A Royal Pain

Chapter three

Harry carefully steps out of the car, first placing one of his feet on the gravel and then the other. The palace looks just like a fairy tale. It's surrounded by lots of green fields which are mostly grass, but also some other small plants. Surrounding those fields is a beautiful forest. It has dark high trees that Harry could just stare at all day. He had never seen anything like this because he comes from a small town with only industrialized areas.

The castle stretches high in the sky, its white walls being perfectly polished and maintained. The English flag is also dangling in the air on top of the highest tower, showing its colors proudly.

Harry can hear the stones under his feet make noises as he turns in circles, admiring the castle and the area up close. It was truly fascinating to him.

Liam just watches in amusement as the boy is blown away by what is surrounding him. The driver has now gotten used to living in the palace but was in the same situation as Harry a while ago, so he understands the green-eyed boy's reaction.

A servant then comes walking towards them and bows when she's close enough to do so. "Sir, would you follow me, please? The Prince has requested your presence." The woman speaks, her ginger hair tied in a ponytail. It sweeps over her shoulder as she shows her respect for the man in front of her, moving her body downwards, and Harry is stunned by the servant's actions.

He therefore simply smiles. "It's really nice to meet you, what's your name? And please, just call me Harry." He tells her like the kind boy he is, sticking out his hand which the servant confusedly accepts.

"I-I'm Penelope." She stammers out, confused by how the man in front of her is acting, so humble and nice. "And it's nice to meet you as well, Harry." She says carefully.

Harry pops his dimples again, loving meeting other people, and then he gestures toward where he assumes the entrance of the castle is. "Shall we go then? I don't want to get you in trouble because I hold you up."

The servant smiles. "That's fine but yeah, let's go. Please follow me." She moves in the opposite direction of where Harry just pointed and a blush forms on his cheeks when he notices his mistake. But can you really blame him? He has only seen the outside of the castle and even that was for barely five minutes! And it is absolutely enormous.

The ginger luckily doesn't comment on it and leads Harry through the castle, not stopping so Harry can admire the beautiful hallways. She doesn't notice that the boy behind her is totally entranced by the interior's elegance because her sight is focused forward and she's not looking behind her, so sometimes Harry has to fasten his pace to catch up with the woman again when he's distracted by a certain painting or another object.

The servant then starts slowing down and losing the pace she has kept on for minutes as they walked through the castle earlier and looks behind her to give Harry a small smile. "He's inside the King's office, which his father has granted him so he can meet you in private. Just go through that door and you should be able to find him." She tells Harry with a small smile.

Harry returns the gesture and bows the same way the servant had done for him, showing his respect for the woman. "Thank you, Penelope."

The girl with the orange-colored hair doesn't seem to understand what's going on and therefore hesitantly bows back in return. Never has she experienced something like this, someone of royalty or a future royal bowing for her, and she had been working in the palace for quite some time. She notes that Harry must be special. She glances one more time over her shoulder as she leaves the room, her brain having shut down on her because of her confusion and surprise.

This leaves Harry alone in the hallway and he lets out a shaky breath as he moves his legs forward toward the door.

What will Louis, his soulmate, be like? Will he be as kind as he hopes he will be? Will he be a royal pain? Harry at least hopes that Louis has nothing to do with all the nasty things that happened to him today, from the cameras to with the haste he had to pack, but he guesses he'll have to see.