not a fairytale

sixteen

Toward the end of the evening, Logan made a toast and was followed by his mother and his father was to end things with a toast before the final song of the night played and we went about our separate ways.

"Thank you to my son Logan and beautiful wife and Queen Maria for their toasts," King Richard remarked, "To close out the evening, I would like to make a toast to the independence of our beautiful island of Meldeva two hundred years ago now. There is no other place I would have rather been born and served you all as King. It is with a deep appreciation for my family and our people that I announce to you all that I will be stepping down from the throne at the time of my son's engagement."

That caused the entire room to clamor.

My heart dropped in my chest. Logan was going to be king in a month. A month. Which meant whoever was going to marry him was going to be Queen a lot sooner than any of us expected.

My mind was racing as everyone talked among themselves at the conclusion of the toast and I started to have an overwhelming amount of anxiety fill my body.

It was all too much, the anxiety of the situation, the room full of people watching me. I couldn't take it. I slipped through the otherwise occupied crowd and ran back to my room, I had to be alone.

I locked the door behind me, I didn't even want Alessia's help getting undressed and washing my hair. I just wanted to be alone.

Anthony tried to get me to let him into the room, he knocked and pleaded for me to let him in but I didn't answer.

I eventually fell asleep, still in my dress from the ball, and didn't wake up until long past breakfast. We had three days without events before we traveled to the countryside where most of the cherries were grown for the Cherry Blossom Festival and ball.

I didn't know how to be around everyone else right now, I thought that I could learn to be Queen when this all started. I had years of learning from Queen Maria ahead of me and I could be at her side as she showed me the ropes of royalty.

But now any learning I could do was going to be a crash course in being royal and I wasn't sure if I could do it. As soon as I woke up late the next morning the press was already speculating that I wasn't the clear choice anymore. That I didn't have the proper upbringing. I didn't know what I was doing or getting myself into. That I was just a spoiled brat socialite. That I wasn't cut out for being Queen like this.

And I was starting to believe them.

I steered clear of everyone for the next three days. Anthony took the hint and he and Alessia didn't bring any of it up when they brought me food or coffee throughout the day.

We took the train to the countryside and I didn't have to mingle with any of the other girls luckily. I didn't know how much more of this I could take after what was being said about me that I knew what most of the other girls were now thinking and brave enough to say out loud now that I'd pissed them off. We arrived during the late morning of the festival and went to the manor to change before going out to the orchards.

"Are you sure you're good to go?" Anthony asked as Alessia helped me get ready.

"I have to be Anthony, or what they're saying about me will be true," I replied, looking at my reflection in the mirror as Alessia sprayed my hair one last time.

I had on a pale pink sundress that fell a little below my knees. It had spaghetti straps covered in hand-sewn roses and straps that fell off my shoulders. It was flowy and airy and summery, paired with a pair of tan sandals to make it casual. I had a nude clutch to match my shoes and a pair of small diamond earrings to go with it. I didn't want to look formal, we were going to be out in the cherry orchards and outside, I didn't need a formal dress and heels for it that wasn't who I was.