"…and then the doggies started to go ruff-ruff-ruff, and Mommy she was—she said they could stay 'cause the doggies are just babies, but they don't look like Jovi, so I don't know how they're babies, but it doesn't matter 'cause…"

As Alex continued on with his story, Juliette tried to pay as close attention as possible to him. Still, it was getting increasingly difficult, due, in part, because his story started to get more and more exaggerated as it went on. Well, that and the fact that she was starting to acquire a migraine from all his talking.

However, she knew interrupting the little boy would only disappoint him. After all, he seemed to have really wanted to tell her about the "doggies". But her mind was officially non-existent in this one-sided conversation. She had other pressing matters that were weighing her down.

According to Belle, since that "accident" with the wolves, she'd been in this place another two weeks. 'Weeks' as Juliette knew, meant a couple of days wrapped up together, which had to most certainly mean that she'd been here for much longer than she'd originally intended. 'Weeks' was not a good thing, not at all for an orphan girl who had a bad experience with staying in one place too long. Though she could be wrong; her mathematics skills were poorer than her penmanship.

"…and then Chip said she should sled into a mountain, but then he—then his mama told him to stop so he…"

Juliette's thoughts suddenly tuned in to the one name she could pick out of that sentence. Chip.

There was something frustrating about the boy. He was a light in her dark world, no doubt, but it was extremely complicated when it came to him. Sure, she liked listening to him talk, and sure, every now and then she didn't mind shyly raising a question or two so that he wouldn't stop. Alright, and she sort of liked the way he snuck her cookies, and she never minded that he always had a sort of smile for just her. But…

Chip was a boy. Boys grew into men. Men were cruel, heartless creatures who didn't think twice about destroying everything ever held near to innocent young girls. Not only that, but when around him, Juliette got this sort of fluttering feeling in her stomach, as though a thousand moths were flapping their wings all at once. It made her feel…giddy. She had to admit, there were moments when she'd leaned forward, so close to…to…to kissing him, and then…nada.

That's what worried the girl. How could she feel so good about someone who could very well become another nightmare?

"…and then I said I could beat her up, but then she had—but then she told Mama and Mama said I had to go to time-out, 'cause you can't—

BANG!

The slamming of a door opening at a terrifying speed sent Alex throwing himself into the orphan girl, and Juliette gripping the bed sheets with an ashen face. Her mind did not register the pain that came from Alex barreling into her; she only knew how terror stricken she was, and how much she would protect this little boy from whatever had opened the door so harshly.

"Ah ha! Found you!" A voice with a laugh far too big cried out, their heavy footsteps echoing within the silent room.

Juliette kept her head down, trying to keep as calm as she could possibly manage, though the thought occurred to her that she knew that voice from somewhere. It sounded so familiar, but where would she have…?

"Papa!" Alex's voice suddenly cried out, the sheer amount of loudness in it making Juliette give a wince. She had barely registered what he had just said when she felt him crawling away from her at lightning speed towards the person who had just walked in.

"Alexander, you were supposed to be in the nursery taking your nap an hour ago, not running around the castle!" The person scolded Alex, but, from what Juliette could tell, it was in an amused tone.

"Nuh uh; you don't gotta take a nap when you're not sleepy!"

"Says who?" The man laughed, and for a second, Juliette allowed herself a peek at the familiar voice. Her heart suddenly sank like a stone within her chest.

It was the king. The king. The memory of his cruel words when he'd thought she wasn't around still echoed within her mind. He had apologized, and from Juliette understood he'd been slightly worried about her in the time since then, but that didn't take away the sting from his blunt truthfulness.

"Says me, Papa, I say so!"

Alex's voice suddenly jerked Juliette out of her thoughts, and the girl immediately dropped her still raised arms and wrapped them around herself. It felt like a slap in the face when she realized that Alex was not what she had convinced herself that he was. She looked at him and thought of him as that cute little boy that always visited her with stories galore. However, he was the crown prince, he was Alexander, he was…he was going to be king one day. It was time she started getting used to that.

"Well, you're going to be overruled!"

Suddenly there was a flurry of laughter and movement from the peripheral vision of Juliette's green eyes. She looked up quickly as she heard a shriek being issued from Alex, but what she saw was happening was far different from what she had assumed.

It was a warm sight to see, to be sure. Alex was being hung upside down by his ankles, and his shrieks were that of laughter and playfulness. His tawny hair was quickly becoming disheveled, though by the look of breathless happiness on his face the little boy did not care one bit. His father, the king, was the one holding him upside down, keeping a strong grip on the boy and laughing along with him in merriment. There was mischief in his blue eyes, but there was also a light that radiated off of people when they were at a moment of pure bliss.

For Juliette, it was an undeniable form a torture.

The girl fought back tears as she lowered her eyes miserably to the bed sheets. It was horrible for her to want more, after all that had been done for her here.

She'd been taken in, and taken care of, just because she'd been found in the snow. Her presence had caused tension, had hurt a marriage, and yet, she was still allowed to stay. Then, when she tried to leave so that she wouldn't be a nuisance any longer and almost ended up getting these peoples' innocent children killed, she was still taken back in and taken care of. Actually, they had thanked her, praised her even, for managing to save the children, even though it was she that put them in that predicament. She should be grateful that she wasn't having her head put on a spike. She should be appreciative that she was in a place where warmth was considered a necessity, unlike the orphanage where you were considered lucky if the winter wasn't too harsh.

