Young Royals Season 3 (Version 3)

Chapter 68

They carried Simon's bags back into Wilhelm's room and set them down, Wilhelm's gaze rested momentarily on the broken snow globe.

He went and took the saucer that cradled the broken shards and little frog prince and set it down carefully on the shelf above his bed.

Then he went to his own bag and searched until he found the framed photos of he and his brother. He took them out and placed them on either side of the snow globe on the shelf. He stood back and looked at it.

For the first time since his brother had died, he wished he could throw the gift away. If it hadn't been from Erik, he would have thrown it away long ago. What did his brother want him to understand by gifting him this little, imprisoned frog prince?

He thought it was probaby good the snow globe had broken if the frog was supposed to represent Wilhelm himself. Now at least he wouldn't have to sit there trapped and being observed by the outside world.

Wilhelm remembered the original fairy tale. He actually hated it.

A princess was playing with a golden ball over a well. She accidentally dropped it in and cried about it until a frog heard her and agreed to retrieve it if she'd allow him to share her food and give him a place to sleep in her bed. She agreed, but as soon as he returned the ball to her, she ran away, leaving him there and breaking her word.

The frog went to the castle and found her. It was her father, the king, who forced her to keep her word and bring the frog inside. They fed him and she let him sleep in her room, but she hated him. Eventually she was so disgusted and enraged at the frog that she took him in her hand and threw him against the wall to kill him.

That's when he transformed back into a prince and she suddenly decided she loved him. There was no kiss, no romance, no affection...But of course they got married, because why wouldn't the prince fall in love with someone like that, someone who'd despised him and tried to murder him until she found out he was a prince?

So Wilhelm hated the story. He thought the moral was probably meant to be about keeping one's word and treating everyone equally, regardless of appearances, but the princess was the villain of the story. She only loved the prince for his status and had no consequences for her terrible treatment of the frog before she knew who he really was, and she was rewarded for being horrible.

Wilhelm thought that part sounded extremely familiar in his own life in fact. He thought that August was the epitome of the terrible princess. He could be, Wilhelm thought, but so could any number of the people at Hillerska and the rest of Wilhelm's world who only liked Wilhelm for his status and what he could do for them as a Crown Prince.

Wilhelm scoffed to himself thinking that he would actually prefer to be an anonymous frog living in a slimy well rather than a prince in a palace. But it was true.

He suddenly remembered there was another part to the fairy tale as well. It didn't exist in all of its versions, but in some it actually seemed to be the more important aspect of the story.

After the prince was cursed by the witch and transformed into a frog, there was one person who knew the truth about the frog's identity. He was a loyal servant named Heinrich who loved the prince so much that he had to have iron bands wrapped around his heart so that it wouldn't break from sorrow and grief at losing the prince.

As Wilhelm thought about it, he wished that he could rewrite the story, get rid of the terrible princess altogether, and have Heinrich become the hero of the fairy tale. He actually began to imagine that version of the story as he stood in front of his broken snow globe and photos with Simon calmly unpacking his bags across the room behind Wilhelm.

The prince had been cursed by a witch and turned into a frog. He disappeared from the kingdom and no one knew where he was. Heinrich, a loyal servant, loved the prince. He had been so grief-stricken when the prince disappeared that he feared his heart would break, so he had three iron bands wrapped around his chest to prevent it.

But he still couldn't accept that his prince was gone, so he walked far and wide, searching the countryside and every swamp he encountered trying to find his beloved prince hidden in a tiny frog's body.

He searched for years with no luck, until one day, exhausted and thirsty from walking and searching for his love, he stopped near a castle and spotted its well from which he decided he would drink.

He lowered the bucket down into the well and as he pulled it back up, a tiny frog appeared in the bucket and looked into Heinrich's eyes. They immediately knew each other. Heinrich saw the prince he so loved in spite of his slimy, green, little body. He was overjoyed to see his prince again, with no concern for his lack of crown and fine clothes.

Heinrich held the frog prince in his hands, smiling, then leaned forward to kiss him sweetly on the top of his head. The frog magically transformed back into the prince before Heinrich's eyes. They stood there holding hands with their heads pressed close together and the prince admitted to Heinrich that he didn't want to be a prince anymore. He wanted to be a normal man so he could stay with Heinrich forever.

They took each other's hands and fled the kingdom running far away until they found a peaceful home in a forest near a small village. Heinrich had saved the prince from his fate, twice. They were deeply in love, had a family, and lived happily ever after together.

Wilhelm was startled and pulled out of his reverie by a knock at the bedroom door. He spun around to look toward the sound and saw that Simon had stopped unpacking and turned to look toward the door too.

"Yes?" Wilhelm asked.

She replied through the door. "Kronprinsen? It's Detective Johansson."

Wilhelm hurried to open for her. They greeted each other and she explained.

"I wanted to let you know that I'm starting interviews with the staff now. I brought some colleagues to take photos and evidence around the campus too, so they might need to come in here eventually."

"Oh, ok. Um, sure...great." Wilhelm glanced back over his shoulder as Simon approached them and smiled.

"And Andersson has August. He's interrogating him at the police station now." She reassured them.

Simon and Wilhelm looked at each other. Wilhelm was taken aback but looked happily at Simon. Simon had a different reaction and reached out to steady himself next to Wilhelm.

Wilhelm realised that something wasn't right and quickly thanked the detective again, promising that they would be out soon and could speak a bit later. Then he closed the door and pulled Simon into a warm hug. Simon buried his face in Wilhelm's chest and Wilhelm squeezed Simon tighter.

Wilhelm was surprised at the reaction but realised that Simon was in shock or having a panic attack.

After a moment he softly asked Simon what was wrong, but Simon wasn't able to answer. He sounded as if he were hyperventilating into Wilhelm's chest so Wilhelm moved them over so they could sit on the bed.

He understood how Simon felt and spoke softly to him, telling him that everything would be alright, that this was good news. It seemed that Simon had pent up all of his frustration and anger since the video had been released and it was finally coming to the surface, but it was out of Simon's control.

Simon didn't answer Wilhelm's questions but gripped Wilhelm tighter too. Wilhelm helped him lie down, immediately lying down next to Simon and stroking his back and hair, helping calm him and slow down his breathing.

"It's ok now. It's almost over."

Simon took a deep breath and nodded into Wilhelm's chest then his breathing slowed and it seemed as if he might fall asleep again.

As he held Simon, stroking his hair and whispering softly to reassure him, Wilhelm thought about his version of the fairy tale where Simon would save him from his fate as a prince. He smiled to himself as he realised that it was only fair that he could save Simon too.

He kissed Simon's forehead and held him even tighter whispering to him.

"It's ok, Simon. Jag älskar dig."