Page 66 of The Royal Art of Revenge

“That’s why I said the rumours are surprising,” he replies. “Would you like me to put an end to them?”

“No. Leave them be. Jasmine will be fanning the flames of them, and the bigger the rumours grow, the more humiliated she’ll be when the truth comes out.” I flip the front page of the questions that’ll be asked later. “And the more entertained I’ll be by the whole thing.”

“Is that so?” He smiles at me. “Then maybe a ‘palace source’ needs to corroborate those rumours a little.”

“That would be helpful.”

“For your entertainment, right?”

I turn from the questions and blink earnestly at him. “Happy wife, happy life.”

Finn laughs and presses a shaky kiss to my forehead. “All right. I’ll see what I can do.” He rests one arm over the back of the sofa behind me and leans in, producing a pen seemingly from out of nowhere. He clicks the end twice before handing it to me. “Here. Cross out whatever you aren’t happy with.”

“Okay,” I say slowly, giving the pen a click of my own. “I don’t think there’ll be a lot I’m comfortable with, you know. I’ve never spoken on camera before.”

“That might not be a bad thing.”

I jump at the sound of Her Majesty’s voice, but Finn barely glances up. “Your Majesty.”

She raises her eyebrows. “What did I tell you to call me, Hattie?”

Oh, right. “Beatrix.”

She beams. “Just like when you were a child.”

“Why are you here?” Finn asks, finally looking over at her. “Don’t you have things to do?”

“I would consider helping my daughter-in-law prepare for her first televised interview to be ‘something to do,’” she replies breezily, then looks at my lap. “Oh, you’re going over the questions. How are you feeling about it?”

“A bit like I’ve been thrown into the base of a waterfall,” I reply. “I’m not prepared for this at all. I’ve never done this before.”

“Like I said, that’s not always a bad thing,” she says, sitting opposite us.

“But what if I mess up and make everyone look bad?”

“That’s why it’s pre-recorded. If you make a mistake, it’s edited out, and we simply try again. Even I make mistakes sometimes, darling.”

“You do?”

“I do. Nobody is perfect, and nobody can remember everything.”

“I don’t have any training at all,” I say, looking down at the questions. “How am I supposed to sit there as the future crown princess and not look a total fool?”

“The fact you haven’t had any training is exactly what I’m banking on,” Beatrix says, and a glance up at her confirms she really does mean it.

She looks utterly unbothered, as if I’ve just told her a weather forecast she’s already seen.

“This…” She motions to us both. “Is a fairytale, for all intents and purposes.”

“I wish you wouldn’t say it like that,” Finn grumbles. “You’re the one who arranged this marriage.”

“Yes, it looks very arranged when you’re touching her every time I look at you,” she retorts sharply. “The point is that you don’t need to be a perfect, refined princess with the epitome of manners. You need to be Harriet Sinclair.”

“I don’t understand,” I say, putting the pen down. “Harriet Sinclair is nothing special.”

“While I beg to differ, that’s exactly the point.” She smiles, and the warmth in it makes her eyes sparkle. “Any training—too much training—will make you come across as fake. Even though the Royal Family is seen as some sort of untouchable, fairytale institution, people want to feel connected to us. After all, we’re a part of their very identity as Askurians. We’re woven into every facet of Askurg’s history.

“For you, you’re stepping into a world that is entirely foreign to you. If you’re nervous, all that will serve is to make you relatable to people everywhere. Yes, there will be those who will criticise you and deem you unworthy, but they’re the exact same people who would call you fake and contrived if you did a perfect job, so they don’t matter.”