Page 34 of Tempted By the Princess

“And we’re all here to support him,” she reminded me. “Another person hovering over him won’t make the cancer go away any faster. Besides, don’t you have a grown-up job? You can’t be away forever, or they’ll figure out they don’t need you.”

“You’re pretty wise for being one of the youngest queens in the world,” I told her.

“I know,” she smirked, then her expression turned serious. “The truth is, I envy you, Genny. You’ve got a job you like, a life in Seattle you like, you’re out taking chances and embracing life while I’m just following the life plan that was laid out for me since before I was born.”

“Are you not happy, Angie? Because I’ll smuggle your ass back to Seattle with me if you’re not.”

My sister smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “I know what I signed up for, but this whole queen thing is going to be an adjustment.”

“Remember your time as queen is what you make of it. You have the ability to redefine the monarchy and change the role to something you like. And you have the freedom to find love too. Just because you’re the queen now, that doesn’t mean that you don’t have agency over your life.”

My sister flew across the space between us and tackled me into a tight hug. “I’ll miss you when you leave tomorrow.”

“I’m leaving tomorrow?” I asked.

“Yes, I’m your queen and that’s an order. You go back to Seattle and see if you can fix things with your caterer. But first, you need to have a serious conversation with our parents.”

She pressed a kiss on my forehead. “I just want you to live your best life, Genny.”

“That’s what I want for you too, Angie. Promise me you won’t lose yourself to duty and tradition.”

“I promise.”

I headed straight to my parents’ quarters, deciding that I’d avoided a conversation with them long enough.

“Can we talk?” I asked.

“You’re leaving.” My mother’s voice was resigned.

“Yeah, but we need to talk about what happened back in Seattle.”

I walked over to the mini fridge and pulled out a bottle of water before sitting on a chair across from them.

“I want to apologize for my disappearing act. I know it was a ridiculous thing to do, and I know you were worried.”

“Why would you do something like that, Genevieve?” Mom asked.

I shrugged. “I went outside to get a breath of fresh air, but when I saw the van, I acted on impulse. I was planning to go home after, but then I met Carrie and… well, I got distracted.”

“Distracted because you have feelings for that girl?”

“Yeah. And it was fun to just be a regular person for a while, you know? I have my anonymity in Seattle, but this was different. I know I’m privileged, and I’m grateful for everything you’ve done for me, but it’s also a lot of pressure being Princess Genevieve. It was nice being plain old Genny, part-time catering staff.”

My mother shook her head like I was crazy, but there was no anger there.

“I’m truly sorry for how I behaved, but now it’s my turn to ask: why would you two do something so crazy like foist a fiancé on me?”

This time my father spoke up. “When I found out I was sick, I freaked out. I thought if you married you’d come back and be closer to us. It was…,” he cleared his throat like he was getting emotional, “it was wrong. We owe you an apology too.”

“We are sorry, Genevieve. But we acted out of love.”

“I know you did.” I got up to give each of them a hug. “But next time you decide to fix me up with some random royal, at least make it a woman.”

Mom perked up. “Should we…?”

“No Mom, my heart’s taken. I just need to convince Carrie that we belong together.”

Carrie