Flustered

"I'm sorry, did I come at a bad time?" Katherine asked Charles when she saw the look of absolute shock on his face like he had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

When Charles noticed that Katherine's eyes were on him, he immediately closed his jaw, stood up straighter, and attempted to respond. "You uh, I mean I, uhm," he said before he cleared his throat and tried to compose himself. "No, you are a fine ti-- I mean this is a fine time. This time is fine."

"Are you okay?" Katherine asked as she tilted her head to the side at his response. She had never seen him so discombobulated before, and she tried to look past him into his room to see if she could figure out what she had caught him doing for him to react like he was.

"I'm okay, are you okay?" he asked, clearly still flustered. He didn't blush much, but red was starting to peek through his tanned skin.

"Are you sure this is not a bad time?" Katherine asked again. "I can just go wait by myself if you're busy."

"No, it's just," Charles started before he looked down and brought a hand up to brush over his face. "I'm sorry, you just look so breathtakingly beautiful. I wasn't expecting it and you clearly took me by surprise," he explained with an awkward chuckle.

Katherine felt her heart skip a beat upon hearing his words, and now she was the one who was taken by surprise.

"Oh, uh, thank you," she responded. She let out a small laugh before she tried to turn the attention away from her, "By the way you just reacted, I figured you were trying to hide a naked woman from being found in your room."

Charles looked back up at her with a crooked, amused smile. "You're the only woman in my life, Kit."

"So a naked man, then?" Katherine immediately retorted.

"I don't swing that way," Charles said before he moved to the side and gestured for her to go into his room. "Come see for yourself; no naked people in here."

Katherine walked past Charles and into his room and curiously looked around to see how he lived. As expected, his room was neat and perfectly clean.

His bed was made with crisp white sheets, and there was not a speck of dust or grime anywhere. The tan walls were decorated with ocean décor such as a black and white print photo of a man surfing a giant wave, various starfish, and fishing net.

Much like the rest of the castle, it was cozy and smelled like the ocean breeze. Well, the ocean breeze with a mix of Charles's cologne, marking this as clearly being his room.

"I'm sorry for just barging in on you. I didn't really want to be alone right now," Katherine turned back towards Charles to shyly say.

Charles shook his head and walked over to where she was standing. "You don't have to apologize. I'm happy to wait with you for as long as you need."

"So," Katherine started as she looked around again, "What should we do while we wait? Is there a secret garden here, too?" she asked with a laugh and a smile.

A chuckle escaped Charles's lips and he responded, "Not a secret garden, but I do have a secret hideaway here that no one but me remembers even exists."

"Perfect," Katherine said as she looked back and met his eyes.

Charles held out a hand for Katherine, and she took it before they walked out of his room together.

At least he seemed to be in a better mood than he was in earlier. Katherine was going to do her best to make sure he stayed that way because the last thing she needed was to have someone else to worry about on top of her mom. That didn't mean she wasn't going to force him to talk about it, though. He had been short with her a couple of times since they arrived in Eos, and Katherine had had enough.

They walked back down the same hall that Katherine and Max had taken to get to Charles's room, and before they could get too far, Max appeared holding Katherine's phone.

"Your Majesty," he said with a bow before he handed Katherine her phone.

"Thank you again, Max," she said with a smile.

He gave her a quick smile before he turned to Charles and asked, "Do you need me to accompany you two somewhere?"

"No, we won't be leaving the castle. I'll give you a call if Katherine and I need to separate," Charles responded.

Max gave another quick bow before he watched the pair continue on their journey back down the hallway.

"It's so open and inviting here, I absolutely love it," Katherine told Charles when they were alone again.

"If you think this is nice, just wait until you see the beach house," he said with a small chuckle.

"The beach house is nicer than the castle?"

"It's comfier, and of course the privacy that comes with a private home is unlike anything a castle could provide," Charles replied. "I'll take you tomorrow to see it. We can go into the city then, too. I'm sure the people will be happy to see us after we announce our engagement."

Katherine scoffed, "If they don't hate me for stealing away their sweet and charming prince."

"You think I'm sweet and charming?" Charles asked with amusement laced in his voice. He gave her a small nudge and chuckled as they continued to walk.

Katherine rolled her eyes as a soft laugh escaped her lips.

They made their way to the end of one of the halls where there was a thin staircase hidden behind the wall that could be easily missed and not seen unless someone was looking for it.

"After you," Charles said as he pointed his hand up toward the top.

Katherine squinted at him before she turned and eagerly made her way up the small, twisty staircase. She was glad she wasn't claustrophobic because this staircase was basically like being in a single-person tube. She could barely hold her dress up because she had no room on either side of her to stretch out her elbows as she walked up the steps.

The top of the steps had a small platform in front of a door. Katherine looked down at Charles who gave her a nod before she grabbed the handle and opened it to reveal what was on the other side.