Authors note: Thank you so much for all the reviews and comments. I especially want to thank a fellow author and beta Nightrain and Brownstone. I thank you so much, no amount of words will be enough to show how grateful I am to you...and I will continue to repeat it over and over lol

Any way I must warn you all...this is a very dark chapter... but other than that I hope you all enjoy the chapter and please review when done.


Despair… He could feel it swallowing him… Choking him… Suffocating him… God, he just wanted it to end. But just as Hans was about to take that fateful leap, Kai and Amund came bursting in and pulled him away from the window. Naturally, a scuffle broke out, but eventually, the two older men managed to overpower Hans and pin down him on the floor.

"Let go of me!" he shouted, writhing against the combined weight of the two men. "I demand that you let go!"

"No…" Amund hissed. "Until you calm down, we will not."

"Speaking of which, what has gotten into you?" Kai asked, grunting with effort as he did what he could to restrain the prince. "You know all too well that killing yourself won't solve anything."

"Yes it will!" Hans growled. "It's the only way!"

Without a second thought, Amund struck the prince across the face. "Do you even hear what you're saying!?" he thundered, "If you died right there and then, what will become of the people who love you?"

"Love me?" Hans spat, "Love me?" He threw his head back and laughed, the sound harsh and guttural. "They don't love me! They are even worse than the lowest beasts. Beasts, at the very least, care for their young."

"Hans! We're not talking about them!" shouted Kai, "We're talking about Agatha and Giselle! How do you think they will react when we tell them that you committed suicide? What about your friend H.C.? How do you think he'll feel when he finds out that his friend is dead? And what about Amund and I? What makes you think we could ever take this well?"

"Hans, you have to remember that you're not worthless or unloved," Amund added, "They love you… We love you. If you die, then we will die with you."

Hearing those words seemed to have jolted Hans back to clarity. Kai, Giselle, Amund, Agatha, H.C. and Elsa… How could he have been so selfish to have forgotten all his precious people. Little by little, he stopped struggling. Seeing that the prince had finally come to his senses, Kai and Amund decided to release him, only to have him envelope them both into a tight embrace.

"I'm sorry…" he whimpered, repeating the phrase over and over like a mantra.

"It's okay… Just don't do this again," Amund shushed as he and Kai returned the hug. Inwardly, he heaved a sigh of relief, having almost lost the one person he viewed as a son; it really had been far too close a call.

Later that evening, Hans was taking a stroll in the palace gardens. He had gone to the stone bridge to look for Elsa, but she was nowhere to be found. He could not exactly blame her either; after that suicide attempt, Amund and Kai had instructed every member of the castle staff to keep a sharp eye on the youngest prince. Nonetheless, he had an inkling of where she could be…

He walked down an overgrown path that took him to a set of crumbling stone steps leading to a secluded beach. In the days of his grandfather, it had been a part of the summer retreat that had evolved into the sprawling palace complex, but after his death, it was soon abandoned and forgotten. Just as he stepped onto the sand, something cold hit him in the face.

"How dare you!"

He wiped it off to see Elsa sitting on a nearby rock, her blue eyes blazing with fury as she made another snowball and hurled it at him.

"Elsa, I –"

"Don't you 'Elsa' me!" she shouted as silvery rivulets trickled from her eyes. "I saw everything! How dare you! How could you even think of doing such a thing?" She heaved a sob. "Do you know how I felt when I saw that you were about to jump? I though you were going to die... …that you were going to leave me… … that I was going to loose you."

Without a moment's hesitation, Hans walked over and wrapped his arms around her. "I'm sorry," he murmured, "I wasn't thinking… Could you please forgive me?"

"The promise me…" Elsa whispered, burying her head into his chest, soothed by the gentle rhythm of his heartbeat. "Promise me you won't ever do that again."

"I promise…" He cradled her closer. "Never again…"

"Then why? Why would you…?"

Taking a deep breath, he relayed to her all that had happened since his arrival at the Southern Isles – the cold reception, his parents' callousness and cruelty, and of course, his forced betrothal to Queen Joanna. By the time he finished his tale, Elsa was thoroughly horrified.

"Even if they're your parents, they can't do that!" she cried, "They have no right!"

Hans sadly shook his head. "As my sovereigns, I'm afraid they do…"

But Elsa was not about to back down from this argument. "No, they don't! You can't marry someone you just met, and you can't marry someone you don't love!"

"I know…" Hans replied, his voice quivering, "…and I don't want to…"

"Then don't!"

"Can't you see, Elsa… I have no choice!" he snapped, "If I don't agree to this union, there could be a war."

"And why should you suffer for their sake?" Elsa retorted, "It's their own fault they got into this mess. They don't deserve an ounce of your loyalty."

"True… My parents and family do not," Hans told her, "But the people– I cannot let them suffer from something that can be prevented. If marrying that woman is the only way to save them, then so be it."

"Hans, don't marry her," she pleaded, "Don't sacrifice your happiness."

"I'm sorry, Elsa, but I have no choice," he said, pulling away. "As a prince, it is my duty to protect my people."

"Then marry me!" As soon as those words left her lips, she wished that the earth would just open up and swallow her whole. She meant every single word of that phrase, but that was not how she wanted to confess.

Having heard her, Hans felt his heart leap. He was ecstatic to know that her feelings were mutual after all; however, given his position, he just could not abandon his people.

"I want to…" he replied, his voice soft and plaintive, "More than anything else in the world… But I just can't. Goodbye, my love. I'll never forget you…" With those parting words, he disappeared into the night, leaving Elsa mired in her sorrow.

It was late when Hans returned, yet he found himself unable to sleep; the day's events still fresh in his mind. Instead of heading to the castle, he made his way to his secret haven – a small shack that sometimes served as his home whenever he could not stay with Agatha and Giselle.

Built of wood and stone, the shack was quite old – a remnant from the bygone days of his grandfather's reign when the palace complex was less ostentatious. But despite its age, it was still inhabitable. Using a rusty key that had been hidden under a rock, he opened the door and went in.

Although he had not set foot there in ages, not much had changed. From the heaviest furniture to the smallest accessories, everything was just how he left it. In addition, the whole place was spic and span, which meant either Agatha, Giselle, or Kai had been keeping house.

Suddenly, his eye fell across a letter opener lying on the bureau, most probably Kai's as he often used the shack to read his private mail. He picked it up, testing its sharpness before walking into the bathroom.

As Hans stared into the mirror, he did not know whether to laugh at or pity the person standing before him. Kruse had really done his job. Gone was the courageous, quick-witted fleet admiral, and in his place was a downtrodden, heartbroken prince.

'And yet, I still do not belong...'

With his free hand, he took his ponytail, and in one decisive motion, he sliced it off with the letter opener and tossed it onto the floor.

Whether he be a fleet admiral or a royal prince, in the cutthroat world of the royal court, there was simply no place for Hans Westergaard.

To be continued…

Beta written by Nightrain and Brownstone.


Authors note: uhhhh...(Ducks behind a protective wall)

Fun fact: Elsa and Hans play a huge role in who they became in the story, their presence in each others lives changed them. Hans taught Elsa to become more braver and daring, while Elsa taught Hans to become humble and selfless.

Any way hope you all enjoy the chapter, please review and stay tuned for the next chapter.