I woke up to Liam cuddled into me. His arms were wrapped around me and his face was buried into my neck. He was adorable and I could get used to this. After my mother had left us last night, Liam and I had both gotten ready for bed and spent the rest of the night talking and getting to know each other. We talked about hobbies, schooling, favorites things, books, family names, backgrounds, and life. We even shared a few more kisses.

I started to shift as he moved and opened up his eyes with a smile, "Good morning"

"Good morning. Did you sleep well?" I ask returning the smile.

"I did, with you by my side," he says as he rolls over having me roll over with him.

I laugh as he kisses my nose. We make eye contact and I could feel myself getting a bit nervous. I could also feel the gravity pulling us closer to each other for a kiss. Our lips were an inch apart when there was a sudden knock on the door.

The door opens and Susan enters with a curtsy, "Princess, Prince Liam"

"Good morning, Susan," I say as we both quickly spread apart.

"Don't mind me, you can continue on. I just came to tell you that your mother canceled all of your duties today. It's a free day to spend with Prince Liam," Susan explains as she snaps her fingers and two servants come in with two breakfast trays.

"Okay and thank you, Susan, and thank you, servants, for the breakfast. It looks delicious. Be sure to compliment the chef for Liam and I. We will enjoy it," I smile as they nod politely.

"Enjoy your brunch. It's nearly 12:30 p.m. you both should be well-rested. Enjoy your day together Princess and Prince Liam," Susan smiles with a curtsy as she leaves along with the two servants.

"You are so kind to them," Liam says.

"Of course. Why wouldn't I be? They work hard for my family and I," I state as I get out of  the bed.

"No. It's actually really sweet. I love it. I visited another royal family with my family for a celebration and the princess there was rude. She was rude to everyone that waited on her or for her," Liam explains with a frown on his face.

"Well, don't you ever compare me to another princess. I'm not like most of them," I say putting on my robe.

"You're not like any of them, but I'd like it if you keep the robe off. You look good in a lacey silk dress," he says with a smirk on his face.

I raise my eyebrow at him and slowly take off my robe. He watches me intensely as I slide it off and hang it back up.

"You're going to catch a fly in that mouth of yours if you don't shut it. Now, eat your food before it gets cold," I order.

"Yes ma'am," he chuckles as I get back into the bed with him.

"But first," he continues as he takes me into his arms. "I'd like to give my Princess her morning kiss"

"Go ahead," I say sweetly as he gently places his hand on my cheek. He places his lips upon mine and they sync beautifully in one. I could get used to kissing him all the time.

"I have to admit, sharing a room with you had me feeling a bit uneasy," I state as we broke the kiss.

"Yeah. We're not supposed to be sharing a room or even a bed until we're married," Liam explains.

"Exactly and I just feel bad because our families are very conservative but the amount of effort my mother is putting in, in trying to push us together is definitely overstepping the boundaries

"Well, I'm sure your mother knows how I was raised and I'm sure she knows how well she's raised you, so, she's probably not worried about us doing anything we're not supposed to," Liam says sweetly.

"Yeah, you're right. Shall we pray?" I smile as he nods.

As we enjoyed our brunch, we heard voices coming through the halls, "Are they in here?"

"Yes, my darling but let them enjoy their meal" We hear my mother say.

"My father is back from his trip" I smile at Liam as the room door opens.

"There he is! Liam, how are you, my boy? Did you have a safe flight?" My dad cheers as he makes his way to us.
What the hell? Did he not forget he had a daughter?

"Ahh. Philip! It's so nice to see you again. I'm doing great and yes, I had a safe flight. How was your mission trip?" Liam asks after getting up to shake his hand.

They begin talking about the mission trip as my father starts explaining to Liam what's going on in the Kingdom and how once he's king, he'll need to start taking mission trips. I look over at my mother and she gives me an apologetic look, rolls her eyes in their direction, and shrugs. Liam was listening attentively to my father, learning but my father was also ruining our brunch. I politely cough and both men turn to look at me. I raise an eyebrow at both of them and Liam quickly sits back down next to me, "I'm sorry, Ana". He then turns to my father and says, "My apologies, Philip. My princess and I were having brunch. We're spending the day together. Maybe we can talk about the things concerning the Kingdom tomorrow?"

