Page 88 of My Five Daddies

She sighs. “I’m just so jealous of you. And you say he came to see youagain?”

I nod slowly. “Seemed to just want to chat,actually.”

“Chat?” she asks, cocking her head. “What word isthat?”

“Talk,” I say. “He just walked to talk tome.”

“Ah,” she says. “The prince does have a … reputation, but of course it isn’ttrue.”

“I heard. But why do you say it isn’ttrue?”

“He’s the prince,” she says simply. “He can do whatever he pleases with hissubjects.”

“I’m not his subject,” I pointout.

“Yes, true. Well, he can do whatever he wishes with me, then.” She smilesproudly.

I laugh and push back from the table. “I’m getting another drink. Wantone?”

“Yes, please,” she says. “Today is a day for drinking. You saw the royal package, afterall.”

I groan but can’t help but laugh as I walk over toward the bar. Polovia has some of the best beer in the world, and everyone here drinks it. I’m not much of a drinker, but they have this stuff that’s slightly sour, very light and airy, has practically no alcohol. I love it and can’t get enough. I always have one or two when I come here during lunch withBritta.

I get up to the bar and wait to be served. On the television, they’re doing a story about the royal family. I can just barely follow along, but apparently some cousin was given a new title, whatever that means. I can’t tell if it’s a big deal or not, but I suspect it isn’t. I mean, these royals are always making up titles and giving them to each other, right? None of it meansanything.

Polovia is such a strange country. It’s very modern and European, but it still has a functioning monarchy. The royal family isn’t a figurehead like it is in England and elsewhere. The King is like the president, except with more power. Polovia has a parliament, but the King ultimately sets laws, with a vast veto power. However, parliament sets budgets, and the King can’t veto a budget that passes with a supermajority.

I’m not usually interested in politics, but it’s good to be aware of stuff at least. I had only just heard of Prince Nolan before meeting him today, but I had no clue what he looked like. Mostly I just read his name on Wikipedia when I was trying to figure out what the hell the royal family actually does here. The Polovian people are pretty obsessed with the royals and are constantly scrutinizing them. I can only imagine what they think about PrinceNolan.

It’s a pretty conservative society, and the prince didn’t seem like a conservative man. Although sex is all over the media and on television, it’s practically not talked about, except by freakish people like Britta. And even that relatively tame conversation was pushing the boundaries for people in this country. They all have sex with each other constantly, but nobody ever talks about it, and there’s a lot of shame around it. I’m pretty inexperienced and a little reserved, but the people here make me look like a totalwhore.

I order two drinks and carry them back to the table. As soon as I sit down, Britta starts talking about rumors she’s heard about the prince. I half listen to her, since it’s all really boring stuff about breaches of etiquette and other mundane things. She talks about this stuff like it’s so important, but it’s just more evidence of the way the people here think about the royalfamily.

I keep thinking about the way he looked at me the second time we spoke. I don’t know why he ran into me again. It was almost like he was looking for me, but that can’t be right. From what I can tell, the prince is back in the castle in order to solidify his claim to the throne, or something like that. It sounds super important, so I can’t imagine he’d have time to come talk to a lowly maid likeme.

But it happened. I can’t deny that. He was looking at me like he wanted to rip my clothes off, and I can’t just ignore that fact. I keep thinking about him, half naked, a cocky smile on his face, not bothering to coverup…

I need to get myself together. I have one goal, and that’s to get home. I don’t need to get involved with some arrogant, cocky, spoiled prince. I don’t know him and I don’t need to know him. I just need to keep my head down and get my workdone.

So that’s what I’ll do. I’ll forget about this prince. I probably won’t even run into him again, anyway. I had my fun and now it’s done, which is probably for thebest.

5

Nolan

The King sitsacross from me and sighs. “Don’t pretend like this is asurprise.”

I clench the arms of my chair. “It absolutely is a surprise,” I say. “Considering I’m your rightfulheir.”

My father leans back in his chair and eyes me. He’s a thin man with graying hair, a smooth face, and gaunt eyes. He looks tired, and that’s because he barely sleeps. The man works harder than anyone else I know. He keeps saying that royals must do twice as much as the commoner, since we’re held to the highest standards imaginable. He’s rail thin and works out all the time, though you couldn’t tell. I suspect all his muscle just disappears fromstress.

“Since when did you care about that?” he asks me. “You haven’t lived in the castle foryears.”

“Just because I live on my own, doesn’t mean I’m not interested in becomingking.”

He slowly narrows his eyes while watching me. I hate when he does that. It’s so fucking demeaning, like he’s trying to decide if you’re a serious human or not. He’s been doing it my whole fucking life. He does it to the ministers sometimes, too. I can only imagine what theythink.

“And yet you’ve spent all this time frittering away your inheritance, sleeping with any woman that will have you, and generally wasting yourtime.”

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