Royal Desire (Maid for the Billionaire Prince Vol 4) by Artemis Hunt

sisters.”
    Oh. It must be important at such an early
hour.
    Madame Fournier says, “Are you all right,
Elizabeth? You look distressed.”
    I sit down. “No, I’m not all right.”
    I take a deep breath and tell her
everything. Both of them. They listen attentively, and when I have
finished, they exchange knowing glances.
    “What?” I say. “What are you not telling
me?”
    Madame Fournier says, “The King will be
making a public announcement soon. Last night, a Molotov cocktail
was flung at the Ecclesiastical Castle.”
    My pulse thuds at my throat. It is exactly
as Alex has predicted. Some quarters are itching for an excuse to
fight the church.
    “Alexander feels responsible. We spent all
of last night crafting his public speech. He will address the world
at noon.”
    At noon!
    “He told me nothing of this speech,” I say
faintly, “only that he has to calm the masses down.”
    “He is doing exactly that.”
    “He didn’t wake me. I could’ve . . .
helped.” Even as I say that, I realize how lame it sounds. How can
I possibly help to craft a King’s speech?
    “He specifically asked for you not to be
disturbed,” Madame Fournier says pointedly.
    Of course. I would only mess up things.
Crestfallen, I stare at my empty plate.
    I have become a hindrance to Alex. No wonder
he is distancing himself from me. I don’t blame him. Perhaps I
should not have said ‘yes’ to his proposal. I should have stuck to
the plan I made with Tatiana, left for Chicago, and everyone would
be much happier. Even Alex, in the long run.
    I am so woebegone that Madame Fournier
reaches out to touch me lightly on the shoulder.
    “Don’t fret so much, Elizabeth, about things
out of your control. Just have faith in Alex to do the right
thing.”
    “Yes, I do.”
    Even Jasper looks sympathetic. They do know
something they’re not telling me.
    How awful can it be?

11
     
    At noon, we crowd around the TV in the
parlor to hear Alex’s speech. He is at the station, ready to go on
a special news segment that will be broadcasted live to the
world.
    “Where’s the Queen?” I ask Jasper and Madame
Fournier. It seems strange that in times of such crisis, I am left
with two of them instead of Alex’s family. Very telling, I
know.
    “The Queen is in her suite. But Marie is at
the station with Alex.”
    Oh. So he has decided to ask his sister to
tag along instead of me. I don’t blame him. She’s a princess of
Moldavia after all and she, like, has a political I.Q of 262. She
would be a much better co-presenter for him.
    Alex faces the cameras. He’s impossibly
handsome, heartbreakingly so. They have combed his hair and made
his dark circles disappear. His forehead is smooth and unlined once
again.
    He begins:
    “I come to you, today, people of Moldavia,
as a citizen. A few hours ago, I discharged my last duty as
King.”
    My hand flies to my mouth.
    No, Alex, no.
    “I will be succeeded by my sister, Marie
Vassar, Princess and second born of Moldavia. My first words must
be to declare allegiance to her.”
    Why, Alex, why?
    “The reasons which have compelled me to
renounce the throne are for the greater good of the people of
Moldavia. I do not wish to be the cause of a separation of the
state and church in the hearts of the people. I do not wish to be a
King who would revoke a law centuries old just because it
inconveniences him today.
    “For what are we without laws? It was a law
that was put in place for a very good reason. It was a law that
protected Moldavia’s sovereignty in its time. It was a law that
allows us to walk freely today and count ourselves as one of the
richest nations in the world.”
    Tears run down my cheeks and stain my lips
with their salt. I do not attempt to brush them off.
    “But in accepting the letter of the law and
acceding to the decision of His Grace, the Archbishop of Moldavia,
I will find it impossible to perform my duties as King without the
woman I love by my side. The decision I have made is