Duchess in Distress

Chapter 8

PRINCE THEO

'Why her?' that question roamed in Prince Theo's mind since last morning. He also wondered in all the ladies he could get why he made a contract with someone like Nathalie Hendlefort.

He took a deep breath and looked outside—his arms over his chest.

It was already nine in the evening. Lamp posts and the moon gave light to the darkness of the streets in the east part of North Valley.

There were rows of houses, and he could not see a single soul walking at that time.

He received an email from one member of his PR team. A link was attached to this email with a message, 'Sir, we already posted it, and Her Majesty already saw the news.'

He viewed the article, and there were two pictures of him and Nathalie Hendlefort in the Queen's Café. The first one was inside while they were eating the strawberry cake. Only her back was seen, so people got curious. The other one was them sitting on the bench outside. Again, it showed her back.

'Prince Theo's Girlfriend: Who is she?'

The title itself made Prince Theo chuckled. His PR team never disappointed him. The article got the public, as seen in the comment section of the website. He even trended in social media. Nice publicity? Yes, Prince Theo was good at that.

He suddenly thought of Penelope – the love of his life. But they already talked about it earlier that day. He sighed when he remembered the sudden worry in Penelope's face when he told her about it.

"I met someone who can help us to get married someday," he said to Penelope, who was busy putting makeup in the vanity mirror.

She stopped and looked at his reflection in the mirror, "Who?"

"A girl who is a direct descendant of Malin the Great," he nonchalantly said.

Penelope stood up and faced the crown prince, "A girl?" she looked upset, "How can a girl help us?"

"She and I will pretend to be a couple, so my mother will shift her focus," he explained, "By that time, I will arrange your papers, especially your transfer from your biological family to foster family, who is of royal blood. With their surname in your name, you can join the ladies in court, and we can get married."

She went to her boyfriend and held his arm, "Theo, I'm scared that all of your sacrifices will be wasted if your parents still don't agree and..."

He interrupted her, "I'm always telling you that I will fight for us. If I need to abdicate just to get married to you, I will do that. I don't need the crown if you're not with me."

Penelope hugged the crown prince, and tears breamed in her eyes, "But, I'm scared that you will fall for her for real. She's true royal blood, and your parents might favor her."

Prince Theo held her arms and looked at her intently, "Please, trust me. I love you so much. I won't give up on you just for a random girl."

The worries stayed on her face until they parted ways that afternoon. She would be back to Kingsville while Prince Theo met up with the girl he would use.

His Royal Highness clenched his phone. He thought again how perfect Penelope was as his girlfriend and the only thing that she did not have was the royal blood. Why did fate play like that? Why were they not in the same social status so everything would be easy for them?

Suddenly, someone knocked on the window of the car. The driver opened the door for Nathalie, who immediately climbed in with her bags. Prince Theo looked disgusted with the messy hair she had, and then all her bags looked old.