Little Red Corvette: A My Sweet Prince fanfic

Ch. 5: Above The Palm Trees

SMACK!

"Wha..."

I slowly rouse from sleep. My covers are still on, but something slammed against them. What was that? Barely conscious, I mindlessly slap the top of my comforter, fishing around for whatever is on top. It was something very light, I can tell that much. "Wha..."

"Sleeping in again Miss? Disappearing without notice too? What is it going to take to get you to fall in line?"

I hazily peer over at the foot of my bed. Ivan is standing there, arms crossed. Oh what now...

As Ivan comes into focus, my hand brushes the top of something papery. I grab onto it and pull it closer to me. It looks like a newspaper. It's in Arabic, so I don't know what's going on, but then I see the picture. It's so huge, I don't know how I saw the words before it. Once the image registers, I gasp.

There, on page one, is Mel and I beneath the afternoon sun holding hands. This isn't any old newspaper, this is a tabloid, and I've got a starring role!

"Aww, what a good picture!"

Once again, my mouth is ahead of my mind, and Ivan does not look pleased.

"Miss, this is unacceptable. It's bad enough that you'd display such affections in public, but that you'd do so with a man you barely know? A man in line for the throne? This will not do!"

I think about my day with Mel. After our walk, we ate at a sweet little café, then explored the shopping district. Apparently, it's King's orders that I can have whatever I want, and Mel had a ball showing me gorgeous thing after gorgeous thing. Considering my closet, I kept declining, but he really enjoyed having a go at it. We got so distracted that it was past dinnertime when we got back, and Mel snuck me back to my room as to avoid Ivan. I'm obviously about to pay for it.

Wait, he thinks holding hands is extreme PDA?

Ivan continues. "It is not proper to be affectionate in any capacity in public. Emotions like that should be shown in private only, and now, the country will think Master Melchiorre is dating an American tourist! He so loves to be around women, but normally he flies easily under the radar..."

"Ivan?"

"...and yet somehow he gets noticed with you. How do you think this reflects upon the monarchy? It looks as though we need to spend time going over social norms as well. I should have done that yesterday, instead of allowing you to pick your lesson, but I was trying to be flexible..."

"Ivan?"

"...and it was clearly a mistake. I did not think you'd be leaving off palace grounds so soon, and that brings me to my next point: you can't just leave without anyone knowing. You are the bracelet bearer, and if anything happens to you, it would be detrimental for so many reasons. You must tell me when you leave so we know you're okay and that the bracelet needs to be guarded..."

"I think I'm pregnant with Melchiorre's love child, Ivan."

"...so it won't go missing again. As for the tabloid, we have the best PR department...WHAT?!"

Ivan's eyes go wide as he finally registers what I said. I start laughing really hard and I can't stop. Inbetween throes of laughter, I look over at Ivan, and I'm shocked to see a hint of a smile on his lips. I calm down a little and get up out of bed.

"Oh Ivan," I start, wiping a tear away from my eye. "I did not mean for any of that to happen. After awhile, I forgot I was with a prince, and of course people are interested in the princes. I did not know we were going anywhere when I came across Melchiorre, he surprised me by showing me a beautiful spot of the country. He just wanted me to feel more at home, that's all."