How to Survive a Werewolf Romance

Chapter 15: It All Began With A Broken Bond

My breakfast with Arthur was delightful.  Our meeting with the Royal Media Consultant was quite tolerable since I had Arthur by my side.

Andre came to us in Arthur's, or rather our apartments.  He introduced himself with a steady handshake and I found myself drawn to his matter of fact way of handling the situation.

We all sat down after our greeting.

"So, I've been tracking the public's reception of our newest future royal, and overall it has been positive.  Sixty-two percent of respondents have a favourable view of Lady Anne, seventeen percent are undecided, and five percent responded that they don't know who Lady Anne is yet."

Arthur nodded at the consultant's words.

"So, what about the rest of the respondents?" I asked although I probably would have been smarter to just leave it alone.

Andre glanced at Arthur who nodded his agreement.  I frowned at the exchange.  Arthur seemed willing not to suppress me, so why did almost everyone else insist on acting as if I were some delicate little flower?

Andre cleared his throat slightly.  "Well, those would be the unfavourable responses, Lady Anne."

"Did you break down why they're unfavourable?" I asked.  Perhaps I was a subconscious masochist, or maybe it was just that statistics were undeniably soothing, a way to numerically order a chaotic world.

He sighed and looked at his clipboard.  "Sixty-eight percent of the unfavourable respondents say it is because you're too ordinary to be the mate of the crown prince, twenty-two percent believe you lack either the experience or character, and the final ten percent just don't think you're good enough for him in general."

The assessments rather stung considering they knew nothing about me, but I pushed it aside.  At least I could understand the reasoning of the last ten percent.  Arthur was spectacular, any way I looked at him.

If anything, I was surprised that I had not already had to fend off a lot more crazy prince loving girls who hated me because they wanted him first, even though if they just stopped prince hunting they could go look for their own mate.

I know the probability for finding happiness with a mate was about getting heads when you flip a coin, but the probability of finding happiness when you are the other woman in a mate bond is about as likely as flipping a hundred coins and having them all come up heads.

It was a foolish gamble.

My nod signalled that I understood his assessment so Andre moved on.

"I understand that you came into the palace with a number of social media accounts.  I'm hoping you'll grant me access so that we can ensure that your personal accounts are secure," he explained.

I nodded.  "I already did as much of that as I could, but sure," I agreed.

"We'll ensure that the privacy is at the highest possible settings for your personal accounts.  We'll also vet your followers and provide you with a report.  And of course, we've set up official Princess Anne accounts on all the major sites to help us control the public's perception of you.  You'll have access to the official accounts if you wish, but we will also have a team to help craft your image."

I felt distinctly uneasy.  "And what image is that?"

"Why, of the perfect mate for our crown prince and an excellent future queen," Andre replied smoothly.

Which told me exactly nothing specific, but I let it go.  He probably knew what he was doing.

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