Page 57 of Royally F*cked

I try to hide the panic I'm feeling as I deny the truth. Or what was the truth. It's only been a week, but I don't think Jude and I are doing this because of the crown alone.

"Oh Charles, you always have had an active imagination and an ear for gossip."

"This isn't my imagination," Dad insists. "I've been around this place long enough to know when something isn't right. I bet that's exactly why King Julius invited Anderson and his daughter to dinner. He was hoping to strike a deal of some kind. I bet he thought that Mistress Henrietta would intimate our baby girl. That or he hoped she would try to seduce the prince."

"No." I shake my head. "Henrietta is not here to seduce Jude."

"Has he told you about the king's plans? Tell me he at least had the balls to tell you…"

There's a knock on the door and then Jude steps inside. "The balls to tell Charlie what? I assume I'm the one you were discussing."

"Your Highness," Mum scrambles to her feet.

"Mrs. Wilson, there is no need for formality. I would just like to know what I've walked in on."

"Dad thinks Henrietta was here to seduce you and that you're only marrying me because you're preparing to take the throne," I fill Jude in on what we were discussing.

"You are correct about Henrietta. The King thought that she would work with Anderson to seduce me, publicly I might add. However that was not the case. As for our nuptials, as I told you before, I am marrying Charlie because I love her. Anything more than that is irrelevant."

I cling to his words, convincing myself that it's true. Deep down Jude must feel something more for me. The connection between the two of us is too strong for him to not have feelings. Even though he's never said the words to me, I have felt his love in every touch and in everything he's done so far.

"You've pulled my daughter into a royal mess, Julius." My father snarls.

"Daddy, Jude has not pulled me into anything. I agreed to his proposal with my eyes wide open."

"What I said, still stands. If he hurts you, there will be hell to pay."

"He won't," I promise myself and my parents.

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