Princess Hope

chapter nine

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"What?" Harry frowned. "Was it really you?"

"Yes, it was me," she answered.

William remained still. The shock was evident on his face. Andra sunk into her seat as she felt the gazes of her whole family descend on her. Everyone was still processing her admission. This was incredibly unexpected because this was Andra. This was their Elliephant; the little girl who, at age 5, wore a Cinderella outfit every day and insisted she is called Cinderella for a whole year.

"Who's the blonde boy?" Beatrice asked. Harry and William glared at her. She rolled her eyes. "What? I believe everyone wants to know who the boy is."

Andra was stone-still. She opened her mouth but no sound would come out. She turned to her grandfather for help, a move that her grandmother saw.

"Stop now. All of you," her grandmother intervened. Everyone cleared their throats and muttered apologies. The Queen continued, "I will appreciate it if you let Alexandra speak. Ambushing her will not get you answers."

The family was silent as they waited for Andra to speak. "Well... Uhm... I met him four months ago in Belgium," she slowly said.

"I knew it!" Zara exclaimed happily. "You owe me a hundred, Bea—"

Everyone shushed her. Andra continued, "Last March, he visited me in UWC. We've been going out on weekends ever since."

"The name..." she heard William murmur.

"Joachim," she whispered.

"Oh my gosh!" Beatrice shouted. "You owe me two hundred, Zara."

"I knew there was a spark between you two," Eugenie said.

Without saying anything, William and Harry left the table. The two stormed out of the dining room leaving everyone in an awkward situation. Prince Charles followed after the two with Prince Philip.

"You gave the boys quite a shock," her Aunt Anne commented amusedly. "It's always the first one that's hard to accept."

"Give them a few minutes to process, love," Sophie told her.

Andra gave her Aunt a sad smile. Everyone continued eating. She lost her appetite so she moved into having small talk with Zara and Mike. The couple was distracting her from the absence of her brothers and father. The dinner ended and everyone was conversing with each other.

Camilla took this opportunity to talk to her stepdaughter. "Are you okay, Andra?" She asked.

"I'm alright, Camilla. Do you think they're mad at me?"

"Oh, dear. They aren't mad at you," she said gently. "You know how they are when it comes to you. They love you so much, they don't want you getting hurt."

"I'm not going to get hurt," she stubbornly said. "They still see me as a fragile child when I'm not anymore."

"Dear, they know you aren't fragile but you are their diamond," Camilla said, enclosing her stepdaughter's hand with hers. "Your father, your brothers—to them, you're more important than the Crown jewels."

"What am I supposed to do, then?"

"You let them process. Your Prince and your brothers have known each other since they were children and are longtime friends. You pray they love him for you." Andra pouted at what Camilla said. It sounded easy, but hardly anything was ever easy. Camilla patted her knee reassuringly, "It'll all be alright. Oh, here they are..."

The scowling Harry entered the dining room closely followed by the calm William. Their father entered with Prince Philip; the latter looking a bit annoyed. Andra felt like she was suffocating as her heart fastened. Her knees buckled. She was very nervous that she had a strong urge to cry. But it wasn't the same fear she felt when the tabloids published the story about her and Amedeo.

"Alright, everyone. Time to head to the drawing room," The Queen announced.

Andra turned to Camilla. She wanted her stepmother to stay with her but the older woman only gave her hand a reassuring squeeze before going with the rest of the family.

"You four settle this like normal people. No walking out, and certainly no screaming," Prince Philip said, stoically. He left without further notice. The Wales branch of the family except for Camilla were the only ones left.

A few minutes of silence ensued. None of the four wanted to be the first to say anything. Harry was angry and he knew that if he opens his mouth, he won't be able to stop himself from saying anything stupid. William wanted to hear Andra's explanation first before making any comments while their father was simply out of words. Charles wasn't sure how to approach the situation; he was so sure Andra wouldn't be dating until a few more years but as it turns out, the future was happening now. Andra was scared to speak, she was worried about their reactions, and this certainly wasn't going well according to her plan.

"Andra," Charles started. His three children turned to him in surprise. He never called his youngest by her nickname. "Well? Is there anything else you want to tell us? Aside from the obvious fact that my only daughter is in a relationship."

Charles could only hope that he didn't come across as unsupportive. He didn't want his daughter to feel like she can't tell him anything. He wanted her to feel that it was safe for her to share what she was feeling.

"Well..." Andra hesitated.

"Andra, I'm not angry. If you like him and he likes you, that is fine with me. I only want to know about..." Charles trailed off. He took a deep breath. "...your relationship. I thought it was Amedeo you liked?"

"Obviously she doesn't like the older brother like that, Dad," Harry butted in. He came off aggressively. He glared at his sister. "I don't understand why you wouldn't tell me."

"Harry," William scolded. Harry glared at him.

"No, I want to know why she didn't trust me enough to tell me."

"Maybe because she thought you'll react like this," William hissed. "Harry, stop being a stubborn arse and let her speak."

"I will not get in the way, Alexandra. I have been through the pain because people felt the need to meddle with my life. But as your father, I need to know..."

"I always feel happy when I'm with him, and he understands what being in a royal family is like. He also knows how important your opinion and support are to me. That's why we aren't in a relationship."

Her brothers' and father's eyebrows perked up in confusion. Harry blurted, "You aren't in a relationship?"

"Yes, that's only because Joachim wants to talk to you first and I don't want to be in a relationship unless my family accepts and supports it," she explained.

"Oh." Harry was stunned. He already had his mind deadset on murdering Joachim for dating his baby sister and then, this, an unexpected twist in the story.

"So, it's not what it seemed," Charles added.

"Ohhh," William's lips gaped and then, he burst out laughing. Harry, who has frowning, was having a hard time stifling his laugh.

"Okay? What's happening?" Andra asked in confusion.

William cleared his throat and straightened his stance. "It would've saved Harry a lot of anger had you started with 'I don't have a boyfriend.'"

"Well, I only answered what was asked." She pouted, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"It's quite thoughtful of Joachim to talk to us before you make it more than movie dates," Charles commented.

"You do understand that you don't need our approval to be in a relationship," William said, almost whisper-like.

"I know." Andra smiled. "But it's important to me."

"Alright. Fine." Harry sighed. He enveloped his sister with a bear hug. "I can't believe my baby sister is grown up."

"Tell Joachim we can talk at Highgrove next week." Her father told her before exiting the room. "William, Harry, I'll expect both of your presence there."

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