Hello everyone! Enjoy!
Chapter 4
At dinner that night, Puck sat and looked at James and Olivia. Part of him still couldn't believe he was a prince living in a palace but another part of him wished he was still normal and living at home with his family nearby. Even though he was biologically related to them, James and Olivia didn't feel like family to him. Just strangers.
"So Noah," Olivia said, bringing him out of his thoughts. "What did you do before coming here? Did you attend school?"
"Actually I chose not to attend college. I was a photographer."
"Highest level of education is high school, why am I not surprised," she muttered before taking a sip from her cup.
James cut in when he saw Puck losing his patience. "What made you choose photography?"
"It was something easy that people told me I was good at," he shrugged before smirking. "Plus it gave me the opportunity to take some good pictures of women in their birthday suits."
James choked on his drink as Olivia looked at Puck, confused. "I don't understand."
"Don't worry about it Mom," James told her before glaring at Puck who was holding back his laughter. He could already tell messing with Olivia was going to be his favorite thing to do.
Later on that night, Puck was getting ready for bed when there was a knock on his door.
"Come in," he said. When James came in, he sighed. "Sorry but I'm way too old to be tucked in."
"Yes I am aware. I just wanted to make sure you were okay before I went to bed. I know staying in a new place can be a little hard."
"I'm fine as long the wicked grandmother stays on her side of the palace. The last thing I want is to wake up to her standing over me with a pillow to smother me."
James chuckled. "She'll warm up eventually. Just try to hold back on the dirty jokes, those aren't the way to her good side."
"I don't really give a crap about her good side. I doubt she even has one."
"Hey she's still your grandmother."
"She's a stranger. Kind of what you are except the difference is I never met her so she didn't have the opportunity to disappear on me."
He frowned and hesitated before speaking again. "Sleep well."
"You too," Puck replied, clearly not meaning it. As James walked out, Puck sighed to himself. As much as he wished he had a normal relationship with his father, the resentment towards him for leaving was still there and wasn't going away anytime soon.
As he laid in bed, Puck kept tossing and turning unable to get comfortable. James was right, staying someplace new wasn't easy. Unable to get to sleep, he got out of bed and walked around the palace to get more familiar with it. As he walked around, he heard a woman singing. He followed the voice and ended up in the ballroom where he found Rachel sitting in a chair in the corner, writing in a notebook.
"Guess I'm not the only one who can't sleep," Puck said.
She immediately looked and jumped up when she saw him. "Prince Noah, I didn't hear you come in. I am so sorry, I did not mean to disturb you."
"Rachel relax, I was already up walking around. I couldn't sleep so I thought I'd give myself a tour of this place after hours."
"Oh is your suite not to your liking?"
"It's great, it's just going to take some getting used to. What are you doing up?"
She shrugged. "I too was having difficulty sleeping."
"What are you writing?" he asked, motioning to her notebook.
"It's nothing, just a song. It's part of the reason I can't get to sleep. When I get an idea I just have to write it out before being able to sleep."
"Well you have a really great voice. You should sing more often."
"It's not exactly part of my job. I'm just supposed to clean your suites."
"So where exactly do you stay?"
"Oh I have my own quarters on the other side of the palace. In fact, I should get back before anyone wakes and finds us in here," she said, gathering her stuff to leave.
"Wait would that be a bad thing?"
"It's not proper for me to be engaging with a royal. I could get into a lot of trouble which I do not want."
"It's not like I'll say anything," he told her.
Before she could respond, they heard someone clearing their throat and immediately turned around to see a man standing by the door.
"Well what do we have here?" he asked. "Rachel what are you doing up here?"
Puck immediately shook his head. "It was my fault, I asked her to stay-"
"Prince Noah it's alright," Rachel told him. "This is my father and your butler, Hiram."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Prince Noah," Hiram smiled. "Your father is so excited to have you here."
"That's a shock," he mumbled. "And please stop calling me Prince Noah. This whole royalty thing is still new and I'd like to still feel like myself."
"How about just Noah then? I'll let your father know you're having a hard time adjusting to this so we can at least give you that."
"You really think he'll listen?"
"Father is the king's most trusted butler," Rachel replied. "He usually takes his word."
"Well thanks, I'd appreciate that. Even though I highly doubt my dad gives a crap about how I feel."
Hiram frowned at him. "He told me you'd have ill feelings toward him."
"Can you blame me? Having your father disappear on you as a kid doesn't make for the best relationship."
"Just give him a chance. I'm sure he'd like to make it better."
"He can't. Besides, all I want from him right now is to leave me alone while I try to make sense of all this."
"Well you have your lessons start tomorrow so maybe that will help. Which means that we'd better be getting to bed so that you can get some sleep. First lesson is at nine a.m. in the common room."
"Wonderful. More schooling," he rolled his eyes as Hiram walked out. As Rachel went to leave he stopped her. "Thanks for staying and talking to me even if it could've gotten you into trouble. I really appreciate it."
"Of course. See you in the morning," she smiled before walking out to catch up with her father. Puck sighed to himself as he left to go back to his room. Hopefully now he'd be able to sleep.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The next day, Puck woke up and looked at the clock on the nightstand. When he saw what time it was, he immediately jumped out of bed and got dressed. When he rushed to the common room and found Olivia and Hiram sitting there waiting.
