I'll Protect You [Charles (oc) x reader]

Chapter 6

Charles takes me around the town for a little while. I can tell that some people are uneasy.

"Hey, Charles?" I ask

"Yes?"

"Why is everyone so... uneasy?" I ask. The answer is obvious, but I want him to tell me that it's not true. I want him to tell me that it's not because they're afraid of me.

"Well, it's obvious, isn't it?" He stops walking, causing me to stop and turn towards him.

"What?"

"They're afraid of me."

"What do you mean? Of you? Why would the be afraid of you?"

He smirks. "You wouldn't know, but my reputation around here isn't really the best."

"How? You haven't done anything bad, have you?"

"Of course not. I'm the princess' guard, they don't know what will happen if they approach you and accidentally do something wrong." He's smiling, but his eyes look... different. He doesn't really feel like the Charles I know. He adds on in a whisper, "and the situation with my ex-wife doesn't help either."

"Are you okay?" I asked. I didn't mean to ask it, but the words kind of just came out of my mouth.

He nods quickly and starts walking again. I turn and follow him. Not knowing what else to say in this situation, we both walk in silence. It's not an awkward silence though, it feels natural.

Of course, it would, he doesn't speak to me a lot anyway, I'm used to this. But at the same time, it kind of feels different. Not a bad different, a good different.

It was getting dark and I really didn't want to go home. I enjoy being out here with my people rather than being locked away in my room.

"Charles?"

"Yes?"

"I don't want to go home."

"Then where would you like to go?"

I stop walking for a moment and look up at the sky, now full of stars. I shrug my shoulders.

"You know, if we don't get home, I'm sure your father would be pretty angry at me," Charles says. I look over at him, he's staring up at the sky as well. I look around us and see that everyone has gone inside for the night. I look back at Charles and see that he's staring at me. I smile at him.

"How about we go to the hill?" I ask. "Like we used to."

He smiles and nods. "As you wish. If your father gets angry, I'm not taking the fall for it."

"Of course not, It's my idea, he should be mad at me."

He looks around and nods. He starts walking and I follow behind him.

The sight of that hill makes me very nostalgic. Charles' father would take us up here once in a while. He wouldn't let Charles play, because well, you know, but I would sit up there and talk to them. Charles' father told me that this is where he and his wife met. Doesn't that sound romantic? I always imagined myself meeting my true love up here. On a nice summer night, I'd be sitting on the grass, looking up at the moon and this handsome prince would come and sweep me off my feet. I laugh a little bit at the thought. I was an imaginative kid.

When we reach the top of the hill memories come flying back. Not just the good things, but the bad things that also came from here. After Charles became my guard, his father got very ill. Once he passed, I remember Charles not coming to work for a while. I had gone to the hill to clear my own head, but I remember finding Charles there. He was sitting on a blanket. He wasn't crying or anything, but I remember him turning around and telling me to go away. I didn't stay or console him, like I knew he needed, I just put my head down and left.