Unlikely Prince


King Nicholas is boiling. "You are in so much trouble, young man."

"Dad, I swear I put up a pretty good disguise—"

"This is not about blowing up your cover. This is about giving your best, first impression." King Nicholas stops from his tracks and sharply stares down at his youngest son. "I hope you are aware now we are 25 minutes late for your engagement ball."

Jack fights back the urge to roll his eyes and keeps his head low in defeat. The big man raging is the last thing he would like to deal with. The speed of their steps begins to slow at the sight of Arendelle's royal guards patrolling the gates and welcoming the guests.

"Your Majesty," A hoarse voice calls upon the ruler of the Northern Isles. The king returns the greeting with a relieved smile as he walks closer to the loyal council.

"Ah, Greg! I have never been so pleased to see you." The count slightly bows and shares a smile. He turns to the young prince and smiles proudly at him.

"Prince Jack, how are you feeling about your engagement party?" Count Gregory politely asks, but he can't control the playful grin pulling the corner of his lips.

"Splendid." Jack scoffs.

Count Gregory laughs and nods at Jack's discomfort. "I'm sure you'll be even more delightful as soon as you see your future wife."

"Yeah, sure." Jack shrugs and keeps his eyes on the busy kingdom. He finally erupts a smile at the familiar sight landed in front of him. The decorations are even prettier from the last time. They already put the fruits in bowls and cookies in jars on the table. Jack notices one particular tray with a bunch of colorful cupcakes. He smiles and reminds himself to thank the kids later for their astonishing work. They also add more flowers surrounding the table. Jack admires how many flower species Arendelle has.

"Jackson, come." King Nicholas calls upon his son while gesturing to the giant door behind him. Jack reluctantly trails behind his father.

"How is your stay at the Borgbro Inn, Your Majesty?" Count Gregory asks as they march towards the entrance of the castle.

"Ah, it is fantastic!" King Nicholas laughs and rubs his big stomach. "We had good cuisine and the workers were all friendly."

"I'm glad to hear that. Queen Elsa wants me to make sure you and His Highness are having no trouble with the accommodation."

"Not at all! We had the best day."

"I'd also like to inform you your belongings will be escorted to the guest chamber soon, along with a private butler to serve you over your stay." Count Gregory adds as they arrive in front of the giant double door.

King Nicholas nods and both step inside the palace. "That is very kind of her."

"His Majesty, King Nicholas of the Northern Isles!"

"Lord Gregory of the Northern Isles!"

As soon as the herald announced their arrivals, King Nicholas and Count Gregory turn around and find Prince Jackson of the Northern Isles nowhere to be found.

"That one hell of a son—"

"King Nicholas, I think it's best to save the outrage for later." Count Gregory nervously whispers to his king and guides him to the ballroom where the event is held. "We cannot keep the queen wait any longer."

King Nicholas pinches the bridge of his nose as he tries not to explode and shove every single food present down his belly out of temper. "Alright. I can do this. Remind me to give my son a piece of my mind after this?"

"Will do, Your Majesty." Count Gregory quickly nods as they dive into the sea of royalties. Unfortunately, Queen Elsa is not that hard to find. In fact, she's standing right there, conversing with her guests. "On second thought, I think we could wander around a bit—"

"King Nicholas! Thank goodness you are finally here!" The royal advisor approaches the two with a sheepish grin crossing his lips. "My apologies. My name is Kai, Queen Elsa's advisor. Queen Elsa has been waiting for you and your son—" Kai stops as he looks behind King Nicholas' giant figure.

King Nicholas and Count Gregory awkwardly look at each other. "Ah, yes. I certainly cannot wait to meet the queen. Do lead the way, kind sir."

Kai reluctantly nods and leads the two. "Right this way, Your Majesty, my lord."


"Your Majesty," Queen Elsa steals a quick glance at Kai, noticing his approach along with two individuals with snowflake crests plastered all over their suits. She excuses herself from the dignitaries of Zaria and turns to face her godfather and his companions.