Olivia looked at him. "Oh he finally graces us with his presence."
"Sorry, I overslept."
"What if this was an important meeting with another country about trade? Oversleeping wouldn't be an acceptable excuse."
"Please tell me you're not the one giving me my lessons," he frowned.
Hiram shook his head. "It will be both of us. We will alternate lessons."
"Can't you just teach me on your own?"
"Hiram is not of royal blood," Olivia told him. "He will teach the less extensive subjects but some things you need to learn from a member of the family."
"Family is about the last word I would use to describe you."
Seeing the tension, Hiram stepped in. "Well I will be conducting the first lesson while Olivia accompanies your father to a meeting."
"Perfect," Puck nodded. Olivia rolled her eyes before whispering something to Hiram and leaving. "I swear she makes my skin crawl. No wonder my mom didn't want to move here."
"Let's just get to your lesson," Hiram replied. "We're going to start discussing duties and responsibilities."
As they went through the lesson, all Puck could think about was how overwhelming all of this would be. He knew it was a big job but having it laid out to him like what Hiram is doing is making him starting to second guess his decision to accept his role.
When they finished the lesson two hours later, Puck looked at Hiram.
"So honest answer, do you think I can do this?" he asked. "And when I say honest answer I mean give it to me straight like I'm just a regular guy, not a prince."
Hiram gave a sympathetic smile. "Second thoughts?"
"Pretty much," he nodded. "As my lovely grandmother loves to point out, I wasn't raised in this. I don't know the proper protocol for any of this."
"Maybe that's a good thing. It'll make you more real to the people. Speaking of which, I am arranging a sort of coming out party for you to introduce you to the people of Meldovia. That way we can get people familiar with the new face and get you familiar with the kinds of people you will be ruling over someday."
"Oh great."
"It will be fine, I promise. Now if you'll follow me, your father's meeting has ended and he has requested to speak to you about your discomfort."
"Glad he could fit me into his schedule," Puck mumbled as he followed Hiram to his father's office.
When they walked in, James looked up from his work and took off his glasses.
"Thank you Hiram," he told him. Hiram nodded before walking out, leaving them alone. James turned back to Puck. "So Hiram tells me you are feeling uncomfortable here."
"Well did you expect something different? I just left my entire life behind. My family, my friends, my job, everything. This isn't going to be as easy as you think it should be."
"I understand," he nodded. "So tell me what I can do to make you more comfortable. You're my son, I don't want you unhappy."
"That's rich coming from you," Puck gave a sour laugh. "Unless you can go back thirteen years and tell me the truth about all of this from the beginning, there isn't much you can do."
"Noah I am trying here. Please give me some credit."
He sighed. As much as he didn't want to ask his father for anything, he had to admit that he did need something to make this transition a little easier. "A friend would be nice but I doubt you can get me one of those considering everyone in this place isn't allowed to really talk to me because I'm a prince."
"Who would you like freedom to converse with?"
Puck thought for a moment. What he was about to say would either be very stupid on his part or actually help him get adjusted to this place. "The chambermaid, Rachel Berry."
"Hiram's daughter?" James raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah. We talk to him freely, why not his daughter?"
The older man considered this before finally nodding. "I suppose you have a point. And you are sure that this will help your transition?"
"Positive."
"Okay then I will allow it. But I do have a favor to ask of you."
"Should've known there would be a catch," he rolled his eyes.
"I need you to try a little bit harder to get along with my mother. I know she's not what you expected but I'd like to see that you were trying a little bit with her."
"I can try when she stops talking shit about Mom. Especially when she's the one who did what you didn't."
"I'll talk to her," he replied, ignoring the dig. "But I'd still like you to try."
"Fine I guess I'll try. What's this party that Hiram's talking about throwing for me?"
"It's a way to introduce you to everyone. I'm sure there will be questions of where you came from and why you are just now appearing but we will prepare for those. All you have to worry about is showing up dressed and ready to mingle."
"Perfect," he mumbled. "Can I go?"
James nodded and Puck walked out of the office sighing. If he was going to have to pretend to be one of these people he'd need help from someone who has been around them. He went to the servants' quarters and found Rachel folding sheets in her room.
When he knocked on the door, she quickly turned around. "Oh your highness, you scared me."
"First, I don't want to be called that either," he told her. "Like I said, Puck or Noah is fine."
"Right, I'm sorry. Force of habit."
"It's okay. Sorry I scared you, I was just looking for you."
"Oh did you need something?"
"Well I wanted to tell you that we have full freedom to talk without you getting in trouble. My dad agreed that I needed a friend to help me get used to this place and I thought you'd be a pretty good one."
"Really?" she asked, surprised. "Why me?"
He shrugged and lied, not wanting to reveal his feelings. "I don't know, I just get a good feeling about you. But I also need your help with something. They're planning some party for me to introduce me to people and I'm kind of nervous about it. I was hoping you'd be able to help get me prepared to talk to the people of Meldovia."
Rachel stared at him for a moment. She knew that something felt off about Puck choosing to spend time with her. Like he had ulterior motives that she couldn't figure out. But she was never one to say no to something new especially since this involved the prince so she nodded. "I would love to help."
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