“Yeah, must be. I’ll shower, then I’ll be out,” she said and closed the bathroom door behind her.
She pulled a strand of hair to her nose and sniffed. Damn, she did smell like Quincy. Leave it to Allete to pick up on that, but she would just have to be more careful in the future. In the future? So you’re going to do it again? The idea wasn’t exactly smart, but Olivia couldn’t stop smiling when she thought of Quincy.
“I do not hear water running,” Allete called through the door.
“I’m going, I’m going,” she huffed and hurried to rinse her brushes in the sink, hoping the maids wouldn’t get upset at the paint staining the basin. She set them aside to dry, turned the water of the shower on, and got ready for the day. “Another outing with Quincy. Wonder what this one will be like.”
***
Allete allowed Olivia more casual attire than normal, dressing her in a blue sundress that varied in shades from the top to the bottom. It was sleeveless, and her shoes, thankfully, were flat. Her hair was curled but down, which she was thankful for. After last night and all those pins, her scalp was still sore and hating her for it.
Olivia hurried to the main hall to meet Quincy. He, too, was more casual than normal in slacks and a printed, button-up shirt. “Am I late? Allete kept trying to fix my hair.”
“I think it looks fine,” he told her. His hand lifted as if to touch it, but he cleared his throat and shoved it in his pocket instead. “And no, you’re not late. Royalty is never late. Something to remember for later when you are officially a princess.”
“I’ll be sure to keep that in mind.”
“Good, that’s good. Shall we?” He offered her his other arm, and she slipped her hand around it so they could walk to his Jeep which was parked out front on the drive. “The weather is supposed to be perfect today, so a tour of the campus will be the first thing.”
Anything sounded good to her as long as she was with Quincy. They climbed into the Jeep, and once the guard was ready in front and behind, they drove out the palace gates and into the city. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky as they went, waving at the people cheering for their prince and new princess. Olivia was nervous at first but waved back with a smile and laugh. She would get used to this at some point, especially if Quincy was always at her side.
He wound them through the streets and slowed when they came to the outer reaches. Olivia felt her jaw drop open at the sight of the building. “That’s the university?”
“I had a feeling you’d like it.”
“That’s an understatement,” she muttered as they drove under the stone archway and up the paved path to the front of the university. At first, it looked like one giant stone building, but as they turned to park the Jeep, she saw the others stretched out to the sides. They were made of the same stone as the palace, and if she hadn’t known any better, she would have thought it was the palace. “This is crazy. It’s beautiful.”
“It was originally built to house the army—well, what little army there was,” he explained as he got out and walked around to her side. “About fifty years ago, my family cleared it out and turned it into our own island university.”
Olivia nodded, only half listening. She wished her university looked this nice and old. There was so much history pouring out of the walls, she wanted to disappear inside the buildings for days to see what she could find. She felt like she’d stepped back in time, and she had a prince at her side to escort her around the grounds. Quincy asked if she was ready to go inside and she nodded, taking his arm and walking quickly towards the large front doors. They were made of solid wood and creaked when he pushed them open. Their steps echoed on the dark stone floor and off the walls lined with paintings and photographs. Beside each one was a name, and Olivia rushed to read them.
“Were these done by students?”
“Yes, all of them up and down these halls,” he said. “It’s mainly an art school, so you’ll see paintings and murals in the other buildings, too.”
“Can we see them all?”
“Yes, you can, Princess Olivia,” a woman’s voice called from down the corridor. “Prince Quincy, nice to see you again.”
Olivia watched the woman in her flats and paint-splattered jeans walk to them and bow her head as she stopped. “Hi, are you a professor?”
“I am Director Marie Hollins,” she said. “Welcome to my university.”
Olivia tried not to let her jaw drop. The woman couldn’t have been older than thirty, yet she ran the university. Amazing. She had her black hair pulled back in a bun and blues and violets were in her hair from whatever project she had been working on. For the first time since arriving on the isle, Olivia felt she’d found a kindred spirit, someone she could really talk to about her art. Quincy would listen, but this woman would really understand her.
“This is amazing! Where do we start?” Olivia asked, her voice filled with excitement. “What were you working on?”