Page 22 of Falling for the Widowed Prince

A couple more asked questions had to do with the wedding itself - would it be a large wedding? Would it be televised? Would Madeleine be doing any interviews, with or without the prince?

They didn't use her name, but butterflies began to settle in Madeleine's stomach regardless.

Her phone buzzed. It shouldn't have surprised her to see a text from Liana, but somehow she hadn't thought about her friend reaching out as the press conference wound down.

Is this the project you were working on?! The prince is getting married?! Do you know who the woman is?! As soon as you find out when the wedding will be, let me know! I want an invite!

Madeleine stared at her phone. How could she tell her best friend that she was the one getting married?

This would be much harderthan the press conference had been. Anthony hadn't said anything then, just forced himself to remain stoic while the news of his second marriage went public. The initial reports were cautiously optimistic with a giant side of outrage on his behalf - that this was the only choice so he could be regent.

With his next audience, everything would come down to him.

He gathered his children in his room, all seated on the bed he'd shared with their mother.

That thought brought other questions to mind, ones he didn't want to deal with anytime soon, but would likely have to address in one form or another far sooner than he'd prefer.

"I have something I need to talk to you about." The nannies made sure none of them had inadvertently heard the news from anywhere else. Five pairs of eyes stared at him expectantly.

He prayed for strength and wisdom. "You know Mummy had a special job, right?"

"Mummy was queen." Aaron answered first.

"That's right. Mummy was the queen of Eastern Novigradia, and that means we need a new queen."

"Like when Maria moved and Therese came to take care of us?" His five-year-old son was the first one to jump in again, this time mentioning his favorite nanny.

"Kind of. The way it works for kings or queens is that when one of them dies, their oldest child takes over for them."

Nessa and Eli looked over at Catherine, whose face had gone white.

He should have talked to her about this privately beforehand.

"Kinsey is queen?" This question, along with the family nickname, came from Nessa.

"That's right." He and his wife had discussed it a little bit with the two oldest children, but hadn't fully thought through the implications if something were to happen while they were so young. "But Catherine isn't old enough to be queen by herself just yet. In fact, she needs to be twenty-five to be queen on her own. Until then she has someone who will do all of the things Mummy used to do for her. That person is called a regent, and they're like a temporary king or queen until the real one is old enough."

His eldest daughter still didn't say anything.

"Part of my job as Kinsey's papa is to make sure the regent is someone who will only do good things for Catherine and forEastern Novigradia. As she gets older, the regent will help her learn to do all of the things she needs to do to be a good queen, just like Mummy was. Mummy learned from her papa. Catherine will learn from the regent."

Four of his children looked expectantly at him, but Catherine had started staring at the bed.

"Who will it be?" Catherine asked. She sounded scared.

"My first choice, Mummy's first choice, would be me."

Her head snapped up. "You?" Hope began to overcome the fear.

"Yes, but there's a problem."

The hope disappeared from her face.

"For me to be the regent, I have to do something I don't really want to do, but I will because it's best for the country, but most importantly it’s best for you." He looked at the others. "I think it will be good for the rest of you, too."

"What do you have to do?" Catherine’s fear had changed to resignation.

"I have to get married again." He watched all of them carefully for their reactions. Issy didn't seem to care. Aaron looked confused. Nessa looked like she was mad enough to cry. Eli had an impassive look on his face. Catherine just stared at him.

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