Young Royals Season 3 (Version 3)

15. Scapegoat

As they stood at the door Wilhelm turned back to Micke. "Please don't worry. I'll speak to my mother and the Court, and we'll figure out what to do."

"Thank you." Micke nodded. "It was nice to meet you." He held his hand out to shake Wilhelm's and smiled.

"Detsamma." He shook Micke's hand and smiled then stepped back to leave room for Simon.

Micke hesitated to approach Simon but in the end Simon made up his mind and moved forward to give his father a hug.

Simon still felt a bit awkward and moreso with Wilhelm and Malin there, but it seemed more natural because he was the one who made the decision.

"Thanks, pappa. Vi ses snart (We'll see each other soon)."

Once they'd pulled back, it was clear Micke's eyes were glistening but he turned away and did his best to hide it.

He opened the door for them and the boys stepped out into the corridor and stairwell followed by Malin.

Micke watched Simon leave with the Crown Prince and his bodyguard. He thought about how surreal the situation was and wondered when he would see his son again. Then he went back in and closed the door silently behind him.

___________

Simon had been having trouble sleeping so he'd started leaving early for school and having breakfast with the Forest Ridge boarders in the dining room. He went to the first years' end of the table with his toast and coffee in hand.

As he pulled his chair out and was about to sit, Simon realised that Alexander was watching him from the end of the table. Simon was surprised that Alexander wasn't too ashamed to look Simon in the eyes after what he'd done. He looked away and sat down, avoiding meeting Alexander's eyes again.

Simon would have liked to confront Alexander about reporting him, but he realised that it wouldn't do any good.

He knew that if anything, August was the one who really needed to pay for what he'd done and there was no point in focussing all his anger on Alexander. Wilhelm had also told Simon that Alexander didn't seem to be interested in defending August either.

Simon decided it was probably best to just ignore Alexander from then on since he couldn't do anything else to hurt Simon or his family anymore.

Suddenly Simon lifted his eyes from his coffee as he saw movement at the doorway. Wilhelm immediately spotted Simon and they smiled at each other across the room.

Wilhelm quickly poured himself a coffee, grabbed a piece of toast then went over to sit beside Simon. He set his breakfast on the table, almost spilling his coffee in his rush, then pulled out his chair and sat down.

"Hej!" He turned to face Simon, smiling.

Simon returned the greeting quietly, "Hej," and smiled back shyly.

Although everyone knew they were together since Wilhelm's speech, they still tried to be discreet in public. Everyone could see the lingering looks and smiles that passed between them whenever they were together, but Wilhelm was still the Crown Prince, and they knew that everyone was watching him and talking about his personal life.

It had been two days since Simon and his family had been to the police. Wilhelm had asked the Queen to help Simon and his father the same night, and she promised to see what they could do, but still hadn't told Wilhelm what the Court's plan would be.

August took his breakfast and sat at the third years' end of the dining table with the rest of the older boys. He looked around suspiciously, then fixed his gaze on the opposite end of the table.