49__Hello, Viktor. I'm Charming.

Kamilla’s hand slowly wrapped around Charming’s and squeezed. She bit the inside of her cheek as she stared up at Rogan, praying to all things holy that he wouldn’t notice anything strange about Viktor.
Charming held her hand tightly and Kamilla glanced up at him. The constriction around her heart eased when she saw the dark frown that drew his brows together, his mouth curled with derision in an expression so damn identical to Viktor, Kamilla wouldn’t have known the difference if she hadn’t known it was Charming.
His gaze didn’t waver from Rogan’s as Charming played his role to perfection. “Get her out of my sight,” he said darkly to Rogan.

Kamilla looked at Rogan and saw his eyes darken, hardening with something far scarier than mere hatred.
“Of course, my King,” he muttered in response. Rogan lowered his arm and took Rena’s hand in his. He glanced down at her. “Come, Rena.”

With a final glare at who he thought was Viktor, Rogan turned and led Rena away from them, taking her out of the large boutique.
Once they were gone, Kamilla went weak with relief and collapsed against Charming, dabbing at her forehead. “Geez, that was so close!” she whispered.
Charming nodded as he helped her upright. “Yeah. That fellow looked ready to cut me to pieces.”
“That’s exactly what he wants to do…” Kamilla tip-toed over to the end of the tall rack to make sure they were gone. She sighed as she looked out at the empty store. She turned back to Charming. “Thank goodness you took off those ridiculous props before Rogan arrived. There’s no way he’d believe that Viktor would ever put that ridiculous yellow hat on his precious royal head.”

“Viktor?! There you are!” Sasha came bouncing out of nowhere and Kamilla looked at her with narrowed eyes. Sasha smiled at them. “Shall we leave? I’ve got everything I needed.”
Kamilla’s jaw clenched and she took one step forward before Charming’s hand clamped down on her shoulder and held her back.

“Kamilla and I will make our own way home,” he told Sasha before turning to look at Kamilla with eyes of unhidden lust. “We need to attend to something… urgent.”
Sasha’s smile turned into a mask of horror and Kamilla just barely managed to hide her smirk.
She glanced at Charming and wiggled her brows. “Shall we?”
With a nod, Charming took her hand and led her away from a fuming Sasha.

**************

“You did *what*?!” yelled Damon so loud, Kamilla thought the shelves in Viktor’s library would collapse. “Are you two *crazy*?!”

“You need not worry so much, my good man,” said Charming as he sat upright, brushing at the collar of his suit. He looked up at Damon with a smile as he loomed over the two of them. “Kamilla and I are amazing actors. Like, who…? Ah, Oscar. What a good chap.”

Damon scoffed so hard his whole body shook and Kamilla miserably failed to hold back her laughter at what Charming was saying. When Damon’s sharp gaze moved from Charming to her, she quickly slapped a hand over her mouth. Damon closed his eyes tight and clutched at his hair with both hands.
“What is *wrong* with you two?! This isn’t a joke! If Rogan had even *slightly* suspected anything, Viktor would have…”

Damon trailed off, his voice trembling with a mix of anger and panic. Kamilla lowered her gaze, feeling guilty for making Damon so upset.
She pushed up the long sleeve of her jumper to reveal her hand and tugged at Damon’s hand. “Okay, please calm down, Damon.” She glanced at Charming. “We’re sorry we went out without telling you. It was stupid and irresponsible and we will not do it again. Right?”

Charming nodded. “Yes, absolutely. We have the matter with Viktor at hand, we cannot be creating more problems for ourselves.”

Damon sighed as Kamilla tugged him down to sit. “So… when do you think he could wake up?”
Charming pursed his lips. “I’m not sure at all.”
“But he will wake up, right?” Damon asked, resting his chin against his fist.
Charming nodded. “Yes. He has to. I think once he’s back, you can fight Rogan. With the help of that sad enchantress. Poor thing.”
Damon blinked. “What? What sad enchantress?”

Kamilla nodded and raised a hand. “I’ll explain. We actually encountered Rena before Rogan appeared. She’s the reason he was there in the first place.”

Damon’s expression went from confused, to shocked, to disbelieving to euphoric at various points of Kamilla’s explanation.

“Well, if it’s true…” he stated, standing to pace excitedly. “If it’s really true, Viktor has gained himself a very powerful ally! One who’s betraying Rogan, no less!”

Kamilla blinked up at him. “You think Viktor’s going to want to work with her? He’s as stubborn as an ass!”

Damon tilted his head. “He should believe it once we tell him what she said about sparing his life back at the Yorkshire castle.”

Kamilla scoffed. “Are we talking about the same Viktor?! He doesn’t even believe in Charming yet!”

Damon bit his lip in thought at Kamilla’s words and looked at Charming. “Well… what if we made sure he had no choice but to believe us?”

Kamilla and Charming exchanged a look. “What do you mean?”