My mother places her hand over her heart, touched as I turn to my father with a pout, "Father, you didn't even greet me. Did you forget you have a daughter too? We also need to have an exchange of words"

"I'm sorry, my darling girl," My father says coming towards me and kissing my forehead. He then turns to Liam and says, "Yes, enjoy your brunch and we can talk later"

We both nod at him as he then says, "However, since the four of us are already here. We need to discuss a few things. First things first, I'm sorry that we had to spring a last-minute engagement on the both of you but you both seem to be getting along well" 

Liam and I look at each other and smile as we turn back to look at my parents, who decide to sit down with us.

"Yes, we are getting along well," I say as he nods in agreement.

"Good because believe it or not. Liam's parents as well as the both of us have been secretly planning your engagement since you both were young" My father confesses.

"What?" Liam and I say confused.

"It is true. If you both weren't married by the time you both were twenty and well, Liam, you just turned twenty-two, and Anna, my love, you're about to turn twenty-one. So, we made a deal that you both were going to marry each other and an engagement before your birthday would be lovely" My mother says.

"Dear," My father says looking at her.

"What?" She says, "It's true. She should be engaged before her birthday. The people will need to see the ring during her celebration with her fiance by her side"

"Well, at first Anna, we thought you were going to be with Malcolm, Liam's older brother," My father says as Liam's body stiffens. I look over at him and he seems annoyed as my father continues, "But of course, he was going to be future King of Delton and we needed a son-in-law who could come to Kavington and rule by your side. Liam's father wanted the first in line to run the Kingdom of Delton and at the same time, Malcolm ended up finding love with his wife. So, it worked out perfectly. I have to admit, I wanted Liam for you anyway, not Malcolm. Though there is nothing wrong with him"

My father looks over at Liam to make sure he didn't offend him talking about his brother.

"Are you okay, my boy?" My father asks him.

Liam nods, "Yes sir. I just didn't know about any of this. I'm not surprised that my father wouldn't see me fit to be King of Delton anyway. Though I have to say,   I'm grateful that you both see me fit to be Anna's husband and the King of Kavington. Sometimes, I feel like I don't deserve her, or the title"

My heart ached for Liam as I reach for his hand under the table. He squeezes as my father says, "Nonsense. You are definitely fit to be King. Your father and I talk and every time I would go visit your kingdom, I saw how strong you are and how you carried yourself. You are hardworking and you love your people and a man who is like that deserves to be King. Trust me, I know what it's like to feel the need to compete with your brother or like you have to. It's how the young kids say it nowadays, it sucks"

Liam smirks at what my father says and nods in agreement, "Thank you, sir, and yes, it does suck"

"Well, we will let you both finish your brunch. Sorry, we interrupted and we hope that your food hasn't gotten cold" My mother says.

All of a sudden, we hear a knock on the door.

"You may enter" My mother orders.

It was Susan, "The royal dressmaker needs to take Anna's measurements for her birthday celebration gowns. The stylists are also on their way. That was the one thing we could not reschedule or cancel. We can also, measure Prince Liam while they're here. Their outfits will need to match and coordinate"

"Alright. Then it's settled! I'll take Liam to get measured. After that, we can have a men's chat, have a drink, and I can show him around the castle. Once Anna is done with her measurements and styles, you both can finish enjoying your day together" My father grins.

"You mean evening and don't get him drunk" I state annoyed.

"May we at least finish our brunch first?" Liam asks.

Everyone nods as they walk out of the room but not before Susan says, "We'll be back to gather the both of you in a half an hour"

Once the door was closed, we look at each other and sigh, "Sorry. Usually when they say they've canceled schedules. They mean it"

"It's okay. It's important. Your birthday celebration is coming up and the future Queen needs to look her best" Liam smiles politely.

I smile as we finish our meal. I wanted to mention his brother Malcolm but I decided to not bring it up and ruin the moment. After brunch, we both get cleaned up, dressed, and head our separate ways.

-----------------------------------------------
After a few of hours of measurements, fabric picking, and styling designs, my three outfits for my birthday celebration were picked out. They were going to make sure that each one of my outfits coordinated with Liam's one outfit. I was not going to drag him into three outfit changes in that one evening.

"Princess Anna, Liam will be waiting for you by the pond in ten minutes," One of the messengers say as I nod.

"Aww. Are you excited?" Susan squeals.

"Do you think he's going to purpose?" My mother asks.

"Mother, it's too soon," I say.

"Everything is too soon here but he will do it soon, I guarantee it. Apparently, your father took him out to one of the nice jewelry shops. They're making their way back through the castle gates as we speak" My mother reveals.

"What? How do you know?" I ask.

"I heard some of the messengers talking about it. You know they communicate through those mini headsets" My mother says waving her hand around.

