Page 115 of Royally Matched
“It’s the truth. In you, I found what I’ve been missing in my life.”
“I can relate to that feeling. For your part, you make me feel safe. With you, I can be my true self. Not Princess Sofia, not the eldest child, but me, truly and authentically.”
“In that case, I would say we’re perfect for one another. Wouldn’t you, myPrincipessa?”
“Perfect in every way that counts,” she replies, and as I sweep her up into my arms, I know that, together, we’ve found the missing pieces of our puzzles—finally whole. Finally home.
Epilogue
Sofia
Good people of Ledonia! It’s official. Our Pitiful Princess is no more! She has emerged from her dull chrysalis a beautiful butterfly in finding herself the most handsome and worthy of men in the rather delectable, Marco Revera.
That’s right, Princess Sofia is in love with none other than Enzo the Dull’s brother, the rather yummy Marco!Can you believe it? How the two brothers are related is a total head scratcher to this writer, but having a gorgeous new man to gaze at on Princess Sofia’s arm is not something I for one will ever grow tired of.
Do we hear wedding bells in the not-too-distant future? And, more importantly, will we get to see the rather delicious Marco looking every inch like James Bond in a tux that actually fits him, gazing lovingly at his future wife as she makes her way down the aisle toward him?
Oh, swoon!
We live in hope, Princess Sofia. We live in hope.
Yours always in the most delicious of gossip,
Fabiana Fontaine xx
#RoyallyInLove
#FromSadToFab
#FairyTalesCanComeTrue
Marco slips his hand into mine as we meander through the palace gardens on an early-autumn Villadorata evening, the setting sun casting a beautiful glow around our surrounds, and I catch his eye, smiling at him. The leaves on the trees are turning beautiful hues of rusts and gold, and Lemon and Pepper race past us, disturbing the fallen leaves on the ground, having a marvelous time.
“Just look at my dogs running around in happy abandon,” I say on a giddy laugh. Because that’s exactly how I’ve felt since Marco and I admitted our love for one another the moment before Father revealed his and Mummy’s plot to bring us together. Giddy. Giddy and joyful and utterly, utterly blissfully in love with the man at my side.
The man I never thought was right for me.
The man I never knew how much I needed.
But need him and love him I do, and we’ve spent the last ten weeks enjoying getting to know one another better, spending as much time together as we can, and falling further and further in love in the process.
Who would have thought this man I first met as “Duck” in his too-small dinner suit, with his tousled mane of hair, beguiling turquoise eyes, and ready laugh could end up as my perfect match?
The obvious answer to that question is, of course, my parents. My parents and their plot to bring us together, to be more precise.
I know one thing for certain in this whole crazy ride we’ve been on, I will be forever grateful to them for their foresight in showing me how wrong I had been about how to find a husband. Marrying for love is my goal these days, and as I sneak a look at the man beside me, I secretly think that's exactly what I will do.
Through Marco's love, I've learned to loosen the taut strings I clung to, my formal and prim princess armor. That's not to say I turn up to official royal events dressed in gardening clothes and wellington boots, like Marco did that time at the National Portrait Gallery. I may be a new, improved, much less uptight version of myself these days, but that's definitely a step too far for royalty.
What he’s taught me is that it’s okay to have onepersona for the public and another in private, and for that private one to allow love in. Not to shy away from it, to be scared of it, but to embrace it fully and without restraint.
And that’s exactly what I’ve done.
We reach the end of a tall hedge, around which Marco begins to lead me.
“We can't go that way, darling. It's cordoned off for work,” I say.
“Is it? Why don't we go and see what they're doing?”