Maid For You 4

Chapter 80

"Charlie told me!" Sherry was very excited when I returned to my room that night. "You are dating Prince Coleman!"

Of course Charlie told her, I thought.

"I am," I said. "As of yesterday."

"I knew it!" Sherry squealed. "I knew he liked you!"

"You were right," I laughed. "He does! It's kind of crazy!" I debriefed with Sherry for some time, and then called my family. Calvin told me to milk Coleman's money for as much stuff as I could before he dumped me. Mom told Calvin to go away and was profuse in her excitement that he and I were dating. Dad said he was happy for me, but told me that just because Coleman was a rich prince doesn't mean that I should accept being poorly treated. I promised him that I'd leave Coleman if he treated me badly, which calmed his nerves somewhat.

Lydia screamed when I gave her the news.

"CASSIE! OH MY GOSH! YOU'RE DATING THE HOT PRINCE! YOUR LIFE ISN'T REAL!"

And with Lydia, after all the polite conversations with people calmly giving them the news, I indulged myself.

"I know!" I cried. "It's CRAZY!"

"I can't believe it! He's literally so handsome, Cassie!"

"I KNOW." I'd never fangirled over Coleman before, I'd done my very best to avoid it, but he was my boyfriend now. I was allowed this moment, wasn't I? "Literally, Lydia, sometimes I just stare at him and the whole thing is so surreal. He's so good-looking and tall and strong and just—ah—so freaking attractive."

"Oh my gosh! I want details!"

I told her all about him leading him through the garden, our talk leading up to when he said he loved me.

"He said he loved you?!" Lydia asked. "Oh my gosh. That is so cute! Cassie! How did you feel?"

"I was super surprised. And honestly I thought that maybe it was a joke. And so I asked him to clarify what he meant, and he told me," I mimicked his accent and deepened my voice. "'I love you as a man loves a woman. I'm in love with you.'"

"Shut up he did not say that. Cass that's like something out of a movie."

"He did he did! I was totally swooning!"

"I would die."

"And his eyes were so pretty and sincere and he told me how he hadn't planned on falling in love but he had and it was just so so perfect."

"I am so happy for you!"

"It's just..." I flopped back on my bed, looking up at the canopy. "I'm really happy, Lydia. I'm happy being with him."

***

Queen Klara, surprisingly, didn't react strongly at the news. I supposed she'd already found out from Coleman, but she seemed particularly calm nevertheless. Coleman and his mother were having lunch together out on her balcony, and he invited me to come as well.

"Miss Carmichael." She nodded at me and smiled—it was a polite smile, yes, but I saw a glint between satisfaction and mischief in her eyes.

"Queen Klara." I curtsied in return, and took the seat next to Coleman.

He placed his hand on my leg and turned to me. "Hope you're hungry."

"Well we all know you are," I said.

He grinned. "Well, if you have leftovers, I'll be more than happy to take them off your plate."

"There will be enough food even for you, Mäuschen," the Queen said. The whole of lunch, the Queen didn't ask about Coleman and I, how we started dating, how it had all happened, but she at least seemed in a very pleasant mood. The only clear allusion she made to our relationship was at the end of lunch, when she told me to make sure I kept Coleman in line.