A Royal Internship | Complete

Chapter Thirty-One

Marinette had opened the blinds the next morning, profusely apologizing for both waking me up and falling asleep herself the night before. I had to tell her no less than six times that I forgave her before she finally stopped curtseying and apologizing and started getting me ready for breakfast.

The whole time, I couldn't help thinking about how well last night had gone. I'd survived my first formal ball without stepping on anyone's toes, literally or figuratively. Even better was that I'd escaped with Clarence for some time where we could actually stop pretending for a moment.

After what seemed like hours, Marinette declared my hair and dress ready for the day and sent me off down the stairs in another shiny pair of flats. With Marinette's slowness and Olivia's mysterious absence, I wasn't surprised when I arrived downstairs for breakfast only to find it had already started.

"Your Majesty." I curtseyed as I entered the room. "Your highnesses." I walked towards the table as one of the men in uniform pulled a chair out for me. I stepped in front of it and sat down. "I apologize for my lateness." I had to bite my tongue to not provide a reason, as Janet had been training me.

When no one spoke, I looked up and noticed the princess was mysteriously absent and both King Richard and Queen Adele were staring at me while Clarence inspected his eggs.

"Oh, I'm sorry," I tried to stand again, stumbling over the very heavy chair as I did so. "I could leave if I did something wrong."

"Sit down, Genevieve," Clarence snapped at me.

I felt like my limbs were getting heavier as I sank down into my chair, trying to resist the urge to let my shoulders slump forward.

"Would you care to explain why you arrived late for breakfast?" King Richard's severe gaze had not left me since I sat down at the table. "And why you chose to walk in without being invited?" His face grew more stern with each question. "And why you arrived in completely unsuitable attire?"

When it became clear he wanted an answer, I managed to stammer out, "I-" But how am I supposed to answer those when I'm not allowed to give excuses?

I looked to Clarence for help, but he was refusing to lift his gaze to meet mine. I gulped. "I didn't mean to offend, Your Majesty," I searched for the right thing to say, finally deciding upon, "It won't happen again."

"Too right, it won't." He waggled his finger in my direction. "You're staying here at my invitation because my niece has assured me your presence will be better for my son's reputation, but so far all I see is a mess of a woman unable to abide basic decorum!"

Where was all this coming from? Yesterday he loved me.

"I'm sorry." I really need to come up with a different answer.

"And," the king continued without acknowledging me, "I wake up to news that you completely took over the headlines for last night's charity event." He threw the newspaper he'd been holding down on the table in front of me.

It was clear from the photograph and the headline that the article that made the front page was about me speaking to the young man last night and disappearing with the prince for a large portion of the event. I didn't have time to read the whole thing, but a quick glance seemed to imply I loved children. A lot.

"I didn't-" I tried to answer for myself, but I didn't think I'd done anything wrong. "I only meant to-"

Before I could finish or the king could cut in and tell me off some more, Queen Adele stood from her chair. "I think perhaps it is best if Genevieve finishes her breakfast in her room." She shifted her attention to her husband. "I can send Olivia in to speak with her."

King Richard seemed to be weighing the merits of her suggestion until finally he waved his hand at her to sit down. "Okay, Genevieve will take breakfast in her room."

I stood up and breathed a sigh of relief until King Richard added, "But Clarence will go with her. I think they both understand there is much to be sorted out right now."

I didn't really hear the rest of what he said, focusing on curtseying properly and leaving. When the doors finally closed behind us, I slid down to the floor and sat with my head in my hands, trying to catch my breath.

"I'll be okay, right?" I looked over the top of my hands, searching for Clarence's reassuring eyes.

Instead, I found the cold stare of a future king. "Get off the ground." He sounded even more stern than he looked. "People can see you. This is not behaviour befitting a princess. Now come on."

He held out his hand and pulled me to my feet, letting go of my hand at the first opportunity. I could feel the tears welling in my eyes as I followed him up the stairs. What did I do between last night and this morning to make everyone hate me?

"Here you are," he gestured into my room and the guards opened the doors.

"Aren't you coming in?" I asked, hopeful. "Your mother and father said you should come discuss something with me."

"I just-" he brushed his hand over his hair. "What is there to discuss?"

"Um, everything!" I could feel my voice getting louder and higher pitched, but was powerless to stop it.

He pushed me backwards into my room and the door closed behind us, no doubt due to the guards always standing outside of it. I felt powerless standing before him, the first time I'd really seen him acting like a king.

"What did I do wrong?" I could feel the tears starting to spill over, so I roughly brushed them aside with the back of my hand, blinking a few times to keep more from falling. "All I saw was I talked to a kid and followed you when you wanted to run away."

"It's not just-" he groaned in frustration. "It's not just that, Genevieve. You have to learn this stuff faster than you are. You can't be showing up to formal dinners in flat shoes and you can't be bending over to speak to children when photographers can get shots from certain angles."

I darted my eyes away from his face, not wanting him to see my embarrassment. "I've only been here like two days," my voice came out shaky and weak. "I thought you said I'd have time to learn."

"Well, you don't." He shook his head. "At least not on some things. This can't be fun and games anymore. My father is right, this has to be about repairing my reputation and behaving professionally. We need to keep our focus and make sure we're doing the job."

My head was spinning from his complete flip from last night's attitude. "What brought on this sudden change of heart?"

He looked pained as he tried to speak, "I-" he twisted his hands together and rubbed the back of his head. "I just think-" He looked in my eyes and backed towards the door. "I'm sorry, I can't do this. I think it's best if I go."

And then, with one knock, the guards pulled the doors open and he disappeared into the hallway leaving me to wonder if there was any use in me being there at all. Why did I let Janet talk me into this? I sank into the nearest chair and let the tears and sobs finally come, not worried about who could see or hear. 

A/N: I feel bad for what happened to Genevieve and I wrote it. We are *almost* at the halfway mark of this story, though! Thank you all so much for reading this far and for all of your support :)