It seemed as if at that moment, all the air was sucked out of the room. Willhelm forgot how to breathe. He simply stared at the sight before him with wide eyes, transfixed on the immeasurable beauty walking down the ballroom staircase. Simon was sauntering down the giant marble staircase, looking like an absolute vision. Willhelm cleared his throat nervously, he felt his anxiety spike and stole a glance at his mother.

The Queen's stare was murderous. Willhelm, somewhere deep in his subconscious, was glad. This current situation could not be explained away. His mother may have control over his life, but their guests tonight included most of the royal families of Europe. No matter the Queen's power, she could not explain away Simon's entrance. Willhelm returned his gaze to Simon, who had reached the bottom of the staircase and seemed to survey the room. Willhelm had never seen this side of Simon. He looked so powerful, so at ease, he looked breathtaking. Simon was dressed in an oversized lavender button-down. The shirt's material was a sort of sheer fabric, exposing a generous amount of his gorgeously tanned skin. His neck was adorned with a combination of pearls and diamonds, all connected with dainty silver chains. Willhelm's eyes continued to travel downward, taking in the lower half of the ensemble. Simon had chosen white culotte pants paired with black heeled Prada boots that matched his dark locks.

He looked like a walking sin in Willhelm's eyes,, however, in his mother's he looked like an absolute nightmare. Willhelm was so caught up in trying to commit this moment to memory that he hadn't even noticed Simon slowly striding toward him. The Queen had other ideas. She was on a mission to end this here and now before any more damage could be done. This ball was supposed to mark Willhelm assuming the full weight of his duties as Crown Prince. She was well aware of the various diplomats and international royalty that were currently whispering about the scandalous situation. Marching towards Simon, she put herself directly in front of him, effectively blocking his path to Willhelm.

This action was enough to snap Willhelm out of his daze, he stepped forward to intervene, but before he could make up some sort of excuse, Simon spoke.

"Move."

It was only one word, a simple request, but the room went deadly quiet. Everyone held their breath. How could a simple boy, from a working-class family speak to the Queen like that? The Queen herself seemed at a loss for words for a moment but quickly recovered, narrowing her eyes.

"I will say this once you low-class scum, leave immediately or I will have the guards drag you out of here."

Willhelm's jaw dropped at his mother's harsh words. He knew she would be mad but this was completely uncalled for. He stepped forward to interject but Simon beat him to it.

"I believe I asked you to move. Must I repeat myself for you to understand?"

The Queen, for the first time in her life, has been directly disobeyed. She had not only been disobeyed but outrightly disrespected. In her moment of shock, Willhelm sidestepped his mother, finding his place at Simon's side. Simon's hardened gaze softened at this action. He turned to Willhelm.

"I love you, Wille. I should've told you that day but I didn't know how to."

Wille stood in silence, his brain working overtime to process what was coming out of Simon's mouth. He loves me. He LOVES me. He was too stunned to speak. Simon had crashed a royal ball, disobeyed his mother in front of most of the world's prominent families, and just declared his love for Wille.

"Step away from my son this instant!"

The Queen had regained her wits, her shrill voice echoed across the ballroom. The guests, unsure of what to do, remained deadly quiet, watching the scandal play out with rapt attention. Simon, however, was running out of patience. He looked directly into the Queen's eyes, grabbed Wille's chin, and kissed him, really kissed him. He poured all of his longing, love, anger, everything into this one kiss, all while keeping eye contact with the Queen. Wille's ears were ringing, his brain had short-circuited the moment Simon had walked down those steps. Simon was kissing him. He was kissing him in front of the entire royal court and half of the world's royal families.

The moment was interrupted when Wille was ripped away from Simon by his mother, who looked like she was ready to set the world on fire with only her gaze. Willhelm floundered, his anxiety was off the charts, so many eyes were on him. Simon recovered much faster.

"Do you have an issue?"

There was a collective gasp around the room. The Queen herself looked like she couldn't get any more furious. However, before Simon or the Queen could say anything else Willhelm spoke up.

"Mother...enough! This whole affair has gone on for long enough."

He turned to address the room.

"All of you are well aware of the video that was circulating earlier this year. I issued a statement denying it was me in the video," he took a deep breath, "this claim was false."

