"Do you?Do you really?"She met my eyes."Can you honestly tell me you understand what it's like to have your entire future decided without your consent?To sign something under false pretenses and then discover you've trapped yourself forever?"
"No," I admitted."I can't.But Betty, is it really so terrible?Being here, being a princess?You're good at this.You're better than you give yourself credit for."
She stared at me."Are you seriously asking if being lied to and trapped in a permanent marriage is 'really so terrible'?"
"That's not what I meant."
"Then what did you mean?"
I was making this worse.I could see it in her expression, in the way her hands clenched around the contract.But I'd already started down this path, and I didn't know how to redirect.
"I meant that the life you had before, working at a coffee shop you hated, taking classes you couldn't afford, dealing with a boss who treated you like garbage, that wasn't a good life, Betty.This is better.Being a princess, having resources and purpose and the ability to actually make a difference in people's lives.That's better than slinging coffee in Oregon."
The words hung in the air between us, and I watched her expression shift from hurt to something much colder.
"Better?"she repeated flatly.
"I just meant..."
"You meant that you think you did me a favor.That being trapped in a palace with a husband who lies to me is an upgrade from my pathetic little life making lattes."
"That's not—"
"That's exactly what you meant."She took a step toward me, and I'd never seen her look more dangerous."You think because my job wasn't glamorous and my apartment was small and my life was ordinary, that gives you the right to decide I'm better off here?That your life is so obviously superior that I should be grateful you trapped me in it?"
"If you would just listen to me.”
"My life was mine."Her voice cracked."It was honest and it was real and it was mine.I chose that job.I chose those classes.I chose that apartment and that life and every single thing about it.And yeah, parts of it sucked.My boss was a nightmare and I was broke most of the time and I was worried about student loans.But it was mine to choose."
"I know." I had to find a way to make this better.
"You don't know!You've never had to choose between paying rent or buying groceries.You've never worked a job where someone screamed at you for making a drink wrong.You've never had to scrape together change to do laundry."She was shouting now."But I did those things.I built that life myself.And it might not have been much by your standards, but it was honest work and I earned every penny and no one made those choices for me."
"I understand that."
"No, you don't!Because if you understood, you wouldn't be standing here telling me I should be grateful you ripped it all away."
"I'm not saying you should be grateful.I'm saying that objectively, this life offers you more opportunities."
"Objectively?"She laughed, sharp and bitter."Objectively, I've been kidnapped twice in my life.Once as a child, and once as an adult.The difference is that this time, my kidnapper is handsome and royal and thinks he knows better than me what I should want."
The comparison made me flinch."That's not fair."
"Isn't it?You and the Grand Duchess decided my future without my consent.You created a situation where I had no real choice.You lied about the terms of the arrangement to secure my cooperation.How is that different from any other form of coercion?"
"We're trying to prevent a war."
"I know what you're trying to prevent.I'm not an idiot.I understand the political stakes.I understood them when I agreed to six months."She threw the contract on the desk."But I didn't agree to forever.I didn't consent to producing heirs and living in permanent apartments and spending my entire life in a role I never wanted."
"But you're good at it."
"I don't care if I'm good at it.”She pressed her hands to her temples."How are you not getting this?The whole point is that I didn't get to choose."
I opened my mouth and closed it again, finally understanding the magnitude of what I'd done.Not just the lie about the six months, but the fundamental arrogance of thinking I knew better than she did what her life should be.
"I'm sorry."
"Are you?Are you really?Because five minutes ago you were telling me how much better off I am here."She grabbed her phone from her pocket."I'm leaving."
