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The Big Question, an answer to which my grandparents, and the whole country, are eager to know. An answer to which I’ve been eager to reach.
The truth is, I have reached an answer.
Telling Alex will make it a grand total of two of us knowing, him and me.
“I've been working through that question since the day I arrived. Being here, being a princess, is a big change for me. I wanted to spend some time figuring out what's right for me as well as what’s right for my grandparents. Staying here could mean agreeing to becoming Queen someday.”
“Could?”
“My uncle hasn’t officially abdicated yet. I am what you said I was: a backup princess.”
His eyes darken. “You’re no one’s backup, Texas.”
This man.
“What conclusion have you come to, if any?” he leads and I notice the eagerness in his eyes.
I clear the emotion from my throat. “I think I want to stay, whether I’m the next Queen or not.”
His face lights up. “Think?”
“Okay, I know,” I reply with a giddy laugh.
“You won't be heading back to your old life in Texas?”
I press my lips together as I shake my head. “I like it here. I like me here.”
He grabs a hold of me, making me squeal, pulling me up against him as he presses an urgent kiss to my lips. “You have no idea how happy that makes me,” he murmurs between kisses.
“Me, too,” I reply.
I’m staying in Malveaux. Someday, I could be Queen.
And I’m falling for a prince.
Talk about my world being turned upside down in the most wonderful, unexpected way.
“Have you told your grandparents?”
I shake my head. “You’re the first person I’ve told.”
His lips pull into a smile. “I like that you told me first.”
“I needed to test the idea out on someone before I told my grandparents,” I tease. “You were an easy target.”
“Is that so?” He plants another kiss on my lips.
“I plan on telling them when they’re back from France next week, so you need to keep it to yourself. I figured it was best face-to-face.”
“Mum’s the word. What made you decide to stay?”
“I know it’s weird, but I feel like I belong here. Like this was where I was always meant to be. It’s as though my old life was a holding pattern for this, my real life. Does that sound crazy?”
“Not at all. It sounds like you’ve found your calling.”
“You know I was freaking out when I visited the hospital that day, but doing that kind of thing, showing compassion for people, using my influence to help them in whatever small way I can? That has meaning for me, and it sure as heck has more meaning than filling in endless spreadsheets for a glazing company.”
“There are some real benefits to this life. You can bring not only a new perspective to the role, but experiences from your former life also. I suspect you will make an incredible queen someday.”
