Note: PG13 at some part :) 

Seth opened his eyes slowly and looked around him. He startled when he realized that Rose wasn't anywhere around him. She slept in his arm last night so Rose was supposed to be by his side. "Rose?" he called for her but no one answered. His heart started to beat fast as he was panicking. 

Did she left? 

He distracted himself from thinking hard and his heart was clenching. No, Rose wouldn't do that to him. She would never leave without saying any goodbye. Seth pushed the cover off him as he climbed off from the bed and looked on the floor for his boxer. He spotted his red boxer by the cupboard and he rushed to it and put it on hastily. 

"Rose?" he tried to call again and once again, he was disappointed as she didn't reply it. He rushed down the staircase and headed towards the living room - no one was there. "Rose, where are you?" he shouted and this time, in a panicking tone. He looked around the villa and still, no sign of his wife. He tried to search for her outside the house, thinking that she might go out to take a look at his car, but Rose wasn't outside. 

The kitchen!

Seth ran all the way to the kitchen and he kept praying that he would find her there. His heart was beating even faster as he entered the kitchen. "Rose? You're in here?" he asked and tried to catch his breath. He'd been running in the house to search for his wife. For a second, when he noticed that the kitchen was empty, he thought she left - forever. He didn't know what to do and he felt like crying. His fists clenched as he regretted everything. He should have woken up earlier so he could stop her from leaving and tell her how much he loves her.

"You think I left you?" a beautiful voice came from behind him. Seth craned his neck to face the owner of the voice. He sighed in relief as he saw Rose, with her arms crossed to her chest and she was wearing his shirt. She motioned towards him."You really thought that I left, don't you?" she smiled teasingly. 

"You freaked me out, Rose," Seth said, trying to breath in properly. He pointed at her. "Don't ever do that again!" he said firmly. Rose wrapped her arms around his hip as she gazed into his eyes. "I was following you around the house. It's fun to see your face panicking," she laughed and the sound was so melodic until Seth wasn't pissed by her words at all. 

"Funny," Seth rolled his eyes as he sulked, looking away from her. Rose laughed and turned his face to her. "Don't be mad. I was just joking," she purred, wrapping her arms around his neck. Seth silent himself and kept on sulking - still, he couldn't help but to smile when her eyes met his. There's something inside her that always made him feel peaceful and warm. "Seth the Monkey.." Rose tried to make him laugh.

"You gotta pay for this," Seth said as he lifted her up. Rose screamed while laughing as he carried her to the sofa. He placed Rose onto the sofa and started to kiss her, leaning himself as near as he could to her body. Rose wrapped his arms around his neck as she deepen the kiss. Things were getting hot before Seth pulled his lips away from hers as he needed to tell her something. 

"When I saw the kitchen was empty, I really thought you left me," he admitted, stroking the side of her cheek. "I don't even know what I had to do if it's true," his eyes downcast. Rose gazed at him. "It's Sunday," she muttered. "5 more days left,"

Seth sighed and his heart broke into pieces as he realized that time were flying fast. He immersed his face onto her neck. "I don't want this to end. I want to pause everything," he kissed her neck as he spoke. "Me too," Rose said, stroking his hair. "But when we get back to Andorra, things will be different and time can never be paused," she said. 

Seth raised his head and locked his eyes into Rose's brown eyes. "Well, at least, you're officially mine," he grinned as he tugged the bottom of his shirt that Rose was wearing. "You're wearing my shirt," he said proudly and slipped his hand under her shirt, stroking her stomach.

"Yes, I'm yours, Mr Larston," Rose chewed her lips as her cheeks redden when she recalled everything that happened last night. It was beautiful - just like what she'd expected for and she couldn't forget the way Seth told her how much he loves her. 

He leaned in and kissed her as he wrapped his arms around her body. He climbed on top of her as he ran his tongue down to her neck and then her shoulders - tasting every inch of her body that he highly adore. He brought back his tongue to her lips as he kissed her and all he could think of was her strawberry breath and the way she kissed him. 

Ring Ring

"Seth, the phone," Rose said in ecstasy as she heard the phone were ringing. Seth shrugged and he continued to kiss her neck. "Ignore it," he said shortly and he continued, ravishing her body. He tried to unbutton her shirt but Rose stopped him. "Answer the phone first," she said firmly and looked into his eyes. Seth rolled his eyes as he pulled himself away from her. "Fine," he said boredly and rose up to his feet. 

He motioned toward the phone and pick it up. "Hello," he said and waited for someone to speak. "Prince Seth, I'm so sorry to bother you," Seth heard a familiar voice, speaking in a very regretting tone - it was Mr Jameson. "It's alright. Why did you call?" Seth asked and his eyes were looking at Rose who was sitting on the sofa, watching him as he speak on the phone.

