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“That sounds really difficult, I’m sorry.” Kate’s voice cut through the fog of his thoughts and he froze. No one had ever said that to him before.
“I can’t exactly complain, can I? Everyone dreams of being royalty.”
“They don’t know what it’s really like, though. They think it would be an easy life, but it sounds like it’s anything but easy.”
Her words were like a balm to his soul. He’d been laboring under the impression that he was a failure for not being able to cope with royal life. For wanting to break out from underneath the pressure-cooker environment. Maybe he hadn’t been so wrong to find it hard?
“Well, either way, eventually it was one scandal too many for my parents. I got caught in an illegal gambling den after a night drinking too much absinthe with my so-called friends. My parents thought that I was bringing shame on the family. On the nation. Nothing I’ve ever done has ever been just about me. It had to be about Charcieux. About being a royal. So they banished me until the latest scandal died down. Only, I’m starting to think it wasn’t temporary after all.”
Emile immediately felt the relief of having said it all out loud. He hadn’t spoken to anyone about what had happened, and he hadn’t realized how heavily it was weighing on his soul, keeping it all inside. Looking out over the beautiful scenery in front of him, he felt a kind of peace wash over him, but he knew it was more than the setting. It was the woman sitting next to him.
When he turned to her, she reached up and cupped his jaw, bringing his face down to hers. She kissed him softly, and he kissed her back, both of them saying without words what the moment meant to them.
It felt like complete acceptance for all of the worst parts of himself. Kate had forced him to shine a light on the things that he usually kept in the dark, and he found that, even though they might be a little broken, there was nothing there that he could not cope with.
“Thank you for telling me,” she said, when they pulled back.
“Thank you for listening,” he breathed.
“I almost can’t believe it.” Kate couldn’t help but give a slight laugh at the situation. “Every girl dreams of meeting her prince, but I never thought that would actually happen.”
“I don’t think I’m the kind of prince that people dream about,” Emile said.
“Well, you’re the kind of prince that I’ve been dreaming about.” Kate gave him a shy smile, and he felt his heart flip. He buried his face in her hair, inhaling the vanilla scent of her and felt his racing heart still. There it was. A simple sentence that showed just how accepting and kind and perfect she was.
How could he regret everything that had happened, when it had brought him here, to this moment, sitting in this beautiful place with this beautiful woman? He was about as far removed from his royal life as possible right now, and he realized he had never been happier. Kate made him happy. She was the most incredible person he had ever met. Strong. Kind. Accepting. She had faced more adversity than he ever had, and she had let it make her gentle rather than bitter. He was in awe of her.
He was falling in love with her.
The realization hit him square in the chest as he held her to him.
He was falling in love. And he was so lucky that it was with Kate.
“I think princes are usually supposed to come with money and castles and horses and fancy shoes for the princess. I’ve got none of those.”
He had nothing to give her except himself, when she deserved the world.
“I don’t need any of those things.” Kate shook her head affectionately at him. “I just need you.”
“You’ve got me.”
The tears welled up in her eyes as he said the words, and he realized it was truer than he had thought. She did have him.
“What about if your family gets in touch? Surely Miller Springs can’t compete with a palace in Charcieux.”
He could hear the worry in her voice, and it echoed his own concerns. He felt as though he wasn’t good enough for her, and somehow she felt the same even though she was the most perfect woman he had ever met. She had introduced him to so much and given him so much. A palace may seem perfect in dreams and fairy tales but in reality, it was empty compared to the life he had here now in Miller Springs. Emile had never felt as at home in Charcieux as he did here.
“Kate, this is my home now. You have shown me what home really means. I’m here to stay.”
“Really?” Her face lit up like a ray of sunshine; he wanted to be the reason why she smiled like that every day.
“Really. Miller Springs is everything I didn’t even know that I was missing. And more importantly, you are here, and that is everything that I need.”
Kate kissed him again. Harder this time. The kind of kiss where you have to keep breaking away because you’re smiling too much.
When they broke apart, they were both still smiling. They stayed pressed together, their legs dangling off the edge of the ledge, as they watched the sun dip below the horizon, bathing them in brilliant hues of orange and red and pink. Emile didn’t know that he’d ever felt so content as he did in that moment, and it felt like a miracle.
CHAPTER21
