My Prince Charming

Chapter 48

Louis POV

I tapped my fingers against the thick, wooden table anxiously.

How could I say this gently? 'Sorry, I found out that my ex-girlfriend was blackmailed into breaking up with me, and I didn't want to marry you since the beginning, so I'm breaking off the engagement.' A tad wordy.

"Your Majesty, Princess Diane has arrived." I looked up at the woman momentarily.

"Invite her in, please." She nodded, leaving with a short bow. A moment later, Princess Diane walked in, and I sat up and placed a kiss on her extended hand. "Wonderful to see you, my lady."

She smiled. "Wonderful to see you as well, Your Majesty, and how many times have I told you to just call me Diane?"

I pulled out her chair. "How many times have I told you to address me as Louis?" I said with a smile. She chuckled as I pushed her chair closer to the table.

"Very well, we shall both address each other as such." We laughed, and I sat down in my seat across from her. "Now, may I know why you asked to see me this evening?"

Taking a deep breath, I sat up straight in my chair. "Yes, of course, you may. I apologise for any inconvenience, but this is of the utmost importance."

"Well, don't keep me in suspense."

"I don't exactly know how to say this."

"She smiled gently. "Don't worry, just tell me."

"I do not wish to proceed with this marriage."

The silence was deafening, and I could not think of a time when I had ever felt so awkward in a conversation.

Diane sat there quietly, processing what I had just admitted.

"This is actually good for the both of us."

To say I was surprised was an understatement. "What do you mean?"

"I feel the same as you. In fact, I introduced my partner to my parents, and they didn't approve, to put it lightly."

"Oh?" I leaned on the table. "Is it alright if I ask why?"

"Well, it wasn't really shocking why they didn't accept him. He wasn't a prince, and they demanded that I marry royalty."

"That isn't very fair, though. There are only so many decent royalties for marriage. I should know, I never found one." 

She laughed lightly. "Well, you ended up finding someone, did you not? I seem to remember a reward for finding a woman from a certain ball."

I noticed my heart beat irregularly at the mention of Ava. "Yes, well, I lost her, but I plan to get her back. And breaking this engagement is the first step to doing so."

Diane nodded knowingly. "I understand. I wish you well on getting back your partner." She stood, curtsying delicately. I walked to her, giving her a final kiss on the hand.

"And I wish you well with you and your partner, Diane." I smiled, and she tipped her head gently, walking out without another word.

I slumped back into my chair with a heavy sigh. That went far better than expected.

Princess Diane is a wonderful woman, and anyone would be lucky to call her their own, but I have another woman in my heart, and she is the only one for me.

Ava POV

It was in all of the newspapers in the morning.

'Prince Breaks Off Engagement Weeks Before Marriage.'

It was all Quinnie and Olivia could talk about as I tried to work. They were so happy and kept ranting on about how this was my chance to get him back.

"I still can't believe you aren't freaking out about this," Olivia pointed out energetically.

Of course, I was freaking out. I was so happy, ecstatic even, but it also made this whole situation a bit worse. He wasn't with anyone, but I couldn't go for him.

It was easier to bear it when I knew he had someone else. That I couldn't go after him, because I'd be ruining a relationship.

Obviously, there was the fact that I was being blackmailed, but I've come to terms with that. Kind of. Not really.

"I am, I'm just doing it internally. I'm trying to work, in case you couldn't tell." I mentioned, sending another customer off with their fruit, a newspaper and a smile. It was really busy today, and I couldn't figure out whether it was because of the whole Louis-engagement thing, or if it was just one of those days.

"Hi, I'd like today's newspaper, please," a woman walked over.

I offered her a smile. "Sorry, we're all out."

I suggested some fruits but she declined, walking over to another stand. Made sense. It was almost bigger news than the news after the ball.

Quin leaned over to Liv. "He had to have broken up with her for a reason. Maybe they had a big fight or something."

"I heard that Princess Diane makes butter sculptures, and Louis ended things when she made one of him." Liv whispered back.

"Ok, you definitely made that up."

"Yeah, I'm tryna get it going."

"Can you two go somewhere else? I'm trying to work here." I muttered tiredly.

"Fine, but we're gonna talk about it later." Quin said before she and Olivia waved goodbye.

I loved having my friends here, but today wasn't the right day for all of this.

It just felt like a lot. I felt like I was finally starting to move on from everything. And then, bam! Broken engagement. And it kinda just hurt that he was single  again, and I couldn't do anything about it.

Maybe I just needed to steer clear of anything about him. Not like that was gonna be possible though, since Louis is the freaking prince.

I sat up in my chair with a sigh, putting on a smile as another customer came over.

I just needed to get through the day. That should be easy enough, right?