Chapter One
Frederic
I dragmy fingers through my hair as I pull my brows together so tightly, they’re in danger of fusing into a permanent monobrow. Who does Penelope Pemberley-Price think she is, proposing I marry some random princess I’ve met a total of twice in my life?
And all because I smiled at her.
Who could ever take such an idea seriously?
I scoff as I study the photo that accompanies this absurd fantasy of an article. “The evidence”, if youwill. It’s true that I’m looking at Princess Astrid. It’s also true that I have a smile on my face. But that’s as far as it goes.
I know. I was there.
Unlike Penelope Pemberley-Price.
I recall the day well. Princess Astrid had somewhat impulsively cheered up a group of sick children at the hospital we’d visited together in Scandora, the capital city of Elkevik, by breaking into an impromptu dance on the balcony in the rain.Of courseI was going to smile. She did the robot, for goodness sake! It was utterly ridiculous.
Not that Princess Astrid was ridiculous exactly. Between you and me, she was really quite charming. Of course, she’s beautiful, with her bright blonde hair that seems to glow in the sun, pretty blue eyes that sparkle like stars, and delicate features. But there’s more to her than just her good looks. She’s got this light to her, a kind of joy that you just don’t see in grown women. I’ve no idea how she manages it, but she sees the positive in almost everything. There's something fresh and authentic about her. It’s hard not to be drawn to someone like that when you’re… well, when you’renotthose things.
But the idea I’m in love with her? That we should bemarried? Preposterous.
She’d be a complete diplomatic disaster waiting to happen as my wife, with her impulsive behavior. Case in point, dancing in front of a group of children at the hospital to cheer them up.
Need I say more?
I huff out a breath before taking a sip of tea.
“Are you quite all right, darling?” Mother asks from across the breakfast table.
“Fine,” I mumble, feeling anything but.
“I see that feisty Member of Parliament is at it again,” Father says, his newspaper gripped in both hands.
“The referendum, dear?” Mother asks as she stirs her tea, her spoon making a delicate tinkling sound against the fine bone china.
Father lowers the paper and gives her a grim smile. “They’re like a broken record about that bloody referendum at the moment, and I really don’t understand why. Are we so very terrible for this country?”
“Of course we’re not, darling. But what can we do about it?” she asks, the familiar lines of worry appearing on her forehead.
“If I had that answer, my darling, I would tell you,” Father replies.
“If the Ledonian people vote to get rid of us, that will be it. A thousand years of monarchy gone, just like that,” Mother says with a shake of her head.
“Penelope Pemberley-Price has an idea,” I say.
“Oh? What’s that, Frederic?” Mother asks.
“She suggests I marry Princess Astrid of Elkevik simply because there’s a photo of me in the paper smiling at her.” I brandish the paper in my fist. “Apparently, it’s the solution to both our countries’ woes.” I wait for their laughter. When neither of my parents react with the surprised chortle I expect, I add, “Isn’t that the most utterly ludicrous thing you’ve ever heard?”
All they do is share a look between themselves.
“I don’t know, darling,” Mother says with forced lightness. “Your twenty-eighth birthday is in less than three months. If you were a woman, we’d be arranging your marriage by now. The fact that you’re a man so the rule doesn’t apply to you is rather sexist and outdated in my opinion. This is the 1990s, not the1890s.”
I harrumph. I turn twenty-eight in eleven weeks and four days, to be precise, and I'm fully aware of the ancient Ledonian rule that any female member of the royal family not married by the time they reach that age enters a marriage arranged by their parents.
“Sexist as it may be, Mother, but the rule does not apply to me, as you rightfully point out. The fact I’m turning twenty-eight soon should be neither here nor there.”
“Because you’re planning to make a love match?” she leads.
