Evelyn had gifted me the copper Vizsla puppy two Christmases prior, somehow knowing he was exactly what I needed: the most loyal companion. Although I always advised new visitors not to be fooled by his wide amber eyes: he was a spoiled fart machine.
“Hey, boy, what did you do tonight?”
Eugene answered me with a bark and a look toward the back door.
“Yeah, let’s get you outside, because I’m ready for bed.”
I walked over to unlock his dog door, Eugene running past me in a sprint. He dove outside, jumped off the porch, and pranced to his favorite peeing spot against one of the tall pine trees behind the house. After doing his business, the little stink ran in circles in the yard, trying his damnedest to eat the snowflakes as they fell from the sky.
I let him run off some of his energy before I opened the door, whistling and calling for him to come inside. As much as I loved this country, the winter months could be rough. Myfamily moved here from Pennsylvania when I was ten, when my dad got a job teaching at the Royal College of Wexstone, and winters here were quite a bit colder than I remembered them being in the States. Right now, it had to be below zero—not the kind of weather Eugene needed to be gallivanting around in.
After locking the cover on the dog door, I wiped Eugene’s paws, slid my shoes off, and undid that insufferable bow tie. I walked to the bedroom just off the kitchen and chucked my tux into the chair in the corner of the room. I’d hang it up later—I just didn’t have the energy right then.
After pulling on my favorite gray sweats, I headed to the kitchen and grabbed a glass from the cupboard. The gala had been a lot. I thought I had prepared myself for Birdie being in Wexstone and courting Oliver, but the sight of her in that blue dress had nearly brought me to my knees. And the way her eyes were glued to Oliver’s as they laughed and spun their way around the dance floor had flooded me with a level of envy I had never felt before.
I was going to need a lot of whiskey to get me through this.
Pouring a finger of the amber liquid, I downed it in one swig, relishing the burn as it slid down my throat. I gazed at the bottle, thinking of how it was the same whiskey that had gotten us into this whole mess in the first place.
A fire blazed in the fireplace as we sat in Oliver's study. Chauncey handed each of us a glass of Wexstone Original Whiskey before sitting next to me on the soft leather sofa that mirrored the one where Oliver, Tej, and Vince sat.
“I can’t believe he abdicated,” Vince mumbled as he stared into thefire.
Xavier had dropped the announcement that morning during a family meeting, before boarding a plane to God-knew-where and leaving the rest of us to deal with the aftermath.
“I can,” Oliver responded bitterly. “He hates this place. And most days I’m pretty sure he hates this family.”
“He doesn’t hate our family,” I said.
“He must if he’s chosen to do this.” Oliver downed the whiskey, grabbed the bottle from the coffee table, and poured another two fingers.
“He doesn’t hate this family,” I affirmed. While Xavier had fucked over everyone by choosing to abdicate, I knew for a fact he didn’t hate his family. In truth, I suspected that he had done it out of love for his family and his country. He likely thought he was doing everyone a favor.
“What does this mean for you, Oliver?” Tej asked.
“I’ll be crowned king and will have six months from my coronation to get married, or the seat goes to Rosalind. If that were to happen, my parents or I would have to serve as regent until she turns eighteen. And once she comes of age, she will be in the same spot as I am, looking for someone to marry—except at eighteen instead of thirty. I refuse to let that happen to her. I could never do that to her.” He shook his head despondently.
“Wow. Fuck these old-school laws, right?” Vince spat.
“Honestly, fuck everything.” Oliver took another drink of whiskey. “How do I even go about finding a wife? Nearly every woman I’ve ever been with has been more interested in the fact that I’m a prince than in me as a human being.”
“Maybe you should get on one of those dating apps and see if there are any eligible women.” Chauncey laughed. His eyes were glazed and his words slurred slightly.
“Absolutely not.” I cut him off before they could take that idiotic idea and run with it. “This family—this country—has gotten enough awful press for the time being thanks to Xavier’s fuckingantics. We don’t need it to get out that Prince Oliver is on some trashy swipe-right app. God, the media would eat that up.”
Oliver gave me a nod of thanks, and we all sat in the quiet for a moment with nothing but the fire crackling and the ice knocking against the glasses as we drank. Suddenly, Vince shot to his feet like something bit him.
“I’ve got it!” The rest of us shared puzzled glances. “You know I’ve been seeing that girl, Lauren? She’s been making me watch this stupid American show when I go over to her house on Tuesdays,” he explained breathlessly. “There is one guy and like, two dozen girls. They go on dates as a group and sometimes one on one. At the end of each episode, he hands out these roses and then at the end of the season there are like, a few girls left, and he chooses which one he wants to propose to.”
“The Bachelor?” I asked incredulously.
“Yeah, he’s a bachelor, obviously. And most of the girls are single, but I guess sometimes one of the girls will have a boyfriend at home.”
“No, you idiot, the show is calledThe Bachelor.” My mom and her friends used to have watch parties where they would crowd onto the couch, eating snacks and yelling at the TV like it was a sporting event, while my dad and I hid upstairs and watched hockey.
“Oh. Yeah, that’s the name!” He snapped his fingers and pointed at me. “We do that. We get a bunch of ladies from around the country, bring them here, they date Ollie, he finds a wife, and I’ve saved the Kingdom of Wexstone.” He collapsed back in his chair as he raised his arms in a victory pose befitting Rocky Balboa.
“It’s actually not a bad idea,” Tej considered as he tipped his glass to Vince.
