The Royal Romance - The Valtoria Diaries

Second opinions

"You have a lovely home here, Hana," Rick said, looking around from where he was seated in the living room of Hana's cottage, where she had a small table against the wall.

"Thanks," Hana called through from the kitchen, where she was making drinks. "It's certainly modest compared to the palace, even to the rest of the manor house. But Jen and Maxwell have been so kind. They've found me furniture and helped me decorate; even given me that lovely piano you can see on the back wall."

"I am sure if fortunes were reversed, you would have done the same for them," Rick said, looking at the small table and noticing that three people could fit around it. "Do they visit you often?"

"Oh yes. Sometimes we eat together here, if they fancy something a little more homely." Hana brought two mugs of hot chocolate to the table and tentatively placed one down in front of Rick. "Here."

"Thank you." He looked directly at her, trying to convey his regret with his eyes.

She took the seat opposite him and looked back at him just as intently. "I'm listening, Rick. What have you come here to say?"

"Firstly, I wanted to apologise for the way I behaved last week when you were staying at the palace," he said. "I may have said or done things that were inappropriate or that unsettled you, and if that is the case, I am truly sorry."

She nodded. "Has Maxwell spoken to you? Or Jen?"

"No. I have just taken some time to reflect on the events of last week, and I regret some of the things I may have said and the way I behaved. The truth is, Hana, that I have been under considerable pressure recently."

Her brown eyes softened. "Do you want to talk about that?"

"I feel it would be useful, yes." He took a sip of his hot chocolate. "As you know, the expectation is that a Cordonian ruler is engaged to be married before ascension. With my engagement now broken off, I am not breaking any rules. But there is pressure on me to secure another engagement, in order to secure a heir."

"I am well aware, Rick."

"Madeleine spoke to me while you were at the palace. She suggested that you would be a suitable candidate, and I have to say, I thought about her advice quite carefully. I decided to test the water."

Hana's eyes were wide. "I see."

"At first I wondered if you might be amenable to an arrangement. But, giving it some more thought, and having discussed it further with relevant persons, I realised that you were unlikely to want to marry me other than for romantic reasons, given your recent history and mine. So I then thought about whether, if we did things together, we might grow to have feelings for each other. And it was for that reason that I invited you to be my consort for the Christmas Fete."

Hana said nothing, just took a mouthful of her drink, and waited for him to continue.

"I very much enjoyed your company that afternoon. And I would probably have invited you to further engagements. But I can only deduce from the fact that you made the decision to return to Valtoria that evening, you did not draw the same enjoyment from the event."

She shook her head. "It just felt... unnatural, Rick. I'm sorry. It felt forced and awkward. Had we had the others with us, it would have been fine. But.. you must have seen the way the press jumped to conclusions by now."

He nodded. "Madeleine brought it to my attention yesterday. I think it was only then that I realised how inappropriate it had been to invite you. I really am sorry, Hana."