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Chapter Twenty Five

Courtney's POV

"Miss Baxter." greets a guard at the door, bowing. He takes my hand and kisses the top of it softly. "Welcome to Newglade Palace."

I curtsey and smile politely. "I'm here for Prince Nolan."

"Right this way." The guard leads me into the palace. Each step makes my heart race faster and faster, until I'm almost certain that the pumps are echoing through the halls.

"Wait here, Miss Baxter," he instructs as we stop outside a door. I nod and watch as he walks inside, and as soon as he's gone, I take the time to examine myself in a mirror nearby.

Hair? Check.

Makeup? Check.

Regality? Check.

Confidence? A big, fat X.

I just hope Daniel is there. He seems to calm me down.

The door opens again, and I quickly look towards the guard. He extends his arm, linking it with mine before the two of us enter the hall.

A man at the door announces my full title, only this one is much, much longer, listing all of the countries I have complete power over {the Caribbean (all of it), part of Greenland, Ontario and Quebec, just to name a few}.

At the front stands three young men, one of whom I recognize as Daniel. He flashes me a small smile as I approach him, and of course, I smile back.

The second one seems to be a servant, probably around ten or eleven years old. He holds a medium-sized jewellery box in his hands, looking at me intently.

The third one stands in the middle. His hair is a pale blonde, much lighter than mine, and his figure is thin, yet broad at the same time. His chestnut eyes scan me up and down as his mouth curls into a small smirk, and I immediately feel self-conscious again.

Daniel notices almost immediately, and he whacks the back of his stepbrother's head. "Don't do that, it's degrading," he snaps quietly, loud enough just so I can hear it. He looks at me, and I send back a grateful nod.

Once I reach the front, I bow, just as one of Newglade's guards had told me on the plane. I don't move until Nolan pronounces, "Stand."

I rise up and lick my bottom lip a little nervously, making eye contact with the heir apparent of Newglade. He tilts his head in interest and smiles softly.

"Welcome," he says quietly, taking my hand and kissing the top, just like the guard had.

"Thank you," comes my response, smiling politely.

He gestures towards the servant. "I know it's your birthday. I have a few presents for you."

The young boy opens the box in his hands, and my eyes widen a little. A diamond necklace, a silver circlet and a gold bracelet sit inside of it, a smaller box in the corner.

He takes the small box out and opens it, handing it to me. "A ring. It was my grandmother's." He raises my left hand and slides the ring onto my ring finger.

"Thank you, Your Highness," I whisper, looking at it with awe.

"No need to thank me." He holds my hands and kisses me intensely. I don't expect the amount of roughness behind his lips, but I kiss back anyway, taught to always "go with the flow".

Once it's over, he tells me that we are going on a tour of the palace. I happily follow him out of the hall, Daniel on our tails.

Another servant runs towards us, bowing hastily at the three of us. "Your mother needs you, Your Highness," he explains hurriedly.