Be My Princess: Prince Roberto

The Prince's Escort

I was sitting in the back seat of one of the Altarian royal family's private cars. Sitting next to me was Prince Roberto, wearing the shirt that I had made him. I had ended up coming to the party at Nobel Michel as his date, after all. 

"It'll be fine. Just relax!" I had been petrified with nervousness the whole ride and Prince Roberto was trying to get me to loosen up. 

"I am trying my hardest to relax, Your Highness..." 

"How can 'trying your hardest' be relaxing at all?" 

"Ugh, exactly..." I could sense a blinding smile beside me and when I looked, Prince Roberto was indeed beaming at me. "Is there something the matter?" 

"No, I was just thinking it was kinda nice." 

"What was?" 

"'Ugh, exactly'." I felt myself blanch. 

"I'm so sorry, Your Highness. Was that too casual? I'm afraid that I'm so nervous I don't know what I'm saying..." 

"Then maybe I like it when you're nervous. I like it when you're casual. It makes me feel like you really see me as a friend." 

"Well, I don't know how to respond to that, Your Highness. I would be impertinent of me to think we could be friends, sir, no matter how much I want to." 

"Oh, so do you want to? That's a relief to hear!" 

"Oh, uh, no... A slip of the tongue..." 

"I like slippery tongues." 

"Prince Roberto!" A sharp voice cut in from the passenger's seat. 

"Yes, Al?" 

"Your behavior is unseemly." 

"I'm just behaving like I always do." 

"And on top of that, you are sitting inappropriately close to the lady." I could see Alberto's eyes flashing at us through the rear-view mirror. Prince Roberto and I were indeed sitting unnecessarily close, considering the size of the wide backseat. 

"Oh, excuse me..." I moved away slightly, making space between us. 

"Ooh, now my dear [Y/N]'s gone and run away, 'cause of you!" 

"'Cause'...? That is not the language I am accustomed to hearing from a member of the royal family." Al says. 

"...All because of you, sir." Prince Roberto says. 

"I see." 

Luckily for us, the car had just pulled up at Nobel Michel.  As we stepped out of the car, Alberto spoke kindly to me. 

"Miss [Y/L/N], I hope you will fully enjoy this evening. Opportunities like this don't come very often." 

"I will. Thank you very much." 

"That's right! There's no time to waste feeling nervous!" Prince Roberto says. "When we go inside, I'll have to do some prince-y stuff, but you should just concentrate on having a good time, okay? No reservations or anything." 

"I wish you would show a bit more reserve, Your Highness." Alberto says to him. 

"I was talking to you, too, Al!" 

"If you took away my reserve, sir, there would be nothing left of me." 

"Really? You don't seem too reserved to me when you charge ahead telling me what to do all the time." 

I feel more at ease as I watched their usual bickering. We made our way to the stairs at the entrance to the castle and Prince Roberto held his hand out respectfully.