The Harvest || h.s.

Chapter 14

XIV. RUN IN

Lena

After bearing witness to the disheartening sight of her family's support, Lena started to run in the direction of the castle. She caught a lot of curious eyes, some even thinking they recognized her, and so began the beginning of theories and rumors.

The tears continued to stream down her face as she snuck into the castle,  being as cautious as she could, as she could get in real trouble if someone caught her red handed.

She got inside the grounds via the back of the castle, running to where she was supposed to meet up with Lou, trying to avoid Harry or one of the guards at all costs, only to be interrupted.

"Lena? Where the fuck have you been?!" She heard someone angrily shouted at her; the footsteps behind her could be heard louder by the second. "Do you have any fucking idea how much I've been looking for you? Tell me where the fuck you have been and why have you been away for so long, and do it now."

Lena quickly wiped away her tears, before turning around to face Harry, but she couldn't bring her eyes to be face to face with him, so she just stared at the ground in shame as she spoke.

"I-I'm sorry, Prince Harry, I was just-"

"Are you crying?" Harry interrupted Lena, the anger suddenly fading away from his voice.

"N-no, I just-"

"What happened?"

Lena remained silent, looking at her shoes. She felt a sudden embrace, and a warm chest being pressed against her face. The tears began streaming down her face faster, but now silent.

"It-it's my-" she sobbed.

"Shh, hey, it's okay, just tell me what happened." Harry cooed.

That was the first time Harry had ever called her something like that. It made her feel comfortable; she closed her eyes as she buried her face closer into Harry's chest.

"I was just hanging out with Lou, that's all. I'm so sorry, Harry."

"But what happened? Are you okay? Where were you?"

"We were just having a quiet day; we bumped into Louis in the back gardens." She lied. "He was telling me that he has been on the market earlier in the morning, and he asked me what happened to my family. At first, I was confused, and then he told me what he saw. He said that their working place had been abandoned. Nobody has heard from them. I-I'm scared, Harry." Lena trembled, as Harry hugged her tighter into his comfortable chest.

As he let those words sink in, he decided he had to do something.

It wasn't decent to do nothing and just let this pass by, right?

He wouldn't just let this slip that easily. He wouldn't do that to the people of his Kingdom, and he wouldn't ruin his reputation like that.

He just couldn't do that to Lena.

So he let her go, without needing further explanation from her, without needing to scold her.

Lena quickly wiped her tears and regained her posture, before excusing herself from the scene and reuniting with Lou and Jack, who were waiting for her in the maids' lounge room.

"Where were you, Lena?" Betty whispered-shouted. "Do you know how hard it is to hide a child here?" She asked while cleaning Jack's little chubby face with a warm, damp cloth.

"I'm sorry, I had a little disturbance," Lena replied, crouching down next to Betty and helping her clean up little Jack.

"What happened?" Lou asked, looking down at them, eating an apple and leaning against a table.

"Uh, it's nothing, really," Lena reassured them.

"Did you get to see your family?" Lou asked one more time.

"No, they weren't there." Lena sighed.

"Is everything okay?" Betty asked.

"They abandoned their stand, Betty."

"Oh, sweetie. Come here." Betty engulfed Lena in a hug, which she responded by hugging her back tighter.

"What does that mean, exactly?" Lou questioned, confused as she was unaware of the events down in the village.

"It means they are no longer selling their crops, which was their source of life. They won't survive without it."

"It doesn't always mean that you know?" Betty said, trying to cheer up Lena a bit. "Maybe they are living off your sister's dresses, right? Remember everyone saw that beautiful dress you were wearing the day of the Harvest. Your sister must have gotten tons of dresses requests from the High Class."

Lena nodded, mentally thanking Betty for keeping her sane and down to earth. She could have never imagined what she would do without Betty spreading positivity all around the castle.

"Is that it? I was sure I saw you sneaking in while I brought Jack over here."

"Um, I had a run in with Harry," Lena quickly responded, taking Jack's clothes off and putting them in an empty laundry basket, which will be later personally and discreetly washed by Betty.

"What?" Betty and Lou asked in unison.

"What did he say?"

"Was he angry?"

"Christ, he had the whole castle looking for you, he must have been fuming, was he?"

"Did he have that little vein popping on his forehead?"

They kept bombing Lena with questions until she shushed both of them and told them what happened in her meeting with the Prince.

"I told him the truth." Lena spat out.

"You did WHAT now?!"

"Of course not the whole truth. He thinks we were just lounging around the castle and that Louis warned me about my family." Lena sighed, her worries coming to mind again. "Where is he, by the way?"

"He should be here anytime soon," Betty replied, grabbing a pair of scissors and carefully working her skills on Jack's hair.

"And did he believe you?" Lou asked, concerned about her friend and all the trouble she could have gotten herself into.

"I think so," Lena shrugged. "I mean, he even looked like he cared for my family."

"Maybe he does, you know?" Betty stepped in. "Harry is a magnificent person. You just have to make that goodness in him sprout. He has always cared for his people. He learned that from his parents. King Robert, may he rest in peace, did everything he could for his people, until his time came. Harry also does. But he decided to try to keep everything private, so you barely notice any change. But the change is going to be so much noticeable in a couple of years, just wait for it. I'm putting my money on Harry being the best King this Kingdom has seen."

Louis stopped by later and brought clean clothes that would fit Jack's little body. His eyes sparkled once he saw himself in the mirror for the first time.

"He is going to sleep here with you, right?" Lena asked Betty, who just nodded in reply. "Great. Tomorrow, you are going to have to start looking for orphanages around here. Or we could keep him here until we find him a new family, right Jack? I just wouldn't want him to suffer."