𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐁𝐈𝐃𝐃𝐄𝐍 𝐃𝐄𝐒𝐈𝐑𝐄 | ✎

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟒𝟒

[warning: (slight) smut]

Yesterday, the secret dinner went so well that the men who attended it—government officials of Italy who work for the royal family—invited me to another one later today. I couldn't have done any of it without Alex by my side, cheering me on.

I'm beginning to realize just how much the bodyguard means to me, and if I'm being honest, I don't just want a no-strings-attached relationship with him. I want more, even if it's forbidden. The only setback is that I don't know how to tell him.

That type of conversation could go many ways, and I'm not someone who enjoys having a long talk about my emotions. I brush things off a lot, and that's the way I've lived for most of my life. Alex is slowly changing me in that area.

Sofia snapping her fingers shoots me out of my thought process, and I come back to reality again. Right now, I'm ready, but my handmaid likes to go over the top with details. That's just Sofia being Sofia, though, and I love her for it.

While Sofia pins my hair with jewels, I debate whether or not I should tell her about Alex. It needs to come up at some point, but I have no idea how to approach it. I also don't know how she would react.

After gathering the right amount of confidence, I decide to say something more subtle so she doesn't know everything yet. "Sofia, how do you know if you love someone?" I ask her.

Her hands stop moving during a moment of hesitation. "You feel it in your heart," she replies truthfully after a second, her eyes sparkling at the thought. "Love is a beautiful yet complicated emotion. Sometimes it can blind you and make you do things you didn't think you could ever do. Other times, it's the strongest feeling you could ever experience." Sofia pauses to pin yet another jewel into my hair. "When you fall in love, you know you're not alone anymore."

That answer takes my breath away, to say the least. Sofia's definition of love makes me realize that I might care about Alex more than I previously realized. I don't feel alone anymore after not being seen or heard in so long, and that is because of him.

"I think I might be in love with someone," I utter softly as my handmaid pins the last jewel into my hair.

Suddenly, Sofia's hands stop in place again, and she looks at me with shock. "What? Princess, you know I will always be here for you, but you can't fall in love. You're married to the prince; it's impossible," she objects, her voice high and her eyes wide.

Maybe I shouldn't have told her.

Sofia isn't a bad person. In fact, she's very sweet and understanding. She's also a bit lost and traditional. But I'm slowly changing her opinions on things, and I'm sure as hell going to do that now.