Chapter 29 So, When Did We Decide on Mutual Self-Destruction?
So, When Did We Decide on Mutual Self-Destruction?
Harper had seen a lot of dumb things in her time. She’d witnessed—even encouraged—several of Emilia’s worst decisions, but this? This was a catastrophic level of bad judgment.
“So, just to clarify,” Harper said, setting her wine glass down with deliberate care. “You are—let me get this right—sneaking around with the future King of Caledonia, who, last I checked, is required by law to marry someone else?”
Emilia exhaled, rubbing her temples. “If you could say that a little louder, I think the tenants in the next building might not have heard you.”
Harper fixed her best friend with a withering stare. “Oh, don’t worry, babe. The entire universe is going to hear about this soon enough.”
She folded her arms, leveling Emilia with a look so sharp it could cut glass.
“What, exactly, is your plan here? You’re just going to carry on in blissful denial until his engagement is announced?
Until his mother publicly destroys you for daring to exist near her son?
Until you’re mysteriously exiled for ‘academic misconduct’ because we both know Eleanor would make that happen? ”
Emilia looked up like she was trying to will away the tears that threatened to form. She took a deep breath in and then slumped back against Harper’s couch. “I don’t know, okay? I just—I wasn’t supposed to feel this way about him.”
Harper pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. She needed more wine for this.
“Emmy,” she said, tone softening just a fraction. “He is—by all definitions—doomed to duty. And you? You are… you.”
Emilia frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means you don’t sit quietly while history happens around you. It means you don’t do half-measures. It means, when this blows up in your face, which it will, you’ll be utterly wrecked.”
Emilia looked away, her face tense with frustration.
Harper reached out to squeeze her wrist, her voice more gentle now. “And honestly? That’s the only reason I’m telling you this. Because I love you. And I hate the idea of watching you break yourself over something that was never meant to be fair.”
Emilia swallowed hard. “You think I don’t know that?”
Harper gave her a long, knowing look. “I think you do,” she said. “But I also think you love him anyway.”
And that, more than anything, was the problem.
* * *
“You’re a goddamn idiot,” Sebastian announced the second he walked into Alexander’s study.
Alexander, seated stiffly at his desk, did not look up from the royal documents in front of him. “Lovely to see you too, Sebastian.”
Sebastian marched over, grabbed the entire stack of paperwork, and dropped it onto the floor.
“HEY—”
“Are you trying to ruin your life?” Sebastian demanded. “Because I’ve been wondering, and I need to know.”
Alexander pinched the bridge of his nose, inhaling deeply before leveling Sebastian with a tired glare. “Would you care to clarify?”
“Oh, absolutely.” Sebastian leaned against the desk, one eyebrow arched in challenge. “You are in love with a woman who is not, let me check—not your fiancée, not royal, and not remotely allowed within your mother’s dictatorial framework of acceptable life choices.”
Alexander stiffened. “What would you know about it?”
Sebastian let out a short, sharp laugh that carried the distinct ring of mockery. “Oh, I’m sorry—shall I read your inner monologue aloud for you? Because I’m pretty sure it goes something like, ‘Oh, Emilia, I can’t live without you—’”
“Shut up.”
“‘—The world disappears when we’re together, your lips taste like forbidden freedom—’”
“Sebastian.”
“I bet you wrote poetry about her, didn’t you?”
Alexander slammed his hands against the desk. “I did not write poetry!”
Sebastian grinned. “But you thought about it.”
Alexander glared at him, which meant yes.
Sebastian groaned, pacing the room. “Oh, for the love of—Alex, my guy, my tragically repressed friend—you do realize what’s happening here, right?
You’re going to get yourself caught in a royal scandal of biblical proportions, and for what?
The fleeting high of sneaking around palace corridors like a teenager with a crush? ”
Alexander stood, suddenly looking furious. “It’s not a crush.”
Sebastian stopped pacing. His usual smirk faded, replaced by something more serious. “I know.”
A tense silence stretched between them.
“How are you managing it anyway?” Sebastian asked, genuine curiosity breaking through his concern. “There are eyes everywhere in that palace.”
Alexander hesitated. “Thomas has been… helpful.”
Sebastian’s eyebrows shot up. “Thomas? Your by-the-book equerry? The man who plans your entire life with military precision?”
“He knows about us. Of course, he knows about everything.” Alexander admitted. “I expected him to lecture me about duty and responsibility after he saw us together but instead, he’s been creating opportunities, warning us when someone’s coming.”
Sebastian stared at him for a moment before letting out a low whistle. “Well, if Major Thomas Blackwood is risking his career for your forbidden romance, maybe there’s more to this than I thought.”
Sebastian ran a hand through his hair. “Look. You don’t get to have both. The throne and her? That’s not how this ends. You either fight for her completely—willing to set the whole system on fire if you have to—or you end this now, before it takes you both down.”
Alexander sat back down at his desk, a look of despair on his face. “But I can’t just walk away.”
Sebastian eyed him for a long moment. Then, shaking his head, he flopped down onto the chair across from Alexander’s desk, stretching his legs out with exaggerated exasperation.
“You know what the worst part is?”
Alexander raised an eyebrow. “What?”
Sebastian sighed dramatically, draping a hand over his heart. “I’m actually rooting for you two.”
Alexander blinked. “…What?”
Sebastian scowled, looking disgusted with himself. “I know, I hate it too. But you’re hopelessly in love, and she’s hopelessly in love, and now I have to be invested because I have the misfortune of caring about both of you.” He groaned. “It’s repulsive, really.”
Alexander huffed a short, almost amused breath.
Sebastian’s lips quirked into a half-smile. “So. Tell me. When the inevitable disaster hits, will we be running away together? Or am I just sneaking you both out of the country under the cover of darkness?”
Alexander pressed his fingers against his temple. “Why are these my only options?”
Sebastian grinned. “Because this is a spectacularly bad idea, Your Highness.”
Alexander sighed. “I know.”