Edward tried to hide his shock. He had never expected this to be Sebastian’s surprise for him.
It added up with the clues he had been given. Abolishing the marriage match tradition was a major change as the tradition was so synonymous with Albion. It was no wonder Sebastian had needed to negotiate with the prime minister.
“It’s a tradition that has become less necessary over the years,” Sebastian said. “After meeting my fiancé, I came to realise that the marriage tradition only benefits the royal family and it’s wholly unfair for the matched person to never have a say in the marriage.”
Edward kept his face in check as there were cameras filming him at the moment. He wanted to smile widely, but he restrained himself. He could express his gratitude later on in private.
“I understand that it is a tradition that has been going on for a long time and the country is proud of its traditions, but I think this
Edward reached out and moved a stray hair on Sebastian's head back into place and looked around them in contentment.It was now June and the sun was shining in the sky. It felt everything had aligned for the perfect wedding. The gardens looked beautiful in the sunlight and it brought back his happy memories of frolicking around in the gardens with Sebastian during their courting days.“Let’s get married,” he said.They walked down the aisle slowly. The aisle was one of the stone pathways in the garden that had been lined with arches of flowers. Their guests were sitting on chairs on either side of the archways and there were not many of them.On Edward’s side there were his parents and his bodyguards. Sebastian’s side consisted of royal staff and the prime minister as he didn’t have any relations that would be invited to the wedding.They reached the archbishop as the music stopped. Unlike the heavy and tense moo
Edward stretched his arms in contentment. There was only one minute left before it was the end of school forever. He was finally at the end of compulsory schooling. It was a wonderful feeling to behold. Naturally the last day of school had been the best school day he'd ever had. He had eaten lots of party food and played plenty of games with everyone in his year group, but the best part was undeniably winning the sports trophy. There was a general feeling of excitement in the air as he sat in the classroom waiting for the last minute to tick by. A lot of it came from the day being the end of the school year, but there was something else. Today was the day that Prince Sebastian Hallowswift, the future king of the country turned 18. When an heir to the throne turned 18, their marriage partner was picked out by the government system. The government system held a profile on everyone who was considered eligible to marry into royalty and the prince would input his
Edward quickly dismissed his mental theory. The government system would have picked out a female, not him. The prince must be visiting them first for some reason before going to his actual fiancé's house.That must be it.“Come and sit down,” his mother told him and led him to the sofa. “This lady is Camilla Roberts and I’m sure you know who the other visitor is.”The blonde woman nodded at him. Her eyes were an icy blue and he got a feeling that she wasn’t going to turn out to be a friendly person.“It’s nice to meet you,” Edward said politely.“I am pleased to meet you as well. Mr Grey, this is the heir to the throne, Prince Sebastian Hallowswift. I am his royal advisor, hence my presence here.”Edward took a deep breath and bowed his head to the prince. Some part of his brain was registering that the boy that most girls at his school had a crush on was sitting in the
Unlike Edward, Sebastian was perfectly happy with the situation.He hadn’t forgotten to specify 'female' in the gender category when he had been selecting his marriage partner, it had been deliberate.He wasn’t really interested in females romantically so he had elected to not specify the gender and left the decision up to chance. The government system could have picked a female with his desired characteristics, but he had been lucky that a male had been chosen.Now he had to pretend that he had completely forgotten to specify a female and that he was willing to go through with a gay marriage.Edward Grey was very much his type. He was very attractive with his earnest green eyes, perfect nose and ebony hair. It was expected that he would like him as he had input his desires into the government system earlier in the day.What he wasn’t sure about was Edward Grey’s feelings.His fiancé had looked completely blind
“What did Edward Grey do last night?” Sebastian asked eagerly.His personal secretary opened up his tablet and cleared his throat.“Last night, Edward Grey left his house in the evening and went to an end of school party with other pupils from his school. I have some photos. He drank a lot, but stayed away from any drug taking and any sexual activity.”Edward was already under watch by people working for him. His mother probably knew he had arranged it, but didn’t care. He wanted to know more about Edward before their next meeting and the best way was to get an idea of his daily activities.“That’s good,” he said and leaned in to look at the photos his secretary was showing him.His future husband was definitely very sociable. There were photos of him talking to other males very closely. He had also spent some time with girls. Sebastian couldn’t tell from any of the photos if Edward was st
“How was the prince?” Lord Grey asked when they were reunited outside the castle. Edward sighed. He had just spent an hour in what could only be described as social hell. Prince Sebastian had been mostly silent and irritable whilst Camilla kept making cutting remarks that were indirectly or directly aimed at him. For some reason the royal advisor hated his guts and he felt the exact same way about her. “Unsociable,” he told his father. Lord Grey rolled his eyes. “Unsociable git more like,” he muttered and pulled on his jacket. “Let’s leave this place.” They got in the car and he drove off immediately. It was faster to get through all the security this time. Edward only managed to relax when the car was on the main road. It had been a very mixed day. Prince Sebastian was a mystery so far. He was definitely nothing like the image he showed in public. Instead of being a charming young man with a nice smile, he came across as more
The smile was very infectious. Edward found himself smiling as well. Sebastian was quite the charmer when there wasn’t anyone else present. “What do you think about our marriage?” he asked the prince. It was best to be upfront and honest about the elephant in the room. He had also been wondering about Sebastian’s personal feelings on the subject since he had first met him. The prince had been impossible to read. “I don’t like that neither of us were asked for permission,” Sebastian told him. “I didn’t get a choice, I had to get a government match on my 18th birthday and you don’t have a choice either; you can’t refuse to marry me. It’s not a fair situation for either of us.” Edward saw his honesty as an opportunity to ask something he had been wanting to know. “Are you even gay?” Sebastian choked on his popsicle and Edward wasn’t sure how to interpret that reaction. He patted the prince on the back and waited for his reply. “I
Edward drew his hand back in surprise. This kiss felt different to the other hand kiss, this one felt more intimate. He didn’t quite know how to react to it. “It’s nice to see you not acting like a sulky teenager,” he commented to lighten the tone. Sebastian fluffed his blond hair and laughed loudly. “That is certainly one way to say it. I am hoping the act won’t be necessary anymore.” Edward didn’t want to see Sebastian act like a sulky teenager again either. It would be even more annoying to see the act now that he knew Sebastian was actually a comfortable person to be around. “I feel the same way.” Sebastian frowned suddenly and Edward heard the sound of footsteps approaching them. He turned to see Ryan approaching them and knew it was time to leave. This time he wasn’t as happy to leave. Getting to leave had been the highlight of his previous visit. “Our time together has come to an end,” Sebastian said softly. “I would wal