Earning the Love of a Princess-Chapter 340: Epilogue: Fairytales
Violet eventually grew quiet as her sobs tapered off. Sniffling, she looked up at Leo, who was fumbling awkwardly with his tunic and searching through the pockets. He finally found a handkerchief and handed it to her.
"Thank you." she croaked as she started mopping her eyes. She felt utterly limp and tired.
"So this whole angry fit of yours...it wasn’t ever about a pair of earrings, was it?"
"No. It’s just been a difficult few weeks. And you know I hate other people seeing my weaknesses." Violet pressed the backs of her hands against her burning eyelids, as if that would bring down the swelling. "Now what do we do?"
"Now...we have a banquet to attend. Our daughter is to be at the front and centre of it. So you must enter that hall with your head raised high and remind everyone that Celia is the child of a formidable woman." Leo said. "Show her your strength so that she can draw from it when she needs it."
"Formidable? Is that what you call it now?" she asked, both amused and annoyed. "I thought it was just called being a shrew."
Leo gave a bark of genuine laughter. "For fuck’s sake, wife. You’re a shrew, alright? You know it, I know it. But it’s part of your charm. Besides, sometimes a man needs a shrew to make him think twice before he dives headlong into something reckless."
"So I haven’t been completely useless to you all these years?" Violet gave him a wan little smile.
Leo kept laughing and there was gruff affection in his voice as he patted her back. "Not completely useless." 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦
- - -
Violet held herself proudly as she entered the banquet hall on Leo’s arm, eyes squinting against the warm glow of a thousand candles. Her heart squeezed painfully when she saw her daughter already at the high table, seated at King Edward’s right hand.
Celia looked very young and nervous, wearing a copper silk gown in the Haviettenese style and an intricate lace veil. It was part of the magnificent bridal trousseau Violet had been preparing over the last few months.
Yes, her daughter would travel to her new kingdom in splendour.
But Violet would’ve been glad to burn all the wealth to ash if it meant keeping Celia home.
She took her usual seat next to Leo and settled in for what she knew was going to be a long event. Violet ached to be seated next to Celia but knew it went against protocol while the food was being served.
As soon as the servants started clearing away the used plates and the guests began getting up from their seats to mingle, however, she rose and slipped over to her daughter.
Celia was surrounded by a few of her silly friends. Violet gave the cluster of young ladies a hard look, silently ordering them to make themselves scarce. They all bolted in fear.
She then took the seat on Celia’s right hand side and squeezed her hand, determined to spend what precious moments she could with her daughter.
"I know you’re nervous. But you’re going to be a great success, my girl. The entire kingdom of Havietten is going to fall in love with you."
Celia gave her a shaky smile, then chewed on her lip. "I hope so. I’m going to miss you so much, Mother. Will you write to me?"
"Every week." Violet replied without hesitation. Her eyes started prickling again but she blinked the tears away. She hated writing because even now, the spelling of words didn’t come easy to her. But she knew her letters - no matter how stilted and poorly spelled they were - would comfort her daughter. "You’re off to do important work for Islia, and I know you’ll do it well."
Celia frowned. "Yes, I know. But what if Prince Tobin is displeased when he meets me?"
Violet bit her tongue to stop herself blurting out the truth - that the opposite scenario was far more probable. Celia was likely to be shocked and disappointed when she laid eyes on her betrothed.
"Impossble. How could any prince be displeased with you?" Violet squeezed Celia’s cold hand again. "You’re pretty, intelligent, highly educated and you have a kind heart. Anyone would be delighted to marry a princess like you, I promise. You make your father and I so proud."
The young woman nodded slowly. "What was it like for you when the two of you were first married?" she asked quietly. "Was it scary?"
Violet gulped, taken aback. How honest did she really want to be with her reply? Especially when Celia thought the sun rose and set on her beloved father?
