A/N: In which the real hero of the story is Klara's ex boyfriend sjkjsjskkjjkjksjkkj
Klara was tidying up her apartment late in the morning, the windows were open to allow cool, fresh air into the small unit. She was on day four of a five day span off work she started the day after her meeting with the prince. After working three straight weeks of twelve to sixteen hour days to uncover the plot threatening to expose the royals, she desperately needed the time off.
Klara was dusting her nightstand, she picked up a framed photo of her ex boyfriend, Johann, to dust the surface. She didn't immediately put the photo down, she just stared at his image. Johann was a handsome man, standing at 5'10 with a medium build, his dirty blond hair came down to his shoulders and the short beard that grew densely from his strong jaw was the same shade of blond. In the photo, there was a glimmer to his kind, hazel eyes, complimenting his crooked, boyish smile.
Klara remembered being immediately attracted to him after seeing him on campus, he was passing out fliers for a protest outside an oil rig. Klara took one just so she could talk to him and made up some bullshit about wanting to learn more about environmentalism. Johann was as attracted to her as she was to him and asked her out to a local bar after the protest. The rest was history.
She didn't want to think about what Johann would have thought about what she did recently, covering up a scandal like that, but there was part of her mind screaming about it that wouldn't be ignored.
She sighed, recalling the night they broke up. The way he screamed at her when she told him she got a job working for the royals was still fresh in her mind.
"You're working for the royals? Are you fucking serious?"
"You would never understand! Your family isn't financially hanging by a thread!"
"I grew up poor too, but you don't see me prostituting myself to the royals!"
"You're an Austrian citizen, you get free healthcare and college! My sister doesn't have insurance and has thousands in medical debt!"
"Gee, I wonder who installed politicians in your country who vote against universal healthcare?"
"Oh there you go again putting on your tinfoil hat, the royal family is little more than an over glorified tourist attraction!"
"You know what? I'm done with you! If you were alive in the 1930s, you would have worked for Hitler! It's over! I can't be with a fucking sellout like you!"
Tears streamed down her eyes. She hadn't cried over her ex for a few days, but that was only coming off two months of daily tears. Her ex boyfriend had moved on, dating some skinny vegan girl part of Die Grünen, an environmentalist leftist party he was a member of.
She periodically stalked his Facebook, he looked happier with that girl than he ever did with her.
The thought made her audibly cry. Her insecurities danced like demons in her mind. No, he didn't break up with her because she sold out, he broke up with her because she wasn't thin enough, all she'd have to do was lose a bunch of weight to get him back!
And other garbage she knew simply wasn't true, he was too obsessed with her breasts to wish she was thinner. The closest he ever got to suggesting she lose weight was telling her she should go vegan with him a month before the breakup.
She stopped cleaning when her cellphone rang. She put down her feather duster and retrieved her phone. The call was from an unknown number. She clicked the touch screen and held the phone up to her ear.
"Hello?" Klara spoke softly, hoping she didn't sound like she had been crying earlier.
"Hello, Miss Abspoel." It was Prince Viktor's voice coming from the receiver. Klara's eyes widened in surprise.
"Your highness! I apologize, I did not have your number in my contacts. To what do I owe the honor?"
"No need to apologize, my dear." The Prince's voice was warm on the other end of the line. "I would like you to take tea with me this afternoon. When I said I hoped we'd meet again to discuss a more pleasant subject, I intended to make that happen sooner rather than later."
"That sounds wonderful, sir." Klara wasn't entirely sure she heard him right. Her? Take tea with him? She was not keyed in on any recent, especially great developments with the royals' finances, and nothing she could be credited with.
"I'll be sending a car to pick you up at three-thirty, same black Mercedes that brought you the last time. Oh, before I hang up, will you do me a favor?"
"Of course, sir." Klara anxiously bit her lip and fidgeted the drawstring of her pajama pants.
"Wear something pretty, I've been finding myself surrounded by too many people dressed for the office." Viktor's voice honeyed when he requested that she wear something pretty.
Viktor hung up before Klara could respond.
Wear something pretty.
