"Then he's trying," she said."Maybe he screwed up in the beginning.But he's trying to fix it now.The question is whether you're willing to let him try."
"What if he hurts me again?"
"He probably will," Dad said bluntly."Not on purpose, but people make mistakes.The question is whether you trust him to care when he does hurt you.To apologize and make changes and not repeat the same mistakes over and over."
"I'm not sure what I should do," I admitted."Should I stay or go?What if I choose wrong?"
"Sweetie, there is no wrong choice here," she said gently."There's the choice to stay and work on a marriage with someone you care about.Or there's the choice to leave and build a different life.Both are valid.Both have risks and rewards.The only wrong choice would be staying out of obligation when you don't actually want to be there."
"How do I know what I want?"
"You already know," Dad said."You've known since you called us.You just needed permission to admit it."
He was right.I did know.
I'd known when I'd texted Archie asking for transport to Valdoria, and he'd arranged it without questions.When I'd heard my grandmother's desperate plea and felt sympathy instead of just anger.When Captain Steiner had told me Archie was different with me, more himself.
When I'd mistaken a stable hand for Peter and felt my heart leap with hope.
"I want to stay," I said out loud, testing the words."I want to stay and fight Viktor and figure out this marriage and learn to be a princess.Not because I have to.Because I want to."
"Then that's what you do," she said.
"Even though it's scary?"
"Especially because it's scary.The best things in life usually are."
"What if it doesn't work out?"
"Then you'll figure something else out," he said."You're resourceful, Betty.You always have been.You landed in a foreign country three weeks ago knowing nothing about royalty, and you've managed.You'll manage this too."
"We love you, kiddo," she added."Whatever you decide, wherever you end up, we're proud of you."
"I love you guys too.Thank you for, for everything.For raising me, for supporting me, for helping me figure this out."
"That's what parents do," Dad said simply."Now go tell that prince of yours he's a lucky man."
After we hung up, I sat in the quiet sitting room for a long time, just breathing.Letting the decision settle into my bones, becoming real.
I was going to stay.
Not for the alliance, not for the Grand Duchess, not because I was trapped.
Because I wanted to.
Because somewhere in the past three weeks, I'd started building a life here.I had friends in Petra and Captain Steiner and Chef Marcello.I had a role that actually mattered, work that made a difference.I had a grandmother who was dying but who loved me fiercely in the time she had left.
And I had Archie.Complicated, lying, thoughtful, horse-loving Archie who'd given me a choice when he could have kept me trapped.
I pulled out the annulment papers and looked at them one last time.Then I tore them into pieces, letting the scraps fall into the trash bin.
No going back now.
Captain Steiner looked up when I emerged from the sitting room."Ready to head back, Your Highness?"
"Actually, I'd like to make one more stop before we go.Can we visit the stables?"
She checked her watch."We have time.The jet's not scheduled to leave for another two hours."
