Sleep was rather elusive for the Ice Prince, and whenever he finally found it, it was always, most definitely, at the worst possible times. Some such examples were as follows:
-Trying to kidnap a princess.
-Trying to capture an escaped princess.
-Running away from an enraged princess.
-Keeping watch on a previously capture princess.
-Making a sandwich.
-Encasing undead monstrosities in ice.
His heavy breaths were the only sounds within his entire castle. Another chance, wasted. The one chance he had for someone, anyone to accompany him in his castle had slipped quickly from his grasp. There would be many more; he would make sure of it. It was just the times when he was so close and failed so easily that rather completely crushed his hopes for companionship.
When he looked around, he knew that he didn't need others. The only reason he interacted with them at all was so he could rule all of Ooo, so that he could create a paradise of ice. A cold, frozen world, not a bit of unpleasant Summer heat left to taint it...except, perhaps, for a small region for the Fire Kingdom.
Yes, he thought, I need them only for my personal enjoyment. They don't matter. I can find others to accompany me, like...
No one came to mind.
Simply another reminder that, within this castle, he was completely alone. The only thing to do was to quietly think.
He felt calmer than he was moments ago.
Silently, he walked through the halls, past rooms once filled with (admittedly stolen) artifacts and riches, now emptier than the farthest reaches of space.
All because of that Princess.
Well, the dog, too, but mostly the Princess. It was as if the universe had purposely been set up to taunt him, an ironic twist that could only be devised by cosmic beings. The Prince of all that was Ice and Frost versus the Princess of all that was Heat and Flame, locked in perpetual stalemate. It was an ironic twist that would only be laughed at by the cruelest of omnipotent creatures-
Meanwhile
"Wait! Look. Dude. I like you, so you should know my wishes always got an ironic twist to them. It's like a Monkey's Paw kind of thing."
-and was only made more frustrating when the Princess escaped from right under his nose!
Why am I so upset by this, anyway? he thought. I don't care about her. She's just...her.
Looking ahead, he found himself staring at an old sculpture. It was part of his original plan to 'woo' her. In his opinion, it was a pristine piece of art; it was a replica of the Flame Princess, standing in a pose of curiosity. Shaking his head, he turned around and left the room, but in the forgotten part of his mind he'd left when he put on the crown, he remembered something.
He remembered what love felt like.