Klara put her phone down on the night stand and went to her small bedroom closet. She didn't have to rummage through her wardrobe, she didn't have much of one.
What in her wardrobe could possibly impress a prince?
All she had was one of her church dresses, and she wasn't even sure the prince would like it, but her other dresses were only appropriate for clubbing or the office. She picked up the dress from its hanger and gave it a scrutinizing look.
The modest, cotton-lined lace dress was a light blue, 1950s inspired number with a floaty skirt that hit below the knee. The neckline was high, covering her entire chest up to the collarbone, the sleeves reached just above the elbow, and the waist lightly cinched her in. It wasn't sexy or too fancy, making it perfect for an Easter church service.
It would have to do, she neatly laid the dress on the bed and grabbed a pair of nude heels from her closet and placed them on the floor next to her bed.
She spent the next few hours getting ready. Cleaning herself up, shaving, applying moisturizer on her skin, and painted a fresh coat of nude polish on her fingernails and toenails. She then applied her makeup, wondering if she should do something different besides what she wore to the office. She decided to not change much except put on a thin liner that didn't extend out into a wing. Klara took a curling wand to her hair and tied back the front sections of hair at the nape of her neck. She dressed herself and sprayed herself with lavender perfume before looking at herself in the mirror.
It would have to do.
She still had twenty minutes before the car would arrive, her heart thumped heavily in her chest. She breathed slowly, trying to calm herself down. Why was she even nervous in the first place? Surely even a prince wasn't so far removed from reality that he expected a first year accountant to have designer pieces specifically for afternoon tea.
Klara got a call from the driver who had taken her to the castle last time telling her he would be there in a few minutes. Klara put on a cream colored peacoat, grabbed a small purse, shoved everything she'd need the best she could, and headed out of her apartment. She was thankful the keys went easily into her little purse so she wouldn't be fumbling with it when the car got there.
The moment she exited the apartment building, she could see the Mercedes parked right outside. She got in the back of the car, staring out the window and making small talk with the driver for the duration of the trip. When Klara arrived, she saw the same servant she had a few days ago at the door. The man with the soft voice opened the car door and offered her his hand to help her out. She took it and stepped out of the car.
"Welcome again, Miss Abspoel." The dark haired man said, looking pensive as if his mind was elsewhere.
"Thank you, and please, just Klara. Oh, what was your name again?"
"Sebastian." Sebastian replied, leading her into the castle, taking her coat, and guided her through the winding corridors.
"I wasn't expecting to be back so soon." Klara admitted to Sebastian. "I don't even know why I'm here again to begin with."
Klara noticed that Sebastian looked like he wanted to say something but couldn't. She wanted to ask him what was wrong, but she thought better of it.
"His highness is quite taken with you." Sebastian spoke quickly and diplomatically, those words were supposed to carry a heavier implication.
An implication Klara did not have time to think on, her attention being lead to a room with large windows, letting in a lot of natural light and displaying a fantastic view of the gardens.
Prince Viktor was seated at a small table that was set with a couple, fine china and gold tiered cake stands holding enough small sandwiches, pastries, and sweets that it looked more like tea for six than tea for two. The tea set was exquisite, probably centuries old and more valuable than all of Klara's possessions and organs. Klara had taken tea before on a girl's trip to the UK, but this was different, there were as many German elements as there were English elements, sweet pastries with streusel along with dainty cucumber sandwiches.
When Viktor saw Klara enter the room, he couldn't help but smile. She was wearing the same dress she was in that photo with her family at the church. He watched her curtsey, just as perfect as before.
"Your highness, thank you for inviting me here ag-." Klara was interrupted. Viktor was not interested in her pleasantries, he was interested in her.
"My." Viktor spoke with a pause, just taking her in, only speaking again when he noticed the nervous look on her face. "You are quite lovely, Miss Abspoel." He was satisfied when her wide-eyed anxiety was replaced with a flutter of her lashes and a flush of color to her cheeks.
"Thank you, your highness." She barely avoided stammering, relieved that he approved of her appearance. Viktor found it curious how surprised she seemed at his compliment.
