Modern Princess

Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Beckham's POV

We made it to my home in record time. The gates were open, awaiting our arrival and (as Nate later informed me) our intel.

Once inside the castle, I rushed upstairs to my room to change suits. One of my dad's biggest pet peeves was me looking dishevelled and since I hadn't much to information to deliver, I was in no rush to see him.

I had just finished buttoning my pants when someone burst through my door.

"You're back," Olive exclaimed, rushing over to hug me.

"Only just now. And you might want to try knocking next time. You almost caught me at a time where I was indecent."

She made and face, but made no attempt to leave.

She moved to sit on my bed as I finished getting ready.

"So...How was your trip?"

"I'm still not telling you what I was doing."

Poor Olive. She just couldn't help herself from sticking her nose in other people's business.

She frowned and stuck her tongue out at me. A very Olive move.

"Why not? I won't tell anyone," she whined.

"It's none of your business. That's why," I pointed out, tucking in my shirt.

"Well, fine," she scooted a little further up my bed and slipped her shoes off.

"Nope. Put those back on. I have a meeting with Dad and you're not staying in here to snoop around."

I sent her a pointed look when she stuck her bottom lip out. She admitted defeat when she knew I wasn't letting up.

"You know me too well," she sighed. "Fine. I give up. But in all seriousness, did your trip go well?"

I slid on my suit jacket and looked at Olive to see her giving me a sympathetic look.

I don't know how she did it, but somehow she could always tell when something was bothering me.

Sighing, I shook my head. "Unfortunately, I couldn't find the thing I was looking for. And a hard realization struck me," I admitted.

"That sounds like it stinks."

I grabbed my shoes and sat down beside Olive.

"Since I was not able to find what I was looking for, I probably won't be home much until I do."

She frowned once more, but said nothing. Instead she leaned her head on my shoulder and hugged my arm.

Finally she spoke, but did not say what I was expecting.

"Are you going to start being like Dad?"

Her question threw me off guard, but I knew what she meant.

Dad was rarely home and when he was, he was locked up in his office, working. Me, of all people, should've known how hard he worked to take care of this kingdom, but it hurt to see my sister suffer so much.

I ran a hand through my already dishevelled hair and let out a deep breath. I knew Olive didn't want to hear another speech about Dad never being here, especially not from me, so l told her the next best thing.

"I'm going to be here for you because I'm your big brother. It's my job," I smiled, hoping to lighten the mood a bit. "But you should know I will have to leave for a little bit, but I will always come back."

She still had a worried look on her face, but said, "promise?"

"I promise."

****

Ren's POV

The door to my art studio squeaked open an hour later much to my dismay. The noise echoed down my bones and only succeeded in spiking my frustration back up to a ten.

"Renoford, I have been looking everywhere for you," my dad sighed with an air of exhaustion.

"Well I've been here for quite some time. I couldn't justify spending any longer than ninety minutes waiting on a father who clearly wasn't coming," I coldly replied, letting the scratch of my pencil soothe my aching head.

His face hardened at the mention of dinner and I almost regretted mentioning it.

"I understand why that made you're upset, but Renoford, I'm trying. There is only so much I can do to dismiss the ambassador when we have delicate matters to discuss. But my tardiness is no reason to disregard the fact that we had plans to eat dinner. If you think that every meeting and every diplomat that you have to meet with in the future are going to be promptly on time, you have much to learn."

"Dad I don't care about my fake meetings with royal messengers and pompous men with an agenda for money. I care that this has happened too many times for me to count. Every cancelled dinner, every missed birthday, every holiday spent with the maids; it really hurts. Why can't you see that?"

I could feel my head pounding from the strain of holding in my tears. I hadn't cried in a quite a while and I planned to keep it that way.

His face changed from fury, to hurt, to guilt. I knew he understood the weight behind my words. Even though I went a bit overboard, bringing up all the past experiences, it was all true.

When I saw he was about to start apologizing for all those missed opportunities, I caved.

"You know what. Forget I said anything. I'm sorry I brought all that up. It was rude and inappropriate and it won't happen again. I'll make sure of it," I mumbled, standing up.

"Princess...I'm sorry. I wish I could construct this job as any normal person would with theirs, but it's not possible. I can't just take off for Christmas and New Years by asking my boss for some time off. My bosses are the people and unfortunately, they never stop needing a leader. I'm...I'm really trying my hardest to spend time with you and make sure that the kingdom doesn't collapse all in one day. You are my pride and joy and-"

"I understand Dad. I'll be more sensitive to your schedule next time. Excuse me."

The best thing for me to do at this point would be to sleep it off. This happened often enough for me to know what my next step of relief would be.

****

xx