"May I present you King Nicholas and Count Gregory of the Northern Isles." Elsa's eyes broaden a bit as she flashes both men with a welcoming smile. As much as she wants to lash out upon their delay, she needs to control her emotions so this evening won't end up like her previous ball. She actually wonders about the absence of the prince—her future husband—and plans to ask about it later. She doesn't want to stress herself even further.

"Queen Elsa, it is an honor to finally meet you." King Nicholas places his right hand on his chest and bows slightly. He looks calm yet frustrated at the same time, clearly seeing Elsa's uptight smile.

"It is an honor to me as well, King Nicholas." Elsa nods. "How was your sail?"

"The wind was kind, Your Majesty." King Nicholas replies weakly. "My sincerest apology for arriving late. We got caught up with a little problem on our way here."

"I hope it wasn't anything serious, Your Majesty. I'm glad you finally arrived." Elsa smiles reassuringly, accepting the old man's guilt. She notices how his eyes picture his sincerity and let this topic slide. She turns and glances up at Count Gregory. "It is nice to see you again, Count Gregory." Count Gregory met Elsa a couple of times before. Along with Count Eirik, he travels back and forth from Northern Isles to Arendelle to discuss the details of the marriage.

"The pleasure is mine, Your Majesty. I'm here to inform you the rest of the council is on their way." Count Gregory replies and nods at Kai's direction. Kai responds with the same gesture and steps closer to the queen.

"It is time to start the ball, Your Majesty." Kai smiles at the young queen and directs to the guests which are starting to crowd the ballroom.

Elsa smiles back and looks back at the royalty of Northern Isles. "Did your son travel with you, my lord?" She tries to hide her skepticism as much as she can.

"Yes, Your Majesty, but we—" King Nicholas stole a glance at Count Gregory's troubled face. "We might have lost him on our way here," King Nicholas bites the inside of his cheeks and nervously avoids Kai's shocked gasp.

"Lost him?" Elsa raises an eyebrow and feels her irritation grow. "I'm sorry but I don't follow." They already arrived late and the trouble didn't stop there.

"We got separated at the entrance. The crowd was thick and he probably went another way." Count Gregory blurts and applies the politest grin. "I'll find him, Your Majesty. A young man with striking white hair amongst the crowd will be easy to be spotted."

The queen needs a few seconds to absorb such information. "Thank you, Count Gregory," Elsa nods curtly, though she feels a bit amused by the fact that her future husband has white hair. She had always thought platinum blonde was peculiar enough. "But shouldn't Prince Jackson and I discuss our feigning? Surely we need to make the guests believe we have at least talked before."

"I believe Your Majesty and His Highness would work it out before the guests could ever notice."

"I want to believe that, but I don't think it would be that easy." Elsa instantly replies back to Count Gregory, failing to hide her blossoming vexation. Elsa, being Elsa, sets some pretty high expectations for her future husband. He is going to be the King of Arendelle, a king of her home and—as much as she hates admitting it—herself. Meanwhile, this Prince Jackson cannot even commit to his own words and Elsa has enough of his father and his kingdom's count covering up for his mistake. "I'm sorry, but I don't think a short time is ever enough to build a conversation with someone who fails to appreciate the importance of punctuality." Elsa mentally pinches herself her words came out a little harsh than she planned.

No one dares to utter a word for a moment. Kai and Count Gregory can only sink their heads low, leaving King Nicholas to be in charge.

"My son is not your typical prince, Your Majesty," King Nicholas says after a long silence with a warm smile plastered on his face. "He likes to have fun. He is childish and surrounds himself with kids most of the time. He barely listens to me. He is a nuisance. He blurts things out without processing them first. He breaks rules instead of following them,"

"But, he is also your future husband, Queen Elsa." Elsa's lips parts open at the king's sudden spout, even Kai and Count Gregory are left speechless. "Despite all of his muddled behaviors, I managed to cope with him and so would you." King Nicholas smiles and lands his giant hand on Elsa's shoulder. "I know you will because once you get to know the real him you will learn to love him as much as his mother and I do." Elsa purses her lips and just stares at the old man's gigantic round eyes—how they flash so much wonder. "I wish you the best of luck, dear daughter-in-law." He gives her shoulder a gentle squeeze before he bows respectfully. "If you may excuse me, Your Majesty, I need to speak to the council for further arrangements." He dismisses himself and brings Count Gregory along with him as Kai excuses himself, too, to prepare the opening ceremony, leaving Elsa with her mixed up emotions.


