Prince in the City [Harry Styles AU]

Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Prince's POV:

". . . And although I'm unable to attend, I do hope my absence doesn't stop you from having a good time," I cheekily stated, offering a grin at the built-in camera of my laptop. "Cheers!" I bid goodbye before ending the video recording.

Once it was finished, I uploaded the file and e-mailed it to both of my parents' advisors, hoping it was up to par of what they wanted. The Palace was holding yet another charitable event, and my parents had asked for me to send a video for good graces. And since I did not want to give even the tiniest hint that I was not living in the place Mum had arranged for me, I had Dave drive me to the lavish flat that was still under my name and sat in the living room to record the five minute long video. It was excessive, I'm aware, to come to the other flat just to record a video for the event, but I wasn't going to take any chances.

After I sent the video, Dave and I left the flat and I got safely and undetected into the car, heading back to the building I actually lived in. On the way home, though, we stopped to grab some doughnuts from a nearby Dunkin Donuts — as per Niall's text request — and I asked Dave to get a container of munchkins for Vera, seeing as she absolutely loved those.

When Dave returned and handed me the bag that held the box of doughnuts and the smaller container, my thoughts almost instantly traveled to Vera and how she revealed a side of her life that has been hurting her for so long last night. Her story about her father had taken me by surprise, seeing as finding out that he was in prison was something I was certainly not expecting. Seeing so torn up about it, though, quickly subsided my shock and made me want to do nothing more than to comfort her — though I wasn't sure exactly how to. So I just held her hands and made sure she knew that it was okay for her to still be angry and still be hurting even after nearly ten years.

From the few months I've known Vera, she's never once mentioned her father. When it came to us talking about our families, she was well aware of mine and the only people she talked about were her mother, brother, sister-in-law, and niece. Part of me always wondered about her father, but I never asked in consideration of the fact that there may be a very good reason Vera doesn't indulge in her father's whereabouts. Turns out I had been right. But the extremity of it had been an obvious surprise.

After Vera had relayed everything to me concerning her father, it had been obvious that she was ashamed of what her past entailed. Her father's misdeeds had embarrassed her and her family, and it was clear that she was still carrying that humiliation today. Not that I blamed her — she practically grew up with people all around her commenting on what had happened within her family, as if it was everyone's business as to what happened to her father. However, I found it admirable, looking at Vera and her family now. Despite their father and husband hurting them in a way nobody saw coming, they didn't let that stop them from living their lives. I imagine Vera's mum and brother might still be reeling from it like Vera is, but they all lead successful lives. Though they were still probably dealing with the pain, the shadows of Vera's father's misdeeds didn't stop them in moving forward.

When it came to my family, Gemma and I were practically groomed to make sure we never got involved in anything that would make any of us look bad in the public eye. Especially being the Royal Family, we were basically the face of England, and according to Mum, if we looked bad, then so did our country. So Gemma and I were conditioned to uphold the perfect image for the family, never getting mixed up in scandalous situations that had even the slightest chance of making us look poorly in public. Safe to say Gemma and I are experts in keeping up a pristine image.

Ever since her father's imprisonment, Vera and her family have put on a brave face, and if you were to meet them now you would never think that what had happened to them had happened unless they tell you the story. And the fact that Vera trusted me enough to recount the ordeal to me spoke volumes — especially when she had confessed that I was the only person she has been in a relationship with that she has told this to. It was a great deal for Vera to tell me everything, and it made me adore her even more than I already did.