Page 76 of His Royal Request

I paused, realizing I didn’t know any of their history. “Was your mom or dad’s parents the king and queen?”

“My dad. My mother’s parents were a duke and duchess, titled from Scotland. The Queen of England sent them here as ambassadors, and that’s how my parents met.”

I shook my head. There was still so much I didn’t know or understand. I did get that it meant the Queen’s family was ridiculously wealthy before she became Queen though.

“Good genes,” I said.

He laughed. “I wish my grandparents were still around. You would have loved my mum’s parents. My dad’s father passed before I was born and his mum was a hard woman to be around.”

“Oh really? Your dad is so kind.”

He nodded. “I think it’s because he didn’t want to be like her. She was Queen by birth and acted as though she needed to be heartless and unsympathetic to be taken seriously. He said it was a very unloving environment, and he was raised by maids and tutors. He didn’t want that for his children.”

I felt horrible for the king. What an awful environment to grow up in, and he could have easily followed her lead. Thank heaven he didn’t. His children wouldn’t be who they were without their kindness and love.

“Let’s go in,” he said.

I followed him, excited to see what was inside. He opened the door and I was instantly surprised by how bright, clean, and good it smelled.

“Wow.”

He grinned. “Not what you were expecting?”

I shook my head. “I thought it would be stuffy in here or drafty. It’s so...homey.”

He pulled me into him. “You have no idea how happy that makes me.”

He kissed the top of my head and led me further in. The walls were bright white, while the floors and beams on the ceilings were dark, rich wood. Somehow it felt modern despite being hundreds of years old.

The sitting areas weren’t anywhere as fancy or innate as the palace, but it was comfortable. I felt like I could curl up on the enormous sofa sitting in front of a fireplace.

“Come this way.” He led me through rooms I was dying to explore and into the kitchen. It had large windows along one wall giving view to more of the beautiful trees that surrounded the manor. But the best part was that I’d been expecting a relic. The original kitchen with a fire burning stove or just a fireplace.

Nope.

It was completely modern, complete with a fridge, stove, and double ovens. It looked like a chef had designed it with pots and pans hanging overhead and cabinets that matched the dark floors. I sighed and looked at Aiden.

“This place is perfect. Why don’t you live here?”

He shrugged. “It feels too lonely. I planned on moving here when I got married.”

I blinked and tried to calm my racing heart.

“So why did you bring me?”

He looked around the room before meeting my eyes. “I wanted to know what you thought of it.”

“I love it.”

He smiled. “That’s good. I didn’t want to have to sell it.”

I froze for a second before he laughed. He stepped toward me and captured my hands in his. “I wanted to show you my world. The one place where I can disappear and just be myself. No one else around to worry about how I’m acting. I wanted you to be here.”

“I’m not ruining your secret place?”

His eyes darkened. “Seeing you here makes me realize how much I’ve been missing. Being around you has shown me how empty my life has been. I threw myself into my company even before I graduated because I needed a distraction. I didn’t want to have spare time to realize how little I had that truly mattered. I mean, I had my family of course, but nothing that was just mine. Nothing that made me, well, me. I had a title and expectations and that was it. Meeting you woke me up from the sleep I’ve been living through.”

My throat felt like it was closing in.