Season 3 Young Royals (Version 1)

51. Föräldrar dagen (3)

After the meal had come to a close, Poppe helped Smysan back to the car with some difficulty. Felice couldn't help but laugh at her mom.

"See? She has so much fun when she stops caring." Felice smiled. "I'll see you guys tomorrow." She waved goodbye and headed back to her room.

Wilhelm had made it through another set of unnecessary photos. He said goodbye to his parents and was glad to see the back of them. Then Simon, Linda and Sara had to leave and Wilhelm actually felt a sense of loss at seeing them go. Luckily the photographers had left with his parents and he didn't have to be pushed and prodded to pose and smile anymore.

He went back to his room in no hurry, already missing Simon and his family. He sat at his desk and looked out the window. He touched his broken snowglobe again, touched the frog's head as usual, then he opened his desk drawer and pulled out one of the three letters that Louise had handed him the other day.

He hadn't been in a hurry to know what August wanted to give him, maybe letters of apology...not really interesting to Wilhelm.

He opened it carefully, seeing the discoloration and feeling that it eas slightly brittle from age. He saw a scrawling that he thought looked familiar but didn't know why it would. He wasn't really familiar with August's or his father's penmanship and felt confused.

Once he began to read further he realised he was looking at a love letter and had to stop for a moment, confused, turning it over and looking for any identifying information.

He saw nothing and continued reading:

"My happiness is to be near you. Incessantly I live over in my memory your caresses, your tears, your affectionate solicitude. The memory of you kindles continually a burning and a glowing flame in my heart. When, free from all harassing care, shall I be able to pass all my time with you, having only to love you, and to think only of the happiness of so saying, and of proving it to you?"

Further in the same letter:

"My love has made me selfish. I cannot exist without you - I am forgetful of everything but seeing you again.'

In the next letter:

"Everyone is furious with me for going back to you, but they don't understand us. I feel that it is only with you that I can do anything at all. Do remake my ruined life for me, and then our friendship and love will have a different meaning to the world."

Wilhelm wondered what the hell August meant by giving him three love letters. The first letters weren't addressed or signed, but the third was addressed to "C.J.H." but still had no signature that he could see.

It seemed that the sender had done their best to remain anonymous. Wilhelm assumed that C.J.H. must be Carl Johan Horn, August's father, which would make sense since the letters had apparently been in his belongings where August found them.

Suddenly Wilhelm realised why the handwriting was familiar to him. It was very different than the handwriting he was used to seeing because obviously years had passed since this person had written these letters. It was also the kind of thing that Wilhelm could not imagine his mother actually feeling much less putting to paper and sending.

She'd probably been Wilhelm's age when she'd written them. So...August hadn't been lying. Their parents, who were cousins, had been in love...

Wilhelm wasn't sure if August simply wanted to prove he was telling the truth, or if he intended Wilhelm to use them for some other motive but there was another motive that occurred to Wilhelm when it came to his mother.

He wondered how she would feel about being the center of an embarrassing scandal instead of just mitigating other family members' embarrassing scandals...he couldn't help but give a sly smile as he folded the letters up again.