The young Prince hurried his feet down the corridor to his father's meeting room. Though the guards tried to stop him from disturbing the King, he was not affected by their warnings.
"Stop me and I'd have you all beheaded," he growled and the men in armors immediately backed away.
Knowing the Prince their whole lives, all the servants of the royal court knew that he would always put his words into actions. So of course, for fear of losing their heads, these men had to let him through.
"Father, may I speak with you?" The Prince spoke when he barged into the room. Still, his entrance didn't steal the King's attention away from the open book in front of him.
"Edward, did I just hear you threaten to have my guards' heads?" The old monarch shifted a bit in his chair, making the young man flinch in anxiety.
The King was the only person in the world who could have the Prince shaking in his boots, which was why Edward had never failed to follow his father's every wish since the day he was born. This time, however, would be an exception.
"Father, I was informed about the Princess' visit."
"Good." The King lifted his face and gave his son a firm stare. "You should be getting ready, she'd be here soon."
"With all due respect, father, I can't marry a girl I don't know."
"She's the Princess of France."
"I don't care who she is. I don't love her." Edward could not believe he dared to say that himself, still he stood tall with no sign of weakness, exactly like his father had taught him.
But instead of showing his concern, the King appeared a bit too calm in reaction to his son's objection to the marriage arrangement.
"Spending too much time with your mother, I see." He shook his head side to side slowly. "Edward, royalties do not marry for love, we marry for duty. And your duty to the kingdom is having that French girl as your wife, for the French are one of our strongest allies."
"So you don't love my mother?"
"I love the Queen because I am married to her, not the other way around," the King asserted as he closed the book in front of him and intertwined his fingers on the table, not a single smile displayed upon his thin lips.
"You are going to marry this Princess, then you will learn to love her."
.
.
.
For the past fifteen minutes, Harry had been pacing back and forth in the studio with his phone clutched in his hand. His girlfriend hadn't replied to his latest text or called him back and he knew all too well that meant nothing but trouble. It wasn't the first time they fought. In fact, they hadn't gone through one month in their two years together without at least one big argument. It always began with her getting mad at something he did or said, and ended with him begging on his knees for her to stay.
Jeff had been watching Harry from the couch for a while now, and even though it wasn't him who's in hot water, he still got pretty frustrated.
"Harold, could you please just sit down?"
"Lillie, she-"
"Enough with Lillie! You have more important things to take care of over here." Jeff exhales, patting on the pile of folders in front of him to get Harry's attention.
"What are those?"
"Job applications."
Harry breathed out a laugh, then realized Jeff wasn't joking. "I already told you I didn't need a personal assistant."
"Yes, Harry, you sure as hell need one. You're going to be so busy once your second tour starts."
"The last assistant sold my private info to the press. I don't trust anyone else, I've got you."
"I cannot help you with everything, Haz! I've read and picked out these excellent applications, your job is just to decide which one."
"Okay then." Harry bent down and pulled out a random folder in the pile, then handed it to his manager. "This one."
"But you haven't even read what's inside!"
"But you have, and I trust you." Harry grinned, just in time his phone notified him of a new text from his girlfriend, and he wasted no time to make his way to the exit. "Could you please take care of the rest? I will be right back!"
"Harry!"
"I promise!" shouted Harry from the door as the sound of his footsteps faded away in the hallway.
.
.
.
"With me in the studio right now is the lovely and talented singer/songwriter Lillie Xander!"
"Thank you for having me!"
"You're welcome, darling! So Lillie, your first single Him has reached number one in the UK, I mean, the song itself is a bop, but the fans cannot stop talking about the lyrics. They all want to know if this song is about your boyfriend Harry Styles."
"I think the lyrics are fairly self-explanatory. I'm in a happy relationship and I think it's common for artists to write from personal experiences. I hope that answers your question."
"It certainly does, thanks love. Now, let's listen to Him from Lillie's new album 'French Rose' coming out this October!"
"Hey! Give me back my phone!"
Y/N ignored her friend's reaction as she turned the iPhone's volume down, then handed the device back to the girl.
"Did you have to listen to your radio show that loud, Lisa?" Y/N snorted, receiving a disapproving glare from her friend.
"Because that's Lillie fucking Xander!"
"Well, I'm trying to concentrate!" said Y/N as she marched out of the kitchen, back to the couch where she'd left her unfinished sketch. Lisa pulled herself a chair by the dining table and paused her radio show to check on her friend.
"Weird, I haven't seen you draw again in months, getting all inspired by that museum date?"
Y/N paused the movements of her pencil on the paper and looked up, receiving a playful grin from Lisa.
"Okay, first of all, it wasn't a date," she clarified, squinting her eyes as she put the pencil down. "Second of all, don't even mention Jason, okay?"
"Come on, how long are you gonna stay mad at him?"
"He tried to kiss me, Lisa! He's been my best friend since first grade now I can't even look at him!"
"At least talk it out like adults, you can't ignore him forever."
Just as Lisa finished her sentence, Y/N's phone on the dining table started ringing, announcing her of an incoming call. Lisa reached out to grab it and Y/N immediately shouted from the couch, telling her friend not to answer.
"It's not Jason! Unknown caller ID!"
"Don't answer that either, it could be Jason using someone else's number!"
"Hello? Yes, this is Y/N's number."
"Lisa!"
"No, I'm her friend."
"What are you doing, Lis?!"
Y/N fled from the couch, straight into the kitchen, quickly attempted to grab her phone away but Lisa's facial expression stopped Y/N dead in her track.
"Okay, here she is." Lisa covered the phone with her other hand and her eyebrows knitted together as she whispered aggressively to Y/N, "Jeffrey Azoff is on the fucking phone!"
The news was a bolt from the blue to Y/N, she was too shocked to know what to say, but Lisa kept mouthing to her to answer it, and she was left with no other choice.
Y/N took the phone, trying to calm her breathing as she brought it to her ear and muttered the word, "hello?"
"Is this Y/N Y/L/N?" asked the male voice on the other line.
"Yes, it's me."
"Hi, I'm Jeffrey Azoff, Harry Styles' manager." Y/N was rooted to the spot when she heard those two names in the same sentence, but it wasn't the only surprise she was going to get today.
"Congratulations, Y/N, you've got the job!"