"Where are the other girls?" Alicia asked as she followed Alejandro down the corridor to announce the news to his mother.

"On another tour," Alejandro admitted. "I had Fetu steal you away so I could ask you before I did anything else. I was really hoping you'd say yes. Didn't really have a solid second choice lined up so we would have been in for a long evening if you'd turned me down." Alejandro tried to hide his smile, but there was no stopping his cheeks from betraying him. She was giving him a chance.

"So they're still here? What are you planning to do? Let them all think it's them until they turn on the news this evening?" Alicia shook her head and continued to bounce in her flats as they walked down the final stone hallway that led to his mother's study.

"No. I'm thinking of letting them all know it's you after my mother agrees to it."

A blush crept up Alicia's face and she spun the ring around on her finger, smiling gently as it caught the light and threw tiny rainbows onto the walls. She suddenly stopped and the smile slid off her face as she turned to face Alejandro. "Wait! Agrees? I have to convince her? I've barely convinced myself."

Alejandro tightened his grip on her hand slightly and rested his other hand on her shoulder. "Alicia. Please breathe. I've discussed it with her, but we do still have to make it official."

"So, she knows already?"

"Well, she knows of my intention to ask you, yes. She's about to find out I actually did it. And that you said yes." He couldn't keep himself from smiling. She said yes. He pulled her hand up to his lips and kissed the back of it before weaving her arm through his. "You're going to be all right. I already talked to her about it."

Alicia's eyes wandered up the hallway to the ornate door attended by two of the guards in grey uniforms. Her hand tightened on his arm and he could have sworn she was taking a deep breath.

"Ready?"

"Right. Yes, I'm ready."

Alejandro nodded to the guards, Emil and Javier, and placed his hand over Alicia's as the doors opened in front of them. "Hello, Mother!" he called. "We have news!"

Queen Sofia stood from her desk and took off her reading glasses. "Alejandro? Ah, I see you've managed to convince your Alicia." A knowing smile crossed her face. She had indeed won the bet. She's never going to let me live that down. She loves a reason to remind me she knows me better than I do. She's wrong, of course.

"My Alicia," Alejandro rolled his eyes and shook his head at Alicia, whose face was about three shades paler than usual. "Are you all right?" he whispered.

She didn't get the chance to answer, though, because his mother crossed the floor and pulled Alicia into a tight hug. "We are so glad you've accepted. You're all he's been able to talk about all week. But I'll leave those details to him to share with you. We should celebrate! Take a seat." She swept her hand around Alicia's back and led her to the nearby couch, gently pushing her down on the cushion and offering her tea and pastries.

Alicia's face was still frozen as the statues that lined the walls of the palace, but her colour was returning. He couldn't help but notice her hand float to the small bracelet on her arm. I wonder if she knows the inscription.

"Alejandro," his mother quipped. "What are you still doing there? I'm sure Alicia and I can manage the logistics without you. Go break the news to those other young ladies. They've been on a tour for hours. In heels. Their feet must be getting sore."

Alicia sputtered and coughed as she attempted to drink the tea from her cup amid Queen Sofia's conversation. "I'm sorry. I'll be fine," she said before anyone could ask if she was okay.

"You'll fit in wonderfully, dear. Don't worry about it. I'm here to teach you everything you need to know." Sofia beckoned for her assistant who brought forward a small binder and began to take notes as the queen spoke. "First, we need to discuss what you would like to do for your announcement."

"Hey!" Alejandro interjected. "Don't I get a say on that."

"No," his mother said, waving him off. "I told you to go find the other young women and deliver the news. I think Alicia should select how she wants this to go. I'll guide her. Don't worry."

"But I—" Alejandro looked on as Alicia and his mother turned to tea and discussing whatever ladies need to say about jewellery. "Okay, I'm going!" he conceded when his mother shot a death glare across the room.

* * *

Telling the other young ladies they were not the chosen bride was exhausting and lackluster. No one threw any fits. No one yelled at him or got visibly upset. They just smiled, curtseyed, and followed their guide right out the front doors of the palace.

That was way too easy, he thought at the time, but I'll take it. He had relayed the information to his mother, though, as it was possible one of them would raise a fuss later and he worried how Alicia might take that. Not that he'd spent any real time alone with anyone apart from Alicia, but a person never knows what kind of lies the press will print. That's how we got into this whole mess in the first place.

It was only a few hours later and he was standing at the balcony doors waiting for his mother and Alicia to join him for the engagement photograph and announcement.

"Alejandro, you forgot your sash."

Oh, good, his mother was here.

"I didn't forget it," he said, turning around. "I just haven't put it on yet." He held up the orange sash and turned to face her but instead was met with Alicia's tentative smile.

Wow. No other thoughts were coming to his brain. His mouth wanted to move, but he could think of nothing to say. Alicia's hair was done beautifully, as always, but she had changed her dress. And it wasn't what Alejandro was expecting, either.

While his mother wore a deep green gown under her golden sash and her small gold crown adorned her head, Alicia was delicately dressed in a light blue dress that drew all attention to the woman who was wearing it.

"It's not mine," Alicia answered the question she must have thought he wanted the answer to. "Your mother apparently had it made."

Alejandro looked over at his mother whose face said she knew more than she was letting on. "I knew there would be an event. We had many dresses made."

And somehow you made one that was perfectly suited to her.

"You look... I can't believe we're about to do this!" He shifted gears to focus on what was approaching and offered his arm to Alicia. "You ready?"

"Never," she laughed. "But let's get it over with before I realize how outrageous the whole thing is and make myself even more nervous."

Alejandro slid his sash over his left shoulder and allowed his mother's seamstress to pin it in place before he took Alicia's arm once again and draped her left hand over his right forearm, making sure that the ring was on full display.

"For the cameras," he said as he placed her hand. "Everyone will want to see the ring."

"Of course." Her face seemed composed but her arms were shaking slightly and she was looking around at all the doors and windows. "We're going to be very visible in about forty seconds."

"It won't be long and my mother will do all the talking," he assured her. "All you have to do is stand there. Well, maybe smile or people might think we don't like each other. That will certainly make the headlines. But seriously, it's just going to be piece after piece about your ring and a little bit about who you are. No big deal."

A small amount of fear flashed across her face, but Alejandro was certain she was only nervous. I still can't believe she said yes. He could fall flat on his face on the way out to meet the press and nothing would phase him.

The royal anthem played and the doors opened, his mother and father stepping through the doors and over to the podium as Alicia and Alejandro stood in the doorway, the cameras already flashing.

"We are very pleased to announce the engagement of our son, Prince Alejandro, to Miss Alicia DuMont."

That was his cue. Alejandro led Alicia out onto the balcony and waved to the gathered crowd. There's no going back now. 

Not that he wanted to.