Chapter 11

Edward

As I walk Gwen back to the palace, I feel like a fucking king.

Oh, wait. I am a fucking king.

And very soon, the woman beside me is going to be my queen.

Together, we will rule my bedroom, her bedroom, and any other room that’s fit to have sex in.

The rest of the kingdom can wait.

“Edward, is that you? I have something I need to discuss with you.”

Oh, no. Here comes my adviser, dispenser of judgment and unsolicited advice, ready to spoil my good time.

I’ve always known Cecil to be a wise and trustworthy confidant, but wisdom is not what I want right now.

I need absolute silence while I fornicate with Gwen some more.

But if I don’t deal with Cecil right here and now, he’ll probably follow us around all day, even to the bedroom. Maybe even to the toilet.

“Yes, it’s me,” I confess with a sigh. I stop Gwen at the palace steps and wait for Cecil to approach us. “How may I provide you with excellent service?”

“You can start by…um…” Cecil adjusts his bifocals to size up Gwen’s disheveled appearance.

His eyes widen when he notices that her top is missing a few buttons. “My dear, may I recommend a tailor?”

“May he, Edward?” Gwen asks, looking at me as if to ask my permission before she tells him to kindly fuck off.

“It’s all right, Gwen,” I tell her. “Why don’t you and your luscious tits enjoy yourselves in the palace while I talk to my adviser?”

Cecil shakes his old gray head in disgust. If he wore pearls, he would be clutching them right now.

Now I know what to get him for his birthday, I suppose.

Gwen looks at me skeptically. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“No, but this shouldn’t take long. I’ll be back soon.”

I send Gwen off with a long, lingering kiss that I can tell makes old Cecil squirm with uncomfortableness while I stay behind to find out what the hell my adviser wants with me this time.

Cecil waits until Gwen shuts the door before he begins. “Edward, we need to talk about that woman,” he says, rolling the word around in his mouth like an undercooked snail.

“Oh, you mean Princess Gwen? My beautiful fiancée? The woman I am marrying no matter what?”

“Fiancée? That’s exactly what we need to talk about.” Cecil folds his arms and glares at me. “If my assessment of this situation is correct, you’ve been fucking Princess Gwen out of wedlock.”

“That’s not how I would put it, but more or less.”

I’m both proud of his use of the f-word and disappointed in his use of the outdated term “out of wedlock.” We’re supposed to be the progressive kingdom.

That’s literally the slogan printed on our national flag.

How can he not keep up with the changing definition of progress? I need to start briefing him on these things.

But first, I’d better find out where he’s going with this.

“Where were you and Gwen just now, Edward?”

“We were in the gardens.”

“The gardens? Really? Out in public?” Cecil frowns. Apparently, that was the wrong answer. “And that’s where she let you…have her?”

He makes her sound like a bowl of cereal that I ate while standing at the sink instead of sitting at the table. “Of course. Why wouldn’t she?”

“Because you’re engaged to someone else, Edward, and she of all people should know that, seeing that she also has an upcoming marriage,” Cecil practically whines. “And did I hear correctly that earlier you took her into the throne room?”

“Yes, I believe I did take her for quite a tour of my throne.”

“If she had any sense of decorum, she would never have allowed herself to tarnish the royal throne like that.”

“Tarnish? How? Today’s thrones are stainless steel, not silver. They’re very easy to clean. Plus, I’ve asked Gwen to marry me. It’s a done deal.”

“Isn’t your engagement to Ignora—I mean Igora—also, as you say, a done deal? What am I supposed to tell her family if they ask me why I advised you to go back on your promise to her?”

“Whatever you like. You didn’t recommend this, clearly.”

“But everyone will think I did. You’re not the only person who will be affected by this, you know.”

I sigh. “Well, then I’ll tell them that you have advised me to end things with Ignora before news of my indiscretion reaches the tabloids,” I impatiently explain, emphasizing my preferred name for my ex-fiancée. It’s really more fitting, after all. “That way, she can pretend to have called the wedding off herself.”

Cecil cracks a wry smile, and for a moment, the twinkle in his eye makes me think he’s finally seen the light.

But the feeling doesn’t last long.

“For a second there, I thought I might have tricked you into giving yourself good advice,” he says, chuckling. Then his face hardens. “But you mixed up a few of the details. I’m advising you to break things off with Gwen, not Ignora, before the scandal reaches the tabloids. That way, Gwen can pretend to have called the wedding off herself.”

“But why would I do that?”

So far, Cecil is not being very persuasive. I can still think of zero reasons to marry Ignora and a million reasons to marry Gwen.

Cecil reaches into his pocket and pulls out his well-worn copy of our constitution.

I hate it when he does this. How dare he appeal to my patriotism?

“Edward, I want you to remember the values this country was founded on. Our nation was formed in a time when rulers couldn’t be trusted to do anything other than plunder and kill.”

I hang my head. “I know.”

“And do you remember the event that commenced our first year as a sovereign nation?”

“A wedding.”

“Not just any wedding—the first royal wedding. The king had been caught putting the royal sword in his blade maker’s daughter’s sheath, and when his people demanded that he marry her, he did. Do you know why?”

Cecil is enjoying telling this story way too much.

“Because he wanted to show her that he truly cared about her, and by extension, his people?” At least I think that’s why.

“No. To prove that he would continue to buy her family’s swords even though she was clearly a slut.” Cecil shakes his head and continues, “But that’s not the point here. The point is that when a member of the royal family makes a promise, he keeps it. Especially you.”

Now he has me by the crown jewels. Ignora’s family is a very powerful force in our kingdom.

They own the top businesses in several industries. They’re represented in other levels of government, as well.

I’ve attended their weddings, allowed their children to run all over the palace lawn, and promised them all that I’d make Ignora very, very happy.

But what I’m doing right now with Gwen has likely pissed Ignora off, and by extension, made the rest of her family very, very unhappy.

I could live with that, though, because I know Ignora could easily find another nobleman—literally any nobleman—who would be happy to kiss the bride and take all her money.

Sure, she wouldn’t get to be the queen of her kingdom, but perhaps she could star in a reality television show instead. That would bring her all the excitement of being a queen without any of the expectations.

To her, I will be a minor embarrassment leading up to her happily ever after, in whatever form that takes. I’m certain of this.

But to the commoners, I will look like another royal playboy who cares more about fucking women than keeping his people prosperous and safe.

Why would they trust me to run a whole country by myself when I can’t even keep my dick in my pants?

I can live with Cecil’s judgment. I can’t live with theirs.

I like my subjects. They need me. And I need them.

And if I have to choose between my subjects and Gwen, well…

Gwen isn’t making it easy for me to make that choice right now, but no one said that being king was going to be easy.

It’s about duty. Honor. Sacrifice. Etc.

I turn to Cecil, ready to take my medicine. “So what do I have to do to fix this?”

“Get back in that palace and end things with Gwen before it’s too late,” he says. “If you need me to, I can help you try to smooth things over with Ignora and her family.”

Cecil pats me on the shoulder and leans against the palace wall, whistling some old tune about girls in tissue-paper pants.

I guess this is his version of playing hold music while he waits for me to agree with him.

I collapse on the palace steps, disappointed as fuck that my head and my heart are not in agreement.

I don’t want to marry Ignora. I want to marry Gwen.

Fuck the kingdom.

They can demand a lot of me…

But they can’t deny me her.

For better or for worse…I’ve made my choice.

Gwen will be my bride.