Bridgerton - The Lost Royal

Chapter Thirty

Benedict

"Please tell me you are joking brother." Anthony sighs, fingers pressing against his temples. I've just told him everything that happened the previous night with Sophia and he seems far from impressed.

"No. It really is that bad." I reply, taking another sip of whiskey.

Anthony groans, "Well then we must go to the palace immediately, and you shall apologise to the queen for taking advantage of the princess."

"Taking advantage?! She kissed me first, Anthony." I say appalled.

"Well dear brother, here is the reminder that no one will believe that, since you are a man, and she is a woman. Regardless of who kissed who, you took advantage of her and she is, as the mothers in the ton would say, damaged." Anthony gets up from his chair, already getting his coat.

"Sophia is not-..." I start, but anthony cuts me off,

"What you did was wrong and you knew it. Kissing an unmarried noblewoman is not what gentlemen do. I certainly would not." He says and before he's gotten to the end of his sentence, a snigger comes from the other end of the drawing room. There sits Kate, reading a book,

"Should I remind you of the first time we... embraced... my dear husband?" She teases and Anthony grumbles,

"Thank you for supporting me here, darling, it is highly appreciated." He jokes.

Kate puts her book down and looks at him, "I support love, Anthony, and your younger brother is clearly smitten. And who can blame him, Sophia seems like wonderful young lady, and smart too I assume, as she spent a lot of time in Hyacinth's company. We all make mistakes, it is about how you handle them."

"Right." Anthony sighs defeatedly, "Which is exactly why we are going to the castle right now, Benedict get your coat and get in the carriage, we have no time to lose, the queen could come over to arrest you any minute now."

With much effort, I get up from my chair. I know Anhtony is right, apologizing to the queen really is our best bet here, but I am scared. Not of the possible jail sentence I could get for kissing the queen to be, but because I might run into that young woman herself, and I have no idea what to say to her.

Is she angry about what happened? Does she regret it? And if so, does she regret it because of the massive problem it caused or because she did not enjoy it? Did the kiss mean she would consider marrying me too or was she simply bored? I have no idea if-...

"Benedict?" Anthony gives me a little smack, "We've arrived."

I nod, heart pounding. The castle seems a lot bigger and intimidating than it did last night. I slide out of the carriage and side by side we walk towards the entrance.

"Thank you." I say then, "For coming with me."

"Well I am Lord Bridgerton, I doubt you would get inside without me by your side. Besides, if this goes public, the entire family name will be ruined." He replies swiftly.

"Right, sorry about that." I inhale deeply.

Anthony pats my shoulder, "But even if I wasn't desperate to save our family name, I would have still been here for you."

And with that, we get to the entrance. To my surprise, we are let inside instantly, and I have a feeling they were expecting us, or rather me, to come. That feeling is confirmed when Anthony is asked to wait in a separate drawing room while I am escorted to meet with the queen, something that is even more terrifying than it sounds.

"Good afternoon, mister Bridgerton." The queen's back is facing me as I enter the drawing room.

"Your Royal Higness." I say as I bow, my voice a little pitchy, "I wish to apologize for my... behaviour... last night. I shall never speak of it, I can assure you. I mean no harm."

"I know." She replies, turning to face me, "I am aware that you have no bad intentions when it comes to my granddaughter."

"Does that mean you will not sentence me to prison?" I ask carefully.

A smile forms on the queen's face and a feeling of pride fills me from inside, "No, Mister Bridgerton, I will not send you to jail. I will need to ask you however to stay away from Sophia, forever, preferably."

"I– uhm.." I stutter, "Why is that, if I may ask?"

"Because she is to marry prince Benedict, and he does not wish for you to see each other." The queens says shortly.

"You are making her marry that idiot?" I ask outraged, all sense of formality out the window, "She despises him."

"There is no need to be angry at me mister Bridgerton, as it was me who suggested for her to marry you. But this seems to be her wish."

I am completely flabbergasted, "Why? I told her I would marry her, did she think I was joking? Because I was not, your majesty, I would love to marry Sophia, truly."

"Oh I think she believed you. But I am afraid she was worried you had not thought it through." The queen notes.

"What are you implying?" I ask.

"Well, you may wish to marry the Sophia you met that one night, but Sophia is no longer a pretty young girl, she is the future queen of England. She is under the impression you may not realise that if you are to marry her, that would make you the next king of this country. So let me ask you mister Bridgerton, did you think that through?"

Ehm. No. I certainly had not.