After most of the day passed with me staying cooped up in my room in hopes of avoiding my parents and Noelle, it was time for dinner. I had tried to take dinner upstairs, but the maid said that my parents specifically wanted me eating downstairs.

I changed out of my dirty clothes, telling the same maid to dispose of them. Slowly, I got dressed, trying to take up as much time as I could. Unfortunately, I could not buy myself that much time and soon I was making my way down the grand staircase into the dining hall.

The table was completely full with my brothers, their significant others, and my parents. There was one more open spot next to my father. I mentally cringed, walking over to the chair and settling in. I did not make eye contact with him and he did not try with me.

"Hans, we missed you!" Horace, one of my middle brothers, said. He was 25 and already married to his wife, Alexia.

"It's been a year and you're still just as scrawny as when you were younger," one of the triplets said. I shot a glare at the boy, seeing that it was Harrison. Why was I not surprised? He was one of the brothers that spent time pretending like I didn't exist.

"Yes, it's been a year and you still haven't brought back a woman," I retorted. This time, it was Harrison that gave me a dirty look.

"Look who's talking," Hale piped up. Hale was 27 and the leader of the "Let's-Ignore-Hans-and-Make-His-Life-Unbearable-Club". "I don't see a lady on your arm."

Before I could say something back, my father interrupted our argument. "Boys, behave yourselves. We are at the dinner table, so watch your manners."

"Yes, father," the three of us said, looking down at our plates.

"Now, Halden," my mother said, starting a conversation. "How are the Northern Lands?"

"They are doing well," Halden replied. He recently married the only daughter of the king and queen of the Northern Lands. Halden had his coronation a few months ago, becoming the King of the Northern Lands. "We almost had a break in our treaty with Jercapulan, but I managed to stitch it back up."

"That's my boy," my father said, looking at him proudly. I could only wish that he would look at me like that someday. "If you have any questions, I'm sure Haines would be more than happy to answer them."

Suddenly, everybody at the table sighed a little. One could always count on my parents to turn the conversation towards their eldest son.

"Of course," Haines said politely, knifing through a piece of steak. "If you have any questions at all, please don't hesitate to find me."

"I will," Halden said, forcing a smile on his face.

There was a small break of silence before Harlan broke it. "So, Hans," he began, "how was the Queen of Arendelle's coronation? What's her name… Queen Elise?"

"Queen Elsa," I corrected quietly. I noted the way that my parents suddenly became fascinated with their peas. "It was a beautiful ceremony."

"Wasn't Queen Elsa the one that was the witch?" Hale asked.

"Hale," my mother chastened. "Watch your mouth. That comment was awfully rude."

"Sorry," he shrugged, not looking very sorry. "But wasn't she?"

"She has powers," I said, finishing the last of my steak. "But she was able to control them very well and make good use of them."

"What did I say? She's a witch." Another look from my mother was enough to shut him up.

My 24-year-old brother, Hayden, spoke up. "I heard that Arendelle is a gorgeous country."

I nodded. "It is."

"Did you get to meet the queen?"

Pause. "Yes."

"Was she nice?"

"Yes."

Hayden must have felt the conversation starting to die, so he quickly switched the spotlight onto Haines, a topic that was always safe to talk about. I was never brought up again during dinner.

After we had all finished our meal, everybody started to file out of the dining hall. However my parents requested for me to stay after. "We need to talk," my father had said.

Once we were the only ones left, my mother started to speak. "What do your consequence should be?"

"My consequence?" I repeated.

"Yes," she said. "For… what you tried to do to Queen Elsa."

"Is there even a consequence suitable for what I did?" I asked, looking at her straight in the eye.

"Well – there must be some kind of punishment."

"I could try to apologize," I suggested. "But I don't think I'm allowed back to see her."

"Apologizing isn't enough," my father said. "But it's definitely something that you need to do. Arendelle is proposing to stop doing business with the Southern Isles."

I looked down at my shoes, examining them. It was a habit that I had picked up over the years. "We have thought about this the entire day," my mother said. "And as much as it is a hard decision for us to make, we have decided that it is appropriate."

I glanced back up at my mother, who was looking at my father. "We decided to strip you of your title as prince," he declared.

My eyes widened. "You can't be serious."

"Does it look like we are joking?" My father had a solemn look on his face.

"But – how – this isn't – " I stuttered, not able to form words.

"It doesn't mean that you're not our son," my mother said quickly. "We are not disowning you. You will still live in the castle and will still be treated the same by the maids and servants. However, you will not be able to go outside of the castle. You will not be addressed as a prince."

"I – I can't," I stuttered, running from the room.

