Modern Princess

Chapter 32

Chapter 32

Ren's POV

The ballroom was decorated more spectacular than I had ever seen it. Ribbons and lights and all manner of decorations hung all over the room, sometimes winking at me as I passed by. It was perfect.

If I could choose what I wanted to do at this charity ball, I would choose to sit in the corner of the ballroom and sway to the music of the live band as it swirled around the crowd. Normally, I didn't mind people paying attention to me, in fact I encouraged it, but today was different. Today I just felt like swaying to tasteful music, but that was not going to happen.

"Princess Ren, would you like to dance?" A very dashing Prince Beckham held out his hand to me and accompanied it with a nice smile.

I hadn't seen him very much in the past few days, but only because his time had been preoccupied with someone else.

"Only if you promise to dance with Gail next," I immediately responded.

Gail had left me only a moment before to go get a drink since she needed a distraction. Beckham hadn't asked her to dance yet and she was becoming a bit distressed about it.

He immediately tensed up and his easy going smile changed into something resembling a wide-eyed deer.

"Oh, uhh, I was going to tell you about that-"

"It's okay. Gail told me about you two. Plus, it was unfair of me to be so...distracted and leave you unattended. I'm really happy for you both,"I reassured him.

It was pretty clear how infatuated Gail was with Beckham, but she never would have acted on it being the great friend she was. After I shared with her my two prospects and my nothing-more-than-a-friendship with Beckham, she allowed herself to really like him. Especially after she found out the feeling was mutual.

He let out a breath as I took his hand and let him lead me onto the dance floor.

The dance with Beckham was enjoyable, but my heart was not in it. I laughed at the right times and nodded when necessary, but that was about as far as my participation went. The only thing that made me feel better about my lack of attention towards Beckham was knowing that he didn't expect a relationship from me. He was now out of the running as Kedudien's co-future leader and that was okay. Gail was far happier with him than I ever would have been, even if I did like him.

My feet only had a few moments to rest before I was being waltzed on the dance floor by Galloway. I knew something was wrong the moment we started dancing, but I didn't realize the extent of the situation until he told me.

"Ren, I really appreciate you letting me stay in Kedudien and at the palace even though I wasn't a prince to be considered. Unfortunately, my time has come to leave," he sighed with a bit of a pained expression.

"Why? What's wrong?"

"I...I trust you enough to keep this secret for a while even though it's bound to hit the press once I go home. But can you just keep this between us for now?"

I had never Galloway so serious or so worried. He looked like he was in the middle of a dilemma  and I really hoped for his sake that it could be solved soon.

"Of course," I reassured him, letting him spin me once before he started.

"My sister...She is- well, she was heir to the throne, but now she's pregnant."

He paused for so long that I thought maybe he was waiting for a response.

"That's great right? It'll keep the royal bloodline going for a generation longer," I said, still a bit confused as to where this was going.

"Well, not exactly. You see, she's not married and my parents are calling her a disgrace and revoking her title as crown princess. The next in line to inherit the throne is...me."

He croaked out the last word with so much remorse that it sounded as though he was telling me his dog had just died. I knew how he felt about his duties as a prince so I could only empathize with him now that his duties were multiplying as heir.

"Galloway..."

"I'm sorry to spring this on you so suddenly, but I thought you should know from me instead of the messenger that will be coming tomorrow to pick me up. I do wish you the best of luck Princess," he finished, twirling me one last time then kissing my hand.

I watched him leave even as the last chord on the violin sang in the ballroom.

Once again, even though Galloway had been out of my mind as a potential suitor, he was gone. The hardest part of my life was watching everyone and everything I loved leave me in the exact same place I had been for years. I was stuck in a rut of never ending abandonment. Even the man who had stayed with me my entire life, my own father, was about to be taken away from me. That was the honest truth and unfortunately, it never became easier to say goodbye.

****

With my options being narrowed down to two princes, one of the two being Prince Declan or Nate who tended to ignore me in public, my hope for my future was diminishing. I often tried to think about what life would be like with Griffin, what my future would hold, and found my odds at a happy life were pretty good. But then my thoughts would drift to Isaac and I would see that something was missing in my vision of Griffin and me. My thoughts always circled back to Isaac which scared me to death.

I tried to deny my feelings for him and even made myself stop egging on the fantasies of him, but for the most part, I was a lost cause. What made the situation at the charity ball so dire was that I laid my blue eyes on him a moment before accepting a dance from Griffin.

I tried to forget about the way his normally tousled hair was gelled back today in a fashion only he could pull off. I tried not to notice the way his tantalizing brown eyes scanned the room in search of someone. I tried not to entertain the idea that it was me he was looking for; that he had come in search of me to tell me how much of an idiot he had been for ignoring me these past few days.

But my efforts weren't enough and alas, Isaac was the only man I was thinking about. This was especially dangerous when I finally noticed that I was in the arms of Griffin and I was not listening to anything he was saying.

"So would you want to go on Wednesday since I know you have a few hours off?"

He was looking at me expectantly and I was looking at him with the face of someone who was guilty of not paying attention.

"Want to what exactly? I'm sorry. I got a little sidetracked there for a minute," I laughed off as we continued to dance across the polished floor.

"A date Wednesday...Would you want to go on one with me?" He repeated with an easy smile.

"Of course! That sounds great," I enthusiastically responded, letting him spin me as the song ended.

"Great. I'll see you Wednesday then," he replied as I slipped away from him.

I needed some air or maybe some punch. I really just needed something to help me focus and to stop making me think about-

"Do you want to dance?" A very stern faced Isaac asked.

"Okay."

****
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