Eva stood there holding her breath, hoping the King would take his son's offer.

King Ferdinand looked calm and collected as he told Paulo, "Son, your mother and I didn't make this choice lightly. We took a long time to find the perfect woman that we want ruling over Spain by your side and helping you raise our grandchildren, the future rulers of our country. The reason we chose Eva isn't because of her beauty. The reason we chose her is because she's well known for her patience, kindness, generosity, and for being a very strong, intelligent woman. That's the kind of Queen I want by your side when you take over my throne. Many months went into this decision and I have no doubt we've made the right choice. Trust me. You'll be thanking us for this marriage one day."

What he said about her was sweet and all, but that wasn't what she wanted to hear. She wanted him to accept Paulo's offer and set her free from this arrangement. She looked over and noticed Paulo looked just as disappointed as she was.

Her father, King Hans, chimed in and said, "Ferdinand is right. You two may not agree with our choice right now but one day you'll understand that this was the best thing for both of you and for the future of our monarchies. Our decision stands and you two WILL be married tomorrow," he said in a firm, decisive tone that she knew meant his decision was final and he wouldn't be changing his mind.

Eva quietly said, "Yes sir," and hung her head as she walked back over to the grand piano, feeling defeated. She sat on the bench and pulled out her phone, googling 'Prince Paulo of Spain'. She saw photo after photo of him with stunningly beautiful women on his arm at movie premieres, pictures of him with celebrities, and others of him at a club standing close with his arms wrapped around groups of friends and smiling for the camera. There were pictures of him water skiing, skydiving, surfing, riding on an elephant and standing on the top of a mountain.

He was definitely way more adventurous and outgoing than she was. Her idea of an exciting adventure was swimming at the beach and she only had two friends, her brother and Astrid and she had never been on a date or went out to clubs or done anything crazy like climbing a mountain. She spent her evenings reading and her weekends hanging out with her brother and Astrid. He seemed like her complete opposite.

She locked her phone and leaned forward, resting her forehead on the top of the piano and exhaling deeply, closing her eyes as a single tear rolled down her cheek and dropped onto the keys.

"Hey," a deep voice said and she sat up and opened her eyes, wiping her tears away as she looked up and saw Paulo standing there. "Can I sit?" he asked.

"Sure," she said quietly with a sniffle, scooting over.

"My Dad thought you looked upset and he told me to come over here and cheer you up." He sat down on the piano bench next to her. "Apparently that's what fiance's are supposed to do," he said with an exhale. They both sat in silence for a minute, with their heads hanging down.

She lifted her head and looked over at him, looking into his hazel eyes as she wiped a tear away and sniffled. "It was a nice try, what you did over there, trying to talk to them out of the arranged marriage. I'm sorry it didn't work."

"Yeah," he said with a sigh. "I was doing it for both of us. This isn't right."

She nodded and couldn't help but notice how handsome he was and sitting this close to him made her heart beat a little faster. She had been homeschooled by tutors at the castle and wasn't used to being around guys her own age very often, especially not ones that looked like Paulo and it made her anxious.

He took a deep breath in and let it out, before saying, "I don't think either of our Dads are budging. Especially now that the official engagement announcement has been broadcast to the entire world and all the paperwork has been signed. I guess your brother's right. We'll just have to try to make the best of this bad situation we're stuck in."

It hurt to hear him say that having to marry her was a bad situation. Even though she didn't want to marry him either, she couldn't help but feel a little insulted that he wasn't happy about being paired up with her. He had made it pretty clear that marrying her was the last thing in the world he wanted.

"I guess you're right," she said, taking a deep breath in and letting it out. "It looks like we're stuck with each other."

She couldn't believe she was being forced to marry a man that didn't want her, not at all, not even a little bit. She reached out and softly laid her fingers on the keys and started playing a very slow, sad song that matched exactly how she was feeling right at that moment.

She felt heartbroken for the true love she would never get to experience. Maybe her brother was right. Maybe all those years of watching romantic movies and reading romance novels set her up to be unhappy for the rest of her life because her life would never be like that. She was stuck in an arranged marriage to a man that would never love her because he was so far out of her league.