"In a way, yes." she finally replied. "The two of us hadn’t known each other very long or very well. We were young and silly, and we had to slowly get accustomed to each others’ ways. It’s not always easy to live side by side and sometimes we’d clash."
"But you made it work? And you eventually found love?" Celia asked in a hopeful voice.
"I care for your father deeply and he cares for me." Violet replied firmly. She refused to lie by speaking of love. "The most important thing is that the two of us are a team and we strive to give our children the best. We may not always agree on the method but we share the same goals. Try to think of marriage as an alliance, not a fairytale."
Celia leaned back in her seat. "Yes but what if I want that fairytale, Mother? Do you truly think it’s impossible to find love in an arranged marriage? Am I hoping for too much?"
"There’s nothing wrong with having hopes, daughter." Violet chose her words carefully. "Just be sure to temper them with realistic expectations so that you’re not too disappointed. There will always be battles in a marriage. Not one union is perfect."
"I suppose not. Some look closer to perfect than others, though." Celia sighed, a dreamy look in her eyes as she looked down the long table.
Violet followed her daughter’s gaze and ended up staring at Prince William, who was smiling and talking animatedly with his wife. The foreign woman had her face so close to his that if she leaned forward just a little, their lips would brush together.
Good lord. Surely the man was bewitched, Violet thought and not for the first time. How else did one explain his palpable obsession with his wife, even after so many years? The two of them seemed to exist in their own little bubble of mutual infatuation.
"And yet, their marriage isn’t perfect either, my girl." Violet murmured in Celia’s ear. "Believe it or not, there was a time when those two were estranged."
Celia’s eyes went round with shock. "Really? Why?"
"I’m afraid you’d have to ask one of them." Violet shrugged. "I never found out the entire reason. It didn’t last long and it was years ago, before their first son was born."
"I find that so hard to imagine. The way they always look at each other... and Uncle Will is so handsome." Celia said softly. "All my friends blush whenever they see him, but he never pays them any attention. Lauren even once untied her bodice for him when she found him alone in one of the garden pavilions. But Uncle Will laughed at her and told her not to waste his time. Then he just walked off."
Violet scowled. "Lauren is a disgrace. She’s never going to make a good marriage if she keeps stomping her reputation into the dirt." Lauren Blackwell was the eldest daughter of Countess Blackwell - the previous Maisie Setterten and Violet’s former rival.
Celia shrugged. "Lauren’s father wants to betroth her to some old viscount. So she always says she needs to enjoy herself before she’s lumped with an old, doddering husband. She was pretty angry when Uncle Will rejected her though. She even yelled at him that his wife was a foreign witch."
"And what did William say to that?" Violet knew William had a habit of unleashing his temper when he believed someone had slighted his precious wife.
"He just laughed harder and told Lauren she wasn’t even fit to clean his wife’s shoes." Celia sighed. "Isn’t that romantic, to be so devoted to a woman? And the princess is very beautiful."
Violet gave a noncommittal sniff. She’d forced herself to make her peace with Camilla a long time ago and the two ladies were polite enough to each other. Still, she found it infuriating that the Moraigthian woman never seemed to reach the zenith of her beauty. Instead she bloomed ever brighter with each passing year.
"Strive for contentment and purpose in your life, not fairytales. And first and foremost, find that contentment within yourself, Celia." Violet said wistfully. "That’s something I wish I’d been told when I was young like you."
"What do you mean, Mother?"
"If you’re unhappy within your own soul, no one can change that. It’s solely your responsibility to change it and find contentment within yourself. Don’t rely on others for your joy, and certainly not on a man."
Celia’s forehead wrinkled in thought. "I guess that makes sense. But doesn’t Father make you happy?"
Violet laughed softly. She and Leo had always worked to hide their clashes from their children and present a united front to them. "Truthfully? He’s given me happy moments and four wonderful children. He’s also given me other moments when I’ve wanted to tear his stubborn throat out. That’s marriage."
