Chapter 39
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Stellan
My father clears his throat and adjusts his seat at the table. We’re having breakfast on the vast veranda of Gr?sten Palace, where he and my mother are currently staying.
He pushes his mostly full plate away. I want to ply him with a million questions about how he is feeling, but I have a feeling that he won’t like that. It’s normally fairly awkward between us, but today… it’s tense.
“So. Have you heard anything conclusive from the doctors?”
My father scratches his dark beard. “No.”
I sigh silently. “May I speak openly?”
“I wish you would.” He looks off into the distance at the verdant gardens below the terrace. I can’t read him; I think I know exactly where I inherited my remoteness.
I take a deep breath. “Are you still stepping down? Because if not… I have a number of loose ends still that need to be tied up. If you are going to keep the throne— “
“No. You are still on track to be king.”
My expression tightens. “Ah.”
My father looks at me for several long beats. “You don’t desire the crown?”
I give a dry chuckle. “No.”
“Mm. I didn’t either.” He looks down at the glass of orange juice in front of him, turning it slowly by the rim. “What would you do if you had more time?”
Margot’s face flashes in my mind. Frowning, I shake my head. “I don’t know. I made some decisions recently that may have been hasty…”
I trail off and drum my fingers on the tabletop. My father spears me with his frosty blue gaze.
“You are talking about Margot?”
I can feel my neck heat. “Among other things. But yes, I would do things differently if I had more time.” I scrunch my face up. “And if I had a time machine, I guess.”
My father’s eyebrows lift slightly. “How so?”
I shrug, uncomfortable. “I don’t know. I would put less pressure on her to accept my marriage proposal, I guess.”
He looks surprised. “I didn’t realize that you had asked.”
Pursing my lips, I shrug again. “I didn’t ask her officially. I asked her what her answer would be… and she took weeks to reply to it.”
He looks dubious. “Her reply was no?”
Heat creeps up my neck, coloring my cheeks. “Her reply was just that she needed more time.”
“And you felt that you were running out of that resource,” he comments, fixing his gaze on his orange juice glass again.
“Well… yes,” I admit. “If I had it to do over again, I would do it differently.”
My father sighs. “Stellan. Let me give you some advice. If you find a woman to share your life with, and you’re sure that she’s the one, you don’t halfway ask her to marry you.
You grab onto her and you don’t ever let go.
” He coughs. “I consider myself insanely lucky to have found your mother. She is passionate. She is loyal. She fights for the causes she believes in. But most of all, I know that she’ll stick by my side.
No matter what. That’s worth more than all the gold in the world. ”
I’m a little taken back by his words. My father and mother obviously love each other, but I have never heard my father talk about her for any length of time.
Letting that sink in, I take a deep breath. “I’m glad that you found Maman.”
He snorts. “You’d better be. I never planned on having a bunch of children. That was all your mother. She wanted a big brood. And what your mother wants, she tends to get.”
“That’s… bordering on being too much information.” I wrinkle my nose.
My father rolls his eyes. “That is neither here nor there. What is certain is that you need to contact Margot. If she is your great love, she will be glad to hear from you.”
I give him a skeptical look. “Has Erik been talking to you about this? Because he said exactly the same thing.”
My father sighs. “No. But there must be something there if we both have the same advice for you, Stellan.”
Sitting back in my chair, I shrug. “I don’t know.”
“Do you love her?” My father cocks his head.
“Of course.”
His gaze narrows on my face. “I don’t understand. What is the issue?”
I grow embraced. “I don’t know. What if she can’t accept my lifestyle? I mean, the media scrutiny is already intense and we aren’t even publicly a couple. What if she says yes and then changes her mind in a couple of months?”
He shakes his head. “If that happens, you can deal with it together. Don’t be a fool. Take this risk, son.”
I look down at my lap. He’s right, of course. I have been a fucking idiot. I love Margot so deeply that she haunts my dreams.
“It’s a big risk,” I say, my voice growing rough. “But you are right… I have to put it all on the line. Otherwise she might leave Denmark altogether. And that… that would just crush me.”
My father smiles. “Good. In that case… I think you are ready to read today’s issue of Politiken.” He pushes his chair back and stands, gesturing to a servant. “Bring him the newspaper, will you?”
The servant scuttles forward, offering me the newspaper on a platter. I frown and accept it, noticing the photo on the main page a few seconds later.
It’s a gorgeous portrait of Margot, her expression sad. A tear tracks down her face as she contemplates her hands.
The headline is simple. Dear Stellan, I love you.
My heart starts pounding. “What is this?”
My father touches my shoulder as he heads inside. “I’ll leave you to read it by yourself.”
“Thanks,” I murmur, unfolding the newspaper. Margot’s letter is printed just below the fold. Not quite believing what I’m seeing, I start to read.
Dear Stellan,
We met one warm summer night in New York City. The attraction was instant, the chemistry between us so potent that a few sparks grew into a raging, untenable fire.
I knew from that moment — you were special somehow.
When I arrived in Copenhagen, I hated you. Or at least I thought I did. The news of us being tied together — me as the journalist, you as the subject of my research — hit us both hard.
I come from nothing. You come from the kind of privilege and wealth that makes my head spin. And yet… we found common ground.
You let me in. I dropped my shields, became vulnerable with you.
And somewhere deep inside, a begrudging respect turned into a breathless, wild, restless kind of love. It wasn’t my choice.
I couldn’t help but fall in love with you, my wicked prince. The world tried to turn us against each other… wanted us to dance to its beat.
I thought I couldn’t do it. I ran, I hid. But in my heart of hearts, I know one thing is absolutely true: I will move mountains for you. I will walk across endless deserts, dive into the deepest oceans.
My love for you knows no bounds.
Now I stand here waiting, holding my breath, hoping desperately that you will read this… and you will meet me at Fredericksberg Gardens today. I’ll be there at three in the afternoon, and I’ll wait all day for you.
I hope to see you there, Stellan.
With undying love,
Margot
I sit back, floored. If there was ever a doubt about anything related to Margot, now I know exactly how she feels. She’s assumed so much of the risk without realizing that I was only steps behind her.
God, I love her so much, it makes me feel sick. It is almost overwhelming in the entirety of it, hitting me like a tidal wave on an otherwise perfectly calm day at the beach.
I stand up, tucking the newspaper by my side.
“Well?”
I turn to find my father and my mother standing at the doorway of the terrace, looking expectant. My neck heats.
“I didn’t realize you were there.”
My mother stomps her foot. “Tell me your reaction to reading Margot’s letter! I am dying over here.”
“I… I’m going to go meet her,” I say, swallowing. “Papa was right… no half measures this time. I’m going to the gardens alone and leaving with a fiancée, come what may.”
My mother throws her hands up, squealing with glee, and bounds over to me for a hug. “That’s so wonderful, Stellan!”
My father digs in his pocket and pulls out a ring box. “You will probably need one of these.”
My eyebrows fly up. “A ring?”
He coughs. “Your mother dragged me along to the Copenhagen treasury after we met Margot for the first time. Your mother knew that you would need a ring.”
“Ohh, and it’s so perfect! It was your great grandmother’s ring. Sparkly and pretty. It will look great on her delicate little hand, ja?”
Pulling me over to my father, my mother opens the ring box. I look at the ring with wide eyes.
“This is really happening,” I say.
“Yes!” my mother sings, beaming so wide that it’s hard not to get caught up in her happiness. “I’m so happy for you, my Stellan.”
She cups my face, kissing me on the cheek. I smile, rolling my eyes a little.
“She hasn’t said yes yet.”
My father smiles softly. “I think we all know just what she’ll say.”
Shaking my head, I tuck the ring box in my pocket and wish my parents goodbye.