feel okay, thank you for asking,” I replied, knowing that it was the first polite words I’d ever said to him. It made me sad and embarrassed at the same time, because he’d yet to show me any sign of rudeness.
He called you a filthy American.
I pushed the whisper in my head away, he’d apologized for that, and I’d forced him into saying it by my hurtful words.
He offered me a small smile. “Did you have any trouble with your stomach before?”
Huh?
“Sorry?”
“Your stomach. You had a fever when you were exposed to cold weather, but you’re not coughing or having a runny nose or so on. I believe that you have a sensitive stomach, that’s why you couldn’t handle the sudden change in the weather, especially after having a hot drink,” he said.
“Uh, I’ve had stomach aches every now and then,” I replied, confused as to how he knew these things, or why he was asking about it.
“Did you mostly feel it after you ate fried food or when you were very hungry or very full?”
I nodded, blinking rapidly.
“Like I suspected,” he stated. “I could prescribe you something to help you in the long term; I’m not convinced with the healing herbs; It might remove the symptoms, but it doesn’t cure the illness like medications do.”
“Wait. Prescribe me something? Is that okay for anyone to do that here?”
Or, is it because he’s a prince?
“It is okay for any doctor to do that, yes.”
“Wait, wait, wait! You’re a doctor?”
“Yes. I’m a doctor.” He smiled softly. “I guess your brother failed to tell you about that, too, huh?” It wasn’t really a question, and his smile disappeared.
I looked down, sadness consuming me once again at the mention of my brother. But then my thoughts traveled to think about the prince and how I knew so little of him, not knowing why I had to voice it. “I don’t know too much about you,” I admitted.
He sighed. “We can fix that, Princess. I mean, if you’d like to, of course.”
I nodded.
“You don’t know too much about me, either.” I said.
“True. I’d like to fix that, as well.”
I nodded again. “I’d like that.”
He smiled, excusing himself for a second. I watched him as he opened the drawer of his nightstand and came back with a small box in his hand.
“I was supposed to give you that on our wedding night, but…uh, I never got the chance,” he opened the box for me to see. My eyes winded at the sight of the two diamond rings and a golden wedding band that sat there. They looked so beautiful.
“They are really beautiful,” I told him, my eyes fixed on the box held up for me.
“Glad you think so.” He smiled. “Would you put them on? I don’t want anyone wondering. We’re lucky my mother didn’t notice.”
I nodded, offering him my hand because I wanted him to do it. No clue why.
His eyes questioned mine if I was sure, finding the answer in the first genuine smile my lips drew since my brother left me alone in this very room.
The prince’s smile grew wider, showing his pearly whites and a glow in his eyes. He took the rings and the band out of the box and placed it on the window ledge beside us.
He took my hand in his and put the wedding band then the rings on one after the other, his eyes bouncing up and down between the task in his hand and my eyes, the smile never leaving his face.
He didn’t let go of my hand when he was done.
I didn’t mind.
“First thing I need you to know about me,” he started. “I would never, ever harm you in one way or another.”
“You shouldn’t eat that,” the prince-doctor advised.
“Why not?”
“Egg is heavy on sensitive stomachs.”
“I feel fine,” I told him. The eggs were really delicious yesterday, with cheese inside–no clue how my not-really-mother-in-law had done that.
“The herbs give you the sensation that you’re okay. It numbs the pain, and numbs the body’s response to it.” He took a sip of his tea.
I left the eggs with a sigh–and if it wasn’t so immature to do so–I would’ve pouted, as well. They tasted that good.
“Is cream cheese okay?” I asked.
“Yes. Go ahead,” he smiled.
I spread the cream cheese over the spongy bread, then leaned back in the armchair on which I was sitting and started eating. I wanted to have breakfast in the sunroom again, but the prince had said it wasn’t a good idea.