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“What other stupid stuff does our brother do?” Lillian asked Amalie.
“He sleeps with wet socks on, which is a little annoying.”
“What?” Mari laughed.
“It helps you not get sick. I’m on duty and–”
“Wet socks, Christian?” Elin asked.
“Are we ready for dinner?”
Elin heard her father’s voice from down the hall. She looked to see Erik pushing him in his wheelchair. The man looked a little worse for wear. When he met her eyes, he gave her a nod toward the foyer. She wasn’t sure what he meant by that, but she didn’t get a second to ask because her mother came around the corner, and they were all moving to the table for dinner.
???
“Your Majesty, may I talk to you?” Erik asked later, after they’d left the table for after-dinner drinks in the salon.
“Of course,” she said.
They left the salon and made their way into her father’s new office. His old desk had been moved here along with some of the furniture recently, leaving his office back at the palace empty and ready for the remodel.
“I spoke with your father earlier, but I wanted to talk to you as well,” Erik began the moment they both sat down.
“Okay.”
“I’m in love with Princess Mari,” he blurted out and looked incredibly nervous.
“That’s a good thing, right?”
“I know she didn’t plan to live in the public eye, but I can’t change the fact that I’ll be King one day.”
“My brother did,” she joked.
Erik didn’t laugh, but he did give her an awkward smile.
“I don’t plan on a life in the military, or one in religion, and those are the only acceptable excuses for abdication. Besides, Iwantto be King.” His eyes went wide. “I don’t mean that in a power-hungry way. I don’t need the crown to feel like–”
“Erik, it’s fine. I’ve known you forever; I know you don’t mean that.”
“Okay. Good. It’s important to me that you know that,” he said.
“Why is that?”
“Because I plan on asking Mari to marry me one day.”
“Marriage?” she asked.
“Yes. I spoke with your father because… he’s her father, you know? But you’re the Queen. Technically, she needsyourpermission.”
“She doesn’t, but go on,” Elin said.
“I’d like it to remain a secret until I ask her, if that’s okay.”
“When will that be?”
“Not tomorrow. I know we haven’t been together long, but I think sometime soon. We have a lot to talk about first. Her move to Denmark, for example.”
“She’s moving there?”