Jack licks the remaining frostings on his fingers and wipes his hand clean with a wet brown napkin.

He saw a servant who was—still in his teens—struggling while frosting the cake at the courtyard right before he went inside the castle. The cake was already filled with beautiful flower-shaped icings, but the design was a little too simple compared to the other cakes. Judging from his reluctant moves, Jack concluded the boy wasn't used to what he was doing. Jack also thought perhaps his female relative—who would probably a servant as well—had asked for his help to put the icing on the cake since she had something more important to take care of. It made sense though. Usually, male servants are in charge of carrying stuff, and females are the ones up for cooking.

As much as it entertained him watching the poor lad with his knitted eyebrows and twitched lips, he walked to the lad and saved him from distress. Of course, the boy would jerk at the sight of a really dashing royal offering him a hand to assist him frosting a four-layered cake. Jack only chuckled at the lad's hilarious facial expression. The boy, too stunned to do anything, only nodded and handed the prince the piping bag. Prince Jackson had been used to baking since it was one of his daily activities with his mother and sister. Therefore, Jack effortlessly proceeded with his frosting talent. The boy only watched him in admiration as Jack carefully put the icings on the lowest layer of the cake. The shapes of a simple sunflower came out beautifully from the fluid movements of Jack's pale hands. Jack glanced up at the boy with a smile on his face.

"You know what? This is your job, not mine." Jack straightened himself and faced the boy. He could see the boy tensed at his words. "So, you are the one who needs to do it." Jack handed the piping bag back to the boy. "But, since you're not really mastering the job," Jack chuckled and lifted another piping bag from the table. "I'll give you some tricks." The boy flushed a bit and nodded.

"I was once like you—far much worse, actually." Jack laughed and lifted his other hand as he positioned it right under the piping bag. "Then my sister taught me the starters. Follow my lead." The boy copied the young prince's action and watched him in amusement. "You have your fingers and your nails. If you want to practice making a straight-line frosting, try to trace the piping bag on your fingers...following the shape of your finger." Jack pressed the bag as the icing went from his knuckle to his pointer finger as it almost reached his nail. The boy tried the same method and spontaneously laughed at his success on his second try, the icing formed a straight line just like his middle fighter. Jack smiled down at him. "That's surprisingly nice, pal. Now, if you want to practice forming tiny balls, try creating a solid one on your nails without having the icing overflowing your skin." The boy nodded eagerly and applied the instructions on his left hand.

"I did it!" The boy surprisingly let out his squeaky voice for the first time with a wide smile carved on his face. Jack nodded proudly seeing five straight lines and five tiny ball shapes of icings which were covering the boy's fingers.

"Congratulations, dear apprentice, you succeeded the first task," Jack smirked. The boy nodded excitedly at the royal prince, getting more and more ease at Jack's warm presence. "Final step. You have the back of your hand clean." The boy nodded and wiped some icing that went to the back of his hand. "That makes it a blank canvas. Try to make anything from the combinations of straight lines and tiny balls. I will make a sun and you will think of something else." Jack proceeded with his action as the boy quickly pictured the image he was going to draw with the icing. Jack was done with his tiny sun as he glanced at the boy. "You made a tiny snowman! That's awesome!" Jack cheered, scraping a really wide grin on the boy's face. "Now if you look at the flowers on the cake, they're only a group of six tiny balls—five circling one—with a straight line connecting one flower to another. All the basics you've mastered. Try it on the blank canvas." The boy nodded and drew the flowers on his hand. The first three samples were a little messy, but the fourth one looked definitely like the ones glued on the cake—the one Jack had previously created.

"You're actually good! I don't get it why you need to struggle to do this earlier," The boy smiled genuinely and humbly bowed at the compliment. "Use this trick every time you feel like you're struggling while putting the icing. It has a bonus, too." Jack licked the icings on his hand. The boy was shocked at first upon witnessing a royalty in such a bold manner. "You can also practice making bigger balls and curvy lines on your own—it goes naturally once you've mastered the tiny and straight ones." The boy smiled and followed the behavior before grabbing the clean napkin he brought from the kitchen, damping it to the bowl of water, and rinsing it a bit. He slightly bowed and handed the napkin to the prince. Jack gladly accepted. "Now, try to make flowers on that cake." The boy obliged and returned to his prior activity.

