Chapter 10
Xavier
I groaned, collapsing against the pillows and covering my face with my hands. Between visiting Adelaide and a nearly sleepless night spent turning our plan over and over again in my head, I had completely forgotten about Xavier’s letter.
Wait, if I forgot to give them the letter, how did they find out about the baby?
I opened the news app on my phone. “Well, fuck,” I muttered as I scrolled through the headlines:
Prince Xavier to Become a Father: What will this mean for the royal family?
Baby Out of Wedlock: Prince Xavier fathers child with American actress
Oh, Baby! News of pregnancy raises questions about future of Wexstone’s royal family
Still spouting curses under my breath, I resisted the urge to hide in bed and instead threw back the covers and trudged to the ensuite to ready myself for one of the biggest days of my life.
After a televised proposal, Adelaide and I were scheduled to sit down with one of Wexstone’s most famous reporters for a live interview. My mother had selected a new navy suit for me to wear, complete with a pair of my father’s cufflinks.
As I splashed icy water on my face, attempting to bring myself back to the land of the living, a knock sounded at the door. “Come in.”
The door opened and several palace staff came in with trays of breakfast and tea. I averted my glance from the stack of morning papers with their scandalized headlines.
My mother followed the staff in, fire in her gaze. “Oliver Remington Courtwright! You knew?”
Fuck.
“Good morning to you too, Mother,” I said as I lifted a cup of tea to my lips.
She held up her hand. “Don’t.”
My mother was, most of the time, the pinnacle of grace and decorum. She rarely let the mask slip, and the fact that she was letting it slip in front of the staff was a true sign of how upset she was.
“In my defense, I did just recently find out about this. Actually”—I walked over to my closet and retrieved the envelope from my coat pocket—“here. Xavier left this for you and Dad.”
“This would have been nice to have before the papers and media were calling all night.”
“Actually, it would have been nice to know several months ago,” I responded dryly.
Mum let out a long slow breath. It hit me at that moment what she must be experiencing. This was her first grandchild and she was missing it. She hadn’t even known. I couldn’t imagine what that must feel like.
“Mum?”
She looked at me with tears in her eyes.
“Come here.” I opened my arms and wrapped her in a tight hug.
I could feel her body shake a little with her sobs. I loathed this for her. I didn’t hate my brother, but I did have to push down the very un-kingly desire to punch him in the jaw. Mum pulled back and gently dabbed the tears from under her eyes.
“Okay. Well,” she said, setting her hands on either side of my face, “you have a very big day today. Let’s get you ready to get engaged.”
After showering, shaving, and getting dressed, I walked out of my bathroom and was greeted by Knox.
“Looking good, brother.” He nodded appreciatively to the sharp suit jacket.
“Yeah, I guess I can pull off a monkey suit pretty well,” I said as I pulled the sleeves of the jacket down and brushed a little lint off my cuff.
“How are you feeling?”
“Honestly? Pretty chill,” I lied.
“Good. Birdie is beside herself hoping that you’ll choose Adelaide. She wouldn’t stop talking last night about all the hypothetical family trips and holidays together.” He laughed.
A knot of guilt settled in my stomach. While Adelaide and I had agreed on this fake relationship, I hadn’t taken into account that my friends and family would be planning for our future together. A future that was very much not going to happen.
I smiled at Knox as I attempted to brush the guilt aside. I was doing what was best for Wexstone, as was my job now.
Knox and I made our way to the Godric State Room, the same room where we had held the press conference introducing my suitors mere weeks before. This time, in place of an intimate setup, the room was filled with cameras, sound equipment, and staff bustling to and fro.
“Your Highness!” A young woman armed with a slew of makeup brushes in the pockets of her black apron rushed toward me. “I’m Natalia. If you’ll follow me right this way, I’m going to be getting you ready for the cameras this morning.”
“Make sure you cover that blemish right there,” Knox deadpanned as he poked the side of my face. “He’s very self conscious of it. Complains about it all the time.”
I swatted his hand away. “I don’t have any blemishes, you jackass.” Knox dodged my hand, grinning wide as he disappeared, likely in search of Birdie.
