Twice Upon A Time (Unfinished Fairy Tales #2)(43)



He is silent for a long moment. Then he exhales. “I don’t mind—of course I don’t mind you staying. There’s no doubt that traditional duties fail to satisfy you, but you’ve got it wrong. My sleepless nights have nothing to do with our conversations. It’s because—” He stops abruptly.

Another man approaches the office. It’s Sir George, who acts as Edward’s secretary. He frowns when he sees me and my desk, but after glancing at my husband, George seems to swallow whatever question he has in the back of his mind. He steps forward and holds out a long, flat envelope.

“His Majesty requests that you review the itinerary of the Moryn emperor’s State Visit. If there are no objections, His Majesty would like for the preparations to commence.”

“Thank you, George. I shall look it over and have it back to you before dinner.” The secretary gives me a curt nod and leaves. He is so different from the lord chamberlain. George personifies the stereotypical image of an English butler—stoic, discreet, keeping himself invisible like walking furniture.

“The Moryn emperor is coming?” I say. From the tour of Enrilth Castle, books in the palace library, and personal experience related by Edward, I know enough of Moryn that’s required of me. And that’s what makes me surprised, and even a bit angry. “Why didn’t I know about this?”

He hands me the envelope. “I was going to tell you when the schedule was finalized.”

I slide out the contents of the envelope. There is an invitation printed on a high-quality card embellished with the crimson and gold royal emblem. The emperor’s name, Augustin, is printed along with his fiancé, Simone.

“Augustin originally planned to come to our wedding,” Edward says. “However, a mob uprising occurred at the capital and he couldn’t leave until it was taken care of. Hence, my father decided to invite him for a later visit.”

I scan over the events that will take place during the State Visit. There will be a military review at the royal park, an Investiture of the Order of the Garter, a diplomatic levee at the Moryn embassy, and a concert followed by a ball.

Since I have no idea what an investiture means, nor of a levee, I ask Edward for an explanation. Luckily, in most cases, the king performs the main duties. All we have to do is stand by and watch. When Edward reaches the last event, he pauses and looks at me.

“Do you remember how to dance?”

Oh no. With a sinking heart, I realize that even if I have fully recovered my memory, I’d still need practice with dancing. After I accepted Edward’s proposal at the ball, I didn’t get many chances to dance, as the Season had concluded. Balls and dances in fall and winter were infrequent, and besides, I’ve never been good at dancing.

Edward seems to guess what’s going on in my mind. “In that case,” he says slowly, “I shall have to teach you.”

I gulp. “I . . . I’m sure Madame Dubois can help me.” Madame Dubois was my etiquette teacher when I moved into the palace.

He chuckles. “I thought you were fed up with her bossing you around.” He leans even closer, so close that his breath fans my cheek. “Besides, she is currently vacationing in the north. I doubt it would be a good idea to summon her solely for extra lessons, when everyone assumes you are already familiar with dancing. Don’t worry, Kat. We shall practice in my garden, where no one can bother us.”

That means we’ll be alone. ALONE. Not that I’m against the idea—indeed, dancing in that beautifully laid out garden is perhaps the most romantic thing ever—but it also means that I’ll be getting more and more attached to the prince. To Athelia. It’s an idea that I’ve been trying to resist.

But what else can I do but say yes? As princess, I can’t hide away in a corner and be a wallflower, something that used to occur when I was still Katriona Bradshaw, the younger, less attractive sister. I may even be required to dance with the Moryn emperor, and it’ll be so embarrassing if I step on his toes.

“Okay,” I whisper.

“Good. I cannot wait to have you in my arms.” Edward watches me, his smirk still hovering near his lips. “I will arrange with George to block out two hours in the afternoon, thrice a week. Unless in the case of emergency, those two hours shall not be disturbed.”

He resumes his drafting of some tedious memorandum for a foreign country. I stare at the invitation, still lying on the table.

Some raw, inexplicable emotion stirs in my heart. Falling for him is not a good thing, considering Athelia’s society and culture are definitely not female-friendly, and being with him means that I’ll never see my family and friends again. But the truth is that I am falling for him, no matter how reluctant I am or how hard I try to fight it.





21





I descend the stairs leading to the courtyard and wipe sweat from my brow. It has been an uncommonly hot day, and I really wish that I could get into an air-conditioned car and drive away. However, in Athelia, I have to settle for an open-air carriage and a fan, which will not provide me shelter from the dust on the roads. I doubt it’ll do much to alleviate the heat, but considering that most citizens are on foot, I can't complain. I duck into the carriage and give Bertram a smile. “Let’s go.”

It’s the day of the school board meeting at Princess College, the girls’ school that Elle and I established prior to my wedding. As the head patron, my presence is required. Thank God that I’ve gained most of my memories by now.

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