Chapter Text
๐ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ ๐ต๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ ๐ด๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ง๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฏ. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ข๐ณ ๐ณ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐ค๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ฅ๐ช๐ด๐ค๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ต, ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ๐ด ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ง๐ข๐ฏ๐ด ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ณ๐ถ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ. ๐ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข๐ด๐ฌ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ. ๐๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ถ๐ฑ. ๐ ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐บ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ช๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ข๐ด ๐ช๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ค๐ช๐ด๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ง๐ข๐ต๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต.
๐ ๐ค๐ข๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ฎ๐บ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ช๐ง ๐๐ช๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ช๐ต. ๐๐ง ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ธ๐ด, ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ช๐ง ๐๐ฐ๐ด๐ฉ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ข๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ข. ๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ค๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ? ๐๐ข๐ฅ, ๐ฎ๐ข๐บ๐ฃ๐ฆ? ๐ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ธ๐ช๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ต ๐บ๐ฆ๐ต. ๐ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต. ๐๐ ๐ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ.
It was the same afternoon, just one hour later, that Simon walked in the kitchen and heard Sara's voice.
"...to tell him."
"Not yet. When he is better."
"Mom, he will stay in medications for some weeks."
It wasn't hard to realize they were talking about him. The only thing he hadn't figured was the topic.
"Wille would like him to know." Rosh added.
Wille...
Simon rushed in, startling everyone. For some unknown reason Felice was also there.
"How are you Simon?" She smiled.
"Mi Amor you need something?" Linda would escort him back to his room but Simon just took a step back.
"What would Wille want me to know?"
Everyone looked at each other.
"Simon, maybe it's better to lay down. The doctor said not to get pressured-"
"Mom! I am not high! I heard you! You were talking about it!" He pushed his hair back. "Can you for once not keep secrets from me? I'm about to lose it! I can't live like that anymore!"
Linda breathed out. "Wille contacted Rosh in a letter."
"Wh-when?"
"I got it on my hands a day ago. But he sent it two days back. Apparently my aunt Maria,you remember her?" A nod. "The one who hates my guts...she got transferred to the palace and brought it with her without knowing it."
"Where's the letter? Is Wille okay?"
Everyone were silent.
"Tell me! Rosh, please... Has he thought of a plan?"
Rosh and Linda locked eyes for a second. Then Linda nodded.
"Read it." She gave him a copy of the letter.
Simon's eyes were widening more, sentence after sentence. His hands were trembling by the end of it.
"What did he do?"
"Simon..."
"WHAT DID HE DO?" He screamed.
"He tried to kill himself." Sara confessed. "He is at the hospital right now. The reporter-"
Simon broke down, not caring for the eyes looking at him. His own hands encircled his waist as he tried to muffle his sobs.
"No...no..."
"Simon..." Felice stepped forward but decided against it. He needed time to accept it even if Wille wasn't dead.
"Cariรฑo, what can I do for you?" His mother stroked his back. "To make you feel better..."
"Take me to the palace."
"Simon-"
"I need to know he's okay." He demanded. "You know what? It's...I'll go myself."
As Simon walked out of the kitchen and towards the exit, everyone came rushing behind him. But when he opened the front door, nothing could prepare him for what he saw. What they all saw.
ONE HOUR AGO
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ช๐ณ๐ด๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐ค๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ด๐ต๐ถ๐ง๐ง. ๐๐ฐ๐ด๐ต๐ญ๐บ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ญ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด. ๐ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต ๐๐ณ๐ช๐ฌ'๐ด ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐จ, ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฆ ๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐๐ช๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ช๐ณ๐ด๐ต ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ. ๐๐บ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ต ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ธ๐ข๐บ, ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐บ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ด๐ช๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต. ๐ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ ๐ข๐ต ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ง๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต. ๐๐ถ๐ต ๐ฎ๐ข๐บ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ ๐ค๐ข๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ต๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ช๐ง ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ข๐จ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ.
"You don't need to rush. We can't force you to stay here any longer. Since your home disgusts you so..."
Wilhelm stopped for a moment. He would not yell. Not now. "I know that I was not the heir you wanted...Not the strongest in the game. But I didn't ask for anything else. Just for support."
"By supporting you, means that we say goodbye to everything the protocol has for us!"
"And you'd rather say goodbye to your son."
"Being a part of the Royal Family means playing your role!"
"You mean staying silent. Covering things up." Wilhelm closed his last suitcase. He wouldn't start yelling again. His cuts were itching.
Kristina eyed him. "What does he have that is superior to everything this life offers you?"
Wilhelm could talk for hours.
He could tell her about how beautiful Simon looks when he first wakes up. He could tell her about how full of love and adoration he talks about things he finds interesting. He could tell her about his voice, singing at random times, or while doing the chores. He could tell her about how beautiful he looks during the whole day no matter what he wears (or does not). He could tell her about his smile especially when Wille is responsible for it. He could tell her about the way he fell for Wille, not the crown prince. He could tell her about how much he loved him, every part of him. Even the parts he doesn't like, he loves them, cause it's Simon. He could tell her.
He could. He really could.
But he didn't want to.
"Say his name and I'll tell you."
The woman stayed silent.
"That's what I thought. Even if you don't want to say it out loud..." He approached the door with his things. "Simon won. At your twisted game of power and thrones, Simon won." And walked out of the room, ready to ask Malin for a last ride.
"Where to, sir?"
ONE HOUR LATER
Outside the Eriksson's house, Wilhelm, in the flesh, was carrying two suitcases out of the car and towards the house when Simon opened the door, followed by the others. When he saw them all, he stopped on his feet. And dropped the suitcases down with a loud thud before rushing to Simon.
"Oh my..." Simon fell on his hug with force. He smelled too much like hospital for his liking and less than Wille, but it was okay. He was here. He didn't understand how, but he was here.
The blonde barely raised his face to smile at the people behind them and whisper a thank you before burying his face on the crook of Simon's neck. Simon did the same. And they stayed like that. Unwilling to let go.
Probably Ayub helped getting the suitcases out of the car and into the home because later it drove away. But the couple were still there.
"What did you do?...We would find another way..."
Wilhelm untangled them just to look at his eyes.
"If I never saw you again, I would do that for real this time. And if that's what it took for my freedom,then I'm willing to carry a scar." He stroked back his hair. "How are ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ, mitt hjรคrta?"
Simon smiled sadly. "Broken. But now that you're here, slightly less."
"Can I kiss you?"
Simon didn't respond. Instead he grabbed him by the collar to share a kiss. It was messy, more desperate than passionate, but it was theirs.
"You're not leaving again, are you?" Simon murmured inside his hug, long after they broke the kiss.
"Never again, mitt hjรคrta." Wilhelm started tearing up. Luckily, everyone else had gone inside to give them some space. "Never again."