AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Dante smirked. “That’s obvious.”
“What do you mean by that?” I asked.
“With all due respect, Your Highness—I’m not blind,” he chuckled. “The way you look at her, the way you defend her. It’s clear you’re smitten.”
Smitten was a strong word.
I couldn’t deny that Grace intrigued me—her quirky sense of humor, her endearing vulnerability, and her unwavering passion for her work, even when things were not going her way. There was something refreshing about her presence. I wanted to protect her, to save her from my mother’s wrath, even though I was the reason she was in this predicament.
“All right, fine—maybe I’m a tad smitten,” I admitted, thinking of that delightful moment when we almost kissed. “But that doesn’t mean anything is going to happen between us, nor will it change the fact that we need a new plan to make sure this wedding does not happen. Now, more than ever, Mother will be watching us intently, but I’m not giving up without a fight.”
Both of our phones pinged at the same time.
“Sounds like someone might be looking for us,” I said. “Would you mind checking to see if it’s important?”
“Not at all . . .” He glanced at his phone, his eyebrows furrowing in concern. “It’s an urgent message from Henri. Our presence is required in the private sitting room for an emergency meeting with the queen in thirty minutes.”
“An emergency meeting?” I frowned, my mind still occupied with thoughts of Grace and our yet-to-be-devised new plan. “Did he say what for?”
“No,” Dante replied, stopping his treadmill and hopping off. “I guess we will find out soon enough.”
“Right,” I sighed. “Guess we’d better get ready, then.”
Ready for what, I did not know.
After a quick shower and change of clothes, I made my way to the private sitting room, trying to suppress the uneasy feeling churning in my gut. What could be so important for Mother to call an emergency meeting? The last one had been years ago, after Father had died.
As I entered the room, I was shocked to see Adriana, Theo, and Grace already seated, their faces a mosaic of concern and confusion. Grace’s eyes met mine, and a subtle pang of guilt hit me for my part of thrusting her into this mysterious scenario.
Theo cut through the uneasy silence, breaking the tension with a puzzled inquiry, “Does anyone have a clue as to why we’ve been summoned to this so-called emergency meeting?”
“I’m putting my money on Oliver,” Adriana said, her tone a blend of teasing and genuine concern, interjected with a mischievous smile. “What did you do this time?”
Feigning innocence, I raised an eyebrow. “Why is it always me?”
“Because it usually is,” Theo quipped.
“If Grace is here, it must be wedding-related, but what could be so urgent?” Adriana pondered aloud.
Seating myself next to Grace, I leaned in and whispered, “How are you holding up? Did you get any sleep?”
“Yes, it was possibly the best night of sleep I’ve had in years,” she said.
Surprised, I chuckled. “I wasn’t expecting you to say that, especially after enduring Mother’s wrath. How is that even possible?”
Grace shrugged. “Last night, I realized it was time for a significant change in my life. Wedding planning isn’t working for me, no matter how hard I try. I thought coming here, to a different country, to a different culture, would change things and get me moving in the right direction, but I was wrong. I’m not the klutz and disaster that you see, though. Anyway, I’ve been trying to figure out for the longest time why these things keep happening to me. It felt like I was trying to fit a square peg into a round hole repeatedly, forcing it, instead of looking for a square hole. And that square hole is something that truly fills me and brings me joy, something I am passionate about.”
“And tell me, have you figured out what that is?” I asked.
Grace shook her head. “Not exactly. I think I have some good options to consider.”
“I would love to hear about them, if you don’t mind sharing,” I said.
Grace smiled. “I’d love to share them with you. It was like I finally had a wake-up call and realized I needed to make some changes. And because of that, I felt peace for the first time in a very long time. Then I slept like a baby.”
Nodding, I said, “That’s a wonderful perspective, something I could learn from. It’s good to go after our dreams and do something we are passionate about.”
“Like painting?” Grace said.