"What if it is a proposal?" Susan smiles.

"Then she'll say yes. It's just a proposal. It's not like the wedding is tomorrow. You both still have two weeks to bond and get to know each other better" My mother states.

I roll my eyes as the messenger comes back, "Princess, change of plans. Liam is down the hall waiting for you"

"Go," Susan and my mother say pushing me towards the door.

I look back at them wide-eyed as I fluff my dress and follow the messenger out to meet Liam. As said, he was standing at the end of the hall waiting.

"Hi. I missed you" He smiles.

"I missed you too" I smile as he pulls me into a hug. I sniff him, "Good. You don't reek of whiskey or anything"

Liam laughs, "Nah. I don't indulge myself in drinks like that. Your father and I only had one glass as we talked. I had a tour of the castle too" He didn't mention the shopping center.

"Did you enjoy the tour?" I ask him.

"I did," He says as he takes my hand and leads me outside to walk around the castle. We immerse ourselves in deep and random conversation.

"Now, last night I had told you that I found you beautiful from the moment I saw you, but when you first saw me, did you find me beautiful?" He asks looking at me seriously but amused at the same time.

I laugh as he waits patiently for my response.

"Yes. I thought you were very handsome. You made me a bit nervous at first and you were quite the charmer"

"Oh. Thank goodness! I was so worried," He says putting his hand over his chest as I laugh and hit him.

He smiles and pulls me into an embrace.

"Princessa! Hola!" I pull away from Liam and look over at the sound of the voice to see a woman standing near the fence waving with a basket in her hand.

"Hola," I wave with a bright smile.

"Prince Liam!" She then waves to him.

"Come Estás?" Liam asks.

"Bien. Gracias! Et tu?"

"Trés bien!" Liam and I say simultaneously and then smile at each other as she grins.

"Date?" She says in a strong Spanish accent.

"Si," Liam answers with a mind smile.

"Oh! Lo siento. Adios," She waves.

"No problema. Está bien," I smile as she still continues to wave and leave.

We were interrupted a few more times after that.

"No privacy, even at this time in the evening. It almost six. I'm sorry," I whisper.

"It's okay. It happens a lot. It happens in Delton too. It's all a part of being a royal," he laughs sweetly as he takes my hand in his.

"I want to visit your Kingdom," I state politely

"Well, my Kingdom as well as my parents would love to have you, my princess," He smiles.

"Do you think they would?" I ask.

"Of course! They'd be delighted. They haven't seen you in a while except maybe in pictures, I assume. If you don't recall, apparently we've been 'engaged' since we were children" He explains using air quotes around the word engaged as he said it.

I smile as we continue to talk more and get to know each other. The more I talked to him and questioned him, the more I found qualities in him that I loved. I was really starting to like him even more than I did before. Soon it was getting closer to the evening and I was still waiting for that surprise.

"Are you starting to get hungry, my princess?" Liam asks.

"A little," I smile as we turn the corner and a nice table was set with candles and wine glasses. "Oh my goodness. Liam," I giggle.

"What? How nice would it be to have an evening dinner watching the sunset and then dessert under the stars," he smiles.

"I love it. Thank you," I smiled hugging him.

"Anything to see that beautiful smile of yours, Anna," he says as I smile up at him and we kiss.

We walk hand in hand towards the table and he gently pulls out my chair and pushes me in.

We had nice lights surrounding us with nice music being played by some of our finest music players here at the Kingdom.

"When did you have time to do all of this?" I ask amazed.

"Well, I had quite a bit of time today during your fittings," Liam says amused as I bump him with my shoulder.

"But I had some of the staff help me. I told them my plan and asked them to prepare everything for me because I wanted to surprise you" He continues.

"Well, I love it. Thank you so much. This is probably one of the best surprises that I have ever received," I say sweetly.

"This is a part of the surprise but it's not your main surprise. You'll just have to wait and see," He chuckles as I give him a confused face.

We had a delicious dinner that I enjoyed in its entirety, topped with a delicious dessert to finish off the romantic night well.

"Well, my lovely princess Anna. Would you like your other surprises?" He asks.

"Surprises? I have more than one? You made it seem like it was just one more," I answer.

"Well, the surprises are kind of put together but one determines the other," He states as I frown at him in confusion. 

He holds two hands behind his back and says, "Pick"

"Seriously?" I ask amused.

"Yes," he laughs.

I study him for a bit and then pick the right hand as he smiles and says, "Good choice"

He then reaches into the right side of his jacket pocket and slowly pulls out an envelope. I take it from his hands and open it to see an invitation. It was an invitation to his brother Malcolm's coronation.

