Falling in love ~ Steve Rogers

Chapter 11

One year later.....

"Anything else, gentlemen?" Joseph asked. Him and Steve were in a meeting with the ministers and the royal advisors. It had been three hours since the meeting started. Steve was used to these long meetings by now.

"Yes, Your Majesty." One of his advisors said. "But we would like to talk to you only, Your Majesty."

"You can say whatever you want to in front of Prince Steven. He's not a child anymore." Joseph said.

"I insist, Your Majesty." The advisor said.

Joseph sighed and looked at Steve, "Fine."

Steve nodded to his Father before leaving the room.

"What is the matter, Lord Smith?" Joseph asked.

"We wanted to talk about Prince Steven's relationship, sir." Lord Smith said.

"What about it?" Joseph said.

"We think you should stop it, sir." Smith said.

"What is the problem you have exactly?" Joseph asked.

"She is a commoner, Your Majesty. If Prince Steven were to eventually marry her she is going to know nothing about ruling a kingdom and running it." Smith said.

"Why do you think so?" Joseph said. 

"We've also noticed that Prince Steven has been a little distracted from work. They are going on vacations together and plus the magazines are publishing photos of them kissing and touching each other. It's damaging his image of being a strong and focused ruler. It's not good for the kingdom, sir." Lord Smith said. "We all think that you shouldn't have refused Princess Sharon's hand in marriage. She is a princess. She was raised to be a Queen." 

Joseph sighed loudly before speaking, "Princess Sharon is from a royal family but she is not fit to be a queen. You all know what she did at the event in The Valkyrie. Do you want the future queen of our country to act out because she was jealous?" 

Lord Smith nodded, "I know, Your Majesty. But we get most of our raw material from Sonova. Don't you think your decision might cost us?" 

"Not going ahead with the marriage was not just my decision. King Michael agreed with me too." Joseph said. 

"But sir-" 

Joseph stood up from his chair and so did the others, "I don't want another word about this. Prince Steven is my only son and I don't want to lose him because I forced him to do something he didn't want. He is my only heir and your future King. I want him to be happy in his life, not be forced to do something just for the good of the kingdom." Joseph said and left the room. 

"Father." Steve called him. "What did they talk about?" 

"Nothing you should worry about, son. I handled it." Joseph said. 

"It was about Y/N wasn't it?" Steve said. "Let me guess. They don't want me to be with a commoner." 

"Steven..." Joseph sighed. 

"It's fine, dad. I don't care what others think about my relationship. I love Y/N and she is the only one for me." Steve said. "If they are unhappy about it then I don't give a damn." 

"I know that. But you have nothing to worry about. The ministers thought it would be good for the kingdom if you married Princess Sharon but I told them to shut up." Joseph said. "I know what an unhappy marriage is. I don't want you to go through it as well." 

"Wait. You are unhappy?" Steve asked. 

"No, Steven." Joseph chuckled, "I love your mother a lot. I was talking about your grandparents. I've seen the way they were. They got married to secure a treaty. And they suffered a loveless marriage just for the sake of their kingdoms. I don't want that for you." 

"Thank you, dad." Steve said. "I love you."

Joseph smiled at his son, "Love you too, son. Now come on. We have a lot of work to do." 

"Actually...."

"You are going to see Y/N, aren't you?" 

"Yes." Steve nodded. 

"Take Bucky with you." Joseph said, making Steve smile. "And invite her to lunch on the weekend. It's been a long time since your mother and I've seen her."

"Yes, dad. I'll talk to her." Steve said, "I gotta run. I'm already late. Bye." 

"Take care, son." 

"Yes, dad." Steve said before disappearing down the hallway.