Page 41 of The Prince's Castaway Baby

But for now, work.

I take a seat in my office, put all thoughts of Jensen out of my head, and open up my photos. Yes. I can keep myself busy all day like this. I won’t think about anything else at all.

CHAPTER 21

JENSEN

Iwake with a start, my book falling to the floor with a thud. I stare down at it and curse, blinking the sleep out of my eyes. I’ve lost my page now. And I’ve probably ruined the spine. Ugh.

It was pretty interesting, though — it was all about the fauna of the Arctic, written by a professor who wants to protect the world from the stupidity of humanity. And it turns out we really are very stupid.

This is a guy who’s spent his entire life researching ways that we can help save the animals and the ice sheets that are melting more and more every year. It’s alarming, actually, to see all the statistics laid out like this.

The more I read, the more I want to do something to help. And I have been reading a lot, lately, trying to absorb as much knowledge as quickly as I can.

Because as a prince, I get lucky. Being a prince means I have a platform, which means people will listen to me even if they shouldn’t. Up until now, my position has basically been toentertain people across the world with my dumb exploits, but finally, I’ve found my purpose.

I’ve realized what I’m supposed to be doing, who I am supposed to be. I’ve seen a way to put my voice to a good use — and I’m sure as hell going to do it.

What I haven’t realized yet is how to stop my stupid brain from fixating on stuff. I can more or less ignore it in the day, but every night I have dreams that are full of Billie and the island. Every time I close my eyes, she’s there — I see her smile, the curve of her body, the way she rolled her eyes at me when I did something dumb.

Which was all the time.

Okay, so maybe I am still thinking about her way too much. But what else am I meant to do?

It would have been great if I’d managed to get a better sleep, but it’s going to have to be what it is for today, because I have places to be. All my sleep has been pretty strange and disturbed lately, so this isn’t exactly unusual.

Having to get up before nine a.m. is, though.

I’m going to a talk today, by a guy who wrote a book about the creatures of Sólveigr, and how they relate to animals in the rest of Europe. The book was really fascinating, and I reached out to him — Dr. Schröder — to ask if I could come to his talk and speak to him.

Happily for me, he said yes.

Unhappily, I have to leave the house in the next fifteen minutes or I’m going to be late.

Anders drives me to Filgenn, our capital city, where the talk is happening. It’s part of a bigger scientific conference that’s going on right now, but Dr. Schröder is part of the more public-facing side, so hopefully I’ll be able to understand what he’s talking about.

I arrive at the lecture hall ten minutes early, and I pull my hood up over my head in an effort not to be recognized. Everyone around me is at least smart-casual, wearing dress pants and button-up shirts. Some of them are even wearing ties, albeit novelty ones with polar bears or test tubes. I’d always thought of scientists as uptight, but the more I dive into their world, the more I’m realizing how fun they can be.

I slide into the back row and sit in the shadows, alone. The last thing I want is to take the spotlight away from the people who deserve it.

When Dr. Schröder walks out onto the stage, he smiles at the crowd and nods nervously before pointing his little clicker at the screen, opening the first slide of his presentation as we all applaud warmly.

“Hello, everyone,” he says, speaking Sólveigan with a faint German accent. This guy knows something like four languages. It’s so impressive. He’s going to give the presentation in English, though, because there are people from all over the world here to see him.

He’s a tall man and he hunches slightly when he stands up. He’s wearing a sweater vest and seems to have a permanent squint, and he fiddles with the clicker in his hand. Looking at him, you would think he would be bad at public speaking.

You’d think that he would be nervous and shy and give a terrible presentation.

But I’m glad to be proved wrong. The second Dr. Schröder starts talking about his research, his whole demeanor changes. He comes alive. Throughout the entire hour, his voice is captivating, his arguments compelling and wonderfully articulated.

If this guy narrated audiobooks, they would send me straight to sleep — and I mean that as a compliment. His voice is soothing and gentle, and makes you want to trust him.

I take in the photos that flash up on the screen. Some of them are Dr. Schröder’s own work, a little blurry, and it makes me think about Billie, and how amazing her photos are.

Maybe I should give him her name, see if he wants to collaborate with her.

After the talk, I muscle my way to the front of the crowd. People are surprised to see me, but I let Dr. Schröder have the spotlight when he needed it. Now I’m just going to make it brighter.

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