the duchess

here comes the, very reluctant, bride

-25-
a week prior

luke's pov

"This is INSANE. IN-SANE I tell you" Carrie paces her dorm room floor while I lay on her bed.

"All we need to do is get married... no big deal" I shrug as I sit up and lean against the backboard of her bed.

"No big deal? How would our fathers react when we get an annulment? We can't get a regular divorce. Luke there are so many things to factor. You can't plan a royal wedding in a short time!"

I stand up, walk over to her tracks and grab her shoulders, "Princess Caroline Wilson. Pink princess of Evander. You've done some of the most humanitarian type work. Just think of it like that stuff"

"Right. Because instead of helping sick children on the streets of my own country, I'd be stopping the execution of the love of your life. No pressure" She laughs with no emotions on her expressions.

I drop my shoulders and sigh, "It's not like I'm in love with you or you're in love with me. We just have to pretend"

"Nobody will believe us!" She shouts, dropping her shoulders.

I roll my eyes and sigh, "We've fooled the whole continent, if not the world that we're in love"

She sits down on a beanbag chair in the corner of the room. She curls her knees to her chest while her arms circle to body to a tight hug. "What about Riley?"

"What about him?" I walk over to her and sit on ground beside her.

"What if he doesn't approve? What if he-"

"Riley isn't a jealous kinda guy. Besides, we're doing this for Julie remember? Julie is his best friend, I don't think he'd have a huge issue with this"

Carrie sighs and looks into my eyes. Her little pout breaking my heart. "I don't want Julie to die"

"Then please can we just do this? We'll get the annulment soon but just- I need to do this. For Julie"

"Fine. But do you have some sort of plan?" She sighs and I stand up, cracking my knuckles with a laugh.

"Oh do I have a plan? Do I have a plan?" I cackle like a witch as I lean back against the wall across from Care. "When I was fifteen, I heard my father in the middle of some conference"

"Ok and?" Carrie raises her eyebrow.

"I'm getting there" I groan and roll my eyes, "I heard him. Apparently, my father has been accepting money from Emmanuel Macron, also know as-"

"The president of France?" Carrie looks at me with confusion and probably a thousand questions.

"Exactly. Apparently, my father want blood shed. He wants to start another war, this time taking over more of Europe. None of Amaranth's citizens would be willing to enlist in another war when we don't have anything to fight for. If word gets out he's planning an uprise, the country would go crazy" I point towards her, "And for proof, I have a recording on my phone. Just incase"

"So what's your EXACT plan?" Carrie gets up and crosses her arms. "You just have black mail it sounds"

"Yeah well that's where I'm stuck. I don't know how to approach someone like that- 'Hey I know you're getting money from France so that you don't invade their country. Let Caroline and me marry, crown us as the monarchs?' No that won't slide"

"Actually it might. Maybe another idea, what if we tell our fathers that- Ew I don't wanna think about this" Carrie shakes her body in disgust, scrunching her nose.