The Royal Scandal *Book Two*

To Prove my Love S2 E10

"Thank you, Uther. That would be much appreciated," Olaf responded.

He spared one more glace at his son before he left the room with Uther and the guards.

"If only the Lady Chelsea were in my room," Louis sighed dreamily. "How delightful that would be, eh, Melvin?"

Little did he know that Merlin was already long gone with Chelsea, held tightly against his chest as he rushed her back to her room.

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On entering the room, Merlin noticed that it was the same it had always been. There was no sign that she had been enchanted but before laying her peacefully on her bed, Merlin checked under her pillow and picked up the lock of hair that had once belonged to the prince.

As he laid her onto her pillow, he made sure that she was as comfortable as she could be and he couldn't help but just stare at her for a few moments as her chest slowly rose and fell with each breath she took. As a single lock of her hair fell onto her face and remained there, fluttering only slightly with the breaths she exhaled.

It took everything Merlin had inside of him to not push the lock to the side so that he could see her face fully, but he knew that at the present moment she wasn't his. He knew he couldn't touch her. He knew he couldn't be near her because he had hurt her. Something he once thought impossible. He didn't deserve her. But if this was the start to his redemption, he would follow the rules very, very carefully.

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With time slowly running out due to the looming deadline of the treaty approaching, Merlin was rapidly flicking through every book that he could locate, trying to find out what the blasted spell could be. And after hours of looking and looking and looking, the moment finally appeared.

"That's it. I've got it!" Merlin exclaimed, jumping up from the bench he was at, making Gaius jump at the sudden movement.

"You're sure?" Gaius asked, after gathering himself from the jump. "You won't turn Chelsea into a camel, or a horny-eyed toad?"

"What? No, of course not," Merlin answered.

Merlin then ran out of the house and started to try and locate the person he knew would have the most influence over Chelsea if things were going to go well.

"Arthur!" Merlin called out, as he saw the blond prince walking down the corridor.

"Really, Merlin? We have guests here. Last thing we need is a noise complaint," Arthur grumbled, clearly not in the best of moods and Merlin had a feeling it had something to do with the accusations that took place earlier today.

"It's about Chelsea," Merlin told him.

Stopping in his tracks, Arthur turned to look at Merlin expectantly, waiting for him to elaborate.

"Please tell me it's not about the rumours from this morning," Arthur said.

"Sort of. But please listen to everything I say before you freak out," Merlin requested. "Chelsea was in Louis's room—"

"Oh, for the love of all Gods," Arthur groaned. "This is your fault, you know that, right? She's probably only doing this to get revenge on you for being a complete buffoon!"

"I wasn't finished!" Merlin defended. "Chelsea was in Louis's room but she wasn't acting right, Arthur. She has been enchanted with magic and so has Prince Louis. Why do you think they've... fallen—" Merlin cringed as he said the word "—for each other so quick. It isn't real and neither one of them has any idea what they're doing."