AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Joy raised her eyebrows. “It seems simple enough to me.”
She gaped at her sister. “Does it? Because all of this seems massively complicated from my perspective.”
“All of this?” Joy gestured around at the room around them, and by extension, the rest of the castle. “All of this pales in comparison to one fact.”
“What fact is that?”
Joy laughed. “That Rafael is the love of your life. And you’re the love of his.”
Felicity blinked. “That’s—no. He moved on within minutes after I left. He never even bothered to come find me.”
“Oh please.” Joy was having none of that. “You didn’t reach out to him, either. And we both know his mother played a big part in that. But what she did—that doesn’t matter anymore. What matters is that he still loves you now. He brought you here to be close to him.”
“What about being royalty?” Felicity swallowed another round of tears. “I don’t even know if I’m capable of being a good queen.”
“You already are being a good queen.”
“I don’t like it,” Felicity admitted. “I don’t like the PR and the rules and the protocol.”
“I’m not talking about that. Those things…those are just trappings. Being a queen is about things like the International Women’s Day events. And guiding a country toward a better future. In the end, the protocol will be what you make it.”
Felicity heard the truth ringing in Joy’s voice.
“We do better when we’re breaking rules, anyway,” Joy said with a sly smile. “You can’t argue with that.”
Another truth. The country had loved her best when she was stepping a little outside the lines.
“You know, if you can set aside the hurt you feel about all this, I don’t think there’s any reason you can’t start over with Rafael.” Joy looked her straight in the eye
. “A fresh relationship. A fresh start with your marriage. He’s obviously willing to do that for you, and it’s a huge risk for him. We all know that.”
“It is,” Felicity agreed softly. She looked down at her hands. They hadn’t bothered with an engagement ring—not when the wedding was so soon. Somehow, though, Felicity missed the feeling of the wedding ring she hadn’t yet put on. “He set me free, Joy.”
“I know.”
She lifted her head. “He set me free from my past in more ways than one.” The decision had been made. “I have to set him free, too.”
Epilogue
Rafael stood at the altar in the Capital Cathedral, looking out into the crowd. There were six hundred guests seated in the cathedral. He’d never felt so alone in his life.
There had never been a day longer than today’s endless morning. Rafael had kept his distance from everyone, especially Felicity and Hope. His body had ached to be with them, but he knew it wouldn’t have been fair to Felicity. He’d promised to give her the space to make her decision, and he had to uphold that.
That didn’t mean it had been easy.
His brothers, Armin and Artur, had been in and out of his rooms all day, joking and teasing him about getting cold feet, until finally he’d dismissed them both. After the rehearsal dinner, he’d spent as much of the evening as possible working on the statement that was now tucked into the custom-made tuxedo that formed the base of his formalwear. On top of that, there was the royal sash that identified him as king.
He didn’t feel much like a king in this moment. He felt, in fact, entirely human, with a gut-churning nervousness.
Nobody knew what was going to happen, least of all Rafael.
The statement he had prepared was both heartfelt and truthful. He would not deny that he loved Felicity. The days of denying that emotion were over. But he also wouldn’t mislead the country. Not even at the expense of the referendum. The voting was happening now, and would close in a few hours. Then the counting would begin, and then…
Rafael could hardly think of it. Not when everything in his life, and in his heart, seemed to hinge on this moment.
It was all clear now what he needed in life, and that was Felicity. Yes, he was the king. And yes, he would do all he could for the people of Stolvenia. But monarchy or not, he still had a life to live.
So did she.