Jack is too busy watching the boy who is now smiling while working on his job. The young prince isn't aware he is being watched by almost every working servant in the yard. He is clueless that he is the only royalty left outside.

"Excuse me, my lord." Jack turns around and finds a beautiful pair of icy blue eyes staring at his.

In front of him stands the most beautiful woman he has ever laid his eyes upon.

She wears a huge brown cloak with a hood partly covering her blonde hair. He can't really name other things attached to her body because she's completely covered by the large cloak. Her pretty face, gleaming eyes, rosy cheeks, light freckles, and red lips are the only ones who shine under the orange sky.

"Good evening, my lord."

He thought her complexion was the most pleasurable thing to see, but then her voice was enough to hypnotize him with its austerity and, yet, tenderness.

Jack's mouth part open as he tries so hard to drive his eyes downward, not staring at the woman like a predator or some sort. The poor prince is not used to female interactions. Aside from always skipping any ball or any kind of royal events held inside the castle and refusing to go to the ones held by the other kingdoms, Jack had always kept a distance from females. Most of those creatures pretty much had bugged his years of living from batting their eyes at him to purposely nudging his body parts. He never showed his disgust though, he just simply withdrew as a defense mechanism.

But, this one particular woman draws him like a magnet.

"I've never seen you around before, my lord. Without any means to be disrespectful, I was wondering where did you come from?" The woman smiles warmly at him as her deadly stunning eyes spark in interest. Jack's still too stricken to do anything. "Forgive me for being impudent, my lord. The citizens of Arendelle have always been so easily intrigued by novel things. As for myself, I cannot help my curiosity."

Jack unties his tangled tongue and absentmindedly forms a few words as a response. He doesn't need to follow Emma's How to Behave in Front of a Lady guidelines now that he's only talking to a mere citizen who just happens to possess the most beautiful sight to see.

"My apologies, my lady. I was rather surprised at your sudden approach. I arrived here yesterday morning from the Northern Isles." His confidence slowly grows as he stretches out his clean hand. He shyly smiles as he ducks his head a bit. "You can call me Jackson. If I may ask, what is your name?"

The woman's eyes widen a bit. Her eyes flicker back and forth between his face and his open palm. Jack can see she loses her focus for a brief second before regaining her composure.

Before the woman could ever utter a reply, the boy who previously struggled with cake icings gasps and swiftly bows at the woman.

"Your Majesty! I didn't see you right there."

Jack freezes as the word Your Majesty rolls out smoothly from the boy's mouth.

Wait.

What?

The woman chuckles and gives a small nod at the young servant. "I guess it's time to stop playing around." She mumbles loud enough for Jack to hear. She slowly lowers her hood, revealing her platinum blond streaks neatly seated in a majestic braid.

The woman shoots him a smile before accepting Jack's hand and shaking it. Jack is too occupied staring at her angelic face and not realizing the cold sensation as soon as their pale skins came in contact.

"Elsa of Arendelle. It is a pleasure to have finally met you, Jackson."

Returning to his senses and realizing the breathtaking woman standing in front of him this very moment is his future wife, Jack's wig snatched.

•••

Author's Note

WHOOP THERE Y'ALL HAVE IT: A JELSA MEETING. This chapter makes me smile like an idiot. I love my babies being sweet to each other. I hope you all love this chapter as much as I do!

AHTOHALLAN
- Count Gregory, the Count of the Northern Isles, is my original character
- The kingdom of Zaria is canon from 'Forest of Shadows'

Oh my God, thank you so much for your reviews, follows, and favorites! I can't thank you all enough for your support! Thank you so much for reading this story even though everything I write here is super spontaneous and I'm horrible in English. I hope I can update sooner next time! Bet y'all can wait for an actual Jelsa conversation, right? See you later for now!

Warm Hugs,
Reynia