She breaks into a full-body smile before throwing her arms around me. “Kaori! I’m so glad we’re finally catching up in person. Talking on the phone is nice, but it doesnotreplace this.”
“Agreed.” I laugh, hugging her tightly. “I’ve missed you too. There’s nobody else I can girl talk with.”
It’s the truth. I love my sister, but there’s a five-year gap between us that feels like a canyon sometimes. Alice and I, on the other hand, are only a year apart. And we share a lot of overlapping interests, like trashy 2000s rom-coms. Which I hope Theo never finds out about.
She links her arm through mine, steering us through the familiar historical corridors of the palace toward the private wing. “It’s just Mama, Papa, and Amanda tonight,” she says.
Amanda, the newly minted Princess of Wales, finally married Alice’s older brother Edmund this past winter after five long years of anticipation. I’ve always admired her, mostly because she’s a nerd just like us. She actually loves math—not just the “budgeting for a charity” kind, but the real “solving differential equations for fun” type.
But more than her brain, it’s her spirit I’m drawn to. Despite the title, she’s normal. She’s always kept Alice’s brother on his toes. She grounds him. Watching them is like seeing a blueprint of how a person can belong to two different worlds without losing themselves in the process.
“No Eddie or Art?” I ask.
“No. Art couldn’t get off work. And officially, Eddie is still in Scotland.”
I snort. “What is hereallyup to?”
Alice grins. “Overseeing the final renovations to their new house in Surrey. It’s going to be move-in ready this weekend. He’s planning to surprise Amanda on Sunday.” She lifts her chin with pride. “And it turned out beautifully, if I do say so myself.”
She should be proud. Alice is studying structural engineering, and after she overhauled her own flat last year, the results were so stunning that her brother and Amanda begged her to design their new home. She had a bit of help from Art, but the vision was all hers.
“Oh, youhaveto show me pictures later.”
“I’ll do one better. I’ll have Eddie video call so we can get the full tour. Art has done an amazing job sourcing the furniture.”
I blink, coming to a dead stop. “Furniture? Alice, your boyfriend is a police officer.”
“Uh-huh.” She nods with heavy emphasis. “And he also has an unnervingly good eye for antiques.”
I burst into laughter. “So let me get this straight. On top of being your former bodyguard, Art is a world-class baker, a master horseman, and a secret interior designer?”
“He’s a man of many, many talents.” She sighs contentedly, a dreamy look crossing her face. “And to think, he’s all mine.”
We share a laugh, the sound echoing off the high ceilings. But as we begin to ascend a short marble staircase, her tone shifts. “So, how is everything on the Theo front?”
I let out a long, ragged sigh. “A giant mess, honestly.”
Alice scrunches her nose, slowing her pace. “I thought things were moving in the right direction? You texted me that Monday night was going to be the big reveal.” She stops on the landing, giving me the silent demand for every single detail.
“We told each other how we feel. We’re... together now.” I say quietly, looking down at my shoes
“Kaori! That’s amazing! Why do you look like you’ve just been told the world is ending?”
“Because it might be,” I say. “Or at least, the world we just started building.”
We turn and head down another long corridor, walking past yet more portraits of monarchs who look vaguely irritated to even exist.
“We’ve run into a snag with his father.”
The words just tumble out of me. Excelsior’s financial woes. The Tanaka Group partnership. The threat to leak my identity to the press and ruin Theo. I don’t mean to dump it all on her, but once I start, I can’t stop.
By the time I finish, we’ve reached a quiet stretch of the corridor where the ornate carpet gives way to polished stone. Alice has gone completely still.
When she finally speaks, her voice is laced with venom. “That man is a vile cockroach. I wish I could stomp him into the floorboards with my heel.”
“I didn’t know what to do,” I whisper, my composure finally fracturing. “I still don’t. I’m stuck. I can’t tell my parents or Rei, and I definitely can’t tell Theo. None of them would understand.”
Alice pulls me into a fierce hug. “You did the right thing telling me,” she says into my shoulder, her voice steady and certain. “We’ll figure this out, Kaori. I promise.”
