Despite my best efforts, I was back again.
My brain fuzzy from sleep deprivation, I took a peek outside. The carriage had arrived at a location quite familiar to me. Unfortunately, it wasn’t my family’s estate in the capital.
“Why are we at the palace?” I asked.
“Oh, there are various reasons,” the prince replied. “Our preparations for the ceremony will take a while longer, besides.”
“Wauughhh...”
As I wept in despair, Lord Clarke, sitting next to me, petted my knee. Hey! Don’t take advantage of my confused state!
“Lettie, you’ll ruin your beautiful face with all that weeping.”
And whose fault is that?!
“I wanna go back...”
“I’m afraid that’s not possible,” he said apologetically, petting my head.
I didn’t want an apology. I wanted to leave!
He’d forced me to come back just as I was sighing dreamily about my idyllic country life! And to the palace, to boot! My life was in shambles.
Taking my hand as I continued to weep, Lord Clarke began to lead me somewhere. Where are we going? Are we getting married already?! No, wait, he said the preparations weren’t done yet, right?
In spite of my frantic resistance, I was easily dragged along without a clue what would happen next. That was it! I was going to start doing marathon training!
I kept my gaze fixed on the ground, not wanting to acknowledge the fact I’d been brought back to the palace.
“Lettie,” Lord Clarke called out. “Lift your head.”
And so I did, reluctantly. What I saw made my jaw drop.
“Riv...”
“Mm-hm.”
“River... There’s a river.”
A stream crossed through the palace courtyard. I could see fish swimming beneath the surface.
That had definitely not been there last time.
“I had it built for you.”
Oh! Oh, the money that must’ve cost! How powerful the royal family was!
Not that I cared.
As I peered into the stream, marveling that something so beautiful could’ve been made in such a short amount of time, a fish leaped up with a splash.
“You like rivers, yes? You can fish here.”
Yes, I liked rivers. And I liked fishing. Loved it, even.
I was surprised he knew about my interests until I remembered I’d declared them quite loudly at the ball. And I realized I didn’t know what his interests were at all.
“So, from now on, you should do what you like when you like it. You’ll have diplomatic duties, yes, but not that many. Your princess education is almost perfect, so let’s wrap it up.”
Shocked, I tore my gaze away from the river to stare at him. “That’s not possible, though.”
“Oh, it’s fine, don’t worry,” he assured me.
“Is it? Queens can’t just do whatever they want...”
“My mother does plenty of what she wants.”
It was true. The queen had always been rather free-spirited. She was careful to keep it a secret from the people, but I knew she often sneaked into the castle town for fun.
But was such freedom truly possible? Knowing how strict the princess lessons were, I couldn’t help but doubt what he was saying. Lord Clarke must’ve picked up on my feelings, because he offered me a reassuring smile.
“Don’t worry,” he said. “I won’t let anyone object. You’ll have proper permission.”
“Whose?” I asked.
“His Majesty’s,” he explained.
“Eep!” I yelped in surprise.
“All I had to do was announce that if I were to marry anyone but you, I wouldn’t have children. And so, if you ran away, there would be no royal heirs. That got him to agree quite readily.”
Blackmail. That was blackmail.
“So let’s be wed,” he insisted. “It’s not a bad deal. You’ll live a more carefree life than you would if you married a lower-ranked nobleman. You’ll have to marry sooner or later regardless, so why not take advantage of this excellent investment?”
He must still be holding a grudge because I’d called him a bad debt.
I took a good look at his face as he leaned in closer to me. Beautiful, clear blue eyes. Golden hair, swaying in the wind. It struck me then, inexplicably, that yes, he was indeed a prince.
“I don’t want to be tied down!” I blurted out.
At the last moment, I put my hand over his mouth, halting the approach of his lips. Lord Clarke seemed resentful, but he had no reason to be. I was the one who should’ve been resentful!
“And what’s not to your satisfaction?”
Pulling my hand away, I said, “I don’t want to marry into the royal family.”
The one light at the end of my miserable tunnel of princess lessons had been the hope that one day, our engagement would be broken off. It would’ve been the ultimate revenge against the people of the palace and my brother, who had forced me into this betrothal to the prince. Even if he told me I would be free as queen, it was just too much for me to swallow. I’d held this grudge for so many years—it wouldn’t vanish so easily!
If I accepted this now, the misery I’d spent all these years wallowing in would’ve been for nothing!
Just thinking of the past made me angry.
Seeing me huff, Lord Clarke looked exasperated, as though he were dealing with a toddler’s tantrum. That only annoyed me more.
“You’ll just have to deal with it.”
“No.”
At my refusal to acquiesce, the prince sighed. “A shame, Leticia,” he said, picking me up once again and turning back to the inside of the palace.
I had a bad feeling about this.
“Put me down!” I demanded.
My heart had fluttered when he came close to me in the carriage, but now it was pounding in my chest. I broke out in a cold sweat.
Flailing my arms and legs with all my strength didn’t help one bit. Ugh!
He took me to a secluded room deep within the palace.
“Lettie, stay here until the ceremony preparations are complete,” he said with a smile on that handsome face of his before ruthlessly closing the door behind him.
Immediately, I started yanking on the door handle.
“Nooo! It won’t open!”
Duchess Leticia Dorman, seventeen years old. Locked up for the first time in my life.