"Come, sit by me, it would be a shame if the tea were to get cold before you joined me." Viktor's request was answered promptly. When Klara sat down to his right, not quite across from him but not quite next to him, he could smell a hint of her lavender perfume.
Viktor took his tea with cream, and learned that Klara took her tea the same. She grabbed a few things from the tiered cake stand closest to her. Klara couldn't help but notice Viktor's long, slender hands as he took his tea. Viktor was obviously attractive, but Klara didn't really pay attention to his features until now. The light gray suit he wore brought out his eyes, making the alluring clear blue look darker. There was a glint in them Klara couldn't place, but it drew her in, like she'd find out if she dared to get closer.
"Sir, I'm grateful to be here, but I don't know why I'm here. I can't think of any significant financial changes, especially none I can be credited with."
"Oh, my dear, did you think you were called here on business?" Viktor chuckled and raised his teacup to his lips, pinky up. Klara knew he was royalty, but there was something so blatantly aristocratic about the prince. Everything from the patronizing tone that never completely left his voice when speaking to her to the way he drank tea screamed of gratuitous elitism. "My dear, I invited you here because I hoped you'd make for good company. At the meeting a few days ago, you explained things so clearly, kept me engaged, I figure any accountant that doesn't sound like a robot droning on about numbers and percentages must have a measure of social skills."
"Oh, thank you, I'll have to thank one of my professors, he dedicated an entire week to teaching us how to talk about accounting in detail without sounding too boring." Klara sipped her tea and nibbled at the streusel-covered pastry on her plate.
"I attended university in Oxford and Vienna. Being royalty, our education is supposed to be less focused on a particular subject and more focused on having knowledge in a variety of subjects, the idea is that we have advisors who can fill us in on the specifics of different subjects. I charted a different course, I didn't waste my time with an excess of arts, history, or literature, I instead focused on any class I could take that discussed finance and diplomacy." Viktor recounted. "My father disapproved until I made a few good investments. As much value as there is to be found in arts and literature, we are living in a global economy that threatens to leave all who do not adapt behind."
"I can't disagree." Klara sipped her tea, trying not to let the irony of an incredibly wealthy man talking about being left behind make her laugh. "I'm from the midwestern United States, we know a thing or two about what happens when you get left behind. I'm sure the rest of the royal family appreciates your foresight."
Viktor was unprepared for her unintentional barb. She clearly meant it as a compliment (how could have she known he wasn't appreciated), but he was not discussing that with her and promptly changed the subject.
"Tell me more about the midwest, it's not an area of the world I'm particularly familiar with."
Klara talked about her childhood, midwestern culture, and other things relevant to the subject. A lot of what she mentioned were things Viktor read or could glean from the report. Viktor noticed that Klara kept eyeing more of the food after she finished the sweets and sandwiches she initially taken.
"My dear, if you're still hungry, don't hesitate to have more."
"Oh, sir, I'm not-." Klara thought back to her neurotic desire to lose weight from this morning. She also noticed Viktor's eyes darken, as if he were daring her to lie. Viktor won out, she smiled sweetly at him. "Thank you." She grabbed two more of the streusel desserts. While embarrassed at being called out so easily, Klara found comfort in him giving her permission to eat what she wanted, and that he held more authority over her than her own insecurities.
The two continued to chat and have tea until five thirty. Viktor noticed that Klara was becoming increasingly entranced by him by the end of their tea, she unconsciously twirled her curled hair between her fingers and leaned in closer to him, her knee threatening to touch his thigh. This was easier than Viktor thought it would be, and he already had an idea of how to quickly win her over the next time they met.
Before Klara left in the Mercedes back to her apartment, Viktor stopped her by touching her shoulder. She turned to look at him.
"I had a wonderful time this afternoon."
"I did too." Klara replied with a genuine smile. Viktor took her hand and kissed it, a test of sorts to see just how warmed up she was to him, and Klara was plenty warm.
"I will be calling upon you again very soon. You've proven to be excellent company." Viktor complimented. Klara didn't move for a brief moment, like she didn't want to leave, but she had to go home and process everything that just happened to her, especially her new attraction and it's seeming reciprocation.
"His highness is quite taken with you."
No more than she was starting to be taken with him.