Damon lifted a finger and silently turned around to walk over to Viktor’s desk. They watched him pull open a drawer and retrieve an iPad.
Kamilla blinked at him as Damon set it up on Viktor’s desk to face them and turned on the camera.
Her mouth dropped open. “You want… you want to record him?”
Charming nodded in understanding. “Ah. And make Viktor watch the recording once he’s awoken.” He sighed. “He couldn’t possibly deny my existence after that. It could be the right move to help him believe you.”

Damon crossed his arms and nodded. “Exactly.” Reaching towards the iPad, he started the recorder. “And Action!”

Charming blinked at himself on the screen of the device. “Wait, what? Right now?”

Damon nodded. “Yeah. Kamilla get out of the frame!”
Kamilla frowned at him. “Why? I’m providing Charming with moral support!” She scoffed at him. “Only the owner of the video should kick me out.” She looked at Charming with wide eyes. “You want me to leave, Charming?”
His hand immediately covered hers. “No! Uhm…” Charming looked nervously at the camera. “No, just… stay seated beside me, please.”
Kamilla gave Damon a sweet smile and he scowled in return.

Charming cleared his throat. “Uhm… Hello… Viktor.”
At his first uncertain words, Kamilla and Damon grew serious and watched Charming.

“My name,” continued Charming timidly. “Is Prince Charming. Uhm… Kamilla and Damon call me Charming. Everyone calls me Charming. I…” He cleared his throat and Kamilla gave his hand a squeeze. Charming looked into the camera. “I exist… in your mind as a separate personality. And I’m sorry about that. I know this is probably freaking you out, but… I need you to understand and accept it. That way… you and I can both be free. Viktor, I need to… I need to give you back the memories that you’ve left me to carry. Memories of the reason why I exist. Once you have them, you will be okay.” He smiled the sweetest smile Kamilla had ever seen Charming smile. “That’s all I want, Viktor. Is for you to be okay. Once you remember… *please* don’t blame yourself. You didn’t do it on purpose, I promise. I know because I know you more than anyone else.” He smiled sweetly again, growing silent for a while. “Ah… the little enchantress, Rena, can help you fight Rogan.” He nodded in assurance. “She cares for you and me. Yes, Rena knows about me. But do not worry. She won’t tell Rogan.” He looked at Kamilla. “Right?”

Kamilla quickly nodded. “Yeah.”

Charming stared at her for a moment before turning back to the camera. “Kamilla’s great,” he said with a smile. “She cares about us so much. She would do anything to protect you, Viktor. I hope you know that. Damon too. They love you more than anything. So please don’t ever believe that you’re hated. You’re loved. I know, I know. You don’t remember ever feeling hated… unwanted. That’s… not a part of *your* memories.” Charming’s gaze lowered and he suddenly looked unbearably sad. Kamilla stared worriedly at him and covered their linked hands with her other one.

Charming sighed and smiled up at the camera for the last time. “Uhm… before we stop, I’d like to say thank you for taking care of my Stallion. Hunter’s really dark and moody, isn’t he? But he really suits you, that’s why I got him.” He laughed. “I thought he’d look really good with you instead of a horse that was suited to my personality. I’d probably fancy a lovely, brown pony. Haha… so… yeah.” He swallowed hard and quickly looked up at Damon. “Can we stop now? Please?”

Damon quickly nodded and stepped forward. “Of course, that was fine.”

Ending the video, Damon saved it and looked at Charming. “Thank you for that, Charming. I know it wasn’t easy.”

Charming smiled. “It’s alright. Don’t worry about it. I rather think it’s going to be good for Viktor.”
Kamilla blinked sadly at him. “It will be. After his rage and yelling. He might toss me out of the highest window for good measure. But yeah, after all that, it should help him a lot to listen to you.”

There was a knock at the door.
Damon quickly turned off the tablet and locked it in a drawer. “Come in, Demetrius.”
The door opened. “Oh, there you are, Viktor!”

Kamilla froze at the voice behind her. No way. She turned so fast she nearly got whiplash.
What in the obsessive bitch was this?
“Sasha,” Kamilla growled.

Sasha leaned against the door and winked at Kamilla. “Missed me? The Legion’s here so I came to hang out. We’re childhood friends, you know?”
Kamilla shook her head. “I can’t tell you how much I don’t give a damn.”

Damon rubbed his jaw. He needed to get Charming away from Sasha. “Is the Legion here?” He glanced at Charming. “Uh, Viktor, we should go down. There’s something we have to discuss with Seth.”
Charming nodded and followed Damon, walking past Sasha like she was invisible. Her smile froze as she watched him walked away.

Kamilla sighed and shook her head. “Do you actually have a house?”
Sasha looked back with a raised brow. “My father is an Elder of this Kingdom, Kamilla. I have a *castle*. Unlike you, I am actually at the social status that makes me deserving of Viktor.”
Kamilla narrowed her eyes. “Unlike me?”

Sasha nodded. “That’s right. I’d given up, thinking it was game over. But then guess what I found out?”
Kamilla’s jaw clenched and Sasha smirked. “A little battie told me…” She leaned forward to whisper. “…that you’re only half.”
Kamilla scoffed. “So what?”

Sasha smiled. “So… whatever bond there is between you and Viktor can be easily broken. And when that happens… I’ll be right here, ready to make him mine.”