Runaway Royal

12

I'm talking to Vic and Anna as they sit wide-eyed in my room while explaining the events of last night. While Vic and Anna aren't super close, we formed an unlikely trio early on as kids that always talked about royal drama and gossip.

"He called me pretty," I say awkwardly and feel a flush building on my cheeks.

Vic falls over on my carpet, laughing loudly at my expression. "You sound horrified, Ad." 

"What did you reply?" Anna asks eagerly.

I shrug and avoid looking at both of them, picking at my nails. "I thanked him, I didn't really know what to say." My brain cells clearly all disappear to go on vacation whenever I'm around him. It's mortifying, but I don't know how to fix it.

They both wince at my response. "You didn't."

"I did," I confirm. 

"Why didn't you compliment him back?" Vic whines, throwing a pillow at me. I batted it out of the air and glared at her. Undeterred, she continues, "You should've said something romantic like 'You're so hot, Lucien' and then make googly eyes."

I gape at her as she snickers, obviously pleased with herself. "I'm not saying that to him or making googly eyes. His ego is inflated enough, he clearly knows he's..." I trail off, struggling to find a word. 

"Cute? Hot? Drop-dead gorgeous?" Vic supplies, waggling her eyebrows at me. Anna falls over on the carpet as she laughs.

"No!" I exclaim, "I was thinking something along the lines of conventionally attractive." But she's right, even though I continue to deny it, he truly is drop-dead gorgeous.

"Boring," she complains, "I don't get why he still likes you when the best thing you can say about him is 'conventionally attractive."

I flop down onto my bed and stare at my canopy. "He knows he's hot, or whatever," I rush over the word, ignoring their smirks, "But Lucien's always been flirty like this, though. It's not just for me. I bet he calls every single girl he meets pretty." The thought of him calling another girl pretty makes me feel miserable no matter how hard I try to fight the feeling.

"You're jealous," Anna says. It's no longer teasing, she states it like it's a fact.

"Definitely not," I dismiss, "He can date whoever he wants." My words don't come out as strong as I wished they did.

They both arch an eyebrow at me in sync and I sigh. Running a hand down my face, I reply, "This entire situation is honestly so embarrassing, I think he probably knows that I liked him when I was younger."

"Is that a bad thing?" Anna asks thoughtfully.

"He asked me to marry him," I blurt out and immediately clap my hands over my mouth. That was not what I wanted to tell them, and they can tell when they stare into my wide eyes.

"You should've told us that first, Adeline!" Vic admonishes loudly.

Anna hops onto the bed next to me. "What did you tell him?"

"My mother called me into a meeting," I groan, "I told him that we would talk later."

"Your mother has awful timing," Anna complains.

I nod when I remember my phone beeping loudly with the ringtone I set for my mother. It's obnoxiously noisy and snapped both of us out of our reverie. I remember stammering out an apology as I fumbled for my phone and Lucien backed away and looked away from me.

"What did you tell him?" Vic prods, clearly waiting for an answer.

I groan and flip over to bury my face in my pillow. My voice comes out muffled as I reply. "I just told him I'd talk to him tomorrow, which technically means later today." I flip back over and sit up, suddenly feeling nervous. "What do you guys think I should say?"

"Say yes!" Anna says, grinning.

"Frankly, he is your best chance. I've been telling you this since the beginning. Princes are in limited supply, to begin with," Vic says, ticking off her fingers, "Most of them are definitely too old for you, you don't even speak the same language as some of them, and some of them are just gross."

Anna nods vigorously. "She's right. Besides, you know him. You even like him." Her voice comes out softer. "Why won't you choose him, Ad?"

And if that isn't the real question, I don't know what is. 

Even I'm not sure if I'm truly against the idea of marriage or if I'm doing this to explicitly defy my mother. If my mother wasn't pulling strings, would I actually want to marry Lucien? There's no doubt that he's kind and attractive, but I don't know if I would marry him.

"I'm not sure," I hedge, trying to answer her question in the only way I can, "but I know I'm not ready to make the decision of marriage—I haven't even had a boyfriend yet. I'm still not an adult yet."

Vic nods, patting my knee. "No matter what, your mother shouldn't be pushing you into something you're unsure of. You need to try to persuade her."

I almost snort at that thought. "I have tried to persuade her over and over again, but she never listens to me. She's putting this ball on no matter what, so I only have two options. Do I go through with the ball and marry Lucien? Or do I run away with him?"

"What about Tobias?" Anna suddenly asks.

"What about him?" I frown.

She gives me a sly smile. "I remember you having lingering feelings for him and even dressing up all nice to impress him."

I shrug. "It doesn't matter, I don't think he's interested in me." I watch Anna and Vic share a knowing glance and I roll my eyes. "I mean, he's nice, but I think I would rather run away anyways."

"How long is the ball again?" Anna asks. "Two weeks?"

I affirm, "Yes. It's quite excessive. It's more like a huge party made up of smaller balls."

"When are you planning to leave?"

"Vic and I thought that I could leave within the last few days. I have to leave before I'm expected to announce who I'm marrying." A sudden thought occurs to me, and I stare at them in horror, worried for my friends. "My mother will think you guys are technically complicit in my plan."

Vic waves a hand carelessly. "She will think I am involved in everything, even if I'm not. It's unavoidable. She is the queen, however, she won't do anything drastic to me. My lips are sealed," she promises reassuringly.

Anna nods as well. "Your mother won't fire me, I've been your personal maid for years."

I slump and release the breath that I was holding. "Thank god. I would never put you guys in harm." Suddenly serious, I grab their hands and pull them in closer. "Do you guys trust Lucien?"

"You know him best, Ad, you guys were best friends," Anna says gently.

"We can spy on him if you want," Vic offers jokingly.

I laugh but nod thoughtfully. "The first ball is in a few days, I really need all your help getting ready. I'll need to mingle with other guests but I would love your thoughts on Lucien."

"We'll keep an eye out, don't worry."

My heart melts at my friends' eagerness to help. I would have never survived living with my mother without them. "Thanks, I-"

My phone rings loudly and I see my mother's contact name come up. Speak of the devil and she shall appear. Groaning inwardly, I place a finger to my lips and pick up the phone. "Hello, mother."

"Please get ready for lunch with our new guests in an hour. I do hope you are preparing for the ball properly otherwise," my mother orders.

"Yes, mother," I nod.

She cuts the call without further preamble and I give my friends a sheepish smile. "Will you guys help me get ready?"