𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐈-𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐎 ▷ 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐨𝐲𝐚𝐥𝐬

𝟐 | 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄 𝐂𝐔𝐏𝐒

It was almost midnight when Kia snuck out to go to the third year's start of semester party. As a second-year she wasn't invited, but she knew the misogynistic third-years wouldn't mind having another girl to harass. Yes, her standards were low, but she was desperate for a cheap thrill and even the tiniest sip of alcohol.

So she dressed herself in a low-cut shirt, a mini-skirt and some fishnets, and hoped that the knockoff bouncers were willing to look past their age difference.

"Good evening, boys," she smiled at Vincent and Nils who stood in front of the door smoking and holding beer bottles in their hands. "Is there space for another person in there?"

Vincent looked her up and down and smirked, "Aren't you a second-year? What are you doing up past your bedtime?" He cackled and looked at Nils who shared the same disgusting smirk on his face.

She forced herself to continue smiling, "Why sleep when the night is still young, am I right? Come on, at least let me warm up with a couple of drinks so I don't freeze on my way back to the dorms." She let out an over-exaggerated giggle, batting her eyelashes at Vincent and crossing her arms over her chest to draw attention to her cleavage.

He glanced down for a split second before turning to Nils and saying, "I'm sure another pretty girl wouldn't hurt, right?"

Nils nodded and moved aside to let Kia pass through the door.

"Thank you, boys. I won't forget this," she smiled at them as she entered, hearing them mumble crude comments as she was walking further away from the entrance.

It was considerably warmer inside, almost humid from all the warm bodies that moved in clusters around the room. The loud music hurt her ears and the flashing lights burned her eyes, but she knew it would get better after a drink or two. Everything would get better after a drink.

She threw together some whiskey and coke to start off. The bitter liquid looked as disgusting as it tasted; it almost made her gag from how strong it was. She wasn't there to stay for long, though, so she downed the mixture of alcohol and soda, then quickly mixed up another cup. And another.

Kia was three cups in when things started blurring together and the music started to fade away from her. She was sitting in a corner now, observing a commotion down the hallway at the entrance of the not so secret clubhouse. It was more of a passing thought than actual curiosity. However that quickly changed as she saw August of Årnäs make his way over there and then another very familiar person entering.

It was nobody other than the Crown Prince himself.

She wondered how a first year ended up there. They were letting just about anyone in it seemed. In her tipsy state she didn't even notice she stood up to go over and see what's going on.

"Crown Prince," she spoke as she stood in front of Wille, "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Wille looked at her in confusion for a second, then looked like he remembered something. "You're Kristina Brahe?"

She knew that him knowing about her meant nothing good, "Yeah, that's me. Do people talk about me that often?" She tried to shrug it off, but Wille wasn't going to make it easy for her.

"My mother told me about your family," he cleared his throat, "I'm sorry to hear about your parents." He was genuine, but the mere mention of Kia's parents made her sick. Though, it could've been the three cups.

"I'm sorry to hear about your brother," she nodded respectfully, "Enough about family issues- what's a prince doing outside of his dorm this late at night?"

Wille was about to answer, but he suddenly lost all interest in Kia and looked like he saw a ghost. It was clear to her, when she turned around and saw Simon, that it wasn't a ghost but still something of the haunting sort.