“You honestly think that I shouldn’t be with Connor because he’s a commoner?”

Her father shook his head wearily. “Beatrice, you’ve studied the Constitution backward and forward. Don’t you know by now that the Founding Fathers never did anything without good reason?” He poured himself another splash of bourbon. His mouth was set into a grim line, his eyes shadowed. “That law is there to protect you, and the Crown, from situations like this. From … misalliances.”

Tears pricked at Beatrice’s eyes. She needed space, needed a minute to think a way through this. “Why won’t you at least give him a chance?”

“It isn’t about me, Beatrice. If I was the only person you had to convince, you would already have my blessing,” her father said quietly. “But I know how flawed the world is—how fiercely people are going to judge you, as America’s first queen. I know the near-impossible task that lies ahead of you. Trust me when I say that if you marry Teddy, he will help lessen that burden for you in a thousand small ways. Teddy will lift you up, will support you. He will be an asset to you, while Connor would prove nothing but a hindrance. And you can’t afford a hindrance. It’s going to be difficult enough for you as it is.”

“Because I’m a woman,” Beatrice said flatly.

Her father didn’t argue. “Yes, exactly, because you’re a woman, and the world will make everything exponentially more difficult for you. It isn’t right, or fair, but it is the truth. You are going to be the very first Queen of America. You have a steeper road to climb than all the eleven kings who came before you. You will have to do so much more to prove yourself, to earn the respect of foreign dignitaries and politicians and even your own subjects. I have been trying for years to help prepare you, to make things as easy for you as I can, but it’s still a challenge that you will face every single day.”

“Connor knows all of this, Dad. He’s seen my life up close, and he hasn’t been scared away. I can lean on him as a source of support.” I already do.

“He will drag you down,” her father said brutally. “Beatrice, I’m sure he means well, but that young man has no idea what he’s signing on for. How is he going to feel after years, decades, of being constantly told he’s not good enough? Of sitting quietly by your side at thousands of state functions? He will be forced to sublimate his entire life to the demands of the Crown.” The king took a bracing breath. “Connor may love you now, but is his love for you strong enough to withstand all of that?”

Of course it is, Beatrice wanted to say. The words failed to reach her lips.

“The law might seem outdated and ridiculous to you, but there’s wisdom in it,” her father maintained. “Why do you think so many of our forefathers married foreign princesses? It wasn’t just to seal political treaties. It was because no one else was capable of taking on this job. No one else, aside from the children of other monarchs, had been raised since infancy to lead millions of people.”

“You’re underestimating Connor,” Beatrice tried to say, but her voice broke.

The king wiped at his eyes. “Beatrice, I’m trying to protect you both. Even if it was possible for you to marry Connor, it would be a mistake. Someday, when he realized just how much he’d given up for you, he would regret this choice. He would come to hate you for it—and worse, he would come to hate himself.”

Beatrice couldn’t move. She felt utterly transfixed by her father’s words.

“But … I love him,” she said again.

“I know.” Her father’s hand tightened around his glass. “If it’s any consolation, you aren’t the first monarch to face this kind of sacrifice. Plenty of kings who came before you gave up someone they loved, to satisfy the demands of the Crown. Myself included.”

His words didn’t sink in right away. When they did, Beatrice’s gaze snapped up. “What?”

“I loved someone too, before your mother.”

Her blood hummed with shock. The only sound was the quiet popping of the fire.

“Who …” Beatrice’s lips felt dry and cracked.

“She was a commoner.”

“What happened to her?”

“I haven’t seen her in a very long time,” he said gravely. Beatrice was too distracted to realize that it wasn’t a complete answer.

Her father had been in love when he was young, and had given up that love to marry Adelaide. Beatrice tried to imagine letting go of Connor like that: never seeing him again, never knowing if he’d eventually moved on, married someone else. Her heart twisted in anguish at the thought.

“Beatrice, I know you love your Guard now, but the kind of love you’re talking about—it doesn’t last.” The king paused to cough before continuing. “Your mother and I weren’t in love when we first married. We fell in love, day by day. Real love comes from creating a family together, from facing life together—with all its messes and surprises and joys.” He sighed. “I know you don’t love Teddy now, but I also know that if you marry him, you’ll come to love him. In a real way. That’s the kind of love you can build a future on—not whatever you feel right now for Connor.”

Beatrice sat there in silence for a while, staring blindly at the fire. Her mind spun with everything her father had told her.