Be My Princess ✔️

Chapter 7

I was fifteen and a half when I finally wrote to you again.

After I saw you with Henry, I couldn't look at you. Nor could I talk to you. Like a child, I ignored you. Because I was convinced everything was your fault for not loving me. I didn't even consider that me being a child was a problem, a young teenager who had was not mature or even old enough for an adult like you.

But I believed you had lead me on. That you made me believe you were going to marry me because I was the prince you had been waiting for all your life. Thinking on it now, it sounds ridiculously arrogant and entitled. I know you did nothing wrong, you never did anything wrong. You were just a woman looking for love and I was a boy who fell for you far too young.

I didn't realize that for a long time though. A year had gone by and I did not write you once. I drowned myself in my studies, went to every political and social event I could, pretended I was becoming more and more invested in my future position. I did everything I could not to think of you. And Henry.

But you wrote me. Every three weeks, I would get a letter from you. I never read them, they simply piled on my desk. I was afraid. Afraid to know more about you and Henry. Afraid that your relationship would progress. Afraid to find out that you married him, that you finally become the princess you always wanted to be. The first few envelopes were bulky, just like they usually were. Then they got thinner and thinner, always three weeks apart, but no longer filled with bulks of information.

Big Brother wrote to me a few times too, asking me to write back to you. That you were lonely without my letters. I didn't believe him and lied that I would get to you eventually. That I was just too busy to sit down and write you, even though I wrote him and Sister Tiana.

Then I received a single mall white envelope from you. It smelled like perfume and cherries, just like all your letters. But this letter was the thinnest and smallest I had ever received from you and I feared it was a wedding invitation. Burning curiosity took over me, both out of anxiety and just desire to know how you were. Even though my heart had been broken, I still loved you. And I never stopped.

So I opened it. It wasn't a wedding invitation. It wasn't a full letter. It was a small and simple white card, a greeting card. And all you wrote was: I hope you're doing well, sugar. I miss you. Come visit me in New Orleans soon! Love, Lottie

And just next to your name was a kiss mark. Your lips on a single piece of paper almost brought me to tears. Because even after everything, even after I tried to forget, I couldn't. I still loved you. And I always would.

Then I read all your letters. Henry didn't last long. After him came Michael, then Derrick, Chad, Taylor, Gregory, Joshua, and even Russell – none of them last long, five months at most, but each time, you called them your prince. With each new lover, you hoped for your happily ever after. Always believed that the next one was the one and he would sweep you off your feet.

I hated to admit I was glad when each romance failed, though I was also glad you didn't suffer. Your loves never lasted, but you always remained on good terms with each man. And you never grew bitter when they married the next girl they met. You always gave them your blessing, always told them to be happy, and that one day you would join them.

My first letter back to you was the longest one I had ever written. More than eight pages long, front and back. I apologized for my delayed response, blaming it on my increased workload. That every time I tried writing you, I was pulled away for official royal duties. My excuses were all lies, but I couldn't tell you that. For a child, I had too much pride. Still, even now, I feel guilty for lying in the first place.

I didn't expect an immediate response from you. I thought you had given up on ever contacting me again, considering how much I ignored you. So when you sent me not just a letter, but an entire package that included pictures, I was overwhelmed. And admittedly, incredibly delighted and I fell in love with you even more.