"Ahhh. No way!" I cheer as I jump into his arms and he laughs.

"I wanted you to accompany me to my brother's coronation. I hope that's okay. Are you excited?" He smiles.

"It's more than okay and I'm super excited! But what is the other surprise that determines this one? You didn't get me a new private plane did you?" I ask.

"No," he laughs as I stare at him reaching into the left side of his jacket pocket.

He pulls out a small black ring box and gets down on one knee. I gasp and place my hand over my mouth as he says, "I know this is very soon and we usually do things pretty quickly in the lives that we live, but Annalise Mirabelle Adelaide, you have taken my breath away with your sass and wit in such a short time that I don't think I could spend another day without you even if I wanted to. I guess call me cliche. You have not only become a woman that has become a close friend to me, but you have become a woman that I have begun to love. I wholeheartedly want to spend the rest of my days on this Earth-loving you more and more each day. In due time, I want to start a family with you and grow old with you. Will you make me the happiest Prince in all of the Kingdoms and be my one and only Annalise Mirabelle Lowry, Princess and second in line of Queen of Delton and Princess and future Queen of Kavington?"

I stare in shock at what he said. It was said so beautifully that I couldn't help but wonder if he had memorized this but either way, I tear up as he opens the ring box. It was beautiful. It was modern vintage, maybe a bit of a medieval-style even. I could tell that he put a lot of thought and effort into this ring when he went shopping. It had a sterling silver band, with leaf vines wrapped around in a beautiful art form with one shiny medium-sized diamond in the middle. The diamond was in the center of an opened golden flower that had bloomed. It was one of the most amazing pieces of jewelry I had ever seen despite all of my custom-made jewelry and tiaras. This one was more special. This one was from Liam.

I look Liam in his eyes and surprisingly whisper the one answer he was waiting for, "Yes"

"Thank you," he grins as he takes the ring out of the box and puts it on my finger. He then stands up and pulls me into a giant passionate kiss. I kiss him back with all of the passion and emotion he was giving me. We then stop to catch our breath as he places his forehead on mine and entwines our hands.

"Wait, so I had to agree to marry you in order to come to see your Kingdom?" I ask looking up at him with a sassy attitude.

"No. I was just hoping you would. You would still be coming with me, I'd just go back home looking like the pathetic loser who couldn't even get his Princess to be, to accept his marriage proposal," he shrugs.

"Well, I wouldn't want to do that to you. Your parents would be disappointed in you, right?" I ask.

"Just my dad. He likes to compare me to Malcolm a lot. I've spent all of my life trying to make him proud of me just like he is with my brother. It's hard. Plus, Malcolm already gave him grandchildren and heirs to the throne. He, unfortunately, keeps producing girls with his wife, which upsets my father but that's the only thing that's wrong with him. Everything else, he's perfect"

"Hey, look at me. You are not your brother. I don't know how he is or what he's like, but I adore you and I have a strange feeling that's he's not as amazing as you are. I'm sorry that your dad makes you feel the way that you do. It's a shame that he can't see how amazingly sweet and hardworking you are. Don't ever feel like you have to compare yourself to your brother. You are not your brother. You are you and you are amazingly perfect just the way you are," I say sincerely.

"Thank you, my love," he says smiling down at me.

"No need to thank me, babe. We're in this together. We are a team starting now and forever. Hell, we're even going to give him that grandson he's been wanting," I smile against his lips as he smiles and pulls me into a kiss.

"Ahh! Did it happen?" We hear as we turn and see my mother followed by my father and Susan coming towards us.

"Yes," I smile.

"Oh! Let me see" My mom cheers as she looks at my ring.

"Prince Liam, it's beautiful. You did an amazing job" Susan says politely with a smile.

"Thank you" Liam smiles.

"Atta boy! I told you she was going to like it. He planned the whole design for this ring. He put so much thought into it as well as all the engravings. It took all the ring makers in the shop and a total of three hours to design and finish this ring" My dad smiles as he hits Liam on the back.

"Aww. Liam, really?" I ask looking at him.

He nods sweetly, "You deserve nothing but the best and I wanted it to be memorable"

"I do have the best, you," I say smiling up at him as he returns the smile, "And it is memorable. This whole moment is memorable and I love my ring very much. Thank you"

"You are so welcome, my love," Liam says kissing my nose.

"Congratulations, sweetheart" My father smiles.

"Thank you, father," I say returning the smile.