You are being provided with a book chapter by chapter. I will request you to read the book for me after each chapter. After reading the chapter, 1. shorten the chapter to no less than 300 words and no more than 400 words. 2. Do not change the name, address, or any important nouns in the chapter. 3. Do not translate the original language. 4. Keep the same style as the original chapter, keep it consistent throughout the chapter. Your reply must comply with all four requirements, or it’s invalid.
I will provide the chapter now.

21
BRIDGET
SIX WEEKS LATER
“His Majesty is ready to see you.” Markus stepped out of my
grandfather’s office, his face so pinched he looked like he’d just
swallowed a lemon whole.
“Thank you, Markus.” I smiled. He didn’t smile back. He merely
gave a quick nod of courtesy before he spun on his heels and
marched down the hall.
I sighed. If I thought my becoming crown princess would im-
prove my relationship with Edvard’s closest advisor, I was sadly
mistaken. Markus seemed more displeased than ever, maybe be-
cause the press coverage after my brother’s abdication had…not
been great.
Also not great? My nickname: Part-Time Princess. Apparently,
the tabloids did not appreciate all the time their future queen had
spent away from Eldorra, and they delighted in questioning my
commitment to the country and general suitability for the throne
every chance they got.
The worst part was, they weren’t completely wrong.
“I’ll see you tomorrow for the ribbon-cutting,” I told Mikaela,
who’d accompanied me to my meeting with Elin earlier regarding
image damage control.
“Sounds good.” Mikaela snuck a peek at Edvard’s half-open
door. “Good luck,” she whispered.
We didn’t know why my grandfather wanted to speak to me, but
we knew it wasn’t good. He didn’t summon me to his office unless it
was serious.
“Thanks.” I mustered a weak smile.
Mikaela had been my best friend growing up and was currently
my right-hand woman during my training to be queen. The daugh-
ter of Baron and Baroness Brahe, she knew everything about every-
one in Eldorran high society, and I’d recruited her to help me transi-
tion back into Athenberg society. I hadn’t lived here in so long I was
completely out of the loop, which was unacceptable for the future
queen.
I hadn’t expected her to say yes to such a big task, but to my sur-
prise, she’d agreed.
Mikaela gave my arm a quick squeeze before leaving, and I
steeled myself as I entered Edvard’s office. It was a huge, mahogany-
paneled room with double-height ceilings, windows overlooking the
palace gardens, and a desk large enough to nap on.
Edvard’s face crinkled into a smile when he saw me. He looked
far healthier than he had in the weeks following his collapse, and he
hadn’t shown any symptoms since the big scare, but I still worried
about him. The doctors said his condition was unpredictable, and
every day I woke up wondering if that would be the last day I’d see
my grandfather alive.
“How’s training going?” he asked after I slipped into the seat op-
posite him.
“It’s going well.” I slid my hands beneath my thighs to tamp
down my nerves. “Though some of the parliamentary sessions are
quite…” Tedious. Snooze worthy. So boring I would rather watch paint
dry. “Verbose.”
Nobody liked hearing themselves talk more than a minister who
had the floor. It was amazing how little one could say using so many
words.
Unfortunately, a monarch’s duties included attending parliamen-
tary sessions at least once a week, and my grandfather thought it
would be useful for me to get acquainted with the process now.
Ever since I returned to Eldorra, my days had been jam-packed
with meetings, events, and “queen lessons” from the moment I woke
up to the moment I went to sleep. I didn’t mind, though. It kept my
mind off Rhys.
Dammit. My chest squeezed, and I forced myself to push aside all
thoughts of my old bodyguard.
Edvard’s chuckle brought me back to the present. “A diplomatic
way of putting it. Parliament is a different beast than what you’re
used to, but it is an essential part of government, and as Queen,
you’ll need a good relationship with them…which brings me to why
I asked you here today.” He paused, then said, “Actually, there are
three things I wanted to discuss, starting with Andreas.”
Confusion mingled with my wariness. “My cousin Andreas?”
“Yes.” A small grimace crossed Edvard’s face. “He’ll be staying
in the palace for a few months. He’s due to arrive on Tuesday.”
“What?” I quickly composed myself, but not before my grandfa-
ther frowned at the breach of propriety. “Why is he coming here?” I
asked in a calmer voice, though I was anything but calm. “He has his
own house in the city.”
Andreas, the son of my grandfather’s late brother Prince Alfred,
was—how should I put this tactfully—a complete and utter ass. If
entitlement, misogyny, and general asshole-ness could walk and
talk, they would come in the form of one Andreas von Ascheberg.
Luckily, he’d moved to London for university and stayed there. I
hadn’t seen him in years, and I didn’t miss him one bit.
Except now, he was not only returning to Eldorra but staying in
the palace with us.
Kill me now.