And yet…

It still burned. It still ached. It still felt like a punch in the stomach. Her guilt was unbearable at this point, but she had to acknowledge that yes, all the things that had happened recently were amazingly wonderful, but spoiled as she was now, Juliette suddenly wanted more.

She wanted…she wanted a family.

While Juliette was letting her thoughts spin within her mind, Vincent was trying to keep a firm grip on his son. Hearing Alexander laugh was making him laugh, and for just a second, he flashed his gaze upwards, trying to survey what, if anything at all, was even in this room.

And then his laughter suddenly died away.

He hadn't realized that this wasn't just any guest room; this was the one Juliette had been inhabiting for the past month and a half. Curiously, the girl kept her head down, those dark brown curls hiding away whatever secrets the girl's face may have told. But from the way she kept her head hanging it was obvious to Vincent that the child was…unhappy? But…why? Why would she be sad, just because he was in her room and him and his son were playing—

Oh. That's why.

Gently, Vincent placed his son upright on his own two feet, trying hard to focus on the boy now and then dealing with his guilt ridden thoughts later.

"Alright, fun's over. Now it's time for you to get to the nursery for a nap, Alexander." Almost sad to end this fun time now, Vincent got down on his knees so that he was the same height as his son. Or…somewhat of the same height.

"No! I don't wanna!" Alex protested, his brows pulled together in fierce resentment of his father's order. Vincent merely raised a brow.

"Alright then." Giving a shrug, Vincent stood up, easily making himself seem nonchalant. "I guess I'll just tell Mama…" Taking a step towards the door, even the king was surprised at how fast Alex grabbed his legs.

"No! Not Mama! I don't like—I don't wanna timeout, Papa!" Alex's voice cried out, before he released his father's legs and looked up at the large man with wide, terror filled eyes. He knew that when his mother got involved, it meant business. "I'm going now, Papa, I'm gonna go nap right now!"

Lickety split, before any other reverse psychology tactics had to be applied, Alex was bounding out of the room and in the direction of the nursery. Vincent gave a light chuckle to himself, leaning his head out of the door and seeing nothing but an unusually vacant hallway. That boy had a serious amount of speed, he'd give him that. But he was also the most easily appeased child, which probably had something to do with the fact that he had two other sisters that weren't much for quick solutions.

One down, one more to go.

"Um…Juliette?" Suddenly, his voice felt very awkward within the silent room. It was too loud, and the uncertainty within it just made this all very strange.

Rubbing the back of his neck, Vincent grimaced lightly and tried to give as much distance as he could between himself and the girl. No doubt she still felt sore that he'd simply run off when she'd confessed her true reasons for never wanting to return to the orphanage.

"Yessir?" A soft voice answered the loud one back, and Juliette found herself slowly lifting her head. Her green eyes met with the king's blue one's for just a moment, before she quickly turned her gaze back down. Should she be curtseying? She hadn't the faintest idea of what else to do in front of this royal man.

"I'm…uh…um…" Hesitant and unknowing of what to say, Vincent felt his eyes suddenly wander around the room, looking for something to converse about. The unspoken words, however, left more of a weight in the room.

"Hey! I know that book!"

The surprising direction of his overexcited words caused Juliette to give a slight flinch in fear, before slowly looking up at the king again. His eyes were focused on the nightstand, the girl noted. Following his line of eyesight, the teen finally understood what he was talking about.

"That's A Midsummer's Night's Dream, isn't it? By Shakespeare?" Desperate to find a conversation topic, Vincent had spotted and had latched onto the first thing he could find.

He expected Juliette to say something, anything in response to what he asked, but all she did was give a shrug and turn her head back so that it was staring at the bed sheets. Knowing exactly why she wasn't speaking with him, Vincent felt himself grimace slightly. Perhaps he could get the words out of her, like Belle did with him whenever he was in a bad mood.

"How do you like it, so far I mean?" Here Vincent gave a wince at the straining sound of his own voice. He felt like a child begging for attention, but being given absolutely none despite his trying too.

"I-I…I dunno." Juliette stammered, forcing her head to sink lower. She knew what the king thought of her book knowledge. He'd already made that very clear, in a blunt manner.

"You don't know?" Vincent wondered, some surprise spilling into his tone. Something about this wasn't right. "Haven't you been reading it?"

"No, y-your majesty. I can't r-read. I'm a-a eeliterate idiot."

Ashamed at having to admit such a truth out loud, Juliette swallowed deeply to make sure that she didn't start to cry. But, as the king had pointed out, she was his subject and therefore had to know that he was always right, and she was forever wrong. It was just how the world worked.

"But—But wasn't Belle teaching you to read?" Vincent stumbled over his words, trying to find a way to allow his mind to comprehend this craziness. If possible, he noticed Juliette hang her head further.

"She t-tried. But I'm a r-runaway orphan; not s-smart 'nough."

For a moment, all Vincent could do was stare at the child, dumbfounded at the words coming out of her. Now that he thought about it, Belle had made a few offhand comments on how the orphan girl's once eager attitude to learn, to read, to do anything had faded considerably since…since that accident.

It was as though a light suddenly went on in Vincent's mind.

So that's why the girl was saying that she was an "eeliterate idiot" and a "runaway orphan" who wasn't not smart. He'd said those exact words out loud in anger, and though he'd apologized, it didn't matter. Words spoken in anger, or in jest, meant little to a person who had absolutely nothing. That is why Juliette, the ultimate people-pleaser, was giving up a chance for knowledge; she was doing it just so he'd be right about her.

What had he done?