Checking In

Maria made it to her room without anyone stopping her and she breathed a sigh of relief as she tried to calm her racing heart.

Alexandria was not back in Maria's bedroom yet, and it was probably because she had not been expecting the princess to return for a while from dinner and drinks.

After all, Maria did rush away from dinner earlier than she typically would, but she was so embarrassed that she couldn't stand to stay there for a second longer under all of the men's scrutinizing gazes.

She had gone from having never been on a date or been kissed, to her parents finding her wrapped around a man in the hallway in just under a week.

Not only that, but Julien was the fourth man she had kissed in as many days.

'My gods,' Maria thought to herself.

She felt like she needed some air, but was too nervous that she would run into someone if she chanced walking to the gardens, so she settled with opening the doors to her balcony.

She walked onto her balcony that overlooked the gardens, and took a deep breath of the cold night air to help calm her fast beating heart.

After a couple of minutes, she heard a knock at the door so she yelled from the balcony, "Come in!"

Even though she usually entered right away, Alexandria wasn't opening the door, so Maria, assuming that the maid did not hear her, walked to the door and said as she opened it, "Alex, I said you can co--," but stopped suddenly when she realized it wasn't her maid at the door.

Standing in her doorway instead, was the tall, handsome prince from Denmark with his kind blue eyes and ruffled blonde hair.

"I'm sorry, I thought you were my maid," was all Maria could say as she stood there, dumbfounded.

"Well," Henri started with a soft chuckle, "I hope you're not disappointed that it's me instead".

Maria felt a smile start to form on her lips and she replied, "Never. Please, come in, I was just getting some air outside".

He followed Maria to the balcony after he closed the door behind them, and took in the view of not only the gardens, but the princess in the moonlight.

Maria did not know why he came to her, and she was still too embarrassed to look at him, so she remained quiet and just looked out to the sky as she waited for him to say why he had come to her room this late at night.

She hoped it had nothing to do with the information her father blabbed over dessert; she did not want Henri to be upset with the fact that she had kissed other men.

The princess was starting to notice how she compared all the other men to Henri because in reality, none of the other men had been able to match the fondness and ease she felt when she was with him.

Even just thinking about Henri made her heart warm.

She could feel his eyes on her, and it wasn't long before he broke the silence by timidly asking, "Are you alright?"

She sighed and turned to look at him, "Yes, thank you for asking. I'm just a little ashamed, is all".

Maria immediately cursed herself for bringing it up. She had wanted to avoid the topic, but Henri's comforting aura had a way of forcing her guard down.

"Why? You have nothing to be ashamed about," he said, but he could tell that she didn't really believe him, so he continued, "We might not all talk about the fact that you spend time with all of us suitors, but we aren't naïve to it either. I mean, I certainly didn't expect that I was the only man you kissed," he said with a gentle laugh.

Maria felt her face burn up again, so she looked away and thought about how to respond.

Before she could think of a response, Henri continued, "I meant what I said, you know". She turned back towards him with questioning eyes so he answered them by saying, "I'm betting on my hope that even after you are with them that you will still be thinking about and wanting me".

Maria was usually an awkward person in general who never knew what to say, but something about the way Henri was trying to comfort and assure her when she should have been the one assuring him truly left her speechless.

"Are you sure?" she finally asked in a quiet voice, totally afraid that he would change his mind.

"I've never been more sure of anything. You are incredible Maria, and my affections grow stronger for you everyday."

Henri picked up her hand and kissed the inside of her palm before placing it onto his cheek and holding it there.

The simple yet thoughtful action made her heart swell, and without waiting another moment, Maria brought her other hand to his face and pulled him down to meet her.

Kissing Henri felt safe, like Maria was protected from anything and everything.

He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close to him as he kissed her deeper so that she could be sure that he meant what he had said.

Maria didn't know what she did to deserve such an amazing man like Henri, but she could feel herself falling for him more and more with every moment they spent together.

They pulled away from each other and rested their foreheads against each other.

Maria wasn't sure how long they stayed there in each other's arms for, but after a while, Henri finally said, "I should go".

"Okay," she said with a sigh as she let him go.

The truth was, she did not want to let him go, and her heart ached when she pulled away from him.

Wanting to still be close to him, she grabbed his hand, and he gave hers a squeeze as they walked to her bedroom door together.

"Goodnight," he said right before he placed a soft kiss on her forehead.

"Goodnight, Henri. Thank you for coming to see me."

With that, he gave her one last loving smile as he left her room, and left Maria finally feeling at ease about the night.

Not even a minute later, she heard a knock at the door, and opened it to find the person she was expecting the first time, Alexandria.

"My Lady!" she whispered with force as she entered the room, "Was that one of the suitors I saw coming out of your room?! And at this hour?!"

If anyone else had asked, Maria probably would have felt embarrassed, but the way the maid asked made Maria giggle and she nodded her head in response before she said, "Don't worry, he was just checking on me".

"Why? Did something happen?"

"My father was just being a jester. You know how he can be sometimes."

"I sure do," Alexandria said with a laugh before she gave the princess a hug.

Alexandria helped Maria get ready for bed before she left again.

Maria had a little bit of trouble falling asleep because she still had lingering butterflies whenever she thought about Henri.

She finally was able to fall asleep though, with nothing but the handsome prince on her mind.