A Royal Internship | Complete

Chapter Fifteen

When Clarence finally pulled me away from the media and the gathered crowd, my face hurt from smiling and my wrist ached from waving and shaking so many hands.

"This way, my dear," he said loudly enough for others to hear. "We must be getting to the palace now." Then he turned to the crowd and spoke louder, "We both want to thank you all for your warm welcome."

He put his hand on the small of my back and gently guided me through the crowd to the open door of yet another shiny black limousine. "We go with my father. His request."

"Where's Janet?" I looked around, only just now realizing she wasn't right behind me.

"She will have travelled up already with the other household staff. They have much to do."

He waved to the crowd while I stepped into the car, forgetting the way Janet had taught me in all the commotion. I looked around, but didn't see anyone around, so hopefully no one had noticed my faux pas.

Clarence followed me in, and the door closed behind him. I slid into the corner of the curved back seat to make room, but he climbed over me to sit sideways towards the front of the limo.

"You don't like sitting by the door?" I asked, trying to make conversation.

"No, it's not that, it's-"

He didn't need to finish his sentence, because the limo door opened again and the king's imposing figure filled the doorway.

"My father likes to get in last." He smirked.

When we were all settled into the car and the chauffeur drove away, the king turned to me.

"So, Genevieve..." His cheeks made his eyes scrunch up when he smiled. "Janet has told me all about you. It's a pleasure to finally meet you."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." I dip my head slightly but quickly return it to normal when Clarence and the king start laughing.

"No need for that formality here." King Richard's laughter came in large, loud bursts. "You can just call me Richard or Sir or Dad." He winked at me. "Whichever you like better."

Dad? I thought this man knew the whole thing was fake. I frantically looked around to Clarence who clearly didn't understand why I was freaking out. This has to be some kind of joke.

I kept my cool and answered him. "All right, Richard, Sir. I'm happy to be here." No way am I calling him Dad.

I made a mental note to ask Clarence or Janet how much the king really knew about my job the second I had the chance, but I didn't have the time to worry amidst the rapid-fire questions about my and Clarence's relationship.

Since our relationship was entirely fake, we had fabricated a story for the media. And I knew it well, so answering the king's questions wasn't overly difficult. But there were a lot of questions, so by the time the gates of the palace came into view, I was exhausted and starting to lose my voice from talking so much.

"Well, I'm glad to finally meet a serious girlfriend of Clarence's." King Richard's eyes twinkled, and he put a hand gently on my shoulder. "We're so glad you've come to stay with us."

I was hardly listening to King Richard because the car was driving through the palace gate and the grounds were opening up before my eyes.

"Wow, it's beautiful," I marvelled at the large expansive grounds that seemed to flow all the way up to a nearby mountain and the enormous lake with a fountain in the middle just past the palace gates.

"Welcome to Rosemont." Clarence smiled and pointed up the hill to the palace proper. "It's my favourite. The summer palace."

"Your summer palace has a mountain?" I gawked at the size of the palace as the trees parted to reveal the whole thing at once. Not that I could see it all through the small windows of the car.