"Hans!" my mother yelled after me. I ignored her, just running towards my room. I bumped into Noelle along the way but simply pushed her aside. Slamming the door, I collapsed into my bed. In the silence and retreat of my private space, I finally let the tears fall.

It wasn't the title of prince that I was upset about – it was: how was I supposed to tell everybody? How is everybody going to treat me now?

I woke up the next day in the same clothes I fell asleep in. Shaking my head to wake my mind up, I blinking sleepily a few times. Then the events of last night came flowing back to me.

I stood up, looking at myself in the full-length mirror in my room. How would I address myself? Hans Fontana of the Southern Isles? Hans of the Southern Isles? Ex-Prince Hans of the Southern Isles?

Maybe I could just introduce myself as the attempted murderer of Queen Elsa of Arendelle. That'd be nice. Hello, I am the infamous man that tried to kill the queen of Arendelle. This chocolate fondue is just out of this world, am I right?

Then a thought came to me. Surely my mother and father couldn't have told everybody, if anybody, about my removal as prince? I sprang to life, jumping to my dresser. Throwing the drawer open, I grabbed handfuls of clothes and tossed them onto the bed. I flung the doors of my storage room open and scrambled to find a large trunk to be able to fit all of the clothes I needed.

My door was pushed open slowly and I froze, turning to look at my intruder. "Hans, what are you doing so early in the morning?" Harlan asked, rubbing his eyes sleepily. "You woke me up."

"Sorry," I apologized, stepping in front of my bed in hopes of blocking his view of my suitcase.

His blue eyes focused on me and then past me. "What are you hiding?"

"Nothing," I said too quickly.

"Hans," he said in a condescending tone. "Show me."

"Really, it's nothing – " I started, but didn't get to finish before Harlan pushed me aside.

He paused, looking at my clothes, which were messily strewn about the trunk. "What are you planning to do, Hans?" I couldn't tell what kind of feeling Harlan was conveying with the tone he was speaking with.

"I was growing out of some clothes," I fibbed. "I decided to give these few away."

Harlan pulled out a blouse that I had received as a gift from my grandmother on my 18th birthday. "This is your favorite shirt."

I hung my head for getting caught so easily in my lie. "I'm running away."

He dropped the shirt, his expression clear with shock now. "What?"

I shook my hands in front of me. "No, that came out wrong. I'm not leaving forever. I'm just going to Arendelle for a while."

"Why?" he asked, eyebrows crinkling together. Clearly, he hadn't heard of my incident.

"It's nothing you need to worry about," I said, grabbing more clothes and stuffing them into the trunk. "Just go back to sleep, Harlan."

"I won't leave until you tell me," he said, crossing his arms stubbornly.

"Fine," I said, slamming the lid of the trunk shut. "I'm leaving. You can stay if you want."

He trailed after me as I left the room. "If you don't tell me, I'll tell Mom and Dad right now!"

I whirled around, giving him a glare. "Don't you dare."

"Then tell me."

I heaved a big sigh, placing a hand to my forehead. "I need to tell Queen Elsa something. It's very important."

"Okay, so why can't Mom and Dad know?"

Pause. "They stripped me of my title as prince. I can't leave the castle, let alone the kingdom."

I hear Harlan gasp. "What? Why would they do that?"

"It's because of what I did," I admitted. "I did something really bad. Like, really bad."

"Hans, what did you do?" Harlan gave me a stern look that looked identical to my fathers'.

I lowered my voice. "I tried to kill the queen of Arendelle."

Harlan didn't say anything and I couldn't look at him. When I finally could meet his eyes, I saw that he no longer saw me as his little brother. He didn't even recognize me anymore. All he saw was a murderer.

Quietly, I took my trunk and rolled it down the stairs and went out the back door, closing it behind me. The cold wind nipped at my exposed skin, causing shivers to run down my spine. I walked briskly to the ports.

"Prince Hans," our ship captain greeted. "Are you leaving?"

"Yes," I replied. The kingdom hasn't been told about my title, either. "I'll take my ship to Arendelle."

"Arendelle? Would you like me to take you there again?"

I shook my head no. Surely once my family finds that I'm gone, they'll send the captain a message to turn the ship around. I couldn't risk it. "I'll go by myself."

"Are you sure?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "It's a dangerous journey."

"I'm sure," I said, starting up the board to get onto the ship, dragging my trunk behind me.

"As you wish, Prince Hans," the captain said, bowing and undoing the rope that was connected to my ship from its loop around a wooden post.

I made my way to the wheel of the ship, letting the wind take me away from the ports. Away from the Southern Isles.