Page 9 of A Royal Obligation
Charlotte gave a polite nod and left the room, closing the door behind her.
Jules plopped down onto the chair behind her desk. “I guess it’s time to get to work,” she murmured to herself.
She spent the rest of the morning tackling the items on her to-do list and smiled as she realized she had completed half of the items before lunch. She stood, ready to head to the kitchen to grab a bite to eat, when the phone on her desk rang. She grabbed the phone, settling it between her cheek and shoulder.
“Hello, this is Jules, assistant to Lady Charlotte. How may I help you?”
“Hi Jules, this is Miranda. I’m the main secretary for the Albury Estate. I have Prince Barrett of Wistonia on the other line wanting to speak with Lady Charlotte. Should I put him through to you?”
“Oh, yes of course.” Jules clutched her desk as her knees became wobbly.I’m about to speak to a real, live prince!Miranda said she would put him through, and Jules took a deep breath to compose herself.
“Hello?” Prince Barrett inquired, and Jules squealed internally.
“Hello, how are you?”
“I am doing fine. And yourself?”
“I am perfectly well, thank you. How may I help you?” Jules asked calmly, though she was freaking out on the inside because aprincejust asked her how she was doing.
“Well—uh. I was … I was wondering if … Would you?” Barrett sighed in frustration. “I was wondering if you would like to come stay at the Wistonian Palace as my guest for a while? I ha—I have been meaning to get to know you better.” He let out an exasperated breath.
Jules covered her laugh with a cough.How adorable.She found his rambling endearing. It was nice to know that royals were still human, too.But wait. Does he think he’s talking to Charlotte?
“Oh,” the prince continued. “We also are needing to do some school renovations. And the children’s center! Yes, you recently opened a children’s center. So, I thought it would be great. I mean— sorry, this isn’t coming out right. Would you want to come for an extended stay and also help with Wistonia’s school renovations?”
Jules smiled the whole way through Barrett stumbling over his words.
“Prince Barrett, this is Juliette Smith. I am Lady Charlotte’s personal assistant. I will connect with her and then follow back up with you. What is the best number to reach you at?”
“I should have known it wasn’t Charlotte’s voice. But it’s better that only you heard that catastrophe. Our secretary would normally make these sorts of calls, but she’s out of the office today. Sorry, I’m rambling again, aren’t I?” He listed off his phone number to her. “That’s my personal line so feel free to leave a message if I don’t answer.”
“Your catastrophic sentence formations are safe with me.” Jules giggled.
“I appreciate your confidentiality.”
“Of course.” Jules said goodbye and hung up the phone, taking notes of Prince Barrett’s request to relay to Charlotte.
Jules grabbed a chicken salad sandwich on a croissant and some chips from the kitchen and walked to a small table she had seen on the patio outside. She enjoyed her lunch, listening to the birds chirp while soaking in the fall sun.
Her heart was filled with hope that Charlotte would say yes to this opportunity. Jules had never been outside of Findorra, even though it bordered Wistonia, and this would give her the chance to see more than the little world she had been stuck in for the last twenty-seven years.
One of her biggest dreams was to travel to all eight of the countries on their continent of Fenimore, a large land mass off the coast of Europe. The prospect of impacting children’s lives throughout the entire continent filled her with so much joy. Traveling was a dream she would have to keep on the back burner for now, but hopefully she would be able to mark Wistonia off her list soon enough.
When she finished her lunch, she went back to her office to work on more tasks. A light knock sounded on the door before Charlotte walked into the room.
“Lady Charlotte, your timing couldn’t be more perfect,” Jules burst out. “I received a call from Prince Barrett of Wistonia right before the lunch hour, and it sounds like they are in need of some assistance with a local school renovation. He was wondering if you would like to come stay at the palace for a while to assist in those plans. He also sounded like he wanted to spend some time getting to know you, if you know what I mean.” She winked.
A light pink color flushed over Charlotte’s cheeks as she quickly looked down, picking something imaginary off of her already perfect dress. “That would be lovely. I would be happy to help, but you have to come, Jules. I need your insight, and it would be a lot easier to get things done if you were with me rather than a country away.”
“Okay, I’ll call him back, and see what I can do,” Jules exclaimed, as Charlotte left the room.
Jules grabbed her phone and dialed Barrett’s number to call him back.
“Hello, this is Prince Barrett.”
“Hello, Your Highness. This is Jules Smith, Charlotte’s assistant.”
“Thank you for calling me back so quickly.”