“He would like to return to Eldorra permanently,” Edvard said
carefully. “Become more involved in politics. As for why he’s staying
here, he said he would like to reconnect with you since you haven’t
seen each other in so long.”
I didn’t believe that excuse for a second. Andreas and I had never
gotten along, and the thought of him anywhere near politics made
me want to run for the hills.
Unlike most constitutional monarchies, where the royal family
stayed politically neutral, Eldorra welcomed royal participation in
politics on a limited basis. I wished it didn’t if it meant Andreas
would have a hand in anything that might affect people’s lives.
“Why now?” I asked. “I thought he was busy living the party life
in London.”
Andreas had always talked a big game, bragging about his
grades and subtly hinting at what a good king he would make—
sometimes to Nikolai’s face, back when Nikolai had been first in line
to the throne—but that was all it’d been. Talk. The closest he’d got-
ten to actually taking part in politics was majoring in it.
Edvard raised one thick, gray brow. “He’s next in line for the
throne after you.”
I stared at him. He couldn’t be implying what I thought he was
implying.
Since my mother had been an only child and I didn’t have any
children, Andreas was indeed second in the line of succession now
that Nikolai had abdicated. I tried to picture him as king and
shuddered.
“I’ll be frank,” Edvard said. “Andreas has hinted at certain…am-
bitions regarding the crown, and he does not believe a woman is up
for the job.”
Oh, how I wished Andreas was in the room right now so I could
tell him where to shove his ambitions. “Perhaps he should tell
Queen Elizabeth that the next time we visit Buckingham Palace,” I
said coolly.
“You know I disagree with him. But Eldorra is not Britain or Den-
mark. The country is more…traditional, and I’m afraid many mem-
bers of Parliament secretly hold the same sentiment as Andreas.”
I curled my fingers around the edge of my chair. “It’s a good
thing Parliament doesn’t appoint the monarch then.”
I may not want to rule, but I wouldn’t stand for anyone telling me
I couldn’t rule because of my gender. Never mind the fact the monar-
chy was merely symbolic. We were the face of the nation, and there
was no way in hell I’d let someone like Andreas represent us.
Edvard hesitated. “That’s the other reason I wanted to speak with
you. Parliament may not appoint the monarch, but there is the mat-
ter of the Royal Marriages Law.”
A tight coil of dread formed in my stomach. The Royal Marriages
Law, enacted in 1732, was the archaic law requiring monarchs to
marry someone of noble blood. It was the reason Nikolai abdicated,
and I’d avoided thinking about it as much as possible because it
meant my chances of marrying for love were slim to none.
It wasn’t simply a matter of finding a nobleman I liked. Potential
marriage partners were chosen for maximum political gain, and I
wasn’t naïve enough to hope for a love match.
“I don’t have to marry yet.” I fought to keep the tremble out of
my voice. “I have time—”
“I wish that were true.” Edvard’s face creased with a mixture of
guilt and trepidation. “But my condition is unpredictable. I could
collapse again any minute, and the next time, I might not be so
lucky. Now that Nikolai has abdicated, there’s even more pressure to
ensure you’re ready for the throne as soon as possible. That includes
finding an acceptable husband.”
Marriage technically wasn’t a requirement for the monarch, but
Eldorra hadn’t had an unmarried ruler in…well, ever.
Bile rose in my throat, both at the possibility I might lose my
grandfather at any minute and at the prospect of living out the rest
of my life with a man I didn’t love.
“I’m sorry, dear, but it’s the truth,” Edvard said gently. “I wish I
could shield you from the harsh truths of life the way I used to, but
you’re going to be queen one day, and the time for sugarcoating is
over. You are the last person in our direct line of succession, the only
one who stands between Andreas and the crown”—we shuddered in
unison—“and marriage to a respectable aristocrat, ideally within the
next year, is the only way to ensure the throne and the country re-
mains in good hands.”
I dropped my head, resignation filling me. I could abdicate the
way Nikolai had, but I wouldn’t. As much as I resented him for
putting me in this position, he’d done it for love. If I did it, it would
be out of pure selfishness.
Besides, the country wouldn’t survive two abdications so close to
each other. We would be the laughingstock of the world, and I
would never tarnish our family name or the crown by passing it on
to Andreas.
“How am I supposed to find a husband so soon? My schedule is
already so full I hardly have time to sleep, much less date.”
My grandfather’s eyes crinkled, and he suddenly looked more
like a mischievous youth than a king who’d ruled for decades.
“Leave that to me. I have an idea, but before we get into it, there’s
one last thing we need to discuss. Your bodyguard.”
The word bodyguard made my heart twist. “What about him?”
I was still getting used to my new bodyguard, Elias. He was fine.
Nice, competent, polite.
But he wasn’t Rhys.
Rhys, who’d rejected my offer to extend his contract.
Rhys, who’d walked away a month ago without looking back.