There was a murmur that spread through the crowd at his confession.

"WILLHELM THAT IS ENOUGH," the Queen screeched.

Wille did not stop though. Simon quietly took his hand providing the support he so desperately needed and continued.

"I was forced by my mother to issue this statement. It was me in the video. I regret not taking accountability earlier and letting the one I love suffer alone."

He glanced at Simon, who smiled in encouragement.

"I understand my duties as Crown Prince and the expectation to produce an heir. What I fail to comprehend is how my relationship has anything to do with that. I have changed in no way, none of my duties have been abandoned. I am still the same person. Many of my responsibilities have been abandoned due to my mental health after being forced to end my relationship. I refuse to let my mother silence me any longer. I will make an official statement tomorrow, thank you all for your time this evening, I hope you have a lovely rest of the night."

Willhelm released a breath he didn't know he was holding after finishing his speech. His mother looked unsure of how to react but Simon had a beaming smile on his face with the slightest hint of smugness. The majority of the room looked uncertain of how to react until one person started clapping. The applause spread, and eventually, the entire ballroom was clapping for Willhelm. He smiled, glad that his confession was received positively, and signaled to Malin that he was leaving. He secured his arm around Simon's waist, who was more than happy to be led.

Malin and the rest of Willhelm's security team surrounded the two, and under Willhelm's instruction, took the pair to a private cottage that Erik had left to him in his will. It was almost six hours away from the Royal Palace. The couple descended the palace steps and were swiftly escorted into Willhelm's armored vehicle by Malin. Once they were in the privacy of the car, Willhelm turned to his lover.

"I-I don't understand how you did that, I've never seen you like that before, you looked so sexy like that, and I should've stepped in sooner with my mother, I was just in shock and didn't know what to do I'm sorry I jus-"

"Wille", said Simon as he reached up to stroke Willhelm's cheeks, "You're rambling. Just take a deep breath, mi amor."

Wille took a shaky breath, leaning into Simon's touch for comfort. He felt like this was all some sort of sick dream that he was going to wake up from any second. He looked up, connecting his gaze with Simon's, and took a deep breath.

"That's it", came Simon's encouraging voice, "just relax Wille. The hard part is over."

Simon's words provided Wille with some comfort but he struggled to see how the hard part was over. He had just caused a public scene, embarrassing his mother in front of all of the most important people in the world. How could everything be okay? Wasn't the hard part still to come? Wille would eventually return to the Royal Palace and have to come face to face with the consequences. There was no going back, this was permanent. His eyes drifted to Simon, who seemed calm and collected despite the recent events.

"Simon," he started, " do you regret what you did? All of the things we are going to have to face once we return?"

Simon looked at him with a puzzled expression, like Willhelm had asked him such a ridiculous question he didn't even know how to respond.

"Wille, I love you, whatever we have to face we'll face it together."

This small confession instantly put Willhelm's racing heart at ease. He slid down in his seat to lean his head on Simon's shoulder. Simon turned his head and pressed a kiss into Willehelm's hair. They settled into a comfortable silence, and soon both of them drifted off, being able to rest easy now that they were in each other's company again.

Malin woke the sleeping lovers, smiling quietly to herself at the two. She had secretly been rooting for the young couple, although it was not her place to involve herself in the royal family's affairs. Simon and Willehelm stepped out of the armored vehicle hand in hand. Willhelm was suddenly hit with a wave of emotions as he took in the familiar surroundings. He hadn't been here since Erik had passed.

Simon seemed to sense his inner turmoil and gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. Wille smiled back, wiping the unshed tears in his eyes with his free hand. He gave brief instructions to Malin. They were not to be disturbed unless it was an absolute emergency, and under no circumstances was she to accept any calls from the Queen. Malin gave a curt nod, signaling for the small security team to do a sweep of the grounds.

"I love it when you go into serious prince mode," sighed Simon.

Wille scoffed.

'I do not have a 'serious prince mode'."

Simon just laughed and tugged his lover towards the door of the cozy-looking cottage. Wille allowed himself to be led, excited for what was to come. Once they entered the cottage, Wille gave Simon the official tour, which ended in them collapsing onto the bed in exhaustion.

