Eugene's stubborn face remained stuck in a frown as he felt his wife's mittened hand wrap around his shivering arm. "Eugene, I wish you would stop being such a drama queen and look on the bright side of this whole thing," she said, affectionately burying her face into his shoulder.
"Bright side?" Eugene's voice was muffled through the thick scarf wrapped around his face. His eyes narrowed as he looked down at Rapunzel. "There are swim trunks in my suitcase and my nose is frozen."
"But," Rapunzel said, before Eugene was even finished. "I mean, at least we're in the castle, where it's warm." Eugene couldn't say much to that. He sat as close to the fireplace as anyone could get and he was still dressed in full winter gear. He was sulking against the wall, arms crossed and shivering a bit too violently than he should have been. He curled himself up and kept a look on his face that was as unwelcoming to the royals as he could manage; he was in no mood to be approached by anyone. "Will some soup make you feel better?" asked Rapunzel, giving him a little smile that made Eugene feel like he was being treated like a child. He, however, couldn't complain about that at the moment. Though he wouldn't admit it, he did kind of enjoy it.
"Soup does sound good right now," he mumbled just loudly enough for Rapunzel to hear though the layers. She bounced to her feet and with a grunt, helped the reluctant Eugene to his. They started to weave through the crowded great hall to the tables that had been set up only hours before. Relieved and slightly more irritated than before, Eugene removed his scarf and took a bowl from a volunteer at the table. Rapunzel, still clutching onto her husband's arm, thanked the volunteer as Eugene scoped out the room for a new spot close to the fire. As Eugene was about to start for a spot that he'd found, a tall man in a striking white suit walked into Eugene at an impressive speed for such a crowded room.
"Hey! Would you watch it?" The man looked down at his suit, brushing off a couple small puddles of spilled soup, most of which had drenched Eugene's layers, and were beginning to freeze at the surface.
"Eugene!" whispered Rapunzel, about to give an embarrassed apology for her cranky husband. Eugene shot her a look and a shrug that told Rapunzel clearly that he wasn't the one who said that.
The man cleared his throat and exhaled sharply. "Um… excuse me, sir. I'm – I'm so sorry," he said with a bit of an edge to his voice. With a charming smile that seemed almost too friendly, the stranger stepped around Eugene, who was standing still and holding the nearly empty bowl in one hand, his eyes following the man as he walked toward the doors to the castle. Something about him was familiar, but Eugene couldn't put his finger on it.
"Eugene, I'm sorry," said Rapunzel. "Let's go back and refill your bowl."
Eugene wasn't completely listening. "You – you can do that. I've got… I – I don't know. Hold on." He absently handed her the soup and began to swiftly follow the man. Eugene kept his senses open for anything that would make sense of the unpleasant feeling he felt in his gut.
Casually keeping distance, yet not too far, from the man, they finally stopped in a secluded corner near the gates. The man looked annoyed, irritated. He frustratedly took a handkerchief from his pocket and began rubbing at the spots of soup that were dripping from his suit. Eugene couldn't exactly make out what the man was angrily mumbling under his breath, but he thought he caught irritated snippets of "…when I rule this place…" and "…will be the first to be gone…"
"Eugene!" Rapunzel emerged from the crowd, looking confused and concerned. "What happened back there, is everything –"
"Hold on, I need to hear this guy," Eugene said in a hushed tone and gesturing his eyes to the man who bumped into him. "I'm not getting a good feeling about him, he seems really –"
"Eugene," interrupted Rapunzel as gently as she could, "that's the prince of the Southern Isles. He's here to help. From what I saw at the coronation ball, he and Princess Anna are friends, at least. He's fine."
Eugene tried to believe her, but he couldn't get what he heard out of his mind. "No, no there's something wrong about this guy, and I'm not leaving until I figure out what it is. Actually, I think I might go have another word with him." Eugene composed his posture and began in the man's direction, but his wife took a step to the side and blocked his beeline. "Rapunzel, please…" his voice trailed off when he looked into the begging eyes and the childish smile on her face.
"Please, Eugene," Rapunzel said, almost a whisper. "He's fine." She enlaced her fingers with his and kept his gaze. "Just let it go. Please."
Eugene narrowed his eyes as the stranger walked out into the snow and took some blankets off the top of a stack from a passerby who seemed to be struggling. Eugene exhaled, expression unchanged, and replied. "Fine." Relieved, Rapunzel began to lead the way back to the spot by the fire. "But I still don't like him."