We met at Dawn when I saw his petite figure praying in the middle of grass wearing a nightshirt.
He would go there every night at Dawn, and I wouldn't know why.
I decided to ask him one day, and his answer was, "Because when you pray hard enough f...
They walked inside, and quickly Louis was hit with the smell of bread and vanilla.
The entrance led to a kitchen with Victorian decor, the walls painted pale yellow with brown wood at the bottom. Two wooden chairs appeared on opposite sides of the wall. A brown table was in the centre, with a plate of half-eaten bread with jam spread on it, as well as what appeared to crust from a previously eaten bread, and an empty cup of tea.
He looked around some more, noticing the wall had a shelf of plates against it, and a sink at the bottom. A stove stood against the wall on the other side of it, a golden teapot on top of it.
His home looked Pristine and elegant, which Louis couldn't help but admire.
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He turned to see the tall man struggling to keep the umbrella in place, trying to stand it up against the wall next to the chair, then scoffed in annoyance and dropped it onto the floor, a few droplets of water dripping onto it.
He looked up at Louis and said, "So....tea?"
Louis held in a laugh and nodded.
"Okay, well, the water is probably cold now. I had to get the animals back in their barns so they wouldn't get sick from the rain." He tells him whilst walking over to the stove and turning it back on.
"But Animals don't get sick...." Louis replied.
The man chuckled in what sounded like amusement, making Louis furrow his brows in confusion.
"Oh, Louis. Homeschool in that palace certainly did not teach you well about animals, now did it?" He remarked, making Louis even more confused.
"You know who I am?" He asked.
"Well, of course! You're a prince, after all. Always in the newspapers. It's not hard to know who you're." He answered as he walked into a room.
"Right..."
Louis had no idea he was so well-known. Even though he was royalty, he assumed that few people would recognise him because his family was large and descended from a long line of princes and princesses, and kings and queens.
He seemed to have underestimated himself when being stuck in a sovereign he had no choice to be in.
The farm man came back shortly after with a pair of clothes in his hand.
"Here you go! A change of clothes." He smiled kindly, handing them to him.
"Thanks." Louis said, returning the thin smile.
"You can change in there." He tells him, pointing to the room he went in to get the clothing from.
Louis nodded, and then headed into the room. He came back shortly, wearing a blue knitted jumper and brown trousers, his hair now slightly dry.
"Here's your tea. Be careful, it's hot." Harry tells him, handing Louis the steaming hot cup.
"Thank you." Louis said, and sat down on the chair that was next to the stove after moving it to the table, being careful not to drop the cup, and then took a small sip of the scorching hot tea.
"Mmm." He hummed as the warm-hot liquid ran down his throat.
"Vanilla?" Louis questioned, realising where the smell of vanilla came from when he walked in.
"Yes, French vanilla. It's my favourite kind." He replied, picking up the half-eaten bread and taking a bite of it, pressing his back against the cupboards, crossing his arm underneath the other.
"So, your highness—"
"Just Louis." He cut him off politely.
"Alright, Louis. So, why were you wandering the streets so late at Dawn?" He asked, taking another bite of his bread.
"I just uhmm....wanted to go on a stroll is all." He lied, sipping his tea lightly.
"Really? Because if my eyes are correct, your eyes appear to be bloodshot from, I assume, crying." He took notice of, a knowing look on his face as he chewed.
Louis gazed down at the smoking white liquid with a frown, twirling the teabag around in the cup.
Louis had just met me, but I could see right through his sea-blue eyes how red they were. He wasn't happy, that I knew. Though, I didn't question further what was going on personally with him, but I was curious to know why he had left the palace so late at night.
"Did something happen?" He asked him, and Louis shook his head, even though it too was not the truth.
"You don't have to say much, but don't you think you should head back? They might certainly be looking for you." He spoke in concern, already finished eating his jam-toasted bread, and now had both arms crossed.
"I don't want to go back to that dreadful place!" Louis exclaimed. "I've spent all of my life being controlled and unable to make my own decisions. I'd rather be normal than be controlled like a peasant!" He spat, slamming his palm on the table in anger, making the curly-haired man flinch.
"Sorry." He apologised, noticing Harry's reaction to his outburst.
"It's okay....
Louis sighed, dropping the teabag into the cup, his eyes lowering down again, but this time at his lap.
"A few years ago, my grandfather forced me to marry," He began. "I tried to refuse, me being too young to marry. Though, he thought my age was of no concern to marry young, so I therefore, had no choice but to agree to the marriage. It's a marriage that I am not quite happy in, and I believe she knows it too. Or so I think." He finished explaining.
The man twisted his lips, processing the information.
He had known about his marriage to Duchess Katherine, however, he was unaware of it being arranged, assuming they were already in love before. They seemed to look like a happy couple to him, but with this new information he had heard, he then figured that there was not much happiness in those faces than he had thought.
"And so you escaped?" He guessed, and Louis nodded.
"If you don't mind me asking, considering you have already married this woman, is there another reason you might have escaped?" He questioned further, now grabbing the chair next to him and placing it around the table before sitting down.
Louis questioned whether he should tell the lad, being that he doesn't know him very well. Then again, he had just confessed to him the truth about his marriage.
"They want me to have children with her." He answered truthfully.
"And you don't want to, is that correct?" Louis nodded, adding a, 'yes.'"
The lad sighed deeply, knowing that what he was about to tell him would most definitely make him escape further than where he already was.
"You might not like this, but....you need to go back." Louis snapped his head up once more after he heard those words, his face scrawling and eyebrows narrowing in anger.
"Pardon me? You want me to go back to that dreadful place? I surely do not, thank you, kind sir! But I will rather stay here, if you don't mind." He stated firmly.
"But you can't stay here, Louis. They're probably looking for you right now, and I will get in great trouble if I kept you here. If I were you, I would stand up to them. You must speak up, otherwise, you're going to regret not doing so in the future."
Louis thought for a second, hating that the man was right. He did need to speak up and stand up to them. If he didn't do it now, he was afraid of what else they would force on him.