"Today was interesting," said Wille quietly.

"That is the biggest understatement of the century," Simon laughed.

Wille's heart clenched at the sound of his lover's pure laughter. Oh, how he had missed that laugh. He had missed Simon, everything about him was irreplaceable. Willhelm rolled over on his stomach, leaning towards Simon.

"You know...it's just us...for however long you want...I think we have some catching up to do."

Simon's eyes twinkled at Wille's words. His eyes flickered down to Wille's lips, smirking. Willhelm swallowed, hard. Simon slowly leaned in more, not quite kissing Wille, just close enough that he could feel his breath. Wille shivered, leaning in to close the distance, but Simon quickly pulled away before their lips could touch and stood up. Wille whined, causing Simon's grin to widen.

"Now, now, you just said we have all the time in the world, don't go getting impatient on me."

Willhelm rolled over and groaned into the plush comforter, in his anguish he didn't notice Simon slip out and retrieve a small bag before retreating into the bathroom. This bag, which he had specifically asked Malin to bring, but had forbidden her from looking in, was his ultimate weapon. Wille finally lifted his head from the comforter and looked around questioningly.

"Simon?"

"Don't worry mi amour I'm only changing. These pants make my ass look great but are not in the slightest bit comfortable."

Willhelm chose not to remark that the pants had made Simon's ass look amazing. He chose to sit cross-legged on the bed and pout while waiting for Simon to change.

"How long are you going to take," grumbled Wille.

"Wow, you are an impatient one, aren't you."

Before Wille could make a smart remark about how he was more than patient, Simon opened the bathroom door, and his jaw dropped.

For the second time that night, Willehelm was at a loss for words. Simon stood in front of him, lounging against the bathroom doorframe, almost completely naked. The keyword was almost. Simon was 'dressed' in a leather studded harness that framed his chest perfectly. In addition to this, he had matching leg harnesses, that were attached to a studded leather belt. The icing on the cake was the black g-string Simon had chosen to finish the outfit off with. The underwear, if you could even call them that, left absolutely nothing to the imagination, hugging Simon's ass in all the right places. Simon's hair was free of all product, coming to hang just in his eyes, which were outlined with eyeliner. Wille was sure he was going to combust at that moment. He was rock hard in his suit and struggled to breathe. Simon pushed himself off of the doorframe and slowly walked towards Wille, making sure to show off the full entirety of his outfit. Wille didn't think he could be any harder than he was now.

"S-simon", was all Wille managed to stutter out at seeing his lover so scantily clad.

"Mi amor" Simon purred out, gently pushing Wille's legs apart so he could stand between them, "You said we have some catching up to do, and I couldn't agree more."

With those words all of Wille's rational thinking capabilities were out the window, all he wanted to do was touch this beautiful boy in front of him, but as soon as he reached out Simon batted his hands away. Wille whined, making Simon chuckle, how was he supposed to withstand this stunning man in front of him?

"I want to touch, please let me touch you", Wille panted out.

"Ah ah ah, not until a say you can. Open your mouth darling."

Confused but very enthusiastic, Wille opened his mouth, which was immediately filled with two fingers.

"Suck."

Wille thought he was gonna pass out, they had had discussions about Wille's more submissive side but had never had the chance to fully explore it because of his brother's death and the video. Wille pushed those thoughts aside and focused on sucking and swirling his tongue around the digits currently in his mouth. The weight of Simon's fingers felt so good on his tongue that he could feel the precum gathering on his hard member. He moaned around his lover's fingers silently pleading for him to move further.

"So needy, what am I going to do with you hm…? Want me to ride your dick mi amor?"

Wille gave another enthusiastic moan at that, scraping his teeth along Simon's knuckle. Simon abruptly pulled his fingers out of Wille's mouth, examined this for a second, and reached around to his entrance.

"Oh my god", Wille stuttered out, "you are so sexy baby, so unbelievably sexy".

Simon just smiled and leaned forward to kiss the love of his life. The kiss was heated and full of unresolved tension. They still had so much to talk about, so many unsaid emotions and struggles, but that would be a discussion for another day. At this moment, Wille was focused on making love to the man who was most important to him.