The Prince That Got Away ( A Royal Romance Novel )

Coincidences and Bad Timings Galore

Seven Years Ago...
Emilia's POV:-

" Emilia look at this. They have Prince Louis on the cover !" Mom shoves the latest edition of GQ magazine into my hand. Louis has on a maroon waistcoat and pants paired with a black shirt and tie. On any other man, it would have looked garish and effeminate. Yet he exuded masculinity and sophistication all at the same time.

I have now started to suspect that there's more to Mom's actions than meets the eye. Even Samantha noticed it. Yesterday she jokingly said that Mom's main goal in life seems to be becoming the Prince's mother-in-law. Now when I think about it, Mom has never been much into celebrity gossip. Yet she kept pressing me to bring in tales and tidbits about the Prince's life. It now seems like her main purpose was to make me interact more with the Prince.

I remember Dad saying that Mom could sometimes become as optimistic as a four-year-old child. He wasn't wrong really. Mom was a practical-minded person most of the time but she would often have moments like these. In fact ever since Dad left she's become more and more prone to behaving this way. I sometimes feel she needs to escape reality by building castles in the air since our lives are so devoid of happiness.

In the evening Mom's watching a special feature on Prince Louis. I try to edge away from the living room when something on the TV screen catches my eye. It's footage of Prince Edward's last speech before he was shot a few hours later. I remember going to that rally with my aunt. I even ran into one of the 'royal grandchildren' though I didn't remember which one of them it was. I didn't have a phone back then so I couldn't Google who he was. Plus Samantha had given birth around that time so Mom was too distracted to investigate that matter. However, she was anything but distracted now.

" Emilia, you said you ran into one of the children back then, right? They are showing clips from that day. Can you recognize that boy?" She says.

I stay silent staring at the TV screen. Besides Louis's family, other members of the royal clan had gathered there as well. At least those who supported Prince Edward's bid for the throne. The thing is, I have already found out which one of the royals that boy was. The show keeps focusing on clips of Louis walking behind his parents. His hair was lighter back then, almost blonde.

He had a buzz cut and a chubby face. He was so unlike Louis today with his chiseled features and black wavy locks that fell over his forehead. Louis the child appeared frightened and walked with a slight slouch. He was adorable and the kind of kid you would want to protect. Who knew he would grow up to be as formidable as he was today?

That was probably why I had never made the connection. The boy I had met all those years ago was none other than Louis. For a second I felt a strange sort of thrill. It was such a weird coincidence that we ran into each other all those years ago and met again. After he helped me the night of the party I no longer disliked him. In fact, with all the coincidences happening lately this guy might turn out to be The Fisher King as well.

Yet I didn't say anything to Mom. She would start acting like my marriage to Louis was a done deal and it would put me under loads of pressure for nothing. I can't forget the derision on his face the night of the party. He probably thought I was a dumb bimbo in need of rescuing. I inwardly shudder at the idea of his knowing about Mom's plans and that I didn't dislike them as much as I should.

On Monday I walked into school feeling nervous after months of summer vacation. It doesn't help that Tessa has decided to take the year off. The night of the party her Dad had an angina attack. Despite his illness, the court was quick to sentence him to five years in prison. Soon after Tessa had left the country to go to her maternal grandparents in Germany.

She and I did talk on the phone now and then but I felt like she wanted more time on her own. I no longer had anyone I could share my problems with. My relationship with Samantha was still strained and Dad's passing away had only managed to broaden the rift between us. It's like grief had made us more unforgiving than we were before.