the other woman for granted.

Even with this, the princess felt somewhat guilty that her maid couldn't go to the Olympics with her. She knew how much of a fan Joanna was.

"It's okay, your highness. I'm sure there will be plenty of opportunities once you and Yuzuru go public." The other woman said, having far more expectations than Athena had.

They landed in Seoul on the day before the Short Program, the one segment that Athena knew from the start that she wouldn't be able to watch since it happened at the same time as the conference.

As much as she wanted to, if this was to work out, Athena had to always appear as if she didn't have plans to leave Seoul.
At least this way, no one could come back at her and accuse her of anything.

Buying a wig had been an impulse idea from Joanna. This wasn't for Athena to wear, but to make everyone believe that she was resting in bed whenever the princess was gone.

Joanna was a genius, and that was without a doubt.

Athena loved Asian countries, Korea being one of them. There was something about the culture that always drew her in.

Let's just say that falling in love with a Japanese man was probably not a big coincidence.

After taking the first day to take a bit of the jetlag off, she was immediately out in the city on the morning of the Short Program and the conference.

Traveling outside of Europe always allowed her more freedom on where to go.

Unlike in her country and most of her continent, here she was free to have breakfast in a local pastry shop or travel around the city by foot without her bodyguards making too much of a fuss.

It was almost as if she was just a normal girl.

With plenty of money to spare and nothing to do...

Not surprisingly, the conference was boring as hell, full of stupid political nonsense that would end up being only applicable to whoever the world's most influential countries decided to.

International politics was always like this, only a few select countries could make decisions and they were usually very selfish.

If it wasn't for the obvious need to pretend like this was important, no one would even attend to these things.

Not that Athena was complaining when it gave her such a clear opportunity to come to Korea.

Even if she was thankful for the event, it didn't mean that she wasn't excited when the damn conference finally ended after 2 days so that she could get away from Seoul and hopefully into Yuzuru's warmth.

Athena didn't want her second day to be fully wasted and took the time to travel around the city once again.

She was planning on going to Pyeongchang in the early morning of the next day.
Because of this, Joanna would give the excuse that the princess wasn't feeling well in the next few days and decided to stay inside her room.

She was watched constantly at the hotel, her room door always having one of the men close by and watching every entrance.

What the bodyguards didn't know was that Joanna and Athena had gotten parallel rooms that were connected by a door and allowed the princess to leave unnoticed.

The only thing she had to do was disappear into the hotel halls without being noticed.

In the early morning of the Free Program, Athena left by train, always taking the time to look around and make sure she wasn't being followed.

The whole thing was more stressful than anything she had done in the past. The things that a girl does for love.

Well, the things a Royal does...

Her destination was filled with people from all over the world, a clear result of the event that was taking place.

Athena had to admit this was a good thing since no one batted an eye at a foreigner going around in the streets all alone.

Maybe bringing only a backpack wasn't her best idea, but she couldn't book any hotels on such short notice not when her dad's words were constantly on her brain.

"Don't use any cards or anything that can tie you to being in Pyeongchang."

She hadn't thought of it, but was glad her dad did, otherwise, she would have probably already screwed up.

It took a while to find the venue for figure skating. Athena used her backup phone for google maps and with the help of some very nice people, she eventually arrived.

As she entered the building, a man was quick to scan her pass and ask her if she needed guidance.

The volunteers were incredibly helpful in showing her around and in no time, the princess was looking at the rink from a secluded corner and watching the men's competition that had just started.

All she had to do now was wait.