"It's Princess Meredith, Sire. She had a very serious heart attack yesterday. We tried to reach for you but it seemed like you switched off the phone," he informed in a worried tone. Seth's eyes widened as he was shocked to hear the news. "What? Grandma? What happened?" he asked concernly and he remembered that he did switch the phone off as he didn't want any disturbance. 

Rose hurried closer to him as she knew that something bad happened. She stared at his face and she noticed that he was wearing a worried expression. "I think it's best for you get back here as soon as possible. You will know better, Sire," Mr Jameson answered his question reluctantly. Seth sighed. "Okay. I'll get on the first flight to Andorra," he said and he put off the phone.

"Seth, everything's alright?' Rose asked worriedly and squeezed his hand. "Are you okay?" she placed another hand on his face. Seth closed his eyes. "It's Grandma. She had a heart attack yesterday," he told her and sighed. Rose's mouth fell open and hot tears were filling in her eyes. "What? She's going to be fine, right?" she asked, shaking his arm.

"I don't know. Mr Jameson wanted us to go back to Andorra as soon as possible," Seth said, squeezing his forehead as he tried to calm down. Rose nodded instantly. "Let's go back to Andorra now," she agreed and stepped away from him. Seth grabbed her arm. "Wait," he stopped her from walking and turned her shoulders to face him. 

"Do you realize this is our last vacation together? Are you sure you want to get back to Andorra?" Seth asked her, looking deeply into her eyes that started to watery. Rose frowned. "Seth, your Grandma is sick! Do you realize that?" she said as she didn't expect him to say that. Seth closed his eyes and took a long breath. He realized that she was right. His Grandma was more important. 

"Okay, let's go back to Andorra," he said eventually.

~~

 "How could this happen?" Carla sighed as she was disappointed with his son. She never expected that he would embarrass his own family. "And then Christina! She shouldn't have told Mother about this!" she ranted angrily. King Edward squeezed his forehead as he sighed. "Carla, we should have thanked Christina for telling this to us. If it wasn't because of her, we wouldn't know what Seth is going to do," he said.

"Thank her?" Carla's mouth fell open and she motioned closer to her husband. "Do you realize that she's the one who caused all this? Mother had a heart attack because of that woman!" she screamed. King Edward glanced at his watch. " Where's Seth? He was supposed to be here by now,"  he said, trying to change the topic. 

"What are you going to do to him?" Carla asked, tears were trailing heavily down her cheeks. He gave her a quizzical shrug. "If it is up to me, I will revoke his title. A man like him doesn't deserve to be a Crown Prince," he said angrily and clenched his fist. Carla shook her head. "Don't make a harsh decision, Edward. He's your son!" she said with tears as she did not believe that he would actually do that to Seth.

Then, Alex and Christina walked into the hospital waiting room, joining them. Christina motioned near to her. "The doctor said anything?" she asked. Edward shook his head. "No, nothing's changed. She's still unconscious," he answered, looking down to the floor as Carla glared at her. Alex took a seat on the bench as he ran his fingers through his blonde hair. He didn't want to interrupt their conversation. 

"Why'd you tell her about Seth and Rose?" Carla stepped in front of Edward to face Christina. "You knew she's not too well, don't you, Christina?" she asked angrily, glaring sharply at her. Christina pretended to be innocent as she looked down. "I thought she knew, Carla. I didn't mean to hurt her," she said in a low tone. Carla lost her patience as she raised a hand at her.

"Carla!" Edward raved, stopping her hand from reaching Christina. "Control yourself, will you? Don't make a harsh decision," he repeated her words. Carla pulled her hand from Edward's grip and pointed a finger to Christina. "You won't get what you want, Christina. I'll make sure of that," she warned before she motioned away and sat on the bench. 

"I'm sorry, Christina. Carla is always like that," Edward said apologetically. Christina smiled. "It's alright, my Lord. I understand her feelings. She must have worried about Princess Meredith too much," she said kindly, glancing at Carla who was looking down. Edward nodded. "Very well then and I have to thank you for telling the truth to us, about Seth and Rose. We wouldn't have known if it wasn't because of you," he said. 

"I consider you, Princess Meredith and Carla as my family, my Lord. I'll inform everything that is important to all of you," she said, bowing her head. Edward smiled. "You are a family to us, Christina. Whatever happens, you were my brother's wife once," he blurted. Christina grinned as everything was still going well. "Thank you, my Lord," she said before she walked away and took a seat beside her son. 

"What happen? Why Aunt Carla wanted to slap you?" Alex whispered curiously to her when she sat beside him. Cristina shrugged. "Well, she hates me, Alex," she replied shortly. Alex nodded as he didn't want to ask more. The door was opened and Seth and Rose rushed into it, heading towards their family.

"Where's grandma?" Seth asked his father who was looking sharply at him. Before Seth could ask more, Edward slapped him. "How dare you speak of your grandmother, Seth! You've disgraced our family! This is a huge embarrassment to the royalties!" he shouted as Seth touched his cheek.

"What did I do, father?" Seth asked calmly and Rose held his arm. She was shocked when Edward slapped him. Edward's eyes widened in anger. "What did you do? Who do you think we are? Just your stupid parents who you could lie anytime you want?" he raised his tone. 

Seth gave a puzzled look. "I don't understand, father," he asked again as he was really lost. Edward looked away from him. "Is it true that you and Princess Rose are divorcing?" he asked using a low tone as he tried to calm himself. Rose startled as she tried to speak. "Father-"

"Yes, I am divorcing her," Seth stopped Rose from continuing her words. "I told you that I will never accept this marriage so I'm divorcing her," he said, looking down as he tried to spill everything out smoothly. It hurt him to say that but he would do anything for her happiness. Edward turned himself to him as he got more angry. "You!" he raved and raised his hand once again. 

"Stop, Edward!" Carla stood in front of Seth to protect him. "Let him explain everything," she said, trying to calm him down. Edward shrugged. "Explain? He said that he will divorce her! What will the people think of him now? A man who confessed his love for his wife suddenly divorce her?" he gushed. Christina turned herself to Seth. "Explain, Seth. Why are you divorcing Rose? What did she do?" she asked, looking into his eyes.

Rose looked down and she was crying. Seth looked away, avoiding his mother's eyes. "I don't love her. I was just pretending to love her, mother," he blurted and looked up to the ceiling as he tried to hold himself together. "Father wanted me to figure something out, to clean my name. So, I pretend like I was so in love with Rose," he continued.

Rose chewed her lips as it hurt her to hear him say that. She kept saying to herself that it wasn't true. Seth really do love her and he was doing this because he loves her. Carla sighed. "Then what about Rose and London? You're divorcing her so that she can go to London?" she asked.

Seth nodded. "That's one of the reasons. I think it's unfair for her to reject that offer to be with someone who doesn't love her," he answered her. Carla nodded and she turned his face to look at her. "Is it true?" she asked again as her mother's instinct told her that he was lying - she could feel it. 

Seth hesitated for a second as he felt like crying. "Yes," he finally said and looked away again. He glanced at Rose and saw she was crying. He wanted to hug her and coax her and tell her how much he loves her. But Seth realized that he wouldn't be able to do that again. Everything is over. 

"See! He admitted it, Carla!" Edward ranted and he pushed Carla away. He pointed a finger at Seth. "I'll revoke your title if you divorce her!" he said in a warning tone. Rose's eyes widened. "You can't do that to Seth. This is all my fault, please.." she begged him and cried.

"Rose, stop," Seth said, pulling her arm. "It's not. It's my fault," he said firmly and failed to refrain himself as a tear dropped from his eyes. Rose shook her head. "No, please," she cried. 

"Choose, Seth," Edward said.

It took a few moments before Seth raised his face, looking at his father. "I will divorce her. No matter what happen," he determined.

Edward nodded. "Very well. I now revoke the Crown Prince title from you, Seth Larston," he said angrily before he turned himself to face Alex. "Prince Alex Larston will take your place as he is second in the line," 

"What?" Carla shouted, shaking his arm. "What are you doing, Edward? Seth is your son, the rightful heir to the throne!" she protested. Edward ignored her words. "The people need a responsible king. Not a king who only thinks of himself," he said firmly, sticking to his decision. 

 Alex didn't say anything as he was surprised by the King's action. He wasn't happy nor did he feel sad about his decision. When he was about to open his mouth, Christina squeezed his arm. "Don't you dare, Alex," she said warningly. Alex looked at his mother. "But, mom. This is not fair and you know what, I don't even want the throne anymore!" he said, raising his voice. 

"Alex!" she said and pulled him towards a corridor so no one would hear them. "Listen to me. You must accept the title. This is what I've been working hard for - you're the rightful heir to the throne, you know that," she held both his arms and wore a sad expression.

Alex shrugged. "There's no use for me to stay here, mum. Rose will go to London and I'll go with her," he told her his decision. Christina shook her head and panted for breath as she was shocked. "Are you crazy? Why would you want to do that, Alex? She didn't even care about you!" she shouted, trying to coax her son. 

"I don't care," Alex said, wearing his determined expression. "I love her, mum. No matter what, I've promised myself that I will protect her and be there for her," he looked deeply into Christina's eyes. "I'm sorry," he continued. 

"No! You must accept the throne! You must be the next Andorra's king!" Christina wouldn't give in and she tried to think of something. It was a few moments before she threatened him. "Or I'll hurt Rose," she said and she wasn't joking. 

Alex's mouth fell open as he never thought his mother would do that. "Mum, are you mental? What are you talking about?" he asked, running his fingers through his blonde hair. "You're going to hurt Rose to make me accept the throne?" 

"I will do anything to see you become a king, Alex," she said firmly. "And I'm not joking. You know me, Alex. I won't stop until I get what I want," she smirked. Alex closed his eyes and he knew that she was dead serious. He wouldn't let his mother hurt Rose. "Fine," Alex agreed. "But you promise me that you won't do anything to her," 

"I promise,"

~~

"Why did you do that?" Rose asked as she was chasing Seth who avoided her since everything that happened just now. "Seth, I'm talking to you!" she ranted but Seth was still ignoring her. Rose stopped walking. "If you care about me, stop walking and listen to me!" she said, crying. Seth stopped but he didn't turn himself to face her. 

"Why did you do that? Your title had been revoked, Seth," Rose asked again, hot tears trailling  down her cheeks. Seth took a long breath before he turned himself to face Rose. "I didn't have a choice, okay? I want you to go to London next week, no matter what happen," he explained, looking straightly to Rose who was about a few meters away from him.

Rose sobbed."You know what, I don't know why but I feel like you're desperate to get rid of me. Is that why you want me to go to London? So that you'll be free?" the words were out without her conscious. She motioned closer to him. "Maybe what you said just now was true. That you were just pretending that you love me to clean your name. You look so sure just now, Seth," she added. 

Seth looked up to the ceiling as he was thinking hard. Maybe this is the only way that he could get her to London. He just wanted her to go to her dream school and achieve her dream. It hurt him when she said that but he realized that she deserved better. He didn't want her stuck in the palace, just like him. He didn't want Rose to go through what he went through this nineteen years. Being a puppet in the castle and got nothing to do. She deserved a better life outside the castle. 

"I don't love you," he said in a low tone, almost inaudible as it hurts too much. He looked away and continued, "You were right. I was just pretending like I'm madly in love with you. I've never forgotten Jessica. She's my first love. You mean nothing to me,"

"You're lying," Rose said, shaking her head. "You were just trying to get me to London, isn't it?" she turned his face to look at her. "Look at me, Seth," she said, gazing into his blue eyes that started to fill with tears. "Don't say something that hurts yourself. I don't want you to see you crying. I will go to London for you, I promise. You don't have to say that," she mumbled. 

Seth cried as he failed to hold himself together. Tears trailling down heavily on his cheeks as he avoided himself from looking at her. "I can't... Stop... Rose," he stuttered as his head felt like exploding. There were too many things that he had to think and only God and him, knew what he was feeling. 

Rose hugged him. "Just cry. You'll feel better," she said and gripped him tightly to her body. Seth placed his head on her shoulder as he cried. Rose was the second person who had seen him in this type of situation - the first one was Lexie. "I don't want to lose you or Grandma," he said and closed his eyes, trying to relax himself. "Father had never been that mad to me and Mother, she cried because of me," he let out everything that was kept in his heart for a long time. 

"Shhh," she coaxed him, stroking the back of his hair. "Everything will be fine," she promised. "Everyone loves you, Seth. And I love you so much,"

~~~~~~~

Tadaa! What a sad chapter :( I cried 

I got a news for you :) Some of you who fanned me, knew about this but I will tell you again. I'll be starting a story series called THE STARTLED. This series, for now, has two stories. One is this story, THE STARTLED PRINCESS and the second one is, THE STARTLED AGENT which I will start posting by this week :) I hope you guys will support TSA as much as you support TSP :) 

So here's the sneak peek (different from what I've posted before this):

Rachel Drew is your normal teenage girl who stalks the jocks during her gym class and listens to crappy love songs. She's the kind girl who is capable of doing almost everything except for flirting. Everything goes wild when her father, who is a secret agent, asks for her help to solve a case that happens in a boarding school. Being his only daughter and his only hope, Rachel doesn't have a choice but to help him. The only clue to the case is a notebook, written by an unknown writer. Along with her geeky best friend, Finn Vogel, they toss the coin of luck as they begin their adventure in Axelzest High School. Will she be able to reveal the book's deepest secret? Or will she be stopped?  Enjoy the roller-coaster ride with Rachel and her friends as they ventures to find the answers. A Teen Fiction and Humor story,

So vote and comment!! 50 votes for an early update x)