It was nice to see Knox lighthearted and carefree again. It reminded me of our childhood, before he lost his parents and his light had dimmed. Seeing him so happy warmed my heart.
I dutifully followed Natalia to the side of the room where she sat me in a chair in front of a large lighted mirror. While she worked, several staff members offered me drinks and pastries, but my nerves kept me from taking little more than a few sips of water.
“Prince Oliver, that suit looks so nice on you. It really brings out your eyes.”
I glanced to my right to see Warren James, our interviewer for the day.
Warren had made a name for himself as an on-the-ground reporter during the European heatwave of 2003, eventually becoming one of Europe’s most well-known broadcast journalists.
While he still occasionally made appearances as a political commentator, in recent years his energy had mostly been put toward his beloved daytime talk show.
“Mr. James,” I greeted as I shook his hand, careful not to disrupt Natalia as she worked. “Thank you for being here today.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t miss this.” He waved his hand around the room. “My husband wouldn’t let me even if I wanted to. He and his friends have been following your journey to love with a fervor that borders on obsession.”
“How is Winston? I follow him on social media, and it looks like his restaurants are popping up everywhere. We actually went to one of them when we were in New York a few months ago. It was amazing.”
“He’s great. I will have to tell him that; he will be ecstatic to hear that you enjoyed it. I think the team has everything nearly ready. How are you feeling? Nervous? I was a ball of nerves before I proposed to Winston.”
“Just a few butterflies, but I think I’m good.” Another lie. I’d be a professional by the time this was all said and done.
“Wonderful. Well, I’m off to get mic’d up and will talk to you on the couch in a bit.”
“Okay. You’re all done,” Natalia announced as she stepped back, surveying her work.
This was far from my first time having makeup on for TV, and I didn’t much care how I looked, but I gave myself a cursory glance in the mirror to make Natalia feel appreciated.
“Thank you. It looks great.” I stood up and turned to find Knox talking to my father. Dad looked like he was handling the Xavier news much better than my mother had this morning. He turned toward me and smiled as he made his way over.
“How are you doing, son?”
“Everyone keeps asking me that today.” I laughed. “I promise that I’m not getting ready to run.”
The corner of his mouth turned up as I contemplated putting my foot in my own.
I winced. “Sorry, that was a bad joke to make.”
“No. It’s okay. We’re going to be okay. Today is about you and your bride to be.
” He clasped one hand to my shoulder as he reached inside his jacket with the other.
“Which brings me to why I was looking for you. I wouldn’t trust anyone else to give you this.
” He pulled out an emerald-green velvet box.
“Oh,” I whispered. “I guess I am going to need a ring, huh? I completely forgot. I should have gone to the vault last night.” Nice going, dumbass.
“I know you’ve had a lot on your mind, so I went ahead and pulled something that hasn’t been used in a while.”
I opened the box to a large round ruby cushioned by small diamonds on a gold band.
No wonder this hadn’t been used in a while, it was…
different. The knot of guilt in my stomach grew; I didn’t even know if it was something Adelaide would like.
We hadn’t actually talked about what she would want in an engagement ring.
But something told me a somewhat ostentatious ruby wasn’t her style.
She was elegant and delicate and this ring was neither of those.
Her forever fiancé will get her what she truly wants. This is temporary, this ring will be fine for now, I reminded myself.
“Your Highness, we’re ready to get you mic’d up,” a production assistant called, bringing me out of my thoughts.
“Thank you.” I snapped the box shut and put it in my breast pocket. I turned back to my father. “Thank you, Dad. I really do appreciate it.”
He pulled me into a brief hug before patting me on the back. “You’re going to do great.”
“It has been a pleasure following along with your courtship this holiday season. What spurred the idea to give the country a behind-the-scenes glimpse at your journey to finding a wife?” Warren asked from his white armchair opposite the loveseat where I sat.
“Well, Warren, I have worked hard to surround myself with trusted and adept advisers. We mulled over this idea for a while and felt like it would be a great way to give the people of Wexstone a feeling of being involved and included in what was happening with their country’s leadership.”
“Did you read any of the pieces written about the competition and did you take into account the things that your subjects were saying?”
“Oh, absolutely. It is my job to hear what my people are saying,” I replied easily.