He was the devastatingly handsome, cocky, rich, playboy prince that had tons of friends and beautiful women hanging all over him, and here she was, the shy, quiet introvert. Her and Paulo had absolutely nothing in common. She wasn't sure what her parents were thinking matching her with him.

Paulo wasn't her type at all. She wanted the cute but nerdy type of guy. The shy, introverted type that would read poetry to her and write her letters and snuggle up and watch romantic comedies beside her. The kind of guy that was more comfortable in a library than on a sports field. The guy that rocked a Dad bod and had no fashion sense but was adorable. That's what she wanted, because she would feel comfortable, instead of being intimidated by him. She wanted a guy that would feel lucky to be with her and make her feel adored and cherished.

As Eva played the piano, lost in her thoughts, Paulo stood up and walked away with his head hanging down and his hands stuffed in his suit pockets as he headed out the door. He looked sad and she could relate because she felt the same way.

She eventually got up and sat next to her mother on the sofa and listened to the women as they discussed the wedding plans in front of the fireplace and sipped red wine. She couldn't help but zone out. The wedding was the last thing she wanted to think about right now.

After a while, the royal page came in and informed the family that it was time to head downstairs for the Constitution Day parade. When they got downstairs there were three horse drawn carriages lined up in front of the tall wrought iron gates decorated with beautiful garlands of white and pink apple blossom flowers. There were no tops on these carriages so they were open for the parade goers to have a clear view of the royal family as they went by waving.

"Where is that boy?" King Ferdinand asked impatiently, looking around for Prince Paulo. He got his phone out and called but there was no answer so he sent a text. Eva thought it was funny that his father still referred to him as a boy even though he was twenty two years old. Her family was the same way. They treated her as if she were a little girl, even though she was twenty one. Being royalty gave their parents an unnatural amount of control over their lives still even though they were both grown adults.

Her father's head of security said, "Ok it's time to get into the carriages. Princess Eva and Prince Paulo will ride together in the first carriage. Kristoff and Princesses Isadora and Bella are going to ride in the second carriage, and then the Kings and Queens will all ride together in the third carriage."

Everyone started climbing into the carriages and Eva got into the front one by herself and sat down, admiring the beautiful pink and white apple blossom flower garlands. After waiting several minutes the carriages started to move slowly forward and she started smiling and waving at the crowds of people as she passed by.

"Mommy! Is that a real life princess?" a little girl in the crowd asked and when her Mom said yes she gasped and her eyes and mouth opened wide in shock. She looked at Eva in awe. She probably wished she was in her place but if she only knew what it was really like, she'd never want to be a princess. It wasn't the perfect fairy tale most people thought it was. It meant you had no freedom and your life wasn't your own. You had to live to please everyone else.

A couple minutes later Eva saw Prince Paulo running up the parade route towards her and he hopped on to the steps of her carriage and climbed up, plopping down into the seat next to her out of breath.

She looked over at him in the sunlight and noticed how smooth and flawless his skin was and how perfectly chiseled his jawline was. He looked over at her with his piercing hazel eyes, and his straight, brown hair falling over his strong eyebrows. He had the good looks of a model or a movie star, and looking at him made her start to feel nervous again. She couldn't help but glance down at his full lips and wonder what it was going to feel like to kiss him at the wedding tomorrow.

"What?" he asked. "Why are you staring at me like that?"

Her face flushed red and she looked away, muttering, "Sorry."

They rode in silence for a minute before she finally asked, "Where did you go?"

"Why? Were you worried about me?" he scoffed. "Or did you miss me?" he asked sarcastically.

It felt like he was mocking her and trying to make her feel silly for asking that question.

"No I didn't miss you," she said defensively. "I was wondering what could've possibly been so important to be late for the parade in front of all these people? That makes you look bad and if you look bad I look bad."

"I just had to make a phone call to someone and it took longer than I thought it would."

She studied his face for a second thinking and then curiosity got the best of her and she asked, "Who did you have to call?"

He turned and looked at her with his eyebrows scrunched. "I just had to call somebody. Is that okay with you princess?" The way the word princess rolled off his tongue made it sound like an insult.