His Royal Highness

Chapter Four

"Charlotte!" Sebastian called out, pushing his chair back and hearing it screech.

His father hissed in surprise, half angry about his wild display and half surprised about how he already knew her name.

When he had arrived incredibly and dramatically late, his intentions were to merely surprise Charlotte, not make her angry. But why was she angry?

It didn't matter as he was running after her. The halls echoed with his steps.

"Charlotte," he called again, although more quietly because he caught up to her. He gently grabbed her elbow to slow her down.

She whirled around, looking furious and immediately giving him a speech. "You never told me about this, who you were. I told you almost everything about myself and a lot about my family. And you kept this a secret. I thought you would trust me enough to tell me something like this but I guess not."

Sebastian finally understood why she was a little angry. "Oh, Lottie-"

"You know, I was expecting to see Prince Philip, and suddenly you were there. At first, I was excited to see you but you didn't even warn me. Your reaction made it look like you had expected me-"

Sebastian interrupted her little rant to hold her in his arms, carefully burying her face into his chest. It was a shame that she tied her hair, otherwise he would have tangled his fingers in her loose hair.

"I'm sorry," he said gently, pacifying her. He could feel her body ease against him.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Charlotte's voice was muffled.

Sebastian sighed. "I didn't want to change your mind about me. I didn't want you to think of me as the king's son," he replied.

Charlotte pulled away and glared at him. "Does it look like I care who's son you are? I liked you for you, even if you weren't a duke," she referred to when they stayed at Kaiden's castle.

He felt like a fool. Why had he worried about telling her about his family?

"Speaking of which, how are you the duke's brother and the king's son? Since when were you a prince? And what happened to Prince Philip?" Charlotte fired away.

Sebastian started with the easier answers first, which mean that he would answer her questions in reverse order.

"Philip was killed a few months ago, while you and the other girls were staying at the castle, cut off from the world. That's probably why you didn't know about his death and why you didn't seem suspicious when you were going to meet the prince," he briefly explained.

Charlotte's eyes widened at the surprising news. "Oh no, he was killed? No wonder the king wants an invention so badly," she realized. Her gaze went back to him, expecting him to answer the rest of her questions.

"I've only been the prince for a week now," he admitted. "As for your first question, my family has an extremely complicated story to explain. It's a very long story and it depends on you if you want to hear the whole thing."

Charlotte's head tilted, as if contemplating. "Clearly, this is something troubling for you," she frowned. "I apologize if I pressured you to spill your secrets. You don't have to if you aren't ready."

Sebastian was relieved at her open-mindedness. He did want to tell her, but now wasn't the time to narrate the whole thing, so he decided to summarize.

"Kaiden and I are half-brothers. We have different fathers. His was the previous duke, mine is the king. Hence why